PLEASANT TOWNSHIP - 575 Those that know Mr. D. V. Flummerfelt well and intimately need no explanation about him. To strangers, however, it is sufficient to say that he has inherited from his father a great deal of his looks and personal appearance, but more so his German tenacity and perseverance. While others fell back in despair, Mr. Flummerfelt, in his own familiar, friendly way, attended the sessions of the county commissioners occasionally, and once in a while expressed his regret at the failure of the project in re-building the Watson bridge, and while it seemed to have been given up as a lost cause, Mr. Flummerfelt, in his own quiet way, made inquiry amongst the contractors and ascertained the amount for which a bridge could be built below, and then visited the commissioners, who finally offered to pay Mr Flummerfelt $2,500, if he would put a good superstructure upon the old abutments. This offer was so low that the commissioners themselves had no idea at first that it would be accepted. Lumber, labor and iron were low in price at that time. Mr. Flummerfelt had made his figures; he accepted the proposition; and the present beautiful Howe-truss, on the old abutments of the Watson bridge, is ample proof of the sagacity and perseverance of Mr. Flummerfelt. He pledged his own responsibility for the payment, furnished some 14,000 feet of oak lumber, iron and paint, that cost him some $500 over and above the appropriation. Mr.. Flummerfelt is that much out of pocket, but Pleasant township is the best bridged township in this county. The bridge is now called the " Flummerfelt bridge," and very appropriately so. It is a fair monument of perseverance and sagacity. Mr. D V. Flummerfelt is one of the old settlers here now. He was born in Sussex (now Warren) county, New Jersey, October 13th, 1807. He came to Seneca with his father's family. He married Melinda Littler, of Hardy county, Virginia, on the 12th of October, 837. This union was blessed with five sons and four daughters, all living but one, who died in infancy. George is married, and lives in Sandusky county, Ohio; Matilda is the wife of M. T. Lutz, and resides in Kansas; Ann M. is the.wife of Dennis Deran, and lives in Pleasant. The balance are at home with their parents. It takes both brain and muscle to manage nearly a thousand acres' of land successfully. RASSELAS R. TITUS Was born in New Milford county, Connecticut, on the 22d of July, 1819. His father's family had previously resided in the state of New York, and removed to Ohio in 1833, when they settled in this township, and where the subject of this sketch has lived ever since. 576 - HISTORY OF SENECA COUNTY. On the 21st of April, 1844, he married Miss Elvira S. Clark, L. Abbott, Esq., solemnizing the marriage. Their children are four living daughters: Augusta P. is the wife of Francis J. Fry; Colena M. married Lorenzo A. Abbott; Flora married Oliver S. Watson, and Littie married Robert Watson. Mr. Titus' father died in 835; his mother lived to a fine old age, and died in 872, when she was eighty-three years old. R. R Titus started the world on his own hook, when about twenty years of age, by working among the farmers of Pleasant. township, at $11 per month at first; ,next year he. got $12, and the next year $14 per month. In 1859 he was elected a member of the state board of equalization. In 861 he was elected a member of the house of representatives of the general assembly of Ohio, and re elected in 863, serving during the whole war. He counts his wealth by the thousands, and his drafts are honored in all the banks in the country. He is in California on a visit at this writing. Vincent Bell, Benjamin Seckman, John Brush, Nathan Littler, John Siberal, John Houseman, the Watsons and others came into Pleasant later.. The Sandusky river courses through the western part of the township in great meanderings of nearly twelve miles along its shores. East of Fort Seneca it takes a due east course more than one mile; then taking a horse shoe bend to the southeast, turns north, running more than one mile along the section line between sections fifteen and sixteen. In section nine it turns due west three-quarters of a mile, and northwest, leaving the large, rich bottom lands of Samuel Ludwig on the right bank.' These bottom lands in Pleasant have made, and forever will make this township justly celebrated. The uplands are rich in soil, but the bottoms are inexhaustible in fertility. Mr. G. W. Lutz was among the most successful farmers in this township for some time, and until within the last few years. In 859 he raised from 126 acres of land, 8,655 bushels of corn and 1,645 bushels of wheat. Estimating the corn at thirty cents and the wheat' at one dollar per bushel, makes $4,241.50 on these two articles alone for the year, and averaging over eighty bushels to the acre. Other farmers have done as well, no doubt, and a trip through the township will convince any one of the wealth and beauty of the Sandusky bottoms in summer time as lovely as " when first the Day God looked upon a field of waving corn." It is said that James Gordon, one of the pioneer commissioners, suggested the name of Pleasant for this township. He could not very PLEASANT TOWNSHIP - 577 well have called it Richland township, for that would have meant them all. If the county had been called Egypt, it would have been very appropriate, but such names as " Pleasant," " Eden " and " Bloom," are very suggestive and do very well. On the 14th of January, 1836, Erastus Bowe and Vincent Bell caused to be surved on the corners of sections nineteen and twenty, in this township, a town to which. they gave the name of Fort Seneca. Any other name would have been more appropriate. It is calculated to mislead the general inquirer and lead him to suppose that the fort had been at or near this place, when, in fact, it was nearly three miles away. McNutt's or Swope's Corners, either of these designated the same town. Fort Seneca is situate six and a-half miles north of Tiffin and eleven miles south of Fremont on the Columbus state road, and numbers about 200 inhabitants. A pike running from Tiffin to Fremont through Fort Seneca would afford one of the most beautiful drives in northern Ohio. Why not have one? Pleasant township was organized on the 6th day of June, 1831, and while the 'Senecas were still roaming over it. The early settlers have already been named and described. The population of the township in 1870 was, 1,352, which increased only 65 in the ten years following, making it 1,417 in 1880. - 37 - CHAPTER XXXIX. REED TOWNSHIP. T. 2, N. R. 17 E. IT was very wrong that the county officers of Seneca county ever consented to have the proper name of this township mis-spelled into Reed, and be themselves guilty. The Read family, after whom the township was named, were of Scotch descent, and invariably wrote their ;lame with an " a," and so it ought to have been preserved. Seth Read and George Raymond came from Steuben county, New York, and settled upon section twenty-four, in what now constitutes this township, on the 18th day of January, 1825, and were the first settlers in the township. They entered their lands at the Delaware land office. They were followed soon after by Edward Cassety and Elijah Read, Tunis Croukite, Thomas Bennett, Samuel Scothorn, Isaac Bennett and others. The township was organized December 5th, 1826. The first election was held at the house of Seth Read, on New Year's day following. The face of the land in this township is generally undulating, and the soil very fertile. There are no mill streams within its limits, and the grist and saw mills are run by steam. In 1830 Reed had a population of 264; in 1840, 1,240, and it is now about 1,501. At a later period A. C. Baker, Benjamin Sanford, John B. Schuyler, Jacob Cole, William P. White, Henry Ryno, James Harrison, Levi Read, W. H. Croukite, John. Clark, John Hoover and others were among the distinguished farmers here. On the 4th day of January, 1838, John Terry and Catharine Beard caused to be laid out on sections five and six, a town, which they called West Lodi. It was surveyed and platted by James Durbin. The first postmaster was Lyman White, who for many years has lived REED TOWNSHIP - 579 on College Hill, in Tiffin, where he lives now at his ease, cultivating grapes and peach trees. Robert P. Frazer was the first physician who settled in Lodi, and he is still there in the practice of his profession, and highly esteemed. Reedtown was made up of a few cabins on the Columbus and Sandusky turnpike. It was also called Cook's Gate, because a man by the name of Cook kept the toll-gate on the pike at that place. It was simply wicked to collect toll on a mud road. Some called it Kellytown also, because a man by the name of Kelly kept a store there. Han-ford's was another name for the same town, because Hanford's tavern was the best between Attica and Bloomer's. My dear old friend Dr. B. D. Williams settled here at an early day. The place is now familiarly known as Reedtown. It was laid out by Isaac Catlin. DR. B. D. WILLIAMS Was born January 8th, 1812, in Orangeville township, Genesee county, New York. In 1821 his father located, with his family in Sherman township, Huron county, a few miles east of Reedtown. Here young Williams grew up, and received his education and read medicine three years with Dr. Moses C Sanders, in Peru township, in Huron county. In 1835 he settled at Reedtown, and commenced the practice of medicine, and here, in 1836, the writer made his acquaintance, which grew into a friendship that has grown warmer, like wine, that grows better with age. On the 7th of November, 1835, Dr. Williams was married to Miss Harriet Newel LaBarre, of Sherman township, with whom he lived three years, until she died. On the 13th of June, 1841, he was again married to Louisa L. Ludlow, of Norwich, in Huron county. This union was blessed with three children, two boys, who are married and settled in life, and one daughter, long since dead. Here the Doctor settled in the practice, and so near his old perceptor as to have the benefit of his counsel and help in extreme cases, and where he also met Dr. Dresbach, of Tiffin, in consultation. In a letter to me the Doctor says, speaking of his early practice: Many times I had very severe cases among females, when I would have given my horse, bridle, saddle, pill-bag and all I had on earth to be safely and honorably through with my lady patient. Oh ! such anxiety such suspense ! 1 It did often seem as if my little bark would break and go under. There was no help nearer than twelve to fifteen miles, nights pitch dark and mud knee-deep. But God was with me, and I always came through with my patient all 0. K. Without boasting, I can safely say that during my practice here of forty-five years, out of 2,200 parturition cases, I never lost one. 580 - HISTORY OF SENECA COUNTY. Dr. Williams practiced medicine in Peru two years before he came to Reedtown, making forty-seven years in all in constant practice without losing a day, except the time spent in attending lectures at Willoughby University, at the Cincinnati Medical University, and at the Cleveland and Western Reserve College, where he graduated. The Willoughby became merged into the Starling at Columbus afterwards. He is now the veteran physician in that part of the country, and I will say, without flattery (for I never flatter), that the Doctor is highly esteemed in all the country far and near, for his personal excellencies, both as a physician and citizen. Dr. Williams was so kind as to send me some of his early recollections of Reed, from which I have collated the following: Captain Hanford was an early settler here. He was one of your plain, outspoken men, swore a little at times, a little rough, but kind hearted. One day while the Captain, with his dog, were out in the woods, and chased a weasel into .a hollow log, and while they were trying to catch it, a Presbyterian preacher from Monroeville, whom the Captain did not know, came through the woods and got of his horse to help catch the weasel. So the preacher took his post at one end of the log to watch, with his riding whip held up to strike. The position did not suit Hanford, and he said to the preacher : " You don't hold your whip right, by —, my friend, hold it so, and strike quick, for they are the d—t, quickest things you ever saw, b--." Sure-enough The Captain scared the weasel out, and when the preacher struck, he hit the ground about' a rod behind the weasel. " There," -says Captain Hanford, " I told you so, b— --." The preacher then asked where Captain Hanford lived. The Captain gave him the information, and they separated. The preacher stopped at the house, and Mrs. Hanford, who was a Presbyterian, and had not seen a preacher since she had left the " land of steady habits " about three years .before, and was very glad to entertain him. After a while the Captain came home and was quite surprised to see the weasel catcher. Captain Hanford said to him : " I guess I must have scared you with my swearing." The ,preacher said : " Yes, I was frightened a little and greatly surprised to think that a man having such a Christian lady for a wife would indulge in such language." The Captain felt the effect of the rebuke, but entertained the preacher with his usual hospitality. Thomas Bennett was the first postmaster in this township, and it was then called Read postoffice. Mr. Catlin had this town surveyed, but never had the plat. recorded. It was then called " Catlinville." It was also called " Readsburg." Tunis Croukite and Thomas Bennett were both old settlers and members of the Baptist church at what is now called Omar. They had some difficulty, and agreed that they would not be buried in the same cemetery. The church at Omar has a very respectable cemetery. Bennett owned the land in and around the grave yard, and Croukite owned the land across the pike, adjoining. Croukite died first, and was buried on his land some sixty rods east of the grave yard, then Bennett died, and was buried in the REED TOWNSHIP - 581 grave yard. Now large monuments adorn the graves of both, in sight of each other, as monuments of bad blood in life. George Raymond; another old settler here, was the father of triplets, boys, which he called Abraham, Isaac and. Jacob. The last two live in our town; the former has been dead twenty years. Mr. Schuyler was also an early settler. His son is the celebrated mathematician at Baldwin University, at Berea, Ohio.     ' Elijah Read, another good old pioneer, died about five years ago. Samuel and John Casaty were both poor when they came here from Steuben county, New York, but by hard labor and economy, had accumulated quite a fortune, until some twelve years ago, robbers relieved them of about $12,000. John has since died. Williard Whitney, a merchant of our town, closed his business here with a few hundred dollars left, with which he went to Michigan, bought land, got wealthy, and would have been happy; had he not become blind. His wife had to feed. him like a child ten years, when he died at eighty-five. Dr. Amos Witter lost his wife here. He went west, was elected to Congress, and got rich. Loren Knopp, a merchant, was quite well off. He had the kidney disease. He Moved to Attica, where he soon died. He was to have been married soon, so he willed much of his .fortune to his affianced. Dr. I. T. Gilbert became involved, sold out, and went ' to Bryan, Ohio. There he invested what little means he had in real estate, which advanced rapidly. The small-pox broke out in Bryan, and Dr. Gilbert having had , them once, was allowed to take all the small-pox cases, which soon built him up, but he was not allowed to see any other patients during that time. The Doctor got into very comfortable circumstances, and died there at the age of eighty-two years. He formerly lived here. John Zeppermick had some bad luck here, but after he sold out and moved to Wood county, he accumulated some ,property. He owns a good little , farm, and seems to be happy in praising God. Captain Hanford died of apoplexy about twenty-five years ago. Edward, the hotel keeper, died of dropsy, the effects of trying to look through the bottom of a tumbler. James Hanford lived a roving life, and finally broke into the Michigan penitentiary at Jackson for ten years. Jas. Harrison, whom you also knew, died at his son's house, at the old place. To show you how Reed looked in former times, let me tell you a short incident. I was called one dark night to visit a sick lady. We had to go through the woods, of course, and before we had proceeded far, the messenger and I both became entangled in the top of a tree that had fallen across the road. In the scrabble to get out, I lost my hat. The messenger said it would not do to hunt for it, had no time, was in a hurry, could lose no time, " must bring you in a hurry, Doctor, so come right along." So I went bareheaded. It was warm weather, however, and there was no suffering, but going home next day without my hat made a comical show. They said Dr. Williams must have been tight last night. The writer heard a good story told of Dr. Williams, which is too good to be lost. Soon after he was married, and before they had .gone to 582 - HISTORY OF SENECA COUNTY. housekeeping, his wife had her home at her father's, in Sherman township, still. So one Saturday evening the young Doctor started, rather late, however, to pay a visit to his father-in-law, and surprise the young lady. It was in the fall, and the leaves had covered the road. Night came on, and the road was no longer discernable. The Doctor got out of the saddle and felt around for the road or path, but could not find it. He hitched his horse to a tree and gave the," bush hallo " several times, but nobody responded only the owls. The Doctor came to the conclusion that the troubles of a married life had commenced in dead' earnest. After crowing around through the woods for two or three hours, a lady accidentally heard him and answered. She got a man up out of bed, and sent him after the strange voice. The man was afraid that it might be a panther, but found the lost Doctor, and took him to the house. It was the house of a stranger, however, and two miles away from the house of the bride. In the morning the horse was found and cared for, and a new start taken for the father-in-law. He took breakfast with his wife's people, and they all had a good laugh at the Doctor's night's adventure. Seneca John, who was executed on the reservation, as already related, used to hunt through Reed, and had a wigwam on the, knoll where Dr. Williams' house now stands, in 1821-2. His visits continued up to 1830, and he generally brought his whole family with him. At an evening meal, and while a large kettle of hot water was suspended on a pole over the fire, a daughter of Seneca John was lying on the ground before the fire. The pole was nearly burnt through, and broke, spilling the hot water over the child. They wrapped her in a blanket and took her to.the house near by, where Dr. Williams attended her. In removing the blanket the flesh of the poor sufferer literally clung to it, leaving her almost a skeleton. Dr. Williams did all in his power to relieve her sufferings, but death assisted him. After her death William Williams. made a sled, to be drawn by hand, and a number of Indian boys and a mournful cortege conveyed the corpse to the Seneca burying ground. Seneca John became a very warm friend to Dr. Williams. In the summer of 1834 some movers passed through Reedtown, who had a son about sixteen years of age. In the night he was taken sick. It was a clear case of cholera. He died, and was buried before morning, and the mournful parents went on. There are six very good church edifices in Reed. The township is supplied with excellent school houses and a good corps of teachers. When the M. E. church organized northern Ohio in 1830 or 1832, REED TOWNSHIP - 583 they made the Fort Ball circuit extend east to include a part of Huron county. The preacher appointed for this circuit was a very young man by the name of Arza Brown. He had a fine riding horse, with which he swam the creeks and rivers, tying a suit of dry clothes on his shoulders. These he put on before he commenced preaching. His widowed mother lived at Sandusky. He was well liked and welcomed everywhere, and among those also that did not belong to his church. He became a very able preacher. He afterwards lived in Cincinnati, where he died soon after the rebellion, eighty-three years old. One very happy feature in frontier life was the mutual enjoyment of the society amongst the old and young. It was a common practice in the winter time to visit some neighbor in the evening. A yoke of oxen were hitched to a sled, with a box full of straw, that held the family and some neighbors also. Arrived at the house, the children and women were " thawed out" by the large hickory fire, and after disposing of a meal of roasted pig, corn cake, potatoes, turnips, squash, wild-grapes, honey, etc., the dance commenced, which often lasted until the dawn of day in the east admonished the dancers that the cows, horses, sheep and hogs at home had to be looked after. At these dances it was often surprising to see the old men and women move over the pungeon floor with the spriNg and elasticity of youth, and with a grace and gentle mean that would do honor to a ball room of these latter days. " Buck and Bright " hitched again to the sled—all aboard ! Some with cold chicken or cold pork and corncake for a piece on the road; all started for home, all happy in having had a good old time. In Dr. Williams' father's family there were five boys and two girls. As the children grew up they needed education, and there was no school in the neighborhood. The mother saw the necessity of a teacher, and for want of another, she taught the 'oldest, and as they became advanced, she compelled them to teach the younger. Every stranger that came into the house was induced to confer some useful knowledge to the family, and thus the children became educated without a school house to go to. As they grew up, they were all qualified to teach school. One of the Doctor's brothers commenced when he was only sixteen years old, and taught school for forty winters in succession. So much for a mother's resolution to have her children educated. I have drawn very largely on the Doctor's kindness for the above sketches, and for which I feel thankful, but the flattering remarks, though very true, about myself, are omitted for modesty sake. 484 - HISTORY OF SENECA COUNTY. Esquire T. M. Kelley was so kind as to send me some historic information,. from which I extract: Friend Lang : My father, Benjamin Kelley (and whom you well knew), was born in New Jersey, June 6th, 1793. He was a soldier in the war of 1812. Mother, Mahitabel Travis, was born April 3d, 1793, in Tioga county, Pennsylvania. They were married August 19th, 1813, in Seneca county, New York, and lived in Steuben county, in that state, until the spring of 1834, when they moved to this township with a family of six boys and two girls, and settled on the east half of the northwest quarter of section one. They bought the land of a Mr. Davis, who had entered it. There were but a few trees chopped, and the body of a log cabin erected without a roof. The family stayed at Captain Hanford's hotel until father and the older boys cut and split clapboards and hewed pungeon for the floor and doors. Then we moved into the cabin. The only place mother had to do her cooking was a kind of a fire-place built of cobble stones, between two oak stumps, from about the 20th of April until the 1st of August that year. It took a barrel of flour and a bushel of corn meal every four weeks to feed us all. The bread was baked in a tin reflector between those oak stumps. On the 12th day of April the cattle could get a good living in the woods. We worked them 'all day, and at night we put a bell on one of them and let them go. Sometimes' the boys would have to hunt a week to find them again, but generally they were in hearing distance. The first wheat we raised father took to Cold Creek with an ox cart to get it ground. It took nearly a week to make the trip. My youngest brother was born after we came here, August 16th, 1836, making a family of seven boys. and two girls, all now living except the oldest girl. Mother and the girls carded and spun the wool and flax, wove the cloth, and cut and made our clothes ; the tow-linen for summer wear and linsey woolsey for winter wear. They also made bags, towels, table-cloths, sheets and pillow-slips of flax, raised, pulled, rotted and dressed by the family. The youngest sister, Mrs. J. P. Moore, spun flax at Fremont at the celebration of the centennial tea party of Boston harbor. Mother died May 31st, 1860, at Elmore, Ohio. Father died April 12th, 1863, at Reedtown. Thomas Bennett was the first postmaster appointed here, but would not serve, whereupon William Knapp was appointed. Knapp was a storekeeper, and 'sold the store to a Mr. Ackley, who was killed by the falling of a bent in raising a barn for Harrison Cole. John Emery had his leg broken by the same. fall. My father framed the barn. Respectfully your friend, T. M. KELLEY. The town of Omar never flourished. Reed is altogether a farming township. The soil is rich, and produces great crops, rapidly increasing the wealth of the township. The beautiful school houses in Reed show conclusively that the cause of education is not neglected. REED TOWNSHIP - 585 There is a noticeable elevationrunning north and south through the township, a little east of the center, but not high enough to be called a ridge, yet sufficiently so to make a water-shed. Attica station, on the Baltimore & Ohio road, is located in this township, on section thirty-five. This railroad crosses and cuts the entire southern tier of sections of this township, except section thirty-one. CHAPTER XL. SCIPIO TOWNSHIP. T. 2, N. 12. 16 E. Nobody will now dispute the fact that the Anways were the first who identified their names with the early settlement of Scipio township. About the time of the land sales at Delaware, William Anway, from Scipio, Cayuga county, New York, settled in the woods upon land that is now embraced within the geographical limits of this township. It is said that when Mr. Anway arrived and located here in 1821, there were two families living upon the school section, who soon moved away. The late Mr. Laughery, the father of my old friend, James Laughery, was the first man who purchased land in this township, but the first patent recorded for land purchased in the county was that mentioned in the history of Clinton, by a Mr. Anway. C. T. Westbrook, John Wright, Adam Hance, Abraham Spencer, Isaac Nichols, Mr. Stevens, Mr. Osborn, Timothy P. Roberts, Morrison McMillon, E. H. Brown, Seth F. Foster, Nathan Foster and William B. Mathewson may be mentioned as early settlers. Mention has already been made of the time and manner of organizing the township, and that it then took in Reed and contained sixteen inhabitants, etc., It was also stated that Mr. Anway named it after his old home in New York. The time and manner of its survey was also mentioned in chapter x. The petition for the organization was presented to the" county commissioners on the 6th of December, 1824. The petition was granted, of course, and an election ordered to be held on 'the following 25th day of December, 1824 ----Christmas day. At this election seventeen votes were cast. Of those voting, thirteen received office, leaving but four to make up what is called the " sovereign people," and the other thirteen were their servants. Let us hope that this distinctive feature in our peculiar American institutions may ever so remain; that our public SCIPIO TOWNSHIP - 587 officers shall be regarded as public servants only and never be permitted to become our masters. So mote it be. At this first election in Scipio William B. Mathewson was elected clerk; John Wright, Seth F. Foster and Jonathan Nichols, trustees; Adam Hance and Joseph Osborn, overseers of the poor; William Stevens and Ezechial Sampson, fence viewers; William Anway, Jr., lister; William Anway, treasurer; Cornelius T. Westbrook and Morrison McMillen, constables; John Anway and E. H. Brown, supervisors. Both Rocky creek and Willow creek run through Scipio township, yet Mr. Butterfield says in his history, on page 127: "There is not a stream of water in the township." In 1840 the population of Scipio was 1,556. The township has rapidly increased in wealth since that time, but less so in population. In 1870 it was 1,642; in 1880 it is 1,836. In 1834 Sidney Smith caused to be surveyed in this township, upon the corners of sections fifteen, sixteen, twenty-one and twenty-two, a town, which he called Republic. The place was known for a long time as Scipio Center. R. M. Shoemaker (now in Cincinnati) was the surveyor. Adam Hance and John Wright had entered the larger portion of the land upon which the town was laid out, in the year 1822, Hance owning the east and Wright the west part. John Wright built the first dwelling house upon the plat. The town did not improve very rapidly until the prospect of a railroad from Sandusky began to agitate the people, and when in 1841 the railroad did come, Republic became quite a trading place. Stores and wearhouses, shops and factories sprung up as by magic and the town looked like a bee-hive on a large scale. Such was the importance of the place at our time that Melmore became so much excited as to form a joint stock company for the purpose of building a railroad to Republic. (See chapter xxxiii., Eden township). It has already been incidentally mentioned that when, on the night of the 21st of May, 841, the court house in Tiffin burnt, efforts were made to remove the county seat to Republic. General Stickney can tell something about that move. He is one of the most enterprising of all the public men in the county of Seneca, and has, in a great measure, stamped his individuality upon Scipio township and the history of Seneca county generally. And while on this subject, let me say of him, that he was born August 31, 811, in Franklin county, New York. He came to Seneca county on the 4th of July, 836. On the 11th of October, 1836, he married Emma, daughter of Timothy P. Roberts, Esq., of Scipio township. Their only child is a daughter. 588 - HISTORY OF SENECA COUNTY. General Stickney has a large farm of about seven hundred acres, one mile east of Republic, where he lives in comfort with plenty around him. He has been one of the leading men of the Democratic party of the county ever since he came here. He was justice of the peace in Republic, and held the office of postmaster there for sixteen years. He Was a member of the convention that formed the present constitution of Ohio. In 1867 he was elected a member of the house of representatives of the Ohio legislature, and was re-elected in 1869; was a member of the Ohio senate in 1875, and last winter was appointed by Governor Foster, a member of the board of directors of the Ohio penitentiary. The General is still vigorous and active. Mrs. Stickney is a lady of refined mind, and both are highly. esteemed. After the new line of the Cincinnati, Sandusky & Cleveland railroad was made straight through from Sandusky to Tiffin, Bellevue, Lodi and Republic were left out in the cold, and the change Played mischief with Republic. Business went all to pieces, houses were deserted and the town soon assumed an air of general dilapidation. It remained in that condition until the making of the Baltimore & Ohio railroad, which has infused new life into Republic, and much business is done there now. A little east of Republic is a large, three-story brick building that was once the Seneca county academy. It was incorporated by an act passed March 4, 1836, and organized February 8, 1844. The capital stock amounted to $3,000, and was divided into 300 shares of $10 each. There were nine trustees. Timothy P. Roberts was the first president. E. T. Stickney was the treasurer; S. W. Shepard, principal. The institution flourished for many years and the name of Schuyler has given it an almost undying fame. It is to be regretted that the academy was ever permitted to fail. It could and should have been saved. It was a credit to Republic and to Seneca county. TIMOTHY P. ROBERTS. Mrs. E. T. Stickney was so kind as, to furnish me with the following sketch of her honored father, and I take pleasure in copying it here: Timothy P. Roberts was born. at Middletown, Connecticut, June 11, 1784. Two years later his parents moved with their family to Massachusetts and located in Lee, Berkshire county. Timothy lived with his parents at Lee until he arrived at the age of eighteen years,. when fie was apprenticed to Deacon Stone to learn the trade of a wheelwright. He moved with Deacon Stone and his family, to the town of Locke, Cayuga county, New York. On the 18th of January, 1808, he was inter-married with Rhoda Chadwick, formerly of. Lee, Massachusetts, and settled in Scipio, New York. This SCIPIO TOWNSHIP - 589 union was blessed with seven children, three of whom died in infancy. Emma, now the wife. of General E. T. Stickney, and Jane, the wife of S. S. Dentler, are all that remain of the family, except grand children. Mr. Roberts emigrated from Scipio, New York, to Scipio, in Seneca county, Ohio, with his family, in 1825, and entered 160 acres of land, upon one-half of which he resided the balance of his days. The other eighty acres he gave to his oldest son, Ansel C. Roberts. Mr. Roberts died at the age of 83 years, 7 months and 17 days, on the 28th of January, 1868. Mrs. Rhoda Roberts died at the residence of her daughter, Emma, March 31, 1872, aged 80 years, 1 month and nineteen days. Mr. Roberts was about five feet, seven inches high, stout and compactly built; he had a large, well balanced head, and a well proportioned, manly countenance. He was of fair complexion, slow of speech, of clear judgment and strong in his decision. He was mentally, physically and morally strong. When Mr. William Anway came to this township, in 1821, he had eleven children; the oldest was twenty-one years old, and the youngest but two years. He built the first cabin here, with the help of his family and one man—Benjamin Huntley, from Huron county. Mr. Anway and his son cut the first road through the woods to Tiffin, winding along on the highest ground they could find. Anway's cabin stood near the corner of the Marion state road and the South Tiffin road. The spot is now covered by a circle of pines planted there in memory of the first home of the Anway family. The children of William Anway were John, Susan, William, George, Fanny, Austin, Erastus, Hannah, Harrison and Phoebe. Moses Smith put up a small frame building across the road from Anways, in which he kept a store. Robert Dutton was the first man that died in this township, and was buried on his farm, which is now owned by Mr. Frank Fox. William Pierce, a colored man, put up and carried on the first blacksmith shop in the township. Mary, the daughter of John Anway, was the first white child born in the township. She is now the wife of Mr. John Wilcox, living in Republic. Her father's was the first marriage in Scipio township. John is still living at this writing. ARCHIBALD STEWART Came here from Lycoming county, Pennsylvania, and settled on section twenty-nine, in 824. He had two children when he came, and on the 29th of August, the same year, his son James W. was born at their new home here, where he still lives, having lived no other place all this time. The old cabin stood about eighty rods from their present dwelling. The Indians used to camp near their cabin, on the east 590 - HISTORY OF SENECA COUNTY. bank of Rocky creek. There was a very old Indian among them, who had large silver rings in his nose. He was in the habit of boasting that he had the tongues of ninety-nine white men, and needed just one more to make ,one hundred. The Indians often stayed over night at Mr. Stewart's. Archibald Stewart was born on the 9th of June, 1797, in Lycoming county, Pennsylvania. He was raised on a farm, and married Martha Johnson, who died here. He is about five feet nine inches high, has a peculiar deep, sonorous voice, is well proportioned and well preserved; has large blue eyes, a fine forehead; his heavy head of hair, which was once a dark brown, has become white by the heavy frosts of Scipio township, but he still walks erect, and is as -good and interesting in conversation as ever, bidding fair to become a centennarian. Mr. Isaac B. Witter tells me that in 1827onathan Witter, Sr., moved from Ontario county, New York, into Reed township, near Captain Hanford's and Dr. Gilbert's. The writer knew Mr. Witter very well. Isaac B. has now lived in Scipio over forty years. Philip and Adam Steinbaugh, Humphrey Bromley, Michael Hendel, John A. Gale, Chancey Rundell, J. H. Drake, Dr. Maynard, William Parker, Sylvester Watson, the Neikirks, A. H. and R. G. Perry and Michael Chamberlain may also be said to belong to the pioneers here. N. P. COLWELL, When about twenty years old, emigrated from Madison county, New York, to Thompson township, in this county, where he arrived at his step-father's, Joseph Philo, on the 9th of October, 1831 In 1832 the election was held at Esquire Knight's cabin, a few rods east of John Royers, where Colwell voted for Jackson for president of the United States. He lived in Thompson two years, and then went to Amsden's Corners (Bellevue), where he built a wagon and carriage shop, and carried on the business for five years, when he returned to New York, where he married his wife, and returned here, located in Republic in August, 1838,here he has lived on the same street ever since. Here he built a shop, and carried on the wagon and carriage business until failing health compelled him to quit. The people elected him township clerk, and he opened the first office in the then new town hall, in the spring of 1850. He continued in office for twenty years, until stricken down by paralysis in 1870. He held the office of township clerk eleven years, and was justice of the peace sixteen years; he was mayor of Republic and member of the council all the time; a member of the board. of education seventeen years in succession. During these long years SCIPIO TOWNSHIP - 591 of official life he transacted a great deal of legal business, settling estates of deceased persons and attending to guardianships. During and since the war he attended to soldiers claims free of charge, and until a license of $10 was required. This he paid for eight years, and his work in that line increased until on the 27th day of December, 1870, he was stricken with paralysis, when for several months he could not write. He recovered sufficiently, however, to attend to notarial and other office business in his room, where he is confined most of the time Nervous rheumatism in his feet and legs interfere with his walking very much, and he goes out only on clear, warm days. Friend Colwell said to me in a letter, describing the beauties of Thompson in its wild state: All the land about Flat Rock (i. e., where it has been built since) was a wild prairie. In the spring time large crops. of herbage sprang up, and in May and June it was the most beautiful flower garden I ever saw—wild flowers of all forms, shapes and colors, equal to any cultivated flowers, gave a delightful fragrance to all that country. Snow's cabin, north of where Flat Rock now stands, was the only human habitation in all that region. There were large herds of deer roaming over these prairies. They could be seen almost any time of day swinging their antlers as they cropped the herbage. The scenery was wild and grand beyond .description, a perfect Garden of Eden, except the apples. When frost killed the vegetation and the grass had become dry, fires swept all over the country and left it bare.. The Indians set it on fire for hunting purposes. LANCE TODD Was born on the 7th day of January, 1806, in Frederick county, Maryland, the son of Thomas and Mary Todd. They arrived in Fort Ball on the 8th of August, 1828,nd the whole family soon thereafter settled in the northwestern part of Scipio township. There were besides the parents, three brothers and two sisters, and each had a piece of land in that neighborhood. Nathaniel Norris was married to one of the girls in Maryland, and the other married Lott Norris, after the Todd family came out here. Lance Todd built a cabin in the woods on his own land and afterwards put up a good, two-story log house, in which he ststill residesHe was married here to Mary Miller in 18834,nd has two children. The whole family is still living, but the parents, brothers and sisters of Mr. Todd are dead. When the family settled here on section eight, William Scoville lived on the south end of the same section., Evan Dorsey had a house raised on his land also, but nobody lived in it. They had to make a road out from their place every direction they wanted to go. Abraham Smith 592 - HISTORY OF SENECA COUNTY. came into this neighborhood soon after the Todds settled here; also John Hall. After the reservation came into market, the country settled up very rapidly, and soon the land was all taken up. Then roads were opened, land cleared, and houses put up, so that it began to look like an old country. Mr. Todd has about seventy-five acres cleared and about thirty-five acres in woods. He helped to open and start six farms in this neighborhood, and still lives on the place where he located, fifty two years ago. CHAPTER XLI. SENECA TOWNSHIP. T. 1, N. R. 14 E. IN some previous chapter mention was made of the township of Seneca, when first organized, embracing all that part of Seneca county lying west of the Sandusky river. Every township that was organized in this territory afterwards reduced it in size until finally it was confined to its proper geographical limits (See chapter x.) The first election held in this township was on Monday, the 1st day of June, 1820, while Seneca county was still a part of Sandusky county. At the next annual election the following officers were chosen, viz: West Barney, John Lay and David Risdon, trustees; John Eaton, clerk, (it is said that he named Eden township after himself); Benjamin Barney, treasurer, (he still lives in Pike county, Illinois,); Joseph Keller and Daniel Rice, overseers of the poor; James Montgomery, Erastus Bowe and Joel Chaffin, supervisors; P. Wilson, lister; Asa Pike, appraiser; Thomas Nicholson and Abner Pike, fence viewers; John Boughton and Joel Lee, constables. At the state election in the fall of the same year the whole number of votes polled in Seneca township, comprising about three-fourths of the whole county, was twenty-six. (See chapter x.) In 1830 the population had increased to 369; in 1840, to 1,393 (then Seneca proper); in 1870 it numbered 1,580. It did not reach that number in 1880, when it is only 1,537. The early settlers in the township, as now constituted, were Henry St. John, William McCormick, Alexander Bowland, John Galbreath, Peter Weikert, Joseph Canahan, William Kerr, Caleb Brundage, Daniel Hoffman, John Yambert, David Foght, William Harmon, Jacob Staib, Benjamin Harmon, John Blair, George. Heck, Jacob Wolfe, John Waggoner, James Aiken, James Brinkerhoff, John Crocker, Gustavus Reiniger, Jacob Kroh, Amos Nrchols, John Withelm and others. There was also an Indian grant in this township to Catharine Walker, - 38 - 594 - HISTORY OF SENECA COUNTY. a Wyandot woman, and to John Walker, her son, who was wounded in the service of the United States. It was a section of 640 acres lying mostly within the present limits of Seneca township. and directly west of the Van Meter section. This grant was secured to these Walkers at the treaty of 1817, at the foot of the rapids of the Miami of the Lake. The writer knew the old lady and William Walker, another of her sons, when they kept store at Upper Sandusky. Judge Lugenbeel bought a large part of the section when the Walkers sold it. On the 15th of April, 1845, Henry F. Kaestner, William Brinkerhoff and John Campbell caused to be surveyed, on section nineteen, a town, to which was given the name of Berwick (Mr. Campbell came from Berwick, in Pennsylvania, and named this new town after that old one. The Berwick in Pennsylvania is also the birthplace of the wife of the writer.) Berwick is a station on the Cincinnati, Sandusky & Cleveland railroad, eight miles from Tiffin, and is the only village in the township. Seneca is one of the wealthy townships in the county. The soil is rich and under a good state of cultivation. Its citizens are intelligent and enterprising. Their homes exhibit taste and comfort. Mention should also be made of some other old settlers here, German pioneers that located in Seneca township about the time the writer came to Tiffin: John Dockweiler, Conrad Schmitt, Ignatz Neumeyer, John Houck, George Weisenberger, Michael Wagner, John Feck, Jacob Kappler, Michael Stippich, Conrad Heirholzer and John Wank. FRANCIS JOSEPH HIRT. The reader must excuse the space occupied in the mention of this subject. I would rather speak of men—yes, and of good men, than to describe brutes. The event I am about to describe here took place nearly forty years ago, and has almost been forgotten. A " logging " meant the hauling together and piling up of logs to make a clearing, preparatory to the burning of them. When the logs were cut to the proper length to be handled, and everything was ready for the work, the neighbors were invited for a certain day to come to the " logging.';, Some brought their ox teams, others their axes, and worked hard all day. The neighboring women came to help the housewife getting dinner and supper for the men, and after supper it was very usual to have a dance and a general good time. It was very customary in those clays to have plenty of whisky at these loggings, raisings, sheep-washings, harvests, etc., and sometimes a man would take too much. A Mr. John Feck lived on a piece of forty acres in the southwest SENECA TOWNSHIP - 595 quarter of section five, in this township; Francis J. Hirt also, lived in the neighborhood. Both were at the logging of somebody else in the neighborhood, whose name has escaped me. This was early in the spring of 1841. The man that had the logging, Hirt, Feck, and perhaps the whole crowd were Germans. After supper a' dance was started. Hirt took part in the dance. Feck stood at one side of the room looking on. Hirt had a pocket-knife in his hand, and becoming very boisterous, somebody tried to quiet him, and during the muddle Hirt stabbed Feck in the belly, cutting a terrible gash, letting out his bowels, and from which he died in a short time. Hirt was, arrested and placed in the log jail in Tiffin. He was a man near six feet high, well proportioned, and very muscular. His carriage was very straight. His pale face contrasted very violently with his very black, bushy hair, large black eyebrows, and his dark, flashy, large eye. He had a very low forehead, clenched lips, and heavy lower jaw; thick, short neck, and very long, bony arms. His nose was short and fleshy, and his teeth were regular and beautiful; in fact, his teeth were the only thing beautiful about him. His whole make-up presented the desperado. On the 25th day of May, 1841, the grand jury presented an indictment in the court against Hirt, for murder in the first degree, and the prosecuting attorney, Mr. Joel W. Wilson, was busily engaged preparing the case for trial. Cowdery and Wilson were law partners at that time, and the witnesses being nearly all Germans, the writer, then reading law in the office, was of some service to the prosecuting attorney in ascertaining what the witnesses could testify. Immediately after the occurrence, Dr. George W. Sampson, of McCutchenville, was sent for, who arrived while Mr. Feck was still living. He returned the intestines and sewed up the wound, but Feck had already become delirious. Hirt's knife was found with blood on it, behind a big German chest that stood in the room where the dance took place and the murder was committed. It seems that Hirt threw the knife there after he had cut the fatal wound. The court commenced on the 24th day of May, 1841, a few days after the fire of the court house. The court was held in the M. P. church, on Monroe street, now fixed up for a dwelling house by Mr. F. Mar-quart, of Tiffin. When the case of the state of Ohio against Francis J. Hirt Was called, it was continued for trial to the next term of the court. It will be remembered that at the fire of the court house, the old log jail at the southeast corner of the court house lot, was saved. Hirt was in this jail. 596 - HISTORY OF SENECA COUNTY. The following named persons were subpoenaed as witnesses for the state and put under their own personal recognizances for their appearances at the next term, each in the sum of $100, viz: .John Neumeyer, John Wank, William Kabala, Joseph Keppler, Henry Naeth, John Weng, Joseph Meng, Joseph Smith, Francis Lenhart, Anthony Sanders, Joseph Hummell, Clements Marks, John Baptist Ilchert and Alexander Swartz (Schwartz). Hirt broke jail and escaped to Canada, where he lived for many years. His wife instituted proceedings in court, by which she became the owner of all the property of her husband, and it was supposed for a while that she would follow him to Canada. She was a very pious lady, and settled in New Reigel, in this county, near her church: where she liven until about two years ago. She had no child, but her mother lived with her. Hirt himself made his way to Iowa City, Iowa, from whence he kept up a regular correspondence with his wife, and finally prevailed upon her to sell her property in New Reigel and meet him in Iowa City. She complied, and taking her old mother with her, met Hire at Iowa City. The sight of her husband so horrified her that she could not consent to have him live with her, and finally absolutely refused. She had already purchased a house and lot in the suburbs, of Iowa City, where she lived with her mother. One afternoon, when the two ladies were alone in the house, Hirt came, drew a revolver, and shot his wife and then her mother. It is also said that he set the house on fire and hung himself. Both ladies were killed, however, and the particulars in the closing scene of the horrible life of this monster are not known here. If they can be ascertained before these pages go to the printer, the proper connections will be added. My old friend John Houck, the merchant, says the murder of John Feck took place after the raising of a log barn, and not after a logging. I write from my own best recollections and those of others that knew of the occurrence at the time. GUSTAVUS G. REINIGER Is one of the German pioneers of Seneca county. The history of Seneca township would not be complete without a short sketch of him. He was born in Vayingen, in Wurtemberg, Germany, on the 9th day of April, 1801; attended school at Attersteig, in the black woods (Schwartzwald), and was afterwards placed under the tutorship of Prof. Heller, in Kalb, where he studied the languages. He next spent two years as a student of the Agricultural Academy. at Hohheim. After he left the SENECA TOWNSHIP - 597 academy he became book-keeper (actuary) in the office of the " Comptroleur of Forests " at Beutelsbach, in Wurtemberg. Here he made the acquaintance of Fraulein Rosalia Durr, and was married . to her in 1822. He remained in this office until the spring of 1832, when he moved with his family to America, and settled in the woods of Seneca township, in August of that year, and where he still resides. His oldest son is dead, and two others are in Iowa, one of whom is a distinguished lawyer there. It is customary in Germany for all officers in the forest departments to wear uniforms of dark green cloth. The early settlers of Tiffin will remember Mr. Reiniger with his green coat buttoned up to his chin with yellow buttons, and his friendly face- smoothly shaven, except the familiar goatee, which he wears to this day. It is no easy task to comprehend and bring up before the mind the full scene in the change, when a man, with his family, leaves the association of friends and the scenes of his earlier days, and exchanges a life of refinement in the classic hills and valleys of Germany for that of an American frontiersman in the forest. And is it not strange to see so many of that class of men and women quietly embrace and enjoy the free and independent life of an American farmer ? Such, however, is the nature of our free institutions, that any honest livelihood here is preferable to the gilded wrongs of European oppressions, and a life under them. The, true man is the American nobleman. There are three daughters and two sons still living. Mrs. Reiniger died on the 5th of May, 869. THE STAIB FAMILY Were also among the pioneer settlers of Seneca township. My old friend Mr. Jacob Staib prepared a sketch for me in German, from which I abstract the following: I was born in Grosz-Heppach, in Wurtemberg, Germany. In the year 1833 I came to America, and landed in Tiffin on the 28th of August, in that year. I worked for Mr. Fellnagel awhile, but my first work here was for Mr. Reiniger. I entered the land where we lived so long, and in 1834 I commenced chopping and clearing on the old Staib farm, and built a house, into which I moved on the 1st day of April, 1835, and where I had no other company than my dog. I bought a yoke of oxen, a cow and some chickens. In May John Ellwanger came and worked with me until my father and the family came on. Father was born on the 6th of August, 1779', in Wurtemberg, when it was yet a Duchy. He died March 28th, 1867. My mother, who is still living with me, and whose maiden name was Elizabeth C. Kloepfer, was born also in Wurtemberg, October 8th, 1783. The family arrived here July 9th, 1835. Now we all worked together, but had many troubles to con- 598 - HISTORY OF SENECA COUNTY. tend with. Provisions became scarce, and we were compelled to grate unripe corn to make bread. I was lucky enough to buy a barrel of flour from a team that came from the south for $7.00. The man sold the balance of the load in Tiffin for twice that sum. The German grape plants father brought with him began to bear in two years from the time they were planted, and produced delightful fruit, but in 1843 the mildew affected them, and finally destroyed them. We raised pines from seed we brought with -us, which became the firstever green trees in the county. We also had the first grafted fruit in the county, cherries, plums, apricots, peaches, etc. We partook of the work and hardships incident to frontier life. The climate was very unfavorable ; great storms, heavy frosts, and thawing weather, interchanging rapidly, was very destructive to wheat, and we harvested more cheat than wheat. (What has become of the cheat anyway ? Why are not farmers pestered with it now ?—WRITER.) In the spring of 1834 we had frosts from the 12th until the 20th of May. The fruit trees froze, vegetables, the wheat, and even the leaves on the trees in the woods, so that on the 1st of June the woods looked like winter time. The springs were very wet; the summers exceedingly hot and dry. In the summer of 1834 we were pestered greatly with squirrels; the woods were literally filled with them. We could raise nothing within a few rods of the fences. They often destroyed whole fields of wheat and corn. The woods were full of ravenous animals also, that made it almost impossible to raise poultry or hogs for a while. In 1840 a cow belonging to Martin Spitler died, and the wolves devoured her in two nights. In 1858 I found a nest of young wolves on my farm, about forty rods from the river, in a hollow tree, where we burned them up. The old one made the nights hideous with her howling. We also had our share of malarious fevers, and at times were not able to wait upon each other. Sometimes we could not take care of our crops, but there is nothing like good neighbors. There were no rich people here the, and therefore we had no thieves ; there was nothing to steal. The greater number of the old pioneers have passed away, and there are but a few of us left who can look back upon those early days, which were, after all, among our most happy times, in spite of all hard work and privations. In December, 1833, we built a school house. Our district embraced nearly all the township. We all met on the same day, chopped down the trees, hauled the logs together, raised the house and put the clap-boards on before we quit work. Even the floor was laid, the benches put up, the house chinked and daubed. A few days after school was kept in it. In 1838 Market street, in Tiffrn, was cut out from the river to Julius Fellnagel's, on Sandusky street. Mr. Fellnagel had a lease from Mr. Hedges for a piece of land near by, all covered with trees. My brother Louis and I took the job of clearing it. When we cut down a big maple we found at a point three inches from the center a notch that had been cut with a sharp instrument, about three inches wide. The notch was four inches deep and, oblique. We counted more. than three hundred rings between this wound and the bark. Some forest ranger more than three centuries before injured the tree. It stood between Mr. Bid's residence and the river., There was a wedding in Seneca township one night. The clay bake SENECA TOWNSHIP - 599 oven, near the house of the bride, stood on block. That night it was full of bread, pies, roasted turkey, cakes, and other good things. Boys are boys, they say, but it was a very ugly trick when they carried away the whole bake oven, with its entire contents, and when the ceremony at the house was over, and the supper to be served up, the bake oven was gone. I don't like to mention any names, but if any one will ask my old friend G. W. Aulger, on the McCutchenville road, he may know something about it. Who ever heard of stealing a bake oven? ELIJAH MUSGRAVE, Who is still living, was also an early settler in the county. He came to Republic in September, 1824, and worked for Mr. T. Roberts clearing land, and soon earned money enough to buy eighty acres, near Melmore, from Thomas West: He also worked for Frank Baker, Judge Cornell and Major Stephens. He and John Burns took the job of building the first M. E. church in Melmore, in 1833. He voted at the first election held in Scipio township. Adam Hance was elected justice of the peace. Mr. Musgrave has lived for many years on his splendid farm, in section twenty-seven. He was deputy sheriff under David Bishop in 1833. Mr. Musgrave says: In the spring, when I was 23 years old, I made 6,000 rails. They only paid 25 cents per hundred for rails down in Coshocton, but here I got 50 cents. I was born in Allegheny county, Virginia, March 4, 1804. In 1810 my father moved to Coshocton county, Ohio. When I came here there was no house between New Haven and Republic. I was married to Harriet, daughter of Micajah Heaton, 17th of May, 1833. When the Toledo war broke out, I was captain of a militia company. Dr. Gibson was our surgeon. Ezra Baker had a company also, and there was a company from Findlay, too. We all went to Toledo, but never got under fire. We had a full battalion. Henry C. Brish was our general. Governor Lucas was there. We all came back safe and sound. Daniel Reis, Philip and Jacob Scheer, Andrew Burgderfer, Jonathan Kirgis and Peter Miller were also early German settlers, and there were also the Arbogasts, Vannests, John Manges, John Kerr, E. Roley, the Koenigsaamens, Caleb Brundage, George Robb, A. Yambright, Henry Hepp, John Adelsperger, Joseph Lye, Joseph Lonsoway and others; also the Davidsons and Blairs, the Spilters and others. JOHN DOCKWEILER Came here from Germany in 1833, and bought the northwest quarter section five, when it was all woods. Here he built his home and raised a large family. He was a very strong man and very decided in