Pieces		Total
Half Dollars Five-Francs Quarter Dollars Dimes Gold Dollars Quarter Eagles	23 3 4 9 389 513		$11.50 2.82 1.00 .90 389.00 1,282.50
Bank Bills-	Value	Pieces	Total
Farmers' Bank of Kentucky State Bank of Indiana Farmers' Bank of Kentucky State Bank of Indiana Bank of Corning, N. Y. Bank of Empire State, N. Y. Exchange Bank of Lockport City Bank of New Haven, Conn. Oneida Valley Bank, N. Y. Danbury Bank of Conn. State Stock Bank, Jamestown, Ind. Bank of Corning, N. Y.	$3 3 3 3 10 2 5 5 3 1 1 10	26 33 5 22 5 6 89 1 4 6 1 1	$78,00 99.00 15.00 66.00 50.00 12.00 445.00 5.00 12.00 6.00 1.00 10.00 $2,486.72

At the September session, 1859, the policy of ditching lands under the laws of the state was introduced, in the approval of the plan and survey of "ditch or watercourse No. 1." It was located in Washington and Port Lawrence townships, "commencing at the creek which runs through the E. 1/2 S. E. 1/4 Sec. 23; thence Southerly across the same on the line between Secs. 25 and 26, so far as the same was necessary." The survey and plan were made by W. H. Harris, County Surveyor. Ditch No. 2 was approved. It ran from the Air Line Railroad, where the same crossed the center line of Section 7, Town 3, U. S. R. South, along such line to Swan Creek. Ditch No. 3 was in Waynesfield township. At the same session allowances were made for assessing real TOLEDO AND THE SANDUSKY REGION - 1653 property, as follows : Maumee City—Samuel M. Young, $98.00; Oregon township—Peter B. Porter, $86.00; Toledo—Declan Allen, $392.55; William Carew, $280.00; Michael Callaghan, $260.00; Patrick Gavin, $252.00; Patrick Horan, $64.00; Joseph Delaney, $54.00. Total for Toledo, $1,302.55. At the March session, 1860, the commissioners accepted the proposition of the Maumee City Plank Road Company to relinquish and transfer to the county its plank road, extending from Maumee City to Swanton. The president of the company was Wm. P. Homer, and its secretary Edward Mitchell. A former order of the board, authorizing the county auditor to hire persons "to bring in wood and pay for the same out of the county funds," was revoked. The proposition of the Toledo and Woodville Plank Road Company to turn over its road to the county, was accepted. At the June session, 1863, bids for the building of a new jail and dwelling-house, were considered, and the contract was awarded to William C. Hoffman, at $31,500, and C. C. Miller was appointed superintending architect, with compensation at the rate of 4 per cent. on the expenditure for the work. Subsequently the contractor concluded not to proceed with the work, when proposals were again invited, the lowest bid being that of David J Silver, at $58,000; whereupon, it was resolved not then to proceed with the work. At the August session, 1865, new bids for the construction of a jail and dwelling-house were considered, and the contract assigned to Luther Whitney, for the sum of $40,098, he furnish, ing everything but the block-stone. This job being completed was accepted by the commissioners at their April session, 1867. ADAMS TOWNSHIP Adams township was made up from Waynesfield, Port Lawrence and Springfield townships and organized as Carey township in 1856 and in 1860 the name was changed to Adams. Probably the first settler within the present township lines was Orlando Bushnell. He built a log cabin on the east half of the northwest quarter of section 1, township 2, U. S. Reserve. In those days the cabin "corners" were carried up a little easier and more rapidly, with a jug of whiskey near-by. Opposed to strong drink, Mr. Bushnell failed to abide by the custom, and as a consequence his neighbors who were invited to the "raising" 1654 - STORY OF THE MAUMEE VALLEY refused to participate in the ceremonies. He declared that he would chop the logs into pieces small enough to handle alone, before he would compromise himself. In his embarrassment, some of his considerate friends over at Vienna, sixteen miles away, hearing of his need, came to his assistance and the first home in Adams township was built without liquor. Valentine Bargy was evidently the next permanent settler; followed by Michael Carney and Charles McTague. Wm. W. Wadsworth also became a large landowner in 1834. Other pioneers were James Agnew, John Patten and Amos Atkin. Bernard Cass, a half-brother of General Lewis Cass, located in now Adams township in 1833. MONCLOVA TOWNSHIP The petition to establish Monclova township along with that of Springfield, was granted March 14, 1853, after one or two previous attempts had failed. The selection of the first township officers took place on the first Monday in April following. The early records were lost, but the board of education met at the residence of B. T. Barnes, at which J. 0. Allen presided and Warren B. Gunn was made township clerk. The first schoolhouse in Monclova, a frame building, was put up in 1838 on ground donated by Hezekiah Hubbell. The Village of Monclova was platted by Hezekiah Hubbell and 0. H. Beatty, May 27, 1836. Thus it is one of the oldest towns in Lucas County. The post office was established in 1854 with Benjamin F. Barnes the first postmaster. Early church societies in the township were the United Brethren, the Methodist and Disciple. Mrs. Maria Reed settled in Monclova in 1818, where she moved from Perrysburg. Samuel Ewing built a mill at Monclova on Swan Creek before the War of 1812, but it was destroyed by the British and Indians during that conflict. Ephraim Learning of Perrysburg (father of Mrs. Ewing), and his brother Thomas, built a sawmill at the same place in 1817. Settlers along the Maumee and back sections were patrons of this enterprise. Lumber for the General Hunt and Major Forsyth residences in Maumee came from this mill. It has been told that Anthony Ewing, son of Samuel Ewing, was the first white child born in Monclova township. The date given (1808) seems rather too early. Other early settlers were John Trapp, Conrad Coder, John Barton Peter Bateman, and Warren B. Gunn. TOLEDO AND THE SANDUSKY REGION - 1655 OREGON TOWNSHIP Oregon township in the eastern part of Lucas County, was originally included in the townships of Port Lawrence and Manhattan. Its west line borders the Maumee River. The petition for its establishment was granted June 11, 1837. On December 2,1856, that part of Oregon township included within the Toledo city limits, was set off to Port Lawrence township, and its boundaries were further reduced in 1872. In 1874 a portion of Manhattan township' was annexed to Oregon. There were several Indian and other land reservations in this vicinity which came upon the market after the last treaty with the Indians here in 1833. As noted by Waggoner, the earliest record of such sales, is the deed of Au-to-kee, a chief of the Ottawa tribe, and son of Fish-qua-gun, another chief of the same. The sale was made in August, 1835, to James W. Knaggs, and consisted of 125 acres, being the west half of the grantor's tract on the south side of the Maumee River and near the mouth of that stream. On the same day Au-to-kee, for $1,000 sold to Geo. B. Knaggs and R. A. Forsyth the property known as Presque Isle, constituting the remaining portion of grantor's reservation, and containing eighty-one acres. This deed bore the following certificate : "To the President of the United States : We do hereby certify, that the consideration named in said instrument, which was duly paid to the said Au-to-kee in our presence, is a full and fair consideration for said tract, as we verily believe." (Signed by John E. Hunt and Horatio Conant, and by James Jackson, Sub-Agent.) As a sample of the form of such conveyance, the deed of Au-to-kee is herewith given in full, as follows: Know all men by these presents: That I, Au-to-kee, a Chief of the Ottawa tribe of Indians, and son of Fish-qua-gun, in consideration of the sum of $1,000, to me in hand paid by James W. Knaggs, of the County of Wood and State of Ohio, do hereby give, grant and convey to said James W. Knaggs, and to his heirs and assigns forever, all that certain tract or parcel of land contained in the West half of my tract, lying in said County of Wood at the mouth of the Maumee River (South or East side) adjoining Presque Isle, which I lately granted to Robert A. Forsyth and Geo. B. Knaggs, and bounded by said Presque Isle on the West; on the North by Lake Erie; on the East by the East half of said half of said tract; and on the South by land granted to Alexis Navarre by the United States at the treaty with the said tribe of Indians 19-VOL. 2 1656 - STORY OF THE MAUMEE VALLEY in February, 1833, at which treaty this said tract was granted to me, the West half of which, containing 125 acres, I hereby grant to James W. Knaggs. To have and to hold, to him and to his heirs and assigns forever, for their proper use and behoof. And I further covenant and promise with and to the said James W. Knaggs, the above granted premises to him, his heirs and assigns forever, to warrant and defend. In witness, whereof, I have hereunto set my hand and seal, this 4th day of August, in the year of our Lord 1835. AU-TO-KEE. (L. S.) Signed, sealed and delivered in the presence of H. Conant and Jaques Navarre. The State of Ohio, Wood County, ss. : On the 4th of August, in the year of our Lord 1835, personally came Au-to-kee, Indian Chief of the Ottawa Tribe, the maker of the within deed, and the purport and meaning of the within deed being fully explained to him, he acknowledged that he signed and sealed the same and was content and satisfied with the consideration made therefor; and that he executed said deed and makes the above acknowledgement without any circumvention or undue influence or persuasion of the said grantee or of any other person whomsoever. Before me, Horatio Conant, a Justice of the Peace in and for said County, and I further certify, that I was present at the execution of the within deed, and counted out and delivered to the said Au-to-kee the consideration mentioned in said deed, $1,000. Witness my hand and seal, the day and year above written. H. CONANT, Justice of the Peace. November 18, 1835, Jaques Navarre, Francis Navarre, Peter Navarre, and Antoine Navarre, of the Indian reservation at the mouth of the Maumee River, on the south side of said river, for $800, sold to Geo. B. Knaggs, sixty acres of land bounded on the east by Duck Creek; on the north by Maumee River and the line run by Ambrose Rice, surveyor ; the same having been granted to the Navarres by the treaty of 1833. The deed was signed by Catharine, wife of Peter Navarre, and by Catharine, wife of Jaques Navarre. November 18, 1835, James W. Knaggs sold to Daniel Chase 258 1-3 acres of the reservation of the Navarres, for $5,000. The same day, Knaggs and Forsyth sold Presque Isle to Daniel Chase for $3,000, being the same tract purchased of Au-to-kee June 3, 1835, for $1,000. TOLEDO AND THE SANDUSKY REGION - 1657 August 3, 1835, Geo. B. Knaggs, for $12,880, sold to Daniel Chase 160 acres granted by treaty of 1833, to Wa-sa-on, an Ottawa Indian ;.eighty acres granted by the same treaty to Joseph Cavalier Renjard, and next to a tract assigned to Cheroo, an Indian chief ; and 100 acres granted to the Navarres by treaty of 1833; making 340 acres, the price averaging $37.88 per acre, against about $13 per acre paid for the same a few weeks previously. August 3, 1835, B. F. Hollister sold to Daniel Chase for $1,600 a tract of land known as the Cheroo Reservation, on Little Creek, or McCarthy's Village, at the mouth of Maumee River, being the same reserved to Cheroo, principal chief of the Ottawa tribe of Indians. Much of the early land purchased in Oregon township, was by land speculators. The first permanent settlers, or squatters, arrived long before a government land office was opened in this territory. As early as 1763 and the Pontiac conspiracy, an Ottawa Indian village was located near the mouth of the Maumee River, in this present township. The widow of the renowned chief Kan-tuckee-gun and his son 0-tus-sa, lived at this village as told about in the chapter on the Indian tribes. There must have been a French trading post in this vicinity at a very early day, for there was a French colony here including the Navarres. Early white settlers on the east side of the Maumee were : Joseph Prentice, 1825; Luther Whitmore, 1829; Robert Gardner, 1830; Hiram Brown, 1831; Mercino and Philander Fox, 1831; Gabriel Crane, 1831; Oliver Stevens, 1832 ; Elias Fassett, 1833. Gabriel Crane had three sons, James, Henry J. and Amos W. Among the first improvements was a steam sawmill located on the old plat of the Town of Oregon (1836) which furnished the plank for the first bridge built over the Maumee River. The mill builder was Charles V. Jenison, who in 1837, built a schooner named Ottawa, long in the lake service. Before a ferry or bridge was opened, most of the crossings from one side of the river to the other were made in canoes. J. H. Crane ran an early ferry scow, and in 1836 when the Swan Creek bridge was carried out by the spring breakup, Crane utilized his scow to ferry teams and pedestrians across the creek until a new bridge was built. The first road, opened was the Woodville turnpike connecting Toledo, east side, with the Maumee and Western Reserve Road. The earliest schoolhouse seems to have been a log structure 1658 - STORY OF THE MAUMEE VALLEY built on the Woodville Road, with Elizur Stevens, teacher. He joined the "Patriot war," was captured by the British, sent to Van Dieman's Land, and died early from the exposure. The oldest church was organized by the Baptists, now the Second Baptist Church. PROVIDENCE TOWNSHIP Providence township at the head of the Maumee Rapids is the southernmost township of Lucas. Bordering the river in that section was the home of a contingent of the Ottawa tribe of Indians, with a village below now the settlement at Providence. Their habitation extended down the river, and Tontogany Creek on the Wood County side, was named from Ton-taga-nie, one of their prominent chiefs. The chapter giving the story of the Indians of the Maumee and Sandusky valleys, tells about the reservations here for members of this tribe and for Peter Manor who later laid out the Village of Providence. He was the earliest white inhabitant of this region. His first cabin built in 1816, was south of the platted town. A sketch of Peter Manor appears earlier in this story. His son Francis Manor, born May 18, 1812, said that "about the time war between the United States and the Indians commenced, my father removed his family to Lower Sandusky (now Fremont) for safety and protection. But that point, too, was soon deemed insecure, and he removed to Upper Sandusky (forty miles south), where he continued to reside until hostilities were over. As soon as it was considered safe, we returned to Maumee and moved up the river to Providence, January 1, 1816, where I have resided ever since (1888) knowing no other place as my home. My earliest recollections are of Ottawa Indians, with whom I was familiar until they left their reservation in 1837. About the only impression that I retain, and the most prominent feature in their character, was their love for strong drink, which made savage drunken carousals very frequent. When unmolested, they were in the main harmless and peaceable, and gave the whites no trouble. From the time of our locating in Providence until their removal, I remember no instance in which fear was had on their account, except in the year 1832, when some believed that an Indian outbreak was about to occur, and considerable excitement prevailed along the Maumee. It took but a few days, though, to allay the fears, as the report was plainly false." TOLEDO AND THE SANDUSKY REGION - 1659 A stately old brick home still stands near where Peter Manor built his first cabin. Other early settlers in that neighborhood were William Ewing, Xenophon Mead, James Hartwell, John Galloway, Benjamin Atkinson, Charles McKarn, A. B. Mead and Philip C. Mosher. Providence Village was laid out by Manor in 1835. Early lot purchasers were John E. Hunt, George Gale, A. B. Mead and Robert A. Forsyth. It was believed that this location at the foot of up-river navigation was most favorable for important industries, and the opening of the Miami and Erie Canal made it for some years an important business center. A. B. Mead established a general store there in 1835, followed by J. B. Abele, and Neptune Nearing, father of the late Mars Nearing, the Toledo banker. In 1836, a man named Philips built a tavern, and with the canal workers in that vicinity, one may imagine there were some lively days (and nights) at the head of the Rapids, with the traders and travelers passing up and down the river and meeting these unbridled Irish. It is said too it was a favorite resort at one period for criminals from Michigan and elsewhere. Providence at one time boasted of five "hotels," several prosperous stores and a mill. A raging fire swept the place in 1846, and the town never fully recovered from the calamity. The story of the establishment of St. Joseph's Catholic Church is told in the chapter on religious organizations. The United Brethren and Methodists held union services there early. The first schoolhouse in Providence was of logs, built in 1828, and stood on the eastern part of the Manor reserve. It was later school district number one. While there had been earlier instruction, the first employed school teacher there was Martha Karns, the year the schoolhouse was built. Cyrus H. Coy yet remembered in Toledo, began his active career as clerk in the store of A. B. Mead, Providence, and also taught school in the old log schoolhouses of that township. Providence township was organized June 6, 1836. The first township election, naturally, was held at the home of Peter Manor; the date was July 30, 1836. P. C. Mosher and Xenophon Mead were election clerks and Peter Manor and Thomas Rogers, election judges. The township officers chosen were: Drake Taylor, Benjamin Atkinson and Xenophon Mead, trustees; William Ewing, clerk; Norman Mead, treasurer ; George Hale and J. Diendeiffer, fence viewers; Peter Manor and Joseph Hartwell, constables. Some of the officials chosen refused to qualify and 1660 - STORY OF THE MAUMEE VALLEY there were two or three changes. William Ewing was the first justice of the peace. In 1835, a post office was established at the Town of Providence with James Berlin the first postmaster. When the village was ravaged by fire, the office was reestablished near the canal lock south of the town, but was discontinued about 1870, and mail received by the locality at Grand Rapids, Wood County and at Neapolis. For many years Providence was the postal center for a wide territory. Neapolis on the Wabash Railroad, now a thriving village, was laid out in 1872 by J. C. Arnold, William A. Barnett and Jackson Jordon of Dayton. The post office was established there the same year with T. B. Meredith evidently the first postmaster. RICHFIELD TOWNSHIP Richfield township is situated in the extreme northwest corner of the county and on the north joins the State of Michigan. Originally, Richfield was a part of Springfield and Sylvania townships, from which it was taken on its organization April 16, 1840. The meeting took place at the home of Willard S. Fuller who was the first township clerk. It takes its name from the fact of the richness of its soil and tillage for agricultural purposes. Ten Mile Creek, or Ottawa River, flows through the northern section and Sugar Creek runs through the southern part of the township. Among the earliest settlers were Lucian B. Araunah, Lucian B. Lathrop, Pliny Lathrop, James Farley, W. R. Cole, Isaac Washburn, Jacob Walfinger, David Hendrickson and Joseph Smith, who established themselves in that locality between 1834 and 1838. David Hendrickson arrived in 1834 from Boone County, New York, with a horse and wagon, by way of Buffalo, Cleveland, now Fremont and Perrysburg. After fording the Maumee River, they took an old Indian trail leading through now Holland and located in now the center of the township. The first apple and peach orchard was set out by Jacob Walfinger in 1834. Henry King opened the first store in the township in 1870, and Charles C. Welch a blacksmith, opened a shop in 1843. The Baptists were the early religious workers throughout the country section of Lucas County. The first sermon at a religious gathering in Richfield was preached in 1835 by Rev. A. H. Cole, a Baptist. The first road opened through the township ran from Toledo to Angola, Indiana, and was opened in 1834-1835. The TOLEDO AND THE SANDUSKY REGION - 1661 first school teacher was Francis Smith, who taught in the winter of 1834-1835, in a log schoolhouse built near Berkey's Corners, in section nine, and on the old Territorial Road. Up to late in the eighteen hundreds, there was not a place in the township where intoxicating liquors were sold. The first post office was established at Berkey's Corners in 1835, on the old Indiana Road. Riga was the name of the office and Col. Lucian B. Lathrop was the first postmaster. In 1865, the name of the post office was changed to Berkey. The first physician was Dr. M. M. Mason, who came there in 1840. Richfield Center, a thriving town, had a post office established in 1873 with William H. Williams, postmaster. Henry King, as stated, was the first merchant. Dr. E. Tompkins located there in 1877. Rev. Stillman Post organized a Christian Church society in 1855, which was established in a new church in the Lathrop neighborhood in 1870. SPENCER TOWNSHIP Spencer township located just south of Richfield, joins Fulton County on the west. It was organized in 1845, being taken from the townships of Swanton and Richfield. On account of a portion of the township being once known as "the barrens" and another part marshy prairie, settlement was slow. A few settlers took up their abode there between 1832 and 1835, while others who entered land there at the Monroe Land Office, never became actual residents. Among these were Thomas Clark, Samuel A. Sargent, William and E. S. Frost, Jonathan H. Jerome, Israel Rockwood and R. A. Forsyth, a majority of whom lived in Maumee. It will be noted that the northern portion of Lucas County was in the disputed Ohio-Michigan section, and consequently matters there were in rather an unsettled condition for some time. Among the first actual permanent home owners before 1835 were : Bennett Warren, Benjamin Fairchild, Abraham Johnson, John All, Aaron H. Cole, Samuel Coleman, Gideon Rice, William Taylor and Charles Carson. One of the early arrivals while yet living told the following story: "When we came here, it was all woods. There were more Indians than white people. We could see an Indian every day, or a squad of them with their squaws and pappooses, but a white man or white woman Was a rare sight. Our nearest neighbors lived from three to four miles off, and there were no roads, only trails through the woods. Maumee was the nearest point where 1662 - STORY OF THE MAUMEE VALLEY we could get needed supplies; and as there were no roads, even chopped out, we had to 'back' supplies to our cabins. The old route to Maumee was very crooked—the trail marked out by blazed trees. It bent away round the prairie—first to the south and then to the north—making the distance twice what it is now. After roads were cut out, we hauled our supplies and went to mill, mostly with oxen and on sleds at all seasons, for there were few wagons at first in the settlement. My father paid $14.00 for a barrel of flour at Maumee ; and that was not the hardest of it. A neighbor who was coming past our house without much load, and could just as easily bring the barrel of flour as not, charged him $1.00 for fetching it out. "The first mill I remember going to to get corn ground, was a concern run by oxen. They walked round, hitched to a pole or shaft. It was gotten up by a man by the name of Berry, near what is now Ai, in Fulton County. It was not much of a mill—a sort of coarse corn-cracker, like. Sometimes we went to Bliss-field, Michigan, to mill, and afterwards to Waterville. After the mill was built at the latter place, it was the best and the nearest, but it often took from one to three days to get a grist, the settlers coming from all around and waiting their turn. I have slept there all night on the bags, and at one time two nights, waiting for my grist. The usual mode of going to mill was with oxen, when one was well enough off to have such ; but most of the. settlers were poor and had to put up with great hardships. Sometimes men would go out and work at some odd job for a bushel or two of corn; take it on their backs to mill; wait for it to be ground; and return with the proceeds to their lonely cabins and anxiously-waiting families, often at night through the dark forests. Money was very scarce, prices high and most of the settlers poor. The land was wet, and chills and fevers prevailed. The country is now ditched and made healthy compared with what it was. Most of the pioneers, however, were hardy and strong men, and could stand almost anything." Like most of the early schoolhouses, the first one in Spencer township was built of logs on land owned by Eli Munson, Chester Holloway was the first teacher. The township organization was effected at a meeting of the residents held April 7, 1845 at the home of Abraham Johnson. The judges of the election were Abraham Johnson, John All and Darius Wyatt, with Aaron B. Cole and Benjamin Fairchild, clerks. At the balloting for township officers, Aaron B. Cole was TOLEDO AND THE SANDUSKY REGION - 1663 chosen clerk; Eli Munson, Samuel Coleman and William Brown, trustees; Theron Hamilton, treasurer. Later William Brown and Benjamin Fairchild were elected justices of the peace. The nearest post office was Maumee until an office was established at what was known as East Swanton which was later removed to Swanton and then a post office was located at Java. Rev. Aaron B. Cole was evidently a local Baptist missionary, for he preached in the schoolhouses of the township and held Baptist services in the pioneer homes. He came from 'York State and was ordained to preach in 1841. However, he held church services long before that time. Other Baptist ministers there were Elder Nill, Maumee, Rev. A. Brown, Rev. A. J. Porter, Rev. Horace Hall, Rev. A. J. Buel, Rev. F. C. Wright and Rev. James Adams. It was about 1836 that Father Armedeus Rappe opened mission work among the German Catholic settlers of Spencer township, holding services at the various homes of the neighborhood. A log church was built in 1851 which was later used for a school when a new frame church was built in 1864. This latter building was burned June 7, 1875, and was replaced by an elegant new brick church, the organization being known as the Church of Immaculate Conception. This building was practically destroyed by a tornado, except the side walls, March 4, 1880. It was rebuilt on still finer lines and later facts are given in the chapter on church organizations. The Rev. Charles Barbier was the first resident pastor, 1865, followed by Father John G. Vogt, who was succeeded by Father Weimer Muller. The German Reform Church of Spencer was founded in 1852. Among the organizers were the families of Andrew Reginald, Conrad Swine and Isaac Matzinger. The first church was built in 1864. A German Baptist organization was also effected and a church built in 1878. Rev. Sebastian Site was the first pastor. SPRINGFIELD TOWNSHIP Springfield township situated in the central part of Lucas County has undergone several changes since its organization in 1836. The first election on October 8, that year, was held at the cabin of William Ford, when Thomas Wood, James Egnew and John Birchfield were chosen trustees ; Peter Holloway, clerk; John Wiltse, treasurer; William Ford, constable; John Birch-field and John Spencer, justices of the peace. The next election, April 2, 1838, was held at the residence of Samuel Divine. 1664 - STORY OF THE MAUMEE VALLEY Swan Creek is the principal watercourse, which is joined near the eastern border of the township by Wolf Creek. The scenic beauties along Swan Creek and in many sections of Lucas County have a delightful individuality all their own. Especially in the fall months after the frost has touched the vegetation, there are miles upon miles of wondrous loveliness in the Oak Opening section, added to by the delightful display of the autumn wild flowers. Among the first arrivals to establish themselves in this section were Dennis Sage, 1829 (who died in 1887, aged ninety-three years) Chloe Lee and sons, 1830, Peter Holloway, 1834; Ellison DeMott, David Trumbull, Harrison Wood, John Strayer, Bingham D. Abbott, Jacob Falk, Abraham Walter, John Birchfield, Philander Noble and some others. One of the first roads laid out through this township was "the old county road" running from Lewis Rumseys to the "five mile tree." A bridge was built across Swan Creek "near Jacob Gnagys" in 1838. Holland came into existence in 1863, when the plat on the , north side of the main section of the town was laid out in March that year, by Robert Clark. Hall's first and second sub-divisions, constitute that part of the town lying south of the New York Central Railroad. Early stores were established there by Harrison Wood, Milan Perkins and T. W. Sage & Company. Up to 1888, there was a tavern' there and a blacksmith shop. A schoolhouse and one church—free Methodist, were built in 1870. The Methodist Episcopal organization occupied a church built by Thomas Wood, one mile south of Holland, dedicated in 1859. The society was organized at a very early day. SWANTON TOWNSHIP In the middle western section of Lucas County, joining Fulton County on the west and touching the present thriving town of Swanton, the settlements in the Swanton township locality had an early beginning. As originally established, the eastern boundary of Swanton township was the west line of the Twelve Miles Square U. S. Reserve and the northern boundary, now the Ohio-Michigan state line. The west line was in now Fulton County. When in 1850 Fulton County was organized, taking a part of Lucas, the name of that part of Wing township remaining in Lucas was changed to Swanton. TOLEDO AND THE SANDUSkY REGION - 1665 The original township of Wing was named for Charles L. Wing, who built the first home of Swanton township in 1834. It was constructed of logs and located on the west bank of Swan Creek and in the east half of the southeast quarter of section 8. Luther Dodge built a frame dwelling and store on the east bank of Swan Creek, near the junction of the two branches there and situated on the northeast quarter of section 5. The first road through the wilderness here was the state road running from Maumee to Swanton, on to the state line and located in 1835. Originally there was the town of Swanton in Fulton County, and East Swanton in Lucas County. A town plat was laid out by James Jackson and James H. Forsyth of Maumee in 1836, on the southwest corner of northwest quarter of section 8, at what was later known as Scott's Corners. The first tavern in now Swanton township was run by Huntington Larabee, about 1833. There were later several "stopping places" in that vicinity. James Williams had a blacksmith shop in East Swanton and Chester Scott, a wagon shop. The first sawmill in the vicinity was built by William Taylor in 1858, in section 6. Even in the West in the early days, there were cases of "binding out" as practiced in the older settlements. In 1844, Henry Knavel, guardian of William Notage, entered into contract with George Curtis, whereby young Notage, then fourteen years of age, was bound to Curtis until his majority, "to learn the trade and occupation of a farmer." Notage was "to faithfully serve said Curtis and correctly demean himself during the term of his apprenticeship ;" while Curtis covenanted to "teach the said Not-age the said trade and occupation, and provide him with meat, lodging, medicine, washing, clothing, and all other necessaries suitable for an apprentice; and send him three months in a year to school for the first six years; and at the expiration of said term of service, will furnish him with a new Bible, at least two suits of good new home-made wearing apparel, and one young horse to be worth fifty dollars." Another of early-time usages now rarely met, was that of "warning out of town" incomers "without visible means of support," the object being thereby to protect the tax-payers from the charges of such indigent visitors. Thus, in Wing township, as early as March, 1842, there is a record that the "Poor Masters," as overseers of poor were usually called, issued their warrant, directing the constable "to warn the Niger Gurl Merfey (meaning apparently negro girl Murphy), to depart the township forth- 1666 - STORY OF THE MAUMEE VALLEY with," which order was served "by reading service," with charge of 25 cents therefor, and 10 cents for traveling fees. Previous to the formation of Fulton County, Swanton was the most central point in Lucas County, and as such was the usual place for holding political conventions and other county assemblages. The first schoolhouse in Swanton township, of course of logs, was "raised" in 1835, on the northwest quarter of the southwest quarter of section 4. Daniel S. Westcott was the first teacher and later surveyor of Lucas County. The same winter-1835-1836a Mrs. Chamberlin taught a school in a cabin built by Willard Barnes, on a branch of Swan Creek, in the east half of the northwest quarter of section 7, and where Mr. and Mrs. Chamberlin then lived. The first election in Swanton township, then Wing township, was held April 4, 1836. The judges at the election were Huntington Larabee, Philo S. Scott and David Clute. The selection for trustees were, Huntington Larabee, James Lindsley and Willard Barnes; treasurer, David Mills; clerk, Thomas S. Sabin; constables, David Mills and Russell Tavernor. Most of the Swan Creek section was the favorite ground for the Indians. Their villages and habitations were strewn along its banks. Ottokee, a fine appearing chief was at the head of a contingent of the Ottawa tribe who had a village on the north half of the southeast quarter of now section 5, Swanton township. The chief in later years lived in a hut built by one Halford about 1834. They cultivated some open sections where the squaws raised corn and vegetables. Portions of Lucas County in early years were noted for the great quantities of huckleberries and one of the noted Indian "industries" was gathering this crop which they used themselves and exchanged for such trinkets and commodities as were attractive to them. When the Indians were removed to the West, Ottokee refused to go and died from exposure and cold while drunk. Near the original Swanton, on the northwest quarter of section 8 was located an Indian burial mound, or a mound possibly constructed by the Mound Builders. It was some two feet high and about fifty feet across and contained several human skeletons. A very important historical fact was the following: Near the line between sections 5 and 8, on the west bank of what has been called the northeast branch of Swan Creek, in 1835, was noted the discovery of a stockade, evidently of a military nature, TOLEDO AND THE SANDUSKY REGION - 1667 which was some one hundred and twenty feet across. The upright timbers found, showed they were from fifteen to eighteen inches in diameter, the stockade being surrounded by a trench. There is no record as to who the builders were or the date of construction, but it is possible the British were the builders, the purpose being to house supplies for the Indians. All along the line of the Toledo & Indiana electric railroad in Lucas County, have sprung up small hamlets containing clusters of homes, neighborhood stores, and perhaps a church and schoolhouse at hand. SYLVANIA TOWNSHIP In the north central portion of Lucas County lies the township of Sylvania. Its principal municipality is the hustling and thriving village of Sylvania, between which place and Toledo is a continuous residential and business section, consisting of beautiful homes, country estates and flourishing industries. The Ottawa River with its tributaries, runs its course through the township. The surface is chiefly rolling, with delightful situations, and the township takes its name from the original beautiful forests and woodlands. The township was settled early and had its populous pioneer communities. The first log cabin in Sylvania township was built by Gen. David White in 1832, upon the north bank of Ottawa River within the present town of Sylvania. Elkanah Briggs put up the first store, a frame building, occupied by H. D. Warren. Judge William Wilson built a structure of stone for a store, the stock of goods therein belonging to himself and W. F. Dewey, the firm name being Wilson & Dewey. Between 1832 and 1835, there were some one hundred and sixty land purchases in the township, showing the rapidity with which that section was settled. Benjamin Joy came to Sylvania from Genesee County, New York, as agent for the Wadsworth interests. Eli Hubbard was a leading man in the Methodist Church organization. Haskel D. Warren was an early merchant; William B. Warren was his son. Others were Pelig T. Clark and John U. Pease. General White and Judge Wilson were the founders of Sylvania. There were also Erastus Morse, and Andrew Printup. Among the earliest land purchasers appear the names of Augustus Prentice, William Wilkinson, Jackson Hoag, Wm. Prentice, Marcus Baldwin, Allen E. Wilcox, James M. Whitney, Stephen L. Wilkins, Wm. Bancroft, Russell Rowe, A. G. Gard- 1668 - STORY OF THE MAUMEE VALLEY iner, John A. Gardiner, C. E. Dudley, S. P. Germain, Calvin Tremaine, Isaac Tremaine and Charles Allen. Of course there were Indians through this section when the white settlements began. When the time came for their removal to the West, the Indians held a grand dance around the graves of their departed and made a night of hideousness in the Sylvania section. Libbie Bancroft who married J. Wing Allen, is named as the first white child born in Sylvania township. The first schoolhouse in that vicinity was built by General White, not far from the location of the present fine Sylvania High School building. It was a frame structure, size about 18 by 25 feet and was also used for church services. When the railroad was put through there in 1836, the running of trains on Sunday near-by so annoyed General White that he had the building removed to another part of the town, where it served the purpose of school and church for many years. While the township evidently had an organization before that date, the first available record is dated April 2, 1838, when the following officers were chosen : Trustees : Pliny Lathrop, Andrew Printup, Elijah Rice; Supervisors of Highways: District 1, Samuel D. Wiggins; 2. William M. Nelson; 3. William M. Leonardson; 4. John Harroun ; 5. Benjamin Joy; 7. George Gaby; 8. David Hendrickson; 9. Marcus Bennett. Clerk, William M. White; Treasurer, Daniel L. Westcott; Overseers of Poor : David White, Joel Green; Fence Viewers : John Harroun, Benjamin Joy, Elkanah Briggs; Constables : Porter Kelsey, Adolphus Majors, Oliver Root. At this election ninety-one votes were cast. At a town meeting for the election of justices of the peace for the township of Sylvania, held May 5, 1838, Pliny Lathrop and John U. Pease were selected. The judges of election, Andrew Printup, Pliny Lathrop and Wm. M. White, testified "that the number of electors at this election amounts to thirty-four." Waggoner in his history says further, that February 22, 1859, the pioneers of the township of Sylvania and Richfield, Lucas County; of Amboy and Royalton, Fulton County; and of Whiteford, Michigan, met at the house of Ellis Parker, in Sylvania, the same being "married persons, who had emigrated there prior to 1836." There were present sixty persons, pioneers. After a din ner, the meeting was addressed by different members. A historical account of the settlement of that region was read by Wm TOLEDO AND THE SANDUSKY REGION - 1669 M. White, when the time was occupied by others in brief statements of their several experiences and hardships. The first settlement of any of the townships named, was made by Gen. David White and Judge Wm. Wilson, in the spring and summer of 1832. They made their location at the mouth of the three forks of the Ottawa River, now Sylvania, then entering the lands on which that town stands. During that time ten or fifteen families came into the township of Whiteford, then under the jurisdiction of Michigan—including what are now Sylvania, Richfield, part of Springfield to the Fulton County line, and Whiteford. They laid out Sylvania and Whiteford villages. In 1833-34 considerable additions were made to the settlement, the increase continuing for twenty years. "The Toledo war" came on soon after the settlement of that section had fairly begun, in which conflict most of the settlers were "good and loyal subjects of the sovereign territory of Michigan ;" as they were of Ohio, when by law they were set off to that jurisdiction. It was resolved by the meeting to hold such a meeting annually, and to include Washington township, Lucas County, within their circle. For this purpose John U. Pease, Wm. F. Dewey and Wm. M. White were appointed a committee of arrangements. No record is found of such subsequent meetings. General White, who came from Palmyra, New York, also built the first mills on the Ottawa River, near his home. The original plat of Whiteford (now Sylvania) was laid out by General White of the date of July 11, 1835. It was the property on the east side of Division Street, then the dividing, line between the land of the General and that of William Wilson on the west. The original plat of Sylvania was opened by William Wilson, L. W. Allen, William F. Dewey and D. D. Harris, June 13, 1836, where most of the business section now stands. A new addition was opened by Coleman I. Keeler, Delavan D. Hawes and others March 24, 1837. Sylvania was incorporated in April, 1867. At the first election held April 17, that year, James W. Clark was chosen mayor; William Bryan, clerk; George M. Crandall, Jason McGlinn, Foster R. Warren and J. J. Ritchie, councilmen. In 1844, John U. Pease, Haskell D. Warren, William Bancroft and Horace Green received a state charter for "The Sylvania High School Company," for the purpose of establishing a high school in Sylvania, to promote practical and liberal education in the languages, art and sciences. 1670 - STORY OF THE MAUMEE VALLEY In accordance with the provisions of such act, the incorporation. ators met at the office of John U. Pease, in Sylvania, on the first Monday in May, 1844, and completed their organization. The following names were attached to the constitution in the company's records: Amos Miner. John B. Cory. A. J. Majors. James White. John U. Pease. Elijah Rice. Stephen Porter. John Leonardson, Jr Daniel B. Curtiss. David Harroun, Jr. H. A. W. Newcomb. H. D. Warren. William Lee. T. E. Miner. Jedediah Jessup. Daniel Durfee. Benjamin Joy. Daniel Delvin. Zuriah Cook, Jr. Beebe Comstock. Isaac Lewis. C. Anderson. William Corey. W. F. Dewey. Horace Green. Wm. M. White. Paul Hawes. C. D. Warren. W. H. Huling. Frederick Leonardson Erastus Morse. Rhial V. Vrooman. John A. Vrooman. William Wilson. B. W. Bradley. John Emery. J. W. Pomeroy. Peleg T. Clark. Isaac Tremaine. James Dein. The following officers were elected by ballot: Amos Miner, President; John B. Cory, Vice President; William F. Dewey, Secretary; James White, Treasurer; Benjamin Joy, Horace Green, Eli Hubbard, John U. Pease and David Harroun, Trustees. It is stated that Elder Elnathan C. Gavitt preached the first sermon in Sylvania, in the mill owned by General White and that a class was formed there in 1834. In 1836 Rev. Ira Chase was a minister in the Toledo Circuit which then embraced Toledo, Tremainesville, Norton, Bedford, Stony Ridge (Wood County), Tillotson, Hopewell, Big Woods, Vienna and Sylvania, then called Whiteford. The Congregational Church society was originally organized as "The First Presbyterian Church of the Town of Whiteford," at a meeting held for that purpose in the schoolhouse, November 8, 1834. Owing to certain unsatisfactory rules prescribed by 4 Monroe Presbytery, with which it was connected, the church in 1844 adopted the Congregational form of government, and has since been known as "First Congregational Church of Sylvania." Sylvania, on April 26, 1887, had a disastrous fire which destroyed most of the business section including the following concerns : Washington Lenardson, general store; the Misses Roberts, milliners; Milton Veasy, grocer; William W. Cowell, harness and carriages; William B. Warren, groceries and agricultural imple- TOLEDO AND THE SANDUSKY REGION - 1671 ments; Dr. W. A. Frost, physician and surgeon; Dr. F. B. Hanks, drugs; Owen Clark & Son, meat market and groceries; William Bryan, postmaster, post office and residence; W. H. Huling, general store; Temperance Hall and Lodge of K. G. R.; S. M. Judson, general store; William Chapel, barber and stationer; Orson Adsit, groceries; William B. Warren & Son, furniture and undertaking; Andrew Reager, boot and shoe shop ; John H. Parker, groceries. Mr. Waggoner also relates the following: As a young man named Hoag, residing six miles from Toledo, and in Sylvania township, was searching a piece of woods for missing sheep on the farm of Salmon Miner, in March, 1859, he discovered articles of clothing, bones, etc., which satisfied him that a human body had been consumed or decayed at that point. The next morning the neighbors turned out and proceeded to the spot, where were found the articles named by the boy, including various bones, boots and clothing. In the pockets were found a silver watch; a jack-knife; a purse with $136 in money; and a letter addressed to a Mr. Thurston. Inquiry at Toledo soon recalled the fact of the loss of an aeronaut of that name, who made an accidental ascension from Adrian, Mich., September 16, 1858, the circumstances of which were as follows : At 8 :30 A. M. of the day named, in company with an associate (Mr. Bannister) , Mr. Thurston made an advertised ascension, and successfully landed at Riga, on the Lake Shore Railroad, between Adrian and Sylvania. Stepping from the car, they proceeded to unfasten it and removed the netting from the balloon, which, turning over, rested neck upward. Mr. Thurston got straddle of the main valve, a wooden frame, fixed to the top of the gas-sack (containing 25,000 feet of gas) , and was engaged in forcing back the valve, which opened inward, at the same time requesting Mr. Bannister to untie the neck of the bag. The latter, then busy with the netting, neglected to do this, and the moment the netting was off the sack suddenly arose with Mr. Thurston clinging to the valve. Mr. Bannister instantly grasped for the ascending balloon, but Mr. Thurston cried, "Hold on, Bannister ! She will soon come down again," supposing the neck of the sack to have been untied. But not so. Up the balloon ascended, and when last seen by Bannister was full two miles high and sailing rapidly northward. A few days thereafter the balloon was found at West Tilbury, Canada West, with the disc of the valve torn three-fourths of the way round. It was assumed that the silk 1672 - STORY OF THE MAUMEE VALLEY around the valve had given way, thus precipitating Thurston to the earth. No tidings had been received of him at the time of the discovery in Sylvania. It was then remembered that on the day of the ascension, a boy in the neighborhood of Mr. Miner's farm told a neighbor of having seen some object fall into the same woods, to which his attention was called by a whistling sound; while another boy, at the same time, saw something passing over very high, and seeming to be a kite. Investigation at Adrian soon showed the remains in question to have been those of the lost aeronaut. The watch had stopped at 11 :40, showing the time of the fatal fall. The remains of Mr. Thurston, with the articles found, were taken to Adrian and delivered to the administrator of his estate. Waggoner further says : District No. 2 of the Town of Sylvania having taken steps towards the erection of a school building, it was proposed by the High School Company to cooperate with the directors of the district in making the house suitable for the purposes both of the district and the company. Accordingly, such arrangement was made. The building was located centrally, on the west side of Division Street, occupying the same site as the present school building. It was about 40x60 feet in dimensions, two stories high, and surmounted by a tower or belfry. It was opened in the fall of 1844, the high school department occupying the upper story. Among the principals who taught there while it was under the company's management were Professors Gifford, Daniel L. Westcott, and Rev. J. B. Taylor. The school numbered among its pupils more than the average village student—such as the following: Ira E. Lee, of Toledo; E. R. Wilson, of Bluffton, Ind.; Almeda Doty, of Topeka, Kas.; Chester H. Harroun, of Toledo; Don A. Pease and Foster R. Warren; James W. Clark, son of Peleg T. Clark, who died in Toledo. The school continued to be managed by the company until about 1850, when settlement was made with the stockholders and a dividend declared. The stock was finally disposed of to the township board of education and the school passed wholly under the management of the town board. It has been a free graded school since 1872. J. C. Jones was their principal and superintendent. WASHINGTON TOWNSHIP Washington township lies on the western border of the Maumee River and Bay, takes in the northern part of the Cit TOLEDO AND THE SANDUSKY REGION - 1673 of Toledo and borders the Michigan State line on the north. It is traversed by the Ottawa River (Ten Mile Creek) from southwest to northeast. It was originally a part of Port Lawrence township and was organized in 1840. The meeting for the election of township officers was held at the home of Benjamin Mallet, Tremainesville, June 27, 1840. The officials chosen were as follows : Trustees, Alvin Evans, John Lambert and Lyman Haughton ; clerk, Sanford L. Collins; treasurer, John Knaggs; constable, Thomas Wilkinson. The early history of the township is necessarily associated with that of Toledo, when it was a part of Port Lawrence township. Settlements in later Washington township were made at an early date, by Maj. Coleman I. Keeler, 1817, who died in 1863, aged eighty-six years; William Sibley and Eli Hubbard. This was before the survey of public lands and the opening of the land office at Monroe, Mich. Eli Hubbard settled first on land now a part of Woodlawn Cemetery. Maj. Noah A. Whitney, with a large family, came from Onondaga County, New York, in September, 1822. Their route was through Canada in two covered wagons, one drawn by oxen. They were four weeks in reaching Detroit, spending nine days of this time in traversing the Forty-Mile Woods. Major Whitney was an ironworker. In 1824 he purchased the east half of the southwest quarter section (160 acres) bounded on the east by now Collingwood Avenue, on the south by Bancroft Street, and on the north by Delaware Avenue. He built a block-house for the protection of his family. His sons, Noah A. Whitney, Jr., and Thomas P. Whitney, settled on the southeast quarter of section 27, bordering now Detroit Avenue. John Phillips, another early settler, arrived here in 1825. He settled on the west half of the southwest quarter of section 27 (160 acres), now a part of Woodlawn Cemetery.' Cyrus Fisher, in the fall of 1829, settled on lands between the old Territorial Road and the U. S. Reserve Turnpike. Here he built a blockhouse, which, besides a residence, he utilized as a store and tavern. It was the only trading point between the Bay Settlement and Miami, and with two exceptions the only house of any character between these points on the line mentioned. Fisher's trading place was the first in Washington township as originally set off from Port Lawrence, of modern days. There were at the time some 1,500 to 1,800 Indians living on the two reservations on the north side of the river. As there was no trading point nearer 1674 - STORY OF THE MAUMEE VALLEY than Hunt & Forsyth's, Maumee, the trade with the Indians was profitable, until their removal to the West. There was a post office at Fisher's store, with himself postmaster. It was the one post office at the time between Vienna and Maumee, and was called Port Lawrence, as it was then in Port Lawrence township, at the time embracing what was later Toledo and Manhattan, Oregon, Washington and Adams townships. The mail was carried three times a week from Lower Sandusky (Fremont). At Fisher's, Major Stickney and others received their mail when the Town of Vistula was established. Calvin Tremaine succeeded Fisher as postmaster and the post office became Tremainesville, with Sanford L. Collins later postmaster. His story is told in the chapter of Reminiscences. In February, 1834, Morgan L. Collins, a younger brother of Sanford, came from Orleans County, New York; this brother remained and became interested in the store and lands. Soon contracts were made for clearing and fencing, for it was all woods on both sides of the Territorial Road (now Collingwood Avenue) from Major Keeler's, near Delaware Avenue, to Ten Mile Creek, except a little patch near Tremaine's store and the Fisher tavern kept by Mr. Smiley. In the fall of 1834 the Collins brothers built a tavern on the southeast corner of Manhattan Road and the turnpike; this house was burned in the summer of 1848. When Horace Thatcher arrived from Niagara County, New York, at Tremainesville in 1833, on the north side of Ten Mile Creek, one of his early efforts was to aid largely in building the Methodist Church there in 1835-1836. He was an itinerant preacher, justice of the peace under the Territory of Michigan. and later county recorder and probate judge of Lucas County. Among the prominent early settlers in the western part of Washington township were Lyman, Stephen, Marvin and Cyrus Haughton, of Monroe County, New York, who took up large tracts of land in now the Haughton Street section, in 1833. The first plat of what later became known as West Toledo was laid out from the "Phillips Farm"—Philip I. Phillips. West Toledo post office was established in 1879, with J. M. Lycan postmaster. The first preaching under the auspices of the Methodist society in what was known as West Toledo was by Rev. John A. Baugman, of the Monroe circuit, in 1825. Two classes were formed—one of women, under the leadership of Mrs. Frances M. Whitney, and a class of men, led by William Wilkinson. The TOLEDO AND THE SANDUSKY REGION - 1675 plat of the part of Washington township later known as Auburndale was laid out by Amasa. Bishop in 1873. WATERVILLE TOWNSHIP What is now Waterville township was one of the earliest settled portions of Lucas County. Along the Rapids of the Maumee was a favorite abiding place for the Indians of primitive days, and relics and deposits found in the Waterville township area show there were Indian villages there long before the times known to history. Near Roche de Boeuf Rock was a mound which at one time contained the skeletons and relics from Indian or prehistoric burials. Regarding this earthen structure Peter Manor handed down the following tradition : "At the time when the plum, thorn-apple and wild grape were the only products, and long prior to the advent of the paleface, the Ottawas were camped here, engaged in their games and pastimes, as was usual when not clad in war-paint and on the lookout for an enemy. One of the young scions of the tribe, engaged in playing on Roche de Boeuf (Rock in the River), fell over the precipice and was instantly killed. The dusky husband, on his return from the council-fires, on being informed of the fate of his prospective successor, at once sent the mother in search of her papoose, by pushing her over the rocky sides into the shallow waters of the Maumee. Her next of kin, according to Indian law, executed the murdering husband, and was in turn executed in the same manner, until the frantic passions were checked by the arrival of the principal chiefs of the tribe. This sudden outburst cost the tribe nearly two-thirds its members, whose bodies were taken from the river and buried with full Indian honors the next day." This story is given without regard to its authenticity. It is more probable that the site was a burial place for the prehistoric people, the Mound Builders, who left a few of their earthen monuments along the Maumee. The main road along the west side of the river was originally an old Indian trail and later used by the military. The Red Men from the Wapakoneta section used this trail in their annual visits to Detroit to secure their annuities. Aunt Lucia Haskins in her day told of seeing the old winding path being "literally packed with Indians," on their way to Detroit to procure their bounties from the British. What was known as Granger Island took its 1676 - STORY OF THE MAUMEE VALLEY name from a squatter named Granger, whom John Pray was obliged to eject when he entered the island from the Government. Mr. Pray arrived in the Waterville section first in 1817, and settled there permanently in 1818. Then came, the same year, Orson Ballou, and Whitcomb Haskins in 1822. The first actual settler was Isaac Richardson, near Roche de Boeuf, above Waterville, in 1814. Gilbert Underwood arrived in 1816, the Adams family in 1817; and Artemus Underwood, from Onondaga County, New York; in 1818 settled on Presque Isle Hill, just above Turkey Foot Rock and the Anthony Wayne monument, and where Gen. James Winchester had his fortified camp, War of 1812. Warren B. Gunn, who was later an old settler near Monclova, was born on the old Gunn farm in 1820. Other early land purchasers were Martin Gunn, John Hollister, R. A. Forsyth, Joseph C. Larwell, Mathias S. VanFleet, Caleb Reynolds, Elias Fowler, Elijah Dodd, John Van Fleet, Thomas Shoemaker, Salmon Cross, Ralph Farnsworth, Isaac T. Dudley, Valentine Winslow, Paris Pray, Myers Shoemaker, Anthony LaPoint, Daniel Lakin and Peter Roberdeaux, with, of course, many others. The first tavern in that locality was opened by the notorious Isaac Richardson in 1816 on the Roche de Boeuf farm. It was of the double log house style, with a roofed, outdoor space between. It was here Richardson, who had greatly wronged an Indian named Porter, was shot by the latter in 1829, for which offense Porter was hung at the foot of Fort Meigs in 1831. The Roche de Beouf farm was later known as the Dodd homestead, and upon which stands the beautiful Spanish villa built by the late George Stevens, known as the first director of the Toledo Museum of Art. John Pray, who laid out the Town of Waterville, opened a tavern on the site of the Columbus House, Waterville, in 1828, and Lyman Dudley opened the Wabash House on the opposite side of the street in 1830. Strange to say, the motive power of the first mill in that section was oxen. About 1818, Adams Hunt & Company built a mill of hand-made clapboards and painted it red,' and it came to be known as the "Old Red Ox-Mill." It was located about a mile and a half north of Waterville and was used mostly as a feed mill. In 1825 it was rebuilt for a schoolhouse. In 1821, John Pray built a grist mill on Granger Island. In 1830 he constructed a mill in the Town of Waterville. In 1835 Pray sold Granger Island to Theophilus Short and Ira Wilder. He reserved the right to "remove everything in the old, mill on the TOLEDO AND THE SANDUSKY REGION - 1677 island except the water wheel and the contents of the barn." Another incongruity is the evident fact that Hiram P. Barlow, a later mentioned teacher, built for John Pray a distillery. In March, 1836, Saw-en-de-bans, or the Yellow Hair, alias Peter Minor (an adopted son of Ton-dog-a-nee, chief of the Ottawa tribe of Indians) , in consideration of $60,000, sold to Robert Forsyth and George B. Knaggs, 643 acres of land, which was confirmed to Minor by the President, under the negotiated treaty with the Ottawas in February, 1833; the same lying on the north or west side of Maumee River, at the Wolf Rapids. Angelica, wife of Peter Minor, joined in the deed. The witnesses to the conveyance were Guy Nearing and James King; the former as justice of the peace, taking Minor's acknowledgment of the same; while J. H. Forsyth, Horatio Conant, C. C. P. Hunt and Oscar White certified to Minor's fitness to transact such business, and to the sufficiency of the price paid for the property. Gen. Lewis Cass, then secretary of war, endorsed the high respectability of these parties. Evidently the purchasers did not make a success of their investment, for in August, 1836, the same property was deeded back to Minor by the grantees of his deed, at the same price, $60,000. The first election for township officers was held April 4, 1831. Jacob Eberly, George W. Evans and Daniel Lakin were election judges, and Ralph Farnsworth and William Meeker, clerks. The township trustees chosen were Jonas Cleveland, William Meeker and James C. Adams; overseers of the poor, Willard Gunn and Jeremiah Johnson; clerk, Ralph Farnsworth; treasurer, George W. Evans; constable, David Robbins; fence viewers, Richard Gunn and Jacob Eberly; supervisors of highway, John Van Fleet and Whitcomb Haskins. June 21, 1831, John Van Fleet and Daniel Lakin were chosen justices of the peace, and Ralph Farnsworth to the same office December 31, that year. In 1836, during the canal construction era, the township trustees held a meeting at the Western Exchange Tavern, at which, in effect, the township clerk made the following entry: It having come to the knowledge of the trustees that there . have "lately come into the township certain persons on the Canal line, who are not legal residents thereof," and that one or more of them "are likely to become a township charge," warrants are, issued to Lewis Eastwood, constable, warning such persons "forthwith to leave said township." The return made by the constable showed that he had meantime served such warrant by 1678 - STORY OF THE MAUMEE VALLEY reading the same to 541 different persons; and by copy to five persons, making a total of 546. They seem to have been employed by the contractors on sections 28 to 40, inclusive, of the Wabash and Erie Canal, and all within Waterville township. The constable's fees for service of the warrant amounted to $53.37 1/2. On settlement, March 9, 1849, with James B. Steedman, Supervisor of Road District No. 4, the trustees found in his hands two notes of residents for delinquent road work ($3.00) and "cash paid in," $0.25; total, $3.25, which was delivered to Elijah Dodd, treasurer. CHURCHES—The Methodist Episcopal society at Waterville was evidently organized in 1834, the same year of the Maumee organization. Rev. Elam Day was the first preacher. Among the first members were Harriet Farnsworth, Jane Adams, Thomas Gleason and wife, Hannah Cross, John Hoag, Elisha Hanson and Sarah Bailey. The first church building was started in 1841, with Liberty Prentiss pastor, and completed in 1844. Elder Thomas Barkdull preached the first sermon in the new, church. Previous to the organization of the Methodist society, Rev. Henry E. Pilcher and Rev. Elnathan C. Gavitt, then of the Michigan Conference, preached there. The Presbyterian organization at Waterville was established in 1837 by the Rev. Benjamin Woodbury. The first members were Henry Reed, Sr., and wife Elizabeth, and daughters Wealthy, Fanny and Temperance, Mrs. Elizabeth Hall and daughters Sarah and Amanda, and Hannah Pray and Mrs. Dodd. A frame church was built in 1856 and dedicated by the Rev. P. C. Baldwin of Maumee, known as "the organizer of Presbyterian Church societies," throughout Northwestern Ohio, especially in Wood County. The first German Lutheran organization in Waterville township was effected in 1866 by the Rev. C. F. Kadling of Perrysburg, at a point on the "Dutch Road" in the northern section. The services were held in the schoolhouse on the then Hutchinson farm "near the canal bridge." Previous to this organization the 'nearest church was at Maumee, in charge of Rev. Carl Mark Scheffel. In 1876 Rev. Theo. Meier of Custar, Ohio, organized a congregation in Waterville. Evidently the first school in Waterville township was held in the "Old Red Ox-Mill" referred to, with Deacon Hiram P. Barlow the teacher. The sessions were held there from 1825 TOLEDO AND THE SANDUSKY REGION - 1679 to 1828. Barlow was one of the first educators in the Maumee Valley, where he settled in 1816, at Orleans, and taught school during the winter of 1816-1817. In 1832 Miss Olive Gunn taught school in a combination log and frame building. The first schoolhouse in Waterville was built in 1834, corner of Main and South streets. L. R. Austin was the first instructor. Miss Kate Brown was at the head of the schools in 1885-1886, when the first structure on the present school site was built. E. W. Lenderson, Toledo, was superintendent there for ten years. When Waterville was platted by John Pray, in 1830, it was the second existing village plat in Lucas County, next to Maumee. While Port Lawrence was originally laid .out in 1817, the first plat was vacated and abandoned. WHITEHOUSE—The now thriving and prosperous Village of Whitehouse, near the center of Waterville township, was established in 1864, the plat thereof being recorded July 5, that year. It was named for Edward Whitehouse, of New York, then a director of the Wabash Railroad. A general store was opened at that point in 1858 by A. J. Eldridge, and Alexander Walp was evidently the first postmaster. John Stoker built the Stoker House in 1874, later the Union Hotel. A commodious schoolhouse was built in 1877, the earlier frame structure being destroyed by fire. The Methodist Protestant Church society of Whitehouse was organized in 1846. WAYNESFIELD TOWNSHIP The territory comprised within Waynesfield township is only a small part of its original dimensions, previously referred to. Its area is about thirty square miles, and within which is the expanding little City of Maumee. As first constituted, Waynesfield, named for Gen. Anthony Wayne, was the first township in Ohio which contained lands north or west of the Maumee River. During the Ohio-Michigan boundary controversy, at a special meeting of the commissioners of Lucas County, the civil jurisdiction of Waynesfield township was extended to the northern boundary of Ohio as then claimed and now constituted. For the time being this move practically vitiated the township of Port Lawrence as an organization, which remained in a state of suspended animation for three days and during the state election." That crisis past, Port Lawrence was, October 15, 1835, restored to its proper functions. As related elsewhere, the first record made at the recorder's 1680 - STORY OF THE MAUMEE VALLEY office of then Wood County related to lands in Waynesfield township, and consisted of the plat of Maumee City prepared by A. I Wheeler for John E. Hunt, in August, 1818. It contained 10' lots, 75 by 132 feet. Of these, three lots at the southwest come, of Conant and Detroit streets were set apart for public ground and two at the northwest corner of Gibbs and Detroit streets wen set apart for church and school purposes. The plat was acknowl edged before Seneca Allen, justice of the peace for the County o Logan. Mr. Allen then resided at Orleans, below the site of For Meigs. The first transfer of property recorded in Wood Count was the deed of Thomas Leaming to Ephraim H. Learning, Juh 21, 1831, for 160 acres of land in section 5, Waynesfield town ship. The next was the deed of Aurora Spafford to David Hull dated December 14, 1819, of a lot in Maumee for $400. Maumee was incorporated in March, 1838, and the trustees of Waynesfield township appointed two judges for the election of village officers, which was held on the 26th of March the above year, and at which the following officials were chosen: Robert A. Forsyth, mayor by 117 votes over Gen. John E. Hunt, who received fifty-six votes; councilmen First Ward, Robert E. Forsyth, Daniel Cook, William Kingsbury, William St. Clair; councilmen Second Ward, James Wolcott, Levi Beebe, Daniel R. Stebbins, T. T. Woodruff; councilmen Third Ward, J. Austin Scott, George Kirtland, Joseph J. Bingham, George B. Knaggs. On March 29th, at their meeting in the Washington House hall, the council chose as president of that body James Wolcott; Daniel Cook, village treasurer ; recorder (clerk), Henry Reed, Jr.; marshal, F. E. Kirtland. There were then in the town 865 people. In 1871 the corporate name was changed to South Toledo, and in July, 1887, it resumed its proper name Maumee, dropping the word city. Before the days of the canals, Maumee and Perrysburg were the principal shipping points on the river. The act of Congress to establish a customs district of Miami was passed March 3, 1805. Amos Spafford was the collector at this port in 1810. Skins and furs and bear's oil were the exports. When the War of 1812 began, business was discontinued. In 1836 W. W. Mum-ford built docks and a warehouse at "Port Miami" at the foot of now Hubble Street and carried on an extensive commission and forwarding business. Judge James Wolcott built a warehouse below the present business section and there was also a dock and warehouse at the foot of Tappin Street, and another east of Wil- TOLEDO AND THE SANDUSKY REGION - 1681 liams Street; a dock and warehouse at the foot of Dudley Street, one at the foot of Gibbs Street, and still another at the foot of Broadway. The present American House was then located close to the upper steamboat landing. The canal business was at its peak at Maumee from the time the side cut was finished from the main line to the river in 1842, until 1845, when the boats mostly passed down to Toledo on the main cut. May 8th, 1843, was a memorable day for Maumee, as on that date the first canal boat, the Albert S. White, passed through the town. The first boat from Cincinnati arrived June 27, 1845. The first packet arrived in June, 1847. Abner L. Backus, later a prominent Toledo grain merchant, was Maumee's first canal collector. In 1848 the number of canal boats listed as passing through Maumee was 3,753. Before the canals, the shipping business of Maumee and Perrysburg was carried on principally until 1833 by two small schooners, the Eagle and the Guerrier, owned by John Hollister and Capt. David Wilkinson, of Perrysburg. During that year a small steamboat (the General Brady) commenced running between these two places and Detroit. In 1834 the steamboat Oliver Newberry, a second-class boat, made a few trips to those towns, as did the Detroit, a boat of the same class and size. Two small boats, the General Jackson and Major Downing, made their appearance the same season, running to Detroit, and the schooner Merchant was built and commenced making trips to Buffalo. In May, 1835, the steamer Commodore Perry, Captain Wilkinson, came out. Several large schooners were built. Between 1835 and 1838 the Monroe and Oliver Newberry were purchased, the General Wayne built, and other steamers secured. The steamboat arrivals at these towns in 1837 was about 300, and of schooners 103. At that time lake freights for Fort Wayne, Ind., came entirely via the Maumee River, and chiefly Perrysburg and Maumee; and it is probable that the first combination for the control of transportation rates was one of which Fort Wayne merchants complained at a meeting held March 25, 1837, with Francis Comparet in the chair, and Joseph Sinclair as secretary. William G. Ewing stated "the object of the meeting to be to consider what course it is necessary for merchants and others who are transporting goods from the East to adopt in order to secure themselves from oppression by a combination of the forwarding merchants of Maumee and Perrysburg." G. F. Wright stated that the rates 1682 - STORY OF THE MAUMEE VALLEY referred to were nearly 100 per cent higher than were charged at any other point on the lake. Samuel Hanna referred to the rule of the forwarding merchants requiring prepayment of all charges before forwarding property. The result of this movement is not recorded. In 1838 there were seven taverns in Maumee City. The Franklin House, a large frame building, was situated at till intersection of Dudley Street and Waite Avenue, James W. Con verse proprietor. The Commercial Building, the three-story brie] at Wayne Street and Waite Avenue, was constructed in 1836, am was occupied, as the name indicates, with several stores, a ban] and the post office. The Jefferson House, a two-story frame build ing, was situated in Hunt's Addition, and fronting on Harrison Avenue. The Washington House, a two-story frame building stood on Waite Avenue, in Hunt and Beaugrand's Addition, an was built in 1834 by A. D. Williams. In 1838 the first Maume City Council organized and occupied the second floor in this build ing as a council chamber for one year. The Kingsbury House, three-story frame building, situated in Hunt's Addition, seem plat, was constructed in 1834 by William Kingsbury. In 1833 the proprietors of the Central House, built in 1823 were Allen and Gibbons. It was occupied as a general store am a tavern. This is said to have been the first frame tavern ir. Maumee City and was situated on Harrison Avenue, where the public school now stands. The American House was erected in 1836 by Woodruff & Clark, and was situated on the bend of the River Road on Wolcott Street, on the bank of the river above the steamboat landing. In 1839 it was operated as a tavern by Cyrus Tyral. In 1842 the building was moved to the intersection of Conant and Dudley streets. The Miami House, owned by George Kirkland, was situated at Askins Street at Miami. The earliest newspaper published in Maumee was The Express, the first number of which appeared March 25, 1837, championed by an association of citizens headed by Calvin Frary. The editor was Henry Reed, Jr. Then came the Maumee River Times, H. T. Smith editor, which suspended in 1855. After the Maumee River Times, there followed The Amulet, a weekly newspaper, published by William Holt. Then, during the Civil war, and for some time thereafter, the town was without a paper until November 20, 1871, when P. C. Holt published the Maumee Advertiser, issued weekly. This paper was changed into the New Era in 1876 by John E. Wilcox and published TOLEDO AND THE SANDUSKY REGION - 1683 weekly. Then in 1887 J. E. Dudley published a weekly newspaper called the Natural Gas. It lasted less than two years. The Maumee Advance appeared in 1895, published by John A. Smith and O. J. Graham. In 1902 the New Era plant was destroyed by fire and the Advance and New Era were consolidated by Herbert S. Dickson, and continues to be published as the Advance-Era, with H. M. Pomeroy owner and editor, and is a well established, interesting publication. Then in 1925 appeared the Maumee Valley News, an enterprising and interesting weekly, under the direction of Leonard C. Bennett. The story of the churches, the Presbyterian, Methodist, Baptist, Catholic, Episcopal and Lutheran denominations, is related in the general chapter on Church Organizations. Upon the one hundredth anniversary of the founding of Northern Light Lodge, No. 40, F. and A. M., at Maumee, Mr. A. F. Files wrote a sketch of the same. On account of its historical value a part of the account is here produced. After a preliminary historical survey of the Northwest Territory reaching down to Fort Meigs, War of 1812, Mr. Files says : So it is indeed historic ground—this spot on which was organized the first lodge of Masons in Northwestern Ohio. Here at Fort Meigs, in 1813, Army Lodge, No. 24, had been established, with authority to hold its meetings at Camp Meigs or elsewhere as the casualties of war might direct, but there is nothing further of record to indicate the activity of Army Lodge, and it quite probably was discontinued with the disbanding of the troops after the war. Among about forty settlers at Waynesfield and along the rapids above, were five Masons who petitioned for and were granted "all the privileges of right appertaining to a Lodge held by Dispensation, to be used and exercised agreeably to the Rules and Land Marks of Masonry." This was sealed and signed at Chillicothe, March 5, 1817, by Henry Brush, grand master (an officer in the War of 1812) , and R. Kercheval, grand secretary. This lodge was Northern Light, No. 40, the one hundredth year of whose existence we now celebrate. Connected by only a trail through a wilderness of woods seventy-five miles northward was her nearest neighbor at Detroit. At Mansfield, eighty miles southeast, was Mansfield Lodge, No. 35, the nearest in Ohio, with Hiram, No. 18, at Delaware, next, and Cleveland and Urbana following in order. In issuing the dispensation the grand master 1684 - STORY OF THE MAUMEE VALLEY appointed Brother Almon Gibbs, master; Brother William Griffith, senior warden; Brother Charles Gunn, junior warden. Since its organization the lodge has had five places of meeting, three of which are still standing. For the first ten years meetings were held in an upper room in a building occupied by Dr. Horatio Conant as residence, and hotel known as the Central Hotel, located on Erie Street, near the present site of the high school. The next place of meeting was in a room leased from Brother Robert A. Forsythe in a brick building at the foot of Conant Street, below the hill toward the river. In this building, which has long since been obliterated, meetings were held until early in the summer of 1851, when temporary quarters were taken with the Sons of Temperance in the Hull Building, on Harrison Avenue, then' known as Erie Street, and now owned by Mr. P. M. Puhl (1917). September 2nd, 1851, the lodge first occupied its own property, having purchased the house and lot at No. 34 Wayne Street, which is still at its original location, though now moved farther back on the lot and changed considerably in appearance by having its clapboard siding replaced by stucco, and by addition of porches. This property is now owned and occupied by Brother Dean Meyers. In 1856 Union Hall was purchased from the Sons of Temperance, and has been continuously occupied until now, after a half century of occupancy,, it is replaced by the Temple we have today dedicated. The idea of new lodge rooms, which had been in mind for some time, assumed tangibility in February, 1915, when Brother A. B. Creps, then worshipful master, appointed the following brethren to act as a building committee : Dr. George W. Clark, chairman; H. P. Bamford, A. W. Cone, G. W. Shaffer and L. A. Eckert. This committee did its work well, and finally submitted plans and estimates. Then a new worshipful master, Brother Lovell B. Rhonehouse, appointed a committee on finance as follows: Brother William Perrin, chairman; J. B. Rutherford, W. S. Swan, F. N. Glann, L. A. Eckert. Today we see the results of the splendid work of both of these committees, and Northern Light Lodge, No. 40, Fort Meigs Chapter, R. A. M., and Maumee Chapter, Order of the Eastern Star, are rejoicing in a new, modern and commodious home for their work. We have already mentioned the fact that the first recorded place of meeting was at the home of Dr. Horatio Conant. Doctor Conant was the first to take the master's degree in Northern Light. He had come to Waynesfield in 1816, and was engaged TOLEDO AND THE SANDUSKY REGION - 1685 in business with Almon Gibbs, first master of the lodge. While on a business trip to Detroit that year, he stopped at a house in the upper story of which a Masonic lodge was being held. To satisfy his own desire and afford a pleasure to his partner and friend, Mr. Gibbs, Doctor Conant sent in his application and received the Entered Apprentice degree. The following year, on the 5th of May, he was passed to the Fellow Craft degree, and on the same date raised to the sublime degree of a Master Mason. It would seem quite an innovation at this time for a candidate to receive two degrees at one meeting, but apparently it was nothing unusual then, for we read in the secretary's minutes of the lodge dated February 20, 1823, that David Wilkinson presented his petition and received the Entered Apprentice and Fellow Craft degrees at that meeting, and on June 2d, the same year, Brother Francis Charter received the Fellow Craft and Master's degrees. The first to receive all degrees in Northern Light were Seneca Allen and Daniel Murray, whose petitions came in together, being initiated May 1st, passed May 5th and raised May 25th, all in 1817. Seneca Allen doubtlessly presided over the first civic court in the settlement at the foot of the Rapids, as he was the first justice of the peace in this locality. His office was probably at Orleans, a mushroom city on the river flats opposite Maumee, in front of Fort Meigs, regularly platted and boomed before either Maumee or Perrysburg was surveyed. The jurisdiction of Northern Light Lodge covered about all of Northwestern Ohio along and north of Maumee River, and well up into Michigan toward Detroit. Again we refer to the little old secretary's book and find that on the 27th of December, 1823, Harry Conant and Charles Noble, of Monroe, Territory of Michigan, presented their petitions for membership. Even as late as 1853 we find that Brother Octavius Waters came twenty miles from the vicinity of Delta to take his degrees, and thereafter, until the organization of Delta Lodge in 1854, he was quite regular in his attendance here, usually accompanied by other brethren of that vicinity. Northern Light Lodge, No. 40, is truly the mother of lodges in Northwestern Ohio. All the older lodges came to her for division of jurisdiction before petitioning for dispensation to work. These were granted in the following order: Toledo Lodge, No. 144, 1846; Defiance, 1848; West Unity, 1849; Fulton County 1686 - STORY OF THE MAUMEE VALLEY Lodge, Delta, 1853; Sylvania Lodge, 1856; Tontogany, 1869; Swanton, 1888. Between 1827 and 1845 no regular communications of Northern Light Lodge were held. This was the period of anti-Masonic frenzy developed from the Morgan imbroglio in Western New York. * * * Masters of the lodge have been as follows : Almon Gibbs, 1817; Seneca Allen, 1819; John Hollester, 1824; Horatio Conant, 1827; James Wilkinson, elected December 29, 1827; Andrew Young, 1845; Thomas Clark, II, 1848; H. S. Commager, 1850; H. Thatcher, 1852; Freeborn Potter, 1853; William Robertson, 1854; Warren B. Gunn, 1870; L. S. Barnes, 1876; S. W. Cass, 1878; J. V. Shoemaker, 1880; W. J. Sharpe, 1881; E. S. Lloyd, 1886; J. H. Wyman, 1887; J. H. Binkley, 1892; William S. Swan, 1894; S. W. Cass, 1896; W. S. Swan, 1898; E. S. Lloyd, 1899; G. W. Rhonehouse, 1901; John W. Lloyd, 1904; John H. Russell, 1905; Ernest H. Perrin, 1906; N. N. White, 1908; A. W. Cone, 1909; E. L. Kane, 1910; H. W. Lloyd, 1911; William Perrin, Jr., 1912; Bert Bordeaux, 1913; W. E. Smith, 1914; A. B. Creps, 1915; L. B. Rhonehouse, 1916; George W. Shafer, 1917. To the venerable Judge David R. Austin, now a member of a Toledo lodge (1917), belongs the distinction of being the oldest living Mason who received his degrees in Northern Light Lodge. On him the third degree was conferred April 17th, 1856, sixty-one years ago. Next in seniority is John L. Wiltse, now also of Toledo, whose master's degree was received April 19, 1864. Rev. N. N. Clark, now living in Petersburg, Mich., was raised April 7, 1866. These are the oldest living Masons who were made such in Northern Light, and now hold affiliation elsewhere. It is quite remarkable that the oldest living member of the Northern Light Lodge is the son of the first man to be raised to the master's degree in the lodge. Brother A. B. Conant, son of Dr. Horatio Conant, received all his degrees in Northern Light Lodge, the date of the third being March 20, 1866. Fifty-one years of continuous membership here is the enviable record of Brother Austin Conant (Conant died in 1929). * * * Page after page of records in the secretary's book may be found in the familiar hand of Brother John Wilcox, and his attendance is quite regular when not hibernating in Chicago. Twenty-five years ago I had the honor to stand as historian for Northern Light Lodge at the celebration of her seventy-fif anniversary. As touching the development of Maumee and TOLEDO AND THE SANDUSKY REGION - 1687 vicinity and the country in general during the time of our organization, I copy from that address : "Could she speak, Northern Light might rehearse an interesting tale of the rise and decay of Old Maumee (and I may now add, the rejuvenation of our beautiful little city) . She could distinctly remember when this was but a struggling frontier village, a stopping place on the trail from Upper Sandusky and Fremont to Detroit; when travelers forded the river or were ferried across. She could recollect when all the business was done on the flats below the hill, along the side cut and river; when locks and warehouses lining the river from Miami to the present site of the river bridge received from lake boats their loads of merchandise, and distributed it to trading posts 50 and 100 miles away. She was a sunny-haired maiden when Toledo sprang up about Fort Industry, and had advanced but little farther in years when the Miami and Erie Canal became the great 'Artery of Commerce' to the south and west. She doubtless thought it nothing unusual when town lots sold for a thousand, two thousand and even five thousand dollars. She might have heard the echo of the first loco= motive whistle, or of Fulton's steamboat on the Hudson River, or have wondered at Morse's telegraph; could hardly accept the mower and reaper as possibilities, and the sewing machine as a household necessity." Thus do we record an hundred years of Masonic activity in Northern Light Lodge. We who now enjoy the fraternity and brotherhood and the atmosphere of good fellowship that pervades her sacred bounds but imbibe the beautiful spirit of Masonry that has been the portion of those before us who have gathered within her precincts—the beautiful spirit of Masonry that has been the inspiration of the votaries of the Masonic institution for thirty centuries or more. And now as we start a new century in our new home, shall we not offer our supplication to the Great Master above, that His divine benediction may rest on Northern Light Lodge today and continue to the generations that follow, in new and different times. The population of Lucas County since 1840 is as follows : 1840 - 9,382 1850 - 12,363 1860 - 25,381 1870 - 46,722 1880 - 67,377 20-VOL. 2 1688 - STORY OF THE MAUMEE VALLEY 1890 - 102,296 1900 - 153,559 1910 - 192,728 1920 - 275,721 1929 (estimated) 360,000 By townships outside of Toledo, from 1900 to 1920:

Township	1900	1910	1920
Adams Jerusalem Monclova Oregon Providence Richfield Spencer Springfield Swanton Sylvania Washington Waterville Waynesfield Total	2,090 1,581 1,031 2,702 1,270 1,136 769 953 837 1,887 3,449 2,176 1,856 21,737	2,635 1,431 1,043 2,568 1,217 1,029 802 1,176 851 2,220 4,798 2,154 2,307 24,231	4,735 1,297 991 3,500 1,147 1,036 817 1,415 875 3,141 8,440 1,968 3,195 32,557