400 - HISTORY OF NORTHWEST OHIO the pupils were charged $1.50 for a term of three months. Among those known to have attended this school were Elizabeth Norton, who married Dr. A. M. Jones, and Horace Rowse. Sarah Cary taught a school in Bucyrus in 1824, the schoolroom being the second story of her father's cabin. When Bucyrus was selected as the county seat, in 1832, the authorities decided that the village ought to own its own schoolhouse. A lot was donated by Mr. Norton for this purpose, and a building was purchased. Bucyrus now had the first schoolhouse that was the property of the village. Israel Booth was the first superintendent of the schools after they were fully organized, and he began his services in 1850. The Bucyrus Bank was the first banking institution established, with Paul I. Hetich as president and George Quinby as cashier. In 1856 it was reorganized as the Exchange Bank. George Quinby was the president, and Gerard Reynolds the cashier, while James Gormley began work as teller. The People's Deposit Bank was organized by James A. Gormley in 1859, and has been in business ever since. Five years later it was reorganized as the First National Bank. In 1881 the Monnett Bank was opened for business. All the stockholders except one were sons or sons-in-law of Abraham Monnett. E. B. Monnett was the first president, and M. W. Monnett cashier. It afterward became the Bucyrus City Bank. In 1878 the Crawford County Bank commenced business. Abraham Monnett was president, and George W. Hull vice president. This bank became the Second National Bank in later years. The Farmers and. Citizens Banking and Savings Company is the latest banking institution to enter the field. It was organized in 1907. The first railroad train reached Bucyrus on August 21, 1853, and the Forum had the following account : "The first passenger train on the Ohio and Indiana Railroad arrived at this place last Wednesday evening (Aug. 31) on which, according to previous arrangement, our Pittsburg friends made us a visit. A committee, consisting of Dr. W. Merriman, president of the Ohio and Indiana Railroad Company, Gen. S. Myers, Col. G. P. Seal, Capt. John Miller and M. P. Bean, received the party at Crest-line and came down with them. On arriving here the committee of arrangements conducted them to the American and National, where sumptuous suppers were in waiting. After supper the party were conducted to Sims New Hall where a table was prepared, filled with eatables and drinkables (oh the temperance principle of course). Dr. Merriman then welcomed them to the hospitalities of our town, and was replied to by Geh. Robinson, president of the Ohio and Pennsylvania road. Speeches were also made by Mr. Roberts, chief engineer of the Ohio and Pehnsylvania, John Larwill, Esq., of Wooster, Judge Leith, of Wyandot, Mr. Straughan, chief engineer of the Ohio and Indiana and others. The speeches were not lengthy, but well-timed and to the point. The party remained over night, leaving early next morning. Our citizens having been invited to take a ride to Pittsburg, quite a number of gentlemen and ladies went out with them to that place." Dr. Willis Merriman, of Bucyrus, was at that time and for several years later, president of the road ; six of the seven directors were citizens of Bucyrus, the seventh being from Upper Sandusky. The road had been promoted and built from Crestlihe to Fort Wayne through the enterprise and push of Bucyrus citizens, and was one of the most wonderful enterprises ever put through by a village, which the census of 1850 gave as containing only 704 people. GALION Of some of the early settlers on the site of Galion, mention has already been made. When HISTORY OF NORTHWEST OHIO - 401 the first houses had been erected, the diminutive settlement began to be known as Leveridge's. The beginning of Galion can be dated from the -arrival of the Hosfords in 1820. William Hosford and his two sons, Asa and Horace, settled a half mile east of Leveridge's, and this place was soon known as Hosford's, settlement, for the three of them went into business there at "The Corners." Asa was the real genius of the family, and of the settlement as well. In times of emergency and depression, everybody looked to him. For sixty years every interest of the place had in him the warmest supporter. When the first postoffice was established here in 1825, Horace Hosford was the postmaster. The first office was in Hosford's blacksmith shop at " The Corners," as the village was generally called. The petitioners asked that the office be named Goshen, but that name had already been appropriated. The postmaster general suggested Galion, and so it became. The origin of the word is not known, for there was no other known town of that designation. Hosford was succeeded a few years later by Calvin T. Donovan, and he in turn by Michael Ruhl. Early records at Washington refer to the postoffice at Galion as in Richland County, as it was up to 1845. When John Ruhl arrived from Pennsylvania with his wife and five sons and a daughter, a wealthy man for those days, he purchased much of the land where the site of Galion now stands. He had the idea that this land would make an excellent site for a town. A curious item in the deed from Samuel Brown to Ruhl is the. following: "and Sarah Brown is to have stuff for a new frock when she signs the writing." Perhaps she had objected to the deed in some way. A surveyor was sent for, and the present Town of Galion was laid out by Michael and Jacob Ruhl in 1831. There were about thirty-five lots in this original plat, and every one fronted on the main street. In 1833 a second addition Vol I-26 was laid out, east of the original plat, but all of these lots also faced on the main street, with a few exceptions. There was now a rivalry .between the two little towns, that had been laid: ;out. "The Corners" still had the trade. Ruhl's settlement finally won the contest. The first business industry established was a distillery, which was introduced by Nathan Merriman in 1834. Here the settlers disposed of their goods and purchased whisky. The first steam engine was introduced by Isaac Criley, when he started a carding-mill. Galion remained nothing mare than a country village until 1850, when a railroad was projected through the city. It began to grow when the Cleveland, Columbus and Cincinnati Railroad reached there in 1851. In 1840, when Joel Todd was elected as the first mayor, it was small; there were two taverns, three stores, and a few shops. Nine years; later the population numbered less than 400. By 1870 it had outstripped Bucyrus, and retained the lead for a third of a century. The first religious services of which we have a record were held at the cabin of Benjamin Leverige. In 1820 a tall, raw-boned man ap-. peared, who was dressed very much as a hunter of those days, and he immediately started to sing a hymn, in which the audience joined. Then he knelt and prayed and talked for over half an hour. This man was Benjamin Sharrock, who lived only a few miles distant. He was a Methodist, but not an ordained minister. A large frame barn belonging to George Wood and Asa Hosford was frequently 'used for religious service, as it was the largest building in the neighborhood. In summer services were conducted in the open air. One of the early traveling preachers here was Russel Bigelow, who traveled this circuit for the Methodists. A Presbyterian minister by the name of Matthews was the first man to receive pay for his services. He was given the sum of $15 a year. When Rev. F. J. Ruth reached Galion in 1831, in the 402 - HISTORY OF NORTHWEST OHIO interest of the German Lutheran Church, he found a rough crowd which gave him to understand that there was no opening for him. When the Ruhls heard of this, they went to Mansfield and persuaded him to return. This was the beginning of that denomination here. Rev. John Stough was the first pastor. The Roman Catholics did not enter this field until 1854, when a congregation was organized by Father Matthias Kreusch. The first schoolhouse erected was in 1822. It was of logs, and the entire settlement assisted. David Gill first taught the three "R's" here in the subscription school. It was not until 1847 that a regular school system was organized in Galion. The splendid central building was built in 1867, when J. C. Hartzler was superintendent of the schools. Since then several ward buildings have been found necessary and a new high school is being erected. The first superintendent of the schools was David Kerr. CRESTLINE The nucleus of Crestline was the Village of Livingston. The plat of this village was recorded in the recorder's office at Bucyrus on February 17, 1851, by Van Rensallaer Livingston. The Government established a postoffice and Mr. Livingston was appointed the postmaster. The office was in the general store of Thomas C. Hall. When the Ohio and Indiana Road was finished, it promised to be a thriving village. Then it was that C. J. Straughan purchased a farm at the junction of it and the Cleveland, Columbus and Cincinnati Railroad, and laid out a new town, which was named Crest Line. He filed the plat of the new town in the recorder's office in 1852. Crest Line had the advantage of the Union Depot, and it soon outgrew Livingston in population and business. The postoffice was removed to the new town, and the name became one word instead of two. As time went on the two towns grew together, and today there is no dividing line between the two. David Ogden was the first mayor, being elected in 1858, immediately after its incorporation. As the junction point of two important railroads, the town grew rapidly. From its start, Crestline was a great railroad center, and shops were located there employing hundreds of men. It became a division point, also, so the train crews laid over at this town. On June 23, 1853, the editor of the Bucyrus Journal visited Crestline, and wrote of it as follows : " Crestline and Livingston are located at the place where the Ohio & Indiana and the Ohio & Pennsylvania roads unite with the one town, so recognized. Here can be seen that great feature of American enterprise a city in the wilderness. Houses are erecting on all sides, and hundreds of laborers and mechanics are busily engaged in pushing the present improvements to completion. It will surprise many to learn what's doing in this clearing for clearing it is, as, except what have been grubbed out, the stumps are still standing on all sides. The ticket office and building for the accommodation of the travelers is just finished. The building partakes somewhat of an oriental style of architecture, is 30 feet wide and 80 feet long. It contains a ticket office, a baggage-room, and a large salon for the accommodation of passengers waiting for the cars. The salon is abundantly supplied with lounges or settees, tables and chairs. It also contains a fine clock and a large water cooler." VILLAGES In 1833 the plat of a new town to be called New Washington was filed with the county recorder. A short distance away was West Liberty, just four days older. West Liberty was platted in 1835, and before the coming HISTORY OF NORTHWEST OHIO - 403 of railroads was a rival of Bucyrus in the volume of its business. Up to 1850 it was a far more important point than Galion, and the Village of Crestline at that date was not yet in existence. For a long time there was a spirited rivalry between the two towns, but New Washington proved the stronger. The growth of New Washington was steady, even if slow. The first merchant was a man named Hussey, who was drowned in Lake Erie. Volney Powers opened up the second store. By 1840 the population had increased to about fifty souls. The first postmaster of which we have a record was John A. Sheetz, and he was succeeded by George Donnenwirth, who was one of the substantial citizens of the early days. The construction of the Mansfield, Coldwater and Lake Michigan Railroad gave quite an increase to the growth of the town. It was incorporated in 1873, and Matthias Kibler was elected the first mayor. Today it is a thriving and prosperous town, with a number of stores, a bank, and a newspaper. Tiro is a new town, platted in 1874, as it did not appear until the railroad was completed. There had been an old village platted in 1835, named De Kalb, a half mile to the south, but the location of a railroad station brought the settlement there. A town was platted there, and the postoffice was transferred to the new town. Ira Van Tilberg was named postmaster of Tiro in 1874, and the De Kalb postoffice was discontinued. Tiro was incorporated in 1890, and Charles McConnell was elected mayor. There are several other villages in the county. New Winchester dates from 1835, and was named after Winchester, Virginia. North Robinson was made a postoffice in 1854, and it was named after J. B. Robinson, who had built a sawmill there to furnish ties for the Ohio and Indiana Railroad. A town was afterwards platted. Sulphur Spring was platted as early as 1833, by John Slifer. It was then called Annapolis. Both names are still used in common parlance. A postoffice was established there in 1846, and it was called Sulphur Spring, on account of a large sulphur spring near there. An "s" was later added to the name. Chatfield is an old settlement, laid out in 1840, but it grew greatly only after the railroad was completed there. Benton was laid out in 1841 by George Bender and John Hazlett. It was named after Senator Thomas Benton, of Missouri, of whom Hazlett was a great admirer. Previous to this time a postoffice had been established there and named Poplar. The village has always carried those two names. It has a charming location on a bluff of the Sycamore Creek. When the town was started, there was a blacksmith shop there, run by Daniel Beal, which was a great gathering place. Benton was at one time incorporated, and was probably the smallest settlement ever burdened with the responsibilities of a village government. Alvin Williams was elected mayor, and he was succeeded by Joseph Pitezal. Among the postmasters of this village, and one of the prominent merchants for many years, was Adam R. Winter, father of the editor of this work. The pioneers of this neighborhood were mostly men from New England and the East, and the Bible was found in nearly every home. Plankton is a small town two miles north of Benton, on the Northern Ohio Railroad, and Lemert is two miles south, on the Toledo and Ohio Central Railroad. Lykens is a small town in the northern part of the county. Wingert's Corners is a village in the northern part of the county. Wingert's Corners, so named after William Wingert, is an old village, but the postoffice is named Brokensword. It is noted as the original of "Confederate X Roads," of the Nasby satirical letters. Leesville assumed its name from the family of Lees living there. It was laid out by Rev. Robert Lee in 1829. CHAPTER XXXII DEFIANCE COUNTY Because of its beautiful and convenient location at; the mouth of three rivers, the site of Defiance was the first place to be occupied by whites within the present county of the same name. It was also the location of trading posts for the Indians as soon as the whites commenced to infiltrate into the Maumee Valley. The French traders began to establish their little stores here in the latter part of the seventeenth century, and the English traders located themselves there during the first half of the eighteenth century. Oliver M. Spencer, who was for a time a captive of the Shawnees, describes the settlement existing at this place in the year 1792, which was two years before the coming of General Wayne's army, as follows : "Extending from the Maumee a quarter of a mile up the Auglaize, about two hundred yards in width, was an open space on 'the west and south of which were oak woods with hazel undergrowth. Within this opening, a few hundred yards above' the point on the steep high bank of the Auglaize, were five or six cabins and log houses inhabited principally by traders with the Aborigines. The most northerly, a large hewed log house divided below into three apartments, was occupied as a warehouse, store, and dwelling by George Ironside, the most wealthy and influential of the traders on the point. Next to his were the houses of Pirault (Pero) a French baker, and M'Kenzie a Scot who, in addition to merchandizing followed the occupation of a silver-smith, exchanging with the Aborigines his brooches, eardrops, and other silver ornaments at. an enormous profit, for skins. Still farther up were several other families of French and English, and two. American prisoners, Henry Ball a soldier taken at St. Clair 's defeat, and his wife Polly Meadows captured at the same time—were allowed to live here and by labor to pay their masters the price of their ransom, he by boating to the (lower) rapids of the Maumee, and she by washing and sewing. Fronting the house of Ironsid:e and about fifty yards from the bank (of the Auglaize), was a small stockade enclosing two hewed log houses, one of which was occupied by James Girty the other occasionally by M'Kee and Eliott, British Aborigine Agents living at Detroit." American traders also visited Defiance and tarried there for a period during the time of the garrison of Fort Defiance, but no permanent settlement was attempted then. The British practically controlled the Maumee, and were most influential among the aborigines up to within a few miles of Fort Wayne until the arrival of the Army of the Northwest, at the beginning of the War of 1812. Up to this time the traders and their families in this neighborhood were mostly, if not all, of British and French blood. After this war a number of soldiers, who had served in the neighborhood of Forts Winchester and Defiance, and along the Maumee, returned to the confluence of the Auglaize and the Maumee and established themselves there. These earliest settlers first occupied the buildings of Fort Winchester, after that stockade had been abandoned by the departing army. The buildings of fort thus served a most excellent purpose after they were no longer needed in - 404 - HISTORY OF NORTHWEST OHIO - 405 war. They were used as such as long as they remained in a fit condition for occupancy. After that the best of the timbers were employed in the construction of log buildings in the neighborhood, while the poorer ones served to dispel the winter cold by furnishing a ready supply of fuel. Among the first, if not the very first, real settlers who established themselves in the neighborhood of Fort Defiance were two brothers, by the name of John and William Preston, who had seen service in the War of 1812. William Preston became the first sheriff in this part of Ohio and finally removed to Williams County, where he died about the year 1828. His brother had passed away several years earlier. His surname is perpetuated at Defiance in the name of an island and also of a small creek. At the same time there arrived James Partee, John Plummer, John Perkins, and Montgomery Ebons. All of these men occupied for a long or short period some one of the abandoned buildings of Fort Winchester. John Perkins came from near Chillicothe, and dwelt for some years at the place known as Camp Number Three. He surveyed this land for the United States, and built the first saw and flour mill in this part of Ohio, at Brunersberg, in 1822. He became one of the first three associate judges of Williams County. James Partee located along the Tiffin River. William Travis, who became one of the prominent early settlers of Defiance, first visited the town in 1819 and brought the first wagon to the settlement. He was advised to take it apart at St. Marys, on account of the poor road, and ship it by boat from there to Fort Wayne and then down the Maumee to its destination. The oxen and horses were driven by land along the old military road, and carried part of the goods on their backs. John Driver, who was a silversmith, came here accompanied by his brother, Thomas, who settled on a farm a few miles up the, Maumee about, the same time. At that time there were five French traders who occupied cabins near Fort Defiance. One of these was Peter Lombard, and the names of the others are not now known. John and George Hollister established a store at the top of the bluff, on the north side of the Maumee, and they continued in business there for a number of years. For a time the business was conducted for them by Peter Bellaire 406 - HISTORY OF NORTHWEST OHIO and George Lantz. In the year 1820, the Village of Defiance contained three stores and about 100 white people. Robert Shirley brought his family from Ross County to Defiance in the spring of 1821, and he was among the very last to occupy one of the buildings of Fort Winchester. He became a very prominent citizen, and his sons, James, Elias, and Robert, settled on farms about the Auglaize River, where some of their descendants still live. Among the other early settlers along the river were Samuel Kepler, who located east of Defiance in 1821, and Joshua Hilton, who built a cabin two miles west of that village in the following year. Thomas and Parmenas Wasson came in the year 1822, and the former settled upon a farm and raised a large family. John and Forman Evans, and their cousin, Pierce Evans arrived in 1823, and took a prominent part in the development of the county. John was generally known as "Doctor" and opened up a general store not long after his arrival, where he frequently dispensed medicine to the sick. Montgomery Evans, possibly a distant relative, became a trader with the aborigines, as well as a farmer and dealer in real estate. Moses Heatley settled near Blodgett Island in 1824, while in the following year there came David and Isaac Hull, Timothy S. Smith, James Craig, and Robert Watson. In 1827 there arrived Payne C. Parker, who conducted a general store for a decade and a half. Because he sold medicine, he was also generally called "Doctor." When Williams County was organized for self Government, in 1824, Defiance was chosen as the seat of government by an act of the Legislature in January of the following year. Prior to that for several years it had been a part of Wood County, and was included within Auglaize Township. The first two justices of the peace were John Perkins and William Preston. To Williams were attached for governmental purposes the counties of Henry, Paulding, and Putnam. As a consideration for its selection as the permanent county seat, the proprietor of Defiance agreed to deed to the county one-third of all the lots in the town and to build a jail. These conditions were complied with. The first Court of Common Pleas for this county was held in that village on April 5, 1824, in the second story of Benjamin Leavell's store. Ebenezer Lane was the presiding judge, and his associates on the bench were Robert Shirley, John Perkins, and Pierce Evans. At this first session John Evans was appointed clerk, and he filed a bond for $2,000 signed by Forman and Pierce Evans and Moses Rice as sureties. At the second session of these judges, in the following May, John Evans was appointed recorder of the county, while Timothy S. Smith was given the position of auditor. William Preston was permitted to call himself sheriff, and Samuel Vance was named as assessor. John Camon was the first person to declare his intention to become a citizen of the United States. The first marriage license was issued to Carver Gunn and Mary Ann Scribner, who were married December 24, 1824, by Charles Gunn, J. P. The first will admitted to probate was that of James Jolly. Among the items of the business transacted at this session of the court, we find that Benjamin Leavell was licensed to sell merchandise for a year upon the payment of the sum of $10 into the county treasury. For adding $1.50 more to this contribution he was licensed to operate a ferry across the Maumee River for a period of twelve months. George Lantz was given permission to operate a ferry across the Maumee at a different location for the small sum of $1. The prescribed schedule of charges of ferriage was as follows : One person could be transported for 61/4 cents, while a man and a horse cost three times this amount. A loaded wagon and team cost $1, a four-wheeled carriage and team 75 cents, a loaded cart with the team 50 cents, an empty HISTORY OF NORTHWEST OHIO - 407 cart and team, a sleigh, or sled with the team, 371/2 cents. Cattle cost four cents per head, while hogs and sheep were hauled for half this sum. Enoch Buck was fined $1 and the costs for maintaining a ferry across the Maumee without a license. Isaac Hull was also authorized to sell merchandise for $10, and Samuel Lantz was authorized to dispense liquor at his cabin upon the payment of $10. Charles W. Ewing became the first prosecutor of the County, being allowed a fee of $10, and Jesse Hilton had the distinction of being named as a justice of the peace. The grand jury was composed of William Hunter, Timothy T. Smith, Arthur Burras, George Lantz, John Hilton, Forman Evans, Montgomery Evans, Thomas Driver, Benjamin Mulligan, James Shirely, Jonathan Merithan, Thomas Warren, Theophilus Hilton, Hugh Evans, and Daniel Brannan. Cyrus Hunter, Charles Gunn, and Benjamin Leavell were the first county commissioners of Williams County. Their first formal session of which we have record was held December 6, 1824, in the same room as the court had met. It was determined that the members should serve one, two, and three respective years in the order that their names appear above. They authorized a road along the north side of the Maumee to the east line of Henry County, and William Preston, John Evans, and Arthur Burrows were appointed the viewers of this road, which. John Perkins was authorized from the Indiana line, along this line was certified to the commissioners of Wood County in 1822. Defiance Township was carved out of Auglaize in the same year. In 1825 William Semans was appointed treasurer of the county. In that same year John Blair was the lowest bidder for the collection of taxes, his bid being 6 per cent. A road was authorized from the Indiana line, along the north side of the Maumee, "to cross Bean Creek (Tiffin River) at or near Perkins' Mill (the present Brunersburg), and thence to the ford of the Maumee River at Defiance opposite Jolly's Tannery in said town." At the June session of the county commissioners in 1825 it was ordered that a jail built of hewed logs should be erected. The dimensions of this county bastile were ordered to "be twenty-six by eighteen feet, nine feet between floors, with a partition of the same dimensions as the walls and two grate windows, eighteen by ten inches, with five iron bars to each window." For several months the court was held in the second story of Mr. Leavell's store room, which stood on the banks of the Maumee, just north of the fort grounds. About 1828 a brick courthouse was constructed of modest dimensions, which served this purpose until the county seat was removed to Bryan, after which the building was sold by the county commissioners. FORMATION OF DEFIANCE COUNTY After the settlement of the Toledo War, which added considerable territory to Williams County, Defiance was situated so near to one end of the county that the question of removal of the county seat began to be serious. Numerous settlers were entering the north end of the county, and villages were already being platted, nearly all of which aspired to the honor of becoming the county capital. In 1839 the question of removing the county seat was submitted to the voters, and it was carried by a good majority. Commissioners, consisting of Joseph Burns, of Coshocton County, Joseph McCutcheon, of Crawford County, and James Curtis, of Perry County, were appointed to locate the county seat. In 1846 Bryan, the site of which was then covered with a dense wilderness, was selected, because of its being practically the center of the county. To say that the citizens of Defiance were agitated is expressing their real' feelings mildly. A new county was at once talked of. A petition of remonstrance was 408 - HISTORY OF NORTHWEST OHIO brought about and signed by the citizens generally. As it was a democratic Legislature that had passed the act complained of, this remonstrance was presented to a whig Legislature, and a bill organizing a new county to be called Defiance was passed on March 4, 1845. The greater part of the new county was detached from Williams County, but portions were also taken from Henry and Paulding counties. Great was the rejoicing at Defiance, and a celebration in honor of the new county was held at old Fort Defiance on the 13th of March. Notwithstanding the high waters and bad roads, the people thronged to the celebration in which bonfires and speeches and dancing had a very important part. Judge Pierce Evans was the presiding officer. All efforts on the part of Williams County to have the latest action of the Legislature repealed failed. The first term of court in Defiance County was held in a brick schoolhouse on Wayne Street. Patrick H. Goode was the presiding judge, and with him were associated Andrew C. Bigelow and William O. Ensign. James S. Greer, Lyman Langdon, and Jonas Colby were appointed county commissioners. Edwin Phelps was named as auditor. A special election was called for county officers on April 15th. Proceedings were at once initiated to provide a new courthouse, and, within a very short time, a brick edifice was completed on the site of the present courthouse. It was not an expensive building, but in its day was looked upon as a handsome and very creditable structure. The courtroom was located on the first floor, while the county officials had their offices on the second floor. It would not be considered a very attractive or suitable building when compared with the present courthouse, which has replaced this earlier structure. The first lawyer who presided over court at Defiance was Ebenezer Lane, who held court at some time or another in nearly every part of Northwest Ohio. He was succeeded by Judge Higgins, and he in turn by Ozias Bowen. Emery D. Potter then took up the work, and held the office until his election to Congress, at which time he resigned from the bench. Legal work in the early courts was conducted by lawyers who traveled the circuit with the judges. Of the conditions confronting the pioneer judge, Judge Higgins wrote : "We had been attending Court at Findlay. Our Circuit route from that town was first to Defiance, and from there to Perrysburg. A countryman agreed to take our horses directly through the Black Swamp to Perrysburg. We purchased a canoe (the good pirogue Jurisprudence) and taking with us our saddles, bridles, and baggage, proposed to descend the Blanchard and Auglaize rivers to Defiance. Our company consisted of Rodolphus Dickinson, J. C. Spink, "Count' (Andrew) Coffinberry, myself, and a countryman whose name I forgot. The .voyage was a dismal one to Defiance, through an unsettled wilderness of some sixty miles. Its loneliness was only broken by the intervening Aborigine settlement at the Ottawa village, where we were hailed and cheered lustily by the 'Tawa Aborigines as would be a foreign warship in the port of New York. From Defiance we descended the Maumee to Perrysburg where we found all well. In descending the Maumee we came near running into the rapids where we would probably have been swamped; but we were hailed from the shore and warned of our danger." The first record that we have of an attorney living at Defiance is in a letter written by James L. Gage, in which he says: "I opened a law office in the winter of 1826 in Defiance, Williams County. I think the first in Williams County. It was an upper room in the inn of Benjamin Leavell, an upright man in whose excellent family I boarded. He was one of the proprietors of the town. My office was also my bedroom and, on public days, it HISTORY OF NORTHWEST OHIO - 409 was also the bedroom of many others. Land and lots were far more abundant than dwellings. * * * In 1826 I paid the whole of the Williams County state tax with wolf-scalp certificates, and drew a heavy percentage besides from the state treasury in payment of the balance due the wolf hunters of Williams County for wolves killed that year within the limits of the county." Thomas W. Powell has left us the following interesting description of a lawyer's life in those days "Judge Lane 's circuit of the common pleas then included the whole of the northwestern part of the state, including the counties of Huron, Richland, Delaware and Union, being fully one-fourth of the state. He was very punctual in attending the courts of Perrysburg and Defiance, Gage and myself always accompanied him ; and they were frequently attended by other lawyers from other parts of the country. Those excursions from Perrysburg to Defiance in attending the courts there were enjoyed with rare pleasure and attended with considerable excitement. We usually made the trip on horseback, but frequently when the river was in a high stage of water we would procure a canoe at Defiance and make our way back by water. We frequently took two days to make the trip, and then would make Prairie Damasque our halfway stopping place over night, at the house of Judge Vance, a brother of Gov. Vance, of Ohio. * * * At that time Defiance consisted only of a few houses, such as would be found at a new town of the smaller dimensions. A warehouse on the bank of the river afforded a court house, and the house of Mr. Leavell afforded us a hotel, yet the term there was attended with interest and pleasure." The first lawyer to establish himself permanently at Defiance was doubtless Horace Sessions, who reached there in 1833 and followed the law practice for many years. For a time he had no competitors. He became known throughout the entire Maumee Valley for his high moral qualities and professional attainments. He was without means and worked in the county offices, and taught in the district schools to aid his support. Two of the early lawyers were brothers. These were William and John Beaston Semans. John did not engage in the practice of law here for any great length of time, but followed newspaper work for a time, and also interested himself in mercantile business. He was very independent and absolutely fearless. He adopted for his newspaper the motto : "While I have Liberty to write, I will write for Liberty." William also engaged in mercantile business with his brother for a time, but followed the law far more than his brother. He came to Defiance in 1826 to visit his sister, and was prevailed upon to teach a winter term of school. He followed teaching and the work of brick masonry for several years, and then studied law with Amos Evans, being admitted to the practice in 1835. He was a partner of Andrew Coffinberry, of Maumee City, for a time, and afterwards removed to Lafayette, Indiana, and from there went to Kansas, where he became active in the movement to make that state free. Curtis Bates located here about 1836. Soon afterwards he was elected to the Ohio Senate, but his election was successfully contested on the ground that he had not been a resident of the state for the prescribed period. A new election was ordered, but by that time the required period had elapsed and he was chosen by an increased majority. He afterwards removed to Des Moines, Iowa. William C. Holgate arrived next and hung out his shingle as an attorney. He practiced law there for about half a century. Samuel H. Greenlee was an early practitioner at the Defiance bar. Erastus H. Leland came to the county about 1841, and practiced law at Defiance for many years. He represented the county in the Legislature for one session, where he took a prominent part. 410 - HISTORY OF NORTHWEST OHIO He enlisted in the Civil War, and was compelled to retire from active business after his service in the army. Among others of the early legal lights were Hamilton Davison, George W. B. Evans, John M. Stilwell, George B. Way, and William Sheffield. DEFIANCE Although, as we have seen, there was a settlement at Defiance since the last part of the eighteenth century, it did not officially appear as a town until in November, 1822. At that time the village of Fort Defiance was platted by Benjamin Leavell, of Piqua, and Horatio G. Phillips, of Dayton. The plat was acknowledged on the 18th of April, 1823, before Charles Gunn, justice of the peace, and duly recorded in Wood County. This plat embraced 150 lots, and was located at the confluence of the Maumee and Auglaize rivers. The square on which the courthouse now stands was reserved by the proprietors unless the town should become a county seat, and, as the plat expressed it, "forever continue to be," when it was to be used for public buildings. The grounds on which the old fort was located were alsb dedicated to the public on the same conditions. It is now known as Fort Defiance Park. One square was granted to the Methodist Church for a house of worship and burying ground, and another square was allotted to the Presbyterian Church for the same purposes. Mr. Phillips was an extensive land holder at Dayton, but never became a resident of Defiance. Mr. Leavell did remove to the new town and established the first inn, and also the first store to supply the wants of the white settlers. He erected a modest frame building in the village in the year that the town was platted, but afterwards sold his holdings to Curtis Holgate, of Utica, New York, and returned with his family to Piqua. An incident in the early history of Defiance that has been handed down to posterity is as follows : " There were lying about the village sundry empty bombshells and a few cannon balls. When the fort here was evacuated some of the ammunition, bombshells and cannon balls were thrown into the river. A part of these balls and shells were discovered by the early settlers and fished out. They were thrown upon the bank at Defiance, where every one who wanted one took it, and the remainder were kicked about as things of no value and as matters of idle curiosity and remark. One day, a loafing party amused themselves in picking the fuse out of three shells, when one of them thought it would be a good speculation to apply a coal of fire to it. He did so, and the fierceness with which it commenced burning suggested to them that they did not occupy an eminently safe place from which to witness the final result ; so they took a short recess, some over the bank and others behind stumps. They put off, pretty badly scared, and had barely reached their places of retreat before the shell exploded, manifesting a very destructive power. One piece struck Mr. Leavell's house, some eight or ten rods distant, leaving an indentation that demanded the aid of the carpenter ; another struck a store, near the place of explosion, with still greater force, but no person was hurt." A postoffice was first established at Defiance in 1821, on the north side of the Maumee, and was kept by Timothy S. Smith in his residence. A year later a small frame building, about 10 by 12 feet square, was erected near the fort expressly for a postoffice. The mail route at that time extended from Piqua to Perrysburg, a distance of almost 200 miles, passing through St. Marys and Fort Wayne to Defiance, and then from Defiance to Waterville, and on to Perrysburg. The carrier, whose name was Thomas Driver, made a round trip every two weeks. At first the postoffice was known as Fort Defiance, but in 1824 the word "fort" was dropped. Mr. HISTORY OF NORTHWEST OHIO - 411 Smith continued to serve the office until 1825, when Isaac Hull Jr. was appointed as his successor. In the early days Defiance was a very important point, for several routes of travel converged here. This made the business of catering to travelers an important one. As early as 1823, Dr. John Evans erected a building that was large for that day, and which answered both for a store and a hotel. C. C. Waterhouse became the proprietor of this hostelry, and ran a four-horse stage in connection with it to Maumee City. He gave it the name of "The Pavillion." He built a barn sufficiently large to accommodate sixteen horses, in which not a nail or a scrap of iron was used in its construction. Wooden pins were employed to take the place of nails, and even the hinges and latches were made of wood. The clapboards were weighted down by poles. About 1827 or 1828, Payne C. Parker erected a store and hotel, in which he conducted business for several years. Under Lyam Langdon, a later owner, it took the name of "The Exchange," and was conducted as a hotel until it was burned about 1852. About 1836 the "Clinton House" was built by Amos Evans. During the time of the building of the canal it did a thriving business. The " Grey House" was built in about the same year as the " Clinton," and, a few years later, the "Washington Hotel" was ready to cater to the traveling public. The village of Defiance was incorporated in January, 1836. At the first election, held in April of that year, John Lewis was elected mayor. The trustees chosen at this election were James Hudson, Jonas Colby, Amos Evans, Horace Sessions, and Jacob Kniss. In the book of minutes the first entry, which is signed by Foreman Evans, as associate judge, recites that John Lewis had appeared before him and taken the required oath of office as mayor of the village. Mr. Sessions, who had been elected a trustee, declined to serve, and John Oliver was appointed in his place. When the council met on the 7th of May, E. S. Perkins, who had been elected recorder (clerk), having been found ineligible because of insufficient residence, George W. Crawford was appointed in his place, and Amos Evans acted as the recorder of that meeting. John Hilton was appointed the village marshal by that body, and E. C. Case was named as assessor. Alfred Purcell was selected as the village treasurer. The recorder's fees were fixed at "ten cents for every one hundred words of writing performed for the Council, except for transcribing copies, where he should receive only eight cents." The first ordinance of the town showed that these early citizens were anxious to preserve its historic relics. This act provided "that any person or persons destroying the public point lying in the junction of the Maumee and Auglaize rivers, either by shooting, chopping or digging, or in any way or manner whatever upon conviction of which before the Mayor, shall be subject to a fine." Before the end of his first year as mayor, Mr. Lewis resigned and Doctor Crawford was appointed to succeed him. At the regular election in the following year, C. C. Waterhouse was chosen as mayor. The trustees elected were S. S. Sprague, John Oliver, Amos Evans, Jacob Kniss, and Benjamin Brubacher. The third mayor was Charles V. Royce. It can not be said that the village of Defiance grew very rapidly. In 1840 the inhabitants numbered less than 300. It was in this year that the county seat was moved to Bryan, and the future looked very dark. Most of the site was still covered with small timber and underbrush. The buildings were simply set up on wooden blocks. The principal business was the trade in furs. When the canal was completed in 1842, there was a notable impetus and a new growth arose. By 1848 the village contained 2 churches, 5 business establishments, and at least 700 inhabitants. 412 - HISTORY OF NORTHWEST OHIO The Town of Defiance itself has never been subject to real estate speculation to any great degree, but several projects of rival towns in the immediate vicinity have been agitated. At one time, because of the uncertainty of the location of the canal, John Hollister, who owned land just east of Defiance, platted the said land which he named East Defiance. The plat was on a large scale, and was boomed greatly for a time. The final location of the canal, however, dispelled the hopes of the promoter, and East Defiance was heard of no more. About the same time some speculators imagined there was a good site for a town just above Defiance, and an extensive survey of land was made. This town was named West Defiance, but it also has been lost sight of in the succeeding years. On the north side of the river another settlement was platted, named North Defiance, and a part of this plat is still upon the county duplicate. At one time the town of Brunersburg, on Tiffin River, a couple of miles above Defiance, was a vigorous rival of Defiance itself. The only grist-mill in that section of the state was located there. A couple of dams were built in order to provide power for the factories, which it was planned would be located there. A steamboat was built, bridges were constructed, and the lands on the other side of the Tiffin River for miles were platted into settlements. One town, named Lowell, had 1,000 lots and paper streets with high-sounding names. Detroit was also supposed to have as good a future as its older rival on the Detroit River. The towns have been forgotten, and even the town of Brunersburg, once so prosperous, is but a very small village. A Philadelphia company purchased a large tract of land on the Auglaize River, about four miles above Defiance, and spent a considerable amount of money on the project. Their plans comprehended mills and a manufacturing town. A dam was constructed and a saw mill built to furnish the lumber for the improvements that were expected. This project was likewise abandoned, like the others mentioned, either for the want of money or lack of buyers of lots. It was not long after the incorporation of Defiance until a newspaper was projected. The name of this periodical was the Defiance Banner, and it was published in the interest of the whigs. The editor was John B. Semans, who was an attorney as well as a printer. The first number was issued on the 5th of August, 1838. As the first newspaper in this region of Ohio, it was ably edited and deserved a better fate. The following year, the Barometer appeared upon the horizon, and was issued from the same office, with the same editor, but was a smaller sheet. This publication was sold at the end of nine months to G. W. Wood, of Fort Wayne, who began the publication of the Times. The North-Western made its bow to the public in 1843, under the ownership of J. B. Steedman & Company, and was edited by H. S. Knapp, also editor of the Kalida Venture. This paper was democratic in politics, and lasted for only about a year, when the materials were removed to Logansport, Indiana. This was succeeded by the Defiance Democrat. The first number of this journal was issued in the next year, and the editor was A. H. Palmer. He brought his materials from Toledo, and sold out the office in the following year to Samuel Yearick. He disposed of an interest in the paper to J. W. Wiley, and it was issued under the firm name of Yearick & Wiley. In 1849 the office was disposed of to J. J. Greene, who published the Democrat until 1873, when it was purchased by Elmer White and W. G. Blymyer. From the same office is issued a daily, called the Crescent-News. In 1849 a second publication, called the Defiance Banner, supporting the whig party, was begun by R. R. Thrall. This paper lasted HISTORY OF NORTHWEST OHIO - 413 for about three years, and was succeeded by the Defiance Star several years later. This paper was, started to support the principles of the republican party during the campaign for the was of General Fremont. The name was afterwards changed to the Defiance Republican. In 1862 the Defiance Constitution appeared under the management of W. R. Carr. In 1867 the Weekly Express, republican in politics, appeared with Francis Brooks as the editor and proprietor. A daily edition is now issued also. The Union School Chronicle made its first appearance in 1868, but only a few numbers were issued. In 1878 the Defiance National, a greenback publication, was begun, but survived only a few months. It was succeeded by the Green-. back Era, the name of which afterwards changed to the Dollar Era. In 1879 the Daily Era was begun, but it was printed only twice a week in spite of its name. The Daily Era lasted less than a year. The Democratic Ledger was begun by Frank J. and Charles W. Mains in 1879, but was published for only eight weeks. Other publications that appeared for a short time were the* Monthly Herald, published by J. F. Deatrick, an insurance 'paper, and the Defiance Daily Democrat, which was published for, a short time in 1879. Das Kirchen Blatt, a German Lutheran paper, first appeared 'in 1879; with H. Deindorfer as the editor. The Kirchliche Zeitschrift, another Lutheran publication, also appeared in the same year with the same editor. The Weekly Herold is a German newspaper that was begun by H. and J. Deindorfer in 1881. Rev. William Simmons, of Xenia; preached in the private home of Mr. Leavell, one of the town proprietors, soon after the town was platted. Rev. William Sprague was also an early preacher here. In 1826 Rev. Elias Pettit became the first regularly appointed Methodist minister to this village. In that same year he organized a small society. A log church was built in 1834, which was afterwards sold to the German Reformed congregation. In 1834 the first Sunday School was organized, with four officials and teachers, and only twenty-three scholars. Defiance was a part of a circuit until 1857 when it was made a station, and Rev. A. B. Poe became the first resident minister. The congregation is known as St. Paul's. A second church was erected in 1853, but by 1872 the prosperity of the church demanded a still more commodious building and the present commodious edifice arose. The first movement toward the organization of a Presbyterian Church in Defiance was made in 1837. A public .meeting was called in that year, of which N. B. Adams was made the chairman. A committee, consisting of George W. Crawford, Benjamin Brubacher, and G. C. Mudgett, was appointed. Little was done toward organizing this society for a number of weeks, when a meeting was held by Rev. B. Stowe, and the names of prospective members obtained. Late in the year the church was formally organized by the adoption of the Presbyterian form of government, and the election of elders.. Nathaniel B. Adams and Curtis Tolgate were chosen as the elders, and Sereno Lyman was selected as the clerk.. Religious services were at first held in the courthouse, and the church was under the pastoral care of Rev. Mr. Stowe for a year or two, during which it enjoyed a fair degree of prosperity.' He resigned in 1839 on account of ill health. The second pastoral leader was Rev. E. R. Tucker, and he remained for a score of years. For a time the congregation worshipped in the hotel, called the "Grey House," but a modest church was finally erected. Mass was first held in Defiance in the house of Timothy Fitzpatrick in 1841, by Father Rappe. Only one other Catholic family at that time lived there. Father Rappe visited Defiance every year until he was elected 414 - HISTORY OF NORTHWEST OHIO Bishop of Cleveland. In 1850 Defiance was .made the center of a mission district, and Father Foliere was appointed the first resident pastor, and he remained there about two years. In 1845 a lot was4donated to the society, and a small frame church erected. It was not until about 1850 that Catholic families began to move into Defiance, and the society became prosperous. In 1873 a second congregation, known as Our Lady of Perpetual Help, was organized, the members withdrawing from St. John . the Evangelist Church, because the parish had become too large. A building committee was appointed, a site selected and a new church built. In the fall of 1845, the Rev. August F. Knape, of Fort Wayne, came to Defiance County. He was called frequently to Defiance to preach to the few German Lutherans living there, but a regular church society had not yet been organized. A constitution was drawn up and signed by the Lutherans, and a society organized. The congregation convened for the first time in August, 1859, at which meeting twenty-one members were present. Christian Hess, Martin Vieback, Valentine Stork, and Edward Kornba:u.m were elected the elders. From this time the. congregation continually grew in numbers, and in 1851 Rev. Adam Detzer was elected as the pastor. He. accepted the call, and the congregation entered upon a prosperous existence from that time. The first church was completed in 1854, being a small building. It is known as the German Evangelical Lutheran St.. John's congregation, and adheres to the Augsburg Confession. The German Evangelical Reformed St. :John's Church was organized by Rev. J. O. Accola, in 1861, at the courthouse. The German Methodist society dates from 1850, and was organized by itinerant ministers. The First Baptist Church was instituted by. Rev. James French, a Baptist missionary. He held a series of meetings here in 1846, which resulted in the formation of the society. HICKSVILLE The Hicks Land Company was a concern that at one time owned large tracts of land in Defiance County. This land was all entered in the name "of Isaac S. Smith and Henry W. Hicks, the latter being a member of the firm of Samuel Hicks and Sons, shipping merchants of New York. This firm erected mills at a site named Hicksville. A town was laid out about 1836 by John A. Bryan, Henry W. Hicks, and Isaac S. Smith. The work was done by Mellar A. Smith, then the deputy surveyor of the county. Alfred P. Edgerton, a young bookkeeper with the Hicks concern, was sent out to look after the property. He proved to be the right man in the right place, and remained until the last of the land was disposed of. He served in the Legislature, and was also elected to Congress. The purpose of laying out the town undoubtedly was to enhance the value of the land of the owners, so that they might dispose of it upon favorable terms. At that time there were only two cabins on the site, both of which had been erected by the company. One was occupied by Daniel Comstock, and the other by Robert Bowles. During that year and the following a number of new homes were built and one or two small stores opened up. As some one said : "There were neither pro.. visions nor money here and nothing but timber and debts everywhere around." As the law permitted the establishment of a postoffice, wherever the receipts might be justified by it, the postoffice was established here with A. P. Edgerton as the first postmaster. This office was served once in two weeks from Cranesville. The first sermon in the village was preached by Rev. Joseph Miller, in the winter of 1837, at the log cabin occupied by Ransom Osborne. The Village of Hicksville was duly incorporated in the year 1871. At the first election held, Thomas C. Kinmont was elected mayor, and after serv- HISTORY OF NORTHWEST OHIO - 415 ing two terms he was succeeded by James E. Coulter. Two newspapers, the News and the Tribune, are published in this village. VILLAGES The Village of Delaware Bend was laid out by W. D. Hill and Company in 1874. About fifty houses were built and the prospects of the new town looked bright, but it has not grown greatly. Farmer Center was platted by John Norway, and still remains a small village. Ayersville was named in honor of Joseph Ayers. A postoffice was established there as early as 1849. Mark Center arose upon the construction of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad in 1875. It was laid out by Frederick Harmening, Joseph Kyle, and A. M. Anderson. Independence was platted as early as 1838, by Foreman Evans, of Defiance. An addition was made by Edward Hughes. At one time it was prosperous, but is smaller today than several decades ago. Evansport was fathered by Jacob Cay and Albert G. and Amos Evans, in 1835. It is today a prosperous little country village. Georgetown made its appearance on the map in 1846, when a plat of twenty-eight lots was recorded by George Ridenour. CHAPTER XXXIII FULTON COUNTY THOMAS MIKESELL, WAUSEON Fulton County was one of the latest of the counties in Northwestern Ohio in its creation. Most of them had their origin about 1820, but Fulton did not have an existence until thirty years later. About the middle of the last century the growth of this section of the state became so marked, that it was deemed best that a new county should be erected out of parts of the adjoining counties. The western part of Lucas County was very remote from the county seat, the roads were fearful, and the , convenience of the inhabitants of the western portion seemed to demand the organization of a new county. At any rate, there presided in that section men of energy and determination who were able to impress upon those in authority the idea that such a move was necessary. It was due to their efforts that the project was carried out successfully. Among those behind the movement may be recorded the names Of Nathaniel Legget, William Hall, A. C. Hough, Stephen Springer, Michael Handy, and Mortimer D. Hibbard. These men gave substantial assistance to the movement until it was completed. The legislation passed by the Ohio Legislature by which Fulton County was created, reads as follows "Sec. 1. Be it enacted, etc., That such parts of the counties of Lucas, Henry and Williams, as are embraced in the boundaries hereinafter described be, and the same are hereby created into a separate and distinct county, which shall be known by the name of Fulton, to-wit : Beginning on the State line between the States of Ohio and Michigan, at northeast corner of township nine, south of range four, east of the Michigan meridian; thence south on the township line to the southeast corner of town ten, south of range four, east, on the Fulton line ; thence west on said Fulton line to the northeast corner of town eight north of range eight, east; thence south to the southeast corner of section number twelve in township six, north of range eight, east ; thence west on section lines to the southwest corner of section number seven in township six, range five, east, on the county line between the counties of Henry and Williams; thence north on said line to the southeast corner of town seven, north of range four east; thence west on said township line to the southwest corner of section number thirty-five, in said town seven, north of range four, east; thence north on the section lines to the Fulton line ; thence west on said Fulton line to the southwest corner of section number eleven, in town ten, south of range one, west of the Michigan meridian ; thence north on section lines to said State line ; thence easterly with said State line to the place of beginning." It was on the 28th day of February, 1850, that the boundaries of Fulton County were adjusted, and provision was made for the administration of its affairs as a separate organization. It was provided that all suits pending in the counties of Lucas, Henry, and Williams should be prosecuted to a conclusion in those counties the same as if Fulton had not been created. Elections were held on the first Monday in April at the usual places of voting. It was attached to the Thirteenth - 416 - HISTORY OF NORTHWEST OHIO - 417 Judicial District of the state. The new county was named after Robert Fulton, the inventor of the steamboat. The northern part of Fulton County, like that of Lucas and Williams, was a part of Michigan until after the Toledo War. The people living there did their legal business and paid their taxes at Adrian, the county seat of Lenawee County. The land office of this survey was at Monroe, near the mouth of the River Raisin. Settlers had begun to come into this territory in the early '30s. To Eli Phillips is doubtless due the honor of being the first settler within the county. He entered a tract of land at Phillips' Corners in 1832. To this land he brought his wife and erected a cabin in the following year. A number of other pioneers came to the county in the same year. Among these were Valentine Winslow, who located in Pike Township, and William Meeker, who established his home in Swan-creek Township. Into Amboy Township there came Jared Hoadley, Alvah, Aaron and David Steadman, Frank O'Neil, Charles and William Blain, John and Joseph Roop, and Alfred Gilson. The next few years brought settlers into every township. Among these were George, Adam, Thomas and James W. Mikesell, and George Mikesell, Jr. One of the earliest settlers in the county, and the first settler in Chesterfield township, was Chesterfield Clemons, a New Yorker. He was married, and already had a growing family when he came to what is now Fulton County, on the 6th day of October, 1834. This was a part of Lenawee County, Michigan, at that time, and was an almost undisturbed wilderness. He was possessed of little of this world's goods, but he and his family had willing hands, a stout heart, and an earnest desire to make a home. He died in 1842, and his widow subsequently married Samuel Gillis. When the first mail route was established from Toledo to Lima, Indiana, in 1836, a dis- Vol. I-27 tance of 110 miles, there was but one post-office between the two terminal points. The mail was carried twice a week over this old "territorial road," and for a long distance west of Morenci the road lay through a continuous strip of unbroken forest. John. S. Butler began as mail carrier over this route at the age of eleven years, and carried the mail twice a week for a number of years. On one of these trips he was chased by wolves for several miles, much to his terror. Harlow Butler, who reached here in 1835, was seized and taken prisoner during the Toledo War, but was soon released. He returned with his family the following year and settled upon lands in this county. In the year 1835, Garner Willett, a youth of nineteen, wandered through here on a deer hunting and prospecting expedition. Four years later, in company with his father, David Willett, and family, he located in the county. Deer were very plentiful in these forests and provided the pioneers with much of their sustenance. Dogs were a great aid to the hunter in stalking his quarry. The sagacity of the hunting dog is well known, and many instances have been related as proof of it. One of these interesting incidents was told by William Mikesell, of the county. In the early '40s he was the owner of a common dog, of no particular breed, called "Ring," because of a white ring around his neck. One morning before daylight he went out to hunt for a deer, taking the dog along. He stopped at one of the deer trails, and, just as it was coming light, a deer appeared. He fired at it, and the animal turned and ran the other way. After following the tracks for some distance, Mr. Mikesell concluded that he had not hit it, and so returned home. The dog did not return, however, until about 9 o'clock. He at once tried to attract Mrs. Mikesell's attention by going to the door, and then starting toward the woods. This action he repeated several times, and finally picked up 418 - HISTORY OF NORTHWEST OHIO a leg bone of a deer and started with that. She thereupon called her husband from the field where he was at work. Learning of the dog's strange actions, he took his gun and followed. The dog led his master directly to the place where the dead deer lay. When about forty rods from the place the dog started on the run, and treed a wildcat that was eating at the carcass. The hunter shot the wildcat, and thus had a double trophy for the morning's hunt. One of the first settlers in the western part of the county was Joseph Bates, who arrived about 1833. At one time, as emigrants began to move through here, he kept a tavern called "J. Bates' Inn." For two or three years before .he moved here, Mr. Bates had spent the winters in hunting and trapping through this region. After settling here, a large part of his time was devoted to the same occupation. Samantha Crandall was one of the earliest school teachers. It was about the year 1836 that she conducted a private school for a number of neighboring families. Isaac Day, when on his way home from the land office, in 1835, was kept up in a tree all night by a pack of howling wolves. The township called German was largely settled by. German settlers. Among these were Moses Kibbler, Jacob Bender, George Meister, Jacob Green-day, George Meister, Christian Lauber, Henry and Jacob Roth, and Christian Reigsker. A little later came Henry and John Lutes, who were both doctors and preachers. The colony numbered more than forty, most of whom were from Millhauser, a small town in Swit zerland. As they had just come from the old country, and were unused to pioneer life in the wilderness, their early trials were indeed almost discouraging. Jared Hoadly, who was the first resident settler in Amboy Township, entered his land in the month of July, 1833, and brought his family in the fall of the same year. He lived in the county for a number of years, and during that time was a very prominent man among the pioneers. He was prosperous in his business ventures, and his home was the asylum of the distressed and unfortunate at all times. At that time it was necessary to journey to Tecumseh, Michigan, through the woods and swamps and over unbridged creeks, in order to get to a mill. It often required three or four days to make this trip with the slow ox teams. Mr. Hoadley at a later period moved into Michigan with his family. When Charles and William Blain came to Fulton County, in 1833, they traveled on foot from Toledo to the place which they had selected for their home. Each of them raised large families, and Charles Blain reached a very advanced age. Their mother, Sarah Blain, lived to the age of one hundred and four years. William Jones, who was generally known as "Long Bill," arrived in 1836. The first cabin in which he lived was only 14 by 16 feet in size. At the raising there were only two white men, one boy, and two Indians to assist. The Indians were always ready to assist on these occasions, especially if the whisky bottle was passed around occasionally. This was a much stronger inducement than money. The whites who assisted were William Jones and Aaron Little, and Jacob Boyers was the boy. The raising was done on Sunday, as there was no time for rest in the wilderness until a shelter was provided. Mr. Jones sometimes preached for the Disciples, as there were a few of that faith at that time in the county. The most important duty arising after Fulton County was created, was that of locating the seat of justice. At the meeting assembled for this purpose, several sites were recommended to the commissioners, who were Laurin Dewey, of Franklin County, Mathias H. NicholS, of Allen County, and John Riley, of Carroll County. Several sites were recommended, among which were Etna, Delta, Spring Hill, and Fluhart's Corners. HISTORY OF NORTHWEST OHIO - 419 After much deliberation, and the hearing of arguments by those interested in the various places, the commissioners decided upon the site which seemed the most central, in the Township of Dover. At this time this location had no distinguishing name. Several names were suggested by those present, but none seemed to meet with general approval. One of the commissioners asked one of the spectators, Dresden W. H. Howard, to suggest a name. He mentioned Ottokee, which was the name of one of the Ottawa chiefs, who had roamed over this territory for many years. This name was immediately chosen for the new seat of justice for the County of Fulton. At the first election the site of Ottokee received a plurality, but not a majority of the ballots. At the second election, which became necessary, the town received a clear majority, and thus became the regularly chosen county capital by the choice of the electors. The opposition had not died down by any means, for rumblings of discontent continued to be heard at frequent intervals. The location was well chosen, and the county seat would probably never have been changed, had it not been for the building of the railroad several miles to the south. In 1851 the first courthouse was built. It was a frame structure, two stories in height, and about 40 by 80 feet in size. The court and jury rooms were on the upper floor, while the offices for the county officials were situated on the ground floor. It was built by Amos H. Jordan, and cost about $5,000 or $6,000. The building was airy and commodious, and was surmounted by a large dome. In 1853 the first jail was built at the county seat. It was a substantial frame building, lined with heavy planks, and thoroughly spiked. Although built of wood, there never was an escape, excepting two prisoners who got out through the door which was left unlocked by reason of the carelessness of the watchman. The sheriff's residence was connected with the jail. The act of creating the county provided that court should be held at some convenient house in Pike Township, until the permanent seat of justice was established. In accordance with this the associate judges, John Kendall, A. C. Hough, and William Parmalee, designated the residence of Robert A. Howard as the place for holding this court. At the first term held here in 1850, as there was little business to be transacted, those in attendance entered into a game of ball for a diversion. Judge Saddler came on horseback to preside at the court, and his associate judges on this occasion were Socrates H. Cately, Abraham Flickinger, and William Parmalee. As soon as the courthouse was completed, the courts were held at Ottokee. This new town continued to hold the county buildings for a number of years, while the place grew in population and value. Soon after the railroad was completed a few miles to the south, the question of removal was violently agitated. In 1863 Wauseon made an attempt, under the act of the Legislature, to have the transfer made to itself. On a submission of the proposition to the people, however, it was defeated. The citizens of Delta were not sleeping during this time, and they made an energetic effort to have the seat of justice transferred to their town. This was submitted to the vote of the people in 1864, and also was overwhelmed by a large majority. During this time of agitation over the removal of the county seat, the courthouse building at Ottokee was destroyed by fire ; with it went all the county records and other valuable material in the offices of the county officials. The building was only partially insured. A new brick structure was erected for the courthouse, and a separate building for the county officials on land adjoining. These plain but substantial buildings answered the needs of the county for 420 - HISTORY OF NORTHWEST OHIO several years. As the use of the railroad increased, the inconvenience of the location of Ottokee for the transaction of public business was recognized. Because of their location on the railroad, both Wauseon and Delta were rapidly increasing in population. In 1869 the question of removing the seat of justice from Ottokee to Wauseon was submitted to the voters at a special election. On this occasion the proposition carried, but with a condition that the citizens of Wauseon should subscribe the sum of $5,000, to be paid to the county commissioners, and used as a part of a building fund. On the 19th day of January, 1870, Isaac Springer, the trustee of this fund, put into the hands of the commissioners, Joseph Ely, Alfred B. Gunn, and Milton O. McCaskey, the required sum and lots were deeded to the commissioners as the site for the county buildings. A contract was then let for the courthouse, and the building still stands as an ornament to the city. It was built by Alexander Voss and H. B. Ensman. Although Ottokee ceased to be the county seat of Fulton County in the year 1871, the jail was maintained there for four years longer. As the buildings at Ottokee were still the property of the county, and the number of indigent persons had increased, it was decided to use these buildings and purchase surrounding land for the establishment of a county infirmary, as a home for aged, de, crepit, and indigent persons. The buildings were turned over to the infirmary directors, and are still used for that purpose. The first directors were James Riddle, Robert Lewis, and 0. A. Cobb. The first stock of goods brought to Ottokee was the property of Hoziah Day. The next merchants in the village were Ezra Wilcox, George Marks, and Ransom Reynolds. The first hotel was owned by William Jones, and he was followed by Henry Taylor. A second hotel was opened by Ezra Wilcox, who afterward sold it to David Fairchilds. A brick factory was established by Eben French, who was familiarly known as "Old Man French," near Spring Hill. He put up a store where he made all kinds of pottery, which was peddled through the county as early as 1846. He also made brick in small quantities, and manufactured the first tile ever made in the county. The only attorneys residing in Fulton County, at its creation, were Amos Hill, Lucius H. Upham and Reuben C. Lemmon. They came there about the same time. Mr. Upham had practiced law at Wooster for a number of years before he removed to the county. About the time of its organization he was elected to the Legislature of Ohio, and served a term in the House of Representatives. His district comprised both Lucas and Fulton counties. Amos Hill had studied law at Bryan, and was admitted to the bar just a few months previous to the organization of Fulton County. He resided at Ottokee, until the county seat was removed to Wauseon, to which place he followed the seat of justice. He also served two terms in the House of Representatives, a position which he filled with fidelity and ability. Mr. Lemmon was admitted to the bar at Tiffin, and then came to Fulton County. For a time he practiced at Maumee City, as a partner of Henry S. Commager. He afterward removed to Toledo, where he became one of the able judges of the Common Pleas Court. Michael Handy was Fulton County's second prosecuting attorney, having succeeded John H. Reid to that office in 1852, the same year that he was admitted to the bar. He was then forty years of age. Previous to that time he had been both farmer and school teacher. Nathaniel Leggett was also one of the earliest members of the bar of Fulton County. He resided in Fulton County before it was set off as a separate organization, and helped to clear some of the land. Having made the acquaintance of some members of HISTORY OF NORTHWEST OHIO - 421 the bar of Lucas County, he conceived the idea of studying law himself. He borrowed some legal works, and perused them in the solitude of the wilderness. He practiced law with distinction, and filled the office of county treasurer for two terms. He also helped in laying out the Village of Wauseon, and acquired a considerable property. Moses R. Brailey came West in 1837, in which year he had attained his legal majority. After practicing for a number of years in Norwalk, he came to the new County of Fulton in 1857, and opened up a law office. Here he quickly became interested in politics, and in the following year he was elected prosecuting attorney, an office which he had also filled in Huron County. He enlisted in the army, and had an honorable career for a number of years. His first commission was as captain of Company F, Thirty-eighth Ohio Volunteer Infantry. He was promoted from one office to another, and when he was discharged for disability, in 1864, was breveted brigadier-general. He afterward was appointed pay agent for the State of Ohio, with headquarters at Columbus. In this position he collected and distributed several millions of money without losing a cent. He also assisted in the organization and equipment of eleven regiments of Ohio troops for the field. In 1865, he was elected comptroller of the state treasury, which office he filled for two terms. In 1872 he returned to Fulton County, and there resumed the practice of his profession until overtaken by the infirmities of age. He passed away in 1888. Sydenham Shaffer was the son of a Methodist clergyman. He filled a number of municipal offices, including that of mayor of Wauseon. William H. Handy, a son of Michael Handy, was for many years one of the leading lights of Fulton County, and was honored by election to the position of judge of the Common Pleas Court. His home is now in Ottawa. William W. Touvelle was admitted to the bar in 1868, and immediately located in Fulton County. Mr. Touvelle entered with energy and zeal upon the practice of law, but at the same time kept up the study of general literature. He was also very effective as a public speaker. He was elected prosecuting attorney for two terms, which office he filled very ably. He was also appointed by President McKinley as United States consul at Belfast, Ireland, a consular appointment of great responsibility. He filled this position for a number of years, almost up to the time of his death. One of the earliest physicians in Fulton County was William Holland, who came to Fulton in 1842. Although almost eighty years of age when he reached this county, he still practiced medicine, even after he had to be carried to and from his house in a vehicle, because of infirmity. William Hyde, an Englishman by birth, reached this county in 1847. He bought a farm and had a large practice, which increased to such an extent that he gave up farming and moved first to Spring Hill, and then to Wauseon. James J. Kittredge came to Chesterfield, in 1846. His first professional call was upon the family of James Taylor. He afterward moved to Morenci. N. W. Jewell moved to the vicinity of Spring Hill, which was then in Lucas County, in 1842. Seven years afterward he began the practice of medicine for himself, although not yet a. graduate physician. He determined to secure a medical education, but his desire was delayed for some time because of lack of funds. He came back to Wauseon in 1856, and opened an office. He had also studied dentistry, as followed in that day, and practiced dentistry for a number of years, along with medicine and surgery. He finally gave up dentistry, and devoted himself exclusively to the practice of medicine. W. A. Scott, Estell H. Rorick, and Josiah Hibbard Bennett are also among the early physicians who deserve mention. Doctor Bennett first 422 - HISTORY OF NORTHWEST OHIO practiced in Defiance County, but came to Wauseon in 1863. He was a member of the International Medical Congress, which convened in London, England, in 1881. NEWSPAPERS Of the early papers published in Fulton County, no complete record exists. It is believed that the village of Delta, at that time the most important town in the county, can lay claim to the distinction of having given to the reading public the pioneer newspaper of the county. This was the Fulton County Democrat, which was published during the winter of 1851-2 by Lewis W. Stum, who continued its publication for about a year. It was then sold to Mr. Rosenberg, who removed the office to Ottokee, and a few months later sold it to J. W. Carter and H. B. Bayes. Mr. Bayes shortly afterward became sole editor and proprietor of this publication. In 1856, the establishment was sold and the plant removed to Morenci, Michigan. It was, as its name implies, a democratic paper, and the organ of that party during its brief career. When the Democrat was removed to Ottokee, the Delta. Independent Press was established under the management of Lewis M. Stum, who had also founded its predecessor. He continued the publication for a few months, when it was disposed of to Martin Butler. Under the ownership of Mr. Butler, the tone of the paper was changed, and it became an advocate of the democratic principles. It was issued regularly down to about the time of the war, when the office was finally closed, and the material and stock moved to Wauseon. Here it gradually developed into the Fulton County Democrat, the same name as the former paper, but an entirely different publication. It was under the management and control of M. H. Butler, but William Aultman, Jr., was later connected with the management. It is said that at one time, when a number of soldiers were home on a furlough, they dumped the material of the Democrat into the street because they did not like its tone, and the Democrat then ceased to exist. Similar incidents occurred in many towns during those troublous years, for the soldiers fresh from the battlefields could not brook any anti-war sentiment at home. A short time after the original Democrat was removed to Morenci, a new paper, called the Signal, was started in Ottokee, under the ownership of B. F. Montgomery. It lived only about six months, when the office was moved to Montpelier. The Democrat next appeared in Ottokee, with Henry McElhiney as editor. When it changed editors, and H. Day came into control, he changed the publication from a democratic to an independent paper. It was renamed the Fulton County Mirror. This paper continued for about a year, when it was merged with the Wauseon Sentinel. This was the last paper issued in Ottokee, with the exception of the Monitor, which appeared for a short time with H. B. Bayes as editor. It was then sold to the Northwestern Republican, at Wauseon. That paper was then owned by James H. Sherwood, who had recently purchased it from his brother, Isaac R. Sherwood. It soon had the largest circulation in the county. The late M. P. Brewer, of Bowling Green, was at one time a part owner in the Northwestern. The Fulton County Union was started in Wauseon by J. C. French, but it lasted only a short period. The Sentinel was first given to the public in the year 1855 by H. B. Bayes and John D. Hunter, as an opposition paper to the Northwestern Republican. It was finally purchased by the paper it was intended to destroy. The Republican was the first publication to advocate the principles of the newly-formed republican party in this county. It at once took the front rank among publications, although the changes of editors were numerous. In 1858 the name of the HISTORY OF NORTHWEST OHIO - 423 paper was changed to the Northwestern Republican, and from that day to the present time Halms appeared regularly, but the word "Northwestern" was dropped from the title a few years ago. J. H. Sherwood and sons are still the publishers. Der Deutsche Gazette had a brief existence in the year 1886, under the ownership of Veil and Howe. The Democratic Expositor was established in 1875, by W. H. Handy, as the organ of the democratic party in the county. A couple of years later it passed into the hands of J. C. Bollmeyer, who was its sole editor and publisher until his death in 1898. Since then there have been several changes in the ownership. The Fulton County Tribune was the outgrowth of a divided sentiment in the ranks of the republicans. The founders were Albert B. Smith and J. H. Fluhart. It is published in Wauseon and has had a number of different owners. The Delta Avalanche made its appearance in 1876, under the ownership of E. L. Waltz. Its political policy was independent. It was afterward sold to Col. Albert B. Smith. With this transfer of ownership it also changed its politics by becoming a republican paper. When it was afterward sold to W. 0. Knapp, the Avalanche was again changed to a democratic journal. The Delta Atlas was established in 1886 by C. R. P. and E. L. Waltz, as an independent family newspaper. In 1887 the office was destroyed by fire, but, with commendable energy, a new outfit was purchased and the business continued with very little interruption. C. R. P. Waltz has been the editor from the date of the first issue. The Fayette Record was established in 1876, by W. A. Baker. It was afterward purchased by 0. M. Holcomb and M. Lewis, who published it for several years. The plant was destroyed by a conflagration in 1880, but was shortly afterward established again. The Fayette Review was established in 1901, and a few years ago absorbed the Record. This paper has enjoyed an abundant degree of prosperity. The Swanton Enterprise was founded in 1886, by H. S. Bassett, and is an independent journal. A few months after its first issue, Charles H. Rowland became connected in its publication. It is now owned by Mrs. Albert Hochstrasser. The Archbold Herald made its appearance in the year 1886, under the management of the Taylor Brothers, at Archbold. For a number of years it had a rather hard struggle for existence, but finally managed to establish itself on a substantial basis. In 1898 it was absorbed by the Archbold Advocate, established in 1897. For a number of years the Advocate has been under the management of E. E. Hallett. The Archbold Buckeye is published there also, the first issue appearing in August, 1905. Metamora also supports a newspaper, founded in 1866, and known as the Metamora Record. The Lyons Herald flourished for a few years and then disappeared below the horizon. It has been succeeded by the Lyons Journal, established in 1913. The present editor is H. D. Mesiter. TORNADOES Fulton County has been visited by a number of those perilous meteorological phenomena called tornadoes. Their existence before white settlers came was proved by the "windfalls" of timber, as they were called. A section of the woods would have no standing timber, and the ground might be covered with fallen trees. The first actual record that we have of a tornado is in 1834, when one passed across what is now York Township. The track it left was about three-fourths of a mile wide and six miles long. Over this area the wind caused a tremendous destruction of the timber. In 1844, another tornado cut a road about one-half a mile wide and three miles long through German Township. Sound white oak and walnut trees, three feet in diameter, were HISTORY OF NORTHWEST OHIO - 424 twisted off or torn out by the roots. Eight years later a similar storm dropped down along Bean Creek, and caused destruction over an area similar in size and shape. A still more destructive aerial monster struck the county in 1856. The house and part of the barn of Nathaniel Jones were destroyed by the fury of the wind. It caught William Tedrow, who was on horseback, turning both him and his mount completely around, and then dropped them both in the road. Several houses were also unroofed. This wind storm was accompanied by a heavy rain. In 1864, 1867, 1880, and 1886, there were destructive storms in sections of the county. The last of these terrible visitors, with the exception of one on May 17, 1894, was on the 2nd of May, 1887. "It first descended about three miles southwest of Wauseon, at the barn of Dr. D. W. Hollister. It did not get low enough to demolish it, but lifted it clear from the foundation and swelled the sides out like a barrel. It passed over the house without damaging it. About half a mile north of here it struck the brick schoolhouse at the cross roads. This. was completely demolished, the east, west and north, and bottom of south walls being blown outward by the instant expansion of the air inside the house when the tornado removed the pressure from the outside. The top of the south wall fell inward, and the roof was thrown from three to thirty rods to the northwest. The joists were dropped at the north end of the floor, falling on two boys, one of whom Benton Gasche, was killed, and the other seriously injured. There were fifteen persons in the house at the time and the teacher and six of the children were hurt, besides the one killed. The tornado at this point was less than forty feet wide. From the schoolhouse it began to raise, and passed over Isaac Springer's barn, shaking it violently. A little further on it turned to the northeast, passing over Wauseon high enough not to do much damage." Fulton County is 669 feet above sea level at the southeast corner, and rises gradually to the northwest until the elevation is 810 feet in Chesterfield township. It is drained in the northeast part by the Ottawa River, which empties into Lake Erie. The southeastern portion flows through Swan Creek, Bad Creek, and Turkey Foot Creek into the Maumee River. All the northwestern part of the county finds its way by way of Bean Creek (or Tiffin River) and its branches into the Maumee River. Bean Creek in former days was a very crooked stream, which after heavy rains overflowed the level country on both sides a distance of four or five miles wide. It has now been straightened by means of great ditches so that the water quickly runs off. An early government map represents Tiffin River as a navigable stream to the point where the "Old Fulton Line" crosses it. At this point, the head of navigation according to the map, some New York speculators located and platted the City of Amsterdam and sold many lots to investors. They represented that steamboats ascended the river to the docks, and exhibited drawings to that effect. Some of these buyers came west to view their lots, and they found only a vast wilderness. They engaged S. B. Darby to row them to the place, but were greatly disappointed when they found no city. WAUSEON Fortunate are we that another aboriginal name is preserved in the name of the county seat of Fulton County. Litchfield, the original designation, is far more prosaic than Wauseon, which was the name of a noted Indian chieftain of the Ottawa tribe that dwelt along the Maumee. Wauseon sprang into existence with the approach of the new railroad then pushing its parallel lines of