CHAPTER XII

TULLY TOWNSHIP

Organization—First Settlers—Names of Voters in 1840—Some of the Original Land Entries—Pioneer Reminiscences—The Bear Swamp—Dixon—Notes on Tully Township and Convoy Village.

At a session of the Board of County Commissioners, held December 2, 1839, the following action was taken :

"A petition being presented to the board praying for the organization of T. 1 S., R. 1 E., Ordered that the same be and hereby is struck off from Harrison township and shall constitute a civil township under the name of Tully. Ordered that the Auditor notify the qualified electors of said township to meet on the 25th instant at the house of John G. Morse for the purpose of electing officers in and for said township."

On June 4, 1841, the commissioners ordered that sections 6, 7, 18, 19, 30 and 31 and the west tier of sections of township 1 south, range 2 east, then attached to Hoaglin town-ship, be struck off therefrom and attached to Tully.

At the election held by order of the cornmissioners at the house of John G. Morse on December 25, 1839, John G. Morse was elected clerk; William Henny, justice of the peace; George W. Angevine, treasurer.

FIRST SETTLERS.

The first settler in the township was John G. Morse, who built the first log house, assistedonly by his wife. This was in 1837. In 1838 Thomas Hudspeth and James Wortman came. In 1839 John Magner, Michael Anderson, John Baker, George W. Angevine, William Henny, John Underwood, and Henry Roehm settled here. In 184o Henry Beamer, Robert Nesbet, Jacob Coleman and Levi and John Kyle took up lands and founded homes in Tully township.

NAMES OF VOTERS IN 1840.

After the election held in Tully township on the 25th day of October, 1840, there were 23 electors qualified to vote. Their names as given in the poll book of the election follows: George W. Angevine, Michael Anderson, Thomas High, George Beintz, George High, James Wortman, John Baker, Levi Kyle, John G. Morse, John Kyle, Henry Wagoner, William Henny, Jacob Coleman, John Underwood, John Kyle, Jr., Jonathan Ball, William Anderson, Chris. Gouse, M. Smith, A. Zimmerman, Henry Gunset, Jacob Sands and John T. Stephenson. John G. Morse and Levi Kyle were the clerks of the election, and William Henny, John Baker and Jacob Coleman, the judges.

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SOME OF THE ORIGINAL LAND ENTRIES.

PIONEER REMINISCENCES.

The road through the township following the Indian trail was cut through from the E. R. Wells farm to Fort Wayne by the Gilliland brothers and Peter Wills in 1836. This road was afterwards located as the Bucyrus and Fort Wayne free turnpike, but there was nothing further done than to have the road surveyed.

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John G. Morse—the first settler in the township—and his wife were made of the material for pioneers. They came from Canandaigua County, New York, in 1836 and proceeded on foot from Defiance to their land in Tully township. They built their own house without help, as there was no one to render them assistance. Mr. Morse was appointed surveyor in 1838. Mrs. Morse became an ex-pert marksman and was never at a loss for meat while Mr. Morse was absent surveying.

On one occasion as Mr. Morse and his wife were passing John Magnaer's place, on their way to Van Wert, they noticed that there was no stir about the house. Mr. Morse gave the lines to his wife and said that he would investigate.. He entered the house, but soon returned and told his wife to come to the house as her help was needed. They found the whole family sick in bed with no fire and no wood and all the food about the house consisted of a small piece of corn bread. Mr. Morse, after getting some wood and kindling a fire, took some corn to a neighbor's hand-mill, had it ground and returned with it to the sick family. He and his wife remained with them two days and when they went home sent their daughter to take care of the sick.

Soon after his arrival in Tully township, Mr. Morse planted on his farm two apple trees —the first in the township—which had been given him by "Johnny Appleseed" ( John Chapman).

Henry Kaiser moved to Tully township about 1839 or 1840. A short time afterward his wife was boiling soap at a fire outdoors, when her clothes caught fire and she was burned to death. They had two little girls quite young. The father carried them back to Miami County on his back. He had them in a sack, arranged like a knapsack, with their heads sticking up above his shoulder. He tookone back to his former home and then came back and carried the other the same way. He came back each year and worked on his land, and cleared up his farm. He afterward brought his daughters out to keep house for him. He would never wear cotton clothes after his wife's death and would get angry when cotton goods were mentioned.

THE BEAR SWAMP.

In the northwest part of the township there was a large swampy prairie, knows as the Bear Swamp. It was covered with willows, small brush and a tall prairie grass and was an ideal retreat for Bruin; there he could be found for many years after the arrival of the first settlers, whose corn and hogs often suffered from his forays. As late as 1858 there was a dozen or more bears killed in the neighborhood of the swamp. This swamp was hard to drain for want of an outlet. It was condemned as swamp land and the general government gave it to the State as such, and the State gave it to whomsoever would drain it. After spending large sums of money in digging ditches with no adequate outlet, it was finally drained by digging a small canal through the timberland north of it to an outlet. It was expensive ditching, but it paid. Now, the Bear Swamp has some of the best land in the State. The soil is a rich accumulation of vegetable matter, in places three or four feet deep. Davis Johnson had a farm in the northeastern part of it and had 80 rods of drain put in. Shortly afterward a fire broke out. When it had spent its force, the tile was found on top of the ground, the vegetable mat-ter having all been burned off. Much of this land that for years was offered free to anyone who would drain it now could not be bought for $100 an acre.

AND REPRESENTATIVE CITIZENS - 185

DIXON

Was laid out by Robert Gilliland about 1854 and was known for sometime as "Bobtown." It is located on the Ohio and Indiana State line, where it is crossed by the Pittsburgh, Fort Wayne & Chicago Railway. It has a population of about 150 inhabitants, who reside equally on each side of the State line. Hence it has never been incorporated.

It has two large general stores—one conducted by Payne Morgan in Indiana and one conducted in Ohio, by A. J. Wood; a small grocery owned by Nathaniel Davis; a large grain elevator owned by Bert Long and Earl Marshall, of Convoy, who also handle hay and salt, hard and soft coal, flour and corn meal. Messrs. Long and Marshall purchased the ground and business of Singer Brothers (William and Thomas), who had twice burned out —as the fires could never be explained and having strong suspicions of a fire bug, they re-fused to rebuild again.

S. J. Clem is a buyer and shipper of live-stock, and also packs and ships poultry in the winter season. His assistant in the stock business is James E. Solinger. Davis & Filler handle the bulk of the coal delivered at Dixon. Joseph T. McIntosh is a resident carpenter who contracts and builds houses and barns at Dixon and in the surrounding territory. A large hardware and buggy business is owned by Melvin A. and Harry Clem, known by the firm name of M. A. Clem & Brother.

Dr. J. D. Morgan, who came here from Cummingsville, Tennessee in 1882, has built up an immense practice and besides owning the finest residence in Dixon has two farms and is a stockholder in the People's Savings Bank at Van Wert.

Salway Brothers (Frank and Walter),while residents of Dixon, are proprietors of the Monroeville Machine Works at Monroeville, Indiana. They do general repair work of all kinds from shoeing a horse to patching a boiler. The blacksmith shops, two in number, are owned respectively by Hackett S. Boner and J. D. Cox, who is the oldest resident of Dixon. The station agent of the Pennsylvania Company is R. E. Wishman, who formerly resided at Bourbon, Indiana. The manager of the Western Union Telegraph Company's office is Francis May.

Dixon has one church—a Union Church, built by the people. The church society has a membership of 90; there is also a good Sunday-school. The Methodists are the prevailing denomination at Dixon.

The postoffice is in charge of Charles Hoeken, who bears the distinction of being the first appointee in Van Wert County, under President William McKinley. Dixon has two rural routes ; the carriers are Sylvester G. Fortney and Samuel Mollenkopf.

Dixon's location on the State line has been a hindrance to its growth. But its merchants as a rule have been successful and have enjoyed a good trade in their' respective lines. It is one of the best grain shipping points on the Pittsburgh, Fort Wayne & Chicago Railway, as the country in any direction from the town is productive and farmers are wide-awake.

NOTES ON TULLY TOWNSHIP AND CONVOY VILLAGE.

(BY DR. B. F. LESLIE.)

The first election in Tully township was held in 1839 at the home of John G. Morse. Before they organized, Mrs. Morse named the township "Tully," after her home town in New York State.

At this election William Henny was chosen

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justice of the peace, and Thomas Anderson, township clerk.

Tully township has a rich black soil well adapted to the raising of all kinds of crops. The township was originally heavily timbered, except for a few swamps. It did not make very rapid improvement until about 1868, when people began ditching and opening up outlets for the water. From that time on the farmers began to raise good crops and make good improvements.

The Sugar Ridge road runs nearly through the center of the township. In 1865 there were only four or five houses north of this road. Section 11 in this township was appraised by John Shaw, real estate assessor, at $1.25 per acre, in 1880; at $5 in 1890; at $18 in 1900, these figures being the appraised value of the land, exclusive of the buildings. This section is located about the center of what used to be called the Bear Swamp. Today this land is selling from $80 to $100 per acre. In 1865 there were only four buggies owned in the township.

Convoy and Dixon are the only villages in the township.

Convoy, located in the eastern portion of the township, was laid out and platted June 16, 1854. In 1865 there were about a dozen houses, a Catholic church, two small general stores, a saloon, a blacksmith shop, and a sawmill in the center of the town. There were also two doctors, Allen and Leslie, the latter of whom still continues in the active practice of his profession.

Almost every day in the early life of the village might be seen a free-for-all fight. It was a tough little village then. In 1874 the village of Convoy was incorporated. \V. H. Zimmerman was elected mayor; A. J. Leslie, Dr. B. F. Leslie, F. Heath, H. S. Smith, H. Richmond and M. Welch, councilmen. Thefirst money expended was to build a calaboose, and instructions were given to the officers to arrest and punish every person who disregarded law and order. Ever since that time Convoy has made a steady and substantial growth and has now about 1,000 inhabitants, all good citizens. The town has a brick school

house of six rooms, four churches, a bank, a drugstore, two grain elevators, four dry goods stores, four groceries, a cement block factory, a hotel, two good hardware stores, a cigar factory and a large lumberyard.

Convoy is located on the Pittsburgh, Fort Wayne & Chicago Railway, and on the Fort Wayne, Van Wert & Lima Traction Company's line.

On the early morning of January 16, 1906, a fire broke out in the business part of Convoy and the wind blowing' a gale at the time, 22 buildings, chiefly business houses, were burned before the fire was got under control, entailing a loss of about $65,000, with $35.000 insurance. The burned buildings will be replaced with either brick or cement-block buildings during the coming summer.