1850 - STORY OF THE MAUMEE VALLEY suggestion proved a happy and satisfactory solution of the problem, and so this thriving little village bears the name of one of the noblest and ablest men this great Northwest ever produced, and who but recently answered the final summons after a life of usefulness of more than ninety years. In Sherwood, as elsewhere in wooded sections, timber consuming and converting industries formed the nucleus for all other lines of endeavor. Today these industries with us are history, but they paved the way for rich and productive farms, and those tilling them find a satisfactory market for their products at the Sherwood elevator and in the fine Sherwood retail stores a good and convenient place to provide themselves with all household requirements. The village now has a population of about 700, paved streets, electric lights for all purposes, a very creditable business section, a town or community hall, a weekly local newspaper, a bank, several church edifices, an adequate school building with all proper equipment, and the Crystal Fountain Park with Wentworth Hall, where Spiritualists from all parts of the country meet in annual session. There is also a central school building in the township about two miles north of Delaware Bend on the Defiance-Hicksville pike. Tiffin township was organized in 1832 and named, like the river coursing through it from north to south, after Edward Tiffin, the first Governor of Ohio and later senator from this state. The first election was held in the log cabin of Ephraim Doty, who is conceded to have been the first settler in the township. Among the first voters there are remembered : Ephraim Doty, Enos and Lewis Partee, Samuel Russell, Oliver Conrad, Peter Knipe, Jacob and George Hall, Jacob, John and Adam Coy, John and Thomas Holmes and John Snider. Ephraim Doty had the distinction of being the first schoolmaster in the township; school was taught in his home on Doty Run, near its entrance into Bean Creek or Tiffin River. The Doty home was a double log cabin. One of the rooms was used as a home, and part of the time as a schoolhouse, the other as a blacksmith shop. Doty built a dam in Doty Run and operated a sawmill with the power thus harnessed; he also manufactured the first brick in that section, the product being much in demand for chimneys and fireplaces in log cabins. About 1835 Lewis Partee built a sawmill on Webb Run, and in connection with this ground corn for the early settlers, whose only public highway was Tiffin River and whose only means of transportation were canoes and pirogues. About TOLEDO AND THE SANDUSKY REGION - 1851 1847 a boat called Experiment, with a capacity of 600 bushels of grain, plied the river between Evansport and Brunersburg, but this craft was eventually found to be too large and unwieldy for the limited waters of Tiffin River and was sold for the canal traffic between Defiance and Toledo. In 1835 a dam was built across Tiffin River at Evansport, a village situated on the north boundary line of the township, by Jacob and John Coy and John Snider, who then established a water power grist mill and sawmill. About 1842 Frederick von Behren erected a tannery on the easterly bank of Tiffin River near the Doty home, thus offering the settlers an opportunity to obtain much needed cash for hides and for oak bark used in tanning. As early as 1845 there were almost eighty votes cast in this township. A sketch of Tiffin township would be incomplete without mentioning such old settlers as Patrick McCauley, Mordecai Cameron, Simon Figley, Philip McCauley, Henry Hockman, Frederick Toberen, Henry Toberen, Dietrich Biederwell, Jacob Dieden, Conrad Romkey, Thomas Churchman, John 0. Wisler, Simon W. Figley, Jacob and Elizabeth Gruber, Christ. Dieden, Christopher Kuhn, Amos Snider, Adam Hall, William Rath, David Wisler, Peter Gares, John G. Stever, John A. Garber and James S. Gurwell. Many of their descendants still live in Tiffin township and are the owners of fertile farms with modern buildings and equipment. Evansport, an unincorporated village in section 3 on the north boundary line of Tiffin township, was laid out December 14, 1835, by Jacob Coy, Albert G. and Amos Evans, and named after the latter two gentlemen. The original plat consisted of 122 lots. Although handicapped by lack of transportation facilities, the grist mill and sawmill erected and operated there by Jacob and John Coy and John Snider soon made the village a trade center of no mean importance. It grew steadily, until there was a population of about 300, some very pretentious residences, two churches, a Masonic and an Odd Fellows Hall, good retail stores with profitable business in brick and frame buildings, blacksmith and wag-on shops, two hotels and a post office. In 1868 the first grist mill ceased to grind, but four years later Daniel Fribley and Abram Coy built an up-to-date new grist mill practically on the same site. This mill has since been converted at a great expense into a steam-power mill of quite modern equipment and for years did a flourishing business under the ownership of the Evansport Milling Company, whose brand of flour was in large demand. It is now owned by private parties and operated only as the demand re- 1852 - STORY OF THE MAUMEE VALLEY quires. Fires have in the last decades played havoc with the business section of Evansport. Good roads, trucks and the automobile have reduced the distance to Defiance, Stryker, Bryan and other markets so, materially that there is little or no opportunity for the retail business in Evansport to revive and expand. It is, however, still a pleasant place to live and the inhabitants are a happy and contented people. Tiffin township has a beautiful high and central school building of pressed brick with ornamental stone trimming, six churches of various denominations and some of the best improved roads in the county. Located also in Tiffin township is the County Home, a spacious brick building with all necessary equipments for the care and comfort of the unfortunate inmates, and a large farm which, under excellent management and tillage, is a wonderful producer and a valuable adjunct of this public institution. Noble township, according to the best information obtainable, was organized in 1822 or 1823 and named after Calvin L. Noble, who came to this section representing an eastern firm of fur buyers. John Perkins, who came from Chillicothe, Ohio, to the Maumee Valley in 1816, was without doubt the first of the settlers. He was soon followed by others and the eventual develop. ment of the township is due mainly to the efforts of such men as John Perkins, Joshua Hilton, Brice Hilton, Samuel Rohn, Janes Partee, John Plummer, Daniel Bruner, Henry Zeller, Lyman Langdon, William Buck, W. Kibble, John Partee, Joseph Ralston, John Lawrence, Obediah Webb, Enoch Partee, B. G. Stotler, John F. Dowe and his father, John Dowe, and William Travis. Joshua Hilton made his first trip to this section in January, 1822, for the purpose of selecting a suitable farm. His choice fell on 140 acres on the south side of the Maumee above the Village of Defiance, the family locating there in December, 1822, He built the second log cabin between Defiance and Fort Wayne and the first brick house in this section of the country. John Perkins, who assisted in making a survey of the lands of Northwestern Ohio, was one of the first judges of Williams County, and it is said of this man that he raised the first crop of wheat in Noble township. Soon after his arrival in this section he built a dam across Tiffin River on the site of what was to become Brunersburg later on and for a time operated a sawmill and afterward also a grist mill, with the assistance of James Partee and John Plummer. Lyman Langdon was the last of the old TOLEDO AND THE SANDUSKY REGION - 1853 guard to pass away (August 19, 1900), at the advanced age of ninety-one years. He built the large frame house near what is known as Langdon's Corners, on the Bellefontaine Road, and now the property of Alva LaVergne, in 1852. In this house Mr. Langdon kept a tavern for many years and had the honor of entertaining as his guests many men of prominence. The Village of Brunersburg, two miles north of Defiance, was laid out in May, 1834, by Henry Zeller and Daniel Bruner. The original plat contained only twenty-eight lots, but there were five later additions. The only grist mill in this section was located there above a dam on the John Perkins farm; near-by a tannery was built and put into operation ; a second one soon followed ; later on a second dam, called Mudgett's dam, was built, a toll bridge opened and power for grist mills and other industrial enterprises offered. Various lines of commerce prospered, and soon Brunersburg, with a population of about 200 people, was apparently in line for an era of unusual development. Brice Hilton, one of the most energetic and progressive of the old settlers, in 1850 purchased the Brunersburg mill property and a few years later erected a grist mill of some proportions, adding a sawmill later on, which he operated for many years. During the boom days following these developments the land on either side of Tiffin River was platted for miles into a prospective metropolitan Detroit and a Lowell. Those were times when excitement ran high. But the "Rufus Wallingfords" .of those days failed completely of accomplishing their ends. Lowell, with its thousands of building lots and its proposed streets with alluring names, vanished almost overnight; Detroit met the same fate, and the spot where these dream cities were laid out cannot now be traced on the map. All the industries in Brunersburg have passed into history and are no longer known. The sites of the mills and the tanneries are still pointed out to visitors as marks of former glory. A few filling stations and one small retail store are the only remaining representatives of commercial life. Shortly after 6 o'clock in the evening of Sunday, March 20, 1920, a violent tornado swept through Noble township, leaving in its wake death and destruction. It took a toll of three human lives in Noble township, two of them in Brunersburg, and much damage was done to property in this village. But there are no longer any visible signs of the destruction wrought by the unleashed element, which even lifted the two-span steel bridge over Tiffin River at Brunersburg from its moorings and dashed it into 1854 - STORY OF THE MAUMEE VALLEY the river bed, a mass of twisted and useless debris. This bridge has since been replaced by one of the best concrete bridges in the county. There are a number of pleasant homes in Brunersburg, a good school building, and perhaps 100 people who find life agreeable in this village surrounded by very picturesque scenery. Richland township was organized in 1824 as a part of Henry County, which it now joins on the east. The Maumee River divides this township into two parts of almost equal dimensions. That part north of the river is known as North Richland and that south as South Richland, or, more generally, as the South Ridge. There is no connection by bridge or ferry. To cross from one part to the other, it is neccssary to go either to Defiance or to Florida. In section 21 there is a dam in the Maumee River, constructed when the Miami and Erie Canal was built, for the purpose of rendering the river, navigable for canal boats on the four-mile stretch from the City of Defiance to this point. At Defiance the boats left the canal and crossed the river, thence following a channel in the north side of the stream to a point just above the dam where they again entered the canal proper and proceeded on their journey to Toledo. Although navigation on this part of the canal system has been entirely abandoned for several years, the old wooden dam was practically reconstructed in its entirety of concrete by the state two years ago, thus making permanent the present slack water level at Defiance, where more than a score of trunk sewer outlets and the intake crib of the Municipal Water Works System would have been laid bare, had the dam been permitted to go out. The name Richland is supposed to have originally been Ridgeland, a decided ridge or elevation running across the township and extending in a northerly direction through Adams township and through Highland township to the south. The soil in Richland is very fertile, and the scenery along the river banks of extreme beauty. Among the earlier settlers there should be mentioned : Isaac E. Braucher, a blacksmith by trade, who assisted in building the first schoolhouse in the Town of Defiance. Pierce Evans, who came here in 1822 and took a deep interest in the development of this section. Samuel Rohn, who also came to what was to become Richland township in 1822 and settled on Camp 3 of General Wayne's army, covering about forty acres, with the pickets still visible and with Miami, Ottawa, Wyandot and Shawnee Indians a-plenty. Benjamin Weidenhamer, who settled in Richland Township in 1834 on what later became the site of Independence, where he kept a hotel and a TOLEDO AND THE SANDUSKY REGION - 1855 store while the dam and canal were building and for several years afterward. Other early settlers were Thomas Elliott, John Hill, Samuel Kepler, John Taylor, Adam and Isaac Hively, Arthur Dunbar, Rinaldo Evans, John Whitney, Joshua Wilson, Sylvester Blackman, Benjamin and Galen Evans, Henry Ort, Sr., Jonathan Craig, Benjamin B. Abell, Josephus Rose, Samuel Shasteen, Henry Egler, David, Henry, Christian and Jacob Halterman, and Dr. Gibbens Perry. In 1845, when Defiance County was erected, Richland township cast sixty-four votes at the first election following. John Spangler, Philip Young and other later arrivals who left their mark on the Richland township of today always insisted that the township derived its name from the outstanding productiveness of its soil. The Village of Independence, on the northerly bank of the Maumee, was laid out by Foreman Evans and Edward Hughes in 1838, when the building of the Miami and Erie Canal was already considered a certainty. And indeed work was soon after begun on the construction of this then vitally important waterway and the dam at Independence. This precipitated a boom in the little hamlet on the Maumee. Hundreds of lots were laid out with North Street, Hick Street, Main Street, Water Street, Canal Street, Center Street, Wall Street, Island Street, Flatrock Street, and in numerical order from First to Seventh streets. While the dam was in course of construction and hundreds of men were engaged in this work, whose many wants had to be promptly and regularly supplied, Independence was as busy and active as a bee hive. There were quite a few business houses, the first opened up by C. J. Freedy and Benjamin Weidenhamer ; a hotel did a thriving business, and there were, I am told, more than fifty residences of various sizes. But the glory of Independence was transitory. Today the lots are farm lands and there is scarcely a trace to mark the marvelous activity of the years 1838 to 1842. The only trade center in Richland township at the present time is Jewell, on the Wabash Railway, with a grain elevator, several good substantial brick commercial buildings, a fine high school building, an up-to-date garage, a filling station or two and a number of neat and cozy residences with well-kept premises. Jewell is not incorporated, but has a post office and a rural mail route covering also a large portion of the adjoining township of Adams. Old residents of Richland township, in moments of reverie, or better perhaps, in reminiscent moods, tell of an Indian who bears the reputation of having been the very first medical 1856 - STORY OF THE MAUMEE VALLEY man in this section and who rendered the pioneers services of incalculable value. His name was Jacob Conkypot, but he was better known as Indian Jake. He remained behind when his tribe decamped, continued to wear his Indian garb and roamed about in the forests gathering herbs and barks, the curative powers of which were to him an open book. Much distress was relieved by this good man, who never accepted anything for his ministrations. When he passed away his body was laid to rest on the Samuel Rohn farm, on the north bank of the Maumee, in Noble township, and an ordinary field stone marks the last resting place of this noble follower of the Good Samaritan. Highland township, known also as the South Ridge, was organized as late as 1842 as part of Henry County. The first officers elected were: Trustees, John M. Sanford, Philip G. Hoeltzel and Henry Brechbill; treasurer, Brazilla Hendricks; clerk, Jacob Kraft; fence viewers, William Boucher, Augustus Skiver and John Wiler; overseers of the poor, Jacob T. Peterson and David Skiver. Two sandy ridges extend through this township, hence presumably the name Highland. Among the earlier settlers there should be mentioned in addition to those already named as the first township officers: Abraham Creamer, C. B. West, William Mansfield, Thomas Peterson, Isaac Skiver, Joseph Wagoner, Albert Stites, E. B. Mix, Hezekiah Clark, Jefferson Warren, Joseph P. Ayers, Jacob K. Myers, John Brechbill, Richard Vanskiver, William Hoyt, James Greer, James Ashton, N. A. Boutelle, A. Fullmer, Jacob Adams and Harvey J. Hill. Many of the descendants of some of these pioneers are still living in Highland township, the owners of splendid farms. For several decades there was no material growth in the population of the township, but along between 1860 and 1870 there was a pronounced increase through German settlers from abroad and from other sections of Ohio. I might mention among them the Dickmann, Demland, Frank, Marshaus, Zachrich, Steinmaier, Goller, Schubert, Bauer, Max, Hoellrich, Troeger, Schappert, Kopp, Eberle, Schall, Hiester, Foss, Weiss, Engel, Baumann and Schatz families,, who located in the east part of the township adjoining Pleasant township, in Henry County, where there was then and is now a large and prosperous settlement of German-Americans known as New Bavaria. The Lutheran people of that locality have a fine church and a modern parsonage in section 1 of Highland township. Some of the very best farms in Defiance County are to be found in Highland township; there is, however, much TOLEDO AND THE SANDUSKY REGION - 1857 fallow but good pasture land in the southerly sections for cattle and especially for sheep along Powell's Creek, which is as crooked as a ram's horn. Ayersville is the only trade center in this township. It was named after Joseph P. Ayers and was never incorporated. There was a post office at Ayersville as early as 1849. Nathan A. Boutelle was postmaster for many years, but the office has given way to the rural mail delivery system. Ayersville has several stores, a Methodist Episcopal Church, a garage, a large frame school building and perhaps thirty residences. In the center of Highland township we find a central and high school building and a small store. We find in this township also several seemingly inexhaustible gravel pits, from which, when gravel roads were in vogue and adequate for the traffic of those days, mile after mile of mud roads on the South Ridge was made passable. It is also worthy of note that Mrs. Hannah Winship Boutelle, who passed to the great beyond in 1892 at the age of 101 years, spent a number of her declining years at Ayersville at the home of her sore, Nathan A. Boutelle. Mark township came into existence five years after the erection of Defiance County, pursuant to a petition filed with the county commissioners by William C. Hutchinson. It was named after Mark Kenton, a hunter and trapper and probably the first settler in this particular locality. The first officers, elected in April, 1851, by the then seventeen qualified electors, were : Assessor, William C. Hutchinson; clerk, Peter Frederick; trustees, Harrison Jenkins, Samuel Onstatt and H. G. Luce; constables, John Kiser and M. C. D. Campbell; supervisor, Samuel Smith. In 1853 the first three hewed log schoolhouses were built, each 20 by 24 feet in size. Later on the township was divided into nine school districts, two of which had brick, and seven frame school buildings. Several years ago a beautiful central and high school building of dark red pressed brick with sandstone trimmings was erected in the center of the township half a mile north of the Village of Mark Center. One of the earliest settlers was Thomas Pope, with whom William C. Hutchinson, Samuel Hairis and George Porter, with their families, found shelter upon their arrival. Mr. Hutchinson later moved to the Town of Defiance and laid out the East Defiance addition shortly before the Turnbull Wagon Company moved their extensive plant from Napoleon to that city. Other old settlers in Mark township were Joseph, Martin and Samuel Smith, Moses Johnson, Philip Oaks, E. H. 1858 - STORY OF THE MAUMEE VALLEY Devore, John and Andrew Kintner, Samuel Fisher, Christopher Thompson, Robert Allen, Moses Dickey and Samuel Kleckner. The development of Mark township proved to be a slow process because of the enormous quantities of elm and other timber and the great swamps which were infested with rattlesnakes. Old surveyors in laying out ditches to drain the swamps were compelled to wear stout leather hip boots to protect themselves against the poisonous fangs of these reptiles. Today Mark township land, with the possible exception of the lower tier of sections, compares favorably with the best in the county in productiveness, though it is somewhat heavier and harder to till. The Baltimore & Ohio Railway .runs in a straight line through the township. Enormous quantities of barrel staves, hoops and heading were for many years manufactured at Mark Center, the only village in the township and located on the railway named. This village was laid out in 1874 by Josiah Kyle, A. M. Anderson and Frederick Harmening. One of the manufacturers in Mark Center, Lyman Trowbridge, purchased vast tracts of timber land, from which he removed all the merchantable timber and then gave the cleared lands over to farming. For years the Van Wert Stave Company operated a large plant at Mark Center, manufacturing staves, hoops and heading, and at times employing more than fifty men. Several hoop shaving plants and a sawmill were also among the industries of the village. Today Mark Center is off the map industrially, but we find there a number of very creditable mercantile establishments in substantial brick and concrete block buildings on a paved street, a grain elevator, a frame township or community building, a church edifice of the Methodist Episcopal denomination and quite a sprinkling of residences. For its size Mark Center is a busy and prosperous trade center and a pleasant place of abode. In writing of Mark township one must not forget to mention Baldwin Herzer and Henry Wonderly, two of the most astute politicians of that section. Also George Long, for many years justice of the peace of the township. Of Mr. Long this story is told by one of the older attorneys who tried a case in 'Squire Long's court : A decision rendered by the 'Squire was afterward severely criticised in his hearing by one of the attorneys. The 'Squire, ever ready to preserve and defend the dignity of his court, called the critic down with the following remark : "I could fine you for contempt of court for that remark." To this the disgruntled attorney demurred, saying: "You can't fine me for contempt for my remarks, because TOLEDO AND THE SANDUSKY REGION - 1859 they were made while the court was not in session." Which moved Justice Long to the rather ambiguous retort : "Sir, I would have you understand that this court is never above contempt." Worthy also of being handed down to posterity is the fact that William J. Knight, who enlisted from Mark township in Company E, Twenty-first Ohio Volunteer Infantry, was one of the twenty-four men from General Mitchell's division known in the history of the Civil war as "The Mitchell Railroad Raiders," whose adventures form one of the most thrilling episodes of the rebellion. In section 14 in Mark township there is a Lutheran Church, the place of worship for a numerous settlement of German-Americans in that section and in a part of the adjoining township of Delaware. In the extreme northwest of Defiance County we find the township of Milford, organized in 1837, and in point of topography varying greatly from the lands in the townships of the easterly part of the county. There is more rolling land, making drainage comparatively easy, and the landscape is dotted with a number of small inland lakes. So far as known, the first settlers in Milford township were William G. Pierce, George W. Chapman, Linus Clark, Ezra Carey, Thomas Slater, Thomas Green, Jacob Welden or Walden, Harrison Conkey, Elias Crary, Spencer Hopkins, John Henry and George Green, with their families. The first child born in Milford township to grow to manhood was Luther Slater. At the first election held in Milford township the twelve settlers voting selected the following roster of officials: Justice of the peace, Linus Clark; trustees, Ezra Crary, George W. Chapman and Thomas Slater; treasurer, Linus Clark; clerk, Ezra Crary; constable, W. G. Pierce. At the October election in 1845 there were forty-four votes cast in Milford township. Among these voters I. find enumerated Benjamin Forlow, A. W. Wilcox, Henry and Clement Hulbert, Armenius Crary, Peter Beerbower, Charles W. Barney, John F. Haller, Adam Casebeer, Andrew and Joseph Wickerham and Ezra Grandy.. Later arrivals in the township were John Hootman, who passed away February 20, 1880, at the extreme old age of ninety-four years; Alva Stone, Jesse Haller, Henry Amaden, Jacob D. Serrill, J. Pifer and Merrill Otis. Still later a number of German Methodists and German Lutherans located in the north part of the township, erected church edifices there and developed some very fine farms. Among the Methodists there should be mentioned especially the Koerner, the Weber, the Krill 1860 - STORY OF THE MAUMEE VALLEY and the Weisz families; among the Lutherans the Kimpels, the Heislers, the Predigers and the Lehmanns. Rev. Adam Detzer, pioneer Lutheran missionary of Northwestern Ohio, conducted services in the Lutheran settlement in Milford township as early as 1845. There is also a church of the United Brethren in the township. The first schools in Milford township were held in log cabins, and the first school in what is now district No. 3 was taught in 1844 by Margaret Brace in a log cabin built by and belonging to William G. Pierce.. There were at one time three small unincorporated trade centers in Milford township, Clarksville in section 4, Logan in section 27, and Cicero in section 35. Of great importance to the early settlers was the Arrowsmith grist mill which according to my best information stood on the bank of the St. Joe River at Clarksville and did a thriving business for many years. Quite naturally with the building of large and modern flouring mills this industry went into decline and finally disappeared entirely. Very little remains of these three villages, in fact Clarksville is the only one now noted on the county map. Indians, deer, wolves and wildcats, some of the latter weighing fifty to sixty pounds, were found a-plenty in Milford in the earlier days. The civilization following the white man wherever he goes has driven them out, and the Milford township of the present day harbors a peaceful, God-fearing, contented and progressively prosperous people. One of the townships populated almost exclusively by New Englanders and their descendants is Farmer township which came into existence in the fall of 1836. It was at first called Lost Creek township after the creek which runs its course partly through this section, but it afterward took on the name Farmer township in honor of Nathan Farmer, who settled there in 1833. Heavy timber and extensive marshes covered the township, but the settlers, most of whom came from the State of New York and from some of the New England states, nothing daunted by the task confronting them, went to work with a will, cleared and drained the land and converted the township into one of the most productive in Defiance County. On the excellent quality of this soil experts agree. Among the earlier settlers we might mention Nathan and Enoch Farmer, John Hickman, Elisha and Collin Tharp, Elijah Lloyd, Orson V. Sawyer, Oney and John Rice, William Powell, Levinus Bronson, Edward Lacost, James W. Fisher, Isaac and William Wartenbee, Daniel Comstock, Randall Lord, James Craine, Miller Arrowsmith, Jesse and William TOLEDO AND THE SANDUSKY REGION - 1861 Haller. Later arrivals, but no less active in the development of the township, were John Norway, Horace W. Hill, William Martin, George Waltz, Ethan R. Welden, William Price, Anthony Huber, Levi Wilder, Walter S. Tomlinson, Harrison and Jacob Conkey. Dairying was in the earlier days one of the chief occupations in Farmer and there were two cheese factories in operation until this industry was forced to suspend because of the competition arising from larger plants with more modern equipment. William M. Haller for a number of years had a post office at his home in section 32 called Wilseyville. Miller Arrowsmith, so often mentioned in connection with the development of this great Northwest and one of the pioneers of Farmer township, was appointed by the General Assembly of Ohio at its session in 1845-46 as a member of the State Board of Equalization and as such made an enviable record. There is a gravel pit in section 13 called the Mason gravel pit from which enormous quantities of bank gravel have been taken for road building and other purposes. In the north part of the township especially, there is still much milk and butterfat produced and we find there herds of fine dairy cows, mostly Holsteins. Walter S. Tomlinson of Farmer is the owner of one of the best and largest herds of this breed in Northwestern Ohio. Farmer Center, located in the geographical center of the township and unincorporated, is the only trade center. It was platted by John Norway, for many years the leading merchant in the village and also filling the offices of postmaster and justice of the peace. His son Clyde R. is still carrying on the business founded by his father in the same building. The village is a very pleasant place to live and easy of access by concrete roads from all directions; there are several stores, a spacious brick central and high school building, a hotel, a church edifice and a number of residences housing in all about one hundred people. Washington township was organized in 1838 and seven years later registered the following list of voters : Zachariah and James Hurtt, Arthur Graham, John and Jacob Garloch, James N. Skeen, Andrew Bostater, Benjamin Lintz, Gideon Skeen, Levi Fair or Tarr, Linas Doud, Samuel P. Cameron, James Lawrence, Israel Phillips, John and Jesse Donley, H. H. Hanna, John Ury, John Kintner, George Ridenour, Samuel K. Beattie and Philip Brannan. Later arrivals in the new township were Isaac Garver, Bartel Garber, Isaac Yarlots, William Pierce, Martin Struble, Henry Lorah, Hezekiel Hanna, John Garber and John Earlston. 1862 - STORY OF THE MAUMEE VALLEY Still later a considerable number of immigrants from Germany and descendants of such settled in the north part of Washington township. Among them we might mention 'Squire William Ufer, who was for many years Justice of the Peace and a man held in the highest regard by all who knew him, Christ. Schwarzbek, John G. Renz, Christ. Kinzer, Christ. Elser, Christ. and Charles Bergmann, Otto Fieldner, George Guenther, Peter Karlstadt, Jacob Winter, August Haase, J. C. Vollmer, John, Jacob, Gottlieb and Charles F. Goller, Ulrich and Bernhardt Ball, George Klaus, F. Hagemann, Peter Pahl, Jonas Mack, Gottlieb Straehle and John W. Burgbacher. All these men together with the earlier settlers did their full share in converting Washington township into a progressive and prosperous community. Many of them despite the hardships endured lived to a good old age; one, Jacob Goller, lacked but little of being a centenarian when the final summons came to him only a few years ago. There is a Lutheran Church which was built in 1874 on the road between Ney and Bryan; the pastor serving this congregation has always had his home in Bryan where he attends to the spiritual needs of another congregation. The Cincinnati Northern Railway, originally called The Cincinnati, Jackson & Mackinaw and now part of the New York Central system, runs through Washington township north and south in almost a direct line. Ney Village is the only trade center and post office in the township. It was laid out by George Ridenour in 1846 and by him named Georgetown. Con' siderable business was done at the village almost from its inception, but the greatest growth followed the coming of the railroad in the early nineties, when the name of the village was changed from Georgetown to Ney and the village incorporated. We find in this village paved streets, a number of very good modern brick commercial buildings with all retail lines represented, a bank, a church, a resident physician, several garages, an elevator and a saw and planing mill with a lumber yard attached. On the northeasterly edge of the village there is a large brick building used as a central and high school with an up-to-date curriculum and an excellent corps of teachers. There are a number of fine residences and a sufficient number of houses to provide homes for about 200 people, who find life in this hustling village quite satisfactory. Hicksville township, named after Henry W. Hicks, of New York City, came into existence in June, 1836. Of the 23,040 acres in the township 14,000 were owned by the Hicks Land TOLEDO AND THE SANDUSKY REGION - 1863 Company and over 4,000 by the American Land Company, who entered the greater part of their holdings in 1835-36 and 1837. Both these companies at once began the development of their land; however this proved at first a slow process, the settlers being few and far between. Among the early settlers were David Landis, Mark W. Babb, William Hollinger, and Nelson Tustison on the Ft. Wayne Road; Alonzo Works, Ezra Dickson, James Thomas, Luther Loveland, Lewis Michals and Hugh J. Marcellus on the Newville Road; Allen Pearson, David Blair, Joshua Hall, Isaac Miller and Isaac Wartenbee on the Edgerton Road; Buenos Ayres, David Grier, John Ryan, Ebenezer Johnson, Caspar Ginter and Thomas McCurdy on the Bryan Road. The first settler was Buenos Ayres and the next David Grier. Among the earlier settlers the Hon. A. P. Edgerton deserves especially honorable mention. He came to Hicksville from New York State in 1839, after having served in the General Assembly of that state for four years, and assumed the management of the extensive interests of the two land companies mentioned above. His selection proved a wise and profitable one, yet while Mr. Edgerton was ever mindful of the best interests of his principals he never overlooked an opportunity for developing and improving the community in which he lived and which he had learned to love. In 1845 he was elected to the Ohio Senate from the district to which Defiance County at that time belonged and served his constituency with honor and distinction. In 1850 he was elected congressman from his district and reelected in 1852 ; in his capacity as a member of the lower House of Congress he again displayed rare ability and force of character. His outstanding qualifications for public service were frequently recognized by his appointment for various other offices of importance. The later years of his life the Hon. A. P. Edgerton spent at Ft. Wayne, Indiana, where he passed away September 10, 1874, at the age of eighty-seven years. Other early settlers of Hicksville township were Peter Hilbert, James Maxwell, John Swilley, Amos Forlow, William C. Kinmont, Byron Bunnell, Joseph S. Bunnell, William J. Henry and George Warner. The only trade center in Hicksville township is the beautiful and thriving Village of Hicksville, laid out soon after the eastern land companies began operations in that section, but not incorporated, so far as I am able to ascertain, until 1871 while the Baltimore & Ohio Railway was being surveyed through the village. The Hicksville of today has several miles of paved streets, an adequate municipal water system with its source of 1864 - STORY OF THE MAUMEE VALLEY supply in deep wells, an extensive sewerage system,, electric current for all purposes, four financial institutions, a good hotel, churches of practically all prominent denominations, brick opera house now used as a cinema theatre and built as a memorial by a former citizen, George H. Huber, who located in New York City and there became quite wealthy; splendid schools, perhaps a dozen blocks of brick business houses with retail stores representing every line, a live newspaper, a number of successful industries and enough residences, among them some of real class and beauty, to comfortably house its population of approximately 3,000 happy and hustling people. One of the greatest and most beloved actresses in the United States, Amelia Bingham, who only recently departed this life, was born in the Village of Hicksville and there spent the years of her adolescense. She was the daughter of John Swilley (originally Zwillich) , a native of the kingdom of Wurtemberg, Germany, and even after she had achieved fame and fortune usually spent her summer vacations at her old home in Hicksville. Her father was first the village blacksmith and wagon maker and later kept the Swilley Hotel, where Amelia waited on the tables until the lure of the stage awakened by the man who afterward became her husband and who died abroad during the World war as a member of the Henry Ford peace expedition, became too strong for her. In her honor the hotel at Hicksville now bears the name Amelia Bingham Hotel. Hicksville also has a Post of the Grand Army of the Republic, known as I. Donafin Post No. 54, in honor of Isaac Donafin, who lost his life by the explosion on the illfated Mississippi steamer Sultana while on his way home as an exchanged prisoner of war in southern prison pens, whither he had been sent after being taken captive at the battle of Chickamauga. His body was never recovered from the waters of the Mississippi. The soil in Defiance County produces everything which climatic conditions permit to mature. With us, too, corn is king and at the head of the list; but all small grain—wheat, oats, barley, rye and buckwheat—is produced in every section of the county with satisfactory results. Timothy, soy beans, red and white clover, sweet clover and alfalfa yield large crops; sweet clover has greatly grown in favor in the past years. The production of sugar beets has latterly become an important item, especially on black loam soil, and the beet crop is proving generally very profitable. In the live stock branch beef cattle, hogs and TOLEDO AND THE SANDUSKY REGION - 1865 sheep, of course, predominate; sheep-farming especially is coming to the front again because of the high wool and mutton prices. Poultry raising has grown to immense proportions and has shifted from a side issue to an important part of the family budget. Dairying, too, is on the upward grade. Two large concerns have extensive plants here for the handling of poultry, eggs and butterfat. All trade centers have receiving stations. Their receipts and the money put into circulation by them annually runs into astounding figures. The milk condensery established at Defiance some eight years ago has paid out millions of dollars to farmers for raw milk and handles the year around an average of about 100,000 pounds of raw milk a day. That there is still considerable merchantable timber and even some virgin timber to be had in this vicinity is evidenced by the fact that a local timber merchant operates several sawmills and ships hundreds of thousands of feet of oak, elm, sugar, ash, poplar and hickory in dimension stuff to various parts of the country. Much of the material used in automobile and truck bodies comes from the solated timber tracts of Defiance County. IN THE WARS In all wars of the United States Defiance County has not been lacking in loyalty and valor. We were fairly well represented in Co. B, Fifteenth Reg. U. S. Inf., raised in the Maumee Valley for the Mexican war. Ten or more companies were organized in our county during the Civil war. Company M, 6th O. V. I, fought in the Spanish-American war. And the full quota required from Defiance County by draft in addition to a large number of volunteers did their full share in winning the World war. Not only this. In every Liberty Loan drive and in the Victory Loan drive did Defiance County go over the top promptly and decisively. We have, as a sequence of these war-fares, a Camp of the Spanish-American War Veterans, two Posts (at Defiance and Hicksville) of World War Veterans and Bishop Post No. 22 of the G. A. R. The latter was organized at Defiance July 14, 1879, with twenty-four charter members, of whom George W. Killey and Albert King are the only survivors. Mr. King, by the way, is also one of the two remaining survivors of the Mississippi Sultana disaster mentioned elsewhere in this article. Bishop Post at one time had A membership of more than 300, but most of the old comrades have answered the last roll call. In honor of the veterans of the Civil war an imposing bronze 1866 - STORY OF THE MAUMEE VALLEY monument was erected and unveiled in 1886 in Monumental Park, a well-kept triangular space plainly visible from the business section and located just north of the Central or High School grounds at Defiance. In 1894 the City of Defiance arranged a centennial celebration on an elaborate scale in commemoration of the 100th anniversary of the building of Fort Defiance by Gen. Anthony Wayne. A replica of the old fort and stockade was built on the fort grounds of logs prepared and brought in by farmers from all sections of the county. Many visitors from all parts of the country joined us in the celebration ; however, inasmuch as many men of national prominence who had been heralded as speakers failed to fill their engagements, the celebration fell short of our expectations. Four miles above Defiance there was constructed in the Auglaize River in 1911 and 1912 at an expense of about $800,000 a power dam with all requisite equipment. This plant is now an important part of the extensive light and power system of the Toledo Edison Company. A wing of the dam was carried away by the great flood in the early spring of 1913, but the damage was immediately repaired and a new and larger wing built of sufficient strength to successfully withstand the greatest pressure to which it could be subjected. A mile below Defiance there is a wooded island of about twenty-four acres of land in the Maumee River. Originally known as Dalldorf's Island and the property of Ernest Dalldorf, who moved to the Pacific coast many years ago and died there, this island later passed into the possession of men who converted it into a pleasure resort. A large assembly hall was built, various devices for pleasure and recreation constructed and a race track and a ball park laid out. For several years Chautauqua meetings and other assemblies were held there in the days when a street car line was operated to a point on the south bank of the Maumee opposite Island Park. The flood referred to below swept away all the buildings and equipment on Island Park. Today the island is owned by the boy scouts and used by them as a camp. In the early spring of 1913, beginning the day after Easter Sunday, Defiance was visited by the most disastrous flood since 1834. All the places of business on Fort Street and in the lower block of Clinton Street were filled with water to a depth of from two to eight feet. Row boats came up Clinton Street to a point just in front of the courthouse. Water to a depth of sixteen inches flowed over the floor of the Maumee bridge on Clinton TOLEDO AND THE SANDUSKY REGION - 1867 Street and for several days the north side of the city was isolated. The pumping station of the Municipal Water Works was also put out of commission for a time. The State bridge across the Maumee and the bridge spanning the Auglaize River on Hopkins Street were carried away by the swirling torrential waters. Nearly 300 families living adjacent to the rivers were driven from their homes. Serious property damage ensued, but not a human life was lost, and public-spirited citizens, nobly assisted by the Red Cross, in a short time succeeded in rehabilitating at least to a degree all the families who had suffered loss by the flood. On the 20th day of March, 1920, shortly after six o'clock in the evening a terrific tornado swept from west to east over a large section of Defiance County, causing enormous property damage and resulting in the loss of three human lives in this immediate vicinity. The escape of the occupants of some of the houses that were literally reduced to shapeless fragments will always be considered. miraculous. The Village of Brunersburg was perhaps hardest hit, many buildings being totally destroyed and nearly all the others damaged more or less. But in this instance again hearts and hands of those spared by the disaster were opened spontaneously and splendidly in compassion and gratitude, so that suffering was speedily alleviated and at least partial restoration made of property losses in cases where tornado insurance had been overlooked. Just beyond the easterly city limits of Defiance the county has a wonderful institution in the Children's Home, a large two-story brick building of pleasing architecture with all modern conveniences and equipment and beautiful environments. In this institution unfortunate orphan children find a good home and are trained in every possible way to become useful citizens of this commonwealth. The success of this Home under its excellent management is to all a source of justifiable pride and gratification. IMPROVEMENTS In conclusion, the following statistical data may be of interest. The Maumee River is spanned in Defiance County by three bridges for public traffic, one at Defiance, one near Delaware Bend and one near Sherwood. Three public bridges, all of them in the City of Defiance, span the Auglaize River; one on Second Street, another on Hopkins Street and the third on Francis Street. Tiffin River is spanned by six public bridges, the Dey 1868 - STORY OF THE MAUMEE VALLEY bridge, the Bohn bridge, the Dickman bridge, the Brunersburg bridge, a bridge just north of the County Home and one several miles south of the Village of Evansport. St. Joe River is spanned by only one bridge in the county, located at or near the former Village of Clarksville in Milford township. There are at present 6041/2 miles of improved roads in Defiance County and many more in the making and in contemplation. The total value of taxable property for 1928 is $40,000,000 in round numbers and of this amount $12,500,000 is listed in the City of Defiance. These figures include, of course, railroad and all other corporate properties. The present county officials are; Judge of the Common Pleas Court, Fred L. Hay; Representative in the Ohio General Assembly, S. I. Gruner ; Probate Judge, David F. Openlander; Sheriff, Elmer Partee ; Clerk of the Courts, Miss Emma Richholt; Surveyor, Henry F. Toberen; Auditor, Henry Reineke; Treasurer, C. K. McCormick; Recorder, John Core; Commissioners, Peter Hornish, C. A. Mix and Titus Johnston; County School Superintendent, M. E. Brandon; County Health Officer, Dr. R. B. Cameron; Coroner, Dr. Fred W. Watkins. Of the pioneer physicians of Defiance County perhaps Dr. John Evans and Dr. Jonas Colby deserve especial mention, for they rendered services of incalculable value to the old settlers under extreme difficulties and at a time when the income derived from their efforts was anything but commensurate with the service rendered. Dr. Evans came to Defiance with his wife and two daughters in February, 1823, and first located in a double log cabin in Camp Three a few miles below Defiance on the north side of the Maumee River. During the summer the doctor built a frame house; he made the first brick and lime in Defiance, using of these materials what he needed for his own house and selling the surplus for enough cash to pay for his home. In 1824 he opened a store in Defiance and had many dealings with Indians whose complete confidence and respect he enjoyed. On one occasion Chief Oc-co-nox-ee brought one of his daughters to Dr. Evans to be treated for some malady which had baffled the skill of the Indian medicine men. She was received in the doctor's house and in due time restored to health. As an earnest of his appreciation and gratitude the Indian chief presented Dr. Evans with a fine pony. In 1838 the doctor moved to Troy, Ohio, and two years later to Ft. Wayne, Indiana. Overtaken on his way home from a business trip to Defiance by a fatal illness, he TOLEDO AND THE SANDUSKY REGION - 1869 departed this life August 11, 1842, at the home of Brice Hilton's mother at the age of only forty-eight years. Dr. Jonas Colby came to Defiance in 1832 from New Hampshire to engage in the practice of medicine, not so much to amass a fortune, as to alleviate suffering. His field of activity covered the entire territory from Fayette in the north to Fort Jennings in the south. Fortunately he was endowed with an exceptionally strong constitution and so bore up under the terrific strain of his profession. In 1837 he was appointed Postmaster of Defiance and soon thereafter Associate Judge of Williams County. His wife was Miss Almira Hull, the first white child born in the Maumee Valley. Through the appreciation in value of real estate in which Doctor Colby invested his savings, he attained to a reasonable degree of opulency. He continued in the active practice of his profession up to the day of his death, which occurred May 28, 1876. Other prominent physicians of former days were Levi Colby, I. N. Thacker, L. G. Thacker, Emory W. Downs and James Ashton. Dr. W. S. Powell, despite his seventy-eight years is still practicing, mentally and physically remarkably alert and well preserved. Dr. R. B. Cameron is health officer and Drs. F. C. Kinmont and B. M. Rakestraw, were in their time residents of Hicksville. EDUCATIONAL The citizens of Defiance have ever shown themselves fully mindful of the advisability and advantage of educating the young and preparing them for a life of usefulness. There are no authentic records of the first school in Defiance, but fairly reliable information seems to establish the fact that the first schoolhouse was constructed of hewed logs and stood a short distance west of where we now find the lower canal lock. William Seamans was the first teacher, William Edmondson the second and William A. Brown the third. In 1828 Brice Hilton taught school on Cole's Run about two miles southeast of Defiance. About 1837 school was held in the brick building erected as a courthouse on the present site of the government building. The first available school records name Jonas Colby, Edwin Phelps and James S. Greer as School Directors and Levi Colby as Clerk. Among the early teachers I find mentioned John Eastbrook, Calvin. B. West, B. F., B. B. and Mary Southworth, E. C. Betts, Catharine Colby, Benjamin F. Reed, Maria Allen, Robert Evans, S. M. McCord, E. A. Greenlee, Professor Eddy, R. Taylor, Francis Hollenbeck, Evaline 1870 - STORY OF THE MAUMEE VALLEY Richardson, Elizabeth Moss, Ida R. Phelps and John H. Crewell, In 1842 a brick school building was erected on the west side of Wayne Avenue, between Fourth and Fifth. In 1865 the beautiful plot of ground now known as the Central School Grounds was acquired by purchase pursuant to the decision of a special election and a very pretentious two-story brick building erected at a cost of $15,000. In 1874 the school building on the north side was erected, and the year following saw the erection of the school building on Holgate Avenue in the Second Ward and that on Douglas Street in the Fourth Ward, known as East Defiance. The latter building has since been enlarged by the addition of several rooms and the other two buildings have also been materially improved. In 1880 the Central School Building at the head of Clinton Street proper, facing Arabella, was enlarged and remodeled at a cost of $12,000. Since that time an additional large building was erected on the same grounds. Both these buildings are now replaced by a beautiful and splendidly equipped high school building, erected several years ago at a cost of $250,000 and an Auditorium now building at a cost of $178,000. In addition to these public institutions of learning we have three fine brick parochial school buildings, St. John's Catholic, St. John's Lutheran and St. Mary's Catholic. St. John's Catholic Church is at present also constructing a highly modern parsonage at a cost of $30,000. Graduates of all Defiance schools are making their mark in various lines of endeavor here and elsewhere. This no doubt is the best evidence of the excellence of our curriculum and the efficiency of the corps of teachers. Of the schools in other parts of the county mention is made elsewhere in this sketch. It is meet and proper, however, to state that the Defiance County schools have a splendid reputation and that all those engaged in our pedagogic work are striving honestly and earnestly to maintain and improve, if possible, their high standard. EARLY HOTELS As early as 1828 Dr. John Evans built a hotel at the corner of Front (now Fort) and Jefferson. About the same time Payne C. Parker built the Exchange Hotel at the corner of Front and Clinton, where we now have the Hoffman furniture store. This hotel was destroyed by fire in 1852. The next hotel in Defiance was erected by Amos Evans at the corner of Clinton and Second, where C. A. Flickinger and J. B. Weisenburger in 1874 built the three-story brick stone front block. Other small frame hotels TOLEDO AND THE SANDUSKY REGION - 1871 of the earlier days were built in various sections of the village, among them the Grey House at the corner of Third and Jefferson in 1837 by John Grey, on the site of the present Carter mansion. In 1854 when cholera raged in Defiance there were several cases of this dreaded disease in the Grey House; soon afterward the building was destroyed by fire, as was then thought through incendiarism. The Russell House, the first brick hotel, was built in 1858 and 1859 by Sidney S. Sprague at the corner of First and Clinton. It was a three-story brick building of considerable size and operated successfully for many years. Charles Russell was the first proprietor and the place ever thereafter bore his name. This building was in most part razed in 1911 to make room for the Masonic Temple. The Crosby House on Third Street, between Clinton and Wayne, was built as a residence in 1870 by Michael Schultz and converted into a hotel by E. J. Crosby, after whom it was named. Partly destroyed by fire in 1874, it was immediately rebuilt on a much larger scale and has since that time been extensively remodeled and enlarged to thrice its original size. Recently part of the Citizens Opera House building has been converted into a well equipped hotel on the European plan under the name Hotel Henry. Of the old frame hotel buildings the only two now in existence are the Washington Hotel on the crest of Carey hill in North Defiance, now used as a residence, and the Central House, which stood for years on the easterly side of Clinton, between Fourth and Fifth. This building was moved to Fifth Street near Jefferson several years ago by the late R. Brown and converted into a duplex residence. TRANSPORTATION AND BUSINESS For several decades after the building of the Miami and Erie Canal the principal business section of the Village of Defiance was along this artificial waterway and the banks of the Maumee. Business was so brisk on the canal that the position of Canal Toll Collector was as eagerly sought after as any of the village and county offices. There were six locks in this village. On most of these locks incoming and outgoing freight was generally piled up as we now see it on the freight depot platforms of railway stations. Packets or steam power boats plied between Defiance and points east, west and south. There were warehouse and store buildings on Front Street, on Water Street in North Defiance and near the three lower locks, a flouring mill and a store at lock No. 4 and another flouring mill at lock No. 5. Boats were going back 1872 - STORY OF THE MAUMEE VALLEY and forth in the open season constantly with grain, merchandise of all kinds, firewood and other commodities. Canal boat owners and captains were men of affairs in those days. Mules generally were the power employed by these canal cruisers. Power was also secured from the canal by several local industries for many years under state leases. Gradually the rather slow mode of transportation went into decline despite the low freight rates. But even after freight transportation on the canal had come to a close, this waterway proved a great convenience to local woodworking industries, as thousands of logs were rafted down to Defiance from the enormous timber sections of Paulding County. Only a few years before the final abandonment of this section of the Miami and Erie Canal the old wooden locks at Defiance were replaced by new concrete locks and a long stretch of concrete retaining walls was constructed along the banks of the canal at a great expense to the state. Today the once so important canal is a thing of the past, at least locally. All the bridges are gone, the canal bed is practically all filled in and occupied by a railway siding, filling stations, small industrial buildings and gardens held under state leases. Sic transit gloria mundi. Benjamin Leavell, one of the founders of Defiance, was probably its first merchant. For some years in the early forties Pierce Evans and Sons were the leading merchants in the new village. In the fall of 1845 John Tuttle, who had come here in 1833, started a store in North Defiance, then known as Williamstown, and in the fall of 1849 erected a large warehouse on the northerly bank of the Maumee, where he was engaged in the grain, wool, fur, pelt and seed business up to the time of his death. He was the second county treasurer and a great nimrod. It is said of him that within two months he killed twenty-five deer in his spare time. The warehouse built by him was destroyed by fire fifteen years ago or more. Another pioneer merchant in Defiance was Frederick Stevens, who came here in 1827 and engaged in various commercial and industrial enterprises. Still another pioneer merchant, Francis J. Weisenburger, a native of Germany, came to Defiance in 1838, worked first as a day laborer on the canal, then opened a grocery and bakery and finally engaged in the dry goods business which he followed to his death February 13, 1860. George M. Weisenburger, also a native of Germany, arrived at Defiance in 1838, engaged in the grocery business near lock No. 4, later in the dry goods business and finally in general contract work. His brother J. B. Weisenburger was for many TOLEDO AND THE SANDUSKY REGION - 1873 years a prominent seed and provision merchant and in 1874 built the Stone Front Block, at that time the most pretentious business building in Defiance. Adam Wilhelm, another early settler, came here practically penniless and after various unsuccessful ventures engaged in the retail business with signal success, finally taking over the large flouring mill on lock No. 4 which he conducted with his son John R. Wilhelm for long years on a large and profitable scale. He was also extensively engaged in real estate deals, owning at one time large tracts of farm lands and much city property. Other old firms and business men of Defiance were Edward F. Lindenberger, dry goods merchant; Christian L. Geiger and William Hoffman, furniture dealers and manufacturers; C. A. Flickinger and Enos Blair, dry goods merchants; Christian Harley, provision and dry goods merchant; C. W. Biede, hardware merchant; J. P. Ottley,' J. P. Buffington and G. W. Bechel, druggists; John H. Kiser, saddler and harness maker; Isaac Corwin, blacksmith and carriage manufacturer;, J. A. Orcutt and T. D. Harris, tanners; Jacob Karst, contractor and manufacturer; Abraham Baum and E. F. Lindenberger, tanners; August•Dolke, shoe maker and shoe dealer; John M. Preisendorfer, shoe merchant; Henry Biederstedt, provision merchant; Joseph Bauer and Christ. Diehl, Sr., brewers; August Schlientz, watch maker and jeweler; E. L. May, watch maker and jeweler; J. F. and J. C. Schultz, provision merchants; Michael Schultz, meat market; Conrad, John and Andreas Martin, furniture dealers; Frederick Wolfrum and Frederick Wolsiffer, provision merChants; Michael Gorman, provision merchant; A. W. King, provision merchant; William A. Kehnast, provision and hardware merchant. Of all the pioneer business men of Defiance, Mr. Kehnast was the last to retire from active business. He passed away in April, 1928, at the age of eighty-one years. Of the other pioneer business men Christ. Diehl, Sr., and A. W. King are still living at Defiance and Frederick Wolfrum to the best of my knowledge at Toledo. Especially active in our development was William C. Holgate, banker, lawyer and capitalist. He came to Defiance in 1838 and was largely instrumental in securing the passage of the bill to establish Defiance as an independent county. Due to his efforts in a large measure was also the securing of the Wabash, St. Louis and Pacific Railway and the Baltimore and Ohio Railway. In appreciation of his efforts in securing the latter road, the Village of Holgate in the adjoining County of Henry was named after him. Several additions in the City of Defiance 1874 - STORY OF THE MAUMEE VALLEY and one of the finest residential streets also bear his honored name. Mr. Holgate, who passed away August 13, 1888, the wealthiest man in the city, was one of the founders of the Merchants National Bank and its first president. The first bank in Defiance was opened by Virgil Squire and Ahira Cobb in 1861 in a rear room of the Russell House building and eventually developed into the First National Bank of today. Virgil Squire was the father of the late Edward Squire and the grandfather of Virgil Squire, present cashier of the First National Bank. As an indication of the growth of the business section of the City of Defiance it may be stated that in 1870, when the writer came to Defiance, there were less than a dozen brick business buildings on Clinton Street, the main retail section. Now there are twelve solid blocks of brick buildings on this street and several more on intersecting streets. In addition there is quite a business section in East Defiance and also on the north side, with business houses on several streets in the residential districts. CHAPTER LXXXIV STORY OF WYANDOT COUNTY By Charles U. Read NATURAL FEATURES-PREHISTORIC LIFE-ORIGIN OF THE WYANDOTS-EARLY INDIAN HISTORY-COLONEL WILLIAM CRAWFORD -LAST YEARS OF THE RED MAN-LANDMARKS-PIONEER CUSTOMS-NEWSPAPERS-TRANSPORTATION. Wyandot, one of the agricultural counties of Ohio, formed in 1845 from parts of Crawford, Marion, Hardin and Hancock counties, has long been the habitat of human beings. Mastodon teeth unearthed within its borders indicate that it was also the feeding ground of animals of prehistoric times. The county lies in the northwest quarter of Ohio, nearly equidistant from Lake Erie on the north and the Indiana state line on the west. It contains 258,560 acres of land. Its southern boundary reaches the great watershed of the state and, therefore, it contains no large streams. The Sandusky River which originates in springs near Crestline and empties into Sandusky Bay, is its largest stream. Tymochtee, a sluggish, clay-bottom creek, at places as large as the Sandusky, joins that river in the northern part of the county. The general direction of these streams and of smaller creeks and runs, that provide the drainage system of the county, is north. The Sandusky is the most rapid stream in the county. For the most part it travels over rock bottom. Its current afforded water power for the historic Indian mill, north of Upper Sandusky, which is still operated on a small scale with some of the century old equipment. The county possesses no complicated topography, the western half being undulating or flat, except where cut through by the valley of Tymochtee Creek, which at places is 200 rods wide and has abrupt descents. In the higher levels there are several prairie-like tracts, which were never covered by forests. These in early days stood out in - 1875 - 1876 - STORY OF THE MAUMEE VALLEY great contrast from heavily forested sections of the county which contained trees of huge dimensions. One of these, known as the Old Sycamore, located at the south edge of Upper Sandusky, was declared to be the largest tree east of the Mississippi River. When it succumbed to the ravages of time several years ago its rings showed it to be more than 2,000 years old. Parts of the prairie-like tracts were formerly cranberry marshes. The black land in the vicinity of Carey has in recent years been used to advantage in the production of onions and celery. It also grows bent grass for golf courses and carloads of the muck are shipped to greenhouses in many parts of the country. These marshes were no doubt once the sites of lakes which were filled slowly with the accumulation of vegetable matter. East of the Sandusky River the surface is more broken. The portion of the river's west valley boundary upon which Upper Sandusky is located is plateau-like in appearance and is more than thirty feet above the highest flood-water point the Sandusky has ever been known to attain. There is also a tract of elevated land, like a fragment of glacial moraine, along the west side of Broken Sword Creek, extending from Eden township to Little Sandusky. Niagara limestone underlies a number of the townships and for years quarries have been maintained in Crane, Crawford and Ridge townships. Higher parts of the county are gravelly and contain stones and boulders, so that several sand and gravel pits are operated. The limestone north and west of Carey has an unusual exposure, swelling up suddenly into ridges forty to fifty feet high and each about five miles long. These ridges enclose in horseshoe shape Big Spring prairie, formerly too wet to be tillable. Because in pioneer days the prairies were covered for months by water the main roads in the northwest and north central sections of the county were corduroy. On the ridge northwest of Carey, and along the Findlay-Carey highway, two caves have been discovered and opened to the public. Through one of these an underground river passes, whose source and destination have never been determined. From wells drilled near-by the city of Findlay obtains a fine water supply. Some of the rock on the ridges, bluish-drab in color, and quite different from that of the quarries, often shows traces of fossil remains. 1878 - STORY OF THE MAUMEE VALLEY The Niagara shows characteristic surface exposure in Marseilles township at the south edge of the county. The rock outcrops at numerous places along the streams. At Hayman's mill, on the Sandusky, north of Upper Sandusky, in early days handsome flagstones two inches thick were taken out. The general character of the drift in Wyandot County is as follows: Brown clay and sand, stratified ; brown hard pan; blue clay, stratified ; debris, boulders, slides. The prevailing feature of the soil is clay. In main the material wealth of the county consists of its rich soil, its limestone, its clay for fine brick, and its sand for mortar. PREHISTORIC LIFE While traces of fossil remains in the Niagara indicate that life existed here since Wyandot County was once the ocean floor, unknown thousands of years passed before it became the graveyard of huge mastodons. Well-formed mastodon teeth have been fished from a bog on the Albert Reber farm. Here is a small section of land, the most peculiar in the county. It is just off the Toledo-Columbus highway a mile south of Upper Sandusky. Here doubtless are the bones, bog-entombed, of animals caught by the treacherous earth while feeding, centuries before the advent of man and probably ages before Garden of Eden days. While this land has been well drained it still quivers like jelly when walked upon. Horses have frequently become mired near a water-covered spot where the relics of the mastodon were found. Many bones and antlers have been fished from the soggy ground with the aid of forked sticks, but its depths have never been thoroughly explored. Near-by on solid ground is what appears to be a mound. For years it has been a favorite spot for the dens of foxes, but it has never been opened to ascertain if it was used by the mound builders. Not far from the mound is a peculiar patch of black land that looks like a small black pond and upon which vegetation never grows. Underlying this bottom land, and several feet below the surface is a felled forest of cedar. As glacial deposit seems to cover the land in places it is difficult to determine how many thousands of years the trees have been buried, yet many of them are unrotted and when cut open give forth a fresh cedar odor. Frequently in TOLEDO AND THE SANDUSKY REGION - 1879 digging ditches on the farm it was found necessary to cut through many of these logs. Coming down through the centuries the first real trace of habitation by the mound builders is found near the town of Sycamore in the northeast section of the county. On the Walter Ankney farm, two miles east of Sycamore, is what is known as Turtle Mound. It is almost a perfect turtle in form, its head facing the rising sun. The mound is 480 feet long, 300 feet wide and 15 feet high. Whether the Mound Builders constructed it, or used it after it had been carved by nature, is undetermined. It is believed to be composed mainly of gravel. A burial stone has been found outside the mound, indicating the bones of prehistoric man lie within. A representative of the state archeological and historic society, who inspected the mound, which has never been opened, believes there is little doubt that the Mound Builders and early Indians used it as a burial site. ORIGIN OF THE WYANDOTS Wyandot County is exceedingly rich in Indian lore. For many years its forest paths were trodden by the Red Man before the Wyandots came. According to the old men of the Delawares, who told their story in the sixteenth century, their ancestors for centuries had dwelt in the far West and then had emigrated to the banks of the Namoesi Sipu (Mississippi) the "river of fish," where they met and battled with the Iroquois, who had also come from the direction of the setting sun. Suddenly they were confronted by the Allegewi, a powerful race, who defended their towns with fortifications and whom neither tribe could defeat alone. Joining forces the Delawares and Iroquois set upon the Allegewi and after years of warfare drove them south by way of the Mississippi, never to return. The conquerors apportioned the country among themselves and moved eastward below the great lakes. Ultimately the Indians, as they moved east and south, became divided into small tribes, each receiving a name from its place of residence. For years tribes battled among themselves until the coming of Europeans into the wilderness caused them to form into nations to fight what they considered the white foe. Subdued tribes later allied themselves with the whites, some with the English, some with the French. 26-VOL. 2 1880 - STORY OF THE MAUMEE VALLEY Early in the sixteenth century tribes of the Six Nations wandered over Wyandot County at pleasure. A tribe known as "Erigas" or Eries, who left little tangible history, is then supposed to have occupied the territory now within the limits of Wyandot County. They became involved in war with the Iroquois and are believed to have been either killed or driven far to the West. This was about 1656 and from that time until the coming of the Hurons or Wyandots this territory is believed to have been abandoned as neutral ground. Soon after 1701 LaMothe Cadillac established Fort Pontchartrain at what is now Detroit and tried to induce tribes of the Northwest friendly to the French to locate there. Many did, and in time a tribal compact joined the Hurons and Dinondadies, who became known as the Yendots or Wyandots, "traders of the west". The first European to make mention of the tribe later to be known as the Wyandots was the noted French navigator, Jacques Cartier, who sailed up the St. Lawrence in 1535 and extended his exploration along the shores of Lake Huron. For many years the name was spelled Wyandotte, Wyandott and Wyandot and it was not until after organization of the county that the form of orthography still in use, Wyandot, was adopted upon suggestion of Maj. John D. Sears. From Detroit the Wyandots gradually extended their hunting grounds to the south and became established with the Delawares in this portion of Ohio. For many years they desolated and laid waste border settlements, probably, however, being no better nor worse than the average North American savage. EARLY INDIAN HISTORY The Wyandot Indians were allies of the French and foes of the English and Iroquois until the termination of French power in America. They helped the troops of France fight many battles. The Wyandots assisted in the defeat of Braddock at Fort Duquesne. They served under Montcalm in Canada. They proceeded to the relief of Fort Niagara. With the fall of Quebec they began to lose faith in the French and returned home. Later they joined Chief Pontiac in the siege of Detroit. After the Wyandots moved their village to higher ground backwater from the flooded Sandusky River left an alluvial deposit on the old site, that as years passed reached a depth of several feet. In the flood of 1913 trees were ripped from the river TOLEDO AND THE SANDUSKY REGION - 1881 bank near-by, the course of the river's current was temporarily changed and the hard clay plain that had contained the Indian village was laid bare. Burned in the clay could be seen the location of a,central campfire and of smaller fires. Tomahawks, flints, copper arrow heads, beads, hand-made rifle balls and other relics were strewn about in great profusion and some fine collections were secured. The plowshare soon spoiled forever this interesting sight. Soon after 1765 the Indians in these parts had been thoroughly humbled and were desirous of peace and reopening of the fur trade. After the treaties then made the tribes remained loyal friends of the British. The Wyandots and other tribes sprang to arms in 1769, to avenge the murder of Chief Pontiac by an Illinois Indian. They participated slightly in Dunmore's war and then remained at peace until the revolution. In 1777 some of the Wyandots joined General Burgoyne in his invasion of New York. Next, the Wyandots with Delawares and Shawnees appeared in Westmoreland County, Pa., and took many scalps, as the arms-bearing members of the families in that region were mostly away with Washington's army. With the end of French control the Jesuit missionaries had before this time retired into Canada, leaving the Wyandots without their christianizing influence. General McIntosh sent with 1,000 troops from Fort Pitt, (Pittsburgh) , to break up the Indian rendezvous on the Sandusky River got only as far as Tuscarawas County, where he erected Fort Laurens. Wyandots helped other Indians besiege it. So many Americans were killed in ambuscades that the fort was abandoned in 1779. Other expeditions were organized and sent forth with varying success, but the Wyandots, supplied with war materials from the British post at Detroit, remained masters of the field. In 1782 General Irvine, commander of the western military department, was advised by Colonel Marshall, Fort McIntosh commandant, that the country would suffer greatly unless an expedition could be carried against Upper Sandusky at once. The town was then the 'place where the British paid their western Indian allies their annuities. It must be noted that not all the raiding parties going out from Upper Sandusky were Wyandots. The town was the grand 1882 - STORY OF THE MAUMEE VALLEY rallying point for all the northwestern tribes before starting out for the frontier. An expedition was determined upon by General Irvine and Upper Sandusky was picked as the point of attack. That was the expedition led by Col. William Crawford, which, surrounded and outnumbered by the enemy at Battle Island, a short distance northeast of Upper Sandusky, the spot now being marked by a monument, retreated during the night. Colonel Crawford was captured and burned at the stake. About 100 of the 480 men, who started from Pennsylvania with the expedition, never returned. The treaty of peace that closed the Revolution gave the territory embraced by Ohio to the United States, but as the British still held Detroit the Wyandots remained under their influence. '= In 1785 a treaty was concluded with the Wyandots and other tribes giving them territory embracing Wyandot County to live and hunt on. However, in 1789 warfare on border settlements was again resumed. American expeditions sent out in 1790 and again in 1791 were defeated. Then came the victory of "Mad Anthony" Wayne and a grand council at Greenville in 1795, where a treaty of peace was concluded with the Wyandots and other tribes. Chief Tarhe represented the Wyandots. Again the Wyandots were interested in a treaty in 1805. This treaty changed the boundary line between the United States and the Indian nations and gave the Wyandots and other tribes goods to the value of $20,000 and a perpetual annuity of $9,500. In 1808 the Wyandots were parties to a treaty between Governor Hull, of Michigan, and various tribes, ceding land for a road 120 feet wide, to run south from Lower Sandusky (Fremont), through Wyandot County, this still being a main road in the county. It was the first highway projected by whites in Wyandot County. COLONEL WILLIAM CRAWFORD No history would be complete without the story of the burning at the stake of Col. William Crawford, friend of George Washington. However, so common has become the story of the Battle Island struggle, and the torture of the colonel, that an account of lesser known details of the expedition will doubtless be of more interest to the history-loving public. On the Brayton Davis farm, a short distance east of the Vil- TOLEDO AND THE SANDUSKY REGION - 1883 lage of Crawford, stands a monument, asserted to be near the spot where Crawford was burned by the Delaware Indians. The monument bears this inscription : "In memory of Colonel Crawford, who was burnt by the Indians in this valley, June 11, A. D., 1782." On the base are these words : "Erected by the Pioneer Association of Wyandot County August 3, 1877." In the Stoll grove, just east of the monument, this association has held a pioneer picnic annually for many years. It is held on or near the anniversary of Crawford's death and is attended by hundreds of residents of Wyandot and near-by counties. It was in 1749, when George Washington was surveying the immense estate of his friend, Lord Fairfax, that he met William Crawford, whose home and birthplace was in Orange County, now Berkeley County, Virginia. A strong friendship sprang up between them, as they were nearly of the same age. Crawford accompanied Washington on surveying tours. In 1755 he accepted a commission with Washington and fought under Braddock. After long military service, in which he was made captain he quit his fighting career and built himself a cabin in what is now Fayette County, Pennsylvania, forty miles from Pittsburgh. His wife and three children came to the cabin in the spring of 1766. Crawford's hospitality was boundless and his place became better known than any west of the mountains. His friend, George Washington, had not forgotten him and paid him a visit in 1770. In a canoe they paddled down the Ohio River and our first president visited the soil of our own Ohio. Returning to Crawford's cabin they bid each other adieu, little suspecting that one would rise to the highest distinction, while the other was to suffer a barbarous death. Then came the Revolution. In 1776 Crawford was made colonel of the Seventh Regiment of the Virginia Battalions. He was one of the soldiers who crossed the Delaware on Christmas day and fought at Trenton the next. In 1777 he took command, under General Hand, of continental troops and militia in the western department, at Pittsburgh. In 1779 he had several narrow escapes in going to and returning from Fort Laurens. In 1780 Crawford visited congress and implored that body to give the frontier better protection. Crawford felt that Upper Sandusky should be wiped out. It was held the most important place in the Half King's country. It was the main point on the highway and waterway of travel between Canada and the Mis- 1884 - STORY OF THE MAUMEE VALLEY sissippi. Indians came in boats from Detroit to Sandusky, thence up the SanduSky River to Upper Sandusky. They could ascend a west branch known as Little Sandusky Creek five miles further. There was a portage of a few miles, level, without trees or stones, to the Little Scioto down which they continued to the Ohio River, finally reaching the Mississippi. When in 1782 Crawford was asked to lead the expedition against the Indians he at first refused, as he felt he had done his share, but as he still held his commission in the regular army he was finally prevailed upon to go. His only son, John, had already enlisted; so had his distinguished son-in-law, Maj. William Harrison, whose wife, Sarah, Crawford's oldest daughter, was declared to be the most charming and beautiful young woman in western Pennsylvania. A nephew, William Crawford, also volunteered. The expeditionary force, 480 strong, all mounted on good horses, began its march on May 25. Other officers with Crawford included Lieutenant Rose and Doctor Knight, a surgeon. Lieutenant Rose was in reality Baron Rosenthal, a Russian, who fled to America after killing a nobleman in a duel. He was the only Russian on the American side in the war of independence. After his gallantry in America he was pardoned by the Russian emperor and died in his native land in 1829. On June 3 the expedition camped near what is now the town of Wyandot. The next day they reached the mouth of the Little Sandusky. They proceeded to the old site of Upper Sandusky and found it deserted. Going northward they met and engaged the Indians three miles northeak of the present county seat. The battle continued until June 5, when it was discovered the enemy was being reinforced by bands of Indians and white rangers from Detroit. A retreat was decided upon and many who got lost from the main body were shot, scalped or captured. Colonel Crawford and Doctor Knight were caught by Delaware Indians. Simon Girty, a white renegade with the Indians, known to Crawford promised to help him, but made no effort to do so. William Harrison and William Crawford, the nephew, who were also captured by the Indians, were slain. The savages fired powder at Harrison until he died. They then quartered him and left the quarters hanging on four poles. As Crawford and Knight were being taken to the valley of Tymochtee Creek a TOLEDO AND THE SANDUSKY REGION - 1885 number of prisoners were killed in their presence. A squaw cut off the head of John McKinley, a gallant officer of the Revolution, and believed to have been a relative of our martyred president, William McKinley. On June 11, Crawford was tortured and burned at the stake on the east bank of the Tymochtee. Doctor Knight escaped from Tutelu, an Indian having charge of him, and after wandering in the wilderness for weeks, arrived safely at Fort Pitt. He married the daughter of Col. Richard Stephenson, Crawford's half-brother, and died in Kentucky in 1838. LAST YEARS OF THE RED MAN From the time of the treaty of Greenville until the War of 1812 the Indians remained at peace with the Americans. When, in 1812, Tecumseh, the Shawnee chieftain, attempted to rally the tribes to the British cause, Tarhe and Between-theLogs, Wyandot chiefs, rejected all overtures. They with Summundewat and Big Tree and most of the Wyandot braves remained faithful to the American cause, and Fort Ferree, on the brow of the hill where the Elks Home now stands, in Upper Sandusky, was erected on their grounds. Between-the-Logs was born near Fremont and became the main speaker of his nation when a young man. He fought in the early wars and after the conflict of 1812 settled near Upper Sandusky. During a period of debauchery he killed his squaw. His horror was so great when he became sober that he soon became a christian and was appointed chief exhorter in the Mission Church, which position he filled until his death in 1827. Many of the Wyandots accompanied General Harrison on his invasion of Canada. In 1817 the Wyandots were alloted by treaty a small reservation in Wyandot County, where they remained until they were sent west of the Mississippi in 1843. This treaty gave the Wyandot chiefs a tract of land twelve miles square, the center to be the place where Fort Ferree stood, also a tract a mile square, on a cranberry swamp on Broken Sword Creek. The Delawares were given a tract nine miles square, joining the twelve-mile tract of the Wyandots on the southeast, and embracing portions of the present Antrim and Pitt townships. In 1829 the Delawares ceded this to the government for $3,000 and were removed west of the Mississippi. 1886 - STORY OF THE MAUMEE VALLEY Among numerous other grants in the treaty of 1817 was 640 acres on the west side of the Sandusky River, just south of Upper Sandusky, to Robert Armstrong, who was taken prisoner by the Indians, lived among them and married an Indian woman. This land is now part of the Reber farm. It is believed to have been the location of one of the battles of General Wayne in 1794. Skeletons are buried thick in gravel pits and other places and many guns and stirrups have been unearthed. That trench warfare was practiced even in those early days is evidenced by the still visible remains of the trenches. Part of the Reber residence on this farm was a tavern over a century ago. Wall paper now hides blood spattered walls of what was the barroom. Years ago when the house was remodeled the skulls of six skeletons buried in a row protruded into the excavation being made. The skulls were removed and the six headless bodies still repose against the outside of the wall. General Harrison camped on this land when he marched north in the War of 1812. The children of William McCollock, a quarter-blood Wyandot were given 640 acres south of the Armstrong tract. Horonu, or Cherokee Boy, was also granted 640 acres north of Upper Sandusky. The following year, 1818, the Wyandots were granted 55,680 acres, extending north from the twelve-mile reserve to the land given Cherokee Boy. The same year a great Indian council was held at Upper Sandusky on the occasion of the death of Tarhe, the most celebrated chieftain the Wyandots ever produced. Tarhe was born at Detroit in 1742. His wife at the time of his death was Sally Frost, a white woman, reared among the Wyandots. While the name Tarhe has always been taken to mean "The Crane" or tall fowl, it is asserted by some that instead it was a nickname given the chief by the French, personifying a tree. The Wyandots had ten tribes, kept up by the mother's side, all her children belonging to her tribe. Each had a separate totem. They were The Deer, Bear, Snake, Hawk, Porcupine, Wolf, Beaver, Big Turtle, Little Turtle and Terrapin. At the time of General Wayne's treaty with the Indians, the Wyandots, including men, women and children, numbered about 2,200, but their number dwindled until it was reduced nearly one half in twenty years, due to the debased manner of living into which they had fallen. TOLEDO AND THE SANDUSKY REGION - 1887 Such was their condition in 1816 when John Stewart, a freeborn mulatto, who had embraced christianity, arrived and began preaching to the Indians. Although Mononcue and other prominent Wyandots at first opposed Stewart's efforts they were later converted. In 1821 the Indians signed a petition asking that a missionary school be established. Their petition was granted and Rev. James F. Finley was appointed resident missionary. It was decided to build the mission house at a spot near Upper Sandusky known as Camp Meigs, where Governor Meigs had encamped with the Ohio militia. There was a good spring of water there. In the summer of 1823 the mission school was formally opened. It was without doubt the first industrial and domestic science school in America. The Indian boys were taught the arts of building and farming, while the girls were instructed in sewing, knitting, spinning and cooking. In 1824 the Indians turned their attention to building substantial houses of hewed logs with brick or stone chimneys. As the Wyandots had spared more prisoners than other tribes more whites were found among them. These included families whose names are prominent in early history such as the Browns, Zanes, Walkers, Williamses, Armstrongs, McCulloughs and Ma-gees. In 1830 a Wyandot brave was murdered by Soo-de-Nooks, Black Chief's son. Then the first murder trial was held in Wyandot. County. The Indian was tried, found guilty and shot. His execution took place in Indian military style in the bottomland at Upper Sandusky, where now Harrison Smith park is located. Although the government had begun negotiations for the purchase of the Indian lands in 1825 the Red Men resisted all pleadings for nearly twenty years. After they were left by Finley in 1827 they became again poor and intemperate. There were then less than 800 Wyandots remaining. They agreed to move west of the Mississippi for 148,000 acres of land and a cash annuity of $17,500. They got instead 24,960 acres of land and $380,- 000 in three annual payments. After the death of Deunquat, a new head chief was elected each year and Jacques was the head chief who arranged for departure of the. tribe. Before leaving the Wyandots brought the bodies of Chief Summundewat, who had been murdered in Wood County, and John Stewart to the mission cemetery for burial and marked 1888 - STORY OF THE MAUMEE VALLEY other graves in the cemetery with stones. The farewell of the Indians was pathetic. Only 644 left the state. LANDMARKS Nearly all the buildings and other objects that served as landmarks in the early days have passed into oblivion. However, here and there, still stands some monument dating back to the pioneer days. THE COUNCIL-HOUSE The Wyandot Indian council-house was without doubt the first building of consequence in the county. It stood about a mile and a half north of Cranetown, which was nearly four miles northeast of the present site of Upper Sandusky. It was built chiefly of bark, being about 100 feet long and 15 feet wide. It was abandoned when the Indians moved to the present site of Upper Sandusky, after the death of Chief Tarhe. A new council-house was erected on the west bluff of the Sandusky River, just south of the old cemetery on what is now Fourth Street. It was made of split slabs laid between posts and covered with bark. There was no floor but the earth and no fireplace but a hearth in the middle. Logs laid on the ground on each side served as seats. This building was superseded by a frame structure much like a house that served the Indians until their departure. On April 16, 1845, nine days after the first county commissioners had been elected, they passed a resolution to give Moses H. Kirby, receiver, $30 for his interest in the building and authorized the auditor to have repairs made so that the building could be used as the first courthouse. John Shrenk, who had begun to publish the Wyandot Telegraph, the first newspaper in the county, in the council-house was ordered "forthwith to vacate" the building. In 1853 as the result of live coals carelessly having been put in a barrel of ashes in the building it caught fire and burned clown. THE INDIAN MILL In 1820 the government built the Indian mill for the Wyandots on the Sandusky River, about three miles northeast of Upper Sandusky. There was a good current of water at this point and a dam was constructed across the stream. The mill was both a grist and sawmill. Lumber was obtained from it for the frame council-house. It supplied flour, corn meal and lumber for the Indians until they moved to Kansas. The old buhrs and bolting TOLEDO AND THE SANDUSKY REGION - 1889 chest were incorporated in the present mill, located about twenty rods north of the site of the old mill. A few planks of the old dam are still visible at low water stage of the Sandusky. THE FIRST HOTEL In the town of McCutchenville, on the north edge of the county, and fast falling into decay, although still used as a. residence, is a building that was constructed more than a century ago, the first hotel in Wyandot County, and said to be the oldest building in the state that was originally used as a hotel. It was built by the grandfather of the late Frank Beidler, of Upper Sandusky. The ancient bar is still there, apparently as substantial as the day it was built. A wooden hook on the wall is said to have once held the hat of William Henry Harrison, ninth President of the United States. There are seven fireplaces in the building. It stands on the brow of a hill and long steps used to extend from it to the road. Every day stage coaches loaded with passengers used to dash up to its doors, for in early days this was the most thickly populated section for miles around. OLD MISSION CHURCH AND SCHOOL The Old Mission Church, at the north edge of Upper Sandusky was erected on a spot known as Camp Meigs. It was there Governor Meigs camped with the militia in the War of 1812. It was there he received word of the repulse of the British at Fort Stephenson. The militia proceeded no further and were ordered demobilized. Much of the original work on the school and mission was done by Rev. James B. Finley and George Riley. A cabin was first built to shelter the pastor and a block-house was converted into a stable. Timbers were hauled to Indian Mill and sawed into joists and planks. In 1823 the mission school was formally opened. It was located half a mile northeast of the church site and for some years was the most successful and prosperous Indian school in the United States. Services were held in it at first, but it proved too small. The mission church was built of good limestone, 30 by 40 feet in 1824, the government appropriating $1,333 for its construction. By 1880 the building had fallen into decay. The roof had caved in long before and the sidewalls were crumbling. Many parts had been carried away as souvenirs. That year the United States senate passed a bill appropriating $3,000 to repair the church, but as little local 1890 - STORY OF THE MAUMEE VALLEY interest was shown the bill died in the house. In 1888 the general conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church appropriated $2,000 to restore the church and the following year the work was done through the efforts of Rev. N. B. C. Love. EARLY MISSION WORKERS At a conference held at Cincinnati in August, 1819, the Indian Mission, at Upper Sandusky, was named as a regular field of labor in the Lebanon district. At the same time Rev. James B. Finley was appointed presiding elder of the district and Rev, James Montgomery was named missionary to assist John Stewart, a free-born mulatto, who had united with the Methodist Episcopal Church at Marietta and later became an exhorter among the Indians in Wyandot County. Jonathan Pointer, also colored, who had been captured by the Indians when a boy and could speak their language, acted as Stewart's interpreter. Montgomery was succeeded shortly by Moses Henkle and as others came into the field Stewart's prominence as a missionary began to wane. In 1821 Reverend Finley was named resident missionary and teacher at the Wyandot Mission and supervised the construction of the school and church. Rev. Mr. Finley remained with the Wyandots, assisted at times by other ministers, for seven years. The year of 1823 was made memorable by the death of John Stewart, for whom a memorial plate has been placed on a large rock in Old Mission Cemetery. OLD MISSION CEMETERY Surrounding Old Mission Church is an historic cemetery, containing the bones of many an Indian and early pioneer. Before the Wyandots departed for the West they marked the graves of numerous chiefs and braves with sandstone slabs, but in the late seventies vandals destroyed most of these. For many years after the mission church began to decay little care was taken of the cemetery, but in late years it has been carefully cared for, a large addition incorporated and today it is a place of beauty, visited by tourists from practically all parts of the country. The oldest grave marker in the cemetery today bearing a legible date, is dated 1816. There is also a stone that has become known throughout the land, because the inscription declares that the man who lies buried there died on February 31. In the cemetery and just outside the door of the church stands a rapidly dying 1892 - STORY OF THE MAUMEE VALLEY willow, that is said to have once been a spreading tree under which Indian councils were held more than a century ago. FORT FERREE, INDIAN JAIL, ETC. The pioneer section of the town of Upper Sandusky was practically all on the west bluff overlooking the valley of the Sandusky. Fort Ferree, occupied by General Harrison in 1812, after the pattern of the usual log block-house of that day, and which was obliterated many years ago, stood northeast of the present Elks Home, on the northeast corner of Wyandot Avenue and Fourth Street. Upon the same lot and directly northeast of the fort was the Indian jail. It was on the point of the bluff jutting beyond the street line into Third Street. The jail was a building 14 by 18 feet, two stories high, the ends pointing north and south. Each story contained a single room, the entrance near the northwest corner, the upper door being reached by an outside stairway. Each room contained a single window. There were two doors, an outer one of heavy plank and an inner one of grated iron. William Walker's residence was near the southeast corner of Walker and Fourth streets. His store stood south of his house. Garrett's tavern was located on the northeast corner of Wyandot Avenue and Fourth Street, also near the site of the Elks Home. Just south of this was a spring famed in this section for many years, and mentioned in the works of Charles Dickens, who in his travels stopped there to drink. The construction of a sewer some years ago depleted the water supply and efforts to restore it have not been entirely successful. Hicks' residence was near Fifth Street and the Brown cabin and Armstrong dwelling were not far away. Hicks' house, Walker's house and the council-house were the only frame build ings in Upper Sandusky while the Indians were still here. GOVERNMENT GRAVEYARD A cemetery in Upper Sandusky still belongs to the government. The bodies of scores of Indians, half-bloods and white pioneers are buried in it. It lies on the crest and slope of the bluff south of Wyandot Avenue and east of Fourth Street. When the village of Upper Sandusky was laid out from the central part of the Wyandot Reservation, the title to this cemetery was retained by the government. It contained one acre of land. In it lie the bodies of members of the Walker, Garrett, Williams, Arm- 1894 - STORY OF THE MAUMEE VALLEY strong, Clark, Hicks, Brown and many other families whose names are prominent in early history. As time passed and the cemetery fell into disuse the gravestones were broken and overturned, and weeds grew high. Several years ago the markers that could still be used were placed in a large circle on top of the hill, through the efforts of Charles F. Tschanen and others, and flowers and shrubs were planted. The cemetery has now become a part of Harrison Smith park which lies in the valley below. THE BIG SYCAMORE The Big Sycamore tree stood at the southeast corner of Upper Sandusky, in the valley of the Sandusky River and about fifty feet from the stream. In 1846 it measured fifty-one feet in circumference. It was declared to be the largest tree east of the Mississippi. It had seven huge branches, each larger than any other tree in the vicinity, some of them starting from the trunk more than twelve feet above the ground. Many Indians had carved drawings on the trunk and limbs of the tree, which later became famed as a place for carving inscriptions and names. Cross pieces were nailed ladder-like on each branch, more than sixty feet from the ground. This enabled visitors who came hundreds of miles to see the tree to carve thousands of names and dates upon it. It is said that General Harrison and his men encamped for a time under its branches in 1812. In 1885 the owner of the land upon which the tree stood, shocked because there was card playing in its shade on Sundays, girdled the tree and then hauled brush and attempted to burn it down, but his efforts were only partially successful and the giant, which was declared to be 2,000 years old, raised its branches skyward until the dawn of the twentieth century. The writer, who happened to be fishing in the Sandusky River near-by during a heavy rainstorm was the only person to witness its demise. Suddenly, as sheets of rain fell from its branches like huge tears, it gave forth a queer sobbing sound that caused the writer to gaze toward it. The huge branches trembled a few seconds as with ague, then toppled slowly to the north. There was a tremendous crash; the ground trembled ; the rain stopped ; the Big Sycamore was dead. THE NINE OAKS Along the Columbus-Toledo road, a short distance north of Upper Sandusky, still stand several of the Nine Oaks, a group TOLEDO AND THE SANDUSKY REGION - 1895 of trees famed as the spot where the Indian court convened that tried and convicted Colonel Crawford. THE OLD COTTONWOOD A beautiful cottonwood tree once stood almost directly in the middle of Sandusky Avenue and a little north of the front of the old jail. In May, 1860, council was petitioned by 100 citizens not to destroy it and it was allowed to remain standing until 1874, when the street was macadamized. It was then cut down. Buried beneath it were found many bones of soldiers of the War of 1812. These were placed on exhibition in the window of John Clark's saloon. Then it was decided they should be buried and with quite an impressive military ceremony they were borne to Old Mission Cemetery and interred. EARLY TAVERNS Several taverns were located along the corduroy road leading north and south through the central portion of the county. One of these was located at Little Sandusky in the south part of the county. Another located in Tymochtee, north of Upper Sandusky, is still standing and is owned by Edward Swerlein. It was built long before the Indians departed and contained a saloon and dance hall. In pioneer days this dance hall became quite famous. THE COURTHOUSE AND JAIL The government having given Wyandot County every third lot in Upper Sandusky, it was decided to sell these lots and build a courthouse and jail with the proceeds. The following sale bills were gotten out for the occasion : "PUBLIC SALE OF TOWN LOTS AT UPPER SANDUSKY—The commissioners of Wyandot County will offer the following valuable town property for sale at Upper Sandusky on August 20, 21 and 22, 1845, to wit : The in and outlots in the town of Upper Sandusky vested in the said commissioners by an act of congress approved February 26, 1845, being every third of the in and outlots selected by alternate and progressive numbers, amounting to 126 inlots and 72 outlots. Upper Sandusky is a town laid out by the general government, is delightfully situated on the Sandusky River near the center of the Wyandot reserve and the seat of justice of the new County of Wyandot has been permanently fixed at the town." The officials received $15,224.24 from the sale of lots, or in other words the government donated the county enough to buy a site and erect 1896 - STORY OF THE MAUMEE VALLEY a courthouse and jail. In 1845 it was decided to abandon the Indian jail and John McCurdy got the contract for a new jail at his bid of $2,740, but was afterward allowed $500 more. On June 4, 1846, the first steps were taken toward the erection of a new courthouse. William Young failed to fulfill his contract to build the structure for $7,000. After a second failure, the building still being uncompleted in 1849, John H. Junkins was engaged to finish the work and this was done in that year at a total cost of $12,000. It was colonial in style with a columned front. The jail stood southwest of it. The jail succumbed before the temple of justice and the present jail was built east of it. In the late nineties it was decided to build a new courthouse, and the old courthouse was sold. The contract was let July 19, 1897, at a cost of $199,740.30. It was when completed one of the finest courthouses in the State and could not be duplicated for several times its cost. It combines Grecian, Doric and Romanesque art. It was dedicated August 4, 1900, by Gov. George K. Nash. THE LAST OF THE WYANDOTS When the Indians departed from their Wyandot County reservation they did not all leave the state, but gradually they disappeared until practically no full-blood Wyandot remained. One who had gone west returned to the beloved banks of the Sandusky after the death of her husband. She was Mother Solomon, born in 1816, daughter of Chief Gray Eyes, and the first scholar to be taught in the Indian school. After the demise of her husband, John Solomon, she came back to Wyandot County and was present when a celebration was held for the restoration of Old Mission Church. She died August 17, 1890. Today, even west of the Mississippi, there are to be found very few full-blood descendants of the Wyandots. A short distance north of Columbus, in a hut, lives Bill Moss (This is written August 7, 1928) who claims to be the last of the Wyandots. He has gained quite a bit of notoriety from the claim. However, the pioneers of this section, who remember Bill before he left the county, assert that the greater part of the blood in his veins is that of the negro race. It is believed that the last of the Wyandot Indian Chiefs died April 10, 1928, at Windsor, Canada. He was Joseph White, aged seventy-nine, son of Capt. Joseph White, a Wyandot chief. He received his early education at Anderson and later attended the TOLEDO AND THE SANDUSKY REGION - 1897 Jesuit College .at Detroit. He studied law and for a number of years was a member of the Canadian patrol service. An older brother; Solomon White, was mayor of Windsor in 1890. When he died Joseph assumed the duties of Wyandot chieftain and regular meetings of his followers were held for years at his Sandwich law office. He was buried in an historic graveyard used by Wyandots and Hurons for 200 years. THE PIONEER HOME The home of today, costing thousands of dollars, taking months to build, and fitted with every modern convenience, is a far step from the pioneer's log cabin of less than a century ago. The entire labor of building a cabin required only two or three days. Usually a number of families located close together and helped each other construct the primitive homes, the barn raisings which are known to the present generation being a survival of this custom. The site for the cabin was usually selected with reference to a good water supply. When all was in readiness the few men living in the vicinity gathered at the site and cut down in that proximity the required timber. Trees ten to fifteen inches in diameter were selected and logs fourteen to sixteen feet long cut from these. They were rolled to a common center and the ground logs laid. Men skillful with axes stood at the corners and notched them as fast as they were placed in position. Greater difficulty was encountered after the cabin was built a few logs high, when they had to be raised by means of hand spikes and skid poles. It was necessary to bevel the gable logs and make each shorter than the one below it. These were held in place by poles that served as rafters and as a support for the clapboard roof, the so-called clapboards being five or six feet in length, split from oak logs and made as smooth as possible. They were laid side by side and other pieces of split material put over the cracks. The chimney, an important part of the home, was generally made of stones, but sometimes of logs and sticks. It was built at one end of the cabin, outside the wall, and plastered with mud. A huge hole was cut on the inside for a fireplace. The back and sides of the fireplace were formed of stone slabs when they could be secured, otherwise of smaller stones covered with mud. The cabin doorway was chopped in one side of the structure and hewn timbers several inches thick, fastened with wooden 1898 - STORY OF THE MAUMEE VALLEY pins, formed the frame. The door, rived from an oak log and held with heavy cross pieces, was hung from wooden or leather hinges. The wooden latch on the inside could be raised from the outside by a thong of deer skin passed through a gimlet hole. Thus arose the well-known phrase, "You will find the latch-string always out." When the string was pulled inside, the door was considered fastened. A window was usually cut near the door and covered with greased paper or thin deerskin. The floor was of puncheons split from large logs and hewed as smooth as possible with a broadax. Occasionally the cabin had a loft, or guest chamber, reached by a ladder, the sides made from split saplings. After the cabin was built it usually took weeks to chink it and construct rude furniture. A forked stick set in the floor, supporting the ends of two poles, the other ends of which were fastened in the wall logs, was the bedstead. A split slab on four rustic legs set in augur holes was the table. Pegs driven in the walls supported shelves or articles of wearing apparel, the rifle and powder horn. Pewter cooking utensils and dishes were few. Corn bread baked on a board in front of the open fireplace, bear, venison, squirrel, wild turkey and smaller game and wild fruits in season supplied the family larder. For use in case of illness the loft contained supplies of catnip, sage, tansy, fennel, boneset, wormwood and pennyroyal. PIONEER CUSTOMS The frugal habits of the early settlers of Wyandot County compared in no way with the luxury that even the humblest agriculturalist of the twentieth century may enjoy. Nothing was bought that could be produced by home industry. Near the simple cabin was generally a well from which water was drawn with a sweep, a long pole hinged in a fork at the top of a tall post. The men were kept busy cutting down trees, logging, burning brush, preparing the soil, planting and harvesting, hunting and caring for what few animals they had. The pioneer women not only performed the household duties but made the clothing and also the fabric for it. In nearly every cabin could be heard the soft whirring of the spinning wheel. Nearly every farmer had a patch of flax and after its harvest there was generally a scutching bee. TOLEDO AND THE SANDUSKY REGION - 1899 The men wore hunting shirts of coarse linen, and trousers of heavy cloth or deer skin and often leggings of the latter. Hats were made of native furs. The women were dressed in linsey petticoats, coarse shoes and stockings and wore buckskin mittens when protection was needed for the hands. The Bible was found in the cabin almost as frequently as the rifle, but other books were scarce, favorites being "Pilgrim's Progress," "Saint's Rest," and "Aesop's Fables." The larger wild beasts were a source of dread and the smaller ones a source of annoyance. A traveler was always welcome. The pioneer's cabin was never "full." Liberality was shown the neighbors. If a deer was killed choice bits would be sent them, perhaps half a dozen miles away. Monongahela whiskey was in common use, "clear as amber, sweet as musk and smooth as oil," that could not be equalled by the product of home-made stills that came into operation. Commercial transactions were generally carried on without money by exchange of commodities called barter. The only thing money was really required for was postage, which was 25 cents a letter. Peltries came nearer being money than anything else and postmasters were known to have taken them in exchange for postage. As late as 1837 Wyandot County farmers hauled their wheat to Sandusky City over swampy roads, requiring six to eight days to make the trip. The grain was sold for sixty cents a bushel. Flour for some time could not be obtained nearer than Zanesville or Chillicothe. Store goods were very high. They were packed by horses or mules from Detroit or wagoned from Philadelphia to Pittsburgh, floated down the Ohio to the Mouth of the Scioto and then packed north. However, year after year conditions improved, society formed and schoolhouses and churches appeared, to be followed by modern labor saving appliances. COUNTY ORGANIZATION Following the cession of land to the government by the Indians in this part of the state, early in the nineteenth century, deputy surveyor generals ran out township and sectional lines. When the counties of Crawford, Hancock, Hardin and Marion were erected they included all the land now in Wyandot County. Crawford, township, then a part of Crawford County, corn-