150 - HISTORY OF SENECA COUNTY. Moses Smith put up a small frame building across the road from Anway's house, in which he kept a store for awhile. Robert Dutton was the first man that died in the township, and was buried on his farm, which is now owned by Frederick Fox. William Pierce, a colored man, put up and carried on the first blacksmith shop in the township. Mary, daughter of John Anway, was the first child that was born in the township. She is the wife of Mr. John Wilcox, of Republic. A Mr. Langley was also among the first settlers. These names, with a few others, made up the white population of ̊Seneca county to about the time of the land sales. This Col. Kilbourn, the surveyor above spoken of was a man about five feet eight inches high; he had a nose somewhat Roman shaped. In 1843, he was bald and gray; he had blue eyes, prominent features and expressive countenance. He was a great talker, and very interesting in conversation. He lived in Columbus, where he associated " with the best society, and was highly esteemed. He was a great singer, and often produCed his own poetry, adapted to some familiar tune. The widow of one of his sons became the wife of Mr. Reber, a lawyer in Sandusky City. This son was a phrenologist of some note, in Columbus. Honey creek is the largest affluent of the Sandusky river at its right bank. It rises near New Haven, in Huron county, in the marshes, and near the point where Richland, Huron, Crawford and Seneca counties corner. It enters Venice township immediately after it leaves the marshes, and taking a northwesterly direction through Venice, it enters Bloom near its northeast corner. Then, taking a westerly direction through Bloom, it flows into Eden township, and making a large curve in Eden, it cuts across the southwest corner of Clinton and enters Hopewell in section thirty-six, and there the Sandusky river at the right bank. To people who were born and raised along this stream, and to those who have lived here a long time, the present beauty and scenery, the splendid farms in high state of cultivation, the beautiful farm houses, large barns, and every improvement calculated to add to the comfort and enjoyment of life, may have very little attraction; but to people from abroad, strangers that visit this valley, there is not in all. this northwestern Ohio anything equal to it. There is an excellent spring near the left bank of Honey creek, about sixty rods below Koller's mill, in section nine, Bloom township. About one hundred and fifty yards from this spring, and in a direction west of south, the early settlers found ruins of ancient fortifications of RICHARD JAQUA - 151 very singular construction and workmanship. There was nothing about the works that would indicate the Indian, and the fort must have belonged to a people who preceded the Indians, and of whom the Indians themselves had no knowledge. The work was constructed of stone, some of which were dressed. The main buildings were in a circular form, about one hundred feet in diameter. At the side towards Honey creek there was attached to each of these circular walls a stone appendage of about twelve feet square, with an opening towards the spring. There was a space of about three hundred yards between these circular walls. Both buildings seemed to have been alike. As late as 1838, the walls were about five feet high, but crumbling down. There was no sign of any mortar having been u8ed in the erection of the buildings, and yet it seemed that the stones had once been held together by some cement, from the manner in which they rested upon each other. The stones had fallen down on both sides of the wall, and the piles on each side were as high as the wall itself. RICHARD JAQUA. The father of Richard Jaqua was a citizen of the state of Connecticut. Soon after the revolutionary war the family moved into Columbia county, in the state of New York, where, on the 9th day of April, 1787, Richard Jaqua was born. Some time thereafter the family moved to Canada West, and settled near Brockville. On the 9th day of October, Richard Jaqua was married to Elizabeth Wilsee, a young Canadienne. When the war between England a,nd the United States broke out, Jaqua was the owner of two hundred acres of land, and considerable personal property. When he was clrafted as a soldier to join the British army, his American pride was stronger than the laws of Canada, and he at once determined that he would not take up arms against his native land, and that he would make his escape.to it at the first opportunity. Soon after the draft, and on the last day of the year 1812, he and nine others crossed the St. Lawrence, about forty miles below Kingston. One of these others was his friend, Ezra Brown, who, also, afterwards became one of the first settlers of Seneca county. Jaqua carried a small feather-bed and bed-clothes, and Brown carried the 'clothing for both. When the party arrived on American soil, they traveled on foot through the snow, and reached an American picket-fort late in the night. The next morning the whole party of run aways were sent, under guard, to Ogdensburgh, in the state of New York, where Major 152 - HISTORY OF SENECA COUNTY Forsythe was in command. The Major examined each man separately, and being fully satisfied of the truth of their statements, gave each man a pass. Jaqua then went over to his native county of Columbia, and on the 3d day of April, 1813, started back for Ogdensburgh. On his way he met his friend Brown at Morristown, New York. They were both experienced the use of small boats, and intimately, acquainted with the dangerous places in the channel of the St. Lawrence. Here they came to the conclusion that they would help other deserters to get over to the American side, and for that purpose. procured a craft, by the means of which they helped a goodly number of the fugitives to get across the river to the American side. This sort of employment was exceedingly dangerous, inasmuch as no crafts of any sort were allowed to touch the Canadian shore; yet these friends followed up this work during all the summer and fall of 1813. The Canadian authorities became fully informed of these operations, and sent a squad of men to a small island opposite Gibway Point, with instructions to capture both Jaqua and Brown as they were passing to and fro. One night Jaqua, Brown, Patterson, and five others crossed over to Gibway Point and secreted themselves until morning. Patterson walked along the beach to attract the attention of the guard. Imme-diately three men were seen putting out from the island in a punt-boat, and landing on Gibway Point, pulled their boat on shore, and then made for Patterson. These men and Patterson, getting into sharp conversation, Patterson receded from the British and the shore, and when they were far enough away to be considered safe, Jaqua, Brown, and the other men, who were secreted with them, jumped up, and with cocked guns and the help of Patterson, took .the men prisoners and handed them over to a militia captain at Rawsee. This captain detailed a guard, consisting of Sergeant Whipple, Jaqua, Brown, and several others, to take the prisoners to Sackett's Harbor, which they did. In the fall of the same year, 1813, the Anierican army, under Gen. Wilkerson, was in camp on the American side of the St. Lawrence, a short distance below Gravelly Point. Gen. Hamlin, with his troops, was also stationed at a point on the same side called French Mills. Hamlin was very anxious to have Wilkerson, with his men, join him, but to bring this about, it would require a long an.d tedious march by land, or to embark the whole force in boats and proceed down the St. Lawrence, through the Thousand Isles, which, all knew, was a dangerous undertaking. RICHARD JAQUA - 153 Hamlin sent two messengers with his orders for Wilkerson, and when these arrived at Morristown, where Jaqua and Brown then were, one of the messengers was taken sick, and became unable to proceed further. The other messenger employed Jaqua and Brown to take him to Gen. Wilkerson's headquarters. They took the punt-boat, and, traveling by night only, they reached Gen. Wilkerson's camp in two weeks after they left Morristown. In a few days thereafter, Brown and Jaqua. were engaged by Gen. Wilkerson to pilot him and his forces down the river to Gen. Hamlin, through the Thousand Isles. Jaqua and Brown, with their punt-boat and a flag, took the lead, and the fleet, with Gen. Wilkerson and his forces, passed safely through the Thousand Isles, and reached a point about four miles above Fort Prescott, called Hog Point, where they landed. Here the army remained a few days, and then crossed the river into Canada. For about four weeks thereafter, Jaqua and Brown were constantly busy piloting parties down the river. For fear of trouble from the Canadian authorities, Mr—Jaqua kept his name, and the fact that he was drafted in Canada, a profound secret during all the time he was associated with the movements of the American troops along the St. Lawrence. On the 14th day of May, 1814, Mr. Jaqua, enrolled his name as a plivate in a company of minute men under Capt. Ellis, at Houndsfield, about five miles above Sackett's Harbor. During his service in that company, one Wolsey was in charge of a fleet of small boats loaded with stores belonging to.the United States, and vessels then in process of construction. When the company arrived at a point off Big Sandy creek, near Sackett's Harbor, they were noticed by the British fleet, and Wolsey, to save his fleet, ran it into the mouth of Big Sandy. The bar at the mouth of the creek prevented the British vessels from passing in. Thereupon the British immediately embarked in small boats, and followed Wolsey. The alarm was given to the minute men, who arrived very soon at the scene, and, joini,ng with a company already there on duty, gave the British battle. After a sharp fight for a short time, the British retreated, leaving ninety-six of their men dead on the field. Mr. Jaqua succeeded in having his family brought across in the fall of 1813, and now joined them. In 1815 he was engaged in hauling timber and lumber to Sackett's Harbor, where some seventy-four vessels were being built. He moved to the western part of the state of New York, where he lived six years, and then moved to this county, in 1822, and settled in Eden township, where he lived to the time of his death. His friend Brown had preceded him as a pioneer to this county. 154 - HISTORY OF SENECA COUNTY. Colonel Jaqua, as he was familiarly called, received neither compensation nor pension from the government for all his valuable setvices, until 1872. His property in Canada was, all confiscated by the British authorities. Upon his petition to Congress, the Hon. C. Foster representing this district in Washington, Congress generously acknowl-edged and recognized Mr. Jaqua's merits, and granted hina a pension, by special act, tha,t tended very materially to gladden the few remaining years of the Colonel's life. Col. Jaqua was a little more than six feet high, and well proportioned. He was blessed with an iron constitution, and great force of character. In his boyhood days his chances for education Were not very good; but whatever he lacked in book-learning, he made up by his sound sense and clear judgment. In stature and persona] appearance, in his movements and tone , of voice, he resembled. Josiah Hedges, the proprietor of Tiffin, very much. He had a noble bearing, an open, frank, but sincere countenance; heavy lower jaw, clenched lips, dark eyes, nose not very large and a little of the Roman shape, and a fine forehead. His very looks would say: "I'll do as I agree, sir." He took a very active part in public affairs in Seneca county, and Contrib-uted largely, to the development of her resources, having lived here more than half a century. He was social in his nature, hospitable, generous, kind. He was a good neighbor, a good citizen, a good 'husband and father, and, above all, an honest man. He died, without a struggle, in peace with God and mankind, on the 26th of September, 1878,.aged ninety-one years, five months and seventeen days. His wife had preceded him to the other world on the 7th of May, 1877, aged eighty-six years, seven months and four days. This Venerablp couple lived in happy wedlock nearly seventy years—more than two generations of time. The Colonel was buried with the plain, but impressive ritual of Masonry, having been an honored member of the order during the greater part of his life. Requiesce in pace. CHAPTER X. FIRST MERIDIAN-BASE LINE- TOWNSHIPS- RANGES --SECTIONS- QUARTER SECTIONS-GENERAL SURVEY- ORGANIZATION OF SENECA COUNTY-THE OLD COURT HOUSE-HOLDING THE FIRST COURT-FIRST ELECTION-FIRST MEETING OF THE BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS-APPOINTMENT OF FIRST TREASURER- COLLECTOR OF TAXES-SURVEYOR-PROSECUTING ATTORNEY - ORGANIZATION OF BLOOM, SCIPIO, CLINTON, HOPEWELL, SENECA AND ADAMS TOWNSHIPS- BUILDING THE FIRST JAIL-RUDOLPHUS DICKINSON-REED TOWNSHIP-SALE OF THE RESERVATIONS. HITHERTO, the cabins of the eatly settler's were near the forts of Seneca and Ball, with a few scattered along Rocky creek, Honey creek, Silver creek and in Thompson. The "Black Swamp" commenced immediately west of the river ; in fact, the Sandusky river was the eastern boundary of the Black Swamp. These settlers were mere squatters. They could buy no land, because there was none in market. Outside of the Indian reservation, the title to all the territory was in the United States ; and this new purchase could not be offered for sale until after a survey thereof was made and reported,. in order to enable the government to make proper descriptions of tracts, designating each in such manner and with such certainty as to avoid, if possible, all controversy as to boundary lines, etc. During all this time the ,squatters explored and prospected, making selections of localities at or near which they intended to buy, as soon as the lands were offered for sale. They built their huts wherever they pleased; fished and hunted. Some rnade small openings to raise vegetables, taking their chances for the improvements falling into the hands of somebody else ; others that lived near any of these reservations, farmed the lands of some of the Indians on shares. Thus the squatters were employed making themselves comfortable, raising stock and getting ready to open farms for themselves. Let us now give sorne attention to the manner in which this new purchase was brought into market. The survey of the Western Reserve was started at a, point on the west line of Pennsylvania, where the forty-first degree of north latitude crosses the same. The surveyor then followed this parallel due west, 156 - HISTORY OF SENECA COUNTY. measuring ranges of five miles each. At the end of the twenty-fourth range he reached the southwest corner Of the Connecticut reserve, which is now also the southwest corner of Huron county. From this point a line was drawn north to the lake, and parallel with the west line of Pennsylvania, which formed the western boundary of the Western Reserve. So that all the territory north of this parallel to the lake, and all east of this north line to the state of Pennsylvania, constitutes the Western Reserve; sometimes called the "Connecticut Reserve," and sometimes "the Fire Lands." These lands were reserved by Connecticut for the purpose of paying with them debts the colony owed to revolutionary soldiers, to people who had their property burnt or otherwise destroyed by the British army, etc., war debts generally. Let us remember now, that this parallel of forty-one degress north latitude is the southern boundary, and the base line of the Western Reserve ; that the ranges on that line are five miles ; that there are twenty-four ranges in all; and that the townships on the Western Reserve are five miles square. Soon after the treaty of the Miami of the Lake, already mentioned, the general government ordered all the lands thereby secured to be surveyed. This was then "the new purchase." Mr. Sylvanus Bourne, under instructions from the general land office of the United States, started a survey from the east line of the state of Indiana on the forty-first parallel N. L. This state line, which of course is also the west line of Ohio, he called the first meridian. Running his line on this parallel east, he planted a stake where the end of the sixth mile was reached. This made one range, and the first range in his survey. The end of the seventeenth range brought him within fifty-two chains and seven links of the southwest corner of the Western Reserve. A line drawn due north, by his compass, cut, the west line of the Western Reserve exactly at the northeast corner of Seneca county. There is therefore a strip of land lying all along and east of the seventeenth range, that is not in any range, 52.07 long on the south end, running to a point just eighteen miles north. This tract is called "the gore." The ranges in the new purchase are six miles wide-17x6--102. The ranges on the Western Reserve being five miles wide-24X5- 120 102 plus 120-222. Therefore the distance from the state line of Pennsylvania to the state line of Indiana is two hundred and twenty-two miles and this gore 52.07. From these six mile posts, lines were drawn due north to the north line of Ohio and to Lake Erie, and south to the Virginia military land districts. This line thus drawn along the forty-first parallel north latitude, EARLY SURVEYS - 157 being the base of operation for all future surveys, is called the base line. The territory between these six-mile posts is called a range, and runs north and south from the base line, as above indicated. Parallel. with this base line, and six miles distant therefrom, other lines were surveyed, starting from this meridian north and south of the base line, and running east until other surveys were met. The north and south lines, or range lines, thus cut at right angles by the east and west lines, or township lines, formed tracts of territory, each six miles square, called townships. Each additional east and west, six mile line, from the base line, adds another township to the number. The townships, therefore, are numbered from the base line north and south; and townships one north or south means all the townships along the entire length of the base line, having the base line for the northern or southern boundary. The next townships north or south are numbered two, and so on, until Michigan or lake Erie on the north, or some other survey on the south is reached. In describing a piece of land, therefore, we say, for example, "Township two (2) north, range fifteen (15) east"; because this is the second township north of the base line, lying north and in range fifteen, counting the ranges from the meridian as above. A Mr. Holmes assisted Mr. Bourne in the survey of the range and township lines. Four gentlemen were appointed by the Commissioner of the general land office, to survey and sub-divide Seneca county into sections, quarter and half quarter sections. They were J. Glasgow, Price F. Kellogg, James T. Worthington and Sylvanus Bourne. Seneca county has five ranges, from the thirteenth to the seventeenth, both inclusive, and three townships north—one, two and three. There are therefore fifteen townships in the county, the Sandusky river cutting it from the south to the north into two parts nearly equal ; and the county seat being near the center of the county, makes Seneca county almost unequalled in' shape and beauty by any other county in the state. Mr. Glasgow surveyed the townships north of range thirteen—Big Spring, Loudon and Jackson. Mr. Worthington surveyed the townships north of range fourteen, viz: Seneca, Hopewell and. Liberty; also, those north of range fifteen, viz: Eden, Clinton and Pleasant. Mr. 'Bourne surveyed those north of range sixteen, viz: Bloom, Scipio and Adams. Mr. Kellogg surveyed those north of range seventeen, viz: Venice, Reed and Thompson, and the gore. It is to be understood Mere, that the townships. as here 158 - HISTORY OF SENECA COUNTY. named are the same as they are now known, and not as established from time to time by county commissioners. The geographical lines of the townships were established by .these surveys. It is also to be understood that the Indian reservations were not included in these surveys. Each township being six miles square, makes just thirty-six sections, each one mile square, and containing six hundred and forty acres each. The sections are numbered by cornmencing at the northeast corner of the township., running west, brings section six into the north-west corner; the next section sou,th of this is section seven, and running east, brings section twelve immediately south of section one; then calling the section south of twelve number. thirteen, running- west and so on, brings section thirty-one into the southwest corner, and section thirty-six into the southeast corner of the township. The sections were again sub-divided into quarters and half quarters, with lines at right angles, making it very easy to describe the quarter of a quarter. It is scarcely possible to conceive of a plan for the description of land for the purposes of purchase, sale or taxation, more beautiful, geographically, or for business more convenient. In the survey of the entire northwest, this order was strictly adhered to. We must also remember that in all these surveys, the Sandusky river having been, by act of Congress, declared a navigable stream, is not included. The surveys run only to low water mark of the stream, and therefore necessarily and unavoidably create many fractional sections. These surveyors finished their work in 1820. There were then, also, several other Indian reservations, aside from the Seneca reservation, viz: The Armstrong reservation; the McCulloch reservation., the Van Meter reservation; the Walker reservations,. and a reservation of about twelve square miles occupying the southwest corner of the county, belonging to the Wyandots. These reserves were not surveyed, and not offered for sale until after the last Indian had gone, when, in- 1832, a Mr. J. 'W. C.hristmas surveyed them all.. Thereupon these reserve lands were brought into market also. The field notes in the General Land Office at Washington show the time when these surveys were made and the persons who made them, as above given. How Mr. Butterfield, in his history of Seneca, can lay the time in 1819, and say that Alex. Hohnes ran off the sections, etc., is not very clear. This new purchase thereupon was laid off and divided into two land EARLY SURVEYS - 159 districts—the Delaware and the Piqua land districts, by a line drawn north and south through and near the center of the new purchase.. This placed Seneca county in the Delaware land district. On the 3d day of August, 1821, the lands in the Delaware land district north of the base line, were first offered for sale at Delaware at. a minimum price of one dollar and twenty-five cents per acre. Large quantities of land in this county were purchased at these first sales,. but very little of it above the minimum price. Before the subject is dismissed, it may be well to state another fact in connection with these surveys, that should be generally understood.. "The boundaries of the general surveys can not be changed." Congress, as early as the year 1805, laid down certain general principles in regard to the unchangeableness of the lines and corners. established by government surveyors, which have been continued operative down to the present time, and are still in full force. These principles are contained in the second section of an act entitled "An act concerning the mode of surveying the public lands of the United States," approved February 11, 18o5, and are as follows, to-wit: 1st. All the corners marked in the surveys returned by Surveyor-Generals, shall be established as the proper corners of sections or sub-divisions of sections which they were intended to designate ; and the corners of half and quarter sections, not marked on said surveys, shall be placed as nearly as possible, equally distant from those two corners which stand on the same. line. The Boundary Lines actually run and marked in the surveys returned by the Surveyor-General, shall be established as the proper boundary-lines of. the sections or sub-divisions for which they were intended ; and the length of such lines as returned by the Surveyor-General aforesaid, shall be held and considered as the true length thereof. Experience has demonstrated the wisdom of this enactment. No, law ever passed by Congress has contributed so much to prevent disputes in regard to boundaries of the public lands. Considering the extent of the territory over which the public surveys have been extended, embracing whole states, now thickly settled with people, and affecting interests involving many thousands of dollars, cases of litigation growing out of disputed boundaries, are surprisingly rare. "System of Rectangular Surveying," by J. H. Haws, p. 119. Although this law may in some instances work a hardship to individuals, giving to one party more land than to another, yet it is one of the cpnditions under which the land was acquired, andthe evil in these cases is measurably small compared with the great benefit derived from these fixed a,nd unchangeable lines and corners of the public lands. 160 - HISTORY OF SENECA COUNTY. Whenever, therefore, questions should arise as to the correct corners and lines of lands, with this knowledge of the law before us, and proper examination of the field notes, where the same are established, great annoyance, heartaches. and money may be saved. If any of the old land-marks of early life in Seneca county shall be omitted or overlooked in this book, it will not be because the writer has not been sufficiently industrious in his efforts to look them up for record. Indeed, sometimes I fear that my persistent inquiries about affairs of former days among my old pioneer friends, have been burdensome to many of them, and I have no other aporogy to offer but my earnest purpose to preserve, for the use of their children, a full and faithful record of Seneca county's past. Very many people in Seneca county perhaps never knew, and others have forgotten, the fact that there was an Indian reservation, containing about twelve square miles, belonging to the Wyandots, in the southwest corner of Big Spring township. This reservation, and another piece of the same lying south of the same and adjoining it, was procured by the United States and brought into market with the Seneca reservation, long before the Wyandots sold their large reservation to the general government. (See chap. III.) To preserve the time of the sales of these reservations in Seneca county, the proclamation of Gen. Jackson, then President of the United States, is here added, because the fact itself, as well as the time, are both important and historic. And it is also to be remembered, that these sales took place some ten years after the land sales spoken of ih a former chapter. Mr. George W. Gist, a very able surveyor, had located in Tiffin a short time before these Indian lands came into market, and to enable the purchasers of these lands to make the proper selections, published a notice in the Seneca Patriot, the only newspaper then published in the county, (and of which further notice will 'be taken hereafter) in these words: LAND PURCHASERS, LOOK HERE! The Subscriber has on hand a quantity of plats, and descriptions of the sections and lines of the Seneca and Big Spring reservations. Persons going on either of the said reserves, will find them of much advantage. They are made from the original field notes of C. W. Christmas, Esq.. District Surveyor. GEO. W. GIST, Surveyor. The President s proclamation ordering these sales, is in the words following-, viz: PRESIDENT JACKSON'S PROCLAMATION—LAND SALES - 161 BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES. In pursuance of law, I Andrew Jackson, President of the United States of America, do hereby declare and make known, that public gales will be held at the Land Office of Piqua and Bucyrus, in the State of Ohio, at the period herein designated, for the disposal of certain lands heretofore reserved for the benefit of certain tribes of Indians in said State, and which have been by them relinquished and surrendered unto the United States, to-wit : At the Land Office at Piqua, on the fourth Monday in December next, for the sale of the late Shawnee reservation on Hog Creek, situate in toWnships three and four, south of range six, east, containing twenty-five square miles, also for the sale of the late Shawnee reservation at Wapochkonuetta, situate in townships four, five and six, south of ranges five, six and seven, east, containing one hundred and twenty square miles ; also for the sale of the late Seneca and Shawnee reservation at Lewistown, situate in townships six and seven, south of range seven and eight, east, and in township seven, south, range nine, east, containing sixty-two square miles. At the Land Office in Bucyrus, on the second Monday in December next, for the sale of the late Wyandot reservation at the Big Spring,.situate in townships one, north, and one, south, of ranges twelve and thirteen, east, ' containing twenty-five square miles ; also for the sale of the late Seneca reservation on the Sandusky River, situate in townships two, three and four, north of ranges fifteen and sixteen, containing forty thousand acres. The lands reserved by law for the use of schools, or for other purposes, will be excluded from sale. The sales will be kept open for a period not exceeding two weeks, and no longer than necessary to offer the whole of the lands. Given under my hand at the City of Washington this thirteenth day of November, A. D. 1832. ANDREW JACKSON. By the President. ELIJAH HAYWARD, Commissioner of the General Land Office. These sales took place eight years and nine months after the organization of Seneca county. A. M. Stewart, who published the atlas of Seneca county some six years ago, took Mr. Butterfield's history for data; and speaking of early roads, copies the story of the Bell road. They say that "Gen. Bell, from Wooster, surveyed a road in 1812, which took his name." There is no trace of any survey of Bell's road to be found anywhere, and all there was of-it, is this: Gen. Bell was ordered by Gen. Harrison to pick out—not survey—a suitable track for a road on the west bank of the Sandusky river, to Lower Sandusky from Upper Sandusky, over which military stores, troops and provisions could be carried. Gen. Bell and his men followed alpng the left bank of the river on the highest ground, without paying any attention to courses or' distances; and this Mr. Meeker they speak of, with his men, cut and carried to one side, underbrush and 162 - HISTORY OF SENECA COUNTY. was other obstructions, and blazed the trees as they worked along. This the surveying they did on this road. A similar road was opened along and near the right bank of the river, leading from Delaware to Lower Sandusky. These army roads answered all practical purposes for several years; first for military movements, and then for emigrants and settlers. Nor is it true that Mr. Risdon afterwards surveyed these army roads into state roads; but Mr. Risdon did survey a state road from Upper Sandusky to Lower Sandusky, in 1821, without paying any attention to any army road. His survey ran as nearly straight as possible, and scarcely ever touched the army road. In 1820, Israel Harrington surveyed the Morrison state road, stilt known by that name, leading from Croghanville (Fremont) to Delaware. This was the first road surveyed and opened. in Seneca county, east of the river, while the road surveyed by Risdon was the first one west of the river—both state roads. The Morrison road was named after one of the commissioners, who located the road. Colonel James Kilbourn, a pioneer surveyor, already introduced. surveyed a road leading from Portland, (now Sandusky City) to Upper Sandusky, to which he gave his own name, in 1822. It is said that Thomas Baker and. Ezra Brown, two distinguished pioneers, both from the state of New York, were the first settlers in Seneca county who came on that road. A history of the surveying and opening of the principal roads of the county might be made interesting enough to some people, but would not warrant the space it would necessarily require. The legislature divided this new purchase into fourteen counties, by an act passed on the 12th day of February, 1820. Of these, Seneca county was the ninth in the order named in the act. It was to consist of townships, one, two and three, north of ranges thirteen to seventeen, both inclusive, and to remain a part of Sandusky county, until organized into a county with municipal powers, by a future act of the legislature. The commissioners of Sandusky county organized four townships in this county, from time to time, outside of the reservations, as follows: Thompson was organized on the 25th day of April, 1820, with the following boundaries, viz: Beginning at the northeast corner 'of the Seneca reservation, in Sandusky county, running thence north to the (then) present trailed road from Croghansville to Strong's settlement, (not very definite); thence east until it shall intersect the fire-lands; thence south with said line to the base line; thence west along said line until a line due north will strike the place of beginning. This territory Comprised the ORGANIZATION OF TOWNSHIPS - 163 present townships of Thompson, Reed, Venice, and two and one-half sections along the east sides of Bloom, Scipio ,and Adams, and a part of Sandusky county. On the 8th day of May, ,I820, the said commissioners organized Seneca township, which was the second township in the county, and included all the balance of the county not embraced in the boundaries of Thompson; so that two townships contained the whole county. On the first Monday in June, 1820, the said commissioners organized Clinton township, fixing the boundaries as now established, except that part west of the river, viz: Commencing where the township line, between two and three, strikes the river on the east bank thereof; running thence with said line to the northeast corner of township two, in range fifteen; thence south with the range line between ranges fifteen and sixteen, to the southeast corner of the aforesaid township; thence west to the township line between townships one and two; thence northerly with the meanders of the river to the place of beginning. It was named after DeWitt Clinton, Governor of New York. Eden, the last township organized by the commissioners of Sandusky county, was fixed with its present boundaries in 1821, viz: T. 1., N. R. 15, E. This still left Seneca township embracing all west of the river to the west line of the county. To preserve a record of what part of the Seneca reservation was within Seneca county, let us commence, for a starting point, on the right bank of the Sandusky river, about one-quarter of a mile south of the south line of section seven, in Clinton township, running due east on a line parallel with the south section lines of sections seven to thirteen, inclusive, in Clinton, and extending the same line to a point a short distance south of the center of section ten, in Scipio; thence running due north through Adams to the north line of Seneca county; thence west on said north line to the right bank of the Sandusky river.; thence south along the meanderings of said right bank to the place of beginning. Under the organization of these townships, elections were held as follows: In Thompson, at the house of Joseph Parmenter, on the 6th day of May, 1820; in Seneca, on the 1st day of June, 1820; in Clinton, on the 15th day of June, 1822, and in Eden, on the 4th day of June, 1820, at the house of John Searles, who lived near Rocky creek, and a short distance south of the Rocky creek meeting house. The successful ticket at this election in Eden, was: David Clark, township clerk; John 164 - HISTORY OF SENECA COUNTY. Welch, James Mathers and Henry Craw, trustees; Ira Holmes and John Searles, fence-viewers; John Searles, treasurer; Hugh Welch and Ira Holmes, appraisers; Samuel Knapp and John Welch, supervisors; Thomas Welch, constable. Seneca township, at its first election, elected the following ticket, viz: West Barney, John Lay, David Risdon, trustees; John Keller and David Rice, overseers of the poor; James Montgomery, Erastus Bowe and Joel Chapin, supervisors; P. Wilson, lister; Asa Pike, appraiser; Thomas Nicholson and Abner Pike, fence-viewers; John Boughton and Joel Lee, constables. A lister was an officer whose duty it was to report to the trustees, and afterwards to the county auditor, a list of the able-bodied white male inhabitants liable to perform military duty. For this work he was by law entitled to seventy-five cents per day. At the state election in this year, the whole county polled twenty-six votes, all told. It will be noticed that in these elections no justice of the peace was elected. Sandusky county exercised judicial power over the whole of Seneca county, until Seneca became established as a county by law. ORGANIZATION OF SENECA COUNTY. On the 22d day of January, A. D. 1824, the legislature of Ohio passed the following act for the organization' of Seneca county, in the words and figures following, viz: AN ACT To Organize the County of Seneca. SECTION 1. Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of Ohio, That the county of Seneca be and the same is hereby organized into a separate and distinct county. SEC. 2. That all justices of the peace, and other officers residing in the county of Seneca, shall continue to discharge the duties of their respective offices until their successors are chosen and qualified according to laiv. SEC. 3. That the qualified electors residing in the county of Seneca, shall meet in their respective townships on the first Monday of April next, and elect their several county offieers, who shall hold their respective offices until the next annual election, and until others are chosen and qualified according to law. SEC. 4. That all suits and actions; whether of civil or criminal nature, which shall have been commenced, shall be prosecuted to final judgment and execution, and all taxes, fines and penalties, which shall have become due, shall be collected in the same manner as if this actlad not been passed. This act to take effect and be in force from. and after the first day of April next. JOS EPH RICHARDSON, Speaker of the House of Representatives. ALLEN TRIMBLE, Speaker.of the Senate. Janu,try 22, 1824. ELECTION OF OFFICERS - 165 In conformity with the foregoing act, notice in writing was posted upon the several (four) townships in the county, for the hOlding of the lelection. The only officers to be chosen at this election were a sheriff, three commissioners and a coroner. For sheriff, Agreen Ingraham received one hundred and ninety votes; and for coroner, Leverett Bradley received two hundred and six votes. Both were elected. At the same time the following named persons were also elected as county commissioners, to serve until the next annual election in October, viz: William Clark, Jesse S. Olmstead, Benjamin Wetmore. On the 7th day of June, 1824, the board of commissioners organized and held their first .session. The first business in order was the hearing of a petition presented by Rollin Moller, praying for the location of a road. The petitions for four other roads were heard at the same edition of Thomas Boyd and others, viz: the qualified voters of Eden township, "predicated upon the following reasonable ground" —the petition says—to-wit: "laboring under great inconvenience, from the distance, of attending public elections, and having a sufficient number of qualified electois in the' township, we pray your honorable board to set off said townships, Nos. and 2, in range 16, and constitute them a legal township, to be known by the name of Bloom." The board granted the petition, and ordered that townships and 2, in range 16, (Bloom and Scipio) which were organized with Eden township, and townships and 2, in the 17th range, (Venice and Reed) and fractional townships Nos. and 2, in range 18, be set off and declared by the board of commissioners a legal township, to be known by the-name of Bloom. On the same day, June 7th, 1824, the board of commissioners also appointed Milton McNeal treasurer, and David Risdon collector of taxes for Seneca county. Nathan Whitney was allovred two dollars and twenty-five cents for three days' services in listing Thompson township; Joseph Osborn was allowed three dollars and seventy-five cents for listing Eden; George Park was allowed one dollar and eighty-seven and a half cents for list-ing Clinton; and Joseph Keeler was allowed two dollars and twenty-five cents for 1isting Ft. Seneca township. David Smith, for his services as clerk for the cominissioners,.was allowed three dollars for three days. At the next session of the board of county commissioners, (who were elected in October previous) on the 7th day of December, 1824, the petition of' William Anway was presented to the board for the or- 166 - HISTORY OF SENECA COUNTY ganization of Scipio township. The reason for such organization claimed in the petition is the fact that there were sixteen legal voters residing in the territory composed of Scipio and Reed, and the. board granted the petition accordingly. At the same session, Neal McGaffey presented a petition for the opening of a county road from the public square in. Fort Ball to the public square in Tiffin, across the river by the most suitable ground. On the same day the township of Hopewell was organized, including Lou-don, and an election ordered to be held. The trustees to be elected were authorized to take charge of the school lands. Seneca township was then reduced to what now constitutes Seneca and Big Spring. On the 8th day of December, 1824, the county commissioners cast lots to ascertain how long each was to serve; whereupon it was found that Thomas Boyd was to serve for one year, Benj. Whitmore for two years and Doctor Dunn for three years. Ever since that time Seneca county has elected but one commissioner each year, except when by " death or resignation the election of another became a necessity. The same day the board rented from George Park his north chamber for a county clerk and auditor's office, and agreed to pay him one dollar per month for the use of the same. The chamber was a part of Eli Norris' old tavern. The ground where it stood is now covered by the National Hall block. At the same time Clinton was fixed to its present status, and an election ordered. William Cornell was appointed keeper of the standard measure, the device of the seal to be a circle with the letters therein, "SEN. CO., omo." On the sixth day of June, 1825, commissioners were appointed to locate a road in Crawford township, T. 1, S. R. 13 E., and for that pur-pose met at the house of Jas. Whiticker, on the 6th day of July following. Wm. Harpster was allowed two dollars for listing Sycamore township; Jesse Gale the same amount for listing Crawford township. It would therefore appear from this, that the conimissioners of Seneca county exercised jurisdiction over Crawford county until it was organized. At the same session the commissioners settled with the auditor and treasurer, and found a balance in favor of the latter of $13.46. Mr. Hedges had built a two story frame house on the lot immediately north of the court house square, on the place now occupied by the east end of the Commercial bank, and the office of the Seneca Advertiser. The second story was used as a court room and the lower three rcioms , for offices. The first court in Seneca county was held in this frame house, and that was the court house of Seneca county until the brick court house was built in 1836. ELECTION OF OFFICERS - 167 Judge Ebenezer Lane, of Norwalk, who was the circuit judge of the judicial district of which Seneca county formed a part, held the first court in Seneca county, on the 12th day of April, 1824. Under the old constitution of Ohio, the circuit judges were appointed by the Legislature for the term of seven years. There were also appointed by the Legislature three associate judges in each county for the term of seven years. These associate judges were not lawyers, but were selected from the business men of the county, generally from the party that had a majority in the Legislature for the time being. These associate judges, with the presiding or circuit judge, formed the court, a majority of whom was necessary for the transaction of business. The first associate judges appointed for this county were William Cornell, Jaques Hulburd and Matthew Clark. This court, at its first session, appointed for the clerk of the court, pro tem, Neal McGaffey, and for county surveyor David Risdon. The court lasted about thirty minutes, and then adjournedior want of other business. On the 12th day of October, in the same year, the first annual election was held in the county, when the following officers were elected, viz : sheriff, Agreen Ingraham ; coroner, Christopher Stone ; auditor, David Smith; commissioners, Benjamin Whitmore, Thomas Boyd and Doctor Dunn. The court in this year appointed Rudolphus Dickinson prosecuting attorney, and the county commissioners appointed Milton McNeal county treasurer. With this small commencement old Seneca started on her proud career to future greatness'. Mr. Dickinson, being the first lawyer who settled in Seneca county, and who took a very active part in the organization of the county and public affairs generally, was appointed by the court the first prosecuting attorney of the county. He was born at Whateley, Massachusetts, on the 28th day of December, 1797, and was a graduate of Williams College in that state. Im-mediately after he left college he came to Columbus, Ohio, where he taught school and read law in the office of Gustavus Swan, in that city. After his admission to the bar he located in Tiffin, Ohio, in the year 1824, on the Fort Ball side, where he joined the opposition of the few settlers against Mr. Hedges in his efforts to build up Tiffin. Mr. Dickinson was appointed by the court the first prosecuting attorney of the county. His name is identified with the first cases tried in the early sessions of the courts of Seneca county. He was the attorney for Jesse 168 - HISTORY OF SENECA COUNTY. Spencer in the suit against Mr. Hedges about the brush dam, the most celebrated among the early cases tried in the county. In May, 1826, Mr. Dickinson resigned his office of prosecuting attorney, and Abel Rawson was appointed his successor. In the same month Mr. Dickinson removed to Lower Sandusky, and in 1827 he married the daughter of John Beaugrand, one of the oldest settlers of Lower Sandusky and who at an early day was a partner of General John E. Hunt, of Maumee City. Mr. D. took great interest in schemes for starting the public works of the state, in which he occupied a high prominence among his cotemporaries. Among these public enterprises were the Wabash and Erie Canal and the Western Reserve and Maumee Road. He was a member of the Board of Public Works from 1836 to 1845. During this period the state of Ohio suffered great financial embarrass-ment, and her credit ran down to fifty per cent. below par, her bonds selling for fifty cents on the dollar. Mr. Dickinson's influence with the leading men of the state and the Legislature, contributed largely in saving the credit of the state and preventing the entire suspenSion of public improvements. Mr. Dickinson was elected to Congress in 1846, and re-elected in 1848. He died soon,after the commencement of the second term of his service at the city of Washington in 1849, on the 2oth day of March, at the age of fifty-one years, two months and twenty-two days. On the, fourth day of July, 1825, the commissioners of Seneca county held an extra session of the board to receive proposals and bids for the building of a jail in Tiffin. Benjamin Whitmore and Doctor Dunn were present. The bids were opened and the contract awarded to Elijah Fargurson, he being the lowest bidder, for the sum of four hundred and fifty dollars, payable when the work was completed. Josiah Hedges was sur6ty on the bond of Mr. Fargurson for the promp compliance with his agreement to perform the same. The early settlers will remember this, the first public building put up in Seneca county. It stood at the southeast corner of the present court house square, and was made of hewed logs fitted tightly on the top of each other, with hewed logs for the ceiling and heavy oak plank for the floor. The doors were made of double planks with wagon tires bolted across them for hinges, and a large padlock on the door. There were two rooms in this log jail—one on the east side and the other on the west side. The windows were cross barred with heavy tire iron. To the s.outh end of the jail was attached a frame building as wide as the jail, (about twenty feet), with a narrow stairway to the garret, and two small rooms below. This frame part was intended as a residence OLD LOG JAIL - 169 for the sheriff, but was never occupied for that purpose. The jailor lived there occasionally; and finally, and until the old log jail, was torn down in 1840-41, my old friend, John Fiege occupied this frame part of the jail for a cabinet shop, and Marquis Y. Groff lived immediately across the street from the same, on the south side of Market street. In the December session of the county commissioners, Christopher Stone was allowed one dollar as appraiser of Clinton towship. At the same time, December 5th, 1825, and upon the application of Agreen Ingraham, the commissioners passed an order by which all that part of Clinton township lying west of the river was attached to Hopewell, for the reason, undoubtedly, that there were no bridges over the river and it was therefore more convenient for the people on the west side to get together and hold their elections, etc. The log jail being finished and the work done to the satisfaction of the county commissioners, it was accepted on the 3ist day of March, 1826. John Mi'm presented his account for rent of room for the use of' the county clerk and auditor for nine months, at fifty cents a month, $4.5o, which was allowed on the 5th day of June, 1826. On the same day Josiah Hedges was paid $25.85, expenses incurred by him in the location of the county seat. Milton McNeal was re-appointed county treasurer, and William Patterson collector of taxes for the ensuing year. Adams township was organized on the 5th day of December, 1825, but it consisted only of the sections not included in the reserve. The electors were ordered to meet at the house of Samuel Whiteman to hold the election, on the 25th day of December, 1826. To make the township of any reasonable size the commissioners attached to Adams a tier of sections from and along the west side of Thompson. On the fifth day of December, 1825, Reed township was also organ-ized with its present boundary, and the electors ordered to meet at the house of Seth Reed on the first day of January, 1827, to hold their election. Dec. 5, 1826, the commissioners ordered the auditor " to cut a diamond in the jail door five inches square." CHAPTER XI. JESSE SPENCER-COUNTy ROAD FROM FORT BALL TO TIFFIN-WOLF SCALpS -ORGANIZING TOWNSHIPS IN CRAWFORD COUNTY-BUILDING THE FIRST BRIDGE-FIRST KILN OF BRICKS-DAVID BISHOp-FINAL ORGANIZATION OF ALL THE TOWNSHIPS-HISTORY OF' THE BUILDING, THE BURNING AND THE RE-BUILDING OF THE COURT HOUSE-BUILDING THE STONE JAIL-THE NEW JAIL. IN A former chapter it was said that the Indian reservations were not surveyed into sections until after the Senecas had left the country ; but this statement should be qualified so as to except the Armstrong, the McCulloch and VanMeter sections. Robert Armstrong and the heirs of McCulloch had full power to dispose of their respective reservations in any manner they saw fit, after the patent from the United States had been issued to them. The transfer required only the approval of the President of the United States endorsed thereon. The patent from the United States to Robert Armstrong was issued under the treaty aleady mentioned, and bears date of October 12, 1823. On the 29th day of the same month Armstrong sold and deeded four hundred and four acres of his reservation to Jesse Spencer, for three thousand dollars. The deed from A.rmstrong to Spencer was approved by President Monroe, and signed by him in his own hand writing. The part of the Armstrong reserve sold to Spencer extended from the San-dusky river westwardly. Mr. Spencer laid out and platted the village of Oakley, including the old stockade, (Fort Ball,) and extending. down the river to the railroad bridges, and west to somewhere near the B. & O. depot. It was not much of a town, even on paper. No trace of it can anywhere be found, and Mr. Spencer never caused any record to be made of this, his first town in Seneca county. The only buildings the town of Oakley ever contained were the log cabin hotel of Mr. Bowe and the cabin of Mr. David Smith, near where the stove works now are. The cabin of Mr. Agreen Ingraham was up on the hill where the aristocracy afterwards settled, around about McNeal's store, after Mr. Spencer laid out Fort Ball. Mr. Gilford Bowe says his father's hotel stood near the bank of the JESSE SPENCER - 171 river, and right in Washington street, close by the north end of the iron bridge. The old army.road passed close by it. The hotel was pulled down when Spencer opened a street that way in his Fort Ball. In less than two years from the time Mr. Spencer bought the part of the Armstrong section, as above stated, he laid out Oakley, then Fort Ball, built the brush dam and the saw mill, became involved in about two dozen law suits, .had a half dozen knock-downs, sold his town, brush dam and saw mill to Mr. Hedges, and quit. The deed from Spencer to Hedges for Fort Ball is dated June 16, 1825. In this deed Spencer reserved to himself some in-lots and out-lots of his town of Fort Ball. Mr. Spencer came here from Perry county, Ohio, where he formerly lived. It seems that the locality and the people here failed to.meet the approbation of Mr. Spencer, and he withdrew his company and his interest from the county soon after his sale to Mr. Hedges. The viewers appointed on the county road petitioned for leading from the public square of Fort Ball to the public square in Tiffin, and those on another petition for a county road leading from the public .square in Tiffin to the public square in Fort Ball—two distinct sets of viewers, and two distinct lines of roads—reported unfavorably on both. Mr. Neal McGaffey thereupon, on the 8th day of June, 1825, gave notice of his intention to appeal the case to the Court of Common Pleas. There is no record to show the fate of the roads in the court. The streets of Fort Ball, as laid out by Spencer, seem to have supplied the great want of a county road running from McNeal's store to the court house square in Tiffin, and the appeal was never prosecuted. On the 19th day of March, 1827, tlie commissioners passed a resolution authorizing the auditor to draw an order on the treasurer for the sum of two dollars extra, and in addition to the sum of four dollars paid by the state, for the scalp of every wolf killed in Seneca county. These beasts were very numerous here at that time, and a very great annoyance to the pioneers. It was almost impossible to keep any poultry, hogs or sheep. They would even attack and kill young calves. One would naturally suppose that the wolves would flee from the approach of the settlers, but wild and shy as they naturally are, and however hard as it may be to get a shot at one in day-time, yet they made themselves sociable about the cabins at night. Their howling at night, hideous as it sounds by itself, seemed to echo through the forest in long vibrations, especially in a dark, cold night of winter. When the cold lasted any length of time, it was dangerous to be out 172 - HISTORY OF SENECA COUNTY. after night without a torch, 'and domestic animals, unprotected, were sure to be killed. Wolves are afraid of fire. They seemed to be more numerous in Seneca than in any adjoining county, and were found most plenty along the Sandusky river, and along the several branches of Wolf creek, which was very appropriately named after them. By the law of the state, four dollars were paid for wolf-scalps, and every county was authorized to add such additional sum to the four dollars as the commissioners would order. The counties adjoining Seneca refused to add any further sum to the state premium on scalps, and the two dollars added in Seneca became a great inducement to kill wolves in Seneca county. Money was exceedingly scarce in those days, and hard to get. The idea of raising six dollars in money for one Wolf's-scalp, excited the skill and avarice of many a pioneer. Men would work on farms, at trades, at anything, a whole month for that much money and board—yes, and then very. often take their pay in store goods, or other barter, at that. The greater number of wolves that were killed were caught in traps made expressly for wolves. Those that were shot were comparatively few. The ingenious trapper was the most successful man to get the premiums on scalps. Some of these trappers in Hancock, Wood, Sandusky, Huron and Crawford, living near the county line—yes, and some of those that lived a considerable distance away—when they found a wolf in the trap, in making the morning rounds, would strike the wolf over the head with a club and thus stun and disable, but not kill him. Then they would hitch a horse or an ox to a sled, and haul wolf and trap into Seneca county, and there finish killing the wolf; so that the trapper could make an affidavit that the wolf was killed in Seneca. This county paid for many a scalp of a wolf that was caught in some other county. There was money in. it. The result Wak, that in the course of a few years the wolves became very scarce. Along towards the year 184o, scarcely any scalps were presented for premium. After the organization of Seneca, and before Crawford county was organized, the commissioners of Seneca county, upon petition for that purpose, organized three townships in Crawford, as follows, viz: On the 7th day of December, 1824, upon the petition of Joseph Chaeffee, Crawford township was ordered to organize, and to hold an election on the 25th day of December, 1824, at the house of said Chaeffee, then and there to elect three trustees and a treasurer, to take charge and dispose of the school lands belonging to said township. On the 7th day of March, 1825, the said commissioners ordered that FIRST BRIDGE—FIRST KILN OF BRICK - 173 the original surveyed townships: No. 1 in the 15th range, No. 1 in the 16th range and No. 1 in the 17th range, south of the base line, be set off and organized into one township, and to be known by the name of Sycamore township, and that a. similar election be held therein on the On the same day, said commissioners also ordered that the inhabitants and qualified electors in the original surveyed township one, south, range thirteen, be notified to meet at the house of Jesse Gale, on the last Saturday of March, 1825, and elect trustees, etc. This township is now in Wyandot County. On the 7th day of March, 1826, said commissioners also ordered is now in Wyandot county. that the original surveyed township one, south, range fourteen, be set township off from the township of Crawford and organized into a legal township, to be known by tbe name of Tymochtee, and that the qualified electors therein meet on the first Monday in April next, at the house of Joseph Chaeffee, in Crawford township, and those in Tymochtee to meet at the house of Jesse Gale, and then and there to elect trustees, etc. The first effort to build a bridge in Seneca county by the public authorities, was ma,de by the commissioners on the 2d day of August, 1827, when they met for the purpose of taking into consideration the propriety of building a bridge across Rocky creek, at the east end of Market street, in Tiffin. That was the end of this effort, and no other step was taken to build this bridge until the 6th March, 1834, when the board appropriated $5), and appointed Marquis Y. Graff to superintend the work. Reuben Williams did the work. It was made of very heavy oak timber, and lasted until it became dangerous to cross it, when the trustees of Clinton township erected the present stone bridge in its place. On the 5th day of June, 1827, Mr. Agreen Ingraham, having been elected treasurer of the county, was required by the board to give bond in the sum of $3,000. At the December session of the same year, the commissioners allowed Wm. Toll, who was deputy sheriff and jailor, $3.46 for boarding prisoners. Thomas Chadwick burnt the first kiln of brick during the summer of this year, and furnished brick to build a chimney in the jail, for which he was allowed the sum of $22.50. Joseph Pool was paid $14.00 for laying the floor, and William Toll was paid $23.50 for building the chimney. The votes cast in Seneca county for state senator were ordered to be returned to Delaware county, which was then a part of this senatorial district, and the county that cast the largest number of votes in the district. 174 - HISTORY OF SENECA COUNTY. At the same session, Benjamin Pettinger was paid $9.00 for nails used in building ,the jail. Nails were then a rarity, and just coming into use. There were no nails used in. building cabins, as we shall see hereafter. If a man were to be compelled to build a house now-a-days without nails, he would scarcely know how it could be done. It was no trick, at.all, for a pioneer. David Bishop, who had come to Tiffin about one year before this time, was appointed keeper of weights and measures, by the board at this session Bishop was a sort of character by himself. He was a carpenter by trade, and a rival of Reuben Williams in that line. He was a large, powerful, muscular man. Francis Bernard was a stone and brick mason. He and Bishop had a great many fights, and when Bernard was sober, he would almost invariably whip Bishop; and Bernard's friends charged Bishop with cowardice, because he would never whip Bernard except when he (Bernard) was drunk. Bishop was the auctioneer for a long time, and a wonderful man to talk and boast. He was friendly to everybody—kind and hospitable—and was afterwards; elected sheriff of the county. He was a good officer, and faithful to duty. On the rst day of June, 1829, Reed township was organized to its present limit. Dr. Williams, a sketch of whose life will be found elsewhere herein, insists that the township was named for Seth Read, and by him. Read was an early settler there, and a singular, original sort of a character. The doctor says: "The name of the township' ought to be spelled as it was first intended—k-e-a-d". In the early records of the court of common pleas, and in the pleadings of the lawyers, the name of Eden township was spelled E-a-t-o-n. Pleasant township was organized with its present boundaries, June 6, 1831; Loudon township was organized with its present boundaries, but no election was ordered until upon the application of Charles W. Foster, who says in his petition, that there Were twenty electors in Loudon, and asks for an order to hold the first election, to have the school lands taken care of. So ordered on the 4th of March, 1834. At the March term, 1833, the auditor of the county for the first time became ex-officio clerk ' of the board of commissioners. At this session, the bond of the county treasurer, having theretofore been fixed at $ 15,000, was reduced to $8,000. Thompson was organized within its present limits, March 5, 1833. At the December session, 1833, on the 3d day of said month, the following other townships were organized as now known, viz: Scipio, Adams, Clinton, Pleasant, Loudon, Big Spring.