CANDIDATE	VOTES
Edward Tiffin Philemon Bucher John Bigger Return J. Meigs, Jr. Tom Tuff Thomas Konkey	25 12 2 2 1 1

Edward Tiffin having a majority of the whole number of votes given, was thereupon declared by the speakers of both houses duly elected. December, 1809. During the recess, Mr. Tiffin resigned his seat in the senate of the United States. GOVERNOR TIFFIN IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES. The first session of the tenth congress commenced October 26, 1807. Mr. John Adams presented the credentials of Hon. Edward Tiffrn, who took the oath and was seated. The president communicated to the senate a letter from the governor of the Indian territory, together with certain resolutions of the territorial legis- 676 - HISTORY OF SENECA COUNTY. lature, on the expediency of suspending the sixth article of the compact contained in the ordinance passed July 13, 1787, concerning the admission of slaves ; also a remonstrance against the same from citizens of Clark county, which was read and ordered to be referred to Messrs. Franklin, Kitchill and Tiffin to consider and report thereon. Upon the report of the committee, the senate resolved that it is not expedient to so suspend. On the 27th of November, 1807, the following resolution was passed in the senate : Resolved, That a committee be appointed to inquire whether it be compatible with the honor and privileges of the house that John Smith, a senator from Ohio, against whom bills of indictment were found in the circuit court of Virginia, held at Richmond in August last, for treason and misdemeanor, should be permitted any longer to have a seat therein ; and that the committee do inquire into all the facts regarding the conduct of Mr. Smith as an alleged associate Of Aaron Burr, and report the same to the senate. During the discussion, Mr. Tiffrn, by permission, read in his place a letter from Mr. Smith, as follows :" WASHINGTON, November 27, 1807. " DEAR SIR : Just having heard that a motion is pending in the senate to appoint a committee to inquire into certain charges exhibited against me at Richmond by the late grand jury, I beg you, sir, to assure the senate, in my name, that nothing will afford me more pleasure than to have a public investigation of the said charges and an opportunity to vindicate my innocence, and I beg you from your seat to make this statement. " I am, dear sir, respectfully yours, etc., " JOHN SMITH. " HON. MR. TIFFIN." Smith was not expelled, however. In a letter to the author on this subject somebody remarked : " In the case of John Smith, I think there were not quite enough votes to insure his expulsion and Pa., I believe, voted against him. D. M. T." Amongst the numerous measures that Mr. Tiffrn supported with his influence and his vote were the following, viz : A bill for the preservation of peace and maintenance of the authority of the United States in the ports, harbors and waters under their jurisdiction. A bill extending the rights of suffrage in the Mississippi territory. A bill authorizing the president of the United States, under certain conditions, to suspend the operation of the act laying an embargo on all ships and vessels in the ports and harbors of the United States. An act making provision for arming and equipping the whole body of the militia of the United States. An act to authorize the president of the United States to cause to be prepared for service the frigates and other armed vessels of the United States. January 19, 1809. Mr. Tiffin presented sundry petitions from purchasers of public lands in the state of Ohio, stating, " that from the various incidents to which new settlers are liable, and more especially from the great uncertainty of com- APPENDIX - 677 manding cash for produce at the present time, they will not be able to make up the final payments for their lands at the time they will respectively become due," and praying that congress will so modify the present land laws as will guard them from the embarrassments and ruin they otherwise apprehend may fall upon them. The petitions were referred to Messrs. Tiffin, Gregg and Bradley, to consider and report thereon. February 14, 1809. The senate resumed the consideration of the motion made on the 8th instant : " That the several laws laying an embargo on all ships and vessels in the ports and harbors of the United States be repealed on the 4th day of March next, except as to Great Britain and France and their dependencies ; and that provision be made by law for prohibiting all commercial intercourse with those nations and their dependencies and the importation of any article into the United States, the growth, produce, or manufacture of either of said nations. or of the dominions of either of them." On motion of Mr. Bayard to strike out the following words : " Except as to Great Britain and France and their dependencies," etc., it was determined in the negative. Mr. Tiffrn voted no. On the question to agree to the original motion—ayes 22, nays 3, Mr. Tiffin voted aye. February 28, 1809. The Senate proceeded to consider the amendments of the house of representatives entitled : An act to inderdict the commercial intercourse between the United States and Great Britain and France and their dependencies, and for other purposes." On the question to agree to the amendment of section 11, as follows : strike out the words, " and to cause to be issued, under suitable pledges and precautions, letters of marque and reprisal against the nation thereafter continuing in enforcing its unlawful edicts against the commerce of the United States;" it was carried. Mr. Tiffin voted in the affirmative. Ayes 17, Nays 14. This was in 1809. The war spirit already kindled, broke out into a flame three years later. After Mr. Tiffin resig ned his seat in the United States senate,he was elected a member of the house of representatives of the Ohio legislature, from Ross county, in 1809. FIRST BALLOT FOR SPEAKER. Edward Tiffin - 20 James Richard - 15 Mathias Corwin - 4  Abraham Shepherd - 2 Othneil Looker - 1 George Jackson - 1 Samuel Dunlap - 1 Neither of the persons having a majority of the whole number present, the house proceeded to a second ballot, which resulted as follows : Tiffin - 24 Richard - 19 Shepherd - 1 Looker - 1 567 - HISTORY OF SENECA COUNTY. Mr. Tiffin having received a majority of all the votes of the members present, was declared by the clerk to be duly elected speaker. The general assembly begun and held at the town of Zanesville, on Monday the 3d day of December, 1810, being the first session of the ninth general assembly of Ohio. Members from Ross—Edward Tiffin, Abraham Claypool, James Manary, Henry Brush and William Creighton, Jr. Mr. Tiffin was again elected speaker. APPENDIX. NO. 3 THE END—CENTENNIAL ORATION AND CELEBRATION OF FOURTH OF JULY 1876. IN TIFFIN. (From the Tiffin Tribune of July 6th, 1876.) ONLY AND ORIGINAL CENTENNIAL! HOW WE CELEBRATED IT! NOISE, DISPLAY, PATRIOTISM, ETC., ETC. THE FOURTH IN TIFFIN. OUR PEOPLE certainly acquitted themselves patriotically on the Fourth of July, 1876. Early Monday afternoon the work of decoration began, and by night nearly all the business houses and many private residences were finely decorated. There was a supply of flags large enough to satisfy the most enthusiastic lover of the Stars and Stripes. The decoration of some of our business places was worthy of mention, but our space will not permit. At twelve o'clock Tuesday morning, the Centennial Fourth was inaugurated with the ringing of bells, the shrieks of whistles, the firing of guns, pistols, etc. Taking it altogether, it was the most enthusiastic noise ever listened to, and probably fully as patriotic. The Fourth proper was inaugurated by a National salute by Captain Spier's battery at five o'clock A. M. The day did not open auspiciously. It was rainy until nearly ten o'clock, which fact delayed carrying out the programme as arranged. Notwithstanding the bad weather, the people began to gather at an early hour, and by nine o'clock an immense crowd were present to take part in the grand occasion. Every one seemed to feel that he had a part in the celebration, and the greatest good feeling prevailed. The procession was formed at as early hour as possible. The appearance made by it was very fine and far beyond all expectation. It was formed i is the following order : 680 - HISTORY OF SENECA COUNTY. FIRST DIVISION—CAPTAIN F. K. SHAWHAN COMMANDING Marshal C. Mutchler, and Tiffin Police. Tiffin Light Guards. Harmonia Band. St. John's Benevolent Society. President, Orator, and Mayor. Reader and Chaplains. Vice-Presidents. Decoration Wagon. Centennial Choir. SECOND DIVISION—MAJOR W. W. MYERS COMMANDING. St. Patrick's T. A. & B. Band and Association. Fort Ball Cadets. Tiffin Fire Department. THIRD DIVISION—CAPTAIN A. W. SNYDER COMMANDING. Boos' Band. Independent Zouaves. Turners. Bruderbund. Druids of Humbolt Grove. Knights of Pythias. Knights of Hurrah. C. Mueller's Brewery Wagons. Theil & Gassner's Stone-Quarry Wagon. Citizens in Carriages. The procession paraded through the most important streets, after which the people gathered at the court house yard to listen to the other exercises. Mayor Bachman introduced the president of the day, R. W. Shawhan, who made the following brief and very appropriate remarks : FELLOW CITIZENS : The pleasant duty now devolves upon me of calling this large assemblage to order ; and in doing so I may be permitted to state that we have come together to celebrate and commemorate one of the greatest of all historical events. Go back through all the traditional and hrstoric ages of the past, from Adam to Moses, and then down to the ushering in of our Christian era, one thousand eight hundred and seventy-six years ago—saving and excepting that mysterious birth at Bethlehem—the birth of our nation by the Declaration of Independence, one hundred years ago to-day, was the grandest event ever enacted on the face of the globe. And now with fervent thanks to God for all who have lived to witness and to cerebrate this Centennial anniversary, and thanking you all for the honor conferred upon your presiding officer, we will now proceed with the exercises of the day." Mr. Shawhan's remarks were followed by a patriotic song by the centennial choir,- which was executed in a highly creditable manner. Rev. G. A. Hughes then made a most fervent prayer, which was followed by the reading of the Declaration of Independence by D. C. Tunison, who delivered it in a clear, strong voice, and in a most impressive manner. At its close the bells of the city were rung, and the bands played a patriotic piece. The APPENDIX - 681 choir sang again, when Mr. Shawhan said : " I now have the pleasure of introducing to you our worthy citizen and ripe scholar, Judge Wm. Lang, who will now address you." Judge Lang came forward and spoke as follows : MR. PRESIDENT, LADIES AND GENTLEMEN : One hundred years have come and gone ; a century has flown off into the ocean of time, with all its epochs for weal or woe to the human race, since the old bell at Independence Hall, in Philadelphia, called together a small band of patriots, who had assembled to represent the people of thirteen colonies under the government of Great Britain, to consult together as to the best mode for the redress of the grievances the people of the Colonies were then suffering. The result of their deliberations was that declaration of principles just read in your hearing ; a production that brightens with age and glows with a fire of patriotism that shines forth and points out to the oppressed of all nations the pathway to justice, independence and equality. It is like the leaven that leaventh the whole loaf. It has aroused the pride and patriotism of intelligent mesa everywhere, and to-day thrones, that claimed their power by the grace of God exist simply by the permission of the people. Man has learned to know his rights, and knowing, will maintain them. England, Germany and Italy have removed many oppressions and compelled their governments to rule in conformity with the will of the people. Spain struggled, but failed for a season, while France enjoys a new life under a republican form of government of their own, having nobody to rule over them by the " Grace of God." Even Herzegovinia, in her might of abject despotism, has caught a ray of the light that burst forth on that day, and she struggles like a hero for independence. The days of inspiration did not close with the end of Holy Writ, and I mean no sacrilege When I say that every holy, noble, generous thought, motive or action, is inspiration, and proves the better part of man, the spark of the deity that is within us, and I claim the right for myself to believe that the work of those great and good men on that day, the fruit of their deliberations in the form of the declaration of those principles of human rights, with the glorious results of a century gone, was the work of inspiration in which God's holy purpose seems manifest. Now while we meet and have just cause to rejoice, every heart should give thanks to Almighty God for the blessings we have enjoyed as a people under the sun of freedom, and pledge anew our lives, our fortunes, and our sacred honor that we will, for ourselves, and our posterity, preserve and maintain that same form of government in its purity so vouchsafed to us by those noble men of 1776. Time will not permit me here to give you anything like even a synopsis of the achievements of these one hundred years. Permit me only to say that the thirteen colonie's have increased to thirty-eight prosperous states ; the three millions of inhabitants that struck for freedom have increased to 44.- 000,000, enjoying the same, spreading from ocean to ocean, and from the lakes to the gulf ; that the ship of state during this period breasted the storms of two terrible wars with foreign powers, and a most lamentable fraternal one, and safely sailed home into the harbor of the constitution, and came out of the fire as those youths did out of the fiery furnace, without even the smell of smoke upon their garments. The form of government is all-important when man claims his natural rights. Perhaps the best interpretation that can be given to the word free- 682 - HISTORY OF SENECA COUNTY. dom is " that form of government where man is left free to do as he pleases, except where the rights of his neighbor and public safety need restraint." (Blackstone.) Now if that be freedom, the form of government must be shaped to meet all its demands. Nothing but a republic with democratic institutions can secure that degree of liberty. And I desire here to be strictly understood that I shall use the words " Democracy " and " Republicanism " in no party sense, for both terms are synonymous, mean and express the same thing. " Demos " (people) and " Kratos " (government,) put together make " Democracy," which is the people's government, or a " Republic," and " Republicanism " in its best sense is nothing more than an attachment to a republican form of government. If Alexander Pope had lived in the present age and observed the spread of the principles, expressed in the Declaration of Independence—man everywhere claiming his rights—had no- . ticed the progress of events ; the demands of humanity and human rights throwing their storm-waves against thrones that are simply permitted to 'exist while they reel and totter before they fall—he would not now say again : " For forms of government let fools contest, Whatever's best administered is best." It is not true. A bad form of government cannot be well administered. You can enjoy no right as a free man under a despotism. Talk about free speech, free press, freedom to worship God in accordance with the dictates of your own conscience, where the crude will of a Czar is the supreme law of the land. The form of government is all-important for the preservation of human rights in their purity. What a spectacle to the patriot, the organization and form of the government of these states I Thirty-eight free and independent states, each with its own Republican form of government. making up in its municipal organization a free and independent government of its own, surrendering for unity only such of its natural rights as are absolutely indispensable for the purposes of the general government, and reserving all other rights " to the state and the people." This principle kept intact and cherished and loved as the fathers did, will forever protect and defend the constitution in its purity, make succession and centralization both alike impossibilities. Such a form of government requires for its perpetuation and perpetuity a people who are both intelligent and virtuous intelligently moral. People well educated in letters and figures, but vicious, are no more capable to preserve and maintain a Republic than a people merely moral but abjectly ignorant. Intelligence, embellished by all the virtues of religion and morality, alone qualifies man for the rich boon of freedom. And if this Republic shall ever suffer the fate of. Republics that have fiourished in time past and are no more, it will be because the people shall, by corruption, luxury and vice, make themselves unfit for the enjoy- ment of it. As a man wears clothes that fit him, so does a nation wear just such a form of government as it is capable of maintaining. Now, if we claim to have, and glory in the possession of, the best form of government ever conceived by man, a government just grown out of its childhood to manhood, triumphantly preserving its integrity through a thousand trying ordeals in . its history, how necessary and indispensable, that we, to preserve it, should APPENDIX - 683 also be inspired with a just appreciation of the responsibility resting upon us. Judge Marshall, in the Virginia convention of 1788, said : " What are the favorite maxims of Democracy ? A strict observance of justice and public faith, and a steady adherence to virtue. These, sir, are the principles of good government." (Elliot's Debates, vol. III., p. 77). This form of government is best because its standard of moral requisition is the highest. It claims for man a universality of interest, liberty and, justice. It is christianity with its mountain beacons and guides. It is the standard of Deity based in the eternal principles of truth, passing through and rising above the clouds of ignorance into the region of infinite wisdom. The great objects of knowledge and moral culture of the people are among its most prominent provisions. Practical religion and religious freedom are the sunshine of its growth and glory. To say that an ignorant and immoral people are capable of self-government, is to say that government may be administered without knowledge mid without justice. I am speaking of the inhabitants of the United States as a people, not as a nation. Whether we possess the attributes of a nation, or whether our general government be a national government, I have neither the time nor inclination to discuss. Enough for me to know and believe that the ends of knowledge, freedom and happiness can be promoted by a proper appreciation and preservation of the form of government we have, and to which we, eith er by virtue of birth or adoption, all owe allegiance ; and who for himself will not say : " In youth it sheltered me, And I'll protect it now." Having been born and raised under a bad form of government, and having made the government of these free states mine by free choice, I can but feel the thrill that this occasion sends through my being while I may not be able to express the emotions that prompt a renewal of the vow of allegiance given in my early manhood. And I will not try. From every city, town and hamlet of our land, shouts and rejoicings rend the air at the close of a century since the " Declaration of American Independence " first saw the light of day. The young shout and cheer with sounds of glee and hilarity the middle-aged man feels a just pride in the discharge of ever duty pertaining to a citizen, and due and owing to the state. The aged pioneer joins the throng with a heart full of gratitude and praise to the Giver of all good, for the preservation of a government he perhaps helped to protect with his treasure and his blood. These emotions are proper and patriotic and holy. None but a slave could to-day feel indifferent, and there are none to be found within our borders, thank God. The beginning of our government does not date from the 4th of July, 1776, but from the adoption by the states of the constitution in 1788. So as a government we are not 100 years old, but as a people. For the declaration Of independence at once and forever separated the allegiance of the colonies and opened fully the war of the revolution. The end of seven long and bloody years of war made England acknowledge, while our people rejoice in, our independence. How fortunate for human rights and freedom that at that epoch, when we were weak and exhausted, when it would have been 684 - HISTORY OF SENECA COUNTY. easy for some military chieftain to have grasped the reins of power and to have established here a monarchy—that with Washington and his compeers, not a man was, to be found who would do and dare. Man, prone to love of power as he his, did you ever think of it, my friends, how little it would have required to have lost all that was won by the blood of the revolution ? Does it not seem that the hand of Providence was in all this ? The spirit that opened the war seemed to close it, and commerce the Republic. The spirit that appealed to God for the rectitude of their conduct, moved the men in power, when the war was over, to return their swords and lay them upon the altar of their country. History never produced such a spectacle since the world began. And how they shouted and sang of the liberty they had thus achieved : " In a chariot of light from the regions of day, The Goddess of Liberty came ; Ten thousand celestials directed the way, And hither conducted the dame. A fair budding branch from the gardens above, Where millions and millions agree, She brought in her hand as a pledge of her love, A plant she named Liberty Tree. This glorious exotic struck deep in the ground, Like a native, it flourished and bore ; The fame of its fruit drew the nations around To seek out its peaceable shore. Regardless of name or distinction, they came- For freemen, like brothers, agree— With one spirit endued they one friendship pursued, And their temple was Liberty Tree." They sang of Columbia thus : " Columbia, Columbia, to glory arise, The queen of the world and the child of the skies, Thy genius commands thee, with raptures behold, While ages on ages thy splendor unfold ; Thy reign is the last and the noblest of time, Most fruitful thy soil, most inviting thy clime. Let crimes of the east ne'er crimson thy name, Be freedom, and science and virtue thy fame." The French revolution produced a despot—the American revolution, liberty and free states. Liberty fails when sovereigns become tyrants. The American citizen is the sovereign of the land and makes and enforces his own laws. So long as wisdom and humanity shall be his guide and counsel, he cannot fail of success. If time would permit, I should be glad to indulge in a few passing remarks on many of the events that have characterized our history as a people hitherto, but I must abstain while I will invite your attention to things and surroundings at home. Let me speak to you a little while on the rise and pro- APPENDIX - 685 gress of our own immediate neighborhood—of Seneca county, her history, her resources, and her people. As the triumphs of liberty constitute the way-marks of the world, they have guided and directed the pioneers in opening and developing the resources of this vast country to labor, to commerce, to knowledge and to greatness. The pioneers of Seneca county found here a vast unbroken wilderness, run over by savages and wild animals hunting their prey. The silence of the forest broken only by the crack of the Indian's rifle, and the nights made hideous by the howlings of the wolf and the panther. The woodman's axe brought the first sound of the approach of civilization. West of the Sandusky river was an almost unbroken swale, but the eastern and some portions of the southern parts of the county offered localities better adapted for settlements and homes, and these were selected as the first homesteads in this county. The western portion was taken up much later. Seneca was formed from old Indian territory, April 1st, 1820, organized April 1st, 1821, and named after a tribe of Indians who had a reservation a short distance north of Tiffin, near the river, and north of the farm owned by, the late John Keller. The county was formerly a part of Sandusky county. It extends eighteen miles north and south, and thirty miles east and west, with the base line on the 41st parallel. There were two general surveys made by the authority of the United States in northern Ohio. The first one established the base line, counties and, townships of the " Western Reserve," so called, the fire-lands, etc. It started on the west line of Pennsylvania, running west, and ended at the southwest corner of Huron county. The second survey started at the east line of Indiana, and ended at the southeast corner of Seneca, making the south line of Seneca the base line. This survey made townships and ranges. The townships in Seneca number one, two and three, and the ranges run from 13 east to 17 and 18 east inclusive, making each township contain thirty-six square miles, being six miles square ; each section—thirty-six in number—one mile square and containing six hundred and forty acres. Fort Seneca was also named after the Indians, and was situated on the left bank of the Sandusky river, near the village of Fort Seneca, six miles north of Tiffrn, and about eleven miles south of Ft. Stephenson, afterwards Lower Sandusky, now Fremont, where the Republican party of the United States, in their deliberations at Cincinnati, have lately, for the choice of a proper person for the presidency, found our distinguished neighbor, Gov. Hayes. General Harrison's troops occupied Ft. Seneca at the time the British and the Indians made an attack on Ft. Stephenson, on the 2d day of August, 1813. General Harrison, while at Ft. Seneca, narrowly escaped being murdered by an Indian. The circumstances are highly interesting, but I have no time to relate them. Let me refer you to the memoirs of General Harrison for particulars. The Senecas, of the Sandusky, so called, owned and occupied 40,000 acres of choice land on the east side of the Sandusky river, being mostly in this and part of Sandusky county. Thirty thousand acres of this was granted to them on the 29th of September, 1817, at the treaty held at the foot of the Maumee rapids, Hon. Lewis Cass and Hon. Duncan McArthur being the United States commissioners. The other 10,000 acres, lying south of the 686 - HISTORY OF SENECA COUNTY. other, was granted by the same commissioners at the treaty of St. Mary, on the 17th of September, the following year. On the 28th of February, 1831, these Indians ceded their lands to the general government and agreed to remove southwest of Missouri, on the Neosho river. At that time their principal chiefs were Coonstick, Small-Cloud, Spicer (whom our esteemed friend, Dr. II. Kuhn, of this city, well knew, as well as some of the others), Seneca Steel, Hard Hickory, Tall Chief and Good Hunter. General Henry C. Brish, now deceased, was the sub-agent of this band, which numbered about 400 souls at that time, and were considered to be a remnant of the Logans. I remember well in several conversations I had with the General about these Indians, in each of which the General expressed his surprise why they were called Senecas, as he said 114 never found a Seneca amongst them. He said they were Cayugas—who were Mingoes ; that they had amongst them some Oneidas, Mohawks, Onondagas, Tuscarawas and Wyandots. They believed in witchcraft, and while here executed one of their best men for that crime. Time will not permit me to give the narrative of the execution. If you had been present at a meeting of the " Seneca County Pioneer Association," about two years ago, and listened to the address of our esteemed friend, Isaac I. Dumond, near Ft. Seneca, you would have heard an interesting narrative of the annual dog dance and feast of these Indians. While speaking about the Indians, let me say to you that a question of title to a portion of these lands is still pending and undisposed of. I mention this fact only as a matter of history. It is very doubtful whether any remnant of that tribe sees this day. The greater probability is, that they have all fallen to the law that seems to rule the general destiny of the race. All we have of them is their name, their lands and their short history. The new purchase, so called, included the lands of the Seneca Indians. In 1820 and 1821 the other lands of the " new purchase " were laid off into townships and sections, but the Seneca Reservation was not surveyed until 1832. Speaking of the new purchase, I desire to record an incident in connection with it, too important to be lost. My venerable friend, Isaac I. Dumond, of Pleasant township, built a house near the left bank of the Sandusky river, northeast of Ft. Seneca, in 1820, (a cabin rather,) which is still fit for human habitation and occupied by a family, while Mr. Dumond lives close by in more comfortable quarters. A few tracts of these lands were sold when the land office first opened at Delaware, at the government price, $1.25 per acre. The greater portion of our county was entered at the same price, after the sale and about the time the land office was removed to Bucyrus, and later still to Tiffin, when Mr. David E. Owen held the offrce of receiver at this place. The government received nothing but specie for the land. The receiver was provided with a strong iron chest, in which the books and money were to be kept. The chest was about twenty inches wide and twenty deep, and about two feet long. I remember on several occasions when Mr. Owen was about to make his quarterly report at Columbus, Ohio, that quite a number of men were requisite to move the chest from the house into the wagon. The late Daniel Dildine was the teamster generally, who hauled the coin to Columbus Mr. APPENDIX -687 Owen had his office in the frame building belonging to Esq. Keen, on the north side of East Market street, near, the stone bridge. It generally took from three to four days, with a good team of horses, to haul the little iron monster to Columbus. Without any guard or other protection the two men started, and winding their way alone through the forest, found Upper Sandusky, Little Sandusky, Marion, Waldo and Delaware, their stopping places. I remember hearing father Owen relate his troubles with the chest at one time at Waldo, I think. Night overtook them when they got there, and the cabin hotel was full of people. As a general thing, they would back the wagon up to the door and take the chest into the house. But Mr. Owen did not like the looks of the men about the premises, so he concluded to leave the chest, with its contents of about $50,000, in the wagon and cover it with straw. They did so and went to bed. It rained all night, and when they got up in the morning they found everything all right. It was fortunate for Seneca county that her lands did not fall into the hands of speculators. The men who entered and located, did so for the purpose of acquiring homes, and the purchases were made in conformity with the pile of gold and silver. These piles were usually very limited, and although but fifty dollars would buy forty acres, many of the new-comers did n't have the fifty dollars. All the most valuable lands were soon taken up, however, and when the war with Mexico was over and our soldiers had land warrants to locate, several tracts were still found in Liberty township and taken up by these warrants. Those were the last of the entries and the time for cheap lands in Seneca county has long since passed away, never to return. The early settlers here came from Maryland, Virginia, New York, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, etc., Germany and Ireland, and made up as completely a mixed population as you see them, or their descendants, to this day. Differing in language, habits and customs, and almost everything pertaining to civilized life, a more generous, kind, hospitable, frugal, industrious people never lived anywhere. Whether mutual poverty and dependence made them so " wondrous kind " I will not stop to decide, but it is enough to say that the latch-string was always out. The inmates of the cabin were ready to divide the best they had with the hungry stranger. No night was too dark or stormy, no swale too wide or deep, when distress or sickness called for help. When a man wanted a cabin raised or needed help, a simple notice was sufficient to make the neighbors all around leave their own work and go, often as far as four or five miles. And go they would and did without asking about the man's religion or politics, nor upon what part of God's green earth he was born, work all day faithfully without price or reward other than that such kindness,'if needed, should be returned. I sometimes wished that the primitive life in Seneca had continued all along. Now in these days when you need material help to secure a home, who will volunteer and stand by you until you have one Now ask a man to help you work one day and when evening comes he wants his pay. Those days are gone, and the men and women that brought here and established the first landmarks of civilization, are fast passing away with many of their primitive virtues that characterized their lives in those days. That generous and open-hearted hospitality of the pioneers has given way to the struggle after- 688 - HISTORY OF SENECA COUNTY. the mighty dollar. Even the tales of the trials, diffrculties and hardships, the deprivations and sufferings of the early settlers, when told and repeated to the present generation, are received with doubts or indifference. Yet will I venture to call to mind the life in the cabin with some of its incidents as I saw it. There were but few of my German countrymen in Seneca when, in the summer of 1833, I came to this place. with my father's family. The large number by far came and located afterward, and as you pass through the county now, and observe a vast " Dutch barn," with many well cultivated fields round about, and a stately mansion with orchard, gardens and everything denoting and speaking of the comforts of life, you ask who lives there ? and perhaps you will be told, that that gray-headed venerable looking old man sitting on yonder porch, " smoking his pipe of clay," entered forty acres of land when he first came from Germany, for which he paid fifty dollars, all the money he had, and perhaps a part of that was borrowed from a friend. Right back of where his brick house now is he built for himself a small cabin and made a little opening round about it for a garden, a little truck path for corn and potatoes. He was young then, and his young wife assisted him in his hard work, all she could, to fix up their home in the forest as best they could under the circumstances. Now their money was all gone. More was needed to get a cow, some hogs, tools, a wago oxen, etc., and without which no further progress upon the forest could be made. The chances 'to earn money in the neighborhood were very bad. Nobody had any to pay with as a general thing, and the few that had could hire a laborer very cheap. At $5 and $6 a month it took a long time to buy those necessaries, and to live and not die of despondency under such circumstances took more moral courage than we, in these degenerate days, possess. The endurance and self-denial of the men and women of those days is beyond the power of a pen to describe. Imagine, now, that cabin, miles away from any neighbor, with only a very crooked road, marked by blazed trees, leading to it ; dark forests all around and a small opening made by the little clearing to see God's blue sky. The nearest public work where money could be earned was the Dayton & Michigan canal, 100 miles away. Here necessity compelled him to leave his wife and little ones and work on the canal all summer, returning home in the fall, when public work was stopped, and thus economizing with his earnings, improved the condition of his family, from time to time, until the clearing had enlarged enough to produce the support of life, find perhaps something for market. Did you ever think, my friends, how those pioneer women must Live felt to be thus left alone in the wild forest, for weeks and months, all summer and fall, with their little ones, and nobody to see to and protect them ? You ladies, who live in the lap of luxury and refinement, enjoying the products of nature and art, did you ever think how those noble pioneer mothers lived through those weary years of hardship ? The only way that can be accounted for is, they put their trust in God. But to return. After several summers' work on the canal, and having a team of oxen, the little clearing became larger, and the comforts of life gradually increased. Other families settling closer by, all hands joined to open out a road to some mill or market. The oldest of the children grew up large enough to be of some help at the APPENDIX - 689 house, or to chop. They all worked, young and old, and the little entry of forty acres increased in size to a quarter section, all paid for, with all these fine improvements you see all around. No one asked a favor of him in vain. Ever ready and willing to help where he could, he has the love and respect of the entire neighborhood, while he enjoys, in his declining years, the fruit of a well spent life. This little picture hits but few now. The larger number have long since gone to their long home. Don't despise the little cabin that you may yet see remaining as you glide along your nice roads in your easy pheaton. It was once the home of love and happiness. Little feet danced cheerily over that puncheon floor, and the great log fire in that chimney cheered the inmates on many a long winter evening, and witnessed the balling of corn bread on the back of an old shovel many years. The hominy block was as indispensable as the rifle. Their meat was game, and their bread of corn meal was made upon a plan as rural as the corn was reduced to meal. How do you suppose, now, that having neither a horse nor an ox to take a little corn away off to some mill to get it ground, the family got meal to make bread with ? Take an old shovel or a piece of sheet iron, punch it full of holes ; then take an ear of dry corn and roll it over it, like over a grater, and meal is produced slowly but surely, and then—corn-dodgers, Johnny cake, hoe cake or pone. Hunger may be a good cook, but your fine pastry never tasted nicer than the corn bread made by the pioneer mothers. Ladies, how would you now like to get up a dinner for a large family without a cooking stove, or any other of the modern conveniences in housekeeping, over a big log fire, with nothing but a long-handled skillit, Dutch oven, and iron kettle ? It would puzzle you some, I think. Yet it was a long time after the first settlers came here before anybody saw a cooking stove. Settlers from the eastern states, who had a little money and talked English, fared better ; stayed at home and worked their way through. Those that I have described were my countrymen, and the Irish settlers, who took up the land west of the Sandusky river, and settled in the Wolf creek. I would be pleased to give you some of the incidents of early life in our good old county and short sketches of the lives of the men and women who first located in each township, but must abstain. I would like to mention the names of the first settlers of each township. I have collected many of them, but for fear that I might miss some of them I will not name any. Amongst them was one soldier of the revolution and many that were in the war of 1812. So rapid was the increase of population that from the time those lands were first brought into market and up to 1830, Seneca contained 5,157 souls, including Tiffin, about' one-half of the present population of this city. The influx of emigration in the next ten years was so great that in 1840 we had a population of 18,139. It seems like a dream of fancy that in the short life of one man a county like ours should be turned from a howling forest to the state of improvement, of wealth and refinement that Seneca now presents. Vast fields in a good state of cultivation, fine residences all over the county, mills, factories, railroads, school houses and churches, printing presses and newspapers, postoffices and telegraphs, and everything that nature and art - 44 - 690 - HISTORY OF SENECA COUNTY.. can contribute to elevate our people higher and still higher in the scale of humanity, and I feel justified when I say that on the score of wealth, health, morals and intelligence, old Seneca has no superior amongst her neighbors. Let me say a few words about Tiffin. Josiah Hedges laid out Tiffin proper in 1821. Fort Ball had already been located by Mr. Spencer. The postoffice was over there and some of the most influential of the early settlers lived in Fort Ball. The troubles between the rival proprietors of these villages were at times very severe, but ended in the purchase by Mr. Hedges of the entire plat of Fort Ball, and the location of the court house on the Tiffin side of the river. Fort Ball was named after Lieutenant-Colonel James V. Ball, the commander of a squadron of cavalry under General Harrison. Tiffrn was named after Edward Tiffin, who was the first governor of Ohio after her organization as a state, and a particular personal and political friend of Mr. Hedges. Your humble servant had the honor of being the last mayor of the old town of Tiffin and the first mayor of the city of Tiffin upon the union of the two villages. Let me remind you of the old sycamore that stood on the right bank of the river now in Mechanicsburg. The boundary line of the city, as then organized, ran through the sycamore sunthwardly. Forty-three years ago a couple of exiled German boys formed a closer acquaintance and friendship under that tree—one that lasted for life. When the city council entrusted the description of the boundaries of the new city to me, I described that tree as a land-mark. The tree and one of those boys have long since passed away. The residence of Dr. Hovey, in the second ward, covers a part of the ground where the old fort stood. In 1840 the population of the several villages in Seneca was as follows :

Attica Bascom Bettsville Bloomville Caroline Fort Ball Fort Seneca Green Springs Lodi Melmore Risdon Rome Republic Springville Sulphur Springs.

148 34 23 13 27 129 52 29 30 127 39 80 161 35 29

Time will not permit me to give you anything like a statistical statement of the resources of the county. Allow me only to say that Seneca in the scale of wealth, population, etc., is an average county amongst the eighty-eight counties of the state. In 1870 she had a population of 30,828. In 1875 she harvested the crop of 54,000 acres of wheat. In 1876 she pays $244,000 taxes. Her public buildings may not be of the best, but her schools and other institutions of learning are not surpassed in any county around her. She is one in only eighteen counties in the state that is not in debt. Her people commit less crime compared APPENDIX - 691 with her population than any other county in the state. We have no paupers running at large. In all departments of life, her citizens who have acquired honorable distinction are self-made men. She enumerates 12,000 children entitled to the benefits of the common schools, and pays $79,000 per year for their education. The personal and real property of the county for taxable purposes increased from about $6,000,000 in 1850 to nearly $18,000,000 in 1874. In 1826 her taxes did not exceed $300. But I must close, and in so doing let me rehearse a short ode on the Fourth of July, by an unknown author. It is so very much in harmony with the spirit of this festive occasion : " To the sages who spoke, to the heroes who bled, To the day and the deed strike the harp-string of glory ; Let the song of the ransom'd remember the deed, And the tongue of the eloquent hallow the story.   O'er the bones of the bold,   Be that story long told. And on Fame's golden tablet their triumphs unfurled, Who on freedom's green hills freedom's banner unfurl'd, And the beacon fires raised that gave light to the world. 'Twas for us and our children to conquer or die, Undaunted they stood, when the war storm burst o'er them ; Each blade drew a thunderbolt down from the sky, Till the foeman turned pale and lay withered before them.    Then from Liberty's band    Went a shout through the land, As the rainbow of peace their fair heritage spanned, Where the banner of freedom in pride was unfurl'd, And the beacon fire rose that gave light to the world. They are gone—mighty men ! and they sleep in their fame; Shall we ever forget them ? Oh, never I no, never I Let our sans learn from us to embalm each great name, And the anthem send down " Independence forever I"    Wake, wake heart and tongue,    Keep the theme ever young ; Let their deeds through the long line of ages be sung, When on freedom's green hills freedom's banner unfurl'd, And the beacon fire raised that gave light to the world." At the close of the oration Rev. W. A. Samson fervently addressed the Throne of Grace, after which the choir sang the doxology, the audience joining. The benediction by Rev. Mr. Samson closed the exercises, which had been very interesting and impressive, and had stamped themselves indelibly upon the memories of all present. The balance of the day was spent in the usual manner. The celebration was a success in every particular, and redounded to the credit of the different committees and officers having it in charge. At night, on the public square, the display of fire-works took place. Everything passed off satisfactorily, and it was a good ending of a memorable occasion. ERRATA. Page 5-7th line from top read Captain " Bagby." " 141-12th line from top read " John Keller." " 243-10th line from bottom read "Grummel." " 367-10th line from foot read " Q. M. General." " 377-5th line from top read " tussuc " for " tissue." " 387-3d line from top read " Winweiler." " 412-6th line from top read " Stalter." " 419-11th line from bottom read " Feldkuemmels hochzeitstag." " 424—Last line read " base drum." " 432-10th line froth bottom read " Tecumseh." " 450-12th line from top read " people." " 474—Bottom line read " of " after the word " lines." " 499-3d line from bottom read " Shants." " 506-15th line from bottom read " chiefs." " 506-2d line from bottom read " southwest quarter." " 507-22d line from top read " camel-back bridge." " 511-10th line from bottom read " Levi Creasey." " 521-8th line from bottom read " Yingst family." " 564-8th line from top read " N. Ports & Co." " 614-6th line from top read " Mrs. Whitney." " 635—In " sheriffs " read " Weirick " for " Wurick."