CONTENTS 1. WILLIAMS COUNTY ANTIQUITIES - 17 The Mound Builders—Their works in Williams county—General description of mounds—Implements made by the extinct race—Conflicting theories. 2. EARLY JURISDICTION - 29 Title to lands—Treaty of 1783—Virginia's claim of sovereignty—The Greenville treaty—The county of Wayne—Representatives in first legislative assembly—Under the jurisdiction of Montgomery, Miami, and Shelby counties—Claims of the Indians—Cessions of territory by the Red Men—Formation of Williams county. 3. THE FORMATIVE PERIOD - 43 Organization of the county—First county officials—Different sessions of the board of county commissioners—The selection of Defiance as the first permanent seat of justice—Election of county officers in the fall of 1826—Defalcations of certain county officials—Opening of roads in the present county limits—Personal mention of prominent men—Organization of townships in the present Williams county—Character of the population—"County-seat fight," and the removal of the seat of justice to Bryan. 4. THE BOUNDARY DISPUTE - 63 Importance of the question—The origin of the difficulty—Mitchell & Bradley's map—Exception clause in first State constitution—The Harris line—The Fulton line—The Wabash and Lake Erie canal—Attack upon official surveying party--Major Stickney and his connections with the boundary dispute—Removal of the obstreperous Acting-Governor Stevens of Michigan—Dispute finally settled by Congress—Legal phases of the question. 5. FROM 1841 TO 1861 - 78 Seat of justice at Bryan—Reduction in size of county by erection of Defiance and Fulton counties—Efforts to remove the county seat—The embryo village of Bryan—First session of the commissioners at Bryan, and their first official acts—The old log court-house—Difficulties in building the brick courthouse—Early railway projects—The building of the Southern Michigan and Northern Indiana road—Early postoffices -History of efforts to establish newspapers— Census of 1860. 6. THE COUNTY'S WAR RECORD - 94 Period of peace—War with Mexico—The sectional strife—Opposition to the government's policy—First organization of troops —The Fourteenth regiment—The Thirty-eighth, Sixty-eighth, One Hundredth, One Hundred and Eleventh, One Hundred and Forty-second regiments of infantry—The Third and Ninth regiments of cavalry—Field and staff officers furnished by Williams county. - 5 - 6 - CONTENTS 7. THE LAST FORTY YEARS - 108 Chronological record of events from the close of the war to 1905 —Census of 1900. 8. POLITICS AND OFFICIAL HONORS - 121 Political history of the county, beginning with 1824, and including a roster of National, State and county officers, brought down to date, with biographical mention of many of the favored individuals. 9. RESOURCES AND EARLY ENTERPRISES - 136 Industry and agriculture—Topography and geology of the county —The drift deposit—Agricultural products—Agricultural societies and fairs—Patrons of husbandry—Primitive manufactures—Early mercantile establishments—Statistics of 1904. 10. EDUCATIONAL DEVELOPMENT - 152 Early schools and schoolmasters—Description of the primitive schoolhouses—Old-fashioned spelling-schools—School books —Statistics concerning the present day schools in the county. 11. BENCH AND BAR - 163 List of associate judges under the old Constitution, with sketches of some of them—Early court of common pleas—First sessions of court in Williams county—Common pleas judges with sketches—The district court—Prosecuting attorneys—Probate court and judges—Clerks of the courts—SheriffsMembers of the bar. 12. THE MEDICAL PROFESSION - 177 Afflictions of the pioneers—The ravages of malarial fever—Sketches of early physicians—County medical society. 13. ST. JOSEPH TOWNSHIP - 183 Natural features—The pioneers and their work—First births and marriages—Church sketches—Mills—Village of Edgerton. 14. PULASKI TOWNSHIP - 190 The second oldest township—Boundaries—Topographical features—First settlement—Progress of the township—City government of Bryan—History of public library—Churches -Cemetery—Social organizations. 15. SPRINGFIELD TOWNSHIP - 198 Organization—John Stubbs and other pioneers—Village of Stryker—Church notes. 16. BRADY TOWNSHIP - 204 Natural features—Sketches of pioneers—Their homes and schools —West Unity—Mills and stores—Churches—Lockport. 17. CENTRE TOWNSHIP - 211 Organization—The first settlers—Schools and churches. 18. FLORENCE TOWNSHIP - 215 Organization—Natural features—Sketches of early settlers -Edon—Columbia M. E. church—Other churches and social organizations—Blakeslee. CONTENTS - 7 19. JEFFERSON TOWNSHIP 224 Erection of township—Creeks—Notable pioneers—A Revolutionary soldier—The Schamp murder. 20. BRIDGEWATER TOWNSHIP 231 Antiquities and natural features—Bridgewater center and Ainger—The Smith settlement—Sketches of pioneers—Mills, schools, and churches. 21. MILLCREEK TOWNSHIP 237 Theron Landon and other early settlers—The village of Hamer —The first election—Town of Alvordton—Churches and schools. 22. SUPERIOR TOWNSHIP - 240 Organization—Cosmopolitan population—Natural features—George Bible, the deerhunter—Other early settlers—Montpelier—Churches and social organizations—Hiram Louden Post G. A.R. 23. NORTHWEST TOWNSHIP - 250 Natural advantages—Aaron Burr Goodwin, the Knights, and other pioneers—Religious history—Early industries—Columbia. 24. MADISON TOWNSHIP - 258 Character of country—Pioneer sketches—Early schools -Industries—Pioneer and Kunkle—"Basswood" church and others. BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES, arranged in Alphabetical Order, beginning - 263