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CHAPTER X.

DEVELOPMENT—MATERIAL—MORAL—SOCIAL.

Sandusky County a Desolate Wilderness—Early Settlement—Suffering Prevails—Pioneer Hospitality—Raisings, Log-rollings and Dances—Woman's Work—Early Schools and Establishment of the School System—Churches—Material Advancement—Comparison of Tax Duplicates—Abstract of Census Since 1820 —The County's Future.

THE Indians of Northwestern Ohio battled firmly and bravely against progressing civilization, but their conflict was with destiny. At last, weakened, demoralized and discouraged, they sold their birthright for but little more than a "mess of pottage."* Reluctantly and sadly they abandoned their wigwams and cornfields, and crowded upon the reservations, leaving a desolate wilderness, oppressive in the gloom of its solitude. Beautiful words and roseate sentences would be ill-chosen in a description of the forest which baffled' the energy of Sandusky county's pioneers. A loam soil of boundless fertility gave rapid growth to trees of nearly every variety, except where inundation or fires had left islands of prairie in the sea of heavy forest. Vegetables as well as animals are subject to a common law of nature, which requires the old to give place to the new. A tree grows, matures, dies, and falls to

*About 3 8-10 cents per acre. Treaty of 1817.

decay, leaving a young and more vigorous shoot to shade the spot it had darkened, and so on in endless succession. In the forest to which the pioneers of this county came, foliaged branches crowded each other, and enveloped poisonous gasses breathed from decomposing vegetation. Fallen trunks, crossing each other at every angle, closed natural water-courses and made the over-saturated soil a fulsome breeder of malaria. Armies of insects filled the woods with their hungry hum and howling wolves made night melancholy. To such a wilderness, every feature of which shot arrows of despondency, brave men brought determined spirits and generous women devoted hearts.

It has been said that the white settlement of Sandusky county began before Wayne's war, and that the first settlers were James Whittaker and Isaac Williams, the former having been brought here a captive, and the latter the son of a trader

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at Upper Sandusky and a captive. These two families were indisputably the first permanent white settlers. Arundel and Robbins, the English traders mentioned by Heckwelder in the narrative of his captivity, can not properly be called settlers. They were here for the purpose of speculating, and had no intention of remaining to assist in the development of the country. The War of 1812 brought to the county a company of French from Michigan, who made squatter settlements on the river prairies as soon as peace was established.

In the earlier and poorer days of the Republic there was no public policy for the encouragement of settlement. The public domain was looked upon by Congress as an important source of revenue, and laws were passed from time to time making it a criminal offence to settle upon public lands. One dollar and a quarter an acre was the unvarying price, and whoever paid it received a patent from the Government. Purchasers usually found on their land small clearings and rude cabins lately deserted by that nomadic class of people known as squatters. They are the link which in history connects the native hunters with the pioneer woodsmen. Partaking of the character of both, they precede one and follow the other.

There is another class of pioneers who may be termed squatter settlers, for they came to stay, and awaited with patience the opportunity to purchase land. This class a wholesome homestead law would have benefited. Industrious, but poor, they toiled amidst every difficulty of forest life, borne up by the hope of securing an heritage for their children. How discouraging it must have been, after two or three years of ceaseless toil, to see the title of their prospective homes become the possessions of another—yet such was often the case.

The first settlers of Sandusky county, outside of the old military reservation now included in the city of Fremont, and excepting the French and captive settlers on the Sandusky prairies, penetrated the forest near the eastern border, and were mostly Eastern people, who had temporarily located in the Fire-lands. Land east of the Reserve line was selling at prices ranging from two to four dollars. Preferable land on this side was surveyed and platted, preliminary to being placed on the market at one dollar and a quarter per acre. Emigrants, when on the ground, with their goods packed in large covered wagons, sought out a dry spot in the trackless wilderness, cut out a road just wide enough to pass through and erected a temporary cabin. Two or three families usually came together, and gave each other such assistance as was needed in raising a house, which, was made by the first arrival, of poles. Notches were cut in on each side at the ends, so that the hastily built structure might stand more firmly. Mud, plentifully mixed with leaves, was used to fill the cracks, and a chimney of sticks was built outside. These cabins were little better than Indian huts, but the lone pioneer was unable to erect a hewed-log house, such as he had heard his Eastern parents talk about. He was almost a solitary adventurer in an inhospitable forest. Having provided a shelter for his family, this advance guard of the pioneer army next set to work to prepare a spot of ground for corn, which in new settlements is the staff of life. He did not cut down all the trees, as is done in modern clearing, but only the underbrush and saplings —the larger trees were girdled to prevent them from leafing. These advance settlers often planted considerable corn, without even clearing away the water-soaked logs, which covered more than half the surface.

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Skirmishers of the pioneer army made their appearance in Townsend in 1818, and about the same time in Green Creek and York. This year, also, the incipient village of Lower Sandusky extended up the river as far as the second rapids, and a few openings were made in the forest adjoining the bottoms below town.

Sandusky county did not present the true picture of pioneer life until after the public lands were platted and placed upon the market. Huron county was by that time well advanced in settlement, and general improvement under rapid way. The fame of the exhaustless fertility of Sandusky's fertile vegetable soil had reached New York, and a stream of emigration turned westward. Some came in large covered wagons all the way, but by far a larger proportion utilized lake transportation from Buffalo to Huron, and thence in wagons. Many Huron settlers abandoned unfinished improvements, and began anew in the adjoining forest. York, Townsend, and Green Creek townships received their immigration mostly from New York. A few years later Central Ohio caught the pioneer fever, and many people of Pennsylvania stock joined axes with the New York Yankees in a general war against the forest.

Below the falls, on the Sandusky, the dry river hills were entered early, and a French colony gathered about the head of the Bay, where many of their descendants are yet living. The Black Swamp west of the river was for many years viewed with an eye of despair, and abandoned to wolves, frogs and mud hens. This dismal region was first penetrated for purposes of settlement in 1826. Its rapid development did not begin until near the close of 1830. The black swamp was a subject for conversation in nearly every country house in Perry county, Ohio. The settlers, then nearly all sturdy of Pennsylvania stock, inured to rugged work, looked with favor upon this rejected tract which concealed its fertility beneath vegetation and water. Old men with their families abandoned the homes they had made, and young men bade farewell to the firesides of their fathers, all seeking fortune in a new country.

Farther west, in Scott and Madison townships, the pioneers came from the Seven Ranges, many of them from Columbiana county, Ohio. They trace their genealogies back to New England. The complement of settlement is made up of people of Pennsylvania German descent, who came to this county from Central Ohio—Perry, Guernsey, Columbiana, and Wayne counties have contributed more to the settlement of the Black Swamp than any other part of the country. The pioneer community of Woodville was characteristically Yankee.

Pioneer life, particularly in such a wilderness as primitive Sandusky county, is a most thorough test of strength of character, a test which only the fittest survive. Many were induced to leave cultured homes and communities by the delusive hope of accumulating a fortune amidst surroundings such as are pictured by romantic fiction; a few knew something of pioneer life in other places, where nature's wild beauty and a healthful air lightened the woodman's task. But Sandusky county's forest taxed not only the spirit but the bodies of the pioneers. It is estimated that less than two-thirds of all who joined the advanced settlers endured the conflict. Some who had purchased land sickened at the sight, and, if they were able, either turned back to the homes of their childhood, or pushed westward to fairer lands. Others entered upon their task with spirit and resolution. A willing hand sank the axe deep at every stroke, and a buzzing wheel furnished music to

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the cabin. All went well till poverty came —poverty with every discouraging accompaniment. A crop almost ready for the harvest became the plunder of animals and birds. Reserved capital was soon exhausted, and nothing remained to supply the necessities of life. The awful picture of starvation impressed itself upon a troubled fancy. Disease and distressing sickness completed the desolation of spirit, and often grim death entered the loving family circle and wrecked every hope. All the past was lost, and nothing in future seemed attainable. Prudence counseled desertion of an undertaking whose only end seemed desolation and ruin. It is not to be wondered at, therefore, that many of the early immigrants deserted improvements commenced and lands partially paid for. Only those excelling in bravery, sturdiness, and determination, continued the battle of the wilderness to a successful issue. The survivors of that trying period have a right to recite the story of their hardships, and we of a younger generation would be ungrateful to refuse to listen. Their life was one of stern reality and work—disinterested work—having for its affectionate inspiration a desire to leave their children the heritage of an estate. But pioneer life had its amusements and good cheer as well as toil, privation, and sadness. A few outline sketches of early scenes may be of interest in this connection.

The most distinguishing characteristic of the pioneers, was their generous, social disposition to give each other assistance in every time of need. Sincere, welcoming generosity shone from every fireplace, and when a new corner into a community was received with his family into a cabin, and entertained with the best its scanty accommodations could furnish. The site of a house being selected, neighbors for miles around welcomed their new neighbor by building a cabin for him. Such a company was always in the best of humor, for a raising was one of those holiday occasions which break in on the dull monotony of life, dispelling doubt and gloom, and leaving only jollity. After a general hand shaking with their new neighbor, the company organized for work by appointing a captain, whose business it was to direct the work of the day. Then trees about the chosen site of the cabin were cut down, the large, straight-grained trunks being split into puncheons for the floor and door. The ground once cleared, the raising commenced. A skilled axeman stood at each corner, and when, with many a "heave, oh heave!" a log tumbled into position, it was notched near the ends so that the next, crossing at right-angles, would rest more firmly. Thus log by log the cabin was raised, while another party of men, better skilled in woodcraft, was dressing puncheons and splitting shakes or clapboards for the roof. The first houses were rarely more than one low story high, so that by means of skids, logs were easily placed in position. The logs which built up the gable were smaller and were secured by poles running the whole length of the building, at intervals of about three feet. On these, clapboards were laid in such a way as to make a tight roof. The roof was weighted down by poles laid over the rafter poles, and held in position by blocks at the ends, running from one to the other. A puncheon floor vindicates the axemanship of our pioneer fathers. Many of them were as smooth as plane dressed floors, yet no other tool was used than an axe. One side was hewn smooth, and the others notched so that the sleepers brought them exactly to the same height. A chimney, a window, and a door completed the structure.

The chimney was built of poles imbedded in mud mortar, on a foundation of

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stone, and was usually placed outside of the house against one end ; a large opening was cut out to form a fireplace. A fire-chamber was formed of stone to keep the poles of the chimney from burning.

An opening about five and one-half feet high and four feet wide was cut into the side for a doorway. The door was made of puncheons pinned to cleats at each end, and was hung on squeaking wooden hinges. A window was made by cutting out a piece of one or two logs, pinning bars at right-angles across the centre, and pasting over the opening greased paper. Glass in the West was a rare luxury, and sold at a price far beyond the reach of early settlers.

The cabin completed, the company indulged in various amusements, such as wrestling, running races, lifting, and shooting at a mark. Whiskey, always free on such occasions, increased the general hilarity, and at times was the cause of a friendly fight.

Cabin furniture corresponded with the simplicity of the building. A bedstead was made by joining two poles, one into the end, the other into the side of the cabin near one corner. The two other ends were tied together with bark, and supported by a post resting upon the floor. Pins were driven into a log of the side of the cabin, and into the pole opposite, to which was fastened strips of bark in such a way as to form a matting. Under the bed was a convenient place for packing articles not in everyday use. A white linen curtain concealed from view this useful, though suspicious looking corner.

Few cabins afforded more than two split bottom chairs. These, however, were generally easy and comfortable, elegance being a secondary consideration. Benches were in common use. They were made by driving into wide puncheons long pins, for legs. The table was generally the product of a cabinet shop, and constituted part of the outfit purchased before leaving home.

One or two kettles and a spider constituted the cooking furniture. The table fare consisted of corn bread, pork, and wild meats.

Articles of dress were largely of home manufacture, and were made either of flax or wool. Every pioneer in the more favored and earlier settled part of the county, had a few sheep and a flax patch. The flax was pulled, bleached, and dressed. The tow was then cleanly carded with a hand card. The spinning-wheel prepared it for the shuttle. Spinning was at one time the National employment of American women. It is particularly an occupation of pioneer life and the accompaniment of penury. . There is real beauty in that picture representing virtue, which figures a devoted wife and mother, busily spinning with both hands; one foot is on the treadle which moves the whirling wheel, while the other is rocking, in a cradle, her tender offspring, quieted by the rythmic hum to sweet, innocent sleep.

The whirl of the wheel and thud of the loom, mingled with the echoing stroke of axes, the crash of falling trees, and roar of clearing fires. The music of the wife's industry did not cease at nightfall, but wolves heard the sound and owls hooted its melody. Shirts, trowsers, bed-clothing and dresses were all the product of woman's busy hands. But upon the woman rested more than the burden of spinning and weaving and sewing and cooking and rearing her family, and hunting cows in a fenceless forest and milking and making butter. Mills, during the first years of settlement, were inaccessible, and the preparation of corn for food involved great labor. As among the Indians, corn was used considerably in the form of

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hominy, ashes being used to take off the outside shell. Corn was prepared for "johnny-cake" by cracking it with a hammer or wooden mallet, on a block hollowed out for the purpose. It took one woman an hour to prepare in this way sufficient meal to supply the appetites of three men. It was not long, however, until mills with very simple machinery were constructed where a creek of sufficient size offered a favorable site. Most of these consisted simply of a buhr driven by an undershot or breast wheel. The bolting was all done by hand. Corn was sifted before using, by the cook herself, while wheat flour was bolted through a web of cloth hung on rollers and turned by hand. The customer always had to turn the bolt for his own grist. These mills, on account of their slowness, were wholly inadequate even to the simple wants of the pioneers. People came long distances through the woods to bring such grists as they could carry on the back of a horse, and when once at the end of their tedious journey, were compelled to wait one, two, and sometimes even three days for their turn. The mills built by Chambers and Moore, on Sandusky River, were more efficient. Being centrally located, an extensive business made the best machinery of the time profitable, and the water supply furnished all the power necessary. We say improved machinery for the time, for Moore's mill of sixty years ago would be an insignificant establishment, compared with Moore's mill of the present. The pioneers, speaking of the old mills, very appropriately termed them "corn crackers." But people who had cracked grain got along very well; all were not so fortunate as to have that. It is a significant fact that many of the early settlers of this county were poor, sometimes even to the point of physical want.

Very few of the pioneers had more than enough money to bring them here. They depended for a start upon their own labor and the resources of the country, about which so much had been said in the old communities. The first season's planting, owing to the difficulty of preparing the soil, was small, but under favorable conditions would have been sufficient to furnish bread, had the destroyer remained away. What must have been the hardworking farmer's disappointment and chagrin, to see his crop at ripening time become the feast of all the multitude of animals and birds, which filled the woods. Blackbirds, squirrels, raccoons, and turkeys literally devoured the drooping ears of an entire field, upon which the hard-pressed family placed sole dependence for their winter's food.

Another and prevalent cause of poverty and want in pioneer Sandusky county, was fever and ague, which visited almost every cabin. Scarcely a spring opened but the old, unwelcome visitor returned in its most malignant form. At places clearing fires died out for want of attention, and weeds smothered the growing corn. The spinning-wheel, perchance, ceased its cheerful whirl, and the dismal prospect, amid desolate surroundings, day by day, became more gloomy. All were not thus unhappily afflicted, but all had generous hearts and were willing to lend assistance in a day of need. As the forest gradually became more broken the years grew brighter and crops increased in fullness. Hewed log and frame houses took the place of the first rude cabins; and when at evening the family gathered round the great brick fireplace, the parents and older children told and retold to the interested little ones, melancholy experiences of sickness, want, and hardship. Those experiences are, thanks to our hardy and resolute ancestors, happily past. Events live only in imagination and history; very few memo-

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ries yet retain impressions of the heroic conflict, and the number is monthly becoming smaller.

To increase the acreage of tillable land was a main object of the welltodo pioneer. He first girdled the trees and cut out the underbrush and logs of a small patch, probably ten acres, for the first season's planting. The next season, if health permitted, he more than doubled the "girdle clearing," and began to cut or burn down dead trees standing on the first opening. Those that were hollow or partially decayed burned readily, but solid timber had to be cut. Straight white oak, walnut, and poplar was split into rails for fencing fields under cultivation. Other trees were cut into logs, and when several acres had been thus reduced, a frolic was made, to which all the neighborhood came. Logrollings were the joy of pioneer life. All work was turned into fun. Heavy lifts were made a contest of strength, and the fatigues of the day were drowned by the contents of well filled jugs. These pleasant gatherings, after the logs had all been piled ready for the torch, often terminated in happy social occasions, in which the wives and sisters figured conspicuously. Dancing was a fashionable amusement, encouraged by the mothers, and greatly enjoyed by all. When the men went to roll their neighbors' logs, their dames and lasses dropped in to help do the cooking, and perchance make a quilt between meals. The men concluded their labor by triumphantly carrying the captain on their backs; the women dedicated a quilt by enfolding it around their hostess. The strains of a fiddle brought all together, when night's shadows expelled the day. Round dancing was then unknown, but all the variety of movements may be described as a free and easy, go as you please affair. It was not expulsion from the ballroom to step on a lady's toes, though such a sad accident rarely happened, for the nimble, though not tender feet, of these pioneer lasses quickly rebounded from the solid puncheon floor. One thing commendable can be said of the pioneer "French Four " or quadrille; it was performed with hearty enthusiasm. The dancers were lost in their amusement, and joy inspired every step. Beaux swung their partners with a generous hug, and the girls made no peevish objection. Joyfully the dance went on till howling wolves grew hoarse, and candles melted to their sockets.

Stock was allowed to pasture in the fenceless woods. Every cow was provided with a bell, and every flock of sheep with several. Cattle often ate the poisonous grass, which caused that terrible disease, milk sickness, spoken of at greater length elsewhere in this history. Sheep were penned in a high enclosure every night, to protect them from wolves, which often came to the cabin door. Hogs were marked and turned out to fatten on nuts and acorns. Hogs .bred in the woods became wild, and sometimes dangerous. • It was unsafe to go far from the clearing, accompanied by a dog, for the sight of that animal arouses all the savage nature of a hog. An old settler assures us that an infuriated boar was a more dangerous enemy than a bear or wolf. Every farmer had his stock marked, which the law required him to have recorded in a book of indentures kept for the purpose by We township clerk.

No market was accessible to the pioneers of Sandusky county, where farm products could be exchanged for cash, but furs always commanded the ready money. This circumstance made many of the pioneers hunters, particularly those in the north part of the county. Soda-ash found a ready cash market, and several kilns in the east part of the county were con-

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structed for its manufacture. Fish filled the streams emptying into the bay and river. Nature thus afforded the otherwise unfavored early settlers a bountiful supply of nutritious meat. The woods also abounded in deer, squirrels, and turkeys. Nature lavished her wealth too bountifully upon Sandusky county; too much timber and too many animals was the cause of much distress.

As the little spots of sunshine in the long reach of forest grew more numerous and larger, the pioneers began to avail themselves of the advantages of churches and schools. The first schools were kept in private houses, where all the children of the neighborhood came, each contributing a share toward the support of the teachers, which was very little, indeed, but, as a rule, the teachers were as poor as the pay; there were, however, many exceptions to this unfortunate rule. The first schoolhouses were built by the voluntary. efforts of the neighbors. A little council of residents determined on a location, and set a day for raising. All concerned came, and by night the house was under roof. Several holes were cut in the walls, over which greased paper was pasted, which served the purpose of a window, for light alone was needed; cracks between logs admitted sufficient fresh air. The benches were made of puncheons, and a wide puncheon on each side of the room, fastened to blocks about three feet high, served as a desk. Reading, writing, and arithmetic were the only branches taught. Until 1825 teachers were supported wholly by private subscription. The first school law which gave each township at least one school, supported entirely or in part by taxation and the proceeds of section sixteen, which the ordinance of 1787 set apart for the support of education, was passed in 1825, and went into effect soon after. In 1829 a new law, authorizing the trustees to divide each township into districts, was passed, and was more effectual. Still, in the new communities of Sandusky county, the tax of threefourths of a mill on the dollar was insufficient, and private subscription had to be relied upon. The teachers boarded with the scholars, and many of them worked for two shillings a day. The public school system of Ohio was revised and established on a solid basis in 1838, when local authorities were given permission to levy taxes to the amount needed for the liberal support of public instruction.

In 1852 the present school law was passed, since which time educational facilities have steadily improved till there is no longer the semblance of an excuse for common ignorance. It is to be regretted that the public library system, once well established, fell to premature decay. It is a melancholy fact that but few people through the country have given any attention to the collection of books for the use of their children. Libraries breed scholars, and scholarship has become a necessity in almost every walk of life. The indifference of people in respect to furnishing their children proper reading matter, is shown by the inexcusably reckless management of the excellent library, which the State once furnished to every township. The only public libraries to which the people of the county have access, are those at Fremont and Bellevue.

A gratifying improvement in schoolhouses is noticeable all over the county. Log structures are no longer to be seen anywhere. Frame buildings took their places, and these, in turn, are fast being displaced by comfortable brick houses. People have lately formed an idea of the value of talent in the schoolroom, and are paying better wages than formerly. It is needless to say that the standard of

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common school education is steadily improving. The children of the pioneers, now grown frosty with years, esteemed themselves fortunate if they learned to spell, read, write, and cipher as far as the rule of three. Now a common school course prepares a student for any department of business, or for admission into the higher seminaries of learning. The change in school government during the sixty years of Sandusky county's history, is worthy of mention. Early teachers ruled with the rod rather than the head. Pupils were reduced to obedience by beating out of them their life and spirit. There were a few teachers who practiced humane and sensible methods of government. The names of such are held in grateful remembrance by the men and women fortunate enough to enjoy their association and instruction.

Nothing is so difficult to reduce to words and express on paper as the moral condition of a pioneer community. This subject, as applied to Lower Sandusky, is referred to in other chapters. Throughout the country there were conflicting elements of human nature, but the moral life, taken as a whole, was healthful. Depravity is generally found among the idle and indifferent classes. A few such there were, but the country possessed little attraction for them. Sandusky county's pioneers were not, generally speaking, an intellectual class of people. They were hardworking people before they came, and had no time here for anything but hard work. But they had due appreciation of the value of education, and against all adversities of circumstance gave attention to the instruction of their children. Neither were they a Godless people, but heard with interest, and were refreshed by the preaching of a devoted, self denying, itinerant clergy.

The mission of early preachers was as arduous as the early practice of medicine. Long rides through a malarial forest, by paths almost untraceable, ministering to the sick at almost every house, and preaching in every settlement, was the heaven ordained calling of a United Brethren or Methodist clergyman. Meetings were at first held in private houses, then schoolhouses, and finally the little log church made its appearance. The United Brethren and Methodist were the pioneer churches of Sandusky county. Methodism was first established at Fremont (then Lower Sandusky), as will be seen by reference to the proper chapter. A preaching station was established in Green Creek township, in 1822, the outgrowth of which is the Clyde Methodist Episcopal church. About 1825 itinerant Methodists began to hold services in Townsend township. A class was afterwards formed there, and in 1840 a church was built. It is not known just when Methodist evangelists carried the light of religious instruction into Riley. A class was formed there about 1850.* The Methodist Episcopal church has made little progress in the western townships. Washington was made a preaching station as early as 1833, probably earlier. A class was formed a few years afterwards. This was the only. pioneer association of that denomination in the Black Swamp region. Recent classes have been formed in Scott and at Gibsonburg.

By far the largest church in the county, both in number of congregations and in membership, is the United Brethren. There are two churches in York, one in Townsend, two in Riley, one at Clyde, one at Green Springs, two in Ballville, four in Jackson, two in Washington, two in Rice, one in Scott, one in Madison, and one in Woodville. t

*See township history.

t A general sketch of the United Brethren church in this county, contributed by J. Burgner, will

be found in the chapter on Ballville township.

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Next to the United Brethren in numerical strength, in the country districts, is the Evangelical Association, popularly known as Albrights. This denomination has one church in Townsend, one in Riley, one in Ballville, two in Jackson, one in Fremont, two in Washington, one in Scott, one in Madison, and one in Woodville. The membership, like that of the United Brethren, is almost entirely of people of Pennsylvania Dutch descent. The clergy, as in the United Brethren and Methodist, are itinerant, with licensed local preachers for assistants.

Reformed churches are of later organization than those of any of the denominations mentioned. Churches have been erected in Fremont, Washington, Jackson, and Woodville townships. There are several preaching stations besides.

The first Catholic churches in the county were in Fremont and Rice. There are at present two congregations in Fremont, one in Rice, one in Clyde, one in Jackson, and one in Woodville.

The Evangelical Lutheran church came into being in this county in 1836, Adolphus Konrad being the pioneer preacher. He organized congregations in Fremont and at Woodville. Rev. George Cronnenwett took charge of the church at Woodville in 1841, and Rev. Henry Lang of the church at Fremont in 1843. Both have been indefatigable in their labors ever since. There are six churches in the county, organized as follows: Fremont, Four mile Point (Sandusky township), Hessville, and Woodville, from 1836 to 1841; Rice, 1843; and Gibsonburg, 1876. A large proportion of the church in Erie county, four miles north of Bellevue, live in this county. There are in the county about three thousand Lutheran members.

Besides these congregations of the more leading and influential denominations having a membership distributed over theentire county, there are many individual churches. For further details the reader is referred to the accompanying sketches of Fremont, Clyde, Bellevue, and the several townships.

Fifty years ago people esteemed themselves fortunate to have the privilege of church service once a month; now a meeting house is within walking distance of every house in the county.

The material advancement of any section of country depends, in a large degree, upon its natural resources. In this respect Sandusky county is more than duly favored, although without mines of iron or coal. The most substantial wealth is fertility of soil, and nowhere in Ohio is the soil better adapted to general agriculture. The rich alluvions of the Scioto have long been celebrated, but a comparison of acreage productions is in favor of the valley of Sandusky Bay. From the time the asperities of pioneer life began to soften, and the real natural advantages of the county to stand out in public view, population and wealth have multiplied with surprising rapidity. In 1826, in York township, the total valuation (including houses,) of real property was $2,303. The names of fifty two persons are entered on the duplicate, with personal property amounting to $4,668, of which $1,500 is on merchandising.

Excepting Sandusky township, in which the village of Lower Sandusky was then included, Ballville paid more taxes in 1826 than any other township in the county. The total valuation of real estate was $6,133, and personal property, assessed against thirtyseven individuals to the amount of $2,632.

The real estate of Sandusky township in 1826 was valued at $19,095, merchandising at $9,313, and other personal property at $2,416.

At that time no real estate in Riley

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township was subject to taxation, but the personal valuation was $3,480, $2,440 of which was on cattle alone. The personal valuation of Townsend was $1,488; no real estate was listed.

The valuation of real estate in Green Creek was $819, and of personal property $3,480.

At this time the west part of the county was a wilderness, untrodden by the assessor, or scarcely any one else.

In York, in 1826, there were 26 horses and 266 cattle; in Townsend, 9 horses and 141 cattle; in Green Creek, 22 horses and 175 cattle; in Ballville, 30 horses and 134 cattle; in Riley, 26 horses and 305 cattle.

One year later, in 1827, in York, 3,325 acres were valued at $6,232, or less than two dollars an acre; merchandising at $1,200, and other chattels at $2,640.

Five hundred acres in Townsend were valued at $900, and the personal valuation was $1,240.

In Green Creek, 1,911 acres were valued at $4,255; chattel valuation, $1,664.

One hundred and sixty acres in Riley were valued at $240; personal property amounted to $2,800more than any other township except Sandusky, showing the extent of the stockraising industry on the prairies in the northern part.

In Ballville, in 1327, 3,510 acres were subject to taxation, valued at $14,131; valuation of personal property, $1,152.

In Sandusky township, 5,249 acres were entered on the duplicate at $14,806. The valuation of merchandising had increased to $7,300, and other chattels to $1,112.

The progress of improvement was most rapid between 1827 and 1840. During that period the Black Swamp was entered and settled. An important element was also added to the population. German emigration to Ohio began about 1830. Sandusky county began to receive these thrifty immigrants about 1835, and forten years the influx was quite rapid. They settled chiefly on improved lands in Riley, Rice, Washington, and Woodville townships. A few scattering settlements are also to be found in other parts of the county. Germans work hard for their money, and when they have it they save it. The tax valuation of the county is higher by many thousand dollars than it would have been without a substantial German element in the settlement.

It will be seen that there exists on the soil of Sandusky county rather a remarkable mixture of blood—Yankees of almost every type; Pennsylvanians, with all the race mixture in one individual that that term implies; Germans, and French. If the doctrine that crossbreeding is productive of superiority, surely much may be expected of the county in future generations.

The following statistics show the real estate valuation of the several townships in 1840. Sandusky includes the town of Lower Sandusky: Sandusky, $141,695; Ballville, $81,883; Green Creek, $74479; Washington, $69,579; York, $64,223; Riley, $58,875; Jackson, $57,259; Townsend, $51,106; Scott, $49,881; Woodville, $42, 311; Madison, $27,446; Rice, $23,754

This shows the rapid development of the Black Swamp townships, which thirteen years before had a population of less than half a dozen families. Jackson, the settlement of which did not really begin till 1828, takes rank over Townsend, where settlement was made more than ten years before. Washington takes fourth place among the townships. The progress of settlement in Washington was greatly accelerated by the improvement of the pike. The following statistics give a comparative view of the number and value of horses and cattle in the several townships in 1840. The following showing makes

136 - HISTORY OF SANDUSKY COUNTY.

considerable change in the former order of arrangement:

York—Number of horses 268, valuation $10,720; of cattle 600, valuation $4,880.

Sandusky—Number of horses 255, valuation $10,200; of cattle 417, valuation $3,336.

Green Creek—Number of horses 198, valuation $7,920; of cattle 511, valuation $4,088.

Ballville—Number of horses 170, valuation $6,800; of cattle 449, valuation $3,892.

Washington—Number of horses 141, valuation $5,640; of cattle 442, valuation $3,536. Jackson—Number of horses 157, valuation $6,280; of cattle 353, valuation $2,824.

Townsend—Number of horses 115, valuation $4,600; of cattle 361, valuation $2,888.

Scott—Number of horses 98, valuation $3,920; of cattle 429, valuation $3,432.

Riley—Number of horses 79, valuation $3,120; of cattle 306, valuation $2,528.

Rice—Number of horses 46, valuation $1,860; of cattle 204, valuation $1,632.

Woodville—Number of horses 41, valuation $1,660; of cattle 180, valuation $1,440. Madison—Number of horses 31, valuation $1,240; of cattle 134. valuation $1,072.

The following table shows the valuation as appraised in 1880, including villages and towns:

.............................................Real...........Personal
............................................Estate......... Property.

Fremont..........................$1,303,486......$479,066

Green Creek .....................1,217,632........335,830

Washington.......................1,161,050........211,850

York.....................................110,795........383,040

Jackson ................................859,030........176,010

Ballville ...............................804,882.........178.055
Riley ....................................709,940.........108,646

Woodville.............................709,272.........284,205

Sandusky...............................682,796.........124,998

Scott......................................645,989.........105,350

Townsend..............................624 ,355........144, 365

Madison.................................451,977...........71,915

Rice........................................381,459.........101.524

The population of Sandusky county in 1820 was 852; in 1830, 2,851; in 1840, 10,182; in 1850, 14,305 in 1856, 21,429; in 1870, 25,503, and in 1880, 32,063. According to the census of 1880 Sandusky county stands thirty-fifth with respect to population among the counties of the State. In one other respect the county stands somewhat higher when placed in comparison with other counties. During the year 1879 there appeared on the court docket forty-nine petitions for divorce. This number was exceeded in only fourteen other counties of the State, and in proportion to the population, in not more than half a dozen other counties. Of these forty-nine petitions, twenty-six alleged as the cause, cruelty; sixteen, neglect; six, adultery; and one, fraud.

The following table shows the relative growth and comparative population of the several townships since 1850. In the last column is given the foreign born population in 1870:

..........................1850...1860...1870...1880...Foreign 1870

Fremont............1464...3510....5455...8451........1072

Green Creek.....1289...3228....3666...4495..........374

Washington......1499...1992....2282...2608..........366

York 1811....1619...2094...2319...........288

Madison .......... 389.......881.....985...1856............85

Sandusky .........1040.....1151...1570...1785..........266

Townsend ..........968.....1053...1290...1697..........182

Woodville.........1237.....1516...1418...1662..........412

Ballville............1556......2188...1731...1652..........205

Riley...................682......1198...1461....1621.........274

Jackson.............1092......1478...1350....1485.........141

Scott....................792......1264...1274....1452...........90

Rice.....................486.........943....927......930.........204

Excepting Sandusky township the above table includes towns and villages. The population of these, severally, as given by the census of 1880, was as follows:

Fremont, 8,451; Clyde, 2,380; Bellevue, 2,169;* Green Spring, 720;t Gibsonburg, 589; Lindsey, 409; Woodville, 406; Helena, 111; Burgoon, 110; Rollersville, 99; Millersville, 52.

The future of any section of country is always a subject of hazardous speculation. But that Sandusky county is not yet fully developed is apparent to every observer. Some of the older townships outside of town limits are not increasing, and will not increase in population with any great rapidity, for the tendency in settled communities is for the farms to grow larger by the natural law of concentration of capital ; but the towns are growing

*737 in Sandusky county, 1,432 in Huron.

+389 in Sandusky county, 331 in Seneca.

HISTORY OF SANDUSKY COUNTY - 137

larger, and land advancing in value. There are yet in the county large tracts of unimproved land which will in the near future be developed and add largely to wealth and population. In fact, the day is not far distant when the swamps, now only fit for hunting, will be recovered by ditches and dykes, and golden harvests will decorate the fertile soil now despoiled by water. A beginning has already been made—the end is beyond human imagination to predict.

Railroads are plowing through the county in every direction. Towns are springing up in every township, making the products of the soil and the rocks under the soil more valuable. Sandusky county and its towns are yet in their youth — every sign points to a healthy and full growth.

*VOTE OF SANDUSKY COUNTY.

The following shows the official vote of Sandusky county since the first gubernatorial election in 1822, to 1880. The vote is for Governor, except when otherwise indicated:

1822—Allen Trimble, 118; William W. Irvin, 81 Jeremiah Morrow, 23.

1826—Allen Trimble, 203, Alexander Campbell, 79; John Bigger, 13.

1828—Allen Trimble, 153; John W. Campbell. 64.

1830—Duncan McArthur (National Republican), 181; Robert Lucas (Democrat), 141. 1832—Presidential election, Andrew Jackson (Democrat), 270; Henry Clay (Whig), 294.

1834—Robert Lucas (Democrat), 383; James Findlay (Whig), 313.

1836—Presidential election, Martin Van Buren (Democrat), 799; William H. Harrison, (Whig), 642.

1838—Wilson Shannon (Derocrat), 834; Joseph Vance, (Whig), 724.

1840—Wilson Shannon (Democrat), 930; Thomas Corwin, (Whig), 841.

1842—Wilson Shannon (Democrat), 957; Thomas Corwin (Whig), 738; Leicester King, (Abolitionist), 7.

*[NOTE. —Compiled by the publishers from Secretary of State's reports of 1875, 1876, 1879, and 188o.

1844—David Tod (Democrat), 1198; Mordecai Bartley (Whig), 951; Leicester King, (Abolitionist), 00*

1846 - David Tod (Democrat), 961; William Bebb (Whig), 754; Samuel Lewis (Abolitionist), 30.

1848 John W. Weller (Democrat), 1074; Seabury Ford (Whig), 874.

1850—Reuben Wood (Democrat), 1215; William Johnston (Whig), 742.

1851—Reuben Wood (Democrat), 1293; Samuel F. Vinton (Whig), 687; Samuel Lewis (Abolitionist), 2.

1853—William Medill (Democrat), 1417; Nelson Barrere (Whig), 467; Samuel Lewis (Abolitionist), 154

1855—William Medill (Democrat), 1499; Allen Trimble (Know Nothing), 447; Salmon P. Chase (Republican), 1042.

1856—For Attorney General, C. P. Wolcott (Republican), 1450; S. M. Hart (Democrat), 1443; John M. Bush (Know Nothing), 16.

1857—Salmon P. Chase (Republican), 1315; Henry B. Payne (Democrat), 1699; Philip Van Trump, 67.

1858—For Attorney General, C. P. Wolcott (Republican), 1237; Durbin Ward (Democrat), 1555.

1859—William Dennison (Republican), 1473; Rufus P. Ranney (Democrat), 1822.

1861—David Tod (Republican), 2,60; Hugh J. Jewett (Democrat), 1856.

1862—For Secretary of State; Wilson P. Kennon (Republican), 1474; William W. Armstrong (Democrat), 1993.

1863 John Brough (Republican), 2571; C. L. Vallandingham (Democrat), 2213.

1864—For Secretary of State, William H. Smith (Republican), 2040; W. W. Armstrong (Democrat), 1917.

1865 Jacob D. Cox (Republican), 2161; George W. Morgan, (Democrat), 2355.

1867— Rutherford B. Hayes, 2261; Allen G. Thurman, 2834.

1868—Presidential election, U. S. Grant (Republican), 2443, Horatio Seymour, 2846.

1869—R. B. Hayes (Republican), 2175; George H. Pendleton (Democrat), 2630.

1871 — Edward F. Noyes (Republican), 2022; George W. McCook (Democrat), 2610.

1872—Presidential election, U. S. Grant (Republican), 2380; Horace Greeley (Democrat), 2729; blank, 31; O'Conor, 5.

1873—Edward F. Noyes (Republican) 2025; William Allen, 2740; G. T. Stewart, 122; Isaac Collins, 13.

1875—R. B. Hayes, 2609; William Allen, 3353; J. Odell, I.

*Sandusky, Henry, Paulding, Putnam, and Van Wert were the only counties in the State in which no Abolition votes were cast.

138 - HISTORY OF SANDUSKY COUNTY.

The following shows the vote for Representative in Congress from the Tenth District, October, 1880 :

Counties...John B. Rice...Morgan D. Shaffer...John Seitz...D. N. Trobridge...S. D. Seymour

Erie.................3682 ............3198............................121................................................4

Hancock..........2876.............2992.............................52..........................1...

Huron..............4495.............2909...........................178..............................................101

Sandusky........3374..............3292...........................138,...............................................16

Seneca.............3967..............4635...........................130

.....Totals.......18394............17026...........................619............................1................121

......Majority.....1368

The vote for President in 1876 is given by townships

.................................................Tilden....................Hayes

Ballville ......................................236.........................227

York and Bellevue Precinct.........200.........................323

Green Creek and Stem Precinct...354.........................596

Jackson.........................................159.........................183

Madison........................................202.........................160

Rice..............................................146............................57

Riley.............................................246..........................131

Sandusky......................................216..........................155

Scott.............................................170..........................153

Townsend.....................................162..........................170

Washington...................................349.........................194

Woodville.....................................262..........................100

Fremont ........................................628..........................579

Rutherford B. Hayes, Republican .............................3,032

Samuel J. Tilden, Democrat.......................................3,330

Peter Cooper, National Greenback..................................45

G. C. Smith .......................................................................2

1879—Charles Foster (Republican) 2643; Thomas Ewing (Democrat) 3427; G. T. Stewart (Prohibition) 53: A. S. Piatt (National Greenbacker) 287.

Presidential election; vote given by precincts:

1880................................James A. Garfield...Winfield S. Hancock...James B. Weaver...Neal Dow

Ballville ....................................209.............................262................................18

Bellevue Precinct.........................86...............................85

Green Creek................................471............................317................................49.......................14

Jackson........................................199............................188................................11

Madison.......................................193............................255

Rice................................................55............................153

Riley.............................................100............................269

Sandusky......................................157............................220...................................9

Scott.............................................147.............................202

Townsend....................................202..............................170..........................................................8

Washington..................................175..............................378................................22

Woodville.......................................93..............................275..................................5

York..............................................225..............................137..................................4.....................3

Fremont

First Ward.....................................157.................................8...................................6

Second Ward................................122..............................213.................................10

Third Ward...................................140..............................203...................................1

Fourth Ward..................................207..............................189................................12....

Stem Town Precinct......................121................................43...................................1....................4

Totals...........................................3059............................3640...............................148..................29