1750 - STORY OF THE MAUMEE VALLEY "The congregation in 1843 purchased from the county the old courthouse. Here Mr. Lang lived until his death. The erection of a permanent edifice was begun in 1858 and completed and dedicated in 1861. Here as in the old courthouse, Mr. Lang continued his faithful services, preaching in both the English and German languages. He was pastor of the congregation for forty-six years; he died in 1890. After Mr. Lang's death, Rev. E. Pfeiffer was called to the charge. Part of the time Rev. Carl Ackerman was associated with Mr. Pfeiffer on the charge. During Mr. Pfeiffer's pastorate, Grace Evangelical Lutheran Church was organized, and called Mr. Pfeiffer as pastor, which call was accepted by him, causing a vacancy in the pastorate of St. John's. Rev. George Mochel in 1893 was called to St. John's and served until 1906 when he was succeeded by Rev. William F. Rose." The present pastor of what developed into the St. John's Lutheran Society is Rev. William F. Rose. A new and commodious church was completed about 1917. The Grace Evangelical Lutheran Society, Fremont's English branch of the church was organized at a meeting held Sunday, March 20, 1892. The charter members were W. E. Lang, H. C. Grund, T. A. Lang, Peter Harris and L. P. Zimmerman. The first pastor was Rev. E. Pfeiffer, who had been serving the congregation of St. John's Church. The first church council was made up as follows : Rev. E. Pfeiffer, chairman ex-officio; William Hintz and C. W. Martin, elders; Peter Harris and John Longanbach, deacons; H. J. Kramb, C. Jacobs, C. Seward, T. A. Lang, and Chas. E. Giebel, trustees; E. S. P. Bingman, recording secretary; L. P. Zimmerman, financial secretary; H. C. Grund, treasurer. The cornerstone for a new church was laid with impressive services Sunday, August 14, 1892, and the dedication took place April 9, 1893. When Doctor Pfeiffer was called to a theological professorship at Capital University, Columbus, in 1899 he was succeeded by Dr. Walter E. Tressel of Baltimore, Maryland, the present pastor. It is a large and prosperous society, and as this is written, one of the finest churches in the Sandusky section is under construction. The pastor in 1929 of the East Side Presbyterian Church, otherwise known as the East Side Chapel, is Rev. John Todd. There had long been a need for more convenient service for the east side Fremont residents and in 1907 the late J. B. Van Doren gave a lot for a Presbyterian church at the corner of Fifth and TOLEDO AND THE SANDUSKY REGION - 1751 Howard streets, upon which a building of modern and pleasing architecture was constructed. In fact the history of the First Presbyterian Church begins with services being held east of the Sandusky River. St. Mark's Lutheran Church with Rev. W. E. Bradley pastor in 1929, is located at East State and Buchanan streets. It is a thriving and prosperous organization. St. Paul's Church, Protestant Episcopal, Park Avenue, was organized in January, 1842, with D. E. Fields and W. C. Otis wardens. The vestrymen chosen were John P. Haynes, John R. Pease, A. Coles, A. B. Taylor and N. B. Eddy. The earliest pastor for a short period was a Rev. Mr. O'Kill. Early services were held in the old Methodist Church and later in the noted stone schoolhouse. In 1844, a brick church was built at the corner of Park Avenue and Court Street. The present pretentious building is the outgrowth of the original structure. Rev. Charles C. Bubb is the pastor in 1929. The First Church of Christ Scientist, Park Avenue and Ewing Street, was established October 4, 1900, and chartered February 3, 1902. Reading rooms were opened June 5, 1901. The First Brethren Society, South and Wood streets, has as its pastor Rev. William S. Crick. The organization took place in 1900 under the direction of Rev. H. M. Loose. The church was built in 1903 and a parsonage added in 1905. Memorial Church, of the United Brethren in Christ, is located at Franklin and Hamlin streets with Rev. Fay M. Bowman pastor. Warren Chapel, A. M. E. Church, has as its pastor R. A. Beesley. The society was organized in 1868, and a church built on the east side of the river. The leaders in the establishment of the society were Charles Curtiss, Thomas V. Curtiss, T. G. Reese and A. Revells. Near at hand the Fremont Heights Presbyterian assemblages are held at the Fremont Heights schoolhouse, the Prairie Presbyterians have an organization and on Buckland Avenue are held the Assembly of Emmanuel services. SPIEGEL GROVE "Of all the homes of our presidents, covering a period of one hundred and thirty years, there have been preserved only those of Washington at Mt. Vernon, Jefferson at Monticello, Madison at Montpelier, Jackson at the Hermitage, and Lincoln's modest home in the city of Springfield. In all these instances, more or less 22-VOL. 2 1752 - STORY OF THE MAUMEE VALLEY time had elapsed before the homes were acquired and put in a state of preservation ; and but few or no personal relics or memorials were secured. The families of the presidents had in most cases parted with the property, and their historic associations were generally dissipated. It is gratifying to know that Spiegel Grove (the home of Rutherford B. Hayes, the nineteenth president of the United States) met no such impairment. When received by the State it was in a perfect state of preservation, and all of the valuable historic effects of President Hayes were there intact. Few presidents of the United States have left so large and so complete a collection of documents, papers and books. To these should be added all the honorable mementoes and historical objects that were intimately associated with President Hayes during his career as a soldier in the Civil war, as well as that of his administration as president; and many personal belongings of his wife, Lucy Webb Hayes, during her exalted life in the White House * * * With the exception of Thomas Jefferson and Theodore Roosevelt, no president of the United States has left such a collection of individual memoranda, literary remains and personal mementoes as did President Hayes." Thus spoke the late Gov. James E. Campbell in an address delivered at Spiegel Grove, Fremont, upon the occasion of the unveiling of the Soldiers' Memorial Tablet on the Hayes Memorial Building, October 4, 1920, the date also being the 98th anniver sary of General Hayes' birth. Of the occasion Lucy Elliot Keeler also wrote, "The exercises were ushered in by a parade at one o'clock in which the veterans of the World war and the war with Spain marched with flags fluttering in the warm October sunlight, followed by the Grand Army veterans in automobiles, the three divisions headed by the United States Navy Recruiting Band and the Light Guard and Woodmen's Bands of Fremont. The procession was reviewed by the distinguished guests as it marched past the * * * Soldiers' Memorial Sunparlor of the Memorial Hospital of Sandusky County, and over the * * * Soldiers' Memorial Parkway, after which the impressive procession entered the Spiegel Grove State Park and formed in front of the Hayes Memorial Library, on the northern face of which was unveiled the artistically wrought Memorial Tablet presented by Colonel Webb C. Hayes, M. H., in memory of his eighty comrades of Sandusky County who died in the service of their country in the war with Spain, the insurrection in the Philippines, China, the Mexican Border and in the World war. While the magnificent Photo 1754 - STORY OF THE MAUMEE VALLEY Navy Recruiting Band played the Star Spangled Banner, Grand Marshal A. E. Slessman, chairman of the Soldiers' Memorial Parkway Committee, presented Mrs. Webb C. Hayes who was dressed in her costume of the Y. M. C. A. in which she had served in France as hostess and librarian at the American Soldiers Leave Areas at Aix-les-Bains and Nice. Mrs. Hayes gracefully uncovered the beautiful bronze tablet and turned it over to Commander W. H. Johnston, of Edgar Thurston Post, American Legion, and Commander Harry Price of Emerson Command, Spanish War Veterans. After a careful inspection of the tablet by Governor Campbell, Senator and Mrs. Harding, and the members of the Hayes family who were on the platform, the soldiers of the World war formed a lane extending from the Memorial Building through to the speaker's stand under the McKinley Oaks of 1897; and through this lane walked Senator Harding with Mrs. Hayes preceded by President Campbell of the Archeological and Historical Society, attended by former Congressman Overmyer, am followed by Colonel Hayes and Mrs. Harding and other guests.' The late Governor Campbell in his address said : "The patri otic people of Sandusky County, remembering and revering their heroic dead, have called us to join them in unveiling a tablet tha shall preserve forever, in enduring bronze, the names of those gal lant sons of the county who, in the war with Spain and in tha unparalleled cataclysm known as 'The World war,' gave their lives to their country, to mankind and to humanity. The war wit] Spain was a small war while the World war was the worst known to men; but the memory of him who died in the one is as precious and glorious as that of him who died in the other. They were al heroes whom the people of Sandusky County delight alike to honor." Further along Governor Campbell also said : "Spiegel Grove with its contents, upon the death of President Hayes in 1893 was bequeathed to his children. Afterwards the entire Spiege Grove property, with its library and collections, became the prop. erty of Colonel Hayes by deed in 1899 from the other heirs in the settlement of the estate. Through the generous filial devotion and the patriotic spirit of Colonel Hayes, this whole tract was offered, without cost, to the state as a public park in memory of both of his parents, by deeds dated March 30, 1909, and March 10, 1910. The conditions upon which Colonel Hayes donated this property to the State of Ohio simply require its maintenance as a stag park, with the further condition that: 'The Ohio Archeological TOLEDO AND THE SANDUSKY REGION - 1755 and Historical Society should secure the erection upon that part of Spiegel Grove heretofore conveyed to the State of Ohio for a state park, a suitable fireproof building on the site reserved opposite the Jefferson Street entrance, for the purpose of preserving and forever keeping in Spiegel Grove all papers, books and manuscripts left by the said Rutherford B. Hayes. * * * which building shall be in the form of a Branch Reference Library and Museum of the Ohio State Archeological and Historical Society, and the construction and decoration of the said building shall be in the nature of a memorial also to the soldiers, sailors, and pioneers of Sandusky County; and suitable memorial tablets, busts and decorations indicative of the historical events and patriotic citizenship of Sandusky County shall be placed in and on said building, and said building shall forever remain open to the public under proper rules and regulations to be hereafter made by said society.' "Thus there was given to the Nation and to the State a heritage of which both can well be proud, and I take this occasion on behalf of the society which I represent, and on behalf of the State which is represented by the society, to express the fullest appreciation and deepest sense of obligation. These expressions also extend to the noble and generous wife of Colonel Hayes who has joined him in making this spot one of historic beauty as well as a patriotic monument. "In all the years since Colonel Hayes executed his first deed to this property, the public has been left in ignorance of the magnitude of his contributions; of his self-sacrifice; and of his generous patriotism. He has arrived at the age (and so have I) at which the truth can be told without suspicion of flattery or adulation, and at which it can be received without undue inflation. Therefore I take it upon myself, as president of this society, to relate publicly and in detail what Colonel Hayes has contributed to this great patriotic monument, aside from the property itself ; and these facts are due historically not only to Colonel Hayes, but to the society and to the people of Ohio. "Colonel Hayes spent large sums after the legal steps had been taken to invest this property in the Ohio Archeological and Historical Society, in trust for the State of Ohio. The construction of the Hayes Memorial Building cost when completed over $100,000, towards which the State paid $45,000 and also paid $10,000 for the State's share of the paving of the streets on the three sides of the Spiegel Grove State Park. Colonel Hayes at 1756 - STORY OF THE MAUMEE VALLEY various times, and in numerous ways, in order to complete the building and bring it to the point of perfection which it has attained, expended $50,000 to that end, and to further add to its usefulness and beauty as a monument, he has provided for an addition to the building that will cost at least $35,000 the funds for which are now in the hands of a trustee appointed for that purpose. "Since Spiegel Grove has been dedicated by Colonel Hayes he has placed in the hands of trustees for the benefit of the Society and the State of Ohio other lands contiguous to the grove which, when sold, the trustees are to place the proceeds thereof in a trust fund for the use and benefit of this institution. So far lands to the value of $35,000 have been disposed of, and that amount is in the hands of a trustee for the use and benefit of Spiegel Grove, as held by this society. The land, exclusive of Spiegel Grove, remaining unsold is worth at least $100,000, the proceeds of which, upon sale, will be held in trust for the use and maintenance of the Spiegel Grove park and residence with any remainder for books for the Hayes Memorial Library. "On July 1st of last year (1919) Colonel Hayes placed $100,000 in trust to be used in the maintenance and upbuilding of this patriotic memorial. I am within a conservative estimate when I state that Colonel Hayes has disposed, for the benefit of posterity, in the form of the beautiful and attractive property which you see before you, at least $500,000: $250,000 in cash and securities for endowment funds, and $250,000 in real estate and personal property including the library Americana and collections. "Greater and more far-reaching, than the vast funds which he has so consecrated to others and to the memory of those loved by him, is his magnificent spirit of unselfishness, of tender devotion to the memory of his father and mother, and of his desire to leave to future generations historic evidence of the past. Here the people of Ohio forever will come to view the evidences of a period of American history that will be to them a continuing lesson and an inspiring heritage. A visit to this place will stimulate the study of Ohio history; of her Indian tribes; of the wars between the British and French and their Indian allies ; followed by our war for Independence, when this was a British post; and of her people's heroic defense of our country in the War of 1812. They will see here many historical mementoes of one who laid down civil honor to go forth to fight for the Union. They will see a TOLEDO AND THE SANDUSKY REGION - 1757 collection of souvenirs of every president from Washington ; manuscripts of great historic importance and literature rarely found in Ohio libraries. They will view a monument evidencing the unselfish devotion of private interests to public good, and viewing this monument they will be inspired to devote themselves anew to the service of our country and to common humanity." On the same occasion the late Brig. Gen. W. V. McMaken, then president of the 37th Division Association expressed the thanks of his comrades of the Spanish war and the World war to Colonel and Mrs. Hayes for their splendid recognition of the heroic dead, and addresses were made by the late President Harding, ex-Governor Cox and others. Since this gathering in 1920 additions and improvements to Spiegel Grove have been continually going on and many gatherings of note have been held. At three ground entrances have been installed the old Washington White House gates which add charm and historical significance to the estate. The story of Spiegel Grove is an historical romance running with the development of the American nation. As told in its history by Lucy Elliot Keeler, its grounds are "a portion of the site of the free city of the Neutral Nations of the Eries, who three centuries ago built two fortified towns on opposite sides of the Sandusky river." This city of refuge from wars and conflicts was later the village site of the Hurons and Wyandots, and through it ran the famous Indian trail and route of the earliest French explorers and missionaries, used in their travels between the Great Lakes and the St. Lawrence and the Ohio and Mississippi region. In the contest for supremacy between the French and the English it was used by war parties of both nations and their Indian allies. In the first development of civilization it was the thoroughfare between Detroit and the Ohio and the meeting place of the English from Fort Pitt and the West. In the days of the American Revolution the British and their Indian allies made it their beaten path, the route of which is outlined through Spiegel Grove. During the War of 1812, General Harrison in his plan of operations established forts and depots along the Sandusky including Fort Seneca. In building his military road he followed the line of the old Indian and French trail and the windings of his route are yet clearly marked through the park. Practically all the officers who operated in the Northwest 1812 campaign at some 1758 - STORY OF THE MAUMEE VALLEY time passed over this road. Besides General Harrison himself were included Governor Shelby of Kentucky; Col. Richard M. Johnson of the Kentucky Mounted Riflemen and later vice-president of the United States; Brig.-Gen. Lewis Cass, secretary of state in President Buchanan's cabinet; Governor Meigs of Ohio, postmaster general in the cabinets of Madison and Monroe; Gen. Duncan McArthur later governor. All the celebrated Indian chiefs knew the old trail, and including Pontiac, Nicholas, Little Turtle, Tecumseh, and The Crane, passed this way many times. The main drive through Spiegel Grove is on the line of the Harrison Trail. The route leaves the estate at the southwest gateway, continues down to the old French Spring and on to Ball's battlefield and Fort Seneca southward. In Miss Keeler's story of Spiegel Grove it is noted when the lands of this section of Ohio came into market after the Maumee Indian treaty of 1817, what is now Spiegel Grove became a part of the northwest quarter of section three in the U. S. Reserve "Sandusky." This 160 acres was entered by Josephus B. Stewart and William Oliver. "When, the patent was executed, however, by President Andrew Jackson in 1834, it was to their assignees Jacques Hulburd, one of the first settlers of Lower Sandusky; and to the heirs of Martin Baum. After a partition by these owners, the first transfer was for an undivided half and was made in 1834, by which Sardis Birchard, the uncle of Rutherford B. Hayes, became the owner of about one-half, including Spiegel Grove; and R. P. Buckland, who became a distinguished lawyer and soldier and who later formed a law partnership with Rutherford B. Hayes, became the owner of the remainder; their properties being separated by the old State Road from Lower Sandusky (Fremont) to Fort Ball (Tiffin) now known as Buckland Avenue. "Several years after the purchase of Spiegel Grove tract, Mr. Birchard removed his residence from the village to the country home of Mr. and Mrs. James Vallette, in a house built about 1828 and now known as Edgerton Place. It is near the site of Colonel Ball's victory over the Indians on the banks of Sandusky River, on July 30, 1813, two days before the attack on Fort Stephenson. It was to this house that Mrs. Hayes brought Col. R. B. Hayes, of the Twenty-third Ohio, after his partial recovery from his severe wound at South Mountain, in the opening of the Antietam campaign in 1862. "Mr. Birchard, on his way to and from the village daily passed TOLEDO AND THE SANDUSKY REGION - 1759 his new purchase, noted the deep woods, its pools of clear standing water reflecting like mirrors (the German word Spiegel) the great trees and tangled boughs and swaying vines, listened to the songs of birds, the hooting of owls and the mourning of the doves; conned over the legends of the place, smiled over its traditional ghosts and spooks, recognized many a likeness to the scenes of the German fairy tales dear to his childhood, named it Spiegel Grove and selected it for the site of the future home of his declining years with his nephew, Rutherford B. Hayes. "Sardis Birchard, this early patron of Spiegel Grove was born in Vermont, in 1801, and early left an orphan. Upon the marriage of his sister, Sophia, to Rutherford Hayes, the boy of 11 was adopted and went to live with them, and in 1817 was taken by them from Dummerston, Vermont, to Delaware, Ohio. "In 1822 occurred the death of Rutherford Hayes and the birth of his son Rutherford Birchard Hayes, and young Sardis Birchard, then 21 years of age, in his turn assumed the care of the family and became the devoted guardian of his sister's son. He never married. He was a man of extensive culture, artistic tastes, great practical force of character, and of the highest social and benevolent qualities. He was active in public and corporate works of progress in northern Ohio—the improvement of navigation, of vessel building, of the Western Reserve and Maumee Turnpike, a national work; also of the Toledo, Norwalk and Cleveland Railway, of which he was at first the main support. In 1851 he organized a bank, which in 1863, he merged into the First National Bank of Fremont, standing fifth on the list of national banks, Mr. Birchard remaining its president. He gave two public parks to the City of Fremont, endowed a public library for the use of the county and gave generously to the First Presbyterian and other churches of the city. "The house at Spiegel Grove was begun by Mr. Birchard in 1859 for the permanent home of his nephew and ward, who owing to his services in the army, in Congress and as Governor of Ohio did not occupy it till 1873, Mr. Birchard living there until that time and enjoying frequent joyful visits from his nephew and later from the latter's wife and young children. "The original house was a brick structure, two and one half stories high, surrounded on three sides by a veranda, but in 1873 General Hayes added two frame buildings containing a kitchen and an office and library. In 1880 preparatory to his return home from the White House he built a substantial addition on the north, 1760 - STORY OF THE MAUMEE VALLEY duplicating the original gabled brick front of the house and materially remodeled the interior. In 1889 further extensive changes were made, at which time the present large dining room, kitchens and several upper chambers were added. This date remains memorable in the family because before the alterations were finished the beautiful mistress of the house, who had looked forward eagerly to the large opportunities for hospitality, was stricken and died. Only two rooms of the old house now remain intact, the red parlor on the first floor and the ancestral room directly above it, which had been Mr. Birchard's chamber." Miss Keeler in her story wrote further, that "General Hayes took particular pleasure in gathering historic trees, among which were a Napoleon willow, the forebears of which were willows on Washington's grave at Mt. Vernon and Napoleon's at St. Helena; two oaks grown from acorns of the veritable Charter Oak of Hartford, Connecticut; and tulip trees from the Virginia home of James Madison. General Hayes would point out to interested visitors storied trees, like the one to which the savage Indians bound a captive maiden and built a fire about her, when a thunder storm burst and put out the flames. White traders hearing of the outrage sent a swift runner to Detroit to get an order for her release from The Crane, the Wyandot chief, and he returned in time to save the captive. Another tree with a tale is 'Grandfather,' an oak with a large hole near its base, under which Mrs. Hayes' father camped one cold night during the War of 1812. The story ran that he and a comrade were sent out to forage for provisions. It was so bitterly cold that they could not make their way back to camp, and building a fire at the foot of this tree they slept there in the open. The soldiers in camp had their feet frozen that night, but this pair escaped such disaster. The old musket and hunting-horn of this private, James Webb, of the Kentucky Mounted Rifleman, are among the treasures of the house. "West of the residence, in an open field adjoining Spiegel Grove, General Hayes laid out the Lucy Hayes Chapel in young walnut trees, with nave, transepts and tower—a chapel which he used to say would be worth looking at two hundred years hence, "General Hayes moved the main entrance to Spiegel Grove from a point almost directly in front of the house to its present location at the northern entrance of the Harrison Trail, and laid out the winding driveway to the house. The entrance is further marked by a thirteen-inch shell fired by the battleship Oregon at Morro Castle in the siege of Santiago de Cuba in the war with TOLEDO AND THE SANDUSKY REGION - 1761 Spain, which failing to explode was later presented to Colonel Hayes by Admiral Clark, captain of the Oregon, after whom the Admiral Clark Oak was named, the group near the General Corbin Oak and the General Young Oak." Another article says that "the selection of Spiegel Grove as the scene of many famous gatherings addressed by our foremost statesmen, soldiers and sailors, began when its owner, Rutherford B. Hayes, for whom it was purchased in 1845, became president of the United States. The first of these celebrations was on September 14, 1877, in honor of the famous 23rd Regiment Ohio Volunteers, the regiment noted for its gallant record in war, and famous for the number of its members who afterward distinguished themselves in public life. Major-Generals William S. Rosecrans and E. P. Scammon, both graduates of West Point, and Rutherford B. Hayes and James M. Comly were its four colonels; Associate Justice Stanley Matthews, and Russell Hastings were lieutenant-colonels, and its surgeon major, Joseph T. Webb, was brevetted lieutenant-colonel ; William McKinley, captain and brevet-major; while Robert P. Kennedy and William S. Lyon be-me lieutenant-governors of Ohio. "The members of the regiment dined at a long table under what were then christened and have since been known as the `Reunion Oaks,' enormous white oaks 'General Sheridan,' General Rosecrans,"General Scammon,' General Comly,' and `Associate Justice Stanley Matthews.' Other oak trees were christened after Chief Justice Waite and Gen. George Crook, the famous Indian fighter, who were also present at the reunion. "During the annual visits of President Hayes to Spiegel Grove, he was accompanied by many distinguished men who were likewise honored by having trees named after them. The most beautiful and stately elm was named after General Sherman who was a frequent visitor, and a beautiful red maple was named after President Garfield. "On the occasion of the funeral of President Hayes, in January, 1893, Grover Cleveland, a strong personal friend, after their joint service on the Peabody Education Fund and other public philanthropies, although then the only ex-President, as well as the president-elect of the United States, made the long journey in the middle of winter to pay his last measure of respect to one whom he personally esteemed, saying, 'He would have come to my funeral had the situation been reversed.' As he entered the Hayes presidential carriage which with its horses was still preserved, the 1762 - STORY OF THE MAUMEE VALLEY keen air of mid-winter and the crowds of men in uniform caused the horses to plunge forward and for a moment it was feared that President Cleveland would be thrown to the ground. He recovered himself promptly by the aid of a mammoth shell-bark hickory against which he leaned and since that time the tree has been known as the Grover Cleveland Hickory of 1893 in honor of the great Democrat. "On the first of September, 1897, the 23rd Ohio Regiment was again the guest at a reunion in Spiegel Grove. President William McKinley, Secretary of War Alger, Senator Hanna of Ohio, and others prominent in public life, spoke from beneath a group of white oaks around which a stand had been erected, while Mrs. McKinley and the ladies of the party were seated on the porch of the Hayes residence. The group of white oaks was promptly named the McKinley Oaks of 1897. "In 1904, another reunion of the 23rd Regiment was held, owing to inclement weather, on the 80-foot porch of the Hayes residence. The guest of the regiment and chief speaker was Rear-Admiral Charles E. Clark, U. S. N., the captain of the battleship Oregon, which made the famous run from San Francisco Bay through the Straits of Magellan. Dodging the Spanish fleet in the West Indies, she safely joined the American fleet at Key West, and without a moment's delay proceeded with the fleet to bottle up Admiral Cervera's Spanish fleet in the harbor of Santiago de Cuba, from which when the Spaniards attempted to escape, on the 3rd of July, 1898, the battleship Oregon opened fire on each Spanish ship as she emerged from the harbor 'and left not one of them until after it had hoisted signals of surrender or been driven ashore.' The Admiral Clark white oak was christened during the exercises. "In 1908, in the early days of his presidential campaign, Judge William H. Taft was a guest of Colonel Hayes, and on being advised of the custom of naming trees after presidents, distinguished soldiers and sailors, and having been invited to select his tree, promptly chose one of the largest white oaks in the Grove, immediately in front of the residence, and with the remark, 'That is about my size,' placed his hand on it and christened it the Will iam H. Taft Oak of 1908. "On May 30, 1916, after the completion of the Hayes Memorial Library and Museum building with funds provided by the State of Ohio and Colonel Hayes, in almost equal parts, the exercises of dedication were held from a stand erected directly in TOLEDO AND THE SANDUSKY REGION - 1763 front of the house. Dr. Charles Richard Williams, of Princeton, New Jersey, the biographer of President Hayes, delivered a scholarly address after which the Honorable Newton D. Baker, Secretary of War, as the representative of President Wilson ; United States Senator Atlee Pomerene; and Congressman A. W. Overmyer who had come from Washington for the purpose, delivered appropriate addresses, as did also representatives of the Military Order 'of the Loyal Legion of which President Hayes was commander-in-chief at the time of his death; the Grand Army of the Republic, by the commander of his old post, The Eugene Rawson Post G. A. R., and the president of the 23rd regiment O. V. V. I. Association. "It was deemed peculiarly appropriate in arranging for the exercises of October 4, 1920, the ninety-eighth anniversary of the birth of Rutherford B. Hayes, to again erect the speaker's stand under the famous McKinley Oaks of 1897." In the care of the grounds the knoll to the south, as stated, was carefully planted in appropriate evergreens and deciduous trees and shrubs, including an enormous border of rhododendrons. In order further to add to the privacy of the enclosure of the knoll it is separated from the remainder of the grove by a substantial iron fence screened with vines, two little lakes and a running brook with several waterfalls. Lower down on the knoll, marked by a great granite boulder in memory of departed war horses of President Hayes and his son, lie the remains of the only war horse of President Hayes which survived the battles of the war, "Old Whitey, a Hero of Nineteen Battles." Thus, beautiful Spiegel Grove with its memorial building containing a priceless library and a rare historical collection of wide range, is a shrine to which the greatest men of America have paid tribute by their presence and which is one of Ohio's most valuable heritages. CHAPTER LXXXI WOOD COUNTY By C. S. Van Tassel FOREWORD It was at a time when Wood County held a more primitive aspect than now. I was wandering in the deep, silent forest near my boyhood home, with no companion except faithful old dog Bruno. We were both alert to the wild life about us and shared equally the enjoyment of the great mysteries of Nature unfolding around us. Penetrating a low, swampy dip in the otherwise level woodland, I came upon a rare, bleached specimen, representative of the animal life of the past centuries, in the form of a five foot section of the tusk of a mastodon. I had been to circuses and had seen elephants and at the time called my discovery an elephant's tusk. On another occasion in my earlier years, I took a wonderful "sea voyage" on Lake Erie and landing on the south shore, observed that broad sections of the rocky surface had been worn smooth by some mysterious force and that deep grooves, running uniformly from northeast to southwest had been cut into the rock formation. I was told that this came about during the Ice Age and that these channels had been made by the movement of the ice from the polar regions. On a high elevation in the Catawba Island section overlooking a wonderful view of the broad expanse of the lake, was found a mound of stones. About the central deposit were two or three circles of stone gathered from the surrounding surface, the outer circle perhaps a hundred feet in diameter; the work of the prehistoric people, the Mound Builders. Again, after a tour along Maumee River, I read that the formation period of this picturesque stream was during the same ice epoch, when the huge mountains of ice plowed their way in a southwesterly direction, as before indicated, and marked out the way, where the released waters later fashioned the course of the - 1765 - 1766 - STORY OF THE MAUMEE VALLEY stream; that the surface of all this valley was once a sea, reaching from the Great Lakes to the Gulf of Mexico. Early in life, I had also visited in the central section of southern Wood County a trail running north and south that had evidently been cut through the deep woods years before—the handiwork of man. Also a like opening in the forest in the eastern section of the county, leading in the direction of the Maumee River. I learned that the first was the course of Hull's army and that the latter was General Harrison's trail, both relating to the history of the War of 1812. The division line between my father's pioneer Wood County farm and that of his neighbor, was a half-mile long. My father in opening up his land for tillage, first built a rail "line-fence" as they always called them, on the higher ground between his Land and that of his neighbor. The fence ran north and south and was as straight as any fence in all that territory. He told me that he only had the corner bench mark to reckon from, and that he staked out the course of the fence by the North Star on a clear night. The finest history of the world ever written, says that in the beginning the earth was without form and void and that the waters were gathered into one place; that dry land then appeared and that this land brought forth trees and grass and thereafter Living things and finally that man was made and dominated the earth. In comparing this story with the nature records I read from my boyhood observations of the millions of years that lapsed between the geological formation and the glacial period; between the time the mastodon and other giant animal life roamed this section and when man first appeared ; then when the military contest came for the supremacy of this territory, and finally when my father built his line fence and opened civilized life here, I found there was startling and wonderful harmony between the two narratives. It took a long time to prepare the way for the advent of man, and it was then centuries between the time the first specimens of the human race appeared in this section and when civilization dawned. The story is fascinating. And what the purpose of it all is and the finality, let the reader contemplate and then draw his own conclusion. Again the history above referred to is more than a history. It gives the reader a glimpse of the finality. And as this story of the creation coincides with men's investigations, TOLEDO AND THE SANDUSKY REGION - 1767 it gives substantiation to the narrative's predictions as to the future. BEFORE WOOD COUNTY WAS NAMED Wood County as now constituted, to civilization is comparatively new. A century and a quarter ago it had not a single permanent white settler. But from her very birth she showed remarkable precociousness and it was not long until she had forged ahead of many of her sister counties and today is abreast with the leaders in educational facilities, in industry, the marts of trade and in agriculture. There existed within her present borders the human species centuries ago, as traces of a prehistoric man here show, and when the first white adventurers came this way, they found the American Indian. The Great Lakes region was early attractive to the Frenchman, and the Briton was a close second. There were French traders and the irresponsible coureurs des bois along the Maumee River in the seventeenth century. Some historians advance the doubtful claim that Chevalier de La Salle journeyed up the Maumee and down the Wabash to the Ohio in 1669. These writers were evidently over zealous in their statements. Anyway the Maumee was a favorite road for the Red Man and the advance French traders as early as the seventeen hundreds. One of the earliest formidable expeditions to traverse the Miami of the Lake (Maumee) was that under Commandant Celoron, who, with a force of some 275 followers, encircled most of present Ohio in 1749, to clinch the French claim to this territory and in October of that year, negotiated the Rapids with difficulty at low water mark, with Detroit their objective. During the American Revolution the Maumee was utilized extensively by British and American expeditions, large and small. And finally came General Wayne in 1794, to put this important waterway under American control. This event was followed by a few intended permanent settlers, mostly squatters, along the river, but they nearly all fled during the War of 1812, and it was not until after the siege of Fort Meigs, Perry's Victory on Lake Erie, and General Harrison's rout of Proctor at the Thames, in Canada, that the first white settlers were left in peace to put their homes in order and clear their lands for bounteous harvests. 1768 - STORY OF THE MAUMEE VALLEY The first white men in numbers to penetrate the interior of Wood County were the military—the forces of General army in the War of 1812, on their expedition from Urbana to Detroit, by way of present Kenton to Fort Findlay, northward east of present North Baltimore, west of Cygnet, through where is now Bowling Green and then veering westward, crossing the river just above the site of the battle of Fallen Timbers. A few months later General Harrison's trail was opened up from where Fort Seneca was built on the Sandusky River, crossed the Portage River where Pemberville stands and first reached the Maumee at the same point that General Hull made his crossing. Another route was from Lower Sandusky (Fremont) to Fort Meigs. The War of 1812 over, British aggression a finality, and the dangers from Indian invasion passed, the pioneer began to cast his eye longingly towards the rich soil of the interior forests back from the river; especially the higher ridgelands. The plat of Perrysburg was laid out by the government in 1816, and strewn along the Rapids and to the very Maumee source, settlements sprang up, with the sound of the woodman's ax as the accompaniment to the dawn of the new era. FIRST LAND SURVEYS Land surveys in this section were made many years before Wood County was organized. The first surveys within the present county limits, were made by Elias Glover, in October, 1805, in the twelve-miles-square reserve, who ran the exterior lines of township number one, including a part of Middleton township and a portion of Perrysburg township on the north. Additional surveys and resurveys were made in this locality by William Brookfield, D. S., in 1816-1817. The exterior lines of the other earlier formed townships, were made from 1816 on up through several years following, most of them before Wood County came into existence. The experiences of these early civil engineers in their accomplishments would be a great contribution to history. The first grant made for lands within the limits of the county was April 26, 1816 to Amos Spafford, collector of the District and Port of Miami (Maumee) for 160 acres within the twelve miles-square reserve. The tract lies on the Maumee River south of the Village of Perrysburg and adjoining Fort Meigs. At that time the Indians had not released their title rights to any lands within the present county limits except this reserve. TOLEDO AND THE SANDUSKY REGION - 1769 COUNTY ORGANIZATION Wood County came into existence together with thirteen other counties in this section of Ohio, by an act passed by the legislature February 12, 1820, and at the time included most of the County of Lucas. Hancock, Henry, Putnam, Paulding and Williams counties were attached to Wood for civil purposes until otherwise provided. The county was named for Col. Ebenezer Wood of the engineer's corps of General Harrison's army and who constructed Fort Meigs. Maumee City was the first seat of government. Perrysburg was located for the government by its agent Alexander Bourne in 1816, and the survey was made by Joseph Wampler and William Brookfield. Major Spafford named the town after Commodore Perry,' at the suggestion of Josiah Meigs, then land commissioner. In addition to Maumee City and. Perrysburg, there came into existence Orleans of the North, at the foot of and below Fort Meigs, platted by Dr. J. B. Stewart and J. L. Lovitt, two eastern promoters and was contemplated as the leading port on Lake Erie. There arose a contest between the three rival towns for the permanent location of the county seat. But, aided by political interests at Washington, Perrysburg won and the first meeting of the county commissioners at the new seat of justice was on March 3, 1823, the board consisting of Hiram P. Barlow, Samuel Spafford and John Pray. Up to 1840 and later, Perrysburg was one of the leading ports on the lakes. EARLY RIVER SETTLERS In 1815, Fort Meigs was abandoned and the scattered settlers who fled when the War of 1812 began, returned to the ashes and desolation where their cabins once stood and permanent land purchases followed within a reasonable time. Almon Gibbs, who had been postmaster at Fort Meigs resigned from the army, moved to the Maumee side of the river, established a store and took the post office with him. To offset this, Seneca Allen, the first justice of the peace at Maumee, moved to the Fort Meigs side of the river and settled near the old fort. Jacob Wilkinson also built a cabin on the flats. In the spring of 1817, Wil.son and Samuel Vance opened up a trader's store for their brother Joseph Vance, later Governor of Ohio. This was Wood County's pioneer store. Then came the Hollisters as merchants and David Hull opened the first regular tavern; his daughter, Almira Hull, it is stated, being the first white child born in Wood County. 1770 - STORY OF THE MAUMEE VALLEY Victor Jennison taught school in the fort settlement in the winter of 1816-1817. The first attorney of record in the county was C. J. McCurdy, who was also the first prosecuting attorney. Then followed as members of the legal profession, Thomas W. Powell, John C. Spink, Isaac Stetson, Henry C. Stowell, H. L. Hosmer and Willard V. Way. Hosmer was afterwards chief justice of Montana. Not considering the Military Surgeons, the pioneer physician was Doctor Barton who appeared at the foot of the Maumee Rapids in 1814. Dr. Horatio Conant came to Maumee in 1816, and Dr. J. Thurstin located on the river in 1817. Dr. William Wood was the first permanently located physician in Wood County as now constituted, and settled at Perrysburg in 1828. FIRST INTERIOR SETTLER One of the first permanent settlers, evidently the pioneer to venture into the interior of present Wood County, was Collister Haskins. He was a native of Massachusetts, born in 1799, and coming west, first located where Waterville, Lucas County is, in 1817. His mother was a cousin of President Franklin Pierce. He married Fanny Gunn, daughter of Martin Gunn, of Waterville, when he was eighteen years old. They were both of that sturdy, vital force that opened the wilderness way for future generations and this ambitious boy in 1824 entered from the government, land in section twelve, Liberty township. He braved the loneliness of the deep woods, cut the logs for his cabin, and his friends came from the Waterville section, twelve miles, to the first "house raising" in the interior of Wood County. The location was on the south, or, rather the east bank of that branch of the Portage River, near General Hull's old stockade. The situation is about a half mile south of the town of Portage, west of the Dixie Highway, on what is known as the Doctor Knight farm. Young Haskins opened up a trading store at this cabin, and most of his trade was fur bartering with the Indians. His nearest neighbor on the north was at Miltonville on this side of the Maumee, nearly twelve miles away, and his next, twenty-two miles south on the old Bellefontaine-Maumee post-route. A post office was established at "Haskins' Place" in 1829 and he laid out the village of Portage in 1836. When Collister Haskins located here, there were two Indian trails crossing Wood County from east to west. The one nearest his "store" was by waterway up the Portage River from Lake TOLEDO AND THE SANDUSKY REGION - 1771 Erie and left the Portage River east of the site of the Wood County Home. Here the "portage" or trail, followed the chain of ridges to the then navigable for canoes head of Beaver Creek, and reached the Indian villages on the Maumee at the north of Beaver Creek just below present Grand Rapids. The second Indian route came up the Portage River from the lake the same as the first, but cut across to the head "navigable waters" of Tontogany Creek and reached the Indian village of Ton-tog-a-nee. There were times and seasons when these routes were more convenient from the south shores of Lake Erie, than by canoeing westward to the Maumee Bay and up the Maumee River. The Indians were patrons of the Haskins trading post until their final leavetaking of their old sugar camps and hunting grounds here, the last about 1840. Mr. Haskins died at Portage in 1872. TOPOGRAPHY One naturally classes Wood County as belonging to the Maumee River basin. However, more than fifty per cent of its territory is drained by the various branches of the Portage River system which empties into Lake Erie at Port Clinton. Then there is Toussaint Creek and the various smaller natural water courses in the northeastern part of the county which reach Lake Erie direct. The Maumee River drains the western and northwestern section of the county, including the territory drained by Tontogany Creek and Beaver Creek. The area of the county is given as 382,845 acres by one authority and 385,970 acres by another record. The population is approximately 48,000. Bowling Green, situated nearly in the center of the county, is in latitude 41 degrees, 24 minutes, 30 seconds north, and longitude six degrees, 44 minutes west of the Washington meridian. The altitude of Bowling Green is 167 feet above the level of Lake Erie, or 739.9 feet above sea level; the foot of the rapids of the Maumee, 634.9 feet above sea level; Bloomdale 183 feet above lake level; Weston 164 feet; Bairdstown 184 feet; at the north line of section 17, Middleton township, only 91 feet above lake level. The total valuation of Wood County for taxation in 1928 was over one hundred and seventeen million dollars, divided as follows: Real estate, $74,693,730; public utilities, $24,511,260; 1772 - STORY OF THE MAUMEE VALLEY personal, $11,466,680; incorporated companies, $3,667,720; oil, $1,349,861; banks, $1,404,107. The county has approximately 1,500 miles of stone roads, costing nearly ten millions of dollars. There are some 2,000 county ditches. In this number, however, the same drainage course in some instances has been renumbered, perhaps two or three times. It is estimated that Wood County has paid about thirteen million dollars for its drainage system, which has been its salvation in agricultural development. MAUMEE RIVER ABOVE DAM AT GRAND RAPIDS, WOOD COUNTY Side cut of Canal at right. Old Peter Manor home (Oberle residence) across rive at left. The first roads considered by the commissioners were the now Dixie Highway, the viewers of which, James Carlin, Ephraim L. Learning and Norman L. Freeman were appointed June 30, 1820, The second road considered was a state road from Fort Meigs to Wapakoneta in 1821. EARLY NEWSPAPERS With the development of the lower Maumee Valley and the expanding of the Wood County settlements, came the opening to TOLEDO AND THE SANDUSKY REGION - 1773 a newspaper, and Jessup W. Scott, later one of Toledo's pioneers, with Henry Darling, established the Miami of the Lake, the first newspaper in all this basin, the initial number appearing December 11, 1833. A few months later, J. Austin Scott became the owner and the name was changed to the Perrysburg Star, and then the Perrysburg Journal, which is now in the ninety-sixth year of its career since being launched by Scott and Darling. The next journalistic effort was the Wood County Packet, a democratic organ, also published at Perrysburg, which survived the Harrison-Tyler campaign only some twelve months, after a life of some two and a half years. Then in 1852 came the Northwest Democrat, published by Albert D. Wright. When the founder died with the cholera, after a short suspension it was revived under the name of the Maumee Valley Democrat, then the Democrat and was discontinued some time before the Civil war. At Perrysburg was also established The Independent and the Buckeye Granger, the latter in 1874 and which finally suspended for lack of encouragement. The agitation for the removal of the county seat to Bowling Green, in 1866, brought forth in the present county seat the Bowling Green Advocate, Frank C. Culley, editor, which was discontinued after the election that year. Then in January, 1867, appeared The Sentinel, the name of which was soon changed to the Wood County Sentinel. The Wood County Democrat first began publication in the fall of 1874, with J. B. Baker, editor. Further mention of the Wood County press will be found in other parts of this narrative. WOOD COUNTY SCHOOLS The enumeration for 1929 shows that Wood County, outside of Bowling Green, has 4,585 boys and 4,385 girls of school age, between five and fifteen years old ; that there are 768 boys and 735 girls, between the ages of sixteen and eighteen. Bawling Green's school enumeration is nearly, 2,100, making a total of nearly 13,000 school pupils in the county. Wood County has thirty-five districts, and nineteen first grade high schools and two second grade high schools, and three third grade schools. The county has had county superintendency since 1914. Prof. H. E. Hall, county superintendent, has proven a most efficient and hard working official, as has Kate M. Offerman, his assistant, and Gus Skibbie, the county attendance officer. And 1774 - STORY OF THE MAUMEE VALLEY Wood County schools are in the hands of superintendents and teachers of high standing and noble purposes. The county board of education is as follows: Dr. E. A. Powell, President, North Baltimore; E. L. Clay, vice president, Perrysburg; J. H. Apple, North Baltimore; Frank Waggoner, Walbridge and Frank Seiple, Portage. One thought that should be brought to public mind is that Professor Hall and his one assistant and one attendance officer, have the educational control of an army of about 11,000 pupils. There are few, if any institutions, educational or commercial, with as small an executive force, that get such satisfactory results. BOWLING GREEN'S BEGINNING The first authentic knowledge of white men trodding the soil upon which Bowling Green is situated, places the date as June 1812, when Gen. Lewis Cass with the Third Regiment of Gen. Wm. Hull's army was detailed to cut a road from Fort Findlay to the Maumee River for the advance of Hull's troops to Detroit. The route through the town site was practically on the line of the T. & O. C. division of the New York Central Railroad. The first regular mail route through present Bowling Green was established February 7, 1823, between Bellefontaine and Perrysburg with Joseph Gordon, carrier. Fort Findlay was the only intervening post office, and the route through Wood County was mostly on the line of Hull's Trail. Prior to 1828, Collister Haskins, who arrived where Portage is in 1824, was the only white settler between Findlay and the lower Maumee, and was the first to venture into the interior back from the river. When the settlers began to penetrate the interior, they sought out the highlands and most attractive locations, and visioned the advantageous position where now reposes this prosperous little city. The first land entry within the corporate limits of Bowling Green, was made by Elisha Martindale, October 29, 1832. It was forty acres, described as the southeast quarter of the northwest quarter of section 24, Plain township, and lies in the northwest part of town on both sides of Haskins Street. Later Martindale added 120 acres to his purchase, and built a log cabin on his land in the spring of 1833, the first home in Bowling Green. Then followed closely Lee Moore, Henry Walker, Jacob Stauffer, Alfred Thurstin, Joseph Hollington and others. TOLEDO AND THE SANDUSKY REGION - 1775 BOWLING GREEN NAMED Bowling Green was named by the mail carrier, Gordon, who was the faithful servant for the government on the route named for sixteen years and up to December 31, 1839. The stopping place for Gordon before the scattering settlement here was christened, was the cabin of John Stauffer and his son-in-law, Henry Walker. The location was near the junction of North Main Street and Merry Avenue. East of Main Street at that point was a high ridge. At the time in question, when Gordon arrived at the cabin on his regular trips, some of the new post office projectors were gathered there. They were ready to send in their petition for the post office, but the name for the office was blank. They had come to no agreement. In jest, Gordon noting a fresh keg on tap, said to Stauffer, "Hand me a cup of cider and I'll give you just the name you want." The cider forthcoming, and raising the cup to his lips, he said, "Here's to the new post office of Bowling Green." First, the name came to Gordon from his favorite town in Kentucky of that title, and secondly, in the north part of this local settlement, there was a beautiful green in a clear spot in the woods, where grass grew, and which might have been a delightful place for the old game of bowling. The suggested name was written into the petition, Gordon started the document on its way, and the office was established March 12, 1834, with Henry Walker postmaster. The first mercantile enterprise seems to have been established by Robert McKenzie at the Napoleon Road on present South Main Street. It was visioned that this would be the center of a future village, and they called it Mt. Ararat. McKenzie was licensed to sell goods in 1835 and 1836. John M. Harmon attempted to attract settlers north, nearer the present Poe Road, as the center of activities, by opening a tavern and blacksmith shop up that way. Then in 1846 or 1847, Dr. E. D. Pick of Perrysburg started a merchandising business here with L. C. Locke in charge. The venture was first established on a small scale as rather an experiment. The stock of miscellaneous goods selected to meet the wants of the pioneers occupied a small room in a tavern known as "White Hall" situated on the west side of Main Street and just north of where the old American House later stood. The business prospered, and needing larger quarters, Locke bought from Alfred Thurstin an acre of ground on the east side of Main Street, where the State Bank and Froney's big store now stand. 1776 - STORY OF THE MAUMEE VALLEY On this acre he built a store room and house combined. Locke's success settled the question as to the proper location for Bowling Green's business section. The post office was soon moved there, with Locke as postmaster, who also built and operated an ashery, the first manufacturing enterprise in Bowling Green, unless a cabinet shop operated by Caleb Lord is considered. INCORPORATED The germ of the village gradually developed until it became of sufficient importance to ask for recognition as a municipality. The petition for incorporation is dated July 23, 1855, and signed by S. L. Boughton, Alfred Thurstin, G. Z. Avery, Joseph Hollington, Hiram Noyes, John W. Pelton, John C. Wooster, W. G. Lamb, Lee Moore, J. M. Lamb, Daniel Noyes, C. P. Rogers, D. L. Nixon, L. C. Locke and some thirty-eight others. The petition was granted by the county commissioners November 9, 1855. Dr. W. G. Lamb was the first mayor. The question of removing the county seat to Bowling Green from Perrysburg, was voted on by the electors of the county, October 9, 1866. The vote stood 2,454 for removal and 2,176 against removal. In June, 1868, ground was broken for the first brick courthouse, on the site of the present beautiful structure, and the corner stone was laid, July 4, that year. The building was to be constructed under a bond of $15,000 signed by the lead. ing citizens of the town, providing for the donation of the ground, and erection for county purposes, buildings as good as the buildings at Perrysburg, free of cost to the county. There was a long legal controversy over the removal, and it was not until an order by the commissioners for the transfer of the county records was made on January 25, 1870, that the change took definite form. Judge George C. Phelps of the probate court, was the first county official to obey the order, which he did promptly on the above date. The entire transfer was completed in April and the first session of the Wood County commissioners was held in the completed Bowling Green structure, April 12, 1870. BANKING INSTITUTIONS The banking institutions of a community are the foundation stones upon which rest its development and prosperity. Bowling Green is fortunate in this department of her commercial and industrial interests, with three solid, progressive banks, operated by men of sound financial judgment and awake to the needs of TOLEDO AND THE SANDUSKY REGION - 1777 the various elements which make up the business structure of the wide and prosperous territory served. With resources of over eight million dollars, it can readily be seen that they can aid any business project that may need their cooperation, and the well known officials and directors of The Wood County Savings Bank Company, The Commercial Bank & Savings Company and The State Bank of Bowling Green, being the leading financiers of this section, can be depended upon to direct the financial interests of the community with wisdom and safety, linked with progressive ideas. There is no factor that aids the growth of a city more than a well equipped, wisely managed, building and loan company. The Equitable Building & Loan Company, which occupies their own fine structure on East Wooster Street, was organized February 4, 1889, and has an authorized capital of $2,000,000. The company has assisted in building a greater number of homes in Bowling Green than has any other factor or agency. BOWLING GREEN COMMERCIAL CLUB The Bowling Green Commercial Club Company is one of the live wire factors in the development and progress of the city. On January 11, 1910, at the old Y. M. C. A. rooms, took place the first meeting, the result of which the club is the outgrowth. Robert Place was chairman of the gathering and S. A. Canary secretary. S. A. Canary made the leading address of the evening. A committee to draft a constitution and by-laws was appointed and the organization was completed January 18. It has been a going concern ever since and the club has done valuable work in the interests of the city, brought about much effective service and been instrumental in locating here many industries. RAILROADS Bowling Green for practical purposes now has two trunk line railroads, the Baltimore & Ohio east and west and the New York Central Lines (T. & O. C. division) north and south. Strange as it may seem, the time was, within the memory of many still living, when the stage coach and lumber wagon or like vehicles, were the only source of transportation outside of shanks horses. There are many residents who yet remember "Old Hulda," the first "locomotive" to be welcomed to our city, midst the ringing of bells and the shouts of the populace. And it was a lucky day that 1778 - STORY OF THE MAUMEE VALLEY the old girl made the round trip to Tontogany without getting wind-jammed or the stringhalt. The Bowling Green Railroad Company was organized June 6, 1874 with S. L. Boughton president and general manager, without a foot of railroad to manage; A. J. Manville, vice president; A. A. Thurstin, secretary; Frank Beverstock, treasurer, with empty coffers. These men with S. W. St. John, Henry Lundy and J. R. Rudolph formed the directorate. But there were men of determination in Bowling Green then as well as today and they proposed to have a railroad. There was an unanimity of opinion on this point, but some of the leaders wanted to connect with the old Dayton & Michigan line at Roachton, others at Perrysburg, while still others favored Weston or Haskins. Finally, Tontogany was settled upon as the terminal. The right-of-way was secured, men chipped in with labor or money, and the company hypnotized William" "Billy" Hood into loaning them $3,000. A defunct railroad over in Carroll County, strap-iron rail and all, including the wheezy old engine "Hulda," was purchased bodily, including two rickety coaches, a box car and two sway-backed flat cars. The railroad was built and the "Y" connections made in May 1875, at Tontogany and a schedule of three round trips a day arranged. The July earnings that year were $394.26 and the operating expenses $182, but there is no record of the stock being listed on the New York Exchange. Charles N. Culver was the engineer and by using kindness towards old Hulda, and promising her a good feed at night when the day's run was completed, he kept her in fairly good humor and ran reasonably close to schedule time; although occasionally he had to get off and coax her along a mile or two with salt. Henry A. Lease was the attorney for the railroad, and also conductor, brakeman, passenger and freight agent and coal heaver. In case a "snake head" from the strap-iron rail ran up through the floor of the coach and frightened the passengers into innocuous desuetude, although this was before Grover Cleveland's day as president, Mr. Lease would offer to settle the damages by making the complainants a present of the railroad. But when they gazed upon old Hulda, they would have too much heart to tear her away from her family ties and contented environment and would drop the Case. In 1878 Mark T. Wiggins leased the road for a period of ninety-nine years for the sum of $10,000. Old Hulda was consigned to the green pastures of the scrap heap and "William TOLEDO AND THE SANDUSKY REGION - 1779 Hood," a new locomotive took her place; regular "T" rails replaced the strap-rail, the road bed was improved and the "system" was recognized as a real railroad. Seriously, however, this first venture into railroading by local capital and local men, was the salvation of the town. Mr. Wiggins, in 1886, sold the road to the C. H. & D. system, and that company also became the owners of the extension from Bowling Green to North Baltimore. Later the road became the property of the Baltimore & Ohio system. The Electric railroad service for the city is The Toledo, Bowling Green & Southern system, running from Toledo through Main Street to Findlay and connecting at Toledo with all points east, west and north and at Findlay with all points south, giving both a valuable passenger and freight service. Charles F. Smith, one of the ablest electric railroad men in the country, has been manager of the road since it began through operation and since the road has come into new hands, he has acquired the title and the added duties of vice president. PUBLIC UTILITIES The status of public utilities is of vital consequence to the growth and prosperity of any municipality. Bowling Green today stands on a most satisfactory footing in this respect, and the present solid basis of the three great factors, heat, light and power and water, enables the leaders in the development of industries and those setting forth the claims of Bowling Green as an advantageous city in which to live, to put up formidable arguments, backed by dependable facts. NEWSPAPERS In the daily Sentinel-Tribune, Bowling Green has one of the best newspapers of any municipality of its size in Ohio. In fact this ably managed, ably edited paper ranks with those of cities of double the population of the Hub of Wood County. The Sentinel-Tribune has a first class news service, modern equipment in all its departments and takes personal interest in serving its patrons and is always boosting the business and commercial interests of the city. It has been a great factor with S. A. Canary as editor and Alfred Haswell as business manager, in the development and progress of Bowling Green and Wood County. The company has its own double room, two-story building. The Tribune end of the name came through the absorption of the daily of that name. C. S. Van Tassel established the weekly 1780 - STORY OF THE MAUMEE VALLEY Wood County Tribune in 1889 and the Daily Tribune, August 22, 1898. During his ownership both papers enjoyed a marked success. The Weekly Sentinel was established in 1867 and the Daily Sentinel began publication in 1890. The weekly Wood County Democrat was founded by J. D. Baker, October 3, 1874. It passed through several transitions in name and ownership, but was always an important factor in Wood County affairs. Its greatest strides up to that period came under the ownership and editorship of H. S. Chapin. Then in 1911, the plant was purchased by Frank W. Thomas and D. C. Van Voorhis, and in October, 1923, Mr. Thomas became sole owner. The paper in 1928 was purchased by the Warwicks of Toledo, capable newspaper people. "Jack" Warwick, as paragrapher for the Toledo Blade, is quoted throughout the nation. Officially, the Democrat is published by the Warwick Printing Company; Howard Warwick, editor; Walter Warwick, office manager, and the father, Jack Warwick, "contributing editor." The Wood County Republican, a weekly, began its career in 1918. H. H. Sherer is the editor and the expansion of the mechanical department of The Republican Company for extensive job printing, indicates progress and prosperity. SCHOOLS Near the center of present Bowling Green, east of Main Street, was built in 1833 the crude log cabin of Alfred Thurstin, size 15 by 20 feet. Here in the summer of 1834 was held the first school within the limits of the present city. The most reliable authority gives the name of S. W. Hanson of Maumee as the teacher. The pupils were Louisa, Eliza and Maria Martindale, Henrietta and Phoebe Moore, Nathan and Albert Moore, Ambrose, Albert and Samantha Shiveley, Richard, Ambrose and Joseph Hollington, Mahala and Henrietta Race and Isaac Hixon. On the way to school one morning, Will Hollington was bitten by a massauga (rattle snake). An Indian doctor named Wolverton showed the white folks a weed, the juice of which counteracted the poison from the snake. The remedy was applied and the boy recovered. The sports during the recreation period, consisted of playing in the underbrush, swinging on grape vines, picking winter green, chasing squirrels and killing snakes. Near the schoolhouse in the vicinity of where the Elks Hall now stands, there was a three acre swale with no outlet, infested TOLEDO AND THE SANDUSKY REGION - 1781 with reptiles of many kinds. Then a log schoolhouse, in 1835, was built near the intersection of present South Main Street and the Napoleon Road. Adam Phillips, Lee Moore, Henry Shiveley, Joseph A. Sargent, Joseph Hollington, Sr., David L. Hixon, Thomas R. Tracy and David DeWitt attended the "raising." W. G, Charles is given as the first teacher. Other teachers were M. Simonds, Morris Brown and Isaac Van Tassel. The next and more advanced type of schoolhouse was built at the northeast corner of Ridge and Main streets. The first pretentious school building in Bowling Green, a frame structure, two stories, stood on the site of the present city hall. Later, right and left one-story wings were added, and then came the first brick building, at the time considered a fine architectural monument, located on Grove Street, where the present junior high school building stands. At the beginning of the 19281929 school year a magnificent new high school building was occupied, with one of the finest school gymnasiums in the state. The Board of Education has always been manned by a strong membership and Prof. D. C. Bryant, the present superintendent, is one of the most efficient educators that Bowling Green has ever had at the head of their school government. CHURCHES Church services within the present limits of Bowling Green proper, date back 'to about 1836, when Rev. Austin Coleman of the Waterville Methodist circuit, preached in the log schoolhouse before referred to on the Napoleon Road and now South Main. Street, later in the old "Bell" schoolhouse, and in other intervening cabins between here and Waterville. James Wood and John A. Sargent were among the first class leaders. The congregations were in most part made up of Peter Klopfenstein, W. C. Hunter, John A. Sargent, Alfred Thurstin, Robert Barr and James Wood and their wives, together with Erastus, Eelpha and Dina Hunter, Margaret Shiveley, Margaret Linsey, Eliza Hixon, Nancy Sargent, Susannah Groves and Isaac Tracy, all unmarried, A Sunday school was organized the same year with Henry Lundy, superintendent. Rev. David Gray was presiding elder in the Maumee district and Rev. H. L. Nickerson the local minister in 1854-1855. In the early days the Congregationalists purchased a building from the Methodists which stood on the site of the present Church of Christ on South Main Street and which for some time after the 1782 - STORY OF THE MAUMEE VALLEY sale and up to 1869 was still used by the Methodists, who then for a period held services in the old Presbyterian Church. Services were also held in Reed's Hall on North Main Street until the brick edifice was built on East Wooster Street in 1872, which was replaced by the present fine structure in 1898. The First Presbyterian Church Society was organized October 13, 1855, by Rev. Perry C. Baldwin. As an organization, it is the direct outgrowth of the establishment of the Indian Mission on the Maumee River within the limits of present Wood County, by the Presbyterian Synod of Pittsburgh, Pa., in 1822; which mission plant was transferred to the United Foreign Missionary Society on October 25, 1825, and consolidated with the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions in June, 1826. WHERE THE FIRST METHODIST CLASS MEETING IN BOWLING GREEN WAS HELD January 12, 1855, that prince of later day missionary patriot of this section, Rev. Perry C. Baldwin, then a young man, bu afterwards known as the organizer of churches, became pasta at Plain Congregational. Then as the country became still mg settled, about June or July, 1855, Father Baldwin believed till time auspicious for the organization of a Presbyterian Church it the little hamlet of Bowling Green and paid a visit to thesparsel settlement on the sandy knolls for that purpose. If only spa permitted, it would be most fitting to repeat the wonderfultribute4 paid this sturdy old champion of Presbyterianism by thatdearlyl beloved citizen and former pastor, Rev. Dr. E. E. Rogers, in historical sermon delivered December 3, 1905. The culmination of the visit of Father Baldwin, then in TOLEDO AND THE SANDUSKY REGION - 1783 full vigor of youthful manhood, was the organization by him of the First Presbyterian Church of Bowling Green, Ohio, October 13, 1855. The original members were Tobias and Louisa C. Rudesill, Addison and Matilda Fay, John and Mary Evans, Nathan Noble, Sidney L. Brewster, Phoebe M. Moore, George Underwood, Mrs. Underwood and Mr. and Mrs. Aziel B. Bailey and a Mr. Bradley. Rudesill, Fay and Bradley were the first church elders. Tobias Rudesill was clerk of the session. The Presbyterian Sunday school was organized April 8, 1860, with S. L. Boughton, superintendent; Mrs. S. L. Boughton, treasurer; and Tobias Rudesill, Addison Fay, J. Van Gordon, Mrs. Wm. Hood, Mrs. Lee Moore, Mrs. P. C. Baldwin, Mrs. Rogers and Mrs. J. Van Gordon, teachers. The membership of the Church at this date was about fifty and Sunday school membership at the organization, including teachers, about forty. The society today occupies a fine new edifice on the original location. The first Baptist Church Society here was organized at the home of S. L. Boughton, March 27, 1858. D. A. Avery of Weston was moderator and S. L. Boughton, clerk. On March 31, W. Legalley, Dr. Z. F. Williston, L. Buell, S. L. Boughton, Mrs. S. L. Boughton and Mrs. Webb signed articles of association. The organization was disbanded, and the present First Baptist Church Society was organized September 29, 1878, with the following members : Rev. James Abbott and Caroline Abbott, Rev. E. B. and Mrs. Turner, Mrs. J. H. Sands, Mr. and Mrs. George Kimberlin, Thomas W. Knight, Sr., Thomas W. Knight, Jr., Amy and Ellen Knight, David Holbrook, W. S. Haskell, Isaac W. Clayton and Mrs. Theodosia Wade. The corner stone of the present church building on Oak Street was laid July 20, 1880. The United Brethren Church Society was organized in 1874. The pioneer movement by this denomination, however, began about 1836, when Rev. John Crom held services here, and there were organizations at Beaver Creek, and in Center and Portage township before the church established itself here. It was in 1880 that the society grew strong enough in Bowling Green to build the brick church building which stood where the present beautiful structure, one of the prides of the city, is located at the corner of Court and Summit streets. The first building was remodeled in 1893 and the present edifice constructed in 1912. The Church of Christ Society came into existence here in 1882. One of the leading supporters of the organization during his lifetime was Daniel Mercer. He had been a member of that 23-VOL. 2 1784 - STORY OF THE MAUMEE VALLEY Society from his early years and was an elder in the church over thirty years. The organizer of the church was Rev. J. V. Updike and the society purchased from the Congregationalists the lot where the present fine edifice stands on South Main Street, and the old Methodist Church building thereon, which was built in 1847. This old building was used for a house of worship until 1890, when it was purchased by Daniel Mercer and removed and a new building constructed which was replaced by the present house of worship in 1906. St. Aloysius Catholic Church, one of the most imposing religious structures in the county, located at the northeast corner of Summit and Clough streets, was dedicated Sunday, July 18, 1926. Catholicism first took a foothold in Bowling Green about 1860. The first Mass ever said in the village was celebrated in the home of Mrs. Burns, located on present South Main Street, just south of where stands the Royce & Coon mill. Later services were held at the home of Lawrence Sader on East Wooster Street and then at Timothy Lawler's. The first church was built in 1881,—a brick edifice—and the parish was named St. Aloysius after Aloysius Peiffer, but the parish remained a mission of Providence until 1890. As the society became stronger the church edifice was expanded and a parish house was built. Catholic Missionaries were the first religious teachers along the Maumee River. They appeared with the very first explorers of the valley. Father Bonnecamps was with the Celoron Expedition, heretofore referred to, which encircled the most of present Ohio in 1749, and came down the Maumee River in October that year. Father Bonnecamps kept a diary of events covering the work of the expedition. The nucleus of St. Aloysius Parish was made up of the families of Aloysius Peiffer, Lawrence Sader, Timothy Lawler, Peter Tisure, William Devlin, John Devlin, Herman Webben, Michael Greiner, Peter Phelan, the Nortons, the Kelleys and Mrs. Burns and daughters. The Seventh Day Adventists in this locality held their early services in a log schoolhouse which stood on the southwest corner of the Nims farm and on the east side of the present north Dixie Highway. The society in 1861 built a small frame church on the west side of the main road near the old schoolhouse. The structure was moved to Bowling Green about 1909 and has since been sold to a private owner. The organization has on foot a move- TOLEDO AND THE SANDUSKY REGION - 1785 ment for the construction of a new place of worship and still holds services in Bowling Green. Other church organizations here are the St. John's Episcopal, which society occupies a fine church edifice on North Grove Street, built in 1916. The Free Methodists' organization has a building on South Prospect Street. The Christian Missionary Alliance in 1915 built their imposing, comfortable edifice on East Court Street. The Christian Science Society holds its services in the building at the corner of Court Street and North Prospect. TOWNSHIP HIGHLIGHTS Wood County is subdivided into twenty townships, the outline surveys of which, except two or three townships set off at a later date, were made before Wood County was organized. The first surveys within the present limits of the county were the twelve mile-square reserve. The exterior lines of most of the townships were run during the year 1819. BLOOM TOWNSHIP The exterior lines of Bloom township were surveyed in 1819 by Alexander and Samuel Holmes, and the sections in 1821 by S. Bourne. Two of the principal branches of the Portage River flow through the western portion of the township. The township was established March 2, 1835, and the first election held at Frederick Frankfather's near the center of the township in April, 1836. The township officers selected were : Ora Baird, Mahlon Whitacre and Henry Smart, trustees; John Leathers, treasurer; Lot Milbourn, clerk; Ora Baird, constable. The first land purchases in the township were made by Henry Copus and James Archer while there were yet Indian hunting grounds here. Eagleville was an early post office and Bairdstown on the B. & O. was platted for Joseph Baird in 1874. Bloomdale, a beautiful, thriving village was incorporated in 1887 and A. B. Probert was the first mayor. Cygnet was laid out as a village in 1883 when the town government was organized. E. A. Guy was the first mayor. Jerry City was surveyed in 1861 and incorporated in 1875. C. T. McEwen was the first mayor. CENTER TOWNSHIP The first white settler in Center township was Benjamin Cox who built a cabin near the Portage River on the northeast quarter of section 32, now the County Home Farm, between the late fall 1786 - STORY OF THE MAUMEE VALLEY of 1827 and the spring of 1828. He brought a handmill with him, the first in this section. He did not buy the land, but his son, Joseph Cox, made the first land entry in the township, in section 28, in 1831, which in 1835 he sold to Joseph Russell. The location is three miles east of Bowling Green on the Portage River. A daughter of Benjamin Cox, Elizabeth, married Jacob Eberly, grandfather of C. B. Eberly of Bowling Green. A sister of Elizabeth, Lydia, born at Findlay in 1817, is reported as the first white child born in Hancock County. Benjamin Cox served in the War of 1812. Joseph A. Sargent was Center township's second settler, who entered land in section 31 in 1832, lying on South Main Street, Bowling Green, and on the south side of the Bender Road, November 1, 1832, Adam Phillips entered the land now occupied by the Wood County Home. The outlines of Center township were surveyed by Samuel Holmes, Deputy U. S. Surveyor, in 1819. The township was organized in 1835. FREEDOM TOWNSHIP The exterior lines of Freedom township were surveyed in 1819. The first land entry was made by Asahel Hannan Powers, being the northeast quarter of the northwest quarter of section 10. The date was August 27, 1833. The first settlements in the township were where are now Pemberville and New Rochester. Jacob Cable was the pioneer settler at the latter place. James Pember located where Pemberville is, in 1834. New Rochester was surveyed into seventy-five lots in May, 1835, by Hiram Steel for Michael Miller. Woodside was surveyed by D. D. Ames in 1883. The original survey of the prosperous Village of Pemberville was made May 24, 1854, by S. H. Bell for James Pember. The village was incorporated in 1876 and George M. Bell was the first mayor. With good schools and church societies and enterprising business men, it is one of Wood County's leading business points. GRAND RAPIDS TOWNSHIP Grand Rapids is the youngest township of Wood County and was set off from Weston township, September 25, 1888. Ebenezer Donaldson, W. B. Kerr and J. M. Brown were the first truste A. J. Friess, clerk and Thomas D. Avery, treasurer. The Howard family were the earliest settlers on the riv where is now Grand Rapids village. They built their cabins the TOLEDO AND THE SANDUSKY REGION - 1787 beginning in 1822. The grandfather of the generation who located here was Thomas and the father Edward Howard. D. W. H. Howard was the best known and most prominent of the sons of Edward, mixed freely with the Indians and wrote extensively of the pioneer days of the Maumee Valley. John A. Graham established the Village of Gilead, now Grand Rapids, in 1831. The petition for incorporation was filed December 5, 1855. September 5, 1856, Emanuel Arnold was elected the first mayor. They received mail here as early as 1822. In 1832 a post office was established under the name of Weston, with Edward Howard postmaster. In March, 1868, the name of Gilead was changed to Grand Rapids. It is Wood County's important up-river village. HENRY TOWNSHIP The exterior lines of Henry township were surveyed in 1819 by Samuel and Alexander Holmes and the sub-divisional lines were run by I. T. Worthington in 1821. Hull's army passed through that section on the way to Detroit in 1812. The Indian Trail which left the Sandusky River at present Tiffin for the Maumee River where is Defiance, ran along the higher ground of Henry township. The township organization was effected December 3, 1836. The first election was held at the house of George Carrel, section 35, and the officers chosen were : Trustees, Henry Shaw, Jabez Bell and Tobias Shellenbarger ; Treasurer, George Carrel; clerk, Lewis F. Lambert; assessor, Amos Jones; Justice of the Peace, Newell Bills; constable, Charles Grant. When the question of christening the township came up the name of Bell was suggested in honor of Jabez Bell, a fat and jolly pioneer farmer. Another name mentioned was Shaw, for Henry Shaw, the first settler, who had located in the southern part of the proposed township. After much discussion it was planned that both Bell and Shaw should proceed to Perrysburg with the report of the new organization and that the township should be named for the one who arrived there first. The meeting was held on Saturday and it was understood that the report should reach Perrysburg the following Monday. Sunday night, however, Bell "stole a march" on Shaw, mounted a horse and rode off leisurely into the wilderness. On his arrival at Perrysburg on the memorable Monday morning, the first man he met was Shaw. On comparing notes, it developed that Shaw had started on foot on Sunday afternoon and had walked all night, braving the wilderness 1788 - STORY OF THE MAUMEE VALLEY perils and hardships and so was accorded the honor. His giver name, Henry, was used by preference. While Shaw was the first settler, George Carrel built the firs frame house in the township. The first store, or trading place was started by Samuel McCrory at Woodbury, in 1837, in the extreme northeastern corner of the township. McCrory was also the first postmaster and the first tavern keeper. The first "gris mill" was built in 1834 by John Beeson, on the banks of the Port age River (Rocky Ford) within the limits of North Baltimore It was first run by horsepower and then changed to a water mill. It is claimed that "Johnny Appleseed" started the first apple orchard in the township, upon the lands of George Carrel, Charles Grant and Tobias and Moses Shellenbarger. The early villages outside of North Baltimore were Eberly Hammansburg, Denver and Lawrence. The first plat of North Baltimore was recorded by B. L. Peters the owner, April 24, 1874. The petition for incorporation was granted February 7, 1876. B. L. Peters was the first mayor am Dr. W. T. Thomas the first clerk. North Baltimore, the largest town of southern Wood County, is thrifty and prosperous. JACKSON TOWNSHIP While the township lines were surveyed in 1819 as were most of the other townships, the progress of Jackson was very slow through the earlier years on account of the low lands and prairie and consequent difficulty of drainage. When the soil underneath the expanse of waters was finally reclaimed, it developed into one of the richest agricultural sections of the Maumee Valley. The first settler in Jackson Township was John Dubbs, who located on section one in April, 1835. When he entered his land it was occupied by a band of Ottawa Indians. Dubbs moved into one of the Indian shanties with his family and occupied another shanty for a stable until he built a log cabin of his own. In the fall of 1835, three more families arrived—Samuel Bowman, Nicholas Chrest and Widow Chrest and family, all settling in the vicinity of where is now Hoytville. In the spring of 1836, the great hunter, Peter Hockenberry, located in the same territory. He was a strange character, had a wife but no children, and died about 1875, at McComb, Hancock County, at the age of eighty-five years. Hockenberry on his annual trips with an ox cart would carry to market hundreds of dollars worth of furs and TOLEDO AND THE SANDUSKY REGION - 1789 pelts of the bear, deer, wolf, fox, wild cat, coon, mink and other skins of his own catch, and during his last illness told of his burial of a thousand dollars in gold and silver: The location he described, was at the foot of a large oak tree on his land in Jackson township, but as far as known, the savings were never recovered, his description not being accurate enough. Jackson township was organized in June, 1840, and the first election held at the cabin of John Dubbs. The officers chosen were: justice of the peace, James Bowman ; trustees, John Dubbs and two others; treasurer, John Dubbs; clerk, John Bowman. The village of Hoytville was surveyed in 1873 by W. H. Wood, for G. B. Mills and William Hoyt. The town was incorporated December 6, 1886. Miner Wadsworth was the first mayor and Sylvester Fox, clerk. The first post office in that section according to tradition was called Egypt and that was in 1859. John R. Apger distributed the mail. LAKE TOWNSHIP Prior to 1834, Lake township was a part of Perrysburg, then until its organization, June 3, 1844, it was a part of Troy township. Casper Noel was justice of the peace some years after 1845, and the first trustees were : Jacob Furry, James McLargin and Samuel Waggoner. Jacob Furry was the first clerk and Thomas Crago the first treasurer. Millbury was surveyed by R. B. Wilson and the plat recorded April 14, 1864. The town was incorporated September 10, 1874. A. P. Meng was the first mayor. The trustees established two school districts in Lake township, May 31, 1849. Walbridge was surveyed for Emeretta and Harriet Warner, in June, 1874, by George Kirk. G. P. Allen appears to have been the first postmaster. Latcha Village was surveyed by David Donaldson for J. R. Tracy and Luke Marsh in July, 1876. Christian Johnson opened the first store. A post office was established at Moline in 1883 with J. K. Pheils postmaster. Cummings was the name given to a sawmill settlement, one mile east of Moline, in 1880, when Giddings and Cummings built their sawmills there. 1790 - STORY OF THE MAUMEE VALLEY LIBERTY TOWNSHIP As stated earlier in this story, Canister Haskins was the first settler in Liberty township and arrived in this locality in 1824. This was only five years after Samuel and Alexander Holmes, deputy U. S. surveyors, ran the exterior township lines and three years after I. T. Worthington surveyed the section lines. About 1829, John B. McKnight, J. M. Jaques and the Cox and Decker families made their appearance. Haskins built a dam across the river and established a sawmill, the first in this section. General Hull's old stockade was still intact when these early pioneers first arrived. Some considered it an old French trader's post. Liberty township was established March 2, 1835, and the first township election held at the house of Henry Groves on the first Monday in April following. Officers chosen were: Trustees, James Birdsall, Henry Groves and George Ellsworth; clerk, Reuben Strait; treasurer, Hugh Arbuckle; justice of the peace, James Birdsall and Jacob Wickham. History says that the choice for township treasurer proved to be an injudicious one. Arbuckle, an educated Scotchman, was in the cattle buying business with a firm named Reed & Bishop of Urbana. While serving as treasurer Arbuckle sold a quantity of partnership stock and in pocketing the proceeds also took $28 of township funds. John McMahan and Henry Dubbs, his bondsmen, made up the deficiency. The first log schoolhouse or building used for a school, stood where was later the Drain dwelling in Portage. William North was the first teacher in 1835. The first church services in the township were held at the cabin of Canister Haskins, by a minister of the United Brethren denomination. Rev. Abner C. Cracraft, a Methodist, was the next minister. There was a post office called Stockwell, established in June, 1888, with John F. Carmody, postmaster. The plat of Ducat was surveyed by D. D. Ames for Exea Ducat, Thomas J. Ducat and Quincy A. Mercer, in February, 1890. Ross Creek, so called, and northwest of present Mermill, was the site of Robert Mackey's store in 1836. Bays was surveyed by R. F. Baker in 1890, for T. P. Brown, trustee. Miss Lucy Cook was the first postmistress. When the Coldwater railroad was projected, there was a place called Damtown established. There is Mermill, and Town Line was surveyed for the Dewey Stave Company, but did not materialize. Rudolph, first called Mercers, was surveyed by W. H. Wood in TOLEDO AND THE SANDUSKY REGION - 1791 May, 1890, for Daniel Mercer. Mungen also came into existence with the Coldwater Railroad project. MIDDLETON TOWNSHIP The survey of the exterior lines of Middleton was made by I. T. Worthington and the Holmes brothers in 1819, and the section lines were run by Worthington in 1821. The township was established December 3, 1832. The first election was held at Guy Nearing's house (Otsego), which was then within the boundaries of Middleton. Guy Nearing, Sidney L. Brewster and Michael L. Sypher were elected trustees; Isaac Van Tassel, clerk; Epaphroditus Foote, treasurer; Jacob Bernthisel and James Rutter, overseers of the poor and John Wade and Jesse Brough, fence viewers. The first action of the township trustees was to divide the township into four road and school districts. School district number one was to select directors at Guy Nearing's ; number two, at the Mission Station; number three at Barone's house and number four at the house of Thomas Cox. The date of this order is January 1, 1833. Some of the earliest settlements were along the Wood County side of the Maumee River within Middleton township as first constituted. Jesse Skinner, from New York state, emigrated in 1810, and came from Buffalo to the mouth of the Portage River (Port Clinton) by schooner, thence overland to Orleans (later Fort Meigs). He selected what was afterwards River Tract number fifty. In June, 1812, others who came with or followed Skinner also brought their families. With the assistance of his friends, Skinner built a cabin on the hill just east of the south approach to the present Waterville bridge. His near neighbors were Samuel Ewing, three miles away, and Lombar, a French Canadian trader, who was located above the mouth of Tontogany Creek. When the War of 1812 became a serious matter on the river, these river settlers and those lower down were driven from their cabins, some never to return, but the survivors and the determined ones came back after the war was over and bought lands and established permanent homes. In 1822 David Hull, also a New Yorker, located one and one-half miles north of present Haskins. It was from this settler that "Hull's Prairie," the prairie there as well as the town, took their names. School district number one, including Otsego, had the following early teachers : William R. Peck and Lucy A. Crosby, 1840; 1792 - STORY OF THE MAUMEE VALLEY Isaac Van Tassel and Lucy Crosby, 1841; A. C. Davis, 1842 L. M. Bamber, 1843; Jeremiah Case, 1844; S. G. Brown, 1845 W. C. Matthews, 1847; Morris Brown and Sophia Barlow, 1848; Smith Dunham and Amanda F. Howland, 1849; N. W. Minton and Sophia A. Barlow, 1850; H. C. Strow, 1851, and on down through a long pioneer list. Miltonville was surveyed in August, 1835, for William Fowler and G. W. Baird, who named it after Milton Baird. Guy Nearing built a sawmill and dam for the projectors the same year. There were early-day taverns here and trading places. There was the "Uncle Guy House," the "Foote Hotel" and other places for "putting up." During the early years before the Waterville bridge, there was a rope ferry at Miltonville. Hull Prairie plat was surveyed for John W. Weller in 1861. Dunbridge was surveyed by Ferdinand Wenz for Robert Dunn, November 10, 1882. The name is a combination of Dunn and the last part of the name of Trowbridge, who had a stave factory there. Roachton was given the name of a station established on the old Dayton & Michigan (B. & 0.) railroad and where John S. Ellis and W. C. Perrin operated a store and Mr. Perrin was named postmaster about 1875. Sugar Ridge was surveyed in 1882, by F. Wenz, for Frank and Sarah Meeker and there is also the post office and village of Dowling. The early history of Haskins and Hull Prairie is closely allied, Haskins being surveyed by D. D. Ames for William King in July, 1862. Prior to that date Hull Prairie was the post office for that section of the county. Haskins was incorporated January 1, 1869. Hezekiah N. Rush seems to have been the first mayor. It is the central business point of that section of the county. MILTON TOWNSHIP Milton township was established June 11, 1835, and the first election was held at the house of Morris McMillan. The early justices of the peace were Daniel Barton, M. M. McMillan, Alex Morehead, Isaac Van Tassel and G. W. Hill. The first white child born in the township was Maria Hutchinson. The first schoolhouse was of logs, located on the Otsego Pike on the Nelson Campbell farm. The first teacher in 1837 was William Woodward. David Hill taught school in his own house near present Milton Center, shortly after this date. Milton Center was surveyed by Hiram Davis for Andrew Hutchinson, and Lewis Dubbs, in February, 1857. The town TOLEDO AND THE SANDUSKY REGION - 1793 was incorporated in March, 1869. F. C. Taft was the first mayor. Lewisburg, now Custar, was surveyed in July, 1865, for Frederick Lewis, the founder. The town was incorporated as Custar, August 16, 1881, with G. P. Thompson the first mayor. W. 0. Keeler was an early postmaster. MONTGOMERY TOWNSHIP Montgomery was established December 1, 1834, but the original lines were surveyed in 1819, as were most of the other townships. At the first election in 1835, Michael Mogle, Guy Morgan and Abraham Logan were chosen trustees; Michael Brackley, clerk, and John Suhman, treasurer. The first settler in Montgomery was John A. Kelly, in 1832. Freeport, later Prairie Depot, was surveyed in 1836 for John Miley and Henry Butchel. In the summer of 1836, Michael Brackey and T. G. Frisbie built a log cabin and put therein a stock of general merchandise. Rochester and Montgomery Cross Roads had mail facilities several years before an office was established as Prairie Depot. Freeport was incorporated September 7, 1876. W. R. Bryant was the first mayor. The village name is now Wayne. Bradner was surveyed in 1875 for John Bradner and Ross Crocker of Fostoria and H. G. Caldwell, a local resident. The post office was established in 1877, with H. T. Peterson, postmaster. The village was incorporated February 4, 1890. J. E. Furste was the first mayor. Benjamin Wollam was the first settler in the vicinity of Risingsun, who in 1834, with the aid of an Indian, built a pole shanty. Risingsun was surveyed in 1876 for Luther Wineland, John Mervin, J. W. Bonawit, Adam Grover, J. W. Blessing, John Carey, E. Bolinger, Conrad Sheffer and their wives and E. F. Day and Thomas Marvin. John W. Blessing was the first postmaster. The village was incorporated in March, 1879, and E. F. Day was the first mayor. PERRY TOWNSHIP The exterior lines of Perry township were surveyed in 1819 and the township organized in 1833, the first election being held at the house of Isaac Kelly, in April of that year. The officers 1794 - STORY OF THE MAUMEE VALLEY elected were : Trustees, William Shawhan, Samuel P. Cory and Isaac Kelly; clerk, Uzal M. Cory; treasurer, Samuel P. Cory; justices of the peace, Samuel Cory and Jacob Rine. The first land entry in Perry township was made in March, 1831, by Henry C. Brish of Seneca County, an Indian Agent. The tract was the southeast quarter of section 36, and Brish sold the and to John Gorsuch, a part of which is within the present limits of Fostoria. The first actual settlers of Perry township were Oliver Day and his brother-in-law, John Johnson, in the latter part of 1831, on section 25. The first grist mill in that section was built by James McCormick, who came from Gallipolis. It was a water mill, constructed in 1834, evidently on the Portage River branch in that vicinity. The first school in Perry township was taught by Mrs. John Fletcher in the spring of 1834. West Millgrover, originally Millgrove, was surveyed in 18135 for James and Rachel McCormick. The town was incorporated in September, 1874. There was a post office here at an early date, on the line between Perrysburg and Bucyrus, with Bell Lowery mail carrier. The first mayor of the town was J. H. Moffett, Hattan post office was established March 14, 1882, with Samuel H. Cassady postmaster. The hamlet was platted by William McCormick in 1880. There was a Blinn post office established in 1883 at Norris Station, with Omar P. Norris in charge. Longley's first postmaster was T. J. Edgerton. PERRYSBURG TOWNSHIP The history of the territory embraced within the township of Perrysburg, crops out all through this story. The township was established May 8, 1823, when the county commissioners set apart all the original territory of Waynesfield, within the original County of Wood, under the new name and ordered an election to be held at the home of Samuel Spafford, June 19, 1823. The pioneers who had fled from this section during the War of 1812 had now, most of them, returned with new home seekers, and the shadow of Fort Meigs was a restful place of peace instead of strife and bloodshed. The justices of the peace of Waynesfield were Almon Gibbs in 1822, followed by John Pray, Charles Gunn, Samuel Spafford, John J. Lovitt, Dr. Horatio Conant and Jonathan H. Jerome, The first Perrysburg township justice was Paris M. Plumb. Mrs. Amelia Perrin, a daughter of Capt. David Wilkinson, TOLEDO AND THE SANDUSKY REGION - 1795 settled with her parents just above Perrysburg before the War of 1812, and fled with the family at the news of General Hull's surrender at Detroit. Orleans was surveyed soon after the War of 1812, and it was the abiding place for those seeking permanent homes in this locality. Mrs. Hester (Purdy) Green was on the Maumee River in this vicinity as early as 1810, coming here with her father, Daniel Purdy, from New York State. Others who arrived at the same time with their families were : William Carter, Andrew Race, Stephen Hoit and a Mr. Porter and Mr. Hopkins. David Hull, a nephew of General Hull and a bachelor, opened a tavern and his sister was the landlady. Antoine LaPoint, a Frenchman, who RESIDENCE OF GEORGE R. FORD, ON RIVER ROAD BELOW PERRYSBURG could also speak English and the Indian tongue, assisted Hull in running his tavern. There were also here many French Traders. As the settlement grew after the war, the river commerce became an important factor at the head of navigation. Fort Hill school was the first in the county. Perrysburg was surveyed by the U. S. Government in 1816. The county seat was moved there from Maumee in 1823. There was the Vance store, under Fort Hill, spoken of elsewhere, Jacob Wilkinson's tavern and his boats, before 1816, and John Hollister and Joshua Cheppel located there in 1817. The commission of Amos Spafford as postmaster of Miami, in Erie district is dated June 9, 1810, and in 1814, the office was 1796 - STORY OF THE MAUMEE VALLEY transferred to Fort Meigs and in 1816 returned to Maumee. T name "Fort Meigs" clung to the office until 1824, when it w changed to Maumee. The first post office at Perrysburg was established January 28, 1823, with Thomas R. McKnight postmaster. Spafford's Exchange Hotel was opened in 18224823, by Samuel Spafford. The Village of Perrysburg was chartered by the legislature February 19, 1833. The first mayor was John C. Spink. In a beautiful situation Perrysburg on the east bank of the Maumee, besides being a fine business point with interesting historical connections, as a residential section with suburban estates is unsurpassed. PLAIN TOWNSHIP After the Presbyterian Mission on the Maumee River was disbanded in 1832, Rev. Isaac Van Tassel, who was the superinendent, in 1834 established himself and family on a farm on the present "Ridge Road" west of now Bowling Green, and introduced the silk culture, setting out hundreds of mulberry trees he obtained from the East. For fifteen years he devoted himself diligently to agriculture, horticulture and stock raising and on his death in 1849 was probably the first horticulturist of the county. Joseph DeWitt and Joseph A. Sargent, in 1831, were the first land owners in Plain. The old "Bell School House" west of present Bowling Green, which for years housed the bell from the Maumee Mission Church, and the Plain Church, were among the pioneer institutions. Plain township was established on March 3, 1835. PORTAGE TOWNSHIP While surveyed in 1819, Portage township was organized December 3, 1832. The first election was held July 20, 1833. Joseph Cox, Jacob Eberly and John Sargent were chosen trustees; John B. Knight, clerk, and Collister Haskins, treasurer. Jerry City is partly in Bloom township. Woodbury was sur- veyed in May, 1888. Mungen was laid out for Philander McCrory in 1888. The first business house at Six Points was that of Turner, merchant and postmaster. TOLEDO AND THE SANDUSKY REGION - 1797 Trombley and Mermill are mentioned elsewhere and there is Cloverdale in this township. Portage Village was incorporated December 12, 1857. ROSS TOWNSHIP Ross township was established April 18, 1874. The first trustees were: C. W. Caswell, Charles Coy and Edward Hicks; Hiram Eggleston, clerk; justice of the peace, J. M. Baum; treasurer, J. M. Vickers. David Hartman, a squatter, was among the early pioneers. Robert Gardner, a deserter from the British army, cleared land on what was later the Rideout farm and early land buyers were : Thomas Burt, Stephen Turner, Philander Wales, William Olney and Gabriel Crane. Rossford was brought into existence by Edward Ford, who established the Ford Glass Works, one of Wood County's greatest industries. Other manufacturing concerns followed and Ross-ford today is one of the important factors in the county's development. With two fine new school buildings; many church organizations and a little city of home owners, it is proudly claimed as a valuable element in the structure of the county, industrially, commercially and socially. TROY TOWNSHIP The outlines of Troy township were surveyed in 1820 by Charles Roberts and was organized December 1, 1834. The first election was held at the home of Thomas Learning on the first Monday in April, 1835. Daniel H. Cole and David Phenicie were chosen justices of the peace. The first trustees of record were: James LaFarree, Henry Boose and Orange Howard; clerk, D. H. Cole. In 1833, at the home of William Gorrill, Mrs. Gorrill organized the first school of Troy. Jacob Furry entered Road Tract 4, in 1833. The fact that the Western Reserve Road from Perrysburg to Fremont, ran through this township, brought this section into prominence early. The mail coach route of Artemus Beebe and Ezra A. Adams, about 1825, was extended from Lower Sandusky (Fremont) through to Perrysburg and Detroit, which brought stirring times to this locality. The "umbrella barn" three miles southeast of Stony Ridge was one of the noted places on the road, as was the "Howard House" at present Lemoyne. "Elder's Tav- 1798 - STORY OF THE MAUMEE VALLEY ern," owned by Russell in 1835, was the earliest farm house on the Reserve Road, located three-quarters of a mile southeast of Stony Ridge. Stony Ridge was surveyed in May, 1872, for Caleb Bean. Lemoyne was surveyed in February, 1877, for S. Howard, Alfred Dennis, John Webb and U. J. Dennis. Luckey, now one of Wood County's most enterprising villages, was platted by Isaac W. Krotzer in April, 1881. George Luckey was the first postmaster. WASHINGTON TOWNSHIP The forming of Washington township on June 5, 1837, was agreed to by the county commissioners and took its territory from Middleton, Plain and Weston townships. The first election was held July 4, that year, when the following officers were named: Trustees, John Crom, Sr., Elias W. Hedges and Robert Bamber, Sr. ; clerk, Michael Sypher; treasurer, Frederick Bassett. Samuel Ewing, who settled opposite Wolf Rapids in 1819, and who was killed in a dispute with a man named John Lewis, at Richardson's Tavern, Roche de Boeuf, in 1822, was the pioneer of the township. His farm became the property of Valentine Winslow, who sold to David Hedges, who built a stone house on the location. Incidentally, it may be stated that Lewis escaped from the Maumee jail and was not apprehended, and that Richardson, the tavern keeper at Roche de Boeuf, was later shot by Porter, a half breed Indian, who was hung for the deed at the foot of Fort Meigs. The first schoolhouse in Washington township was a log structure, raised in 1833, near where the Washington U. B. chapel was later built. Michael Sypher and Elliot Warner, Sr., took turns as teachers, without compensation. One of the first Sunday schools in that section was organized in the log schoolhouse by Warner. The pioneers in this section attended church services at the Maumee Mission, to hear the Rev. Isaac Van Tassel preach the old school Presbyterian doctrine. The Washington schoolhouse near the John McColley old home, built in 1842, was the first frame schoolhouse in the township. Otsego had its beginning when Guy Nearing built a sawmill there, later known as "Gilbert's Mill." Eagle & Culbert also ran a store there. Otsego was surveyed in May, 1836, for Samuel B. Campbell, agent for Leon Beardsley, James O. Morse and TOLEDO AND THE SANDUSKY REGION - 1799 Jeremiah Fowler, of Cherry Valley, New York. The location was at Bear Rapids. The point was quite a trading center in early days, including hotels, and two steamers named the Crocket and The Sun ran on the river from Otsego to Gilead (Grand Rapids) and Defiance. Samuel Hamilton from New York State was probably the first settler at Tontogany site in 1830. The village was surveyed for Willard V. Way and E. D. Peck in May, 1855, and named in honor of an Indian chief. The village was incorporated September 9, 1874, and the first mayor was J. Patchen. The first postmaster was E. Pennock, in 1857. In 1843 the first Masonic Lodge in Wood County was organized near here, excepting the Military lodge at Fort Meigs. The Tontogany Banking Company is a great aid to the business interests of the town and community. WEBSTER TOWNSHIP This township was established December 8, 1846. The township organization was effected at the cabin of Joseph Kellogg, January 2, 1847. Trustees chosen : Hugh Stewart, L. Bushnell, W. Zimmerman ; clerk, Thomas Thompson; treasurer, John Muir; justices, Thomas Thompson and John Fenton. Where the hamlet of Fenton was established, was known to Harrison's soldiers in 1813, as the "Devil's Hole Prairie." The first postmaster of Fenton was John Fenton, about 1857. What was known as the "Ten Mile House" was one of the old landmarks of the township. Scotch Ridge was rather the successor to the Ten Mile House, and the old Loomis, store the headquarters. The "Householder House" which had a history, was built by John Myers. WESTON TOWNSHIP One of the old subdivisions, Weston township, was established June 14, 1830, under the name of "Ottawa township" and included a large section of that part of the county. On December 6, 1830, the name was changed to Weston. On April 4, 1831, the following township officers were chosen : Trustees, Edward Howard, William Pratt and Emanuel Arnold; clerk, R. A. Howard ; treasurer, D. W. H. Howard. In early days it was a custom in some quarters to sell poor people to the best bidder. There are records of more than one