100 - HISTORY OF WILLIAMS COUNTY was organized in the state at large, in October, November and December, 1861, to serve three years. In the latter part of January, 1862, it moved to Camp Chase, and in the middle of February to Fort Donelson, Tenn., where it was assigned to Gen. Charles F. Smith's division. It moved, about the middle of March, to Pittsburg Landing, and at the battle there guarded ordnance and supply trains. In the spring of 1863 it worked on various canals in Louisiana, and, on April 25, it began to march around Vicksburg and reached the Mississippi at Grand Gulf, May 1, 1863, by a forced march ; it fought at Thompson's Hill and subsequently at Raymond, Jackson and Champion Hill, and was engaged throughout the siege of Vicksburg. On February 5, 1864, it fought at Clinton and Jackson, Miss. Just before this it "veteranized" and soon after returned home, where it was received with all the "pomp and circumstance of glorious war." On June l0th, the regiment joined Sherman's army at Acworth, Ga., and during the remainder of the Atlanta campaign the Sixty-eighth was almost constantly under fire, being on the advance sixty-five days. It fought at Kenesaw Mountain, Big Shanty, Nickajack Creek, Atlanta, July 22d and 28th, Jonesboro and Lovejoy Station. It then moved with Sherman to the sea, up through the Carolina campaign, then by the way of Washington to Louisville, Ky., whence it was ordered to Cleveland for payment and discharge—the latter taking place on July 18, 1865. The One Hundredth regiment of Ohio volunteers had one company largely made up of Williams county boys. It was Company C and was commanded first by Henry Gilbert, captain ; George Rings, first lieutenant, and B. F. Ewers, second lieutenant. This regiment was organized at Camp Toledo, O., in July, August and September, 1862, to serve three years, and was mustered out of service, June 20, 1865, in accordance with orders from the war department. The regiment participated in the defense of Knoxville, and after active duty in East Tennessee, moved, in the spring of 1864, to Tunnell Hill, Ga., and joined General Sherman. It participated in the Atlanta campaign, fighting in almost every battle. On August 6, it assaulted the Confederate works at Utoy Creek, in front of Atlanta, suffering a loss of 103 men, killed and wounded, out of 300 engaged. The regiment joined in the pursuit of Hood, participated in the desperate battles of Franklin and Nashville, and finally moved to Wilmington, N. C., where it was actively engaged. It lost during its term of service, sixty-five men killed in action ; one hundred and forty-two wounded ; twenty-seven died of wounds ; one hundred and eight died of disease ; three hundred and twenty-five were captured by the enemy, and eighty-five died in Confederate prisons. Company C of the One Hundred and Eleventh Ohio Volunteer Infantry was largely, if not entirely, a Williams county company. Its captain was Albert A. Archer, while its first and second lieutenants were Patrick H. Dowling and Rufus Bates, respectively. The One Hundred and Eleventh regiment was organized at Camp Toledo, O., September 5 and 6, 1862, to serve three years, and was mustered out of service June 27, 1865, in accordance with orders from the war de- THE COUNTY'S WAR RECORD - 101 partment. It began its active military operations in Tennessee. After the various marches, expeditions, scouts and skirmishes, the regiment found itself, on November 14, 1863, confronted by Longstreet at Huff's Ferry. It charged with its brigade and was successful, forcing the Confederates back and losing but few men. At Loudon Creek the regiment skirmished briskly with the Sixth South Carolina and lost four-killed and twelve wounded. In the engagement at Campbell's Stations the regiment was for six hours exposed to the artillery fire of two Confederate batteries, though the loss was only eight, owing to the percussion shell used, which fell mainly in the rear. At the siege of Knoxville it lost six men killed and wounded. It skirmished at Blair's Cross Roads and Dandridge, Tenn. It participated in the Atlanta campaign, fighting at Buzzard's Roost Gap, Dalton, Resaca, Kenesaw, Pine Mountain, Lost Mountain, Nickajack Creek, Chattahoochee River, Peachtree Creek, siege of Atlanta and the skirmishes at Utoy Creek and Lovejoy Station. It skirmished at Columbia, Tenn., and repulsed two charges of the enemy near Franklin. It fought desperately in the engagement that followed, losing in this "hottest battle of the war" twenty-two men killed on the field and forty wounded out of the one hundred and eighty men engaged. The regiment fought gallantly both days at Nashville, and in a charge on the second day captured three Confederate battle flags and a large number of prisoners, losing seven killed and fifteen wounded. Soon after this it participated in the Carolina campaign, which ended hostilities. The regiment numbered one thousand and fifty men when it entered the service and received eighty-five recruits. Two hundred and thirty-four were discharged for disability, disease and wounds ; two hundred died of disease contracted in the service ; two hundred and fifty-two were killed in battle or died of wounds, and four hundred and one were mustered out. The One Hundred and Forty-second regiment of Ohio volunteer infantry was organized at Camp Chase, O., May 13, 1864, to serve one hundred days. It was composed of the Twenty-second battalion, Ohio National Guard, from Knox county ; Sixty-eighth battalion, Ohio National Guard, from Williams county ; and a part of the Sixty-ninth battalion, Ohio National Guard, from Coshocton county. On May 4 the regiment left Columbus, O., for Martinsburg, W. Va., where it remained, drilling, until May 19, when it left for Washington City. From Washington it marched to Fort Lyon. The regiment remained at Fort Lyon until June 5th, when orders were received to report to General Albercombie, at White House Landing. The regiment took steamer at Alexandria, on June 7th, and arrived at White House on June 9th, but was immediately sent to guard a supply-train through the Wilderness to General Grant's front, near Cold Harbor. The regiment was then ordered to report at Bermuda Hundred, but, without being permitted to land, it was conveyed on transports to Point of Rocks. On August 19 the regiment received orders to repair to Washington City, and thence to Camp Chase, O., where it was mustered out, September 2, 1864, on expiration of term of service. The Third Ohio volunteer cavalry, containing Company H as Will- 102 - HISTORY OF WILLIAMS COUNTY iams county's contingent, was organized from the State at large, at Monroeville, Huron county, O., from September 4, 1861, to December 11, 1861, to serve three years. On the expiration of their term of service, the original members (except veterans) were mustered out, and the organization composed of veterans and recruits was retained in service until August 4, 1865, when it was mustered out in accordance with orders from the war department. Company H was commanded originally by Charles W. Skinner, with William Maxwell and Samuel J. Hansey as first and second lieutenants, respectively. The regiment's first initiation into actual warfare was during the siege of Corinth, Miss., beginning on April 30, 1862. After occupying various positions and participating in numerous foraging and other expeditions and several skirmishes, the first battalion of the Third had a sharp engagement with the enemy at Munsfordville, Ky., losing two killed and twelve wounded. In a severe attack on the enemy, near Bardstown, Ky., the Third lost six men killed, twenty wounded and seventeen captured. After the battle of Stone River, in Tennessee, the regiment pursued the enemy, capturing one of his trains, and then encamped at Murfreesboro. The regiment fought at Middleton and McMinnville, losing many killed and -wounded. It fought on the Shelbyville Pike, near Farmington, Tenn., losing in the latter engagement two killed and twenty-three captured. After "veteranizing" and being furloughed home, it took the field again in Tennessee, fought the Confederates at Decatur, Ala., at Moulton, Ala., and at Noonday Creek. A severe fight was had at Peachtree Creek, and in the return raids into Tennessee. It participated in the Kilpatrick and the Stoneman raids around Atlanta, skirmished at Jonesboro and Lovejoy Station in pursuit of Hood. It fought at Franklin, Tenn., losing heavily, after which it pursued Hood into Alabama, and then participated in the Wilson raid, fighting at Selma, Columbus and Macon, and participated in the chase of Jeff. Davis. The Ninth Ohio volunteer cavalry was organized in 1863, to serve three years ; Companies A, B, C, and D, at Camp Zanesville, O., in January, and the other eight companies (of which H was from Williams county—William Stough, captain ; James P. Caldwell, first lieutenant, and John Frey, second lieutenant) at Camp Dennison, O., in September, October and December. It was mustered out July 20, 1865, at Lexington, N. C. The regiment was not completed and united in the field until the spring of 1864, when it saw plenty of service in Alabama. Seven hundred men of the Ninth, with other troops under Rousseau, were sent to destroy the Atlanta and West Point railroad. This was done amidst numerous skirmishes with the enemy, whereby the Ninth lost twenty-six men, mainly captured while foraging. After the fall of Atlanta the regiment, about seven hundred strong, marched to the sea with Sherman, fighting almost daily with the enemy and quite severely at Waynesboro. A brisk skirmish was had near Savannah, Ga., and at Aiken, S. C. So many of the horses failed on the march that a portion of the cavalry was organized into a "dismounted" command. On the night of March 9, 1865, General THE COUNTY'S WAR RECORD - 103 Kilpatrick went into camp with the Third brigade and the dismounted men about three miles in advance of the remainder of his command. Early on the morning of the loth, at Monroe's Cross Roads, N. C., a large force of Confederates dashed into camp, capturing the wagons, artillery and many of the officers and men. The excitement was intense, but the dismounted men rallied, opened a hot and destructive fire on the enemy, forcng them back and recapturing all the stores, during which twenty-five Federal and seventy-five Confederate soldiers were killed. The man who accomplished this splendid result, who turned defeat into victory and won a brigadier general's star, was none other than the late William Stough, of Bryan, who entered the service as captain of a Williams county company. The Ninth fought at Averysboro and Raleigh, and after doing some guard duty was mustered out. The Confederacy was crushed, the South was over-powered and the citizen soldiery Was no longer imbued with the military spirit. It was "Home, Sweet Home," in the minds of all. The History of Williams county soldiers is a record of heroism and endurance, of which every citizen should be proud. They supported the flag on scores of bloody battlefields, and there they fought and suffered. The roll of honor shows nearly a thousand killed and wounded in battle. The graves of the dead mark a victorious pathway through many states of the Union. In many a charge our soldiers performed feats unsurpassed in the annals of war. They were at the front in many battles ; and, although sometimes repulsed, they were never dishonored. The field and staff officers of the various regiments, in which Williams county was represented, were subject to frequent change, there being resignations, discharges and deaths. A number of resignations were due to promotions to higher rank in the same or other organizations, and the places thus made vacant were filled by promotions. A number of line officers were chosen from among Williams county soldiers, and usually promotions were made from the companies wherein the vacancies occurred. Some of the Williams county officers are given more extended mention on other pages of this volume, but it will be eminently appropriate to mention a few of them here. Col. Edwin D. Bradley, who entered the service as captain of a Williams county company with the three months' troops and was also the first colonel of the Thirty-eighth regiment, was a veteran of the war with Mexico. He was born August 28, 1804, at Litchfield, Conn., of English descent. After a preliminary education he read law for a couple of years, but on account of ill health was compelled to abandon his studies. In 1835 he came to Sandusky, O., where he engaged in agriculture until the Mexican war began, when he commenced recruiting a company for service. It became Company F, with Colonel Bradley as captain, and was assigned to the First Ohio volunteer infantry. He commanded this company until the regiment was mustered out of service, in June. 1847. On his return from Mexico he came to Williams county and engaged in mercantile business at Lockport, Evans-port and Stryker, finally locating permanently at the latter place, where he died a few years since. On the occurrence of the secession move- 104 - HISTORY OF WILLIAMS COUNTY ment Colonel Bradley was among the first to respond, and after a short service as captain of Company E, in the Fourteenth regiment, he was commissioned as colonel and raised the Thirty-eighth, or "Williams county regiment." Advancing age and failing health compelled his resignation in February, 1862. Charles Greenwood entered the service as captain of Company A, in the Thirty-eighth Ohio volunteer infantry. He was promoted to Major of the regiment on February 6. 1862, and to lieutenant colonel on November 25, 1863. He resigned his commission, August 12, 1864. Andrew Newman entered the service on September I, 1861, as first lieutenant of Company H, of the Thirty-eighth regiment. He was promoted to the captaincy on July 19, 1862, and to major on November 3, 1864. He was mustered out with the regiment July 12, 1865. Alphonso A. Evans enlisted as a private on Septemebr 3, 186i, in Company E, of the Thirty-eighth. He was promoted to quartermaster sergeant June 25, 1863 ; to second lieutenant of Company K June 27, 1864; to first lieutenant of Company E January 20, 1865 ; was appointed regimental quartermaster on February 3, 1865, and was mustered out with the regiment, July 12, 1865. Rev. John Poucher was the chaplain of the Thirty-eighth regiment throughout its entire career. He was born in Lincolnshire, England, December To, 1824. and came to America in the fall of 1854, passing the winter following in Shanesville, Tuscarawas county, O. In the spring of 1855 he engaged in milling in Bridgewater township, Williams county, and continued in that business during the greater part of his life, for years being one of the proprietors of the Unity Mills, at West Unity. He joined the Central Ohio conference of the Methodist-Episcopal church in 1857, and became widely known as a preacher of that faith. Upon the organization of the Thirty-eighth regiment he was elected by its members and commissioned by Governor Tod as chaplain of the same, in which capacity he served until the close of the war. While acting as post chaplain at Nashville, Tenn., he received a severe internal injury while assisting a wounded soldier to the cars, and suffered therefrom considerably ; but otherwise he escaped unscathed. Lieutenant Joseph B. Coons, of the Thirty-eighth, enlisted as a private in Company C, on August 25, 1861. He was promoted to sergeant major on May 10, 1862, to second lieutenant March 16, 1863, and to first lieutenant of Company I April 13, 1864. Edward P. McCutchen entered the service as corporal of Company E of the Thirty-eighth, was appointed sergeant February 19, 1862 ; promoted to sergeant major February 25, 1864, and to first lieutenant of Company G on May 18, 1865. Albert W. Dolph was mustered in as a private in Company A of the Thirty-eighth ; was appointed first sergeant ; promoted to quartermaster sergeant, and afterwards to first lieutenant of Company D. Morton A. Amadon enlisted as a private in Comapny C, was promoted to commissary sergeant, and afterwards discharged on surgeon's certificate of disability. Alfred Plummer enlisted as a private-in Company E, promoted to hospital steward, "veteranized" and was 104 - THE COUNTY'S WAR RECORD mustered out with the regiment. John A. Baird enlisted as a musician in Company H, was promoted to fife major, then to principal musician of the regiment and was mustered out September 13, 1864, on expiration of term of service. A large majority of the soldiers which comprised the Sixty-eighth regiment were gathered from other counties, and consequently Williams was not extensively represented among the field and staff officers. There were three exceptions, however, Charles Bates serving as regimental quartermaster, Martin Perky as chaplain, and Jacob A. Dorshinier as commissary sergeant. Dr. Charles Bates was born in Morrow county, O., January 4, 1842, and came to Williams county with his parents in 1852. At the alarm of war he was studying medicine, but enlisted at the first call in Company B, First Michigan infantry, being soon afterward discharged on account of illness. In November, 1861, he again enlisted as a private in Company K, Sixty-eighth Ohio volunteer infantry, and on the organization of the regiment was appointed sergeant major, which position he held until his promotion to second lieutenant April 6, 1862. In May, 1863, he was promoted to first lieutenant, and in 1864 to captain, which commission he declined. After the war he practiced medicine at his home in Columbia, Northwest township, until his death, March 23, 1881. The One Hundredth regiment had no field or staff officers from Williams county, but the One Hundred and Eleventh had three—Lieutenant 'Colonel Isaac R. Sherwood, Sergeant Major George H. Curtis, and Commissary Sergeant James C. Thomas. Colonel Sherwood is given extended mention in the chapter devoted to "Official Honors." George H. Curtis entered the service as a private in Company H, August 20, 1862. He was transferred to Company C in December, 1863 ; promoted to sergeant major May I, 1864, and was killed in the battle of Franklin, Tenn., on November 30, 1864. James C. Thomas was born in Florence township, Williams county, in 1843. He enlisted, August 14, 1862, as a private in Company C of the One Hundred and Eleventh Ohio volunteer infantry, and soon thereafter was appointed corporal. On June 13, 1863, he was promoted to commissary sergeant and was mustered out with the regiment, June 27, 1865. For several years past he has been connected with a book publishing establishment, with headquarters at Chicago. There were no field and staff officers from Williams county in the One Hundred and Forty-second Ohio infantry, but in the Third Ohio cavalry there were several. Charles W. Skinner entered the service on August 20, 1861 ; was appointed first lieutenant of Company H, September 14, captain October 10, and major of the regiment on February 14, 1863. He held the latter position until September 8, 1864, when he resrgned. Francis P. Gates also held a major's commission in this regiment. He entered the service as second lieutenant of Company E, and was promoted to first lieutenant on June 20, 1862. On March 5, 1863, he was promoted to captain of Company H, and on November 30 was promoted to major. He was mustered out with his regiment on August 4, 1865. Joseph Berry was appointed sergeant 106 - HISTORY OF WILLIAMS COUNTY of Company H ; promoted to sergeant major of the regiment ; to second lieutenant of Company D and to first lieutenant of the same, but was not mustered. He "veteranized" and was mustered out with Company D on August 4, 1865. Edward A. Haines entered the service as sergeant of Company D; was promoted to battalion sergeant major; to second lieutenant of Company H ; to first lieutenant of Company I, and was mustered out November 25, 1864, at Louisville, Ky., on expiration of term of service. Jesse N. Squires entered the service as sergeant of Company B ; was promoted to battalion commissary sergeant; to regimental commissary sergeant ; to first lieutenant of Company H, and to captain of the same. From April 3, 1865, until mustered out, he was on detached duty as acting inspector general at Second Division cavalry headquarters. William O. Johnston entered the service as a private in Company H, and was promoted to regimental commissary sergeant. He was a prisoner of war for a long time, and was mustered out, April 7, 1865, at Columbus, O., on expiration of term of service. He afterwards practiced law in Williams county, was prosecuting attorney, mayor of Bryan, and moved to Tennessee several years ago. William H. Gardner entered the service as a private in Company H ; was promoted to regimental saddler sergeant, and was mustered out June 15, 1865, at Nashville, Tenn., by order of War Department. William Hinman enlisted in the Third Ohio cavalry, Company H, August 20, 1861 ; took part in the battle of Shiloh, the pursuit and capture of John Morgan, the. battle of Mission Ridge, and was discharged in August, 1862. He re-enlisted in the same company and .regiment in 1864, and served till the close of the war, being in the party that pursued and captured Jefferson Davis. He was mustered out at Nashville, Tenn., June 17, 1865. In the Ninth Ohio cavalry Williams county was represented by Company H, and three of its members—William Stough, John Frey and Thomas D. Stevenson—achieved the distinction of being field and staff officers. William Stough was born in Cumberland county, Pennsylvania, January 22, 1821, and grew to manhood in Richland county, O., where his parents moved when he was about twelve years old. He learned the cabinet-maker's trade, and in 1842 moved to the village of Pulaski (then called Lafayette) in Williams county, where he engaged in that occupation. In 1852 he began merchandising and three years later moved his establishment to Bryan. At the time of the fall of Fort Sumter he was engaged in lumbering and farming, but he immediately' turned his attention to military affairs and soon had a company of one hundrd and twenty men, which became Company H, Thirty-eighth regiment, Ohio volunteer infantry. General Stough served as captain of this company, leading it in all engagements until the fall of 1862 when, owing to ill health, he was compelled to resign and come home. Beginning in July, 1863, he enlisted a company of cavalry, which became a part of the Ninth Ohio cavalry, and as captain he engaged with it in active service in Kentucky and Tennessee. He was appointed major of the regiment, and, on October 1, 1864, was commissioned lieutenant colonel. The record of his regi- THE COUNTY'S WAR RECORD - 107 ment in the Carolina campaign is given elsewhere in this chapter, as is also General Stough's gallant service, for which he was brevetted colonel and brigadier general. He was mustered out with his regiment and returned to Williams county, where he resided until his death. John Frey entered the service as second lieutenant of Campany H, Ninth Ohio Cavalry ; was promoted to first lieutenant and regimental quartermaster, and mustered out with the regiment, July 20, 1865. Thomas D. Stevenson entered the service September 15, 1863. He was appointed saddler of Campany H ; promoted to regimental saddler sergeant, and was mustered out with his regiment July 20, 1865. Did space permit it would be a pleasure to include the names and service of the "men who bore the guns," many of whom performed feats of daring and services of incalculable value to the cause, wholly prompted by the innate desire for national preservation, and without the hope of official reward. Some even declined promotion on the conscientious ground that they would then be serving for the emoluments and honors of office, while the charge would be groundless if the salary remained at thirteen dollars a month ! Such conduct as this, it seems, should be a sufficient refutation of the latter-day doctrine that greed is the only incentive to human exertion. There were representatives of Williams county in nearly every regiment organized in Northwestern Ohio, Southern Michigan and Northeastern Indiana, either by original enlistment, transfer or promotion ; and wherever they were, and by whatever organization they were known, the famous Buckeyes always performed their duty, and reflected honor upon themselves and credit upon the noble State which they represented. CHAPTER VII THE LAST FORTY YEARS ON January 31, 1862, a new weekly publication was launched at Bryan, entitled the Union Press; under the editorial management of S. L. Hunter, a son of William A. Hunter, of Williams county newspaper fame. It was a well-edited and nicely-printed sheet and continued to make its weekly visits for a period of six months, when William M. Starr having purchased the Williams County Leader, the two papers were consolidated and thereafter, appeared as one publication under the name of Press and Leader. In August, 1863, the latter part of the cognomen was dropped and the paper was issued as the Union Press. In August, 1865, Thomas Starr purchased a half interest and the paper was conducted by the partnership thus formed until June I, 1867, when General Isaac R. Sherwood, having returned from the war, laden with honors and filled with enthusiasm, repurchased the establishment and assumed editorial control. In 1868 General Sherwood, having received the nomination for secretary of state on the Republican ticket, resigned the editorial management into the hands of Robert N. Traver, though the former continued as publisher. In the issue of August 26, 1869, General Sherwood announced the sale of the Union Press to Gen. C. P. Hayes, and in the issue of October 28, following, the name was changed to the Bryan Press, which has since been the title of the publication, and at the same time the dimensions of the sheet was considerably enlarged. On July 2, 1874, General Hayes sold the Press to D. B. Ainger, and the latter's salutatory appeared in the issue of that date. General Hayes removed to Illinois, purchased a newspaper establishment there, and in less than two years after he settled in that state he was elected to Congress and served two terms. Mr. Ainger continued in charge of the paper until November 15, 1877, when he sold to Bowersox & Gillis—Charles A. Bowersox, editor, and Simeon Gillis, business manager. This firm continued until November 28, 1878, when the property passed into the hands of Gillis & Ogle. In January, 1884, Mr. Gillis became sole proprietor and continued the publication until June, 1889, when he sold the Press to J. Herbert Letcher and Carleton S. Roe. On March 1, 1896, Mr. Letcher retired from the firm, since which time Mr. Roe has conducted the paper alone, and we may properly add, with marked ability and success. It will have been noticed, in what has been said concerning General Sherwood and General Hayes (former editors of the Press) that the public careers of those gentlemen seemed to be singularly fortunate. - 108 - THE LAST FORTY YEARS - 109 Scarcely less so was that of Mr. Ainger. After his sale of the Press he immediately crossed the border and purchased a Republican paper at Charlotte, Mich. A year later he was appointed to the responsible and lucrative position of postmaster at Washington City, which office he filled for a period of a little more than four years. He afterwards became quite prominent in Michigan political affairs. No effort was made to establish a Democratic paper in Williams county, after those recounted in a previous chapter, until April 30, 1863, when Robert N. Patterson launched the Weekly Bryan Democrat. Mr. Patterson was a native of Delaware, O., where his birth occurred January 19, 1831. He lived at home until the age of seventeen, when he began learning the printer's trade in the office of the Buckeye Eagle at Marion, Ohio. He worked on different papers in Ohio until 1863, and then came to Bryan and established the paper named above, of which he continued publisher and proprietor until September, 1900. He then sold the property to Reuben L. Starr, who in a few months transferred it to "The Democrat Publishing Co." Under the management of Mr. Patterson the Democrat flourished, and it has not lost any of its popularity since passing into other hands. For the past forty years Williams county has been very creditably represented by newspapers, reflecting of course differing political views, but at the same time registering the story of the county's progress and prosperity. We are largely indebted to the files of these weekly publications for a great deal of the history contained in this chapter. In February, 1864, the Stevens' Exchange Bank complied with the new law regulating national banks, and became the present First National Bank of Bryan. The first post of the Grand Army of the Republic in the county was organized at Bryan in December, 1866. Gen. William Stough was the first district commander ; Capt. L. E. Brewster, district assistant adjutant general and secretary ; Sydney M. Gleason, assistant quartermaster of the district. On the 14th of September, 1867, occurred the first match game of base ball in Bryan, and probably in Williams county. There appeared to be a great interest in the national game that year, as the people were being taught the distinction between it and "town ball" or "two old cat." It was in the autumn of 1867 that Weston, the great pedestrian, accomplished the remarkable feat of walking- from Portland, Maine, to Chicago, over the post road—a distance of 1,228 miles—in twenty-six days. His route lay through Williams county, and great interest was manifested by the citizens thereof in the walker's contest with distance and time. He passed through Bryan on Saturday afternoon, November 23, but by ten o'clock a. m. the streets were well filled with people. Livery teams and private carriages were brought into requisition, and hosts of people started out on the Pulaski road, many going all the way to Stryker. At 11:30 Weston left the latter place and arrived at Bryan at 1:42—making the distance, nine and one-half miles, in two hours and twelve minutes. He made the last four miles in just forty- 110 - HISTORY OF WILLIAMS COUNTY eight minutes or at the rate of five miles an hour. After remaining one hour at Burke's hotel, in Bryan, he again took up the line of march, intending to dine at Edgerton and sup at Waterloo, Indiana: The old log jail, located on the present site of Long's drug store, had by this time (1867) become completely out of date and insecure, so far as confining prisoners was concerned. Several escapes, made by reckless evil-doers, caused an out-spoken demand for a better bastile, and in February, 1869, the present commodious structure, at the corner of Beach and Bryan streets, was completed under the personal supervision of A. W. Boynton. Among the last of the criminals to be incarcerated in the old jail was the notorious "Sile" Doty, who was arrested at Burke's hotel in Bryan for stealing a horse in Branch county, Michigan, and was taken to Coldwater the following day. In mentioning the demolition of the old jail the Democrat humorously stated that "Tyler's ghost flitted to other quarters last Saturday night at low twelve." The census report showed that in 1870 the population of Williams. county was 19,485 native and 1,506 foreign-born citizens—total, 20,991. The increase during the previous decade had been 4,448. The political campaign of 1872, Grant and Greeley being the contestants, aroused much political enthusiasm, features of which were the tannery habiliments, worn by the followers of one candidate, and the conspicuous white hats representing loyalty to the other. A serious epidemic, known as the "epizootic," crippled all industries requiring the use of horses during the later part of 1872, and left horse-owners with diseased and imperfect animals for a number of years afterward. The plague was universal throughout the country. In 1873 Williams county sent the late Albert M. Pratt as a represetive to the State constitutional convention. Mr. Pratt was born in Berkshire county, Mass., December 26, 1825, and was a direct descendant of the Puritans. He was reared on his father's farm in his native county, and in 1846 entered Williams college, from which he graduated in 1850. In December of the latter year he came to Ravenna, Ohio, began the study of law there, and was admitted to the bar in Medina in 1853. In the autumn of that year he came to Bryan—then a town of less than five hundred inhabitants—and began the practice of his profession, in which he met with gratifying success. Mr. Pratt was originally a Democrat in politics, but became a Republican during the war. In addition to the position of trust named above he officiated as mayor of Bryan. He died October 13, 1889. The Grange movement took shape in this county in 1874, and organizations came into existence all over the county. Some of these are still in existence, though most have been abandoned. The active. movers during the early agitation were Messrs. J. P. Marsh of Jefferson township ; P. S. Garlow ofPulaski Thomas Hodson of Madison. With these three were associated other Pulaski, workers in various townships, among them being the following : S. B. McKelvey, Daniel Thorp. Henry Kimball, A. J. Alvord, T. W. Stocking and J. A. Bowser. These names will all be recognized as of men who were leaders in all move- THE LAST FORTY YEARS - 111 ments looking to the betterment of conditions generally. Particularly is this true of Thomas Hodson, a statement that will be corroborated by the older residents of the county. Mr. Hodson was born in Navenby, Lincolnshire, England, April 28, 1814, and attended school there until twelve years of age, when he was put to work on a farm. In 1827 he was brought to America by his parents, who located in Richland county, Ohio, and there Mr. Hodson grew to manhood. He removed to Williams county in April, 1854, having previously purchased over six hundred acres of land therein. For about one year he resided at Bridgewater Center and then located at Pioneer, where he spent the remainder of his life, giving his attention to agricultural pursuits and also practicing law to some extent. He was independent in politics, voting for the men and measures he thought best, and did active work and made many speeches for the establishment of his views. He possessed one of the finest libraries in the county. The year 1874 is remembered as the time of the "Women's Crusade." The movement developed in the month of February, and though perhaps but few, if any, saloon-keepers were driven out of business, yet the sentiment created, no doubt, had a salutary effect in curtailing lawlessness in the liquor traffic. In 1873 the need of a building for the poor upon the farm in Jefferson township, purchased from John Hester in 1872, gained official action, and the county commissioners established a brick yard on the farm and let the contract for the erection of the buildings. Work was commenced in earnest the same year, and in December, 1874, the new quarters were occupied by the county's wards, the institution taking the name of "Williams County Infirmary." The buildings are elaborate and expensive, covering nearly an acre of land. The infirmary, proper, is a three-story brick structure, conveniently arranged for heating with the least possible danger of fire. An insane ward is also provided for the care of patients designated as "harmless and incurable." A district school, near by, affords the means to properly rear and train the unfortunate children who are taken in charge at the infirmary. The farm contains two hundred and eighty acres, and produces surplus products not consumed in the institution, to the value of about one thousand dollars annually. The average cost of maintenance, including outside relief, is about ten thousand dollars annually. The infirmary directors have supreme control and employ, subordinate to their direction, a superintendent and matron, who attend to the details of the institution. Inmates who are able to work are employed on the farm, or in caring for stock and "choring" on the premises. Good, wholesome and substantial food is provided in abundance, as is also comfortable and seasonable clothing, and volunteer ministers from the various churches in the county supply the spiritual needs. At the time of the semi-annual report in March, 1905, there were thirty-three inmates in the institution. The first steam fire engine in the county reached Bryan in 1874, and was considered a feature of sufficient interest to appear as an exhibit 112 - HISTORY OF WILLIAMS COUNTY at the county fair. It was a Paterson engine, and with a well organized hook and ladder outfit, Bryan's fire protection seemed impregnable. In August, 1875, a newspaper was established at Edgerton, called the Edgerton Weekly, by H. A. Granberry and J. R. Fusselman. The following summer Granberry assumed entire control, and ran the journal till 1877, when he sold out to Sardis R. Williams of Bryan, who afterwards located in Indiana, where he died in 1887. Mr. Williams changed the name to Edgerton Herald, ran the paper nearly a year and then turned it over to its former owner, Mr. Granberry, who suspended publication in the summer of 1882. The journal was independent in politics. Mr. Granberry was a native of New York, where he was born June 21, 1858. He came to Edgerton in 1874, where he attended school two years, and while doing so launched the first issue of his paper. A new weekly paper was established at Bryan in 1876. The Fountain City Argus, Shouf & Williams, editors, issued No. i of Volume I on May 25th. On April 26, 1877, the name of Van B. Shouf appeared alone as editor and publisher ; on June 7, following, Shouf & Plummer, and in August, 1879, Van Shouf again appeared alone. The Argus was radically Democratic in politics, but directly after the October election of 1879 it closed its newspaper life and the material was disposed of to different parties at private sale. It was generally understood, although his name did not appear, that Judge M. R. Willett was the managing editor throughout the term of the existence of the Argus. As a partisan Democratic journal it achieved extended notoriety. The Bryan Light Guards were organized in June, 1877, and on July 6 was mustered into the State service, becoming Company E of the Sixteenth Ohio National Guard, with J. O. Foot, captain ; C. F. Donze, first lieutenant ; A. B. Ackerman, second lieutenant. The sergeants were J. R. McNary, John S. Williams, William Harding, John Evans and Fred Nunn. Lieutenant Ackerman was made quartermaster of the Sixteenth regiment. This company has seen active service under various calls of the State, in quieting riots, controlling strikers, guarding property, etc. It was on active dirty during the court house riot in Cincinnati in 1884, the miners' riots in southeastern Ohio in June, 1894, and was among Ohio's soldiers at the opening of the Louisiana Purchase exposition of 1904. Further history of this company is presented in connection with its services in the Spanish war. At the time of its organization a large number of the members of the company were ex-soldiers of the Civil war, and for several years the commanding officers were of that class. William Harding, who served for some time as captain and commanded the company during its first active service during the Cincinnati riot, was a private in Company C, One Hundred and Ninety-fifth Ohio volunteer infantry. For years he was engaged in business in Bryan, but afterwards removed to Defiance, where he now resides. The Unity Eagle was the title of an eight-page weekly paper which was started at West Unity by the Grisier Brothers in the spring of THE LAST FORTY YEARS - 113 1878. J. W. Grisier was the editor and he wielded the quill for several years. In 1888, E. T. Runnion purchased the newspaper and conducted it for a couple of years and then sold to Olin Kenyon, who changed the name to Reporter, and has successfully managed it since. On June 28, 1879, the first number of the Border Alliance, a six-column folio newspaper, made its appearance at Pioneer ; editor, C. J. DeWitt; publishers, the Alliance Printing Company. In four weeks the paper was enlarged to a seven-column folio and its name then became the Pioneer Alliance ; but two years later the name was changed to simply the Alliance. It was then enlarged, July 8, 1882, to a six column quarto and its name changed to the Tri-State Alliance. Mr. DeWitt conducted the paper until a few years ago when he sold it to other parties ; and although changes have since been made in its management, it still continues as a weekly representative of the thriving town in which it is published. C. J. DeWitt, the founder and first editor of the Alliance, is a native of Steuben county, New York, and came to Medina county, Ohio, with his parents in 1847. He attended Hillsdale college, Michigan, in 1858, 1859 and 1860, taught school and was finally ordained as a Baptist minister. He served in the One Hundred and Forty-second Ohio National Guard during the Civil war, after which he followed mercantile pursuits in the west for a number of years. After disposing of the Alliance at Pioneer he went South and engaged in the ministry there. John Kaufman, one of the two first settlers in Bryan, died on November 3, 1879. For years he was a familiar and interesting personage in Williams county. He was born at or near Little York, Pa„ on Christmas day, 1793, and but little is known of his early life. When Baltimore was menaced by the British troops, in 1814, he was in that city and promptly enlisted in the Thirty-ninth regiment of Maryland militia, and served with it through the battle of Long Point and the defense of Baltimore. He came to Williams county before the county seat was established at Bryan and in several ways contributed to the making of the county's history. He was employed to make the brick for the old court house, and after the completion of the building he was appointed door-keeper to the court room, a position he continuously held for thirty-five years. As a tribute to his memory, the court house and several county offices were appropriately draped with mourning badges on the day of his funeral. In 1879 the telephone made its first appearance in Williams county. It was looked upon with the same curiosity which met the introduction of electric railways, in more recent years. A telephone exchange was established at Bryan in 1882, by which time the new invention had been greatly improved and popularized. Volume I, No. 1, of the Buckeye Vidette made its appearance at Bryan, April 22, 1880--J. W. Northrop, editor, and J. R. Douglas, assistant. The Vidette was an organ of the Greenback party, and early in 1882 the material and publication were transferred from Bryan to Columbus. Later it was removed to Salem, Columbiana county. A small paper, called the Christian Messenger, was issued for about 8 114 - HISTORY OF WILLIAMS COUNTY four months, at Pioneer, in 1880—first appearing as a monthly, then as a semi-monthly, and finally as a weekly. Its aim was to reform the questions of politics and intemperance and to advocate strenuous moral measures. Its editor was Rev. J. L. Rushbridge. The Detroit division of the Wabash, St. Louis and Pacific railway was built through Williams county in 1880. It at once opened a market for the surplus farm and garden productions of the rich agricultural region of which Montpelier is the center, and by increasing the value of such products by establishing a new market, it conferred substantial benefits upon the farmer, the manufacturer and the merchant. With this new impetus Montpelier grew with marvelous strides and is now the most important town on the lines of the Wabash between Detroit and Chicago, or Toledo and Fort Wayne. With a keen foresight of the advantages that would be afforded Montpelier by the opening of the Wabash railroad, on September 18, 1880, Messrs. Ford & Smalley commenced the publication of the Montpelier Enterprise—F. M. Ford, editor, and J. R. Smalley, publisher. In the fall of 1882 Mr. Smalley retired from the publication and Mr. Ford conducted it alone until November, 1884, when he sold the paper to George Strayer. Until this time the Enterprise had been independent, ignoring politics, but Mr. Strayer hoisted the flag of Republicanism and continued to issue it as an advocate of that party until January, 1889, when Ford & Willett became the owners, and it again assumed an independent position. In 1903, Mr. Willett severed his connection with the paper, and F. M. Ford, the founder and first editor, successfully pilots the Enterprise in its course of usefulness to Montpelier and Williams county. James R. Smalley, who was associated with Mr. Ford in starting the Enterprise, is now a prosperous manufacturer at Sandusky, Ohio. The results of the census of 1880 showed a total population for Williams county of 23,821, a gain over 1870 of 2,830. On February 8, 1881, at Columbus, O. occurred the death of Dr. William Trevitt, who was well known to all the early citizens of Williams county, having been one of the original proprietors of Bryan. and largely instrumental in securing the location of the county seat there. He was twice elected secretary of state of Ohio, and was consul to Valparaiso under Pierce and Buchanan. The news of the shooting of President Garfield on July 2, 1881, created tremendous excitement. After his long period of suffering, and final death, the citizens of Bryan showed their grief and sympathy by holding a meeting of all creeds at the Armory, where the pastors of the various churches and others conducted a fitting memorial service in the presence of a vast throng of sorrowing people. All public offices and business houses were closed and the court house bell tolled from two to four o'clock. In November, 1882, the Herald having suspended publication, J. R. Smalley commenced the publication of the Observer at Edgerton. Mr. Smalley was quite successful in his undertaking and after conducting the paper a few years sold it to Anson Schaeffer, who changed THE LAST FORTY YEARS - 115 the name to Edgerton Earth. There have been several changes in the ownership of the Earth since then, but it has continued to make regular weekly visits. The present proprietor is C. E. Miller. On March 22, 1883, occurred the death of Dr. Thomas Kent, a prominent resident of Williams county, and rendered more so in a historical sense in that he established the first drug store in the county and also assisted in starting the first newspaper, the Northwestern. The presidential campaign of 1884 is memorable as having been more exciting in Williams county than any preceding one. Cleveland and Blaine had the magnetism to solidify the ranks of their respective followers and party lines were closely drawn. The young men of both parties organized marching clubs and wore uniforms or hats designating their party affiliations. The "Cleveland and Hendricks Clubs" were the organizations of the Democrats, organized in the several towns of the county and composed of scores of stanch adherents to the principles advocated by "the man from Buffalo." The different clubs united at various meetings during the campaign and kept the Cleveland enthusiasm at white heat. On October 7, a monster meeting was held at Montpelier, addressed by Hon. W. H. Springer of Illinois, and others. The enthusiasm was tremendous and the "white hat brigade" was in its glory. The Republican clubs were equally zealous and active ; and though they were denied the privilege of seeing their chieftain elected to the high office which he sought, many of his followers had the pleasure of seeing and hearing hint during the campaign. Although Blaine did not come to Bryan in his speech-making tour, he visited several neighboring points. The People's Advocate was the title of a newspaper, the first number of which was issued at Montpelier in June, 1885. Its editor was F. M. Ford, who continued its publication until January, 1887, when' he disposed of the material and ,good will to W. Otis Willett. Mr. Willett changed the name of the paper to Montpelier Democrat, and in August, 1887, disposed of a half interest to William H. Shinn, who. edited the Democrat until January, .1889, when it was merged into, the Enterprise. A temperance paper was started in Bryan in October, 1886, with Maumee Valley Prohibitionist as its name. It was a neatly printed six-column quarto and was edited by W. J. Sherwood. In June, 1889, the plant was moved to Toledo, where the publication was continued. In the latter part of 1886, citizens of Bryan. backed by reasonable public confidence in the enterprise, sank a gas well in the southeast part of town and were rewarded by striking what appeared to be an exhaustless supply of oil. Other wells were immediately started at Bryan, Edgerton and Stryker, at each of which places a supply of gas was obtained, and for a time that substance was extensively used as fuel in the towns named. But the supply became exhausted in a com- paratively short time ; and the projecting tubes of the wells and oc- casional ''salubrious" odors from their vicinity are about the only monuments to the memory of the well-meant efforts. 116 - HISTORY OF WILLIAMS COUNTY Several north and south railway lines through Williams county were long contemplated and discussed, but the one which was finally constructed in 1887 was the one originally known as the Cincinnati, Jackson & Mackinaw, and later as the Cincinnati Northern. This road, as originally projected, in 1852-3, was to pass, after leaving Cincinnati and Hamilton county, through all the county seats of the western range of counties in Ohio, until it struck the Michigan line on the north—the route embracing the several seats of justice of Hamilton, Preble, Butler, Darke, Mercer, Van Wert, Paulding, Defiance and Williams. After the expenditure of a large amount in grading and making the road bed ready for the ties, thousands of which were made and delivered on the line, where they rotted on the ground, the panic of 1857 struck the enterprise and placed a rough lock upon its further progress. And in this comatose state the project remained until March 7, 1881, when some energetic men revived it, and after six years more of doubt and uncertainty the road was completed from Cincinnati to Jackson, Michigan. In Williams county it passes through Bryan, West Unity and Alvordton, crossing an east and west road at each of these places, and withal it is a source of convenience and profit. Over forty years had elapsed since the building of the court house at Bryan, when, in 1888, a movement was started looking to its repair and enlargement. For years it had been apparent that a court house, built to satisfy the demands of pioneer days, was decidedly inadequate to the needs of the county after forty years of progress and increase of both wealth and population. But it was also well understood that any movement toward the erection of a new building would open the question of a removal of the county seat and engender a strife between the people of different sections of the county that would be bitter in its intensity and long-standing in its results. After the building of the Wabash railroad through Montpelier, that town had increased rapidly in population, and being situated in close proximity to the geographical center of the county, her citizens fondly hoped and expected that when a new court house was erected it would be in their midst. It did not require the gifts of a prophet to foresee the inevitable struggle, and while the adherents of either Bryan or Montpelier disclaimed any such incentive for their actions, yet the election returns for several years prior to 1888 showed that each was getting ready for the fray. In 1886 the flattering majority given in Pulaski township for a candidate for commissioner, who was supposed to be favorable to Bryan, was answered a year later, in the northern part of the county, by the defeat of a candidate for representative for no other reason than that he resided in a rival town. These events, coupled with the urgent need of a safer and more commodious building, brought the court house question to the front as a burning issue in the early part of 1888, and for some time such minor questions as the election of a president, etc., received little consideration at the hands of Williams county citizens. On February 10, 1888, a bill was introduced in the Ohio State senate authorizing and requiring the county commissioners of Williams county to borrow fifty thousand dollars for the purpose of repairing the old court house or THE LAST FORTY YEARS - 117 building a new one at Bryan. The citizens of Montpelier made strenuous efforts to defeat the bill, but their efforts ayailed them nothing and it became a law on March io, following. The commissioners decided to erect a new building and active operations to that end were promptly inaugurated. The contract to tear down the old court house was let to Samuel Priest and the old college building on North Lynn street was leased for county purposes until the new structure could be completed. In the meantime, citizens of Montpelier had not given up the contest. They made application for a writ of injunction to restrain the county commissioners from letting the contract to build the new court house. A temporary injunction was granted, but upon a hearing, held before Judge Sutphen at Bryan on August 14, it was dissolved and two days later the contract was let to Malone Brothers & Earhart of Toledo, the material to be Berea stone and the contract price of the building, $107,450. An appeal was taken from Judge Sutphen's decision to the Circuit court, but that tribunal dismissed the motion and sustained Judge Sutphen's decision. The first stone in the foundation of the new court house was put in position on October 1, and the first brick in the walls was laid October 22, 1888. As the amount of the first appropriation ($50,000) was less than half of the contract price of the new building, the legislature, at its session in 1889, authorized the commissioners to issue additional bonds, not exceeding sixty thousand dollars in amount. The Williams County Pioneers' Association laid the corner stone of the new court house on Tuesday, April 30, 1889, that day being chosen because it was the centennial anniversary of the inauguration of the first president of the United States. A large crowd of people gathered to witness the interesting and impressive ceremony. Hon. Charles A. Bowersox delivered the address and there was deposited in the box, a history of the location of the county seat at Bryan and building of the old court house, the act directing the commissioners to build the new court house, records of all proceedings connected therewith, names of county officers, names of the officers and members of the Pioneers' Association, a copy of each newspaper then published in the county, and a few voluntary contributions. Work upon the structure proceeded rapidly, and in July, 1891, it was accepted by the commissioners and occupied by the county officials. The cost of the building, however, far exceeded early expectations, the total amount expended for building and furnishing reaching the sum of one hundred and eighty-five thousand dollars, in round numbers. The Bryan electric light company was formed, in 1889, and the arc light system was put in operation. The Montpelier Republican was the title of a paper started at Montpelier in 1889. C. E. F. Miller was its editor and publisher, but its 'existence was of short duration, and after a few months it suspended publication. A few weeks after its demise, Messrs. George Strayer and David Stauffer launched the Montpelier Leader, also a Republican paper. They continued its publication until the building of the Montpelier-Chicago branch of the Wabash railroad brought into existence the new town of Ashley, Indiana, and then Mr. Strayer removed the 118 - HISTORY OF WILLIAMS COUNTY plant to the latter place and commenced the publication of a paper there. After a lapse of several months Theo. Donellen, of California, located at Montpelier and resumed the publication of the Leader. Its career for several years following was decidedly checkered, several parties having charge of it at different times, until 1899, when it passed into the hands of Clyde E. Thomas, who has guided its course ever since. Under Mr. Thomas' management the Leader has attained a position in the front rank among Williams county newspapers. The "grippe" became epidemic in Williams county, in 1890, when there were hundreds of cases, many of which were fatal. The United States, census of 1890 showed a population in the county of 24,897, a gain in the preceding decade of 1,076. Since the trials of Tyler and Heckerthorn for the murder of the little Schamp boy, in 1847, the judicial annals of Williams county have been singularly free of trials and convictions on the charge of murder. On the night of May 4, 1892, however, a blot was put upon the record by the killing of Arthur Brown within but little more than a square of the court house, in the village of Bryan. The motive for the atrocious crime is supposed to have been robbery and the details of the affair were horrifying in the extreme. George Burchell, Michael Burchell, Walter Plummer and William Elkins were charged with the commission of the crime, and in turn were tried, found guilty and sentenced to the Ohio penitentiary for life. Michael Burchell died in prison, Elkins and George Burchell were pardoned, and Plummer is still confined within the gloomy walls. The Wabash extension—Montpelier to Chicago—was opened on May 14, 1893, when several additional passenger trains were put on to accommodate the World's Fair demands. The year 1894 was characterized by the great labor strikes all over the country and the exceptionally "hard times" incident to and following a world-wide monetary stringency. Coxey and his army of followers marched through the land enroute to Washington, where he hoped that a "petition in boots" would stimulate favorable consideration of relief measures by the congressional bodies. But Coxey's interest in the "commonweal" brought an entirely different result—he was arrested for "walking on the park grass" in Washington. A few, of his followers passed through Williams county, and "Weary" Iler, the quartermaster of the "On to Washington" army, was a former resident of Bryan. A cyclone, terrible in its effect upon property and human life, passed over the northern part of Williams county, on May 17, 1894. The section devastated was from fifty to one hundred yards wide and extended from the St. Joseph river, about three miles northeast of Montpelier, to a half mile south of Kunkle—a distance of five miles. Buildings were lifted as though they were so many shingles and scattered over the country, and four persons were killed, as many more being seriously injured. In the spring of 1898 came the declaration of war between the United States and Spain, and the equipment of an army and navy to combat THE LAST FORTY YEARS - 119 the haughty Spaniard. In the settlement of this trouble, Williams county responded with old-time vigor and enthusiasm. The noble sons of patriotic sires promptly offered their services in the cause of liberty and performed their duty with commendable devotion. The response was so universal over the land that many were disappointed in not reaching the scene of action ; but they had shown their devotion to country and sympathy with the down-trodden and oppressed. The Wrlliams county boys, mostly members of Company E of the Sixth Ohio volunteer infantry, were off to the rendezvous at the earliest opportunity. They returned after a few months of service, but were dissatisfied that they could not have done more. A grand reception was accorded to the company on its return, and thus its members resumed the thread of peaceful life. A few Williams county men reached the scene of action in the Philippines, where they rendered valiant service and proved their worthiness on every field. The officers of Company E of the Sixth Ohio volunteer infantry were : Captain, Charles E. Langel; first lieutenant, Samuel Diehl ; second lieutenant, S. C. Fisk. Eugene E. Newman of Bryan was the regimental quartermaster. Charles J. Shumaker, Richard F. Bolius, Charles Sullinger and Waldner, were four Williams county boys who contracted disease in the service and died. The Klondike excitement was somewhat abated during the Spanish troubles, and many young men who would otherwise have gone to the new territory of the far northwest were diverted from that purpose to enter the army. But Williams county had its representatives in the Alaskan gold fields, several young men having tried their fortunes and their endurance with results not entirely satisfactory. Absorbing interest was manifested in the national campaign of 1900, as it had been on a similar occurrence in 1896. In both cases a distinguished citizen of the state led the successful party. In Williams county the two campaigns were fought with remarkable vigor by the adherents of each party creed. The United States census of 1900 showed the population of the county to be 24,953. By townships the population was as follows : Brady, 1,875 ; Bridgewater, 1,314 ; Center, 1,450 ; Florence, 2,483 ; Jefferson, 1,213 ; Madison, 1,804 ; Millcreek, 1,393 ; Northwest, 1,434; Pulaski, 4,549 ; St. Joseph, 2,133 ; Springfield, 2,341 ; Superior, 2,964. These figures include the following villages in various townships : West Unity, 897 ; Blakeslee, 239; Edon, 740 ; Pioneer, 603 ; Alvordton, 482; Bryan, 3,131 ; Edgerton, 1,043 ; Stryker, 1,206; Montpelier. 1,869. Beginning as far back as the 70's, Northwestern Ohio, and especially Williams county, was for many years the scene of disastrous conflagrations, frequent in occurrence and plainly incendiary in character. Dwelling houses, barns, and business houses with their stocks of merchandise, were in turn victims of the fire fiend, until every citizen felt insecure and insurance companies preferred other localities in which to transact business. The state fire marshal and his deputies were tireless in their efforts to find the guilty parties, but year after year passed by with small prospect of success. In May, 1903, however, the Williams 120 - HISTORY OF WILLIAMS COUNTY county grand jury was furnished with sufficient evidence to cause them to return indictments against a number of men, charged with burning different buildings ; and so thorough had been the work of the officers, and so complete the information secured, that out of eighteen who were arraigned and charged with such crime, sixteen plead guilty and the remaining two were easily convicted upon trial. It is too early as yet to write the history of these transactions, for it is understood that there are other developments to follow. However this may be, it is hoped that a quietus has been put upon the organized band who so long plied their nefarious vocation in this locality. The Twentieth century has started with fine prospects for Williams county in a material sense. In 1901 the Wabash railroad built a branch from Montpelier to Toledo ; in 1903 an electric railway from the latter place was built as far west as Pioneer, touching Alvordton in its course, and, in 19̊5, Bryan and Stryker were given the advantages of an electric road. Other highways of travel and commerce are promised, and with her fertile fields, thriving towns and excellent people, Williams takes a high rank among her sister counties of the Buckeye State. CHAPTER VIII POLITICS AND OFFICIAL HONORS WILLIAMS county was organized the same year (1824) that the remarkable presidential contest occurred between Jackson, Adams, Clay and Crawford. The administration of Mr. Monroe had been so pacific and conciliatory in its measures that the party lines previously existing had become almost obliterated, and it appeared to be conceded that his policy had established "an era of good feeling." Means of communication with the outer world, inhabited by civilized people, were then so limited, and newspapers and documents so scarce and difficult to obtain that the political excitement among the new settlers was not sufficient to disturb neighborhood tranquility. But when the election, under the forms of the Constitution, was transferred to the house of representatives, after the meeting of congress on the first Monday in December, 1824, and when it became known that, by the decision of the house, the popular voice had been disregarded by the choice of John Quincy Adams, and intelligence of the result finally penetrated the fastnesses of the dwellers in the Northwestern Ohio wilderness, it aroused a feeling that had a tendency to form political classification. But sharp party lines were not drawn for many years, and even when they were they did not embrace candidates for the popular suffrage of a lesser grade than Federal and State officers, rarely extending to candidates for merely local positions. In process of time, however, political organizations were formed upon a broader basis, and they contested for possession of the smaller official plums, making the organization of political parties, although occasionally broken, generally more compact. Until 1834 the party adverse to the Democratic organization had been known as National Republicans and Anti-Masons, but in that year all that were opposed to the Democracy formed a coalition and changed their name to Whig, and under this banner fought their battles until 1854, when a fusion between the Free-Soilers and Know-Northings was made, and both elements combined under the name of Republican. There existed, however, for many years in Williams county, a small, but brave and earnest body of Abolitionists, who were denounced and persecuted by both Democrats and Whigs, who vied with each other in making assaults upon "the incendiary Abolitionist." But it was only upon this common ground that the two powerful parties would make common warfare. A woman of high character and intelligence, Miss Abbey Kelley, who had been invited by the little band of Abolitionists 122 - HISTORY OF WILLIAMS COUNTY in the town and county to address a public meeting at Bryan, was. after her lecture, and while on her way from the place of meeting to the house of a friend where she was a guest, the object of gross personal insult, a cowardly mob following her, making use of coarse language and even casting eggs at her person. The above statements were written by the late Horace S. Knapp, and published in Goodspeed's history of Williams county. No doubt there are those yet living in the county who remember the incident referred to ; and the writer can not refrain from calling the reader's attention to the great change in sentiment in so short a time. The date of the happening was about 1850, not during the "Dark Ages ;" the place was Bryan. Ohio, and not Charleston, South Carolina. The perpetrators of the outrage called themselves "conservative" men, who deemed it their duty to thus emphasize their dislike of the fanatics who were advocating the abolition of slavery. The "conservative" men of that day decried such agitation, because, they said, "it disturbed business interests." They were the psychological ancestors of those vainglorious men of today, who oppose every measure of reform that appears abstruse to their benighted reasoning powers. Dear "conservative" reader : Was the Emancipation Proclamation the culminating achievement of this Christian civilization, and were the enemies of human progress all slain when the Demon of Slavery perished ? If not, then it is your duty to study proposed reform measures ; and in the conflict of opinion your weapons should be reason and logic, not sneers and vituperation. But this is a digression, and we will return to the proper subject. At the October election of 1824—the first one held after the organization of Williams county—Allen Trimble received sixty-one votes for governor and Jeremiah Morrow received six votes. It will be observed that the vote in the county was very small, and in fact it remained so for several years thereafter. At the presidential election of 1836, Van Buren received 198 votes and Harrison 176. Four years later the same candidates were again in the field and Williams county voted as follows : Van Buren, 407 ; Harrison, 396. Mr. Birney, the Abolition candidate, received no votes in the county. The vote for governor in 184o exhibits quite as clearly the relative strength of the Whig and Democratic parties in Williams county. Wilson Shannon was the Democratic candidate and received 382 votes, while Thomas Corwin, the Whig candidate, received 356. In 1844, at the state election in October and the presidential election immediately following, the Abolitionists had no candidates and the Free-Soil party was not then in existence. At the October election, David Tod, the Democratic candidate for governor, received 621 votes, and Mordecai Bartley. the Whig candidate, received 488. For president, Polk, 673 ; Clay, 583. At the October election of 1848, John B. Weller, Democratic candidate for governor, received 484 votes, and Seabury Ford, the Whig candidate, received 269. In 1845 Defiance county had been formed, taking away eight of the most populous townships of the county, and POLITICS AND OFFICIAL HONORS - 123 this will account for the falling off in the total vote. In the presidential contest of the same year, a convention of Free-Soilers, held at Buffalo, N. Y., placed in nomination a candidate for the presidency and adopted a chart of principles satisfactory to nearly all the Abolitionists and to many others of the old parties. In Williams county the vote stood : Lewis Cass (Dem.), 510 votes; Zachary Taylor (Whig), 328 ; Martin Van Buren (Free-Soil), 154. Majority for Cass over Taylor, 182. 1850—At the October election of 1850, held on the 8th day of that month, for governor, Reuben Wood (Dem.) received in Williams county 6o1 votes, and his Whig opponent, William Johnston, 402 votes. 1852—Franklin Pierce (Dem.), 832 votes ; Winfield Scott (Whig), 546; John P. Hale (Free-Soil and Abolition), 160. Majority for Pierce over Scott, 286. Between this and the quadrennial election following the very name and machinery of the Whig party had passed out of existence. 1855—At this October election in Williams county, for governor, Salmon P. Chase (Republican) received 890 votes, William Medill (Democrat), 861 votes, and Allen Trimble (American), 17 votes. The majority of the Republican ticket was elected, although the plurality for Mr. Chase was the largest. This was the first instance in the political history of Williams county where the regular nominees of the Democratic party were entirely overthrown in a strictly party contest. 1856—James Buchanan (Dem.). 1,022 votes ; John C. Fremont (Rep.), 1,327; Millard Fillmore (American), 49. Majority for Fremont over Buchanan, 305. Williams county, it will be observed, gave a heavy vote for the Republican ticket, increasing its vote of a year before by about fifty per cent, and its majority over the combined vote of its opponents was 256. 1860 - This contest terminated the "irrepressible conflict" between the Free and Slave States, as Mr. Lincoln and Mr. Seward had declared several years previously that it was destined to become, and, so far as law could make it so, placed the former master and slave upon terms of civil equality. Williams county very largely increased her Republican majority, giving to Lincoln (Rep.) a vote of 1,713, to Douglas (Dem.) a vote of 1,180, and to Bell (American), 29 votes, making the majority for Lincoln over the combined vote of his competitors, 504. 1863—There probably never occurred an election in Ohio that produced a higher degree of excitement within the state, or a more profound interest abroad than the memorable campaign of 1863. Since the opening of the war, in 1861, there had occurred no conflict that would bear comparison in the intensity of feeling it produced, to this one. After the close of the polls, on October 13. results were rapidly received and transmitted, and the governor-elect being then a resident of Cleveland, was, near 12 o'clock at night, in possession of sufficient returns to authorize him to transmit a dispatch to Edwin M. Stanton, then secretary of war, that the entire Republican state ticket in. Ohio had been elected by a majority of about one hundred thousand. The official vote in Williams county stood : Brough, 1,955, and Vallandig- 124 - HISTORY OF WILLIAMS COUNTY ham, 1,318. Of the Williams county soldiers in the army 362 voted. and of these all cast their votes for the Republican candidates, with the exception of two, who voted for Vallandigham; and three cast their votes for each of the others upon the Democratic state, legislative and county tickets. 1864—Lincoln's (Rep.) yote, 2,197 ; McClellan's (Dem.), 1,425; Lincoln's vote very closely approximating two-thirds of the total number cast. 1868—Ulysses S. Grant (Rep.), 2,280 votes, and Horatio Seymour (Dem.), 1,84 ; resulting in a majority for Grant of 466. 1872—At the October election, this year, the Republican majority was 367 ; but at the November election, following, Grant received a majority of 805 votes over Greeley, thus proving conclusively that the latter was not very popular with Williams county Democrats. Indeed his candidacy seems to have affected the October election, for in 1871 the Republicans had but 199 majority in the county, and in October, 1872, they had 367. 1876—Hayes "( Rep.) , 2,701 ; Tilden ( Dem.) , 2,546. 1880    Garfield ( Rep.) , 2,881 ; Hancock ( Dem.) , 2,591. 1884—Blaine (Rep.), 2,907 ; Cleveland (Dem.), 2,897. 1888—Harrison (Rep.), 3,072 ; Cleveland (Dem.), 2,976. 1892—Harrison (Rep.), 2,723 ; Cleveland (Dem.), 2,554. 1896    Bryan (Dem.), 3,515 ; McKinley (Rep.), 3,191. 1900—McKinley (Rep.), 3,416; Bryan, (Dem.), 3,049. 1904—Roosevelt (Rep.), 3,827; Parker (Dem.), 2,565. These, figures represent the largest vote and majority ever given to a political party in Williams county. But, though there can be no doubt that the Republicans have a clear majority in the county, the presidential election of 1904 is not a fair criterion by which to judge its size. It is but stating a truth in history to say that Mr. Parker was not a popular candidate with the "rank and file" of the Democratic party, and especially was this true after he exhibited his weak conception of the coinage question. With such an independent character as Mr. Roosevelt in the field, many Democrats considered it an opportune time to consign Mr. Parker, "irrevocably," to the shades of political oblivion. But, notwithstanding the great majority for Roosevelt in 1904, at the State election of 1905 the vote for governor was as follows, according to unofficial returns : Pattison (Dem.), 3,114 ; Herrick (Rep.), 3,068 ; a Democratic majority of 46 votes. It will be seen, in the statistics given, that since 1852 the Republican candidate in presidential years has carried the county, with only one exception-1896. In that campaign Mr. Bryan's wonderful personality, magnetic force and matchless oratory, contendrng for a platform of principles that was unequivocal in meaning and clear in expression, succeeded in arousing an interest in political affairs to an extent seldom if ever witnessed before. In Williams county every district school house became a political forum, and interest in everything else waned while the "Battle of the Standards" was in progress. The majority giyen to Mr. Bryan—three hundred and twenty-four—was considered 124 - POLITICS AND OFFICIAL HONORS the greatest victory, under the circumstances, that had ever been achieved in Williams county. In local and state affairs, however, an independent spirit has been manifested more or less ever since the close of the Civil war. The voters of the county have been generally given to "scratching" their tickets, and it has been difficult to estimate results, particularly as regards candidates for county offices, until the votes have been officially canvassed ; and neither party has for any great length of time held all of the official positions. In 1878, the Democratic state ticket received a majority of eleven votes in the county and they were also successful in the state elections of 1883, 1884, 1885, 1887, 1889, 1890, 1896, and again in 1905. With these exceptions, however, the Republican state ticket has carried the county at every election from and including 1855. The first political meeting in the county, north of Fort Defiance, was held at Lafayette (Pulaski) in the presidential campaign of 1836. The speaker was Patrick G. Goode, who represented the district—which included nearly all the counties in northwestern Ohio—in the legislature of 1833-34. The first political convention, of which there is any account, was of the Democratic persuasion and was held at the house of Col. J. B. Kimmel, at Williams Centre, in the fall prior to the "two dollars a day and hard cider" year of 184o. Colonel Kimmel presided, and tradition says the proceedings were marked with the utmost harmony and good feeling. The harmony and good feeling, however, was not of a lasting nature, and did not prevail to any great extent a few years later. The writer has attempted to perfect an official list of Williams county, including national, state and county officers, from the organization of the county to 1905, and also to include with the list biographical matter concerning some of the gentlemen who have borne .the official honors. In some instances the favored ones have passed away, leaving neither "kith nor kin" to preserve their record, while in others, either from indisposition, churlishness, cupidity, ignorance or some other cause those who could have done so have manifested no disposition to furnish the required information. Notwithstanding these difficulties, considerable information is he,re presented concerning residents of Williams county who have held official honors. For court judges and officers, see chapter on Bench and Bar, and the biographical department of this work also contains additional information. SECRETARY OF STATE. From 1869 to 1873, Isaac R. Sherwood. General Isaac R. Sherwood has been prominent as a lawyer, a soldier, a newspaper editor and a political leader during the last half century. He was for many years a resident of Williams county. He was born August 15, 1835, and attended the Hudson River institute, Clarnack, New York. He graduated from Antioch college, Ohio, and later from the Western Law school at Cleveland, and was admitted to the bar and became a practicing attorney. In 1857 he established the Williams County Gazette, a Republican paper, and in 1860 was elected 126 - HISTORY OF WILLIAMS COUNTY probate judge of Williams county. At the beginning of the civil war, April 18, 1861, he enlisted as a private soldier in the Fourteenth Ohio volunteer infantry, and later resigned both the office of mayor of Bryan and the lucrative office of probate judge of Williams county to serve as a soldier boy. At the close of his first enlistment he was made a lieutenant in the One Hundred and Eleventh Ohio volunteer infantry, and was promoted through all the grades to colonel of the regiment, and was brevetted a brigadier general for gallant conduct at the battle of Franklin, Tennessee. He participated in the first actual battle of the war, at Phillipi, and in the last one at Raleigh. He participated in more than thirty actions during his military career and was repeat- edly complimented for his soldierly conduct. He was appointed commissioner for the Freedmen's Bureau of Florida in February, 1865, but resigned after filling the position for a few weeks. He was elected secretary of state, in 1868, as a Republican, over Thomas Hubbard, Democrat, by a vote of 267,066 to 249,682, and was re-elected in 1870 over William Heisley, Democrat, by a vote of 221,708 to 205,018. He was elected to the Forty-third congress, in 1872, from the Sixth district, Williams, Fulton, Henry, Wood, Lucas and Ottawa counties, and served but a single term. He them became an editor of prominence, and was editorially connected with a number of leading newspapers, among them the Toledo Commercial, the Toledo Journal, the Cleveland Leader and the Canton Democrat. In 1880 he severed his connection with the Republican party and by the Greenbackers was twice elected probate judge of Lucas county. He then affiliated with the Democratic party, and has in later years been one of the recognized and prominent leaders of that party in Ohio. REPRESENTATIVES IN CONGRESS. From 1851 to 1855, Alfred P. Edgerton : 1873 to 1875, Isaac. R Sherwood; 1887 to 1891, Melvin M. Boothman. Alfred P. Edgerton never had a legal residence within the present limits of Williams county, but his career was so closely associated with its early affairs and he did so much in contributing to its material advancement, that its history would not be complete without a biographical mention of him. In 1837, when he located in old Williams county, Mr. Edgerton assumed the management of the American Land Company and the Hicks Land Company, with headquarters at Hicksville, and there conducted those interests with great success. Up to 1852, when the. affairs of the two companies were practically wound up, he disposed of 140,000 acres of land to actual settlers. He replatted Hicksville, and added to its commercial and general interests, and was a man of the most liberal and progressive ideas. He was a state senator from 1845 to 1847. In 1850 he was elected to the Thirty-second congress from the Fifth district, embracing Defiance, Mercer, Van Wert, Paulding, Lucas, Henry, Putnam, Allen, Shelby, Williams and Hardin counties, and was elected to the Thirty-third, in 1852, from the same district. He was a Democratic leader both in the legislature and in congress. He was one of the Democratic opponents POLITICS AND OFFICIAL HONORS - 127 of the repeal of the Missouri Compromise, in 1855, which re-opened the slavery question with renewed bitterness. President Cleveland appointed him as one of the civil service commissioners, and he discharged the duties of the office impartially, although he disagreed with the president's ideas. He removed to Fort Wayne, Indiana, in 1857, and, in 1862, became a resident of that state, still retaining many interests in Defiance county. He was born in Plattsburg, New York, in 1813, and died in 1898. He was a most liberal patron of education and was deeply interested in the common school system. Melvin M. Boothman was the only native born citizen of Williams county who ever represented his district in congress. He was born in Jefferson township, this county, October 16, 1846. He was educated in the common schools and followed farming until 1864, when he enlisted in Company H, Thirty-eighth Ohio volunteer infantry, "for three years or during the war." He served through the Atlanta campaign, and was wounded in the assault upon Jonesboro, and his left leg was necessarily amputated. He returned home and followed teaching as a means of securing a higher education. He was graduated from the law department of the Michigan university, in October, 1871, with the degree of L.L.B. He was elected treasurer of Williams county, in 1871, and re-elected in 1873, holding the office four years. He then engaged in the practice of law. In 1886 he was elected, as a Republican, to the Fiftieth congress from the Sixth district, Williams, Wood, Defiance, Henry, Paulding and Van Wert, and was re-elected from the same district, in 1888, to the Fifty-first. He made a good record in congress and afterward resumed the practice of law, in which he successfully engaged until his death, March 4, 1904. STATE SENATORS. From 1860 to 1862, Edward Foster ; 1864 to 1868, Meredith R. Willett; 1874 to 1878, William Sheridan, Jr. ; 1906, William M. Denman. Edward Foster was born October 27, 1824, in Portage county, Ohio, and was of English descent. His youth and early manhood were passed in Portage, with the exception of the time spent at school. He acquired a thoroughly practical education, finishing at the Western Reserve college. In 1844 he began the study of law under the instruction of Judge Day, of Ravenna, afterward under Tilden & Ranney, and was admitted to the bar in the fall of 1846. In 1846 he came to Bryan, engaged actively in his profession, and occupied a leading position as a member of the bar of Williams county until the spring of 1867, when, because of ill health, he sold out his practice and retired to a less active life. He became prominent in county affairs immediately after his arrival ; was president of the Bryan bank (now the Farmers' National bank) for two years, and filled several other responsible positions. Previous to the war he acted in harmony with the Democrats, and by them was elected to represent the counties of Williams, Defiance, Paulding, Van Wert, Mercer, Allen and Auglaize in the state senate. He served in the same session with General Gar- 128 - HISTORY OF WILLIAMS COUNTY field, Governor Cox, Judge Key and other men who rose to prominence. While in the senate, in 1861, Fort Sumter was fired upon and Lincoln issued his call for troops. Mr. Foster then took an active part in the support of the administration and afterward affiliated with the Republicans. He died in 1885. Meredith R. Willett was born in Montgomery county, Maryland, February 6, 1819. In 1834 he came with his parents to Richland county, Ohio, and after acquiring such education as the local schools afforded he entered the law office of Judge Hurd at Mount Vernon, and subsequently of Stewart & Newman at Mansfield. Hon. Sam. Kirkwood, since governor of Iowa, and Hon. Charles Irvine, were fel- low students with him. After his admission to the bar he located at Mount Gilead, where he practiced in partnership with Maj. J. B. Stinchcomb until 1850, when he went overland to California. Returning a year later, he came to West Unity, Williams county, and engaged in school teaching. In 1853 he was elected justice of the peace, was soon afterward appointed postmaster, and at the October election was elected prosecuting attorney, and was re-elected in 1855 In 1857 he was elected probate judge of the county, which office he held until 1861. In 1863 he was nominated for state senator by the Democrats of the Thirty-second district and was elected by even 1,800 majority, when the Republicans carried the state by 100,000. He was re-elected in 1865 by about 3,000 majority. In 1866 he was appointed delegate from the state at large to the reconstruction convention at Philadelphia. Among his colleagues were Hon. Henry B. Payne, Hon. Hugh J. Jewett, Judge R. P. Ranney, Gen. George W. Morgan and Judge Bliss. The delegates from this district were Judge Dunlap of Toledo, and Judge William Carter of Defiance. Mr. Willett's last official position was that of supervisor of census for this district, in 1880. He died December 16, 1885. William Sheridan, Jr., was born in Greensburg, Westmoreland county, Pa., October 3o, 1825. His youth was spent on the farm, in the shop and in the school house—in the latter both as student and teacher. His life was active and his business interests varied. In December, 1850, he engaged in mercantile business at Lockport, with the late Colonel Miller, under the firm name of Miller & Sheridan. After four years, he disposed of his interest and removed to Stryker, where, from 1854 to 1865, he was employed alternately in mercantile trade, handling lumber, bridge building and farming, purchasing a farm near Stryker in 1860. In 1865 a company was organized in Boston, known as the Stryker Oil Well Company of Boston, Mass., with a capital stock of $40,000, in which Mr. Sheridan was a large stock-holder. Oil was found on his land in paying quantities at a depth of 860 feet, but the open formation of rock necessitated the abandonment of the enterprise. In 1867 Mr. Sheridan was admitted to the bar and afterwards engaged in the practice of law. He was Stryker's first postmaster, justice of the peace, and mayor, and in 1864 was chief clerk in the quartermaster's department at Wheeling, W. Va. In his own county he received the nomination for auditor and clerk of the court of com- POLITICS AND OFFICIAL HONORS - 129 mon pleas, and by the Ohio State Democratic convention that of comptroller of the state treasury. He was twice elected state senator from the Thirty-second senatorial district, serving two terms, and in 1876 was a delegate to the National Democratic convention, held at St. Louis. Mr. Sheridan was one of Stryker's most active and enterprising citizens. STATE REPRESENTATIVES. December, 1843, Sidney S. Sprague ; January I, 1852, Thomas S. C. Morrison ; January, 1854, Erastus H. Leland ; January, 1856, Schuyler E. Blakeslee; January, 1860, Calvin L. Noble ; January, 1862, Philetus W. Norris; January, 1866, Elisha G. Denman ; January, 1870, Schuyler E. Blakeslee ; January, 1874, John W. Nelson ; January, 1876, George W. Money ; January, 1878, Francis M. Carter ; January, 1880, William Letcher ; January, 1882, Charles W. Bowersox ; January, 1884, Solomon Johnson ; January, 1888, Robert Ogle ; January, 1890, Blair Hagerty; January, 1892, Joseph W. Williams ; January, 1894, Theodore S. Carvin ; January, 1896, Robert Starr ; January, 1898, Orlando Bennett; January, 1900, William M. Denman ; January, 1902, O. H. Nihart; January, 1906, Henry L. Goll. Schuyler E. Blakeslee was born near Avon Springs, N. Y., and when a child was taken by his parents to Geauga county, Ohio, where he was reared on a farm, receiving in early years an academic education, and when twenty-one years of age entered the law office of Gov. Seabury Ford, who resided at Burton, Geauga county. Here he remained until he graduated in law. In 1844 he came to Bryan, where he began the practice of his profession, which he continued until his death, February 7, 1894. Mr. Blakeslee was a man of unusual mental endowments and became one. of the recognized leaders, not only of the Williams county bar, but also of the bar of Northwestern Ohio. He served as commissioner of insolvents, prosecuting attorney, and represented Williams county three terms in the lower house of the state legislature, first in 1856, and then in 1870 and 1872. He was the author of several bills which became laws of the state and was one of the most active members of the sessions in which he served. He was an old-time Whig, but after the formation of the Republican party was an earnest soldier in its ranks. The county had no better citizen. Elisha G. Denman was born in Knox county, Ohio, about 1820, and resided there until his removal to Williams county in 1843. Here he took rank among the leading men of the county and was frequently called to positions of trust and honor. He was twice elected county treasurer and represented the district two terms in the state legislature. During all his life he enjoyed the respect of all classes of people for his good judgment, strict integrity and unfailing courtesy. He died March 21, 1877. George Wesley Money was born March 16, 1824, in Fairfax county, Va. In early life imbibing a hatred for the institution of slavery, he left his native state and sought a home in Ohio, living for a while in Richland county. In April, 1850, he came to West Unity and lived 9 130 - HISTORY OF WILLIAMS COUNTY there for some eighteen months, when he removed to the farm where he spent the greater part of his life, the land at that time being covered by an unbroken forest. His early education was confined to the log school-house of his day, with the addition thereto of a five-months' term at the Martinsburg academy, in Knox county, under the tutorage of Charles Martin, in the winter of 1846-47, his room-mate being William Windom, afterwards United States senator from Minnesota. Soon after his removal to West Unity, Mr. Money was elected to the office of township clerk, which office he filled for several years, until, in 1854, he was elected justice of the peace of Brady township (his commission being signed by Governor Medill and Secretary William Trevitt), which office he held nearly twenty-one years. On June 19, 1875, the Republican party placed Mr. Money at the head of their county ticket as a candidate for representative in the state legislature. He was elected at the following October election, carrying the full Republican vote of the county. Francis M. Carter was born in Loudoun county, Va., April 11, 1828. His advantages in youth were limited, and he received only a common school education. He came to Williams county in 1850, and purchased an interest in Dr. Kent's drug store and enlarged it to a stock of general merchandise. During the remainder of his life he was actively engaged in mercantile pursuits. He was elected to the state legislature in the fall of 1877, and served in the regular and special sessions of 1878 and 1879. Besides the above, he held various other positions of honor and trust. He died November 11, 1885. William Letcher came to Williams county in a comparatively early day, soon became active in business and political circles, and for a long time was regarded as one of the leading business men and politicians in the county. His acquaintance and business interests were very extensive and for years he was probably the best known man in the county. He was elected to the state legislature in the fall of 1879, and served one term. His death occurred March 25, 1886, in the seventieth year of his age. Joseph W. Williams, M.D., was born in Williams county, Ohio, April 15, 1852. He attended the public schools in his youth, afterward the Bryan normal school, studied his profession for three years with Dr. P. O. Jump, of Bryan, following which he attended medical lectures, and graduated at Cincinnati in 1878. He began practice the same year at Bridgewater Centre, in Williams county, in connection with R. F. Lamson, which association was continued for two and a half years, when Dr. Williams removed to Edon, where he remained but six months, and then decided upon Montpelier as a permanent location. A partnership was formed between himself and Messrs. John Allen and J. W. Starr, for the purpose of carrying on the drug business. In 1886 Dr. Williams was elected coroner of Williams county, but after serving one term declined a renomination. In 1891 he was elected to the state legislature, but ill health caused him to again retire from politics, at the end of one term. In 1902 he was elected auditor of POLITICS AND OFFICIAL HONORS - 131 Williams county, but died in January, 1904, a few weeks after entering upon the duties of the office. Theodore S. Carvin was born in Allen county, Indiana, May 10, 1850. When he was but thirteen years of age his parents died, and he remained with his guardian until he was sixteen, attending school and assisting in a store. He began life for himself soon thereafter, accepting a clerkship in a drug store at Bryan, where he remained until 1877, and then located at Edon, where he purchased the drug store of J. Aller. In the same year he was appointed postmaster at Edon, and became prominently identified with the business interests of the place. In 1893 he was elected to the state legislature and served one term. RECORDERS. The first mention of this officer upon the records is found in the journal of the Williams county court of common pleas, of date of April 5, 1824, where it is recorded that "John Evans was also appointed by the court, Recorder for the county of Williams." The follownig successors in this office are given in the order of their service : Horace Sessions, Calvin L. Noble, Jacob Youse, Milton B. Plummer, James B. Wyatt, George L. Starr, Harvey H. Wilcox, Isaac N. Sheets, Robert D. Dole, Barrett E. Conklin, Thomas J. Coslet, Eli Swigart, Benjamin F. Ewan, Simon B. Walters and Charles F. Eyster. Of the first corps of officials for Williams county, probably none occupied at that time a more responsible position than John Evans, who served in the dual capacity of clerk of courts and recorder. The family of this gentleman was widely known among the early residents of the Upper Maumee valley. Coming from Kentucky during the first years of the last century, the family lived for a time in Ross and Fayette counties, Ohio, and, in 1823, removed to Williams county, locating in the vicinity of Fort Defiance. Different members of the family are mentioned frequently in the early official records, and the name is preserved to posterity in the cognomen of the little village of Evansport, situated near the boundary line between Defiance and Williams. Horace Sessions was a gentleman whose moral, social and professional qualities were widely known and highly valued throughout Northwestern Ohio. He was born in Painesville, Ohio, April 16, 1812, and removed to defiance in 1833, being the first lawyer to locate permanently in old Williams county. As the result of a severe illness he became a cripple at twelve years of age, and that misfortune caused him to turn to the legal profession, in which he won a reasonable measure of both fame and fortune. When the county seat was removed to Bryan he did not follow it, but remained in Defiance, where he practiced his profession for thirty-five years. He died suddenly, June 6, 1868, at Adrian, Michigan, where he had stopped off to visit a friend, as he was returning home from the Republican national convention. Jacob Youse was born in Franklin county, Pa., September 30, 182o, and came to Bryan, July 24, 1841, where he built the first tannery ever seen in the county and followed the business six years. In October, 132 - HISTORY OF WILLIAMS COUNTY 1842, he was elected county recorder, and in 1845 was re-elected. In 1847 he was chosen justice of the peace for Pulaski township, and, at the expiration of his term became a dealer in real estate, and a farmer. In the fall of 1857 he was elected clerk of the Common Pleas court, and was re-elected in 1860, proving a very efficient and popular officer. In 1864 he went to Gallatin, Tenn., as superintendent for Capt. W. A. Hunter, assistant quartermaster. Up to the beginning of the Civil war Mr. Youse was a Democrat, but after that he was a Republican. He died April 6, 1888. Milton B. Plummer was a native of Ross county, Ohio, where his birth occurred January 2, 1818. He was reared in Ross county to manhood, where he acquired a fair district school education. By trade he was a woolen manufacturer, but his life was diyersified with a number of different employments. At the age of twenty-two he began his career as a school teacher, at which he engaged both in his native county and in Williams. In November, 1841, he came to Williams county, stopping first in Springfield township, where he began teaching, and Williams county was ever after his home. In the spring of 1844 he moved to West Unity and embarked in merchandising. In 1848 he was elected county recorder by the Democratic party and moved to Bryan. In the spring of 1851 he was appointed county auditor to fill the unexpired term of Jacob Bowman, resigned. He continued as such until the term expired, afterward acting as deputy county auditor three years. He was one of the census enumerators for 1860, and in 1862 was appointed route agent on the Toledo & Wabash railroad. In the fall of 1863 he resigned this position to fill the office of clerk of courts of Williams county, to which he had been elected by the Union party, and in 1868 was appointed postal clerk on the same railroad on which he had been route agent. In 1874 he was elected mayor of Bryan and justice of the peace, and in 1877 was re-elected to the latter position. He migrated to the west in the early 90's and died there. Robert D. Dole was born May 5, 1838, at Salem, Columbiana county, Ohio. He came with his parents to Williams county, in May, 1854, and worked at farming and carpentering until September 1, 1861, when he enlisted in Company H, Thirty-eighth Ohio volunteer infantry, as a private, from which he was discharged November 25, 1863. He then re-enlisted as a veteran, in the same company and regiment, and continued in the service until May 25, 1865, when he was discharged as a non-commissioned officer. Mr. Dole served through the great Shiloh campaign, and also the siege of Corinth ; was among the first to enter that city on its evacuation ; participated in the campaign from Corinth, Miss., to 'Winchester, Tenn., and from there in the great forced march to Louisville, Ky., a distance of six hundred miles, in the months of August and September. Immediately after this he was in the Perryville and Crab Orchard campaign ; still later in the Stone River, and the Triune and Tullahoma campaigns ; then in the Chickamauga and Chattanooga campaigns ; was among those who made the gallant charge up Mission Ridge : and there, after his re- POLITICS AND OFFICIAL HONORS - 133 enlistment and veteran furlough of thirty days, he rejoined the army and set out with it and Sherman upon the great campaign against Atlanta. He continued with his command until September I, 1864, when, at J onesboro, Georgia, in that terrible charge upon the enemy's works, he was wounded in the left knee-joint, which necessitated the amputation of the leg above the knee. Thus totally disabled, after remaining in different hospitals until May, 1865, he was discharged, having served three years and eight months at the front, in active, hard campaigning. He returned home very much emaciated, and was unable to do anything until January, 1867, when, having been elected by the Republicans to the office of county recorder, he entered upon the duties thereof. He was twice re-elected and served nine years. In. politics he was a Republican from the organization of the party, and was one of the delegates from the Sixth Ohio congressional district in the Chicago convention that nominated the lamented Garfield for president. In 1881 the Republicans again put Mr. Dole on their ticket, this time for probate judge, against the Hon. Martin Perky, who was the Democratic candidate for re-election, and who was successful at the polls. In March, 1882, Mr. Dole was commissioned postmaster at Bryan, which office he held for four years, and, in 1890, was appointed to the same position by President Harrison. Mr. Dole died January 8, 1901. Thomas J. Coslet came to West Unity, Williams county, before the Civil war, and during that struggle served in the Third Ohio cavalry. In 1881 he was elected county recorder and was re-elected in 1884. In 1892 he was appointed guard in the Ohio penitentiary and was holding that position at the time of his death, November 26, 1893. COUNTY AUDITORS. 1824, Timothy S. Smith ; 1825, Thomas Philbrick ; 1825, George Lantz ; 1826, Isaac Hull, Jr.; 1826, George Lantz ; 1827, James W. Craig; 1828, Foreman Evans ; 1828, Granville Edmiston ; 1829, William Seemans ; 1836, George W. Crawford ; 1837, William A. Brown ; 1842, William A. Stevens ; 1846, William McKean ; 1850, Jacob Bowman; 1852, Milton B. Plummer ; 1852, George Ely ; 1854, A. R. Patterson ; 1856, Francis M. Case ; 1860, Conroy W. Mallory ; 1868. Simeon Gillis 1874, Jacob Kelly ; 1877, George Rings ; 1881, Alfred F. Solier; 1882. George F. Solier ; 1887, Albert C. Marshall ; 1894, J. Fred Von Behren ; 1900, Howard Friend ; 1903, Joseph W. Williams ; 1904, George E. Morris ; 1905, Rufus Weaver. COUNTY COMMISSIONERS. The record of the proceedings of the board of commissioners begins with the June term, 1824, when the first meeting was held after the organization of the county. The names of the commissioners are here given, with the year in which each was inducted into the office: In 1824, Charles Gunn, Jesse Hilton, Cyrus Hunter, Benjamin Leavell ; 1825, Isaiah Hughes ; 1826, Nathan Shirley, Montgomery Evans, Jesse 134 - HISTORY OF WILLIAMS COUNTY Hilton ; 1827, Sebastian Sroufe ; 1828, Payne C. Parker ; 1829, Pierce Evans; 1831, James W. Craig, Montgomery Evans ; 1833, Jesse Hilton; 1835, John Stubbs; 1836, John Kingery ; 1837, John Rings; 1838, Oney Rice, Jr. ; 1839, Payne C. Parker; 1840, Albert Opdycke; 1842, Levi Cunningham; 1844, John Stubbs, Calvin L. Noble; 1845, William Sheridan, George Ely ; 1846, Harmon Doolittle ; 1847, Jacob Bowman; 1848, Ezekiel Masters; 1849, Robert Ogle, Daniel Farnham ; 1850, Joseph Reasoner, John Tanner; 1851, John Washburn ; 1852, Thomas Burke; 1853, Stephen B. McKelvey ; 1854, William Letcher ; 1855, Christopher Brannan ; 1856, Timothy W. Stocking; 1858, Alpheus W. Boynton ; 1859, Daniel Farnham; 1863, George R. Joy ; 1865, Robert Haughey; 1866, Hiram Opdycke ; 1868, William G. Fish, Jacob Haughey; 1870, Timothy W. Stocking ; 1871, Daniel Farnham ; 1872, Eli Booth ; 1873, John B. Grim ; 1874, Clark Backus ; 1875, P. S. Garlow ; 1876, Conroy W. Mallory, Jonathan Burke ; 1877, George R. Joy; 1879, George Webber ; 1881, Alfred Riley ; 1882, Eli Wisman ; 1883, Joseph F. Greek ; 1885, John Brannan ; 1886, William A. Bratton ; 1887, Walter I. Pepple ; 1888, Archibald Pressler ; 1892, John U. Bratton ; 1893, John F. Hamet; 1894, Benjamin F. Morris; 1897, John Brannan ; 1898, Frank Loring; 1899, Benjamin F. McGrew ; 1902, Frank Waterston ; 1903, Marion R. Chandler ; 1904, Jeremiah Clay. COUNTY TREASURERS. The first mention of this officer occurs in the first day's meeting of the first session of the board of commissioners, June 7, 1824, when it was ordered that "Moses Rice be appointed county treasurer for the county of Williams, and hath this day given bond and taken the oath of office." His successors have been : 1825, William Seemans ; 1826, Benjamin Leavell ; 1827, Robert Wasson ; 1832, William Dawson; 1838, John Lewis ; 1839, Sidney S. Sprague ; 1840, Elijah Lloyd; 1842, John Cameron ; 1846, Reuben H. Gilson ; 1850, William A. Hunter; 1852, John Rings ; 1854, Samuel Ayers ; 1856, Elisha G. Dennan; 1858, Nathan B. Townsend ; 1860, Andrew J. Tressler ; 1864, William H. Keck; 1866, John B. Grim ; 1870, Oliver G. Smith ; 1872, Melvin M. Boothman; 1876, Elisha M. Ogle ; 1880, John Bailey ; 1884, Samuel K. Swisher ; 1888, George Ruff ; 1892, George P. Elliott; 1896, Daniel Deemer; 1898, J. Ellsworth Scott; 1902, Willard Bradhurst; 1906, Frank Culbertson. COUNTY CORONERS. 1824, John Oliver; 1826, Robert Wasson ; 1830, DeWitt Mackrel; 1830, William Preston. Here follows an extended period where no mention is made of this office on the records. 1850, Chauncey Mattison; 1852, G. S. Dunscomb; 1856, John R. Kemp; 1858, George H. Rolland ; 1860, Justus O. Rose ; 1862, Quito H. Graser ; 1864, Amos Betts ; 1867, Ralph G. Ely; 1869, George Hart; 1871, Harrison S. Kirk; 1873, George W. Bohner; 1875, Richard F. Lamson ; 1877, Daniel C. Caul- POLITICS AND OFFICIAL HONORS - 135 kins; 1879, Charles Neblong; 1881, Frank O. Hart; 1885, 'Blair Hagerty; 1887, Joseph W. Williams; 1889, Clark M. Barstow; 1891, Henry M. Byall; 1893, Lorin A. Beard; 1897, Harry Wertz; 1899, O. H. Nihart; 1901, S. S. Frazier; 1905, E. A. Bechtol. COUNTY SURVEYORS. 1824, John W. Perkins; 1836, Miller Arrowsmith; 1845, Seth B. Hyatt; 1853, James Thompson; 1856, Charles W. Skinner; 1862, Chauncey C. Stubbs; 1864, Alvin T. Bement; 1868, Charles W. Skinner; 1871, James Paul; 1874, Emerson Opdycke; 1877, James Paul; 1883, Francis M. Priest; 1886, John A. Mattoon; 1889, John B. Grim; 1898, Selden Hoadley; 1901, B. N. Doughton. PROSECUTING ATTORNEYS, CLERKS AND SHERIFFS. See chapter on Bench and Bar. CHAPTER IX RESOURCES AND EARLY ENTERPRISES AS the main source of wealth in Williams county is agriculture, a chapter descriptive of the resources of the county may appropriately be prefaced by an account of the land. The features of topography are St. Joseph and Tiffin rivers and their tributaries, and the few eminences that rise above the usual level of valley and upland. "In common with the adjacent counties north of the Maumee river, its surface has a general slope to the southeast, and the highest land in this portion of the state is in the township of Northwest, where the general surface lies from 970 to 1,020 feet above the level of the sea, and where a few hills rise fifty feet higher." The altitude above sea level at Stryker is 719 feet; Bean Creek, 698 feet; the railroad track at Bryan is 771 feet ; at Melbern, 843 ; at Summit, 874; at Edgerton, 843, and Butler, Indiana, is 870 feet. These elevations are not much more than that of the water of Lake Erie, (573 feet). The southeastern corner of the county is 300 feet lower than the northwestern, the descent being gentle, and, with one notable exception, uniform throughout. This exception is occasioned by a ridge which crosses in a northeast and southwest direction just east of the St. Joseph river. Topographically, it is a mere swell on the surface of the plain, six or eight miles broad at the base, with a maximum height of fifty feet, and not differing in superficial characters from the adjacent country. All of the country west of this ridge is drained by the St. Joseph river, which flows southwestward and, by a junction with the St. Mary's at Fort Wayne, Ind., forms the Maumee. ' East of the ridge the water is collected by Tiffin river (or Bean Creek, as it is more commonly called), which crosses the southeast corner of the county and flows southward to the Maumee at Defiance. The small streams rise in the main from perennial springs, and are lively and clear, and the beds of all the streams rest upon rock.* The indurated rocks, being everywhere covered by a heavy bed of drift, have been reached in this county only by boring, and this only at a few places. A well drilled for oil at Stryker, after traversing 129 feet of drift, met the Huron shale, with a thickness of sixty-eight feet, and underlaid by limestone. Comparing this record with the railroad levels, the base of the Huron shale is shown to be here fifty feet below the level of Lake Erie. Comparing this, again, with the *Prof. G. K. Gilbert. of the Ohio Geological Corps. - 136 - RESOURCES AND EARLY ENTERPRISES - 137 altitude of the same horizon at various points along the Maumee river, it appears that its dip is to the north, or northwest, at the rate of seven or eight feet to the mile. In adjacent portions of Michigan, the dip, so far as known, is in the same direction; and it is hence presumed to be continuous through the unexplored interval. There is reason to believe, too, that the gradual rise of the county toward the northwest is accompanied by a corresponding and equal activity of the rock surface. It follows as probable that the higher land is underlaid by 500 feet of strata superior to the base of the Huron shale, and that the upper portion of this base belongs to the next succeeding base—the Waverly. The lower margin of the Huron shale is in every direction beyond the limits of Williams county. The stratagraphical data are so unsatisfactory that the map of the country has been made to represent, instead, the features of the surface geology, which in their relation to the distribution of soils are of more interest and importance. The geology of the soils is independent of the underlying rocks and is referable exclusively to the drift; they are divided into two somewhat marked provinces by the upper beach ridge. This enters Williams county at Williams Center, and passing with a nearly straight course, just west of Bryan and Pulaski and through West Unity, crosses into Fulton county, a half mile north of the "Fulton Line." Its soil is sandy, and in some places objectionably light on the summit of the ridge, but the eastern slope affords everywhere a rich and highly-prized sandy loam, which shades gradually into the clay loam of the plain. Easy drainage, easy tillage, and the advantage of building sites at once pleasant and salubrious, led to the early occupation of this land, and it now bears prominently the visible marks of prosperity. A second ridge, lying a little east of the other and running from the south line to Bryan, presents similar characters, and some sand ridges lying east of West Unity may be included in the same category. West of the upper beach the surface consists of unmodified Erie clay, and the soils present all the variety of that heterogeneous deposit. The major part is a yellow or buff' clay, with enough sand and gravel to render it arable and permeable. Patches of unmixed clay are frequent, but small; and though sometimes friable, are more commonly very adhesive and difficult of management. Except in swales, the accumulation of mold is inconsiderable, but the soil is retentive of vegetable manures and gives a good return for their application. Carbonate of lime was originally very abundant and remains on the more level portions, but appears to have been washed from the slopes. Sand is rarely predominant, but in Northwest township a tract of two or three miles area is covered by a clean, yellow sand. It has for the most part a subsoil of clay so near the surface as to render the land valuable, but near Nettle Lake it is deep and light. The country generally is rolling or undulating, and originally abounded with deep marshes, in which are extensive deposits of marl, and peat or muck. Along the St. Joseph river, and appearing alternately on the opposite banks, rs a strip of 138 - HISTORY OF WILLIAMS COUNTY flat, sandy land, nearly identical in character with the bottom land that forms the immediate bank of the river. It is in fact an ancient bottom or flood-plain of the St. Joseph, formed when its current was checked by lake water standing at the height of the upper beach. At Edgerton this deposit has a depth of forty feet, and its extreme width is about one mile. It can be traced northward as fat as Pioneer, but above there is not distinguishable from the present bottom. Like most river bottoms, it forms a valuable soil and is not subject to the disadvantage of occasional overflow. East of the beach ridges, and between them, the plain is of a rich, friable clay loam, entirely stoneless, and varied near the ridges by streaks of sandy loam. It is formed of fine material derived from the Erie clay, and spread smoothly by lake currents. Lying so near level that the water of rains runs off but slowly, it has accumulated a rich store of vegetable mold and needs but thorough drainage to develop its wealth. This covers the greater part of Pulaski, Brady and Springfield ; but in the latter townships are some slight swells exhibiting the gravelly clay of the western portion of the county—truncated knolls of the Erie clay that were not covered by the lacustrine deposits. Williams county contains no stone quarry, and the great depth of the drift forbids the hope that one may be discovered. In the northern and eastern townships, bowlders have been found that sufficed for the foundations of farm houses ; but most of the land east of the lake ridges lacks even these. Long after Williams county was raised above the sea, as a sort of plain, topped by the ocean-rippled shales of the Waverly series; long after the depressions and up-raisings that accompanied the deposit of the carboniferous or coal-bearing rocks to the eastward; and long after the streams of that ancient time had cut away the rocks to form the valleys nearly as they are today, throughout a period of erosion when the Alleghany mountains were reduced from a height of five miles to something near their present modest altitudes—after all this, the ice age came and covered the greater part of Ohio with a glacier sheet which completely enveloped what is now Williams county. This county, therefore, has the same glacial history as has all the northern part of the state. Not a summit is there that stood above the glaciers, and the clay and bowlders that mark the drift overlie all the ordinary high land of the county. The areas covered by the drift furnish far more varied and fruitful soils than the native rocks, and hence the lands in Williams county take their place among the best lands in the state of Ohio. Soon after the establishment of the county seat at Bryan, an unexpected source of water wealth developed itself, being artesian or flowing wells. These famous wells, the first of which were developed in 1842, have their source in the Erie clay. They have become so numerous, and the search for them has been so general, that their distribution in this and the adjoining counties is pretty well defined, and some explanation of them may be given. They are RESOURCES AND EARLY ENTERPRISES - 139 found in a belt of country which, in common with the other geological features of the vicinity, has a northeast and southwest trend. Its western limit is the more definite, and, through Defiance county and the southern part of Williams, follows close to the upper beach line; the belt then follows more to the east, and terminates in Gorham township, Fulton county. Its width varies from two to ten miles, and seems to be affected by the proximity of a deep cutting stream, as the Maumee river, or the lower course of Bean creek. The beds of sand are sometimes isolated and dry, and sometimes connected in broad systems, through which water percolates, following the descent of the land. West of the upper ridge, it finds its way to the surface at many points, forming springs along the streams; and the water, in neighboring deep wells, rises no higher, or but little higher, than these springs. East of the ridge, the unbroken lacustrine clay cuts off the discharge through springs, as far as the nearest deep-cutting stream. This taps the sandbeds and lowers the head for some distance ; but the sand, through which the water seeps, affords sufficient resistance to maintain an artesian head near the ridge. The discharge, though copious, is sensibly limited. Every new fountain well diminishes the flow of those near it, and, as the number of wells in a locality increases, the head is lowered. It is said by older citizens that the fountain head at Bryan has fallen several feet in their recollection, and that many wells, which originally flowed, now have to be furnished with pumps. The source of this everwelling water, artesian and otherwise, is, of course, higher than the discharge, and, consequently, west of the lake ridges. Its perennial flow suggests a distant reservoir, while the small percentage of its mineral constituents, and their variable character, point to one near at hand. The superficial, yellow portion of the Erie clay, is, in great part, permeable, and, storing a portion of the water that falls on it, yields it gradually to the underlying sand beds whenever it touches them. The mineral impurities of the well and spring water of the country are as variable as the constitution of the clay from which they are derived. The usual earthy carbonates, constituting it "hard" water, are always present, though not often in great amount. Oxide of iron, accompanied by sylphydric acid, is very common, and frequently in considerable force, giving a yellow coating to the spouts and troughs that convey the water. A few wells in various localities afford what is called "bitter water." This is rendered noxious, and fortunately, at the same time, unpalatable, by the presence of iron, alum or perhaps copperas. The data of the development of agriculture in Williams county is the life story of the pioneers who cleared away the forests, and of the sturdy and faithful workers who have been their successors. Concerning them, much information is given in the township chapters of this work. What has been achieved in the eighty years since the organization of the county, as well as what are the principal lines of farm work, are told in the figures of the crops of the present, according to the statistics of the year 1904. The great crop of Williams 140 - HISTORY OF WILLIAMS COUNTY county is corn, to which 31,377 acres were devoted in the spring of 1903. The crop of course varies from year to year, but, in 1903, it was 1,295,270 bushels. The wheat crop comes next, for as is well known this cereal does best in the drift lands of the northern part of the State. In fact, the glacial drrft throughout the old northwest territory makes possible the great wheat crops and the wealth of the country. Williams county had 13,475 acres in wheat in 1903, and the yield was 231,349 bushels, according to the agricultural statisticians. Over twenty-three thousand acres are devoted to meadow hay, with a product of thirty-three thousand five hundred tons, and 17,392 acres to cloyer, with a yield of 22,713 tons of that sort of hay. These figures we suppose are given approximately, as everyone is aware that statistical figures of this sort are no more than approximations at the best. The potato crop in 1903 was about 75,000 bushels, the onion crop 23,000 bushels. The yield of oats was 796,137 bushels, of rye 3,157, and of buckwheat 379. There was no broom corn reported in the county, but there were 770 gallons of sorghum made. The maple syrup production was estimated at 6,524 gallons and the bees made nearly nine thousand pounds of honey. The fruit yields were estimated as follows : One hundred and forty-eight thousand bushels of apples, ninety-six bushels of peaches, 140 bushels of pears, forty-eight bushels of plums, 430 bushels of other small fruits, and 10,380 pounds of grapes. In the way of live stock the county had 5,820 horses, 13,735 cattle, 22,863 hogs, 22,178 sheep. The wool clip was 164,225 pounds. The milk sold was 451,567 gallons in addition to that used by owners of cows, and nearly 750,000 pounds of butter were made. The eggs gathered were estimated at 842,110 dozen. According to the figures of the state board of equalization of taxes there are 129,520 acres of arable or plow land ; 74,233 acres of meadow or pasture land, and 59,044 acres besides, classed as uncultivated or wood land, making a total of 262,797 acres of farm lands, which were assigned a value for taxation by the State board, of $5,225,612. No county in Northwestern Ohio, probably, possesses better elements to guarantee prosperity to an agricultural organization than does the county of Williams. Except the waters of Nettle Lake, which is small in size, and those that form river and creek channels, there is not a waste acre in the county. An agricultural society was founded in 1856. Levi Cunningham and David Morrow were prime movers in the enterprise and were prominent in the organization. In October, of the aboye named year, the society gave its first regular fair, and although the premiums offered were small in amount, the attendance was large, and the friends of the enterprise were much encouraged. This fair was held on the court house square. Grounds were afterwards obtained near town and exhibitions were held there annually until 1885, when the early organization ceased to exist. The Union Agricultural society of Williams, Fulton and Defiance counties was organized at West Unity, in 1857, and a fair was held there in the fall of the same year. The officers of the association RESOURCES AND EARLY ENTERPRISES - 141 were Dr. G. W. Finch, president; Swain Pierce and John Kunkle, vice-presidents; N. S. Snow, secretary; Benjamin Borton, treasurer; J. S. Prickett, Asher Ely, John Miller, and G. R. Richardson, managers. Fairs were held with considerable success for several years, but on account of the war breaking out, in 1861, it was thought best not to hold a fair in 1862, and the organization soon afterwards went out of existence. In 1885, another agricultural society was organized in Williams county, for the purpose of holding annual exhibitions at Montpelier, with Robert Ogle as president ; W. S. Boon, vice-president, and George Strayer, secretary. The directors were W. S. Boon, Jacob Leu, Franklin Brannan, Robert Ogle, M. E. Griswold, George Strayer, W. W. Kunsman, Fred. Fulton, William Clark, Chet. Holloway, Hugh Brandon, Simon Waterston, John U. Bauer, Adam Lai-tanner and Alfred Riley. This organization, with changes in personnel from year to year, maintained successful fairs until 1898, when the last one was held by that organization. A new association was then formed and incorporated under the name of Williams County Agricultural society, the grounds and equipments were purchased from the old association, and, beginning with 1900, very satisfactory and prosperous exhibitions have been held annually. There are reasonably large horticultural interests in the county and considerable attention is given to the growing of fruits, fine exhibits being made in this line at the agricultural fairs. Granges of the Patrons of Husbandry were organized in Williams county, in 1874, the principal movers being John P. Marsh, Peter S. Garlow, Thomas Hodson, Stephen B. McKelvey, Daniel Thorp, Henry Kimball, A. J. Alvord, Timothy W. Stocking and J. A. Bowser. John P. Marsh of Jefferson township, was prominent in the farmers' organizations, and devoted considerable attention to matters affecting; the welfare of the husbandmen. Peter L. Warren, of Brady township, is prominent among the horticulturists of Northwestern Ohio, and having devoted a great deal of thought to the subject, contributes valuable articles to the public press upon Horticulture. Benjamin F. Kniffin has been perhaps the most extensive horse breeder in Williams county. He was born in Huron county, O., in April, 1827, and comes of a family devoted to farming and stock raising. After he came to Williams county, in 1865, he immediately became engaged in the stock business, also giving some attention to blooded horses and sending some out to the racing fields. Among these, "Belle Gibson" was perhaps the most noted throughout Northwestern Ohio. In 1892, the Bryan Fair Company was organized, mainly by U. A. Wynn, Oscar Eaton, W. H. Taylor, C. H. Masters and Frank Yesbera. The association leased a tract of land off Main street, just north of the L. S. & M. S. railroad. and built a mile track. A meeting was held in the fall of 1892, devoted entirely to racing, but for 142 - HISTORY OF WILLIAMS COUNTY some reason or other no more meetings were held. It had been intended to hold annual fairs, but the project never materialized. The first efforts of the pioneers were, of course, after providing a shelter, to raise something to eat. There was game in abundance—venison, wild turkey and bear meat. Corn was the great cereal crop, and out of it was made a coarse meal and corn bread, and a good deal of whiskey. Wheat was grown, and in time took the place of corn as an article of human food. Potatoes were easily grown, but were not so popular then as now. Fruit was, of course, very rare at first, but there was an abundance of wild berries which served very well. Next to food the great necessity was clothing, and it was no small task to obtain it from "back east" unless one were content with what the new country afforded. The home manufacture of buckskin clothes was not uncommon, as well as the weaving of flax shirts. "Linsy-woolsy" suits were considered full dress, except for the dandies or the city men of imposing rank and station. Buckskin was considered good material for moccasins until tanneries were introduced, and then men skilled in the handling of leather went from cabin to cabin to make footwear for the people. Following the most primitive manufactures came the production of woolen yarn and cloth, flouring and saw mills,. blacksmith shops and forges. The pioneer farmers in some sections engaged in the manufacture of corn meal themselves, using what was facetiously termed the "Armstrong". mill. A solid stump was cut square on the top and a cavity burned out in it, and when cleaned out this became the mortar, in which corn was put and vigorously pounded. The product was sifted through sieves made by stretching deer hides, when green, over hoops and puncturing them with small holes when dry. Coffee mills of good size were brought into Ohio by many settlers, and some member of the family was kept busy at the grinding. The first water power mills of the settlers were "corn crackers," supported by two large canoes anchored in some stream where the current was rapid. Between the boats was left a chute for the water, in which the motor wheel hung and revolved. Primitive methods, such as have been described above, may not have been employed by the first settlers in the present limits of Williams county, but the older people will call to mind by the descriptions given the story of" the hardships experienced in the earlier days of Ohio's history. Water power was, of course, chiefly depended upon for the early industries. Consequently they clustered mainly along such streams as St. Joseph river, Bean creek, Nettle creek, Beaver creek, etc. Some of these pioneer enterprises are described in the township chapters and some may here be briefly mentioned. In October, 1833, John Perkins, with his sons, Isaac and Garret, and son-in-law, John Plummer, removed from Brunersburg. He was also accompanied by John Moss, George Lantz, Henry Jones and a Mr. Hood, and they all established' themselves on Beaver RESOURCES AND EARLY ENTERPRISES - 143 creek, where they named their colony Lafayette. John Perkins built a grist and saw mill on the creek, which, it is believed, was the first grist mill erected within what are now the limits of Williams county. Mr. Perkins was one of the most notable pioneers of this section and served as county surveyor for years. He also was one of the associate judges of the first courts held in the county. Samuel Holton, an early settler of St. Joseph township, located one mile north of the present site of Edgerton and there built the first saw mill ever built in the township. It stood on the banks of Fish creek and was built as early as 1830. It was operated for many years, but finally fell into decay, was torn down, the dam destroyed, and the waters of Fish creek allowed to flow on unvexed to the St. Joseph river. This mill antedated the Perkins mill at Pulaski by about three years, and it was doubtless the first saw mill to be operated in the present Williams county. It was not a grist mill, although some time after its construction a rude contrivance was placed in it for the purpose of grinding. Every mark of these pioneer improvements has long since been obliterated, and a stranger, riding along the banks of the creek, would hardly dream that at that point existed an important and flourishing industry in the early days of the county. Later, a grist mill was built at West Buffalo, which, for many years, did the milling for the people of the four townships cornering there. In the winter of 1835 and spring of 1836, John Snider, John Coy, and Jacob Coy built a grist mill at Evansport, which was considered a grand thing for the adjoining country. In 1857, Kingsland & Chase built a grist mill in the west part of Stryker, which was the first one built in Springfield township. About 1855, John C. Chappius built what is known as the "Eagle Mills" at Stryker, and as the other mill had burned afterward, "Eagle Mills" was left as the only one in Springfield. In 1836, Walter Coleman built the first grist mill in Brady township. This mill was run by ox-power ; but we are informed that the first wheat that was raised in that township was ground in Perkins' mill at Pulaski. It is told that Isaac Ritchey, at the age of fifty-five, took his gun, and, shouldering two bushels of wheat, carried it from West Unity to the Pulaski mills without once laying down his burden. On his return trip he killed a deer, which he also shouldered and brought home with his grist. Mr. Ritchey died at West Unity in 1879, at the ripe old age of ninety-one. About 1852, Rings, Benson, Dawson, Calvin and Vail erected a flouring mill in the east part of West Unity. It was subsequently removed to Bryan by John A. Simon and was operated there for years. About 1842, Jacob Bowman constructed a strong dam on Lick creek, near where the stream is crossed by the Center and Bryan road, and, with the help of eight or ten hired men, excavated a long race across the large bend in the stream, on sections 24 and 25, in Center township. Near the terminus of the race he erected a two-storied frame grist mill and placed therein two sets of buhrs, one 144 - HISTORY OF WILLIAMS COUNTY for wheat and the other for corn. These mills were conducted quite successfully for many years and became well-known and well-patronized, saving long journeys through bottomless roads, to distant places. Henry Ruse purchased the grist mill after a number of years and placed in it a steam engine. The mill being destroyed by fire, he rebuilt it, but after a number of years it was burned again and the site was then abandoned for such purposes. The first "grist mill" in Center township, however, was conducted by Sebastian Frame, immediately after his arrival in the township, in the summer or. autumn of 1833. He erected a small building on his farm, in which he placed a small set of "niggerhead" buhrs to be used in "cracking corn." It was located on a branch of Lick creek and was operated by water power, and, later, by horse or ox power. In 1838, a grist mill was built on the St. Joseph river, in the southeast corner of Florence township, by Elias Depew' and John D. Martin, and from the start they had a fair patronage. The lumber which was used in its construction was prepared at a saw mill, near by, and, of course, consisted wholly of native wood. It has been stated that, before the erection of this grist mill, a small run of buhrs had been placed in the saw mill and used to crack corn for the few families who lived within five or six miles of the place. Mr. Martin sold out his interest in the mill, about 1840, to John Depew, a brother of Elias, and about four years later the brothers transferred their interests in the same to William Seemans. After a few years, the mill was again sold and continued operating under yarious ownerships until about the time of the Ciyil war, when the dam was destroyed and was never rebuilt. In early years the mill was widely known, more, perhaps, from the accommodations afforded settlers than from any capital merit of the flour produced. Great trouble was experienced in preserving the dam in times of high water, owing to the sandy nature of the soil used in its construction; and for this reason. the mill would not have been successful had it not been for the excellent patronage extended it. As an illustration of the hardships of the early days, the following incident is told of David Singer, Sr., who was among the first settlers of Florence township : At one time, for four weeks, his family lived without any bread whatever, their only food consisting of rice soup and wild meat. They had a little money and tried to buy a small quantity of potatoes that had had the eyes cut out; but they failed, the owner saying: "I will not sell, as I can live on potatoes without eyes, but cannot on money." Finally, Mr. Singer started to mill with his grist on his back, going first to Denmark, but failing there he went on to Jacob Diliman's, who could not help him, and thence on to Brunersburg. At the expiration of almost a week he returned home, carrying seyenty pounds on his back and being completely worn out with his load and with fasting. In 1856, Andrew Sheline erected a grist mill at Edon. The structure was two-storied, about 30x30 feet, contained two sets of buhrs and was operated by a steam engine. John' Aller bought an interest RESOURCES AND EARLY ENTERPRISES - 145 in it about 1860, and a few years later the building was moved to another spot and used for different purposes. Andrew Ferrier and his sons moved from Coshocton county, in 1835, and erected the first grist mill in Jefferson township, on Beaver creek, in 1837. His wife and self built the dam of cobble stones. The building was of legs. The wheat was ground and then conveyed to the second story by hand. The miller put the unbolted flour in a hole in the floor, while the patron turned the reel with the bolt on. In this way the early settlers in that vicinity procured their flour. The old gentleman was a Presbyterian minister. Prior to his advent, and before any other mills were established, the residents of that part of the county had to go to Brunersburg for their flour and corn-meal and pirogue it up Bean creek. It would take from four to six days to make a trip, and when they did arrive, oftimes, the flour made "sick bread." In 1844, a darn was constructed across the Little St. Joseph river, at Bridgewater Center, and a rude frame structure was erected, in which was placed machinery for a saw mill. In a short time, a small set of "nigger-head" buhrs were placed in an apartment of the building and used for about eight years. How well the settlers appreciated this rude grist mill will never be thoroughly understood, for it is practically impossible to realize the extent of the hardships and privations that were encountered by the pioneers. The stones were about two feet in diameter and the bolt was made of muslin. The mill was discontinued many years ago. In about the year 1848, Elias Depew erected a very large, three-storied frame grist mill in the southeastern part of Bridgewater township, on the St. Joseph river. The structure was about 40x60 feet, containing three or more run of stone, and it required the united labor of over one hundred men three days to erect the heavy frame work. After the mill had done an excellent work for the township, about 1861, it was destroyed by fire under somewhat suspicious circumstances. At just what time the early residents of Superior township secured the blessing of a grist mill in their midst, is uncertain; but there is good authority for stating that among the very first buildings erected on the present site of Montpelier was a grist mill, erected by Daniel Tucker and a Mr. Huston, and located near the spot of the present structure. In 1854, Philetus W. Norris built a grist mill at Pioneer, the motive power of which was steam, and two sets of buhrs did the grinding. This mill became one of the substantial institutions of Pioneer, and from the first met with an excellent patronage, under various owners who succeeded Mr. Norris. Notable among the present flouring mills of the county are the Bryan City Mills; the Montpelier City Mills, established, in 1861, by Joseph Diebely ; the mill of D. D. Keiss in Edon; the Phoenix Flouring Mills at Pioneer, run by H. Hawk; one at West Unity, run by the Unity Mill Company, and one or two small mills in other portions of the county. 10 146 - HISTORY OF WILLIAMS COUNTY A woolen factory was started in Edgerton, in the early 60's, and for years following did a thriving business. At one time there was a flourishing woolen factory at Bryan, but its site is now covered by buildings devoted to other industrial enterprises. A woolen factory was erected in West Unity, in 1865, by George Rings, L. Grant and others. The present owners are the Unity Mill Co. In 1881, a knitting department was added and additional help employed, some of the finest knitting work in the country being turned out. In about the year 1846, Daniel Wertz erected a building in the eastern part of Center township, in which he placed the necessary machinery for carding wool and dressing cloth. The motor for operating the mill was water from the stream on which the building was situated. A considerable quantity of wool was taken to his mill, where it was carded, after which it was taken home, spun, woven into cloth and returned to the mill to be fulled or dressed. The mill had all it could do during the wet months—the only times it could operate. It did a paying business for about ten years and was then discontinued. In 1866, Andrew Sheline and Joseph Allomong erected a three-story frame building, 40x60 feet, at Edon, designing the same for a woolen factory. Three looms, one jack of 220 spindles, a set (three machines) of forty-eight inch manufacturing cards, a twenty-four inch double-roll card, a picker, a napper, a dresser, a fuller, a scourer and an excellent engine were placed in this building. At that time, just at the close of the war, woolen fabrics commanded almost fabulous prices, and at first an excellent business of carding, spinning, weaving and dressing was done, there being not less than seventy thousand pounds of wool used during each of the first two or three years. For several years after that, from fifty thousand to sixty thousand pounds were used; but after that the business decreased to an average of about twenty-five thousand pounds per annum. About 1870, Allomong sold his interest to Sheline, and the latter, in 1881, sold to his son, Eli R. Sheline, who still conducts the business. Joseph Spindler started a tannery in Edgerton, soon after that town was started. He continued in the business there for a number of years, making good leather and having a fine patronage. In 1842, Jacob Youse established a tannery in Bryan and operated it until 1848, when he sold it to William R. Bowlby. During the six years it was managed by Mr. Youse it was the most important manufacturing industry in the place. A. M. Rolls also engaged in the business for a time, but for many years past Bryan has had no tannery. Von Behren & Shoner started a tannery in Stryker, in 1862. Three years later, Von Behren bought Mr. Shoner's interest, and soon thereafter H. G. Shaffer bought a half interest in the establishment. A tannery was built in Montpelier, as early as 1848, but after a few years it was abandoned. RESOURCES AND EARLY ENTERPRISES - 147 Snowdon & Schenk erected a tannery at Pioneer, about 1867, sinking some ten or twelve vats. The property changed owners many times and the business was continued for years. A great quantity of excellent leather was turned out. It is thought that Chauncey Wells burned the first kiln of brick ever manufactured in Williams county. The kiln was located at West Unity and the event occurred during the early history of that village. The first store in St. Joseph township was established by Payne C. Parker in the now "deserted village" of Denmark, in 1836. Daniel Farnham clerked for him about four months that year, and, in 1840, started a store himself on his farm. He rafted lumber down the St. Joseph river to Fort Wayne and with the proceeds purchased his stock of goods. It is said that he kept his first stock in a box under the bed; but at any rate he prospered, remained on the farm until 1855 and then moved his store to Edgerton. Still later than Farnham, George Long started a general store at his residence on the Bellefontaine road, kept his goods in the sitting-room of his house and did a big business with the surrounding farmers. He afterwards built a store building near his residence and did business there until 1864, when he bought out John Ainsworth, at Edgerton, and entered into business there. The first stock of goods was brought to Edgerton by the railroad company and afterward sold to William Hill. In the fall of 1841, William Yates brought with him from Wayne county, where he had formerly been engaged in mercantile business, a stock of goods with which he opened up the first store in Bryan. His freights were transported from Defiance in wagons drawn by ox-teams, and three days were consumed in making the distance, which, in a straight line, would be eighteen miles. In December, 1855, the store and dwelling of Mr. Yates were burned and he retired from the business. The three merchants who immediately succeeded him were, in order of time, D. M. Crall, Jacob Boyer and Charles Case. Alonzo Rawson opened the first stock of goods at Lafayette (since changed to Pulaski), in a house built by himself, and afterward sold to A. W. Boynton, when Mr. Rawson removed from the county. Blinn & Letcher (Chester Blinn and William Letcher) started a store in Stryker in the fall of 1853 and did business there for several years, and E. W. Fuller was also one of the first dry goods merchants of that village. Augustus F. Hull sold the first goods in Brady township, and the first store opened in West Unity was conducted by a Mr. Hastings. The merchants in that village, in 1847, were Plummer & Cline, G. H. Nitchey and Ayers & Co. In the spring of 1848, Rings & Benson started a store there and did a flourishing business up to the year 1855, when Mr. Rings died. Plummer & Cline quit business in the summer of 1848, and in the fall, S. Walker of Adrian, moved in and did a good business for several years. In the year 1850, Seth Lindsley opened a dry goods store in West Unity, and in 1851, A. J. 148 - HISTORY OF WILLIAMS COUNTY Tressler opened a stock of general merchandise. About a year afterwards Mr. Lindsley moved to Stryker, and, in 1859, Mr. Tressler located in Bryan. In 1836, Jacob Bowman opened a general store in Williams Center, and about the same time John D. Martin opened another at the same place. These stores furnished all sorts of useful articles needed in the backwoods, and almost any kind of produce was taken as payment. Deer skins were for many years almost legal tender for the payment of obligations. Money was very scarce and other mediums of exchange were sought and found. So many yards of calico were worth so many pounds of butter; so many pounds of sugar or coffee were worth so many deer skins or hams, or dozens of eggs; and such a pair of boots was worth such a hog, or such furs. Estimates of value were thus made from the self-regulated law of supply and demand with the various articles in the possession of the settlers. Stores were not opened in villages alone, they were kept in farmers' houses. Many of the settlers placed in their cabins dry goods, groceries, hardware, queensware, etc. In January, 1848, Giles H. Tomlinson opened a store in Williams Center with a general stock of goods which he brought from Bryan—where he had previously been in business—and continued in such business until 1862. Freeman & Freedy opened a store soon after 1848, and about the same time Ruse & Tharp did likewise. A Mr. Boyd of Defiance, sent a stock of goods to be sold at Williams Center, and Bowman & Core opened a store there also, but they finally sold out at auction. Gower Bros. began business there during the Civil war and for a number of years conducted a fair business. They were succeeded by Garyer & Walker. Hugh Mills opened a store in 1861 and continued until 1877. David Lovejoy built one of the first houses in Melbern, in which he opened a small grocery, about 1866. In about 1871, William Thomas opened a general stock of goods there. Benjamin C. Pickle, an old settler and an excellent citizen, started an ashery at Union Corners, in Florence township, at a very early day, and at the same time sold goods from a small stock he kept on hand. Several small stores were started in various parts of that township, until at last the foundation of villages led to their discontinuance. In Edon, a man named Herbert built a small plank house, about 1856, and began selling from a stock of notions. Robert Smith located there about 1858 and built a storehouse in which he placed a general assortment of goods. Two or three years later he sold the stock to George Huber, who did a lucrative business until 1866 or 1867, when he sold to Cook & Eichelberger, both of whom retired from business in a few years. John Aller and George Ball, under the firm name of Aller & Ball, opened a store in Edon about 1868, but after a few years retired. R. A. Leonard and J. K. Deal were the first merchants in Blakeslee, after the birth of the town in 1881, but they were small grocery establishments, and J. N. Chilcote has the distinction of opening up the first stock of general merchandise there. RESOURCES AND EARLY ENTERPRISES - 149 John Richart started the first store at West Jefferson, in Jefferson township ; Samuel Sherran the second; Brownwell & White, the third. Nathaniel S. Dewey located in the southwestern part of Bridgewater township, some time during the year 1839, and began selling from a small stock of goods. It is related that Martin Perky, then a resident of northern Florence township and a very generous tobacco chewer, used his last "chew" and went to Dewey's store for a fresh supply. Dewey exhibited his stock of tobacco, consisting of "twist," which filled a small box about the size of those now used in the cigar trade. Mr. Perky, in his enthusiasm and thankfulness, and thinking, doubtless as the boy did, that "gimlets would be gimlets next year," wanted to purchase the entire supply; but Dewey would not sell all, as others of his customers must be accommodated. Two good sized "twists" were sold, however, and the future Probate Judge went home reasonably happy. Dewey traded quite extensively with the Indians, who, at that early period, wandered in small bands all over the country. One day-, two Indians, while in his store became enraged at each other, drew their knives and prepared for the encounter which seemed inevitable. Mr. Dewey, who was standing near, quietly opened the door and when one of the Indians came near it he violently pushed the blood-thirsty red-skin out into the yard and closed the door. Then a little parleying settled the matter. Richard Wittington conducted a small store, near Cogswell's Corners, about 1843, and after about a year and a half Alexander Parker bought the business, Riley Parker also owning an interest. Hill & Marshall conducted a store at Hill's Corners during the Civil war and did an excellent business. In about the year 185o, Edington Sterner opened a country store about a mile north of Bridgewater Center; but, three years later, moved his store to the latter place, and at the end of two years more sold out to Robert Scammel. Clark Backus and Henry Bennett were in with goods soon afterwards, and they were followed by Putnam & Corbett, Horace P. Moore, James Beatty and Waldo Corbett. The first store in Millcreek township was opened by Landon & Haines, in 1853, at Hamer. A second store, kept by O. S. Smith, was destroyed by fire in 1873. This was the first building destroyed by fire in Millcreek township—a locality which is in the midst of territory which since has been the scene of depredations caused by what is claimed to have been an organized gang of "fire-bugs." It is conceded that Conroy W. Mallory opened the first general merchandise store in the place now known as Montpelier, in 1845. Following him in the trade were Brown & Crissey and James T. Platt. Prior, however, to Mr. Mallory's engagement in business, Jacob Snyder and William Crissey had a small store west of town, on the farm so long owned by the Brundydge family. In its day, this place was known as "Tuckertown." Mr. Mallory continued business until 1852, when he sold at auction his merchandise stock and removed to Bryan.