REMINISCENCES OF PIONEER DAYS IN WOOD COUNTY AND THE MAUMEE VALLEY Gathered from the papers and manuscript* of the late C. W. Evers A PIONEER SCRAP BOOK

A, FRONEY & COMPANY

A name long identified with the Mercantile Interests of Wood County.

It was back in 1859, April 11th of that year to be exact, that A. Froney, began his career as a dry goods merchant of Wood County and Pemberville was the place. Prom this time on, by hard work and honesty of purpose, his mercantile progress was a success. Seeing an opening at the hub of "Old Wood" Mr. Froney came to the county seat in la89 in which year the firm of A. "Froney & Co., was established. Today this big mercantile house stands in the front rank in the entire Northwestern Ohio, which shows what a straight forward policy, a watchful care in the interests of the people, courtesy and liberality will do to bring success.

This Mgnature, to the Men, Women and Children of Wood County mean "Good Faith" every day in the year. Bowling Green Business Directory

Following is a list of the leading professional and business interests of Bowling Green: EARL D. BLOOM RED FRONT GROCERY LAWYER 175 North Main Street Bowling Green/Ohio Reed & Merry Block Bowling Green. Ohio ''Enough Said" MRS. F. VON KANEL M. K. HAKHINQTON KOIIKHT 0. DUNN Jeweler and Optician. HARRINGTON & DUNN Everything always dependable. ATTORNEYS Bowling Green, Ohio. Reed & Merry Block Bowling Green, Ohio F. A. KEIL LUMBER CO.N. J. CALOMIRIS Near T. & O. C. Depot Bowling Green, Ohio Fine Confectionery and Ice Cream All kinds of Lumber, Builders' Materials and 118 N. Main Street Bowling Green, Ohio Builders' Supplies and Coal. Both Phones WM. DUNIPACE BOWLING GREEN GARAGE ATTORNEY Tourists in asking for a good Bowling Green Reed & Merry Block Bowling Green, Ohio Garage Will almost invariably be directed to 124J North Main Street the Bowling Green Garage, Court Street. HOME STEAM LAUNDRY DRY CLEANING BOWLING GREEN, OHIO The Most Up-To-Date Equipment in the City Best Work and Prompt Service THE TOGGERY SHOP

West Woostir Street Both Phones Both Phones 4i,E. J. Bowers fe. P. BOURQUIN & CO. Bowling Green, Ohio' Good Shoes Always BERT WHITE ART STUDIO The Old Reliable "Yellow Front" Portraits that Satisfy Bowling Green, Ohio We Do Amateur Finishing 130 W. Wooster Street Ground Floor HOPPER HARDWARE CO. Bowling Green, Ohio Peninsular Stoves, Iver Johnson Bicycles, Corbin KKANK P. KKIULK KAY AVEBY Builders Hardware, Roofing and Tin* Work 143 North Main Street Bowling Green, Ohio REIGLE & AVERY ATTORNEYS k YEAGER & STARN, Druggists' 134 South Main Street Bowling Green, Ohio Druggists' Sundries, Books, Stationery, Kodaks. The Dependable Store. Cor. Main and Court Streets, Bowling Green, O. BOWLING GREEN BUSINESS DIRECTORY CONTINUED MILO D. WILSON DONAHEY & CO. INSURANCE Clo'hing, Men's Furnishing and everything to be found in afirst clas s up-to-date Haberdash­ Bowling Green, Ohio ery. Satisfaction always. North Main Street, Reed and Merry Block, W. SHEPHERD Bowling. Green, Ohio. BAKER The National Loaf DR. E. A. COLE 165 North Main Street Bowling Green, O. Osteopathic Physician ENGLISH BROTHERS Healing by Adjustment Both Phones The grocery that is up to the mark, if its in ^163 S. Main Street Bowling Green, Ohio the market you'll alwaysfind i t at English Bros. South Main Street, Bowling Green, O. ~ D. W. YOUNG

B. M. FRIES CHARLES 8. HATFIELD Funeral Director Motor Ambulance Service > Picture Framing FRIES & HATFIELD Both Phones 160 South Main Street ATTORNEYS Bowling Green. Ohio Lincoln Block Bowling Green, Ohio A. RIESS DR. L, L. YONKER BOWLING GREEN. OHIO DENTIST Makes Suits and Overcoats. If he makes yours you are well dressed. » West Wooster Street Bowling Green, Ohio Both Phones

Both Phones "Everything Electrical'

Lockwood Electric Shop C. R. LOCKWOOD

Fixtures, Wiring, Lamps, Etc, Automobile Storage Batteries, Self-Starters and Generators Repaired

248 North Main Street BOWLING GREEN, OHIO GUS GOE'BEL PAINTS and OILS STOVES and HARDWARE EaVes-T roughing and General Repairing ESTABLISHED 1888 » 3toai Nattonal lattk BOWLING GREEN, OHIO

The Bank that gives you always the best M service that safety and security will allow M

DIRECTORS OFFICERS H. G. HANKEY Prest. Hankey Lumber Co. H. L. DONAHEY Producer of Petroleum M. L. DONAHEY , President J. T. FROST " '• R. A. BEATTY - Vice President Q H- *• »**JT* " • " . u C U. NEARiNG Probate Judge B. C, HARDING - Cashier J. G. 8TAHN Yeager 4 Starn, Druggists A. F. CORN Coen Bros.. Furniture GEO. W. FEARNSIDE. Asst. Cashier HENRY GOODENQDGH, . Farmer B. C. HARDING Cashier

OUR. MOTTO IS "SERVICE >>

OUK AIM Is to have on hand at all times a complete line of DEPENDABLE MERCHANDISE that will meet with-the approval of our customers, both as to quality and price.

r=j E a r=i LINCOLN & DIRLAM Drugs, 'Books, Stationery and Wall Paper mt Monu (Enuntg #auinga lank (Ha.

An institution which always keeps pace wit!* the solid growth and de­ velopment of a matchless territory. 1 r OFFICERS: DIRECTORS: E. M. FRIES, President. W. M. Tuller •.;.. Frank Kablg E. M. Fries J. C. Lincoln W.M. TULLER, Vice-President. C. VV. Lenhart Wm. ft Hopper J. H. LINCOLN, Cashier. P. R. Case A. C. McDonald E. 0. Sargent C B. Eberly S. R CASE, Ass't, Cashier. N. R. Harrington

4 tO paid on Savings Accounts

WHY TAKE CHANCES?

When you are absolutely sure of the largest and finestassortmen t of

The Year OVERCOATS and SUITINGS Round At

Neimans, The Tailor

Right Prices, Latest Styles, Courteous Treatment That's NEIMANS 7 IT'S DRUGS J * IT'S PATENT MEDICINES IT'S A PRESCRIPTION IT'S TOILET ARTICLES IT'S RUBBER GOODS If You Want Anything found it. a First Class Drug Store GET IT AT THE BOLLES DRUG STORE 108 S. Main Street, Bowling Green, Ohio CRANE'S MUSIC STORE HEADQUARTERS FOR VICTOR VICTROLAS, PIANOS, PLAYER PIANOS, RECORDS, ROLLS

CONVENIENT TERMS 235 North Main Street BOWLING GREEN, OHIO

S. T. WIGGINS w. J. GILLESPIE WIGGINS PLUMBING CO. Plumbing, Heating, Electrical Work 139 West Wooster Street BOWLING GREEN, OHIO IF THE WIGGINS PEOPLE DO IT IT IS RIGHT

WHY WASTE TIME EXPERIMENTING AT MR. "JUST-AS-GOODS"? , There is one Grocery where you always get fair treatment, prompt service and the best the markef affords at all seasons and prices always honest. PREFACE

TTH E purpose of this book is to preserve to the people of Wood county and the Maumee Valley some of the historic facts and interesting incidents of its early days and to present them in an entertaining and readable form. The plan of making it scrap-book-fashion originated with my father and an outline of the work had been arranged by him and left—an unfinished task. The further preparation and compilation'was then entrusted to the trained hand of Mr. P. J. Oblinger, who has, with pains-taking care, from a mass of manuscript, notes, clippings and other material, condensed the trleaningB of a life time into these pages. I am also under obligations to Mr. John B. Gunckel, of Toledo, for his kind­ ness in permitting the use of a number of cuts from his "Early History of the Maumee Valley." The publication I have undertaken, personally, as a memorial to, my father, from whose pen" most of the articles have come. Some are now in print for the first time, while others have appeared during his years of active newspaper work. My father's labors in this direction were purely out of love for the work. All history appealed to him, but the early struggles of Wood county pioneers was a chapter so replete with tragic interest, so tinged with romance, so filled with human endeavor and its achievement that it called forth his highest admiration. It seemed fitting, therefore, that the final effort of his life should have been a record of these events and withithis thought in mind and the grateful encour­ agement and friendly interest extended by his old associates, both personally and as memberp of the Pioneer and Historical societies, I have ventured to complete the work. MAT EVERS-ROSS. Bowling Green, 0., Nov. 17, 1909. OUR PIONEERS

At a meeting of the Maumee Valley Pioneers sortie vears since. Mrs. C. W. Evers wrote and read the following poem: AH honor due ye, hoary heads, Where swale and marshes yielded naught Assembled here to-day, To energetic men,- A power higher than man's own Are orchards now of choicest fruit Hath guarded.your pathway; And fields of golden grain. Else not one aged pioneer Not a cabin left which sheltered Would answer .to the call Our fathers brave and true; Which brings the few remaining ones They've crumbled like their owners, With each successive fall. And mansions rise to view.

'Tis good to meet and here relate Products alone are not her wealth — The hardships each hath borne, Our Pioneers have cause You know of toils and sorrows pass'd To justly feel a pride in those O'er which none others mourn; Who consecrate their laws. You know when the rude little cabins E'en from the swamps came talent fair, Loomed up in the distance afar; And self-made men are here, •Each one brought joy to your household, Schooled in a little hut of logs, For a neighbor, a friend would be there. No college then was near.

'Mid joyful songs and stories We oft bewail, declare our roads Your evenings slowly waned,' Are not quite smooth enough; When the choppingfi^and the raisings, Well, f orty years ago to-day And the husbands all were gained. Wood county roads were rough. Think not that wel would .feign forget The farmer laid aside the wheels, Your fearless coitrfige "tried, And, mounted on his horse, Nor less appreciate the boon Would ride for many weary miles Your .efforts have supplied. - To reach the old Court House.

Our eyes behold an Eden, But now instead its dome appears, Where once the forest stood, As centrally behest, Where generations more than one From seat of Justice speed the trains, Have wrestled with the wood. North—South—yea. East and West. Where grew the bramble-bush and trees, AH nature smiles upon you now, Are lawns of velvet green, God bless your later years! Imagination scarce can paint The time will come, we'll call in vain The changes there have been. For our dear Pioneers. WOOD COUNTY'S BIRTH

Its Development from the Misty Past—Our Love for the Memory of Out Heroic Pioneers, Whose Splendid Results We Now Enjoy

"Gimme back the dear old days—the pathway through the dells To the schoolhouBe in the blossoms; the sound of far-off bells Tinklin' 'crost the meadows, the song of the bird an' brook,. The old-time dictionary an' the blue-back spellin' book.

"Gone, like a dream, forever—a city's; hid the place Where stood the ol' log schoolhouse^an* no familiar face Is smilin' there in welcome beneath a mornin' sky— There's a bridgejacrost the river, an' we've crossed an' said "good-by." —Atlanta Constitution.

By Charles W. Evers. WHO is there who does not love to to those pioneer ancestors who amid pov­ hear of their ancestors and their erty, sickness and privation of every ancestral home, even if that home was ever kind laid broad and enduring, the foun­ so homely—nothing but a log cabin with dation of our present prosperity. a stick chimney? Even though the It is the story of such as these—indi­ father and mother and grandparents, viduals, communities and nations, to­ —long since passed away—were plain, gether with • the land they inhabited every-day people, dressed in home-spun which makes biography and history—two garb, yet our thoughts to our latest hour of the most interesting branches ofj hu­ in life go back to the dear old home and man knowledge. Wood county with its to those dear old people with tenderest- accumulation, thrifty people anil historic emotions. years, has an interesting contribution of Heroic, were they? Ah, yes. We of this kind, now fast passing into oblivion, Wood county may not deny that virtue which if fittinglyan d truthfully told is to our ancestors. Go back if you will - well worthy a place in the annals of the half or three-quarters of a century and nation. Much that belongs to and be­ view the wilderness landscape of swamp, comes a part of our history occurred be­ plain and forest as they found it, in your fore our land had a place marked in the worst vein of imagination and say if they Geographical Atlas. who buffeted with those discouragements Our homes of today lay in the track of were not untitled heroes. great events. The martial tread of The Wood county, of today has much armies, men upon whose valor the fate 8 THE PIONEER

much as a name, and the forest echoes fertility Of the western country, and .repeated the startling roar of the cannon shortly after the birth of the new Gov­ which proclaimed that the final contest ernment a vast tide of immigration was between Civilization and. Barbarism was sweeping across the Alleghanies to the in deadly issue-at her very threshold. fertile region of the Ohio aftd its tribu­ The story of her early settlement and taries. progress, while a fruitful theme; for the '. It should be kept in mind that each of chronicler's pen, fyrillderiv e increased in­ the civilized nations claimiflg any part of terest from a brief narration of some of the country, held it .alwaro subject to the this preceding outline history which has claims 6f the Indian tribes occupying it become a part of the written story of the There was this Seriofts^cloud on the title nation. In this we are told that Wood of all land in the west at that time. In county was a small fractional part of a the present boundaries of Ohio not less vast extent of territory, of which the than thirteen tribes and bands laid claim French were the firstwhit e claimants, to title. As will be readily foreseen the basing their claim as Other Europeans great inundation of ophite settlers into did on the right of discovery and con­ their fine hunting grounds soon aroused quest. This nominal possession had ex­ the jealousy and hostility of these tribes isted about one hundred years when, in and stealthy murders and brutal, fiendish 1763, the English^ who were also claim­ outrages on the whites soon followed. ants of contiguous territory, dispossessed The Government) then under the wise ad­ the French, after a bloody war, of all their ministration of President Washington, lands in America. That twenty years had observed so far as possible a humane later, in 1783, England, in turn, after a and pacific policy toward all the tribes war of eight years, was forced to quit­ and had spared no efforts to secure peace claim all her possessions south of Can­ with them by treaty and purchase of ada to her own rebellious Colonists, who their lands. But through the mischiev­ started a new Government of their own ous advice and infhience of British tradr styled The United States of America. ers, who were profiting by a lucrative The open page of our history after this traffic with the Indians, they insisted on nominal ownership by these two most the Ohio River as the boundary between powerful and enlightened nations of them and the whites, and no treaty which Europe, for a period of one hundred and all the tribes would respect and sanc­ twenty years, was still a blank. No tion could be made, only on this basis. marks of civilization were left behind. Finally an army under Gen. Harmar Adventurous explorers and fur-traders was sent against them, but was defeated had passed through the forests or by the on the Maumee near where Fort Wayne river in expeditions to points beyond, now is. Another army under Gen. St. but otherwise ihis land, since called Clair, then Governor of the Northwest Wood county, was nought but a vast Territory, was organized and sent against _game preserve for vagrant bands of In­ them. Again, the savages fell back, dian hunters. though by a more direct course toward But a change for the better ds coming the Maumee. Again the Americans slowly. Civilization has set its course met with overwhelming defeat and were westward with relentless tread. . War is routed with great slaughter and the, bar­ sometimes a great educator. The vari­ barous butchery of all their unfortunate ous deBultorv expeditions in the west had wounded and prisoners, and the loss of SCRAP-BOOK. 9 all the whites north of the Ohio were to ponder, over the situation until spring compelled for safety to shut, themselves to decide whether they would make peaee tip in forts and block-houses and from or have more war. all sides came loud demands for strong The effect of Wayne's victory over the and Vigorous measures by fhe Govern­ Indians cannot be correctly measured by ment, which was far too slow and lenient the numbef of savages slain in battle. in its, policy to suit the distressed settlers. The campaign had convinced them of President Waahingfoii now sent for their inability to successfully make war General Anthony Wajne, an old army on the whites. They had seen an army associate of his in the Revolution. come among them led by a chief whom. Wayne, who was a resolute man of auda­ they could neither surprise nor defeat. cious courage, came on and organized his They had seen the hollowness of; the Eng­ army and though assailed and opposed lish promises of help; when danger came by every strategem of savage warfare, he they had seen the king's soldiers.creep marched to the Maumee, where on the into their forts like ground hogs, and northerly bank of the: Maumee about two when the Indian went there for protec­ miles below the present townsite of Wa- tion the gate was shut in his face and he terville, August.-20> 1794, he met the was left to the mercy of Wayne'd victori­ confederated tribes and fragments of ous soldiers. They had seen their corn­ tribes of the Northwest who had. assem­ fields Maid, waste, their villages burned bled their warriors to dispute his further and their women and children left des­ advance by the wager of battle. Wayne titute for the winter and had seen five assailed them with his characteristic garrisoned forts placed in their country fury and impetuosity. The issue was to enforce peace. There was a logic in' not long in doubt. The Indians were all this that the Indian could under­ completely routed, many of their chiefs stand. He saw that he must do one of being killed> while the rest, when the bat7 three things, make peace, leave the coun­ tie w"as over, were flying: fugitives. They try, or be annihilated. < had'been encouraged; arid assisted by the British agents still endeavored to pre­ British, who had a fort, in violation of vent a treaty, but hollow promises and their treaty with the United States, just fine talk did not allay the pangs of hun­ below where Maumee is now. Some of the ger and the pinching cold of winter; Indians fled there for protection but the and the following year the. basis of gates were shut against them, i The Eng­ a treaty was made at Greenville, Darke lish commander had doubtless a pretty county, on the 3d of August, 1795, by wholesome respect for Wayne as a soldier which the Indians relinquished all claim and did not care to take any chances in forever to more than three^fourths of provoking him to storm the fort and Ohio, besides sixteen cessions of land, therefore prudently reftisefl to give shel­ located from each other at great dis­ ter to the fugitive savages. tances, and distributed over an extensive The Americans destroyed all corn­ area of wilderness country, the lands fields and Indian villages on their re­ upon which are now established those turn up the river, subsisting much of the great' centers of commerce, Chicago, De­ time, especially while they were con­ troit, Toledo and Fort Wayne* besides structing Fort Wayne and Defiance on other distant posts, as Versailles and the corn and vegetable patches of the Mackinaw. This treaty was signed by Indians. After garrisoning these forts the war chiefs, of no less than twelve 10 THE PIONEER

grant after grant during the years that theirs by a treaty made at Upper San­ followed—Treaty of Fort Industry, dusky, March 17, 1842. This was the 1805; at Detroit, 1807; at Brownstown, last Indian treaty in Ohio—a state, says 1808; treaty where Maumee now stands, Henry Howe, every foot of whose soil in 1817, and one of the most important has been fairly purchased by treaties to the Maumee Valley; treaty at St. Marys, from its original possessors. The last 1818 ^ treaty of Saginaw, 1819. One by Indian title extinguished was that of the one the different grants were extinguish­ Wyandots, and they left for Kansas in ed. The Delawares ceded their reserva­ July, 1843. tions in 1829. The Wyandots ceded

EARLY FORMATION Miamis and other tribes, claimed it as- their hunting' grounds.

Wood County Seat Once at Detroit—Struggle The Fint Legislature Over Location—Rivalry Between Of Ohio, in March and April, 1803,. Orleans and Perrysburg established the counties of Green, Mont­ gomery, Gallia, Butler, Warren, Geauga, Scioto and Franklin, and all of Wood MR. EVERS/compiled tthe following county, south of the Fulton line was de­ bit of interesting histb?y_oXJ£ood tached from the great county of Wayne. county in its early days: Our county seat was then at Detroit. The territory now known as Wood Congress had since chopped us off, so to- county, belonged to the Eries, or, as speak, and, like a chip from a great log, some historians say, the Neuter Nation. we were lying over in the state of Ohio,. The. French explorers and missionaries and our late 'county seat, Detroit, was in first saw the shores of Lake Erie, knd Wayne county still, but in Indiana ter­ next to the Iroquois, invaded the ritory. The Maumee country had been country about the close of the first half divorced. We were in that fragment of 5f the Seventeenth .Century. From the Ohio that had been Wayne county, North­ beginning of French exploration to 1713, west territory, but now we were in a new it formed a part of the original province state, without a seat of justice or county of Quebec; from 1713 to 1764, it was a government, nor even a county .name. part of Louisiana; from 1764 to 1769, under the British parliament statute, it No Use For It belonged to Quebec province; from 1760 It is true that the hordes of Indians to 1778, under authority of the Virginia and few white traders and half breeds legislature, it was attached to Boletourt here had but little use for a county seat, county, Va., and from 1778 to 1787, it but still it was the fashion to preserve formed a part of Illinois county, Va. the semblance of civil government, by When the territory northwest of the attaching all territory to some organized Ohio was established in 1787, Wood county for such purposes. It had been county was its wildest and most inhos­ the rule too, on the Ohio, where the set­ pitable part, and later off of Wayne coun­ tlements began, to eftend the limits of ty (organized in 1796). The Ottawas, the new counties to the\northern bound- SCRAP-BOOK. 11

ary of the territory.. So it happened, Human nature is not shaped thus. It when Green and Franklin counties were was the same then as it is today; never organized on the northern borders of the satisfied. Maumee had the county seat settlements, they were extended north to temporarily, but not by general approval. the state line, possibly to include the 12 Orleans arid Perrysburg were not pleas­ mile reserve, and took in the present ter­ ed, The settlers were pretty evenly di­ ritory of Wood. The present tier of vided on each side of the river. But in eastern townships of Wood were in the new counties then forming, the seats Franklin, with the county seat at Frank- of justice were fixed temporarily by the linton, now Columbus, and the remainder legislature until the developments of pop­ of Wood was attached to Green county, ulation should indicate where the proper with seat of justice at Xenia. But the place for the county seat would be, when fact that this territory had two county three disinterested commissioners were seats caused but little inconvenience; ex­ appointed, whose duty it was to carefully cept the U. S. Reserve it wife Sil Indian investigate the situation and fix upon the territory; there were no taxes to pay or location of., the county seat. Had the deeds to record. Settlements, however, location of the seat of justice been by a were extending up the Mad river very vote of the settlers, no doubt Maumee fast, and two years later, 1805, Cham­ would have held it at that time. paign county was formed Of parts of Green and Franklin counties, and in Both Sides Were Envious 1817, Logan county was organized. Orleans and Perrysburg, both on the Wood county was in Logan county from south side of the river, were envious of 1817 to 1820 as well as in Erie county each other and would not act in unity, in the territory of Michigan, for the and in a triangular battle, Maumee Michigan authorities justly.* exercised could out vote either of them. The ques­ jurisdiction over a part of it. *"" tion has often been raised in later years Dr. Horatio Conant had no sooner as to how Perrysburg got the county made his home within the old limits of seat away from her stronger neighbor, Wood county, than Governor Cass com­ Maumee, and we believe this is the first missioned him a Justice of the Peace of time an explanation has appeared in > iprie county, with headquarters at Mau­ print. mee. To oppose this action, and as soon as Waynesfield township of Logan county The County Seat Located was established, the governor of Ohio At the session of the legislature, in commissioned Seneca Allen, of Fort the winter of. 1821-22, Charles R. Sher­ Meigs, a Justice of the Peace for Logan man (father of Senator and General county, and thus it was in two distinct Sherman), Edward Paine, Jr., and jurisdictions until 1835-36, when the Nehemiah King were appointed commis­ Toledo war woke up congress to apply sioners to fix the permanent location of a reihedy. the county seat of Wood county. At the May term of court in Maumee, 1822, the A (lounty of Their Own report of these'.commissioners, a copy of Now that the Maumee Rapids people which had been placed on file with the had a county of their own, and a seat of clerk, was read in open court, and from Justice right in their midst, it might which report (following the language of reasonably be presumed that they would, the journal), "it appears that the town after the great inconvenience they had of Perrysburg in said county of Wood, endured, be happy to a man. Not so. was selected as the most proper place as 12 THE PIONEER a seat of justice for said county of Wood, cated question of jurisdiction between the said town of Perrysburg being as Ohio and the territory of Michigan, near the center of said county of Wood,- which well nigh provoked a war 15 years as to situation, extent of population, later. According to the claims of Michi­ qualify of land and convenience and in­ gan, most of the territory north of the terest of the inhabitants of said county Maumee belonged to her. The final de­ of Wood, as was possible, the commis­ cision of the question rested with Con­ sioners aforesaid designate in-lot No. gress, as Michigan was not yet a state. 387, as the most proper site for,the court This uncertainty of jurisdiction may also house of said county of Wood." , have had its influence with the commis­ sion which fixed the permanent county Fought Till the Last Beat at Perrysburg. It was known to It must not for a moment be supposM that Maumee surrendered up this covetea the friends of the latter place, and the Hollisters, Spaffords and others, who had prize without a protest, or that Orleans looked on with an approving smile. at that time invested in property in Per­ Both opposed it with every possible in­ rysburg, were tacticians enough to work fluence, but Perrysburg had a powerful the point for all it was worth. Although ally. Just at this critical juncture, the the decision of the commission in favor United States gave some friendly aid to of Perrysburg was made in May, 1822, her protege. there does not appear to have been any haste in the removal. A Gift of Great Benefit In May, 1822, Congress enacted a law vesting the title to all unsold lots and The Commissioners Meet out-lots in Perrysburg, in the Commis­ The first meeting of the county com­ sioners of Wood county, on condition missioners in Perrysburg, as shown by that the county seat should be perman­ their 'journal, was .on the 3rd of March ently located there. The net proceeds following, nearly ten months after the of the sale of the lots were tokbe used in decision had been made. Their minutes erecting public buildings, etc. There of the proceeding in Maumee, during al­ was a considerable number of these lots most three years, show a light amount of unsold and the gift proved of great bene­ routine work. They had constructed a fit to the county in its early poverty, hi log jail and taken some steps looking to getting a jail and court house without the establishment of. roads. Their muoh expense to the tax-payers. Re­ record for the entire time covers only gardless of this help to the county, the about 20 pages, and the auditor, Am­ decision of the commissioners who locat­ brose Rice, received $29.75 for his ser­ ed the seat of justice,.was a wise and vices in the year ending March 4,v 1822. also a just one, either in the light of the Thomas W. Powell, then prosecuting at- views set forth in their report, or of what 'forney, was appointed auditor for the subsequently occurred, . the dismember­ year 1823, and filled both offices, getting ment of Wood county to form Lucas. an allowance of $30 for his services as A Complicated Question auditor, which was 25 cents more than There was. too, at this time a coriipli- Rice got. SCRAP-BOOK. 13

THE TREATY OF MAUMEE It is possible that this land was, in that early time, thought unfit for white occupation, or rather that it was better Most Important to Wood County—Opposed suited to the uses of Indians than whites. by Some of the Indian Chiefs—Thrill­ It was doubtless true that in some re­ ing Scenes—This Section at Last spects this portion of Ohio was not the Placed on the Map most desirable of any in the' State. That, however, coupled with the fact that it was held as Indian territory for about THE conclusion of the series of great thirty years after settlement begun in events by which the United States other portions of the State, explains why acquired a clear title deed to the lands some of the counties were, for a time, now embraced in Wood county was that way behind the procession. of the Maumee Treaty in 1817. In A line drawn from Sandusky Bay September of that year Duncan McAr- south along the west end of the Con­ thur and Lewis Cass, as the authorized necticut Reserve to the Greenville treaty agents of the United States, met the line, near Mount Gilead, thence wester­ Wyandot, Ottawa, Chippewa, Pottawa- ly along that line to the Indiana line, tomy, Seneca, Delaware, and Shawnee thence north to Michigan, and including tribes to the number of about 7,000 In-. all the west part of Ohio as far as De­ dians, at a treaty council at the Maumee fiance, and down the Maumee to its Rapids and purchased from them all mouth, would about embrace the Ohio their remaining lands in Ohio except land bought at that treaty, and since cut some scattering reservations. Only one up into about eighteen counties. Wood, of these touched the present limits of as she is today, lay entirely within this Wood county. purchase, aside from the half of the Of all the great treaties from that twelve-mile square Reserve on the north made with the Iroquois at Fort Stanwix side of the Maumee, bought at Wayne's in 1784, down to this at the Maumee treaty. The land on the north side of Rapids, none was so important to North­ the Maumee, west to Defiance, was western Ohio. Campaigns had been bought at the treaty of Detroit, 1807. made and battles fought—sometimes to The treaty was regarded by the people end in defeat, sometimes in victory. of the state with great interest. This Treaty had followed treaty, but each and part of Ohio north of the Greenville line all had consigned this land to the sway was a blank space on the map. It was of the savage. .Almost three decades simply the Indian territory and the had passed from the time the Marietta "Black Swamp." Its name caused a Colony was planted on the Ohio in 1878, shrug of terror to many. In others until the power of the government was there was a belief that while it was not invoked in bringing the unshadowed an earthly paradise, yet it was a good noonday light of Civilization to the Mau­ place to go and "grow up with the coun­ mee country. Now, for the first time try." could it be -said that this section stood The Indians too, did not agree as to on an equality with the rest of Ohio, the advisability of , selling it. There free from the fetters of ownership and was a division among them and some dominance of a race whose interests, stout opposition developed at the treaty. habits, customs and mode of life were entirely opposed to the improvement of Signing the Treaty of 1817 the country. Gen."Hunt, in his reminiscences, says: 14- THE PIONEER

There was an Indian present whose Cass, struck him on the breast with the name was Mashkeman, who was a great back of his hand, .raising his tomahawk warrior, and prided himself on being a with the other hand, saying, "Cass, you British subject. He had been bribed to lie; you lie!" . * oppose the treaty. When he.found the Cass turned to Knaggs, who was one Indians giving way to Cass and McAr­ of the interpreters, and said: "Take thur, our commissioners, it made him that woman away and put a petticoat on very angry. He said in his speech that her; no man would'talk that way in "the palefaces had cheated the red men, council." from their first landing on this conti­ T,wo or three Indians and interpreters nent. The first who came said they took him off out of the council. The wanted land enough to put a foot on. treaty resulted in buying from the In­ They gave the Indians a beef, and were dians the northwestern part of Ohio arid to have so much land as the hide would the southern part of Michigan. cover. The palefaces cut that hide into Another warrior, Otusso, meaning strings, and got land enough for a fori White Cloud, and his mother were also The next time they wanted more land present and are thus spoken of: they bought a great pile of goods, which Otusso, son of Kantuck-e-gau, the they offered for land. The red men took most eloquent warrior of his tribe, was the goods, and the palefaces were to have a very intelligent Indian—quite the for them so much land as a horse would equal of Tecumseh in mental acumen, travel round in a day. They cheated but lacking the force and vigor of the the red man again by having a relay of latter. Otusso jras a descendant of the horses to travel at their utmost speed. renowned Pontiac, and at the time of In that way they succeeded. Now, you his death the last of his family, and, the Cass," pointing his finger and shaking last war chief of his nation, remaining his tomahawk over Cass* head, "Now, .on the Maumee river. ydu Cass, come here to cheat us again." His mother was a sort of Indian . Thus closing he sat down. Cass replied: Queen and grandnieoe to Pontiac. She "My friends, I am much pleased to find was held in great reverence by the In­ among you sp great a man as Mashke­ dians—so much so, that, at the time of man. I am glad to see you have an ora­ this treaty in 1817 (she then being very tor, a man who understands how much old and wrinkled and bent over with you have been cheated by the white peo-, age, her hair perfectly white}, no chief pie, and who is fully able to cope with would sign the treaty until she had first them—those scoundrels who have cheat­ consented and made her mark by > touch­ ed you so outrageously. 'Tis true what ing her fingers to the pen. AAt that he has said, every word true. And the treaty there were 7,000 Indians gather­ first white man was your French father. ed together. When the treaty was The second white man was your English agreed upon, the head chiefs and war­ father you seem to think so much of. riors sat round- the inner circle. She "Now you have a father, the Presi­ had a place among.them. The remain­ dent, who does not want to cheat yon, ing Indians, with the women and chil­ but wants to give you more land west of dren, comprised a crowd outside. The the Mississippi than you have here, and chiefs sat on seats built under the roof to build mills for vou, and help you till of the council house, which was open on the soil." all sides. The whole assembly kept si­ At which Mashkeman raved and froth­ lence. The chiefs bowed their heads and ed at the mouth, He came up to Gen. cast their eyes to the ground and waited SCRAP-BOOK. 15 patiently for. the old woman until she in this survey that a change was made rose, went forward, and touched the pen and the land along the river 'subdivided to the treaty, after it had been read to into river tracts instead of the usual them in her presence./ Then followed form of survey. the signatures of all the/chiefs. The land office was at Wooster, Ohio, and,in 1817 the sale took place, which More Encouragement to settlers proved of great advantage to the settle­ 'Following close after this treaty an­ ment. . It gave a fixedness and perman­ other helpful thing to the settlement ence to the improvements started. Hith­ took place. The Government in the erto when,all were squatters without previous year, 1816, had not only plat­ fixed tenure there was but little incen­ ted the town of Perrysburg but had re- tive to go into extensive improvement. surveyed the 12-miie Reserve.- It was —6?. W. E. •

WOOD COUNTY BORN ' land now touched by the magic wand of three generations, he would not be In the Track oft Startling Events Long Before ashamed of his progressive namesake. ^ The biography of these hardy pioneers It Had a Name and the historic events of the memorable past rightly form a part of the story of WOOD COUNTY, in name and Wood county.' An account of the land boundary, was born into Jthe sis­ and of the individuals and communities terhood of Ohio counties April 1, 1820, who occupy it makes biography and his­ by an act of the Ohio Assembly. She tory, two of the most; interesting branch­ drew her first breath of official corporate es of human knowledge. life in the following month, May 12, in Wood county,* with her accumulation the second story' of a little store room in of historic years and thrifty, progressive Maumee. There the fjrst Board of •Com­ people, has a contribution of this kind • missioners (Daniel Hubbell, John Pray now fast passing into oblivion, which, and W. H. Ewing) iheld their firstmeet ­ if truthfully and fittinglytold , is well ing and made the first page of the official worthy a place in our national, history. records of Wood county. Much that belong! to and becomes a part The beginning was small, but the ex­ of our history occurred before our land pectations .were proportionately great. had a place marked in the-geography of It is safe to affirm that there-was not at the world. The homes which we enjoy that time a more unpromising member to-day lay in the tracks of great events in the family of Ohio counties. Possi­ of the past bly that gallant soldier, Captain Wood, Long before the silent wastes of Wood who wak Gen. Harrison's chief engineer had .even, a name, the martial tread of at Fort tyeigs,an d who- helped to defend armies responded to the call of the na­ that post in. 1812; and for whom Wood tion, when its destiny hung trembling in county wasi, named, did not feel very the balance. It was then the startling highly complimented. But were it pos­ roar of cannon proclaimed that the final sible that he could rise up from beside contest between Civilization and Barbar­ the marble shaft built to his memory on ism was in deadly issue at her very the Hudson at West Point, and view this- threshold.—C. W. E. 16 THE PIONEER

CATHOLIC MISSIONS Lake Ontario to Grand river, down it to the lake; thence along the north shore of Erie to the mouth of the Maumee First Established in Ohio—Interesting Sketch river on the route referred to by him.in by D. W. Manchester, of Cleveland 1662." The Colonel also says, "He (La­ Salle) may have spent the winter (1669- THE' following interesting sketch of 70) in Ohio, where game was abundant the first Catholic explorers and mis­ and beaver numerous. We have no re­ sionaries, was furnished. Mr. Evers some liable evidence that he was at Montreal years ago by D. W. Manchester, Secret between July 1669 and August 1672" tary and Librarian of the Western Re­ There is much mystery about the move­ serve Historical Society, with headquar­ ments of LaSalle, and an unfortunate ters at Cleveland: lack or reliable data, arising largely There has been much published relat­ from the fact that the Catholics make ing to early explorations in North Amer­ as little mention of him as possible after ica and the West, but a great portion • what they term his "apostasy.?'' Gen. from the different sources does not seem Garfield, in a valuable address, published to assimilate, or there seems, rather, to as Tract 20, publications of the. Histori­ be a disagreement with the whole. There cal Society, entitled "Discovery and has been less published, because of less1 Ownership of the Northwestern Terri­ general interest, perhaps, respecting the tory and Settlement of the Western Re­ first priests and their missions; but what serve," follows inuoh the same line of has been published appears to be more thought as Col. Whittlesey, and speaking definite and' reliable. I suppose there is of LaSalle's expedition says, "We find no, doubt that LaSalle was the first white him with a small party near the western man who "looked into the Maumee Val­ extremity of Lake Ontario boldly enter­ ley," although Jolliet undoubtedly was ing the domain of the dreaded Iroquois, the firstFrenchma n who navigated Lake traveling southward and westward Erie; and while the latter may have through the wintry wilderness until he coasted along the southerly shore of that. reached a branch of the Ohio, probably Lake, there is no probability that he pen­ the Alleghany." etrated at all the interior. There, is Before the death of Col. Whittlesey, scarcely any ground for question that La­ Pierre Margry communicated to him an Salle did make explorations within the extract from an unpublished letter (with­ present state, and he is believed to have out date") of LaSalle's, in which the lat­ been at Cleveland ,and in the vicinity of ter mentions "the river which you see Canfield, Mahoning county. On this marked on my map of the southern coast expedition LaSalle set out from Mon­ of this lake (Erie), ete.?/The original treal, July, 1667, "with five Canoes and of this letter was sent to Francis Park- three Canoes of Sulpitians guided by man, who says, "On the map described some* Senecas who had wintered in Cana­ 'Discovery of Great Westf the Maumee da." Col. Chas. Whittlesey, until his river is clearly laid down, with a. portage death president of the Western Reserve direct to the Ohio, which is brought close Historical Society from its organization, to Lake Erie." This map is clearly an­ speaking 6f this expedition, the only *••terio r to1680 . record of which, so far as I am aware, I might add.that an additional reason being that of Galinee, "still in deacon's why there is so little account of LaSalle's orders," who accompanied LaSalle, says, travels and explorations, is found in "LaSalle's plan might have been to cross the fact that a part of the papers were SCRAP-BOOK. 17

lost in the attack of the Iroquois on the come from Detroit anpVsCanada to the post in 1681, and that on his assassina­ southern" shfrre of Lake Erigy tion in 1687, his. brother, the Abbe A part of the~Huron tribe was brought . Cavalier, burned the most of the papers by Father de la Richardie, in 1751, to that were found with him. Sandusky, where, under the/ name of Mr. Gillmany Shea is of the opinion Wyandots, they soon took an/active part that we may conclude that "unauthor­ in the affairs of the West/ They were ized trappers, traders and Coureurs de also conspicuous in the last French War, bois, both French and English, were and at its close were implicated in the among the Indians in advance of the conspiracy of Pontiac, though long explorers." checked by the influence of/Father Peter It is a fact, I believe, that the early Potier, S. J. During the/exciting times explorers and priests (and they were in­ of the war these^issionames were driven separable) came direct from Canada to from Sandusky, Father Jrotier being the the Northwest Territory, and Mr. Shea last Jesuit missionary/among the west­ says that Father Joseph Le Caron was ern Hurons. He died in July, 178.1. the first Catholic priest from Canada The Indian missions [in and near San­ who penetrated into the present territory dusky thence' depended entirely on the of the United States. He was one of four . priests attached to the \ French posts in Fransiscans • whom Champlain obtained Canada and Michigan. 1 from France in 1614. A year later, When the Society off Jesus was sup­ Le Caron was laboring among the In­ pressed, and Canada lost to the French, dians at Lake Huron; but I think there the above mentioned Indian missions is no evidence that he was in the limits were abandoned. From 1751 to 1795 no of Ohio. : • record is found ojf any further effort Mr. Shea is unquestioned authority on made in Northern Ohio to continue the Catholic missions in America, and in an missionary work begun by the Jesuits. article contributed by him to the Catholic In the early part of 1796 the Rev. Ed­ Universe of Cleveland in 1881, and which mund Burke was sent by Bishop Hubert, paper the Rev. G. F. Houckj Chancellor of Quebec, from Detroit, to the north­ of the Cleveland Diocese, which embraces western part of Ohioj near Fort Miami, thirty-three counties in Northern and just built by the British government on Northwestern Ohio, has embodied in his the Maumee river, opposite the present book entitled "The Church in Northern site of Perrysburg, Wood county. Ohio," says, "The first trace of Catholic Here he resided about one year, minis­ missionaries having visited the territory tering to the few Catholic soldiers in the now within the limits of Ohio, is found fort, and endeavoring with little success, as early as. 1749. It was then that the to christianize the Ottawa and Chippe­ Jesuit Fathers, Potier and Bonnecamp,, wa Indians in the neighborhood—the came to evangelize the Huron Indians latter work having been for long one of living along the Vermillion and Sandus-, his aims as a missionary priest. Father ky rivers, in Northern Ohio. He also Burke left this unpromising charge about states that the first permanent chapel February, 1797. From that time, and within the confines of the present state until 1817, no priest was stationed in of Ohio, was erected near Sandusky in Xorthern Ohio, and in fact none in the 1751; by the Jesuit Father de la Rich- entire territory of the present state of ardie, who, with his conipanions, had Ohio."—D. W. Manchester. 18 THE PIONEER

DISASTROUS CAMPAIGNS fields, but this only exasperated the re­ vengeful savages to additional atrocities. Under Gens. Harmar and St. Clair^Terror Gen. St. Clair's Disaster of Settlers—Pennsylvania vol­ with a loss in slain of over nine hundred unteers, marched against the hostile war­ men, nearly half of his fighting force, to­ riors. These letter fell back to the Mau­ gether with his cannon, ammunition, mee at the junction of the St. Joseph baggage and other equipment. and St. Mary's rivers, now Fort Wayne. An Appalling Calamity Gen. Harmar's Defeat No such appalling, ghastly disaster There, after some bad generalship by had ever before befel the whites in Indian Harmar, a part of his army was ambush­ warfare; not even Braddock's defeat ed by the Indians under command of a equaled it in loss of life, . Miami chief named. Little Turtle, and' The prisoners and -wounded were put many of the regulars with.their officers to death with the most diabolical tortures killed. The volunteers saved themselves known in savage warfare, while the dead by inglorious flight were mutilated in the most horrible man­ Thus, disastrously ended the firstat ­ ner. The eyes of these were gouged out tempt to punish the Indians. Embold­ and the sockets as well as the mouth and ened by this victory and stimulated by ears filled with earth—as if in a grim, the plunder it secured them the savages hideous satisfaction of the white man's became more defiant and bloodthirsty demand for more land. The brutality than ever. The situation of the settlers and demoniacal vengeance of the savages at this time was one of great peril. £|ev- was never more atrociously exhibited jral desultory war expeditions by the than in this defeat and pursuit of the Kentucky and Virginia volunteers were whites. The direful news spread rapid­ made, which resulted chiefly in destroy­ ly from the frontier to the Atlantic and ing some Indian villages and their corn­ the helpless border settlers spoke of the

SCRAP-BOOK. 21 calamity with bated breath and terror. such implicit trust and confidence in one The situation was now deplorable in the so much unlike himself in nearly every extreme. characteristic. Washington's Great Grief Wayne, while not dissipated, loved grog and jovial companions. Washington,^ President Washington, it is related, was sedate, dignified and sober. Wayne wrung his hands and shed tears of an­ was subject to startling ebullitions of guish when the 'news reached him and profanity when angry or excited and it both swore and prayed in the conflict of mattered little either who his auditors frenzied emotions which almost, distract­ *• were. Washington was self-poised and ed his mind. He was inconsolable, devoutly religious in character. doubtless in part, for his share of the re­ As soldiers, too, they were unlike. sponsibility, ini appointing a man who Wayne in battle struck with the furry of a had proved as incompetent as St. Clair. tempest, regardless of consequences. He The whole country^.Jclamored loudly was by some called reckless and had even now for active and strong measures by then won the soubriquet of "Mad Anth­ the Government A leader was in de­ ony," which followed him to his grave. mand to go to the frontier, organize an Washington was slow and deliberate, cal­ army and punish and subdue the sav­ culating carefully the effect of every ages, an undertaking of no small mag­ movement. nitude as the case then stood. The Pres­ Wayne had the dash and impetuosity ident, after much serious deliberation, of Murat, forming his conclusions on the sent for impulse of the moment Washington Gen. Anthony Wayne had the crafty strategy, foresight and in- A former military associate, living at , flexibility of purpose of Frederick the Chester, Pennsylvania, a small farmer Great and surveyor by occupation. Wayne Wayne sought victory over his enemies mounted his horse and rode to the capital by the short, sharp method of bloody an­ city to*seewha t his old commander want­ nihilation. Washington compassed the ed. He waB then in the prime of life, a destruction of his foe by adroit and far- fighter by nature, of audacious courage reaching combinations and steady, hard and had the greatest degree of confidence fighting to a finish. in the wisdom and judgment of the Presi­ Each was great in his sphere. Each dent, in all things. devoutly loved his country, and this de­ He promptly consented to go and fight votion harmonized all differences or pre­ the Indians if the President would allo?w judices in habits and character. Such him time to recruit, equip and drill his were the men of the Revolution. army before he was required to march Illustrative somewhat of Wayne's pe­ against the enemy, which reasonable pre­ culiar characteristics an incident is told caution, of course, was assented to. of him, whether true or not, during the dark days of the Revolution. Wayne and Washington A council of war had been held at Anthony Wayne, whom President Washington's headquarters, and Wayne, Washington had called to his aid in this who commanded a Pennsylvania brigade grave emergency, was a rugged, pictur­ some distance away, had been decided on esque character of the Revolutionary as a suitable leader of a storming party period. It seems even at this distant to assault and carry the high, rocky for­ diiy, an anomaly in the character of the tress of Stony Point on the Hudson. The great President that he had always placed fortress was not only strong by nature, 22 THE PIONEER

but was defended by six hundred trained first name mentioned. His savage at/ British soldiers, and the mere thought of tack on Cornwaliis in Virginia, in which carrying it by a night attack was sug­ he inflicted heavy loss on the British, gestive of desperate work. doubtless saved Lafayette from serious disaster in that campaign. Wayne was Storming Stony Point sent' to Georgia and routed and drove Washington sent for Wayne, with from that state a large force of Indians whom at that time he had but little per­ on their way to join the British. The sonal acquaintance. Watching closely Georgia Legislature voted him their the effects his question would have, he thanks, and also gave him a large tra«t said: ^Gen. Wayne, I have sent for yon of land for this service. In this cam­ to ask you a question; can you take your paign Wayne acquired some useful ex- • brigade and storm Stony Point?" Quick perierico- in Indian diplomacy arid war­ as a flash the general was on his feet and fare, which afterwards came in good play with a wicked light in ,his eye, staring in dealing with his Indian foes. straight into the face of the commander, It should not, from these jottings of he said: "General, I can storm hell, if Wayne's early career, be inferred that he you will lay the plan for me." was a reckless or unsafe commander. This bluff, warlike answer, in the con* There was neither lack of method nor of templation of so hazardous an enterprise, tactics in his mode of warfare. He was almost startled the sedate commander, a leader and shared all the dangers and but he saw in the resolute rough and hardships of his «men. He had good ready soldier before him the Very man executive ability, unerring judgment and. he had^been looking for to lead the as­ an acuteness of perception amounting al­ sault on Stony Point most to intuition. Shrewd and quick in Wayne did not disappoint his com­ expedient, watchful, cautious and ener- mander's expectations. He led his men geticj Anthony Wayrie was up the rocky precipice over the British parapets in the face of a deadly firewit h A Dangerous Antagonist the sweep of a rising tornado. When Either in savage or civilized\ warfare. near the top a bullet struck Wayne on Such was the man chosen to carry the the head and knocked him down, but stars and stripes—the banner of Civiliza­ with a blasphemous oath on all the Brit­ tion to the Maumee wilderness and whose ish he commanded his men, who thought career we have deemed worthy of more him fatally hurt, to carry him into the than a passing notice. fortress, where he met the English com­ In his memory, there should be here, mandant, paralyzed and duirifounded at p.. bronze statue the base of which should the audacity and suddenness of the at­ be the famous Turkey Foot RockrlvMcnN tack and who surrendered without con­ yet marks the place of his last battle. ditions. This daring and successful ex­ The President was delayed iri getting pedition led by Wayne, was pronounced the necessary, appropriations by Congress, by Gen. Charles Lee to be the most bril­ but Wayne in the meantime went west to liant achievement of the war: Pittsburg, preferring to recruit his army from tlie border men, who made better A Soldier and Leader soldiers for an Indian campaign. Wayne fought in nearly all the prin­ It will not be difficult to understand cipal battles of the Revolution and al­ why there was at first a reluctance on the ways with distinction. If ihere was any part of men to enlist to fight the savages desperate work to be doije his was the after the disastrous termination of the SCRAP-BOOK. 23

two previous campaigns. It seemed, like to come back in the spring, which they signing one's own death warrant to en­ did with their numbers increased to 1,600 roll to fight Indians, the way things had troops. been going. But Wayne's prestige as a Burying St. Clair's Dead soldier, with his other characteristics so After establishing MB men securely in well suited to western men of that time, winter quarters Wayne sent a detachment soon won the day, and^ his army, which of troops to the place of St Clair's de­ was to be called The Legion, divided into feat twenty-three miles in advance of his four sub-divisions, soon begun to assume army, where he established another strong fighting proportions. outpost called'Fori Recovery. These Terms of Peace Rejected troops had first to perform the melan­ choly duty of gathering up the bleaching In the meantime all emigration north skeletons of St. Clair's illfated men. No of the Ohio had ceased. The settlers less than six hundred skulls were picked already there lived in, or close to block up arid buried., houses and even in this way were in peril It was the wish of the President that of their lives. The Government all this Wayrie should establish and garrison a time had been putting forth every effort chain of military posts from the Ohio to to bring the tribes together in a grand the stronghold of the Indians at the Mau­ council arid, if it were possible, to yet mee, so as to more effectually check all avert a general war. Five different mes­ hostile expeditions and to make the In­ sengers had been sent among them on dians understand that the Government peace missions and all save one had been had power at hand and could summarily murdered, and this one was unable to punish its enemies arid al80' protect its effect any arrangement satisfactory to friends. both sides. "The Ohio river must be the The Indians had b.v this time become boundary Or blood will flow," was the pretty well satisfied that the Government Indiari; ultimatom^>" Wayne, while awaiting the result of meant to deal vigorously with them and exerted themselves correspondingly. the Government's peace efforts, was drill­ ing and practicing his troops. In the Ind-'an Tribe* Unirhu "" early part of October, 1793, he advanced Under the advice of Brandt,' Blue northward from the Ohio to a strong po­ Jacket Roundhead, Little Turtle and"oth­ sition in the enemy's country, where he er leading chieftains, influenced by Brit­ established Fort Greenville, now the ish and Canadian emissaries, who prom­ county seat of Darke county. ised them aid to drive back the hated It wis already too late in'the season to Americans, the tribes were to all unite hope to bring the campaign to a success­ and make common cause against the ad­ ful issue before winter, but the position vancing enemy. of his army was such taat he could afford Runners were sent to distant, tribes to protection to the settlements and at the urge them to hurry forward their war­ same time keep his line of communica­ riors for the impending struggle. The tions open for supplies. Gen. Wayne, medicine men were invoked to aid by all therefore, decided to remain here until the infernal arts of which superstition spring. About one thousand mounted was master, to stir up the embers of ha­ men from Kentucky who had joined him tred against the people of the thirteen went home for the winter, but had formed (now increased to fifteen) fires,b y addi­ so good an opinion of his-army and of tion of Vermont and Kentucky. Wayne's generalship, that they promised Wayne, with his knowledge of Indian ' 24 THE PIONEER

character, from the start had serious Wayrie's theory of handling savages doubts of the Government's ability to was a good deal like the famous Method­ ' effect any satisfactory treaty. ist preacher, Peter Cartright, said about For this reason he had been restive at his methods of converting the rough sin­ the restraint placed upon his movements, ners in the west at an early day. "Shake which practically delayed him almost a them over hell until they can smell brim­ year. Still it is to the credit of the Gov­ stone, and then they are willing to accept ernment and humanity that nothing was salvatiof."—C. W. E> left undone that could tend to avert the bloody argument of the sword.

EARLY HISTORY lish left behind scarcely a visible trace of civilization in the Maumee country. Adventurous explorers and fur traders Pertaining to Wood County—Wayne's Victory had visited it, occasionally, or passed and Its Results —The Several Treaties through on their journeys to distant That Followed, Securing This points; that was all. The county re­ Wide Domain mained in its primeval condition just as the forces of nature had left it since the dawn of creation. It was but a vast IN givingNha story of Wood county the game preserve for vagrant bands of In­ reader is asked at the outset, to kind­ dian hunters. Indeed this condition of ly bear in mind, that for a period of things continued,during the first decade nearly one hundred and fifty years after of ownership by the United States, when the coming of the first whites, Wood occurrences remote from here brought county had neither name nor place on about a gradual change. the Atlas of America. To make the The Indian tribes occupying the stretch story reasonably intelligible to the stu­ of unbroken wilderness between the Mau­ dent of her history, some account of the mee and Ohio rivers began a relentless, events of that antecedent period becomes murderous warfare on the infant Ameri­ necessary. This will be given with due can settlements then springing up on the regard to avoiding too many tedious de­ north side of the Ohio. This warfare, tails. in which the tribes. had the counsel and The. county as since constituted was, advice of mercenary British agents and for more than one hundred years, a very traders at Detroit, was waged for the insignificant part of a vast extent of purpose of exterminating the whites^'or territory under the nominal ownership driving them to the south side of the; of France. That ownership ceased in Ohio. That was the boundary line the the 3'car 1763 and passed to the English, Indians had set, for the Americans. who, after retaining possession . twenty Treaties had been made for the pur­ years, surrendered in 1783, all their chase of .the territory, but the claims of lands south of Canada to the United the tribes were so conflicting that one States. That part of our history, like tribe would refuse to sanction or respect the unknown ages before the coming of the agreements of another and the dead­ the whites, is. a blank. There are no ly strife continued. So numerous and written lines on its pages. There was warlike were the Indians that defeat or nothing to write. The French and Eng- disaster had attended nearly every war SCHAP-BOOX. 25

expedition the Americans had sent. of Lake Erie, in fact the whole country against them. In the language of one of to Detroit was the seat of a dense Indian the Peace Commissioners sent to them population. by the Government, "The savages had A good descriptive writer of that time become insolent with triumph." The says: "The Maumee River was a de­ settlers had fled to the "forts and block­ lightful home and a secure retreat for houses for safety and it was evident that our savage enemies. Its banks were the country would have to be abandoned studded with their villages, its rich bot­ or the Government would have to adopt tom lands were covered with their corn, vigorous measures to break the power of while their light canoes glided over a the tribes,, by inflicting severe chastise­ beautiful current, which was at once a ment upon them. convenient highway and an exhaustless In thiB emergency President Washing­ reservoir of food. Forest, stream and ton, then at the head of the Government, prairie produced, spontaneously and in sent out to the Ohio an old military as­ superabundance, game, fish,fruits , nuts sociate of his in the Revolution, Gen. —all things necessary to supply their Anthony Wayne, a man of known fighting simple wants. Here their wise men, ^qualifications and by his habits, well without fear of molestation, gravely con­ suited to the rough and ready men on vened about their council fires,an d de­ the frontier. Wayne made a success of liberated on the means of checking and the work he was chosen for. Frosflfthe rolling back the tide of white immigra­ moment he organized his armyand led tion—a tide which they dimly foresaw it into the wilderness the panic-stricken would ultimately sweep their race from settlers felt hope and confidence. the face of the earth. From here their The Indians fell back slowly in the di­ young warriors crept forth, and stealth­ rection of the Maumee, watching for an ily approaching the homes of^heir nat­ •opportunity to ambush or surprise the ural enemies, the palefaces, spread ruin Americans as they had successfully done and desolation far and wide. Here their in two previous campaigns. Several sav-. booty and savage trophies were exhibited age assaults were made during the ad­ with the exultations and boasts of the vance, but the warriors, who fought like returned 'braves.' Behind an impene­ Spartans, .were so roughly handled by trable swamp, their women, children and Wayne's soldiers that they became more property were safe during the absence of •cautious. All devices and stratagems of their men. Exempt from attack or pur­ savage warfare failed them. In the suit, the savage here ,enjoyed perfect language of their ablest chieftain, Little freedom, and lived in accordance with Turtle, they had met a white chief his rude instincts and the habits and whose eyes were never closed; to whom customs of his tribe. Amid the scenes of the night and the day were alike. The Kis childhood, in the presence of bis an­ more sagacious of the chiefs saw plainly cestors' graves, the red warrior, with his that they were over-matched at last squaw and pappoose, surrounded by all With a sort of crude statesmanship that the essentials to the enjoyment of his one cannot but admire in them, they at simple wants, here lived out the charac­ once cast aside all old tribal differences ter, which nature had given him. In for the time being, sent runners to dis­ war, this valley was his base line of at­ tant tribes and bands for help and put tack, his source of supplies, and his forth every effort to rally a force power­ secure refuge; in peace, his home." ful enough to destroy the new invader. When Wayne in the progress of his .At that time the Maumee was the head march arrived .at the Maumee where De- / 26 THE PIONEER fiance is now, to his surprise he found would receive shelter at the fort The- the country had been abandoned by the English commandant knew that the fort. enemy, but in his farther advance down was there in violation of treaty rights the river on the northwesterly bank and .with the Americans. It was on Ameri­ when about two miles below the present can soil. He knew too, that should he town of Waterville, he found himself in give shelter to Wayne's armed enemies it the immediate presence of the confed­ would be a justifiable cause* for the- erated tribes of the northwest who had Americans to storm the fort. At all assembled their warriors in a well chosen events he prudently leept his gates closed position' to dispute his further advance. and left the Indians to their fate^ For The place chosen, some time previously, this act of perfidy oh the part of their- had been visited by a tornado that had friends, the English, the Indians justly prostrated nearly every tree in that forest made loud complaint and in their treaty and these trees lay as they fell in inde­ diplomacy with the tribes that followed scribable confusion. That battle ground the Americans made good use of it. has thus taken the name of. "Fallen Gen. Wayne destroyed all the corn­ Timber," although some historians desig­ fields and Indian villages on both sides nate it as "The Battle of the Maumee," of the river, and everything else that and others refer toi t as "Wayne's Battle." could shelter or subsist an Indian that In the language of the missionary, he could lay hands on far and near from Rev. James B. Finley, "It was the. last the Maumeo Bay to Fort Wayne and be­ united effort of Barbarism to check the yond, built and garrisoned Forts Wayne- swelling overflow of Civilization." This and Defiance and then marched back to was on the 20th of August, 1794. It Fort Greenville (now the site of the should be stated, here also as showing the county/seajc of Darke county) and went humane spirit of Washington toward into winter quarters, thus giving the these tribes, that while Gen. Wayne came tribes until spring to decide sis to their with the sword of an Ajax in one hand, future course; whether it should be for he carried the olive branch of peace peace or for more war. in the other. Four days before the bat­ So horrible a visitation and such con­ tle Wayne sent a peace message to the dign chastisement had never befell them tribes, but it was treated with contempt. before. They had met a white chieftain Wayne, after making the necessary dis­ who defied all their arts of warfare and position of his force, pfoniptly assailed whipped them on their own chosen field them. He swept everything before him. and whose genius for destruction sur­ Such of the warriors as escaped the passed the Evil Spirit itself. The deadly bullets of the Americans sought swampy fastnesses and the forest depths safety in flight. Some fled to the Brit­ of the Maumee country proved no safe ish fort "Miami" below where Maumee retreat for the red man. That ark of now stands. safety had been broken. Their pretend­ Right here occurred a thing which had ed friends, the king's soldiers, had crept much to do in subsequent negotiations into their fort like cowards and left the between the Americans and Indians. Indians to escape the best way they could. The latter had no' doubt been furnished There was a logic in all these things which before the battle with arms and ammuni­ the savage warriors could easily compre­ tion by the English. They had also hend. They saw the hopelessness of been encouraged by the English, whether further contest. from official sources or not is not so clear, In the following spring the leading that in case they met with defeat they chiefs of the twelve principal tribes came- SCRAP-BOOK. 27 in and declared for peace and during all is the southeast* corner of Perrysburg the early part of summer these chiefs township, thence north, passing through waged, a diplomatic war with Gen. Wayne the city of Toledo, twelve miles, west in defense of, and to secure all their twelve miles, thence south twelve miles rights which would have done credit to (the southwest corner is near the canal the statesmanship of enlightened people. opposite the rriiddle of Station island), They held to every vital point affecting thence east to place .of beginning. The their interests with the same desperate south line passes a little north of Hull tenacity with which they had fought the Prairie, and crosses Station Island east last battle of Fallen Timber. The of the center. treaty known ever since as t)ie Greenville As Wood and Lucas counties have treaty, when signed, gave to the United since been constructed, making the Mau­ States about three-fourths of the land in­ mee the boundary, to the east limits of cluded within the present boundaries of the Reserve,^ Wood county has about Ohio in the south and eastern part. two-fifths of this 92,160 acres and Lucas The Greenville treaty line, which be­ three-fifths. This was the first land in came important in subsequent surveys, what is now Wood county to which the and which is indicated on most Ohio United States had a clear title and here maps, will be pretty correctly indicated began Jier settlements and civilization. by drawing a line from Cleveland sotith- Why should we not award Mad wlard to the northeast corner of HolmeB Anthony and his hardy soldiers firsthon ­ county, thence west • to the northwest ors as pioneers with the sword and can­ corner of Darke county, thence south to non preceding the plow and ax? At the Ohio, at the mouth of the Kentucky least they may have the honor of being river. first here in "proceedings to quiet title." For this they were to receive annuities How those beleaguered people, penned up and other considerations.' On the part in forts, rejoiced when they heard of of the United States, it relinquished all Wayne's decisive victory on the Maumee, lands north and west of the Greenville and when, a year later, news of his treaty treaty line, except sixteen blocks located of peace reached them and they knew in various places and roads thereto, they could come forth in safety, how known as United States Reserve lands. their shouts went up in gladness. An The Government also held a protectorate enthusiastic chronicler of that period right oVer the relinquished territory,that , says: is, it agreed to protect the Indians and "Peace opened the garrisons, and the they agreed not to sell their territory to valleys of every river resounded with the anyone else. Among these reservations woodman's ax. Never since the golden were the present sites of Fremont^ Fort age of the poet did the siren song of peace Wayne, Chicago, Detroit, Mackinaw, etc. reach so many ears or gladden so many One among the largest of these blocks, hearts." or Reserves, and the one in which we are In the following year, 1796, a treaty more particularly interested, in this nar­ was ratified between England and the ration, was one of twelve miles equare at United States under which all English the foot of the rapids of the Miami of troops were withdrawn to the Canada the Lake (Maumee). This Reserve in­ side of the boundary, thus removing an­ cludes both sides ofthe Maumee from other cause of dissension and distrust the heart of the present city of Toledo to and giving Americans possession of De­ a point nearly three miles above where troit. In the same year a county of Waterville now is. Its southeast corner colossal dimensions was organized, em- 28 THE PIONEER1

bracing what is since Northeastern In­ point on the Lake between Sandusky Bay diana, Northwestern Ohio and the lower and the mouth of the Portage river, cor­ Peninsula ' of Michigan, and named responding with the present west line of Wayne, in honor of Mad Anthony, with Huron and Erie counties, and south to Detroit as the county seat. If any white the 41st parallel and corresponding with man had lived where Wood county is now the present south line Of Medina, Por­ and been in need of a marriage license, tage, Summit and Huipn counties. or tax receipt or wished to attend court, This purchase formed the western part his county seat would have been Detroit. of what has since been known as the The latter place had., been the great focus Western or Connecticut Reserve. point in the lucrative fur trade, Vhich This important treaty, freeing as it the.French, and later on the English, had did, that fine body of land covering near­ enjoyed,for many years. ly the entire Ohio front on Lake Erie, The Maumee Rapids, which was con­ gave a "new impetus to immigration from sidered at the head of navigation, was, New England and New York to which , next to Detroit at that time, regarded as the new territory was easy of access up the most advantageous place on the lakes. the Lake. Bright visions of the great cify Y^Oto In 1807 another treaty was made at spring up here had, even then,'flitted Detroit by which the United States ac­ across the brain of many an enthusiastic quired that block of land lying between prophet. Wayne's men had spread mar­ the Maumee river and the Canada bor­ velous stories of the beauty and fertility der bounded east by the Lake and west of the Maumee country and of the enor­ by a line running due north from Fort mous catfish and muscalunge in the riv­ Defiance. ers, but always concluded their encomiums In the year following, 1808, another with an "if" it was not for the ague. treaty was made which was the beginning But so long as the country remained so of what has since been one of the most largely in possession of the Indians it important highways in the state, the was evident that its advancement would Maumee and Western Reserve Road. be retarded. The tribes ceded rights of way for a In the meantime a large per cent of the road 120 feet wide from the foot of the immigration was locating north of the rapids to the western line of the Con­ Ohio. The west was making history. necticut Reserve (east line of Sandusky Kentucky had -been admitted into the county) together with a strip of land one Union and in 1803 Ohio, "with a popula­ mile wide on each side of the road grant tion of upwards of 72,000, was admitted, given to aid in its construction. Thus with substantially her present boundary gradually the agencies of advancing civ­ limits. This new relation at once inspir­ ilization are opening the way ahead. ed the people of Ohio with a desire to get By this time Peter Navarre and a num­ the Indian title extinguished in. their ber of other French families from De­ northwestern border. troit, had located on the Bay and later In 1805 Michigan territory was organ­ John Anderson, a Scotch fur trader, well ized and William Hull appointed Gov­ known among the Indians, had located a ernor, and in the same year a treaty was trading post ai Fort Miami. Peter held at Fort Industry (now Toledo), at Manor, an adopted son of the Indian which the United States purchased a Chief Tondoganie, also located at the strip of country along the south shore of foot of the Rapids in 1808. Lake Erie about fifty miles wide, extend­ There was at this time a growing in­ ing from the Cuyahoga, river west to a terest in this part of the Maumee coun- SCRAP-BOOK, 29 try, mpre especially on account of the this part of Ohio. His first quarterly extensive fur trade? with the Indians. report shows the. exports for three months There were then living along the Bay to have been $5,610.85 worth of skins and river about eight thousand Ottawa and furs, and $30 worth of bear's grease. Indians with some small bands of several After careful research and inquiry we other tribes who made their homes with are of the belief that to Maj. Spafford the Ottawas. Considerable commerce belonged the honor of having been the was carried on by light sailing craft, first permanent occupant and owner of owned mostly in Detroit, the distribution land in what is now Wood county—the of goods in exchange for furs and other first pioneer. Although the collector's forest products forming the bulk of the office of the Port of Miami and the Post- trade. office were on the north side of the river, This grew to such dimensions that in the Major built his cabin on the south 1810 the Governor appointed Major side, just above where Fort Meigs was Amos Spafford Collector for the Port of afterward located. Like the other set­ Miami. The Major, who also served as tlers, he became a squatter.—-C. W. E. Postmaster, was the first civil officer in

WAYNE'S DARING SCOUTS he chose to flee. Old Andrew Race, who was with Wayne and afterwards settled on the Maumee, told of an officer at They Were the Eyes and Ears of His Army Greenville, who had a standing offer of a -Welles, Miller, McClellan. fine horse to any man, red or white, who and Others could outspeed McClellan. He would back off a few paces' and spring e*er a covered army wagon with the ease olSa_ WAYNE'S prestige as a soldier and deer going over a seven-rail fence. Then his manly, bluff, honest nature too, in courage and endurance McClellan drew about him the most adventurous, was unexcelled. dare-devil characters on the frontier— To Wayne and his army these men men, who riot only talked the Indian were invaluable. They were the ears arid language, but in all the arts of wood eyes of his army. If he wanted informa­ craft, in war and hunting, excelled the tion from the enemy's camp they brougnt Indians themselves. it. If he wanted an Indian brought in Such men were Wm. Welles and Hen­ alive they brought him and enjoyed the ry and Christopher Miller. Their com­ excitement and hair-breadth escapes more rades in these scouting expeditions were than the dull monotony of camp. An Hickman, Thorpe, May, Mahaffy and account of these reckless dare-devil spies Robt. McClellan. The latter, McClellan, who accompanied Wayne, and their many was doubtless the. most athletic, at least exciting adventures would make an inter­ the most active man on foot that ever esting chapter in border history, but like trod the western wilderness. No white much of that history, it has been lost. man or savage could escape if McClellan It had passed away forever when the act­ pursued, or could overtake McClellan if ors themselves were gone.—0. W. E. 30 THE PIONEER

GRAND ORGANIZATION as well as those of the Ohio Assembly, through whose patriotic action this tardy act of justice to our heroic dead was The Maumee Valley Pioneer and Historical made possible. All honor, too, to the old Association—What It Has Ac­ Pioneer Association that kept alive and complished stimulated the interest in social and pa­ triotic advancement Under the incorporation and plan of THE Maumee Valley Pioneer Associa­ the Maumee Valley Pioneer and Histori- tion was organized in 1864, and its ial Association, the purchase of the Ken­ first president was Gen. John E. Hunt tucky burial ground was made possible. It held annual reunions from that time 11 is under this business-like method that until Sept. 10, 1909, when it was merged most of the real progress has been made into the Maumee Valley Pioneer and and so much has been accomplished. Historical Association, which had been This association is still in splendid work­ incorporated in 1902, for the purpose of ing order, not for gain or-profit (for not purchasing sites and accomplishing more an officer receives a dollar for his ser­ practical results than could be achieved vices), but to aid in every way possible to under the Pioneer Association. In re­ preserve and mark the historic spotB in gard to the work of this body, Mr. Evers the Maumee Valley and to mark the ' says: burial places of the soldiers who laid It is fitting that a word of commenda­ down their lives in reclaiming the 'land tion be spoken for the unselfish and de­ from savagery arid from the'rule of kings voted work of the Maumee Vailey Pio­ in Europe. •••••• neer and Historical" Association to ...re­ As such, may not this Association claim and preserve these historic grounds claim, without overstepping the bounds arid care for the graves of those who per­ of modesty, this fine monument overlook­ ished in defense of their country. ing Fort Meigs and the graves of its dead, Some of its members have for years as one of its proud achievements?1 But < lent their influence and put forth their there is.much yet to do. Still, with the best efforts in this .work, at pecuniary loss aid Ohio has already given, the Associa­ and often under the most discouraging tion expects tob e able to accomplish very circumstances. And now that their in­ much in the future. With these unselfish domitable efforts are being crowned with and worthy motives, tbe Association is success, no one has more reason to rejoice most certainly entitled to public confi­ than those faithful and indefatigable old dence and substantial support. workers, who for so many years have de­ The officers of the Association are: voted themselves to this labor of patriot­ President, D. K. Hollenbeck, of Perrys­ ism and love. burg; Secretary, J. L. Pray, of Toledo. Without these efforts Fort Meigs would The Association holds its annual meet­ never have had a monument, arid the ings in Toledo, on the 22d of February. hundreds of graves thereabouts would The Fort Meigs Commission comprises have remained unmarked in the pasture the following membership: John B. • fieldsa s they have been in the scores of Wilson, Chairman; Charles W. Shoe­ years that hate passed away. All honor maker, J. L. Pray, and Wm. Corlett, io the Association and their .co-workers,' Secretary. SCRAP-BOOK. 31

WOOD COUNTY and Hancock, and the township of Au­ glaize included the counties of Williams, Putnam, Henry and Paulding. Its Organization in. 1820—The Counties In Maumee City remained the seat of eluded in Wood —Township Justice of Wood county, and the courts of Perrysburg were held at that place, and the other county business was there transacted from the organization of the county in WOOD COUNTY was organized, by the year 1820, until the year 1823. ; an act of the Legislature of the By this time the settlements on the State of Ohio, passed February 12, south side of the river at or near Perrys­ 1820,'?and took effect April 1, follow­ burg. had become so large as to require ing. The act provided, "that all that a separate township organization, and part of the lands lately ceded by the accordingly the County Commissionero Indians to the United States, which lies on the 28th day of May, 1823, "ordered within this State, shall be erected into that so much of the township of Waynes­ fourteen counties to be bounded and field as is included in the county of named as follows: No. 11, to include Wood and lying on the south side of the all of ranges nine, ten, eleven and twelve Maumee river, be Set off and organized north of the second township north in into a township by the name of Perrys­ said ranges, and to run north with the burg, and that the election of township same to the State line, and to be known officers be held on the 19th day of June, by the name of Wood." This included 1823, at the house of Samuel Spafford the county of Lucas with the exception in said township." of two small fractions taken from the This order organizing all of the coun­ counties of Henry and Ottawa. The ty of Wood south of the Maumee river two counties remained united until by. into a township, rendered the reorganiza­ act of the Legislature passed June 20, tion of a township for Hancock county, 1835, the county of Lucas was formed which up to this time had been a part with the first county-seat at Maumee of Waynesfield township, necessary, and City. accordingly the Commissioners organ­ In the formation of Lucas county all ized it into a separate township by the that part of Wood then lying north of name of Findlay. Arid Henry county, the Maumee river was severed from the which by a former order had been in­ original county of Wood. The channel cluded within Auglaize township, was of the river thereby becoming the bound­ erected into a separate township by the ary between the counties. By the act name of Damascus. providing for the original organization of Wood county, the counties of Han­ cock, Henry, Putnam, Paulding and Wil­ liams were attached to the county of Wood to remain until otherwise provided Battle at Providence, near Grand by law. At their meeting on the 4th day Rapids, battle on the site of Perrysburg, of March, 1822, the county coriimission- siege of Fort Wayne, two sieges of Ft ers organized the count}7, and the terri­ Meigs, Dudley's defeat near Miami) bat­ tory attached to its jurisdiction into two tle of River Raisin, defence of Ft townships, Waynesfield and Auglaize. Stephenson and Perry's victory were all The township of Waynesfield was made fought on or within 40 miles of the Mau­ co-extensive with the counties of Wood mee river. 32 THE PIONEER'-

DEDICATION buried within the walls from which they fought, so 'declared." The Monument Of the Granite Monument at Fort Meigs in On two sides of the big shaft are the Presence of Thousands—Inspiring bronze inscriptions, and on the others Addresses by Representatives From are phrases in raised granite letters. All Kentucky, Pennsylvania, Vir­ four tell of the deeds of these men who fought and bled to save their country ginia and Ohio from the English, and who, dying, were buried on the Fort Meigs grounds, on which the monument stands. THE 1st of September, 1908, will There is nothing extravagant about long be remembered by the citi­ the monument, no great figures surround zens of Northwestern Ohio. On that it. It is simple; a magnificent stone day the beautiful granite monument that column symbolic of the patriotic spirit now adorns Fort Meigs was dedicated of the people of today, and of their great with inspiring ceremonies. The monu­ love and gratitude for the hardy men of ment rises to .the height of 82 feet, and the war of 18l2, who by their bravery and death, made it possible to erect a has been erected in memory of the dead shaft in their memory on United States of Ohio, Kentucky, Pennsylvania and Virginia, who fell in the battle around soil, instead of on a possession of the British. Fort Meigs during the war of 1812-1813. Three hundred and twenty-two tons The Toledo Blade in its description of Vermont granite, the whitest and. of the monument and the commemorative exercises of that day, says it was on this purest, are in this Fort Meigs monu- ' ment, and twenty-five cars were required point on the banks of the, Maumee that to haul the huge blocks of stone. the progress of the British was forever Forming a foundation for it is 6,000 checked. Here the soldiers, of the king, cubic feet of Concrete. The base of the even, when amalgamated with the savage hordes of the lake country, met their shaft is 34 feet square, rising step-like for 16 feet, where rests the obelisk. superiors. The onward march of Brit­ The obelisk is 66 feet in height, and ish possession was first checked; then from the base it tapers from six feet halted and then put to flight. The Brit­ square to four feet square near the top. ish held Detroit and from that outpost. At the tip it has been.cut to a perfect made strenuous effort to encroach furth­ er and further upon the lands claimed point In the whole are 3,778 cubic feet of stone. by American settlers and the American nation. The garrison in Fort Meigs, Fight for the Monument and the men under Dudley, that brave The history of the fight for the monu­ Kentuckian, and tne troops under men ment is almost as interesting as the his­ like him, declared that the soldiers of tory of the battles in commemoration of the king could go no further. They which it was erected, and like the history fought, bled, and hundreds of them died; of the war, the story of the monument to uphold that proposition. The Fort fight, though bloodless, contains many Meigs monument says to the people' of records of unselfish deeds and noble ef­ all the world: "This far the British forts. " Especial honor is due to the Mau­ came, further they could not go, for the mee "Valley Pioneer and Historical So­ volunteer soldiers, many of whom lie ciety, to the Ohio General Assembly and SCRAP-BOOK. 33 to Governor Harris, for the labors of' three, J. L. Pray, of Toledo, C. W. these made the magnificent shaft a pos­ Shoemaker, of Waterville, and J. B. Wil­ sibility. son, of Bowling Green, to start the ball For years the graves of Ohio's dead rolling. June 12, 1907, the ground on in Fort Meigs battles were unmarked. which the monument stands, consisting Cattle wandered over them, slowly of River Tracts 65 and 66, comprising munching at long, grass. The burial 36 acres, was purchased, from the Hayes ground was a pasture. The Maumee heirs for $10,800. October 22 of the Valley Pioneer and Historical Associa­ same year the contract for the shaft was tion protested, but its protests were little let by the commission to Lloyd Bros., heeded. Then, lest the shame of such Toledo's monument builders. a condition should always rest on the Throughout the winter, stone cutters heads of the people of Ohio, the associa­ worked on the great pieces of granite, tion members quietly bought up land cutting them to proper shape and size. where the dead lay. June 15 of 1908, the stone was on the But the association wanted a monu­ Fort Meigs grounds. Great cranes rap­ ment fittingly commemorating the brav­ idly swung the blocks into place after ery of these heroes, to grace the vicinity the foundation of concrete had been com­ of the spots where their tired bodies lay. pleted, and August 1, the last piece was They wanted a monument that would laid. It cost $14,000, or a total, with properly mark in the very heart of the the grounds, of $24,800, $200 leBS than Mauinee valley region, the lunit of Brit­ the appropriation. ish victory and the end of her encroach­ While the stone for the shaft was be­ ment upon American territory. ing prepared, interested ones were still So, in the Ohio Assembly a resolution at work in the Assembly, with the result was introduced, authorizing an appro­ that a law was enacted providing for the priation of $25,000 for such a shaft It, care. and protection of the monument was pushed by Lucas and Wood county and grounds, By this law an additional Senators and Representatives and adopt­ appropriation of $5,000 is. made, to make ed in 1904, but the resolution necessita­ improvements in the way of trees, fences ted a further vote on a bill allowing the and landscape work, and also to erect a appropriation. The association worked cottage, which is now completed for the might and main in the Assembly, night care taker of the grounds, and to bo and day. In addition to the author' of used as the headauarters of the Commis­ the measure and its chief supporter, oth­ sion. er legislators fought for it, and Gover­ nor Harris, himself an old soldier, aided Unveiling the Shaft by suggestions and advice to the Com­ In the morning a salute of "four guns mission. was fired by Battery B, field artillery, which came from Toledo the night be­ Successful Issue fore to carry out the flag raising cere­ These efforts resulted triumphantty. mony. The Ohio Assembly made the appropria­ A beautiful day, a lavish display of tion in March, 1906, and Governor the national colors, the numerous re­ Harris at once set to work to bring the freshment stands and comfort tents, the monument plan to a completion. In ac­ encampment of the battery and the in­ cordance with a provision of the bill spiring scene were enjoyed by the thou­ granting the appropriation, July, 23, sands assembled from far and near. 1906, he appointed a commission of The features of the morning program 34 THE PIONEER

were the addresses of Col Bennett H. v Major Robert W. Hunter, the repre­ Young, of Louisville, Ky,> who was a sentative of Virginia. Confederate officer, and J. C, Morgan, of Hon. Joseph B. Foraker, of Cincinna- Maumee. :i, representing Ohio. Early in the afternoon, Governor Har­ ' All of these gentlemen gave terse, ris, of Ohio, and his party arrived, when rigorous and patriotic addresses, and if a salute of seventeen guns was thunder­ frequent applause by the thousands as­ ed from the field pieces of battery B, sembled is an indication, they were thor- under command of- Captain Grant S. mghly appreciated. Taylor. When the bunting which draped Rev; R. D. Hollington, of Toledo, pro- .the newly completed monument was lounced the benediction, and the patriot- -drawn by the hand of David Robinson, c exercises were ended. jr., whose father was a soldier at the These exercises were interspersed ^eiege of Fort Meigs, four guns of the hroughout with patriotic songs, render- "battery belched forth another salute and id by a choir of 75 voices from Water- the band burst into patriotic music, dlle, which proved to be a most pleas- which was almost drowned by the cheers ng feature, and one that was thorough- from thousands. y enjoyed. A beautiful silk flag was presented to The night previous was spent in plae-' the State by the Toledo National Union, ng markers throughout the grounds, which was run up on the 100-foot steel ihowing different points of interest at flag pole that will permanently mark the ;he Fort arid its surroundings, well cal­ site of the fort, as it stands in the exact culated to give those visiting the spot a center of the ancient strong works. nore intelligent view of the situation luring the memorable sieges of 1813. Gov. Harris Presides These were arranged under the direction The assemblage was called to order )f the late C. W. Evers, well known as at 2 o'clock by J. B. Wilson, Chairman i student and expert in the pioneer Kis- of the Ft. Meigs Commission, followed ;ory of this section of Ohio. He had by an invocation by Rev. J. P. Michaelis, vorked faithfully several days in assist- Of Maumee. irig the Commission to get ready for the Gov. A. L. Harris was introduced as 3ommemoratio», and paid the penalty president of the day, and in an address for his unselfish and patriotic enthus­ by Chairman Wilson the State of Ohio iasm in promoting the Fort Meigs monu­ was presented with the coriipleted monu­ ment project. He was taken seriously ment, through Gov, Harris, who accept­ ill and instead of witnessing the fruition ed the same in a fitting reply. of his arduous labors, he passed the weary Upon the completion of the Governor's hours iri a hospital. address, he introduced successively the This work, so auspiciously inaugura­ following gentlemen, representing their ted on that day, will, as the years go by, states: result in the further improvement of Hon. Robert S. Murphy, Lieutenant these grounds, and can not fail to elicit Governor of Pennsylvania, on behalf of the" interest of all the citizens of the the Keystone State. Valley in its transformation to a scene Gen Bennett H. Ypung, of Louisville, of beauty weir deserving of the memory representing Kentucky. of the heroic dead. SCRAP-BOOK. 35

CENTER TONWNSHIP der men of that day who were never con­ tented unless fully abreast of, or a little ahead of the westward advance of white Something of the Early Pioneer Days—Land settlements. That class usually led the Entries—First Settlers and Other van and blazed the way. Robust and Points of Interest fearless, these restless, adventurous fel­ lows, were, in a sense, scouts for the more FIFTEEN years ago C. W. Evers gave timid multitude then hastening over the an extended account of' the early Alleghenies, and, like the ocean spray, history of Center township, from which scattering itself in the valleys of the we condense the following: Muskingum, Scioto and the two Miamis, Benjamin Cox was the firstwhit e set­ until in its northward and westward tler in Center township. He built a cab­ march, it had swept away the Greenville in near the Portage, on the northeast treaty line, advanced to and passed the quarter of section 32, now the Infirmary Maumee. farm, in the latter part of 1827 or early Wrested From Savages part of 1828. Collister Haskins was under the impression that Cox did not That hardy class of men, the coarser, bring his family in until 1828. Benja­ stronger fibre of civilization, was not only min did riot enter the land; still we must ue&ful, but absolutely indispensable. riot grudge him the honor of being the Ttieir like never was before, nor can be first settler, since he located and made his again. The conditions which required improvements with that intention, but the hard, dangerous service which they after four years sold out and moved off. performed, have passed, never to return. The smoother grooves and easier lines on The First Land Entry which we move today demand qualifica­ His son, Joseph Cox, however, made tions so varied and changed that in our the first land entry in Center, January haste to keep up with the march, we al­ 13, 1831, the east half of southeast fourth most forget that there ever was a race of section 28, which, in April, 1835, he of pioneers, our forefathers, who lived sold to Joseph Russell; the land lying on in cabins and, with flint-lockguns , freed the Portage, three miles east of Main this land from the bondage of kings and street, was for years known as the Wil­ wrested the wilderness from the dominion liam Underwood place. A daughter of of barbarous Savages. All honor to them. Benjamin Cox, Elizabeth, married Jacob Their manhood arid-sterling virtues in Eberly, and was among the most respect­ life can never suffer by comparison with ed of that galaxy of noble pioneer wo­ their successors. Uncrowned heroes and men, who, with their husbands, braved heroines they were. Though most of the deprivations of bygone days in the them sleep in graves unmarked with stone black swamp. Another daughter, Lydia, or bronze, we can do them the more en­ born at Findlav in 1817, was, according during honor of passing their names and to Beardsley's history, the first white deeds down to future generations on the child to see the light of day in Hancock brightest pages of our annals. Benja­ county, where the same authority credits min Cox moved to Indiana, where he Cox with being the first white settler. closed his life at an advanced age. COXJ who had performed useful military service in the war of 1812, was a native ^BuiltaCabin of Virginia, and seems to have possessed The next entry in Center, after Joseph that restless spirit of most of the old bor­ Cox, was the northwest corner, 48 acre? 36 THE PIONEER

of section 31, by Joseph A. Sargent black eyes, hair long, and usually parted October 31, 1832, lying on Main street in the middle; he had a loud, clarion next south of the Bender road. For voice and though of limited education, he some years this tract was owned by Nancy had a ready flowo f language and when a Flickinger. Sargent built his cabin on bit excited would get off some startling the west side of the street, in Plain, figures of speech especially on religious where he also Owned land. Twelve days subjects, which were always favorite later, November 1, 1832, Adam Phillips themes with Adam. entered the Infirmary tract, the irn^rove- The End of the World ments of which he had previously bought of Ben Cox. He had a striking resemblance to some of the published pictures of Lorenzo Dow. The First Wagon Phillips was in many wayB as eccentric In the following spring, April, 1833, as Dow, and his peculiar appearance and Phillips brought his family, wife and six voice would attract attention in any children, out from Stark county, coming crowd of men. Pages might be filled by way of Fremont, then Lower Sandus*- with incidents, both laughable and pa­ ky. When he got as far west as Wood- thetic, told about him by his neighbors. ville with his outfit, consisting of a wagon One incident^related, whether true or not covered with boards, and drawn by two suggests how completely religious emo­ horses and four Oxen, Phillips left the road tions took hold Of him at times. It was arid followed the Indian trail up the -Por­ at a period when "the "Millerite" craze tage through the wilderness to the Cox was being boldly promulgated, and a day cabin, being the firstma n to bring a wag­ had been fixedupo n not far ahead, when on through on that route* now one Of the the world was to be burned. Some of the best and most traveled roads in the coun­ zealous Millerites had been dinging the ty; he had taken the precaution to bring doctrine in Phillips' ears pretty indus­ two good axmen, Jacob Phillips and triously until it had to some extent be­ George Hemminger, with him. The come a subject of serious thought to him. Phillipses were so well pleased with the lo­ One dark night about that time, as the cation that Adam soon after bought more story' goes, the smoke house in theward, land. Few persons who came into Wood where was stored the hams and county at that early day were better suited took fire and. the lurid glare of the to withstand the deprivations of life here flames soon flashedwit h blinding than Adam and Catherine Phillips; both M^Adam's bedroom window^ Wil^.^- were rugged and determined; they were piteous deep moan he sprafig out of bed, ambitious to have a prosperous home; shouting, "My God, Catherine, the judg­ their courage and hopes were boundless; ment day's upOn us and my soul is unpre­ everything in those first days looked pared; call the boys/' and immediately bright; the bow of promise was great fell upon his knees, half asleep yet, and Alsis, how of ten that bow was to be over­ began praying so loud that no further cast with clouds of discourageinent—of fire alarm was needed. This story, en­ sickness, of destitution—almost despair; joyed by none more than Adam's best yet this was almost the identical experi­ friends, was told so Often on him that it ence at one time or another, of all who had doubtless like most stories, gained a came. Still there were few obstacles so little by the telling, but is given here in great that Phillips would riot find some rather an abridged form. Phillips at way to overcome them. He was a medium once took a leading part in all improve­ sized, dark complexioned man with keen ments in the settlement; at every cabin SCRAP-BOOK. 37

raising or road chopping he was on hand have faded away in the corroding mists and did his part well. of time.

Survey and Organization A Grand Pioneer Woman Center township, originally six miles When the great meeting, was held at square, was surveyed by Samuel Holmes, Ft Meigs in 1840, he, with his neighbors deputy U. S. surveyor, in 1819; that is, cut and hauled a buckeye log as Center the exterior lines were made. In 1821 township's contribution for the log cabin the sub-divisions were run by S. Bourne. at the fort. Of dame Phillips, MB wife, The county commissioners at their it; may truthfully be said, that she was March session; 1835, granted the request a good second to Adam in all his worthy for a township organization, under the efforts. Besides the cares of a large fam­ name of Center, and ordered an election ily of children, she often had to feed from of township officers to be held, on the meal ground by her own hands in the first Monday of April following, at the mill, sold them by Cox, and also found home of Adam Phillips. At the time of time to do many generous deeds for her this action, Center was a part of Portage sick or otherwise needy neighbors. None and had been since June, 1833, prior to went from her door unaided, if it was in , which time it had been a part of Middle- her power to afford relief. With this ton, since that township was cut off from very inadequate sketch of the Cox and Perrysburg. When, in 1846, Webster Phillips, the two pioneer families of Cen­ was created, six sections were set off to ter, it will now be in order to briefly no­ that township. In 1844, on petition by tice some others* who came early. the residents thereon, the south half. of These are George Stacy, Thomas Cox, section 31, Middleton, was given to Cen­ William DeWitt, Thomas Slight, Jr., and ter. It lies at the northwest corner on Samuel Snyder, who entered lands in the. Perrysburg road, so that as now con­ 1833. structed, the township comprises 30% Joseph Ralston, Joseph Wade, John M. sections. Jaques, Joseph Russell, Henry Shively, Wm. Zimmerman and Adam Household­ Converted into Roads er, who entered lands in 1834. The trails between the settlements; at D. L. Hixori entered his land in 1835. first mere foot paths, indicated lay blazed John Muir and William Munn made trees,, were gradually'converted into wag­ their entries in 1836. on trails, barely passable, by voluntary These random notes from the land labor among those interested. Some of books> comprising but the small fraction­ theSe trails eventually became permanent al part of the original entries and of the highways, since they were usually located names of purchasers," are given here as on the most favorable ground for the pur­ showing who the first comers were. Most pose. The first object of the newcomer of these buyers named became actual after his cabin was built, was to get into residents on their land. Other early set­ road communication with the market, tlers, such as the Lundys, Klopfensteins, which in this case was Perrysburg. Andersons and others, not enumerated in, There lake boats landed regularly! in the the list, no doubt bought "their lands Of open season. The first wagon trail in second hands. The chief purpose here is Center, after Hull's trail, was from Cox's to show who the actual beginners were— cabin up tile Portage to Haskifis' trading a task not so easy after the lapse of three platce. The next was the Phillips wagon score years, when nearly all the actors trail, along the Portage* from Woodville. 38 THE PIONEER

A MEMORABLE FOURTH brew Patriarchs of old. It has been re­ deemed by sweat and toil from the woods, and the water. It has arisen as all In Which the Prosperity of Wood County things worth having arise, by conflict and Was the Theme sacrifice. Every achievement in this world represents sacrifice somewhere." IN commemoration of the completion of An extract from the address of. Hon. the new court house, united

and privations from which the stoutest and support and educate his children, hearts might recoil. No portion of Ohio exhibited a fortitude and heroism sub­ presented such difficulties in its develop­ lime for high purposes and manliness. ment. The adventurous men who came A remnant of those rugged adventurers, hither with their families to reclaim the who led the way in reclaiming 'the wil­ flooded forests and water-soaked, prairies, derness and solitary places' of your coun­ and rear their children, were and are the ty, have been spared to join "in this great real heroes, entitled to our gratitude and demonstration and share the festivities of admiration. this auspicious day. We greet them as "In war, the imposing pageantry <>i winning heroes, who have earned the field evolution, the touch of elbows with gratitude of coming generations! comrades and the shout of battle thrill "With bent forms and blistered hands the soldier with, confident enthusiasm, they planned and toiled, that this county and he plunges into the deadly conflict might be gilded with mviting homes; en­ heedless of all danger. But the Wood riched by abundant harvests, and senti­ county pioneer, remote from neighbors, neled with churches and school houses." toiling to open a farm in the wilderness

THE PITTSBURG BLUES It contains the names of volunteers famous as "The Pittsburg Blues," who fought under General Harrison. One of Complete List of Those Who Are Buried at the three burial grounds at Ft. Meigs Fort Meigs was assigned to the noted Blues, and there lie buried the remains of those who THE following list of the members were killed in battle. of the Pittsburg Blues, obtained Here is the list of "The Pittsburg through a Patriotic Pennsylvania Soci­ Blues," buried at Fort Meigs, as furnish­ ety, by the efforts of Mrs. Ellen Mc- ed by Mrs. Johnson: Mahan Gaspers, was published in the James Butler, Captain. Wood County Democrat of April 18, , Mathew McGce,' Lieutenant. 1902. The Democrat says: James Irwin, Ensign. At last an authentic list of "The Pitts­ E. Trovills, First Sergeant. burg Blues," who lie buried at Fort J. Williams, Second Sergeant. Meigs, has been obtained through the J. Willock, Third Sergeant, efforts of the society known as "The G. Haven, Fourth Sergeant. Wives and Daughters of the Boys in N. Patterson, First Corporal. Blue," of which Mrs. Ellen McMahan J. Benney, Second Corporal. .Gaspers of Detroit, formerly of Perrys­ S. Elliott, Third Corporal. burg, is president Mrs. Gaspers wrote J. Read, Fourth Corporal. the mayor of Pittsburg for information as to this list. This letter was referred Privates to Mrs. Felicia R. Johnson, president of R. Allison, R. McNeal, the Pennsylvania society, U. S. D., 1812, D. C. Boss, J. McMasters, and vice president of the national society, J. Chess, N. Matthews, who secured what the Wives and Daugh­ Clark, J. MaxweuW ters of the Boys in Blue consider a price­ J. Davis,. J. Marcy, * less list J. D. Davis, P. Neville, 40 THE PIONEER

J. Deal, J. Newman, posed of the descendants of the soldiers T. Dobbins, -E. Pratt of 1812, and we will be glad to co-operate J. Dbdd, J. Pollard, with you in any effort to preserve the A. Deemer, C. Pentland, battlefields that have become resting J. Elliott, M. Parker, places of those who preserved the inde­ A. English, •J. Park, pendence of the nation^ N. Fairfield, F. Ricards, "We have' a society in Ohio—Mrs. S. Graham, W. Richardson, Greves, of Cincinnati, is president. I do H. Hull, W. Richards, not know how they are working as they Samuel Jones, (i. V. Robinson, are rather new in organization, but will J. Lewis, S. Swift, write them to help you if needed." P. Leorlon, X. Thompson, This letter is very gratifying to the F. Lonsong X. Vernon, Maumee Valley Pioneer and Historical N. M. McGiffin, (-.- Widner, Association,,organized for the purpose of 0. McKee, J. Watt, preserving the historical sites of the Mau­ T, McClarnin, (.'. Wohrendorff, mee Valley. In this connection it should George McFall, (i. Wilkins. be said that the Toledo society of the Mrs. Johnson, in writing Mrs. Gaspers "Daughters of the American Revolution" inclosing the above list, says in part: is co-operating with the Maumee Valley "My own grandfather served under Pioneer and Historical Association in its General Croghan and was with him at efforts to preserve the historical sites of Fort Stephenson, and I presume at Fort the Maumee Valley, and that matters Meigs, so my interest is personal as well have now begun to take definite form. It as patriotic. is now believed that the objects of this "This society which I represent,, is com­ association will be accomplished.

PETERSBURG VOLUNTEERS force of British and Indians. This is the first time a full roster of the officers and privates has- been made known in These Virginian; Heroes Honored by a Granite the Maumee Valley. Monument at Petersburg, Va. Mayor Jones says that the Virginia company raised in Petersburg to assist in the defense of the Maumee Valley was DURING the preparation of this composed of some of the flower of that Pioneer Scrap-Book,, an interest­ state, and that the city of Petersburg ing and valuable letter was received by erected a monument to their memory Wm. Corlett, Secretary of the Maumee in the local cemetery, consisting of a Valley Pioneer" and Historical Associa­ granite shaft about 15 or 20 feet high, tion, from Wm. M. Jones, Mayor of surmounted by a gilt American eagle, Petersburg, Virginia, in which the writer and on which is inscribed the following: gives historical facts concerning a com­ pany of Virginia soldiers who fought "Tribute to Patriotism" under General William Henry Harrison "In memory of Captain Richard Mc- in the war of 1812-13, and who were Rae, late commander of the Petersburg- active in the defense of Fort Meigs and Candda volunteers in the war with Great the Maumee Valley against the combined Britain, 1812, a corps who, under the SCRAP-BOpK. 41

GRANITE MONUMENT To Petersburg Volunteers at Petersburg, Va.1 influence of holy patriotism, in the hour them, winning for their home the exalt­ of their country's need, leaped from their ed and imperishable appellation of the downy beds and, foregoing domestic com­ 'Cockade City of the Union.' " forts and case, instantly organized and A second inscription is as follows: took up the line of inarch for the Cana­ dian frontier, when, under the supreme "Petersburg Volunteers" command of General Harrison, they met "Who embarked in the service of their the disciplined armies of their country's country in the war of 1812 with Great monies, on the fifth day of May, 1813, Britain, on the 21st of October, 1812, ind after a. bloody conflict defeated and consecrated their valor at the battle 42 THE PIONEER

of Fort Meigs, May 5, 1813—command­ mence their march to Virginia as soon ed by Capt. Richard McRae. as they can be transferred to the south "Lieutonants-^-William Tisdale, Hen­ side of the lake. In granting a discharge ry Cary, Shirly Tisdale. to this patriotic and gallant corps, the- "Sergeants—James Stevens, Robert B. general feels at a loss for words adequate Cook, Samuel Stevens, John Henderson. to convey his sense of their exalted "Corporals—M. B. Spatswood, John merits. Almost exclusively composed of Perry, Joseph Scott, Thomas G. Scott, individuals who had been nursed in the Joseph G. Noble,. G. T. Clough. lap of ease, they have for twelve months- "Musicians—Daniel Eshon. James borne the. hardships and privations of Jackson. military life, in the midst of an inhospit­ *Priva)|s' able wilderness, with an alacrity which. Andrew Andrews, David Mann, has been unsurpassed. Their conduct in Richard Adams, Anthony Mullen, the field has been surpassed by no other John Bignall, Rozer Mallory, corps, and whilst in camp they have Bet Richard H. Brauch, Joseph Mason, an example of subordination and respect Thomas B, Bigger, Thomas Clark, for military authority to the whole army. Robert Black, Samuel Miles, "The general requests Capt. McRae,. Benjamin Pegram, James Page, his subalterns, non-commissioned officers- Thomas W. Perry, James Peterson, and privates to: accept- his warmest Daniel Booker, Richard Pool, thanks, and bids them.an affectionate- George Booker, George Burge, farewell. Joseph R. Burtley, William Burton, "By command of John W. Burtley, John Potter, "William Henry Harrison. Edmund Brown, John Rawlings, "Robert Butler. Edward Mumford, George Richards, "Acting Assistant Adjutant General."' Reuben Clemments, William Lacy, Moses Clemments, William Lanier, James Chalmers, John Shore, Edward Chensworth, John Shelton, James Cabaniss, / Richard Sharp, Edward H. Cogbiii, John H. Smith, Edward Tiffin was the first. Governor John H. Saunders, John Spwalt, of Ohio and served, from 1803 to 1807. William P. Rawlings^ Robert Stevens, 'From 1803 to 1810 the seat of govern­ Herbert C. Lafton, Ezra Stith, ment was at Chillicothe; from 1810 to Benjamin Lawson, James Jeffers, 1812 in Zanesville, and from 1812 to- Alfred Loraine, Daniel Worsham, 1816 in Chillicothe again; Columbus be­ George P. Layburn, Samuel Williams, came the capital in 1816.. William R. Leigh, James Williams, Benjamin Middleton, John F. Wiley, A man named Samuel Charter, living: Nicholas Mansenbury, David Williams. on the Foote farm, went to Gutty's Is­ On the south face of the monument land to make sugar. On his return,. are the following: somewhere near Defiance he appropriat­ ed a grindstone and put it in his pirogue "General Orders" with the sugar. He was followed and' "Headquarters District, 17th Oct, 1813. his place searched, but no stone could be- "The term of service for which the found. Many years afterward the stone Petersburg volunteers were engaged hav­ was found in a dense thicket about ing expired, they are permitted to com- forty rods from his cabin.. SCRAP-BOOK. 43

SHIBNAH SPINK was too ill to wait upon customers, wOuld go behind the counter and play the role of clerk. Finally he consented to act as Interesting Sketch of One of the Most Active clerk for Mr. Spink, and^remained in of Wood County Pioneers the store several years. In the fall of that year Mr. Smith's sister, Mary A., came to Perrysburg to visit her brother FROM a lengthy sketch by C. W. Evers and sister, remaining through the win • of the career of Shibnah Spink, ter and the following summer. During who lived in Perrysburg, we condense as this time, the friendship between Miss follows: Smith and Mr. Spirik ripened into love, Shibnah Spink of Perrysburg, was one and in the fall of 1835 they were mar­ of the early settlers of the county, whose ried ; and it is seldom' that two more con­ life has been so largely connected with genial spirits spend life together. the general history of this county that a sketch of the same must prove valuable The Stone Road as a contribution to the history of this In the winter of 1837-38 the old mud section of the county. pike through the Black Swamp was so Mr. Spink was born in Berkshire completely worn out and so impassable county, Massachusetts, in February, 1802, for loaded teams that a movement was .where he remained until 1811, when his made for the 'construction of a macadam­ father removed to Chautauqua county, ized road from Lower Sandusky (now New York. Fremont) to Perrysburg. Jessup W. In 1826, young Spink, having grown Scott, Capt David Wilkinsofa, John C. to manhood, went to Pennsylvania and Spink, and Shibnah Spink, were select­ took a contract * on the Pennsylvania ed to visit the Legislature at Columbus, Canal, where he remained about two and secure such assistance from the State years, at the end of which time he went as would insure the construction of the to Wooster, this State, where he remairi- desired and much needed road. ed until 1832, at which time he came to They went in a carriage. As there Perrysburg. At the latter place he open­ had been a fall of snow and the ground ed a dry goods, grocery arid hardware was frozen they found the roads good store, but the crash of 1836-'37 caught and made the trip to the State Capital him unprepared for such an emergency in three days. After remaining at Co­ and he retired from business. From 1837 lumbus a few days and being satisfied to 1850 he was chiefly employed in run­ that the measure proposed would pass; ning a steamboat during the summer Capt. Wilkinson and Shibnah Spink de­ and in purchasing furs during the win­ cided to return home, leaving their two ter. companions at Columbus to see the meas­ In the summer of 1834, Mr. Addison ure through. On the day on which they Smith, theri unmarried, came to Perrys­ started for home, the weather became burg to visit his sister, Mrs. Dustin. Mr. warm and rain set in, rendering the roads Spink's clerk in the store becarrie fright­ almost impassable. On the evening of ened on account of the jfumber of In­ the sixth day after leaving Columbus, dians encamped near tbjfstore and left, the two lobbyists reached home, in a sad­ leaving Mr. Spink alonw>in his business ly dilapidated condition, on foot having suffering with the aguwf Mr. Smith was left their carriage and baggage eight in the habit of sperifSng much of his •• mfiles this side of Lower Sandusky. Us­ time in the store and -when Mr. -Spink ing their blankets for saddles they 44 THE PIONEER

mounted the horses and ,rode until they should have a little rest and enjoy the reached Toussaint Creek, which stream comforts of home, but was told that they they found so swollen that it was im­ wanted him to start the next morning for possible to get their horses to the bridge southwestern Indiana in the interest of spanning the channel. The whole coun­ the fur company—that somebody must try was flooded. They put up for, the go, and that he was the only person who night, and as the weather became cold, could fill the bill. Hard as was this task arid there was little or no current in the and great as was his disappointment, Mr. vast sea of water before them, ice was Spink consented to go, and after remain formed of such thickness that in the ing with his family over night he and morning it would bear a man. They : B. F. Hoilister mounted their horses and were fully thirteen miles from home and started on the journey. The distance to the Captain was a cripple; but they de­ be traveled was four hundred miles, and cided to make the balance of their journey they made it in eight days, averaging on foot. After breakfast the two men fifty miles per day. started, but before going far the Captain Mr. Spink remained in southern In­ gave out and they were compelled to hire diana, buying furs and skins until the a boy and pony to bring him in. Mr. first of June, when, being an earnest Spink walked the entire distance, reach­ W*hig, he hastened to the monster gath­ ing home with only the whip and the ering at Ft. Meigs in 1840. Although clothes on his back as representatives of suffering from ague he made the trip in the entire outfit of the Columbus party. good time. More of Pioneer Hardships His First Public Office Another incident illustrative of pioneer In 1850, when General Taylor 'was life in this section of the country, oc­ 'President and General G. A. Jones, of curred at an earlier date than the fore­ Mount Vernon, was U. S. Marshal of going one. In the spring of 1833, Mr. Ohio, Mr. Spink was appointed Deputy Spink started out in search of cows, rnilk Marshal. His duties required him to being in demand at Perrysburg. He visit every house in the county for the was gone for three days through the purpose of taking the census. In 1830, country overcoming many obstacles and when Wood county embraced what is making a circuit that now could be ac­ now Lucas county, and also a portion of complished in a few hours. Fulton county, the entire population was In 1839 Mr* Spink was in the employ less than 2,000, but in 1850 Mr. Spink of Judge John Hollister, who at that found nearly ten thousand persons liv­ time owned a line of steamboats which ing within the present limits of this ran between Perrysburg and Buffalo, and county. < also transacted a large business as agent for the American Fur Company. Mr. Elected Sheriff Spink was master of the General Vance. In this year Mr. Spink was elected As there were no railroads in those days, Sheriff of Wood county. The county the Jakes were the great commercial high­ was strongly Democratic in politics; but ways and boats ran as long as the river his personal popularity secured success. was open. On returning from his last About this time many leading Democrats trip. that fall, after having been absent became tinctured with free soil senti-. from his family nearly all of the season, ments, and when the Missouri comprom­ he' went into Hollister's store in the ise measures were adopted by Congress, evening happy with the thought that he many of them ."joined with the Whigs, SCRAP-BOOK. 45

and the county finally passed into the of Treasurer again, the Whigs, nominated hands of .the Whigs, and since the organ­ Mr. Spink. TheDemocrats were a lit­ ization of the Republican party has been tle afraid to put forward John Bates for strongly Republican. Mr. Spink contrib­ another trial with Spink, so they nomi­ uted largely to these results. An en­ nated Samuel Chilcote, who, it was sup­ thusiastic partisan, liberal in his views, posed, .coukUcarry more votes than any and genial in his manners, he was always other Democrat in the county. Chil­ at work and none could accomplish more. cote was in every respect a most worthy At that time the entire fees of the Sher­ man, but Spink beat him and was re­ iff's office for two years did not amount elected, servirig four years in that office. to over $500—$100 of which was receiv-- His natural, desire to accommodate the ed in cash and the balance mostly was people, which ofteri led him to advance never collected. the taxes for men throughout the county, and his well known integrity secured for Beaten for Treasurer him a degree of popularity with the pub­ At the next election after his success­ lic which is seldom enjoyed by persons ful canvass for Sheriff, Mr. Spink was so active in political work and so decided nominated for County Treasurer by the in partisan convictions. Whigs. At that time John Bates waB Other Offices Filled the strong wheel-horse of the Wood; county Democrats, and he was Mr. In 1862, under the Internal Revenue Spink's opponent. Bates was treasurer laws, Mr. Spink was appointed Deputy for a number of years and it was be­ Assessor, a position, which he filledi n a lieved that he could rieither be beaten in creditable manner for two years, when convention nor at the polls. Spink was the office was abolished. After this he equally strong with the Whigs, and the turned his: attention to farming, until , county was Democratic by about 300 ma­ 1871, when he was appointed Superin­ jority. When the votes were counted it tendent of the Western Reserve & Mau­ was found that Bates had but barely nine mee Road, a position which he filledfo r majority. nine months, after which he continued his residence in Perrysburg and for many Elected Treasurer years enjoyed the confidence and esteem When the time came for the election of all who knew him.

A JAIL IN THE WOODS It was built many years ago at a cost of $486, and the contractors took part of their pay in Perrysburg town lots at $12 Its Builder—How Sheriff John Webb Kept each. It was, made of square oak logs, Prisoners—It Stood in a Dense cut mostly on the present corporation Thicket limits of Perrysburg and served its pur­ pose as well, arid was as much a terror to evil doers as are the costly structures FEW of the dwellers in Wood county of stone, iron and brick of the present today will remember the old wood­ day. Wood county's population was en jail at Perrysburg, indeed, we doubt if then less than two hundred human souls. there are many who knew of its existence. The projectors of that jail were no doubt 46 THE PIONEER

aware of the fact there was but little in safe, but people in those days did as peo­ the county at that time to steal, and that ple do now, made the best of the means where there is no temptation there are they had. apt to be fewer rogues. This primitive In 1823, after the county seat, was structure served as a calaboose for the removed from Maumee, "Uncle" Guy confinement of some of the frisky veteran Nearing took the contract for removing volunteers in the Michigan war, who at the little log jail from Maumee for $45. times indulged too freely in Maumee ague In 1824 Nearing and Hubbell took the medicine and then got boisterous. It contract of building a court house, also was. located on Front street near the old for repairing the jail, which was further Exchange Hotel. enlarged in 1826, or '27 by him and Sheriff John Webb had charge of the Elisha Martindale, though they were not jail, at the time George Porter was im­ the contractors, Nearing at that time be­ prisoned in it, in 1830; it stood alone in a ing a county commissioner. The jail, as. dense thicket, the brush and timber hav­ previously mentioned, was built two sto­ ing been cleared away only far enough to ries high, of logs about a foot square, se­ admit the teams that hauled the jail tim­ cured at the ends by tenons and mortises bers. The fine macadamized road now with a wooden pin through. The floors known as Front street was only a tor­ were of the same solid square timber. tuous wagon track between trees and The windows were but little more than stumps. There was no building near long cracks where the halves of two logs except the log court house. Mr. Webb had been taken out and perpendicular lived in a little house up the river near iron bolts passed through for security. the bayou nearly or quite half a mile There were two dark cells also made of from the jail, and during Porter's im­ strong solid square timber.. The doors prisonment Mr. Webb carried him his were rude massive wooden structures well meals to his dismal cell in the thicket spiked with wrought nails and swung on three times a day, and at night locked strong iron hinges. The roof, gables and him in his cell and went home. Such general exterior of the building appeared an arrangement would not hi these jail similar to any hewed log cabin.—C. W. breaking times be regarded as entirely E.

OLD TIME TRAGEDY. five dogs, passed through Portage town­ ship on their way to Turkeyfoot, Henry county, on their annual fall hunt, and Atrocious Murder of Summundewat, One of stopped a day or so in Portage town­ the Most Noble Chiefs of the ship. While here they visited Jacob Wyandots Eberly's blacksmith shop on the Portage river, one mile below the present village IN his Log Cabin sketches Mr. Evers of Portage, for the purpose of getting a gives the following description of the knife and hatchet made, and a gun-sight murder of Summundewat, a Wyandot repaired. chief: In the employ of Eberly was a young During the autumn of the year 1845, man named John Anderson, who was Summundewat, a Wyandot chief from quite intimate with and kept the company the Sandusky Plains, with his daughter, of one James Lyons, who lived with his her husband, seven ponies, two colts, and widowed mother, on the middle branch SCRAP-BOOK. ''•7 of the Portage. Lyons, who was consid­ with a man whom they met, the Indians erably older than Anderson, possessed all marched directly to the school house the, elements of character for a desperado which they quietly and almost unper- of the worst type, and dark suspicions ceived, surrounded. rested on him of counterfeiting and other Anderson, who was in the school house, deviltries. / was almost the firstma n todiscove r the The Indians had. with them two excel­ dusky red men at the door, and divined lent coon dogs, either of which could their purpose in an instant. He grew scent a coon tree without the trouble of . deadly pale and shook as if awakening tracking the animal on the ground. Dur­ from a dream of horror. The chief ing the visits of the Indians at Eberly's singled out the guilty man whom he had shop, Lyons had tried to buy or trade for never seen before, with -that unerring these dogs, which he coveted very much, certainty with which a dog tells his mas­ but without success. Lyons and Ander­ ter. Anderson was seized and bound. son both visited the camp of Summunde­ At that same moment, unconscious of wat, and by some means learned that the his danger (but with a presentiment as party had some money. he afterward told, that for "three days Shortly after the Indians left for and nights somebody or some shadow Turkeyfoot where they were to join an­ was pursuing him), Lyons was one mile other party from the Plains in a hunt. below on the river at Jacob Eberly's The old chief and his little party had shop", trying to induce him to shoe his not been gone long, when Lyons and An­ mare, a splendid race mare, the fleetest derson also left. Not many days after in the country, which Eberly did not care one of these men while passing down the to do as it was Sunday. Lyons presently Tiver was noticed to have with him left and passed down the river to where Summundewat's coon dogs. ' Anderson lived, and waited some time for Old Benjamin Cox, who was familiar his return, but of, course waited in vain. with Indian habits, and could speak their The settlers after learning of the ter­ language, remarked when he saw the dogs rible murder that had been committed, that they must have been coaxed away, and that the blood-stained perpetrators as no Indian would sell his dogs at the were from their.midst became excited beginning of the hunting season. almost to frenzy. Not only because of Not many days elapsed before a start­ the cruel and revolting nature of the ling rumor reached the settlement that tragedy, but because it exposed them to Summundewat, the Indian preacher, and the fury and revenge of the exasperated all his party had been murdered, and on red men, and as may well be supposed the following Sunday, while the few scat­ gave every assistance in their power to tering settlers along the river were as­ give the offenders over to the law, in sembled at quiet worship at.a little log order that their punishment might ap­ school house where now is the town of pease the wrath of the savages. Portage/a party of Indians accompanied by a white trader from the Plains, and Avenging Indians led by a chief called Snake-bones, made Snake-bones had learned where Lyons their appearance, causing a sensation and lived and thither he led his party, and no little anxiety among the settlers. with that unerring certainty which had enabled him to follow the footsteps ol Anderson Seized and Bound Lyons and Anderson, from the scene ol After a brief halt, and short parley the tragedy on Turkeyfoot to Haslrins among themselves, and a few remarks settlement through unbroken forests and 48 THE PIONEER

pathless prairies, and which seems almost turn state's.evidence. This was done un­ an intuition, he soon revealed in that der the belief by the settlers that there secluded cabin the evidences of terrible was another and third party implicated guilt. Mrs. Lyons lay on the bed feign­ in the crime, of whose dangerous pres­ ing sickness. The chief made a brief ence they desired to rid themselves. survey of the cabin, and, stooping lifted And now, reader, would you like to a puncheon from the floor, and the two hear a recital Of this dark deed of blood coon dogs sprung forth. He lifted the which even at this distant day makes one bed clothing and beheld the bloody shudder? If so, follow us through the tyankets of the ill-fated Summundewat. The white spectators stood mute and Confession of John Anderson aghast. In another place they found the As has just been stated, suspicion rest­ jerked venison and furs concealed, and ed on a third party; That man was near by the ponies. They then retired; John Ellsworth, who owned and lived on a short parley followed, and that night the farm now belonging to John Z. a cordon of pickets guarded that lonely Smith, in Liberty township. The con­ cabin. Twice the two sisters of Lyons fession of young Anderson more than attempted to pass that line to warn their confirmed their worst suspicion. This guilty brother—twice they were sent back. Ellsworth, who was a little past the Long after the shades of night had prime of life, was one of the most dan­ gathered over all arid nothing disturbed gerous men of his time—a man who the silence except, the hum of the beetle with a certain class of people could gain or the song of the katydid, a horseman a strong influence, capable of strong was heard approaching, and the rider, friendship when it suited Jris purpose. Jim Lyons, all unconscious of danger Though professedly ignorant—so much entered the cabin. *so that^he never while here, was known Lyons Captured to write his own name or read a sentence, and yet he was one of the best educated Scarcely had the door closed on his of men. It is said that he had, before back ere the wary footsteps of the Wyan- he removed to the depths of the Black dot chief were heard on the threshold, Swamp, saved himself from the peniten­ and all of Lyons efforts to get his favor­ tiary on a charge of forgery by proving ite race mare were unavailing. She by bribed witnesses that he could neither would have distanced all pursurers. She read nor write, and in this state of ig­ was his tried and trusted friend in case norance he remained to the world about of apprehension or pursuit for crime. him, to the last day of his residence in No telegraph or railways then to out Wood county. speed her. But no—he was a prisoner, his wily captors gave him no chance of A Polished Villain escape. He was bound hand and foot, But long after, when all old scores and, with Anderson, lodged in the jail at were outlawed, we "hear of his occupying. Napoleon, the crime having been commit­ the Judge's bench in one of the Western ted just within the Henry county line. States, to which he emigrated, and to The jail was a log building,.and shortly which position he was elected. He was after, Lyons, Anderson, and an Irishman of fine address arid plausible demeanor, confined on charge of murder, all escap­ yet no man more cunning in devising ed. Anderson was afterwards through deep laid plots of deviltry and crime, the influence of friends, induced to give and at the same time keeping his own himself up, under promise that he would skirts clear of the consequences. He was SCRAP-BOOK. 49 several times apprehended and impris­ kindly received, and the poor woman oned, but each time managed to break busied herself in getting them something jail and get the damaging testimony dis­ to eat &nd spreading some blankets for posed of, and in some way escape the law, their bed. while those of whom he had made tools By previous arrangement, Lyons'; was would suffer the severe penalty. In fact to kill Summundewat and Anderson was he was supposed to be at the head of a to kill the husband of the woman and gang of counterfeiters, hotge/thieves and then dispatch the woman. The Indians robbers. The route of the Indians to had been broken of their rest so much Turkeyfoot led a little north of where that sleep soon overcame them. Ellsworth lived. Anderson stated that he and Lyons A Crime of Horror followed the trail until they got in the At a prearranged signal, each of the vicinity of where Ellsworth lived when white men sunk his hatchet in ihe head they went to see him. of the sleeping mea The poor woman As soon as he learned that the Indians sprang to her feet and implored Ander­ had money, he volunteered to go along son's mercy' in such' pitiful terms, that with them, and during the journey he he hesitated. Humanity had not entire­ ly forsaken his breast; bis arm faltered. Planned the Murder and Robbery Said he, I could not strike that woman But when they reached a point near who had treated us so kindly and never the Indians he suddenly stopped and' had done me harm. Lyons upbraided said, "Boys, I can go no further. I am him with a terrible oath for being already resting Under suspicion, and if chicken-hearted, and with one blow of this job is done, I will be the first man his hatchet struck her to the earth never called upon to prove my whereabouts. I to rise again. They dragged the bodies will go back and keep watch of matters a short distance and covered them beside until you return with the plunder, which i' log. They then proceeded to gather up is now to be had for the taking." Ells­ the effects of the murdered people, and. worth went home and Lyons and Ander­ lastly the ponies, as they were now in son went to the camp of the Indians, quite a hurry to hasten away. where they were well treated. The In­ So far all had gone well with them; dians, said Anderson, seemed to be sus- no human eye was witness to the deed jucious of some impending" evil. They they had done. The depths of the lonely were wakeful and restless at night, so forest far, far from any settlement or much so that no opportunity offered to habitation, was a fitting and safe place take their lives, until finallyo h the third for such a crime. Safe—did we say?— day, under pretext of trying to find the no, not safe. There is an Eye that notes other party of Indians, they broke up the fall of the sparrow, and numbers the camp and moved about two miles; well hairs of our head. There is a Power to had it been for them had they never avenge blood beyond the ken of man. stopped until they had found the other There are witnesses of all our thoughts party. and actions when we least suspect them. Lyons and Anderson followed at a Sometimes it seems as if an overruling distance, blazing trees as they went, Hand directs mute, dumb witnesses tp marking the route. testify. That night they again made their ap­ Just as the murderers were catching pearance at the Indian camp, pretending the ponies to leave, after havihg, as they to be lost, tired and hungry. They were supposed, destroyed all evidence of. crime, 50 THE PIONEER

occurred the circumstance which re­ they were too late. He had gone. Re­ vealed all. Two colts that were not wards were offered, and he was hand- tethered and that followed the ponies, billed, and finally was discovered and ar­ were very wild and fled at the approach rested in an out of the way town in one of the white men. They could not be of the western states, but soon made driven or coaxed to follow, but remained his escape, and finally after Lyons and about the place whinnying and making Anderson were out of reach, he boldly a great fuss. presented himself for trial, and of course went unconvicted and unpunished. The Crime Revealed Anderson told how they made their It so happened that the other hunting escape from jail, which was buift of solid party from the Plains arrived about this square timber. With an iron poker they time and passed not far from the place, succeeded, by long perseverance, in burn­ and the noise made by the colts was ing a log of timber overhead, filling heard by them, and the ponies of the up the marks of their work with bread Indians answered the call of the colts, so as to avoid detection. Ori the night and the colts soon after joined and fol­ set for the escape, they discovered that lowed them. This was the firstintima ­ LyOns, who was a large, full built man, tion to the hunters that they were in the could not wort his body through the hole neighborhood of the Summundewat in the ceiling, out he had a will equal party. Still they heard no guns and saw to the emergency. He sent Anderson nothing of them. They felt certain, how­ through into the loft; Then stripping ever, that they could not be far off, since Off all his clothes, he pushed them the colts would not otherwise be there. through, after which he thrust his body After a day or so one of the hunters into the hole where he, stood, as if he had took the trail of the colts, and following been wedged. Then commanding Ander back a short distance, came to the desert­ son to pull up and the Irishman to push ed camp. He soon became satisfied that, up, he went through after much labor there was something wrong and reported and excruciating torture, leaving*a part at his camp. A number of hunters went of his skin on the rough, jagged edges with him and they soon found the bodies of the timber. of the murdered people, and with the Anderson was last heard of in Indiana, pursuits and results as before told. An­ where to all who ever knew him he van­ derson stated that not far from Ells- ished forever, nor has search or inquiry worth'af house the crafty old villain met ever been able to even get the faintest themVand inquired, What luck? On be­ clue to him. ing told what they had done, he said, Ellsworth, as before stated, went west How much money? They produced it; and wore the ermine of'a judge, wheth­ he took it, and after looking at it said, er worthily or unworthily is a question "Boys this is no place to count money, we we .leave to our readers; will meet again;" and that was the last they saw Or heard of the illgottefi gold Lyons Lynched and silver. Lyons finally came to the surface in California at a court organized by Judge Ellsworth Involved Lynch, accused of a diabolical murder The confession of Anderson implicat­ and robbery. He confessed his guilt al­ ing Ellsworth intensified public feeling so to his true name, and confessed to to fever heat, and the officers of the law having murdered eight men. He was were soon after him in hot haste, brit hung to the limb of a tree, and his exeGU- SCRAP-BOOK. 51

tion closed the chapter of the trio of deavors to maintain peace and friendly bloOd-stainied men, who enacted a dark .relations between his people and the tragedy which produced a state, of excite­ 'Pale Faces*1 at that day. His murder ment never equalled since civilization be­ caused great excitement among the In­ gan iri the "Black Swamp." dians arid the whites at his old home, In this connection the editor of the/ and quite a number of the latter took Henry County Signal, who was well ac­ their guns and assisted iri ferreting out quainted with the murdered iBhief, says: -the murderers. These men insisted on "Summundewat was one of the most staying and guarding the prisoners after enlightened and noble chiefs of the Wy­ their arrest until court convened, fear­ andot nation, and was not only held in ing that they would be permitted to es­ high estimation by his own people, but cape, but after some time were prevailed by all the whites that were acquainted to kave them to the keeping of the jail­ with him as well. He had been convert­ or, and we know that the escape of Sum- ed to the Protestant religion, and was a mundewat's murderers was connived at leading member in the Methodist church and permitted by those who had them in of that nation. He was always a firm custody." > friend of the whites, and used his en-

LOGICAL REASONS American. There is no locality in Ohio sf equal historic interest. The place where marked events in the story of a nation have transpired—where Both Historical and Sentimental, Given by great acts of heroism, or other noble C. W. Evers Why Toledo Should Be the human virtues have been displayed, and Place for Holding the Ohio have crowned momentous issues with Centenary success, always calls forth emotions of admiration. , Who that has visited Bunker Hill, the IT tyillb e remembered that preparations plains of Yorktown, the tomb at Mt. were being made to hold the com­ Vernon, or the saCred precincts of Jeru­ memorative centenary of Ohio's admis- salem, has not felt this thrill of senti­ 'sion into the Union, at Toledo instead of ment? "If such there be, go mark him Columbus, in 1903. Mr. Evers, at that well," etc. time gave the following lucid points as Almost at Toledo's portals on the high to why Toledo should be selected with-- bank of the Maumee is the site of Fort out question: •> Miami, yet plainly distinguishable in its If historical sentiment has anything to martial outlines cf grassy embankments. do with it, Toledo is the place. It was here a paity of old Count Fron- ' Toledo is not only the proud metrop­ t« nae's hardy French explorers landed in olis of this section, favored by the prox­ the wintei1 of 1679-80, and unfurled the imity of river, bay, lake, islands and. French flag—the first syinbol of civiliza­ numerous railway arteries of travel and tion ever planted on Ohio soil. commerce, but she is rich in surrounding historic associations which inspire pat­ In the Mad Race riotic sentiment in the breast of every For empire later on, between Gaul and 52 THE PIONEER

Anglo-Saxon, France lost and,' the tri­ ter, your eye rests on the plain "where color gave place to the cross of St Dudley's brave men were beaten down George; twice since, this same historic and massacred by Tecumseh's insatiate spot has bristled with English cannon, savages; where the diabolical revels of contesting the mastery here with the the scalp dance American republic. Farther away, across the river; but Made Night Hideous within hearing of Toledo's Sabbath bells, The waters, as they sweep past, seem to is another memorable landmark—Fort breathe a sad rhythm—a requiem, as it Meigs. Memory's filmy thread, in man were, in memory of the heroes' there, in yet living, almost spans the cleft of time unmarked graves. —the.short years back', when Ohio's fate But there are other consecrated grounds hung trembling in the lurid here; other mailed warriors were here. There were other tragic events, where Smoke of Deadly Conflict the nation's safety'hinged upon the mar­ The misfortunes of war had suddenly tial valor of its patriotic sons. transferred the battle ground from the Just above the fort and across the Canada border to the Maumee. The river by the road, near the margin of the sandy plains, from the Riyer( Raisin to water lies the huge granite boulder known the Maumee rapids, had drank the blood far and near as of scores and hundreds of patriotic Ken- tuckians who had hurried to Ohio's aid. "Turkey Foot" Rock The exultant Britons, with their hordos Young man, did you ever visit that of Indian allies, had advanced and were spot? at the throat of Fort Meigs, then garri­ No! Then you should; there is

to stop Wayne's soldiers that day. The bol of the new republic on the Maumee totem, or emblem of his clan was a^ pic­ and no power has ever been able to dis­ ture of a turkey's foot or track, which place it his devoted clansmen afterwards cut in Anthony Wayne was a man of auda­ this rock as a memorial to their chief. cious courage, skilled in strategy, prudent Mas-Sas-Sa was not a leading chief, in detail as Washington himself, invinci­ but of all the chieftains, red or white, ble and strong of will as Kleber, impetu­ whose deeds in war have made the Mau­ ous in attack, as Murat and profane as mee historic, none other that I know of Swarrow. . He seemed well fittedfo r the has a monument. rough and tumble border warfare Wash­ It is a reproach on the enterprise and ington chose for him. patriotism of our people, that while we A fitting monument should perpetuate lavish so much on doubtful projects, we his heroic memory on the Maumee. neglect to beautify these historic spots Another great actor in border drama, and properly commemorate the names of Pontiac, the greatest red chieftain of the the heroes who came here to deliver the north, made his home with his tribe, the land from savage bondage and from con­ Ottawas, on the Maumee just below To­ quest by kings. ledo, shortly after the collapse of the It is unpleasant to think what mignt startling and wide spread conspiracy have happened, in case of Wayne's de­ which he had planned with consummate feat. Did you ever think of it? ability. His kindred lived there many The government was weak in resour­ years. His son Ottuso and his widow, ces. Two American armies had been de­ stroyed, and Wayne was leading a third Kan-Tuck-E-Gun one into the swampy fastnesses of the Were at the treaty at the Maumee Rap­ Maumee—a ids, 1817, and not an Indian would sign until the aged womar> would first touch Veritable River Styx the pen. Then, the chosen rendezvous of the allied Toledo is, as I just said, the focus savages of the northwest, who were aid­ point where more of historic interest ed and goaded on by British agents and centers than any point in Ohio. The traders. England had advanced from patriotic element love and cherish these the Canada border and planted her flag associations. It is our duty as loyal and garrison on the Maumee at Miami. citizens to cultivate and encourage pa­ Behind Wayne was the buried skele­ triotism in every way. The rising gen­ tons of, St. Clair's butchered army, and eration should be taught to feel a pride three feeble settlements on the Ohio from in the noble deeds and virtues of their Marietta down, all cooped up in block ancestors: it makes us all better citizens houses. Blue Jacket and Little Turtle, and makes our form of government more insolent with victory, had made the Na­ enduring. With Toledo's enterprise, her poleonic decree that no American could reputation for generous hospitality and come north of the Ohio and live. That high standard of social culture, together was Ohio on that eventful August day. with her incomparable facilities for Xo wonder the victory Wayne achieved handling a crowd and making their stay there thrilled the nation with joy and comfortable, there ought to be no ques­ brought loud acclamations of gratitude tion of her standing at the head of the list of candidates for the Centennial. From All Border Settlers Wayne was the first to plant the sym­ 54 THE PIONEER

INDIANS FOILED troops at every opportunity—hung on their flanks, attacked the rear guard, plan­ ned ambuscades and by every stratagem In Vain Did the Strategy of the Red Hostiles tried to draw the army into their deadly Succeed with Wayne toils as they had done with Harmar and St. Clair, but in every attempt they were NO sooner had Wayne's'column begun foiled. They always met a warm recep­ its line of march through the wil­ tion whenever or wherever they attacked derness than hostile warriors assailed the the American line.—C. W. E.

PIONEER FAMILIES the fall, started likely by Indians on their hunting excursions, but went right to work and in less than four weeks had That Settled on the Site of Bowling Green— a cabin 18x24 with "shake" roof, ready The Martindales and Others and his family moved jn. They got a supply of meat from Wilson, who, with IN October, 1832, Elisha Martindale en­ a hunter named Decker, took their pick tered 40 acres of land directly west from the bands of wild hogs that fatten- • of and joining the present fair grounds, ed on nuts arid acorns in the vast for­ and put up a stack of wild hay at a point ests. The girls were brought home, a about due west of the floral hall, and on shelter was made for the cow, a well dug the west side of the present Haskins road, and Bowling Green's pioneer family was where the great willow tree stood, and settled in their new home. It was paid long known as the CJiriton Fay place. for and all their own. That was the first land -entry in the Soon after they had got settled the old­ present limits of Bowling Green as shown est girl, Sally, arrived, bringing with her by the records. .. a gingham dress pattern and other fix­ In the spring of- 1833. Martindale ings for a dress suit In a few days brought his family, and a few household William Hecox, a young man from Mau­ effects out from Maumee, crossing the" mee, came with a license, and Squire river on the ice arid following, much of Elijah Huntington, of Perrysburg, on the way, the old army trail until he April 15, 1833, solemnized the firstmar ­ reached the cabin of a settler named Wil­ riage in Bowling Green. son on the ridge on the Haskins road, The only neighbors, the Wilsons, were where the family stayed until*a cabin } invited, also four friends from the mis­ could be built, except the two girls, i sion station on the-Maumee. When the' Louisa, who later became Mrs. Van Tas- young bride left the humble cabin that j^el and later Thurstin and Eliza Jane, day on horseback sitting behind her hus­ 'who married Warren Gunn; they were band on the same horse, there was no rice taken over to the Portage settlement and or second-hand shoes to throw after her; left with a family named Jaques until those articles were scarce then. the cabin was ready. Other cabins followed among them that Mr. Martindale, who was a man • of of Alfred Thurstin, in the year, 1833, restless energy, was nothing discouraged who entered iand and built a cabin just to find his stack of prairie hay had gone east of the present Reed & Merry block. up in smoke in a big prairie fire late in —C. W.E. in Wood Qounty Tribune.

SCRAP-BOOK. 57'

PETER MANOR out of the tract reserved by the treaty of Detroit, in 1807, about Roche De Boeuf, at the village of the said Dog, a section How He Was Remembered by His Adopted of land to contain 640 acres, to be located Father, the Indian Chief Tondoganie in a square form, on the north side of the Miami at the Wolf Rapid." This land PETER MANOR caitae to the river to was within the original limits of Wood reside in the year 1808. He had county. been here prior to that time but not to It was Manor who saved the settlers settle, and he had most likely acquired a at the foot of the Rapids from the hor- knowledge of the locality through MB hors of massacre by the Indians. He connection with some of the French Can­ learned of the surrender of Hull from an adian exploring parties, for at a much Indian runner, and that the Indians earlier period they had made their way would come in three days' time and would up the Maumee river and carried their massacre all the Yankees in the valley. canoes from the head waters of the Mau­ * * Manor lost no time in making mee to the Wabash and passed dow.n that this known to the settlers, and they fled, river to the Ohio. Manor was adopted but not too soon, for they heard the yells by the Indian chief Tondoganie and by of the savages, and saw the smoke of the treaty at the foot of the Rapids of their log houses as they passed down the the Miami of the Lake, concluded Sept. river in their frail bark. Thus tragic­ 29, 1817, his adopted father caused a ally ended the first settlement within the section of land to be granted to his son. limits of Wood county, and the space The treaty says it was granted at the vacated by the destruction of their houses special request of the Ottawas. The became the theatre of war, always dread­ grant is in these words: "To Sa-wan-de- ful, but revolting when carried on by a bans, or the Yellow Hair or Petar Marior, savage foe, and still more so, when those an adopted son of Tondoganie or the Dog, churning to be Christians, use the savage and at the special request of the Ottawas, scalping knife.

LITTLE TURTLE said of this Indian and of his tribe, the Miamis, that after the treaty waB signed they always remained faithful friends of The Wisest Indian Diplomat, Remained Faith­ the Americans. The, same can not be ful to the Greenville Treaty said of some of the omer tribes, especially the Shawanees, a portion of whom, under Tceumseh and his brother, turned against IN making the Greenville treaty, Gen. the Americans in the war with England Wayne, who was a pretty skillful, far- in 1812.—C. W. E. sighted diplomatist, nearly found his match in some of the Indian chiefs who- displayed wonderful tact and crude ..Wapakoneta was the home of Tecumseh statesmanship. Especially was this true and Logan, where their families lived. of Little Turtle, whose fckill, tenacity and Logan, the famous Shawanese chief, faithfulness in trying to guard the rights was a nephew of Tecumseh, his mother of all the tribes, won encomiums even being a sister of that distinguished In­ fiom his enemies. It may be further dian warrior. 58 THE PIONEER

ELOQUENCE OF TECUMSEH other, without letting his red children know what his intentions are. You al­ -N- ways told us to remain here and take care of our lands. It made our hearts glad to His Forcible Address to Gen. Proctor in Be hear that was your wish. Our great half of His Warriors father, the Icing, is the head, and you represent him. You always told us you WHEN Proctor began to make pre­ would never draw your foot off British parations to retreat from Maiden, ground; but now, father, we see that you the quick eye of Tecumseh soon detected are drawing back, and we are sorry to see it. He called his warriors about him and our father doing so without seeing the in their behalf addressed Proctor as fol­ enemy. We must compare our father's- lows : conduct to a fat dog, that carries its tail "Father, listen to your children! You on its back, but when affrighted, drops it have them now all before you. The war between its legs and runs off. Father, before this, our British father gave the listen! The Americans have not yet de­ hatchet to his red children, when our old feated us by land; neither are we sure chiefs were alive. They are now dead. that they have done so by water; we,. In that war our father was thrown on his therefore, wish to remain here and fight back by. the Americans; and our father our enemy, should they make their ap­ took them by the hand without our know^ pearance. If they defeat us, we will then ledge; and we are afraid that our father retreat with our father. will do so again this time. "At the battle of the Rapids (Wayne's) "Summer before last when I came for­ in the last war, the Americans certainly ward with my red brethren, and was defeated us; and when we returned to- ready to take up the hatchet in favor of our father's fort at that place, the gates our British father, we were told not to be were shut against us. We were afraid in a hurry, that he had not yet deter­ that it would now be the case; but in­ mined to fight the Americans. Listen! stead of that, we now see our British When war was declared, our father stood father preparing to march out of his gar­ up and gave us the tomahawk, and told rison. Father, you have not the arms us that he was then ready to strike the and ammunition which our great father Americans; that he wanted our assist­ sent for his red children. If you have an ance, and that he would certainly get our idea of going away, give, them to us, and land back, which the Americans had taken you may go and welcome, for us." from us. Shortly after the delivery of this speech' "Listen! When we were last at the a considerable body of Indians abandon­ Rapids, it is true we gave you little as­ ed General Proctor, and crossed the strait sistance. It is hard to fight people who to the American shore.—0. W. E. live like groundhogs. Father, listen! Our fleet has gone out; we know they have fought; we have heard the great The coldest day on record in this coun­ guns; but we know nothing Of what has ty was January 26, 1873, when the mer­ happened to our father with one arm. cury stood 30 degrees below zero. (Commodore Barclay, who had lost an arm in some previous battle.) Our ships Gen. LeBaum, in 1780 attempted to- have gone one way, and we are much as­ capture Fort Wayne, known then as- tonished to see our father tying up every Kekionga, but was defeated and his en­ thing and preparing to run away the tire command massacred. SCRAP-BOOK. 59

TECUMSEH DESCRIBED Thus our lives were spared arid we were sent down to the fleet at the mouth of Swan Creek (now Toledo) and from that By Gen. Leslie Combs of Kentucky, as He place across the^end of the lake to Huron Saw Him and paroled. I shall never forget the noble counten­ ance, gallant bearing and sonorous voice GEN. LESLIE COMBS, in a letter of that remarkable man, while addressing to the Historical Record in 1871, his warriors in our behalf. gives the following description of the He was theri between forty.and forty- noted Indian Chief> Tecumseh: five; years of age. His frame was vigor­ You ask me for a description of the ous and robust, but he was not fat weigh­ celebrated Indian warrior, Tecumseh, ing about one hundred and seventy from my- personal observation. I answer pounds. Five feet ten inches was his that I never saw the great chief but once, height. He had a high, projecting fore­ and 'then, under, rather exciting circum­ head, • and broad, open=countenance; and stances, but I have a vivid recollection of there was something noble and command­ him. from his appearance, and from inter­ ing in all his actions. He was brave, course with his personal friends, I am humane and generous, and never allowed possessed of an accurate knowledge of a prisoner to be massacred if he could his character. prevent it. At Fort Miami he saved the I was, as you know, one of the prison­ lives of all of us who had survived run­ ers taken at what is known as Dudley's ning the gauntlet He afterwards re­ defeat on the banks of the Maumee river, leased seven Shawanese belonging to my opposite Fort Meigs, early in May, 1813. command, and sent them home on parole. Tecumseh had fallen upon our rear, and Tecumseh was a Shawanese. His name we were compelled to- surrender. We signified in their language, Shooting were marched down to the old Fort Star. At the time when I saw him he Miami or Maumee, in squads, where * a held the commission of a Brigadier Gen­ terrible scene awaited us. eral in the British army. I am satisfied The Indians, fully armed with guns, that he deserved all that was said of him war clubs and tomahawks—-to say.nothing by General-Cass arid Governor Harrison, of scalping knives, had formed themselves previous to his death. into two lines in front of the gateway be­ tween which all of us were bound to pass. Many were killed or wounded in running the gauntlet. Shortly after the prisoners had entered, the Indians rushed over the The names Of the settlers who located walls and again surrounded us, arid rais­ within the limits of Wood county, prior ed the war-whoop, at the same time mak­ to 1810, so far as can be ascertained, are ing unmistakable demonstrations of vio­ Maj. Amos Spafford,' Andrew Race, lence. We all expected to be massacred, Thomas Learning, Halsey W. Learning, and the small British guard around us James Carlin, Wm. Carter, George Bla- were utterly unable to afford protection. lock, James Slawson, Samuel H. Ewing, They called loudly for General Proctor Jesse Skinner, David Hull, Thomas and Colonel Elliot to come to our relief. Dick, William Peters, Ambrose HickOx, At this critical moment Tecumseh came Richard Gifford; these ajl resided within rushing in, deeply excited, and denounced a radius of five miles of the foot of the the murderers of prisoners as cowards. rapids. €0 THE PIONEER

DEATH OF TECUMSEH pointed by General Harrison to guard the Indian prisoners with my compariy. The location was near a swamp. Killed at the Battle of the River Thames and As to the report of the Kentuckians His Body Skinned having skinned Tecumseh's body, I am personally cognizant that such was the fact. I have seen many contrary reports, GEN. GEORGE SANDERSON, who but they are untrue. I saw the Kentucky died in 1871, at Lancaster, Ohio, troops in the very act of cutting the skin was with Gen. Harrison in the battle of from the body of the chief. They wOuld the river Thames, as a Captain in the cut strips about a half a foot in length regular army. Regarding Tecumseh's and an inch and a half wide, which would doath Gen. Sanderson says: stretch like gum elastic. I saw a piece My company shared in the glorious two inches long, which, when it was dry, rout of Proctor and his proud army, that could be stretched nearly a foot in length. result being attained by the victory at That it was Tecumseh's body which was the river Thames. It was on the memor­ skinned I have no doubt I knew him. able day,:October 5, 1813, that Tecumseh Besides the Indian prisoners under my fell. I remember Tecumseh. I saw him charge continually pointed: to his body, a number of times before the war. He which laid close by, and uttered the most was a man of huge frame, powerfully bewailing cries at his loss. By noon the built, and was about six feet two inches day after the battle the body could hardly in height, I saw his body on the Thaiies be recognized, it had so thoroughly been battlefield before it was cold, Whether skinned. My men covered it with brush Colonel Johnson killed him or not, I can­ and logs, and it was probably eaten by not say. During the battle all was wolves. Although many officers did not smoke, noise and confusion. Indeed, I like the conduct of the Kentuckians, they never heard any one speak of Colonel dare not interfere. The troops from that Johnson's having killed Tecumseh until state were infuriated at the massacre at- years afterwards. Johnson was a brave the river Raisin, and their battle cry was, man, and was badly wounded in the bat­ "Remember the River of Raisin." It tle in a very painful part—his knuckles was only with difficulty that the Indian —and also, I think, in the body. He was prisoners could be guarded, so general carried past me on a litter. In the evenr was the disposition of the Kentuckians to, ing on the day of the battle I was ap- massacre thein.

ERASMUS D. PECK, M. D. 1(5, 1808, arid died December 23, 1876,.at e>. the age of 68. His medical education was obtained at Yale College and Berk­ the Record of a Busy Life—One of the shire Medical College, graduating from Leading Physicians of Our the latter in 1827. He came to the Mau­ Early History mee Valley and settled in Perrysburg in 1834, and at once engaged in the arduous ERASMUS I). PECK, so well known duties of his profession. to the older citizen's-Of this county, Aside from his profession Dr. Peck for was born at Stafford, Conn., September many years engaged in many business en- SCRAP-BOOK. 61

terprises. Among these may be enumer­ terror- and excitement among the citizens ated drugs, merchandise, ship building, were indescribable, and all who could hardware, warehousing and flour-mill. sought safety in flight Some of these He also builf the hydraulic canal at Per­ indiscreetly advised. Dr. Peck to go with rysburg. them, telling him he could not stop the In all his money-making he turned it progress of the epidemic, and he was only to some practical account. He did not exposing himself unnecessarily, where his keep it for show, nor wear it for ostenta­ labors would'be unavailing* and in all tion. As soon as earned* it was invested human probability he would lose his- in some useful occupation. There was own life without saving others. But in his composition but little of the imag­ amid all the consternation around him, inative. Dreams and visionary theories he was cool, although he had greater he discarded, and with wonderful tenac­ cause of alarm than any, being constantly ity clung to the practical business of the exposed. The door of his drug store was country, arid through life kept every dol­ left open night and day, and the people lar employed in active business. helped themselves to such medicines as At the election in the spring of 18(59, he would direct them to take, as he inet he was elected to,Congress to fillth e va­ them on his rounds to visit the sick and cancy caused by the death of Hon. T.'H. the dying. At the commencement of the Hoag, who had beaten Mr. Ashley the fall epidemic his partner, Dr. James Robert­ before. He was re-elected in the fall of son, was among its .first victims. This the next year for the full term. At both left him alone to contend with this in­ of these elections, the citizens of Perrys­ comprehensible destjroyer single-handed, burg testified to the high esteem in which But he never faltered, nor for a moment they held him, by largely ignoring party quailed before the death-dealing scourge, and casting almost the entire vote for that was. blindly putting forth its unseen him. power, which killed where it touched. Wearied and worn down by constant fa­ His Work During the Cholera tigue, he nevertheless rallied his powers, In a paper read before the Mfiumee and hurried with unfaltering footsteps to- "Valley Pioneer Associatiori on the char­ each new demand for his aid. acter of Dr. Peck, among other things "During those days and nights of ter­ Hon. Asher Cook said: v rible anxiety and suffering, he was al­ "I. feel the story of the doctor's life most constantly on the go, in no instance would be' incomplete without some ac­ refusing to obey a call, until threatened count of his noble work during the chol­ with inflammation of the brain from loss era, which raged with unexampled fatal­ of sleep. The citizens placed a guard ity at Perrysburg in the summer of 1854. around his house at night, to keep away Between the 20th of July and the middle callers, and allow him a few hours' rest of August one hundred and twenty per­ to prepare him for the labors of the com­ sons died. Many of the citizens left, and ing day. of those who remained, all who did not "His answers to those who sought to die were engaged in taking care of the induce him to abandon his duty, was': sick and burying the dead. Stores were 1 came to Perrysburg • to minister to tile •closed and business suspended. No one sick, and I shall not abandon them now came to the suffering town. Even trav­ when they most need my services; The elers whose route lay through the towri physician's place is at the bedside of'the w-ent round it. The reality of death sick and dying, not by the side of• roses stared everv one in the face. At firstth e in gardens of pleasure." 62 THE >IOx\EER

MAHLON MEEKER her heart sank within her, and only for her children, she would have prayed God to relieve her ffoin further struggle with His Early Settlement in Plain Township—His a life of discouragement. One night Hard Struggle—Incidents of His shortly after her arrival and during the Pioneer Days absence of her husband, she heard the voice of a woman screaming from a little pole shanty about a quarter of a mile dis­ MAHLON MEEKER, who came to tant where a family named Decker had Wood county in 1833, passed away just moved. She did not dare leave in in 1876, aged 78- years. He came from the darkness, but next morning went over Butler county, where he left his wife and and found a dejected looking woman sit­ two children, until he should find and ting before the fire cracking walnuts, locate their future home, in company while over against the side of her shanty with Johnston White, a resident of Mil- on the puncheon floor, lay her husband, tonville, he visited, says the Wood County Jesse Decker, dead. He. had died in Sentinel (edited by C. W. Evers), the convulsions from an overdose of turpen­ beautiful wild meadow north of what is tine taken for some bilious ailment. Mr. now Bowling Green, and discovered, Meeker and a man named Howard broke accidentally, a large stool of clover their way through the ice to the Otsego in blossom, the only thing in the tame mill with a yoke of oxen, got some rough grass line he had seen since he left But­ boards and a tow nails with which they ler county. He called White to him and made a rough box and hauled Decker's said: "I am not afraid to trust myself Licdy to the ridge known as Union ceme- on land that will grow such clover aB kry, and the burial, which was perhaps this." That spear or stool of clover, Mr. the first at'that place,, was conducted Meeker thought, grew near where he aft­ without ceremony, erward built his barn. That circum­ Mr. Meeker was an excellent and exem­ stance decided him in his location. He plary citizen, a sincere friend and kind built his cabin there. Afterwards he neighbor. Before his death he was the went to Bucyrus aud entered the land for oldest pioneer of Plain township. By $1.25 per acre, and owned and lived on it his enterprise in early introducing im­ to the time of his death. proved varieties of fruit and live stock, he contributed in no small degree to the Startling Incident advancement of the central part of the Mrs. Meeker says after she arrived and county and riiay justly be classed first saw what a desolate life lay before them among useful citizens.

"LAND SHARKS" on a tract and began improvements, trust­ ing to the future to get the means to enter land. But in too many cases on Mahlon Meeker's Narrow Escape from Being account of sickness or wet seasons it rc- the Victim of One qxu red their utmost efforts to gain even a tolerable subsistence, let alone getting NEARLY all the land in Plain town­ anything ahead, and many of them lost ship at one time belonged to the all the fruits of their labor by those government and was subject to entry. ghouls of the western frontier, called Most of the settlers, at first "squatted" "land sharks." Mahlon Meeker narrow-

SCRAP-BOOK. o'5 ly escaped becoming a victim to one of lister and immediately took an Indian these land plunderers. He had made trail for Bucyrus, which was the U. S. considerable opening before he got ready land office for this part of the state. to pay for his land. He rode as far as his horse could carry There came into the locality a fellow him the firstday , then left his horse and who pre|ended to be buying cattle. The footed it all night He made his entry at stranger bought no cattle, however, but the register office and went from there to in conversation at John Wilson's, where the receiver's office. On returning short­ he stopped to feed his horse, he let drop ly afterward to the register's office he w'as' some remark by which Mrs. Wilson at told by the .officer that a man had been once detected his business. She went at there only a few minutes after him to en­ once to the- Meekers, and on his return ter the same land. In his description home that night she told him the business Meeker at once recognized the bogus cat­ of the stranger. tle buyer, who was just a little too late.— Mr. Meeker went to Perrysburg that C. W. E. night, borrowed the money of John Hol-

GRAND RAPIDS produce raised must seek a market down the river in like manner. In 1828, Alexander Brown and his The Original Plat Made in 1831—Roads father-in-law, Jos. North, were the first Petitioned For and Located settlers to move back from the river into the dense forests that lay thick and dark between the river and the broad, grassy FIRST of the villages laid out in Wes­ swamp known as Keeler's prairie. Mr. ton township, was Gilead, now called Brown located a heavily timbered tract Grand Rapids; The first or original plat of land along Beaver Creek, or as it was of Gilead was made by J. N. Graham in also then called, "Minard's Creek," and 1831. In 1832, Guy Nearing built a saw built the firstcabi n in a beautiful beech mill at Bear Rapids on the Maumee, and and maple grove. The beautiful bluff with Joshua Chappel, laid out the vil­ banks of Beaver Creek, covered thickly lage of Otsego, which for a time bid fair with forests of sugar maple, beech, oak to outstrip its competitors in growth and and hickory timber, rapidly attracted the importance, but in the progress of human attention of settlers, and ere long Mr. affairs, the village died as did the vil­ Brown had neighbors on all sides of him. lage of Benton, which David Hedges laid out, about one and a half miles below Cutting Out First Road Otsego. The first township road petitioned for All travel to and from Gilead, was and located, was the road from Grand along the river road to Perrysburg, at Rapids to a little above Potter; where it the head of navigation on the Maumee intersects the Wapakoneta road. It was river, froin which place all goods, pro­ located in the fall of 1830, and was the visions, etc., destined for the up-river first regularly surveyed road leading from settlements must be hauled, over the al* the river into the wilderness of the in­ most impassable roads- with ox-teams, terior. Its length was a little over four and all the peltries accumulated and miles and all the distance was through b'6 THE PIONEER

the most dense forest imaginable, such enough, and wherever there was a set­ as the Maumee country was justly cele­ tlement, and finally, brought up at Collis- brated for along in the "thirties." The ter Haskins' place, where the Findlay Wapakoneta road was not all cleared out road strikes the Portage river. On the yet at this time, so Alexander Brown took surveyor's map of the road made and a contract to chop the timber out of a filed with the commissioners, the place portion of the road from Gilead to the where Ralph 0. Keeler and his herders Wapakoneta road, and also for ten miles were camped on the Hollister cattle up the "Wapak" road. This furnished lanch, was called "Hollister's Prairie." employment for a number of the settlers This was the first name applied to the during the winter of 1830 and '31. The Keeler prairie and the settlement which first choppers camped on their work. afterwards became "New Westfield," The first camp was near what is known Westfield, Taylortown and finallyWeston . as the John Pugh farm, in the edge of This road gave great latitude to the en­ Henry county. There was at this point gineer who surveyed it, and he followed a deserted Indian village, and iri the the "best" route frequently when not bark wigwams of the Indians, the chop­ really tAe "nearest," though the old pers found shelter. "Gilead toad'' is still one of the best The next road laid out in the township roads as well as one of the most used was that very accommodating road still roads and is the nearest route still, from in use, called "the Gilead road," which "Hollister's Prairie" to Gilead. It was ran about wherever there was dry land completed in 1834.—(7. W. E. .

AN ILLUSTRATION ization, and the proximity of Christian neighbors, he at onee set out in the di­ rection indicated by the voice of the Showing a Desire for Social Friendship— rooster, to'make the acquaintance of the John Gingery's Disappointment venturesome owners of the bird; guided by^the occasional crowing, he floundered TO illustrate the neighborly instinct, on through the deep snow, over logs and and desire to be sociable, felt by all through tangled brushwood, for more settlers in a new country, Uncle John than a mile, and at last pulled up at a Gingery tells the following story: miserable little settlement of Indians on The choppers were at this time camp­ the banks of Beaver Creek. Uncle John ed at what is known as Wilcox's bend, looked about for the rooster,, and at in Beaver Creek. One morning in mid­ length spied him, tied with a piece of winter found the choppers' camp bedded bark by the leg to the hut of his red in a foot of snow, and a stiff blizzard skinned captor. The little fellow crowed blowing from the northwest. Uncle as merrily as ever he did in the civ­ John, driven out early by the cold, set ilized settlements, from which he had un­ about kindling up the smouldering camp doubtedly been stolen by a chicken loving fire. While engaged at this, he heard Indian. away off to the southeast, dim through Uncle John didn't regret the tramp the quiet of the frosty morning air, the of over a mile, as the cheerful little faint, shrill crow of a rooster. Much bird had taught him a good lesson on elated at this evidence of growing civil- making the best of circumstances, and SCRAP-BOOK. 67

he returned to his camp without disturb­As their job of chopping was nearly ing the sleeping braves, but with a Btrong completed, Mr. Gingery and Mr. Brown desire to pummel the red skin that stole arranged to visit that locality and have theVcnieken. On his way back to the a grand hunt, which they did in Febru­ choppers' camp, Uncle John found that ary, caihping in their old chopping camp, his trail had been crossed by an enor­ and securing a fine lot of bear pelts, and mous bear's trail, but unarmed as he ether game, without injury to themselves, was, he was glad not to have a near in­ but losing several of their dogs from the terview, as at that season of the year, too ardent embraces of old bruin. " Bear they were apt to be hungry and fero­ hides were worth from six to seven dol­ cious. lars each at Perrysburg at that time.

FISH AND AGUE to have held, for size ana number, nearly relative proportions; they were hard to beat. Two Distinguished Characteristics in the The soldiers and early pioneers had Early Period of Maumee Valley two theories about how they got the ague. History Some thought it was "carried by a malarious poison in the air, arising from decaying vegetation. Others thought it SOLDIERS who came with Mad An­ got into their systems through the fish thony to the Maumee country, never / they ate. Both sides of the question afterward tired of extolling its beauties,' had plenty of advocates and both proved its fertility, its fine forests of oak, walnut, the truth or fallacy of their theory as poplar and other valuable timber—its might be, by having the ague. All had rivers swarming with the lovely musca- it. It was no respector of persons. lunge and sturgeon, its myriads, of "red It was a singular complication or com­ horse" (suckers), the gamey black bass bination of attacks on the human sys­ and the fat, lubberly cat fish of such tem. The victim begun the ordeal with enormous proportions that a single fish » feeling of extreme chilliness; lips and made a meal'for one of Wayne's cavalry finger nails turned blue as if the blood companies at Defiance. were stagnant. Then greater chilliness If the few old settlers now left on the followed by shivering and chattering of Maumee were to explain to the present teeth. By this time the victim, feeling generation the numbers and size of the as if every bone in his body would break, fish of the early times they would be had crawled into bed if he was fortunate suspected of having bad memories or of enough to have one, and call for more telling professional fisherman's "yarns." cover, shaking meanwhile as if just out But there were other things about these of an icy river in a bleak day. rivers not so enticing as its fish—its fever This chilly period lasted from three- and ague. It was not usually fatal, but quarters of an hour to one hour or more, it was dreadfully uncomfortable. Eew and was followed by a raging fever in escaped it. Wayne's soldiers had it. He which the patient constantly called for dosed them with whisky as his surgeon's more water which he gulped down by the reports show, but Morionghahela whisky quart, and still the thirst was unquenched was no match for Maumee ague in those and unquenchable. days—in fact the fish and ague seemed This fever in turn would be followed/ 68 THE PIONEER

by a relaxation of the system and the respite in which to recruit a little. Usu­ most profuse and' exhausting perspiration ally in the "off" day the patient would until the sheets ind clothing would be be tormented with almost an uncontroll­ wringing wet^leaving in the clothes a able hunger. Quinine, when it could be disagreeable odor~har4 to describe, but al­ had was the chief antidote. The ague ways the same. There was no mistaking arid chill fever as it used to be known, an "ague sweat" by its jodor. is seldom heard of now. With the clean­ From this "siege" of three or four hours ing up and drainage of the land it has the patient would rise weak and dizzy and passed away or taken some new form of go about his or her duties and, as the development in the system. The last ague fit only came on in most cases general epidemic of ague was in the wet every other day, the patient had some season of 1852.—G. W. E.

PETER NAVARRE army; knew all intricacies of the wind­ ing Indian trails, that led along the rivers, and across wide prairies from one The Famous Indian Interpreter and Gen. point to another, and always knew where Harrison's Scont to find the different hunting parties on their remote hunting grounds. I met, and afterwards became well ac­ THE stirring events of the early life quainted with an old Pottawatomie chief, of one of Maumee's most active Captain Billy Colwell, on the upper Mis­ and loyalemzens, in his day, Pierre Na­ souri, in 1840, who was well acquainted varre (Peter Nevarre), should have been with Navarre. Capt Colwell was in preBerved^lf it had been possible; but the immediate command of the Pottawa- being an uneducated man, he was little tomies, at the battle of the Thames, and known after the war closed except by a described Peter as one of the most active few of his old and intimate friends. and dangerous of the scouts of Harrison This energetic young Frenchman, was on that bloody field. The chief attempt­ a favorite scout and runne^ of General ed several.times during the day to get a Harrison's and other officers during the shot at the wily scout (as he was easily war, and was much employed, both be­ recognized in his highly ornamented suit fore and after the close of the war, in of buckskin), but at each time was elud­ carrying important dispatches for the ed, when the sights of his rifle were al­ Government from Detroit to the settle­ most drawn upon him. Capt Colwell ments at the foot Of the Maumee, and gave Navarre credit for being the most also to Fort Wayne, and down the Wa­ active on foot and in general movements bash and as far-^rest as Vincennes and on a field of battle, that he ever knew. St. Louis. He was employed as Indian These men met frequently after the war, interpreter at the councils held on this and became fast friends, being about and the Wabash rivers,a s trusty scout the same age, both having passed through sent with notice to the different tribes, many of the same stirring 'scenes of that when a council was to be held by the day. agents, or officers of the Government or These worthy men have both gone to SCRAP-BOOK. 69

their long rest Peter Navarre, lies iu been* written Of the stirring incidents of the little French burying ground near the early settlements of this country, in the mouth of the Maumee, and the old which these men were among the active; Pottawatomie chief, Capt Colwell, is but they are gone, and many of the in­ taking his last sleep, on the east bank of cidents of historic interest are buried the Missouri, near Council Bluffs. with them.—D. W. H. Howard. What an interesting history could have

THE CAMPAIGN OF 1840 in any partisan struggle since the organ­ ization of the Government The Whigs held their. National Con­ The Great Tide Which - Carried Harrison into vention at Philadelphia on the 4th of the Presidential Chair—The Monster December, 1839, nearly a year before the Gathering at Fort Meigs—Who election, This showed how earnestly Placed That Log in the they were enlisted in the fight and the Well at the Fort confidence which inspired their action. They felt that a long campaign would result to their advantage. They had no THE following account of the cam­ fear of discussion, no dread of investi­ paign of 1840, and the monster gation. meeting kt Fort Meigs in that year, was written by Mr. C. W. Evers, and pub­ Log Cabins and Hard Cider lished in the Sentinel some years ago: A Democratic correspondent of a Bal­ Perhaps the most remarkable event in timore paper, before the campaign of the political history of this country, was 1843 had fairly opened, made the sneer­ the campaign of 1840. General Harrison ing remark that General HarrisOn's« was the Whig candidate for the Presi­ habits and attainments were well calcu­ dency in 1836, but suffered defeat. The lated to secure him the highest measure Whigs were not discouraged by their re­ of happiness in a log cabin with an pulse in that year, nor did they lose con­ abundant supply of hard cider. The fidence in their leader, whose war record Whigs caught this up and from) that gave him popularity with the masses of time forward log cabins and hard cider the people in all sections of the country. played conspicuous parts in the campaign. The campaign commenced in 1836 was Van Bureri, the candidate of the Demo­ not permitted to die out. The Whigs crats, was! held up as a dapper little kept up their organizations, did not lay band-box fop, using gold spoons and hav­ down their arms, but fortified their posi­ ing not the least sympathy with the tion and made every preparation for a great working and producing riiasses of renewal of the conflict in 1840, never for the people. This was a strong card for a moment losing' confidence in their lead­ the Whigs and they made the most of it er or abating their zeal in his support. At every convention log cabins were haul­ The conflict on the part of the great ed in processions and hard cider was free leaders of the two parties was transferred and plentiful as water. Harrison hail­ from the stump to the halls of Congress, ing from the Buckeye State, buckeye and there the battle was carried on with bushes were used as the Whig emblem, a zeal, eloquence and ability unequalled and buckeyes were strung and worn as 70 THE PIO.NEER

beads by the ladies attending Whig gath­ fect representation of the Fort at the erings. The tide set strongly in favor of foot of the rapids of the Maumee river. the Whigs, and even the correspondent of There were three flag-staffs on-the Fort the Baltimore paper who spoke so sneer- 30 feet high. On one was the inscrip­ ingly;pf the capacities and social charac­ tion, "Fort Meigs, besieged May, 1813"; ter of General Harrison, was carried in­ on another was Harrison's celebrated re­ to the current and swept into the Whig sponse to the demand of the British of­ party. ficer for the surrender of the Fort, "Tell General Procter when he gets possession Opening of the Campaign in Ohio of the Fort he will gain more honor, in The campaign was, opened in Ohio by. the estimation of his King and country, a monster ratification meeting in Colum­ than he would acquire by a thousand bus on Washington's birthday, February capitulations," and on the other was the 22. On the evening of the 21st all - dying words of the brave Lawrence, Whig residences and business houses in ' "Don't give up the ship."' the city were illuminated. The streets This miniature fort was made at Perrys­ were thronged with people from all parts burg. and hauled from that place to Co­ of the State, and it was necessary to lumbus. John C. Spink was Captain and open nearly every house in the then city went through with the Fort and the men. of six thousand inhabitants to accommo­ One of the guns on the Fort—a small date those who had arrived from a dis­ brass piece^was cast at Toledo. The tance. The means of traveling were at other guns were of iron and one of them that time very limited. Canals were was carried on the'Commodore Perry the elosed, there were no railroads, stage next season, and while being fired;a s the coaches could carry but few persons, and boat was coming up the lake on the the roads were so bad that they could fourth of July, exploded, severely wound­ make but slow progress, passengers often ing E. Graham, then the boat's carpenter, being compelled to get out and walk up but subsequently treasurer of thifcVcoun- hills or where the roads were particularly ty and Internal Revenue Assessor. bad. But these things did not discour­ On the morning of the 22d, the large age the zealous Whigs. They hitched up numbers of people who had collected from their-own teams, hired teams, and sought a distance from Columbus during the conveyance to the capital of the state in previous day and night, formed proces­ every conceivable manner, determined to sions on the various roads leading into be on hand and participate in the inaug­ the capital, and, notwithstanding the uration of that eventful campaign. Not rain and mud, the wildest enthusiasm only this, but log cabins of huge dimen­ prevailed, and by ten o'clock the streets sions were mounted upon wheels and of Columbus' were literally filled with the hauled long distances to the capital. drenched delegations. Numerous mili­ But the most striking feature of that tary companies and bands were there, great gathering was the representation of and all marched through the 'streets in Fort Meigs—being a miniature copy of rain and mud., their enthusiasm seem­ the Fort in every particular, hauled by ingly heightened by the difficulties under six fine horses. Jt was 28 feet in length, which they were assembled. At that, con­ the embankmenuTTVere six inches high, vention, after full consultation, the fol­ surmounted by pickets ten inches high. lowing resolution was adopted: It was garrisoned by 40 men, contained "Resolved, That it be recommended to seven block houses, twelve cannon, and the young men of the States of Ohio, was in every respect a complete and per­ Kentucky, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, SCRAP-BOOK. 71

Western New York, Pennsylvania and to the Fort, followed by three barrels of Virginia, to celebrate the next anniver­ hard cider. The Whigs of Maumee and sary of the raising of the siege of Fort Perrysburg united in this demonstration, Meigs, in June, 1813, on the ground oc­ and of course they had a jolly time, cupied by that Fort." which lasted until in the evening, when many of the men and a host of boys gave Preparing for Fort Meigs Gathering evidence of familiarity with theseobarrels i'he tideha d set in so strongly in favor of cider. of the Whigs that the Democrats were thrown into confusion. They lost their The Fate of the First Log temper, became demoralized, and those After the Whigs had got over their who did nOt enlist under the Whig ban­ jubilee, the next day some of them went ner conducted a guerrilla warfare,(mere­ up to the Fort to take another look at ly seeking to annoy the Whigs without that log which had met with such a warm securing any decided advantage. The reception. Judge their surprise when greatest enthusiasm, amounting to al­ they discovered that the guerrilla Demo­ most a degree of wild excitement per­ crats had gone to the Fort in the night vaded the ranks of the Whigs, and from and stuck said log into the Fort well. all parts of the country notes of prepara­ The well was about 50 or 60 feet deep. tion to attend the Fort Meigs demon­ It was perhaps 15 feet from the top of stration were heard. Very naturally the well to the water, then there was these indications of the coming gather­ about fifteen feet of water and the bal­ ing of the greatest partisan demonstra­ ance was mud. Not only this, but the tion ever witnessed in this country ex­ said guerrillas had bored a hole in the cited and cheered the Whigs-of Perrys­ end of the log which projected put of the burg and Maumee, encouraging them to well about five feet, then they had got a the greatest efforts in arranging for the hickory bush, shaved the end to fit the complete success of the important enter­ hole in the log and then planted said prise. The two villages, which were bush in the log; The bush was removed then about the only important places in but the log could not be lifted out of the the Maumee Valley, acted in concert, and well, and it remains there to this day no one was ever heard to complain of and is seen by all who visit the Fort. It the manner in which they performed their fitly illustrates the style of warfare part of the work. adopted by the Democrats in 1840. Who Placed the Log in the Well The Log Cabin Until very recently only those engaged It was decided that a huge log cabin in the act knew who placed that log in should be erected uporithe-Fort, to be the well. Time has served to cool the used as a sort of headquarters by General Whig blood which was made to boil on Harrison for reception purposes. Orie account of that .outrage, and recently one log for this cabin was to be furnished of the actors in that drama gave us the by each township in Wood and Lucas history of how it was done and the names counties. The first log to arrive was of those who did it. The parties who brought from the neighborhood of the did it were Chas. F. Wilson, brother of present village of Swanton. It was a fine the late Hon. Eber Wilson; Henry Ew- stick' of timber, about fifty feet iri length. ing, Samuel Bucher, who lived in a Its arrival was the signal for a jollifica­ cabin near the Fort; S. D. Westcott, a tion. The cannon was brought and taken well known citizen of Perrysburg, and 72 THE PIONEER

John Westcott, of Vanlue, Hancock coun­ capacity of master builder, and we be­ ty. Just how so < few men could plant lieve, John C. Spink, Julius Blinn, Judge so large a log in a well the reader will Hollister, J. W. Smith and other Whigs be curious.to know. A riian by the name of Perrysburg were the leading spirits in of Radway lived on a farm about half this preparatory work for the great con­ a mile above the Fort. He had a pair vention. of breachy oxen and was in the habit of turning them upon the commons in their The Demonstration yoke. These cattle were at the Fort and The Fort Meigs demonstration was the guerrillas drafted them into the ser­ worthy of the campaign of 1840. In vice. Bucher got a log chain, the oxen fact, everything considered, it was the were hitched to the log and it was drawn most remarkable political gathering ever into position, the butt at the well and witnessed in this country. It must be re­ the other end resting upon the embank­ membered that facilities for travel were ment. Thus situated the men managed very limited at that time, and that Fort to raise the small end and slide the log Meigs was then a point on the frontier. into the well. Notwithstanding these facts, the crowd The Whigs were not discouraged by assembled was estimated at from 40,000 this little episode, but the logs kept com­ to 60,000 persons. It is safe to say that ing in until every township had its re­ there were -50,030 people at the Fort on presentative for the cabin. An eye wit­ the 11th day of June, 1840. They came ness informs us that he never saw so from all parts of the country, in all man­ fine a collection of logs. They ranged ner of conveyances. Capt. Wilkinson, from 40 to 60 feet in length, were with his Commodore Perry, escorted six­ straight as an arrow and smooth as a teen steamboats up the river, all loaded ramrod. The Whigs were proud of their to their utmost capacity. Men are said logs and contemplated the beautiful cabin to have sold their last cow to get the to be made of them with great satisfac­ means to take them to that convention. tion. Military companies from various cities were present, and ' a large number of Another Guerrilla Raid bands furnished music. The processions It is'singular that the fate of the first on the roads leading to Perrysburg were log did not operate to warn the Whigs simply immense, while thousands upon against further raids from the Democrats thousands were streaming in for two or ic guerrillas, but they evidently thought tHree days before the grand demonstra­ the success of the first venture would tion, from all parts of the country. A satisfy their enemies. In this they were mock siege occurred on the night of the deceived, for one dark night some rascals, tenth, and cannonading by the several armed with cross-cut saws, entered the batteries in attendance is described as Fort and cut those beautiful logs into having been sublimely grand. Every old fashioned back logs. To this day it house and out-house in Perrysburg and is not known who handled those saws. Maumee was crowded with weary men Like the man who locked his stable door who had rode in buggies and wagons after the horse was stolen, the Whigs now hundreds of miles. Thousands slept up­ built a bark guard house and hired a on the ground in the woods adjoining the man, armed with a shot-gun, to keep Fort.. The wells in the upper-portion of watch. Other logs were procured and a Perrysburg, were soon pumped dry in re­ huge double cabin was erected, Geo. W. lieving the thirst of the multitude. Gen­ Newton, of Perrysburg, acting in the eral Harrison was present and while in SCRAP-BOOK. 73

Perrysburg was the guest of Judge HOl- were present -and addressed, the people lister, who then owned and occupied the at the Fort. General Harrison spent a residence recently owned by H. E. Peck. portion of his time in Maumee, the guest Iri the evening, in response to the calls of Judge Forsythe. of a great crowd of people, he appeared Thus was inaugurated and successfully upon the grounds in front of the resi­ concluded the greatest political demon­ dence and briefly addressed the multitude. stration, all -filings considered, ever wit­ The General, Tom Ewing and a large nessed on this continent number of other distinguished Whigs

THE WINTER OF 1842-43 rocks on the day of spring election in April that year. The weather at times, in fact much Referred To by Old Settlers as a Record of "the time, was extremely cold, though Breaker Wholly Unsurpassed. there were no thermometers here then by which to gauge the temperature, as now. The mild autumn had lulled the scatter­ THE late Mr. C. W. E*vers some years ing settlers into neglect and their scanty since wrote up the following ac­ supplies of vegetables, fruit and corn fod­ count of the severe winter of 1842-43, der had been frozen 3olid in the unherald­ in Wood County: ed stdrm, no more to be released till the J. R. Tracy of Toledo, who was an following May. By March the scanty early pioneer of Bowling Green, tells supply of prairie hay began to fail. The some' of the incidents of the memorable poor cattle starved, shivered and froze. hard winter of 1842-3 which is referred Their pitiful bellowing and moans • were to by all the old people as a record break­ harrowing to hear. The owners would er unsurpassed since white men planted drive them into the forest where elm and their cabins in this part ot-ihe country. basswood trees were felled and the starv­ The autumn of 1842 had been a mild ing brutes ate the buds and tender twigs. and delightful one. The mazy Indian Other owners later,,, when the ground summer had hung oyer the landscape like thawed, dug prairie dock (root of the a protecting curtain from the chill blasts rosin weed) and fed it to their horses of boreas. On the 25th day of Novem­ and cattle. Despite all the efforts hun­ ber in the after part of the day, came a dreds of' cattle perished and those that change, sudden and severe. First dark, survived were mere skeletons. Hogs dense clouds overcast the sky; towards could get no acorns from under the* icy night rain fell. This soon changed to crugt and there was no corn to feed them. sleet driven by a strong wind and so They crawled into bunches where they cold that men caught out with teams on were found in the spring frozen solid as the road, had to leave their wagons and; rocks. -Poultry and small animals, wild walk to keep frorii freezing. This, later and-domestic, perished. Squirrels, coon turned to snow which covered the "ground and birds were found frozen in hollow heavily in the morning. trees and logs, even the muskrat in his That snow, .increased in depth from icy home, ' •» time to time, lay until some time in That was 61 years ago, but none who April, 1843. The ice in the Maumee at lived at that time will ever forget the WaterVille, was frozen solid down to the harrowing vicissitudes of that winter 74 THE PIONEER

and the destitution and sickness of the vouring breath of flame and heat,. Man's following spring and summer. efforts only help to make the destruction The present winter though unusually greater. The Maumee is hedged and ob­ severe, would not, though equally as cold structed with piers, docks and earth fill­ as that of 42-3 bear upon us of today as ings. The raging torrents armed with it did upon those scantily prepared pio­ blocks of floating ice only mock at these neers of that time. We have warm hous­ artificial contrivances of man and sweep es, clothing and stores of supplies both them away as if buttinsel or cobwebs. for mail and beast There can be no How like the ant hilr or the cobweb of comparison. We can never know nor the spider are the works of man, in that even imagine the terrors of that gloomy each alike are only subject to power of period, to those who lived here and destruction. shared its hardships. Had not man planted his cabin here The unprecedented conditions that nor disturbed the Maumee we would not exist now in the Maumee river are only be comparing the- present wjnter with a sample of what dangerous surprises that of 42-43 in points of severity and nature's working forces may bring when destructiveness. a certain combination of circumstances So long as man asserts himself along exist Then it is that man's best efforts side of and against nature's modes, which are set at naught. He is as puny as the will be as long as he exists, so long must fretful ant His bridge spans are not he cope with hard winters, hot summers, high enough. His dykes and dams are drouth, floods and other pleasant and un­ not strong enough. His granite and pleasant manifestations of nature's ca­ steel walls are not proof against the de­ prices and whims.

SAGE CHILD TRAGEDY tended a religious revival held by Rev. P. C. Baldwin, at the old Plairi Church, and became so wrought up by religious Most Horrible Child Murder by a Father excitement that he would shout and pray Whose Mind Was Wrecked by at the top of his voice all the way home Religious Fervor from the church at night One stormy, snowy morning in March, during the progress of the meeting he VALENTINE SAGE married a full- arose quite early and made a fire in the blooded Indian girl, adopted by gtove, singing loudly all the time. Pres­ and raised in the family of lev. Isaac ently he went to the bed wherehis wife Van Tassel, one of the early missionaries and Child lay and took the child, as his to the Indians, on the Maumee. Some- wife who was awake supposed, to the time in 1852-3 their oldest boy named stove to keep it warm while she dressed George, aged about thirteen years^ took herself, but she saw him hurry out of sick and died, which threw him into a doors. She sprang up and ran to the despondent state of mind, and he gradu­ door just in time to see the head of her ally turned his thoughts to religious mat­ darling child dashed against a log on the ters, and would shout sing and pray wood pile. She gave an agonizing alternately in the wildest manner. scream, wheti he seized the ax and Com­ Some six'months afterward Sage at­ pelled her to go to bed, after which he SCRAP-BOOK. 75 brought the dead child to her. He sung and John Evers, all active and determin­ and shouted and seemed to be entirely ed men. They came up unobserved by haippy, while his wife expected every Sage. Two of them made an attempt moment that either her own or some of to hold a parley with him, but he stood the other children's lives would be next in. the door brandishing his ax threaten­ sacrificed. He forbid any of them leav­ ing any with death who should attempt ing the house, holding the ax all the to approach. While two of the men at­ time." tracted his attention from the front Finally the oldest girl escaped from Evers climbed iri at the chamber window the chamber window and ran to a neigh­ and down the ladder, and unnoticed by bor's, Mr. John Whitehead, about a half Sage, stole up behind hhri and clasped a mile distant Whitehead hurried down him tightly around the waist under the but was threatened his life if he came arms. Even with this advantage it was even in the yard. He saw that he was hard to avoid the blows of his ax. His powerless to relieve the prisoners in the strength seemed superhuman. Some one house and that his presence only increas­ finally seized him-by the throat and once ed the rage of the madman every mo- out of wind they succeeded in tying him merit and rendered the fact of; Sage's and he was sent to the. jail at Perrysburg, family more perilous. He hurried away where ne afterward died a raving mad­ for help arid returned shortly after, with, man.— C. W. E. we believe, Henry Huff, S. W. St John

HOLLISTER'S PRAIRIE cemetery. SoOn the Hollisters and Keel­ er had large droves of cattle, roaming at will over the prairies and through the A Wild Region, Picturesque and Attractive forests on what was yet all government for the Hunter of Wild Game land. The tall prairie grass furnished ample pasturage, and the sinkc7 holes in the prairie, such as the "Stone Pond" iri ABOUT eight miles southeast of Gil­ Plain township, furnished drinking plac­ ead lay that stretch of low grassy es in the driest of seasons. prairie or swamp, as it was most of the Such a scene as the herds on the broad year; only in^ie very driest of seasons, in acres of pasturage, viewed from the over­ mid-summer did it become terra firma, its looking ridges, at its best ana most pic­ tall grass, growing from 6 •to' 10 feet turesque, might well have tempted the high, and with skirting thickets and coolest brain to visionary dreams of Ar­ forests,' furnished a paradise of security cadian bliss, such dreams as caused the for deer and bear. The reports of this educated and wealthy German, Carl prairie, carried by hunters to the settle­ Nibelung to sink his fortune in the ment at Perrysburg, attracted the atten­ swampy pasture at the northeast side of tion of the Hollisters, then living there, the prairie, in later years.—Sentinel, and they located a cattle ranch with 1881. Ralph 0. Keeler as partner and manager of the business. The headquarters of the ranch was on the high ridge just north of Weston, where the old Keeler Wood county was organized April 1, homestead house formerly stood. The 1820, with 13 other counties, and Mau­ ridge is now a portion of the Weston mee was the county seat until 1823. 76 THE PIONEER

MILTON TOWNSHIP earlier days of our pioneer life in the wilds of Milton and adjoining townships were all neighbors, for miles and miles, ' and when we met, there was a happy The Struggles of the First Settlers—Their greeting, a cordial and hearty shaking of Privations—At Work on the hands, as though it really meant some­ Hand Mill thing. We had no roads either, we just went zig-zag through uie woods, around trees, IN the Sentinel of April 21, 1881, a over and around fallen timber, through pioneer says: the water, fightingth e mosquitoes, to a About the year 1834-35, began the first neighbor's with a sack of corn on our white settlement, in what is now known backs to grind it on a hand mill/ to get as Milton township, in Wood county, corn meal to make johnny cake for the Ohio. Prior to this time it was a howl­ family (it was johnny cake, coon and ing wilderness; the foot of a white man possum fat), and glad to get that ""We had scarcely trod on its territory. The had no water mills nearer than Perrys­ wild Indian or red man of the forest, the burg, and not much to get ground when bear, the wolf, the panther and wild cat, we got there. And it took us from four held full sway, unmolested by the ap­ to five days to go and come; the only proach of civilization; About this time conveyance was by ox teams and a cart. there began to be a movement made in Old Billy Hill (as he was familiarly some of the eastern counties Of Ohio, to known) had a hand mill, a&d it was go west. The Maumee Valley had its kept going from morning until midnight attractions, and the traveler in search of people coming from miles and miles a home had his attention drawn to Wood around. Dozensof men and women have county by its richan d inexhaustable soil. been there at one time waiting their turn Landing at Perrysburg, they would wend to get their opportunity to turn the mill, their way up the Maumee, and striking and sorfte times, when so thronged, some the mouth of Beaver Creek, a mile be­ would leave their corn and go home to low Grand Rapids (then Gilead), they their hungry families, and come again would ascend the creek to explore the rich to take their places at the mill. Of country before them. The earlier set­ course this mill was a rude structure; tlers began to locate along the creek in four upright posts framed together and Henry county and soon they began to the stones set in them, and the propelling spread out over more territory. power was applied by an upright shaft, To tell the story of pioneer life in the with an iron spout placed in a thimble wilds of Milton and adjoining townships in the upper burr, and the top held by it.may seem strange to some why I should , pissing through a hole in a board, and connect Henry county and Liberty town­ then two men taking hold of this up­ ship and associate the names of those at right shaft and turning the burr. It such remote distances. was a slow process, but it was the only In those days we understood and ap­ alternative we had. This was afterward preciated that word neighbor. It was changed, so as to make it more conven­ not used then in that narrow, contracted ient; it was arranged, so.four men could sense in which it is used now, but it was take hold of cranks like a grind stone born of that higher and prouder philan­ and made to grind much faster. Then thropy, as taught in Bible lessons, where we all thought that we had found a para­ a man fell among robbers; so we in the dise. SCRAP-BOOK. 77

GOING TO MILL pan, and Other" needed camp equipage, and amidst much excitement and great shoutings of "good byes," the expedition How Wood County Pioneers Took Their Grist would gairy flounder away on their trip to Mills on the River Raisin of a week or two to mill. For the meat supply of such expeditions^ the settlers depended upon the chance of game sup­ A PIONEER writes to the Sentinel in ply along the'route, and usually some 1,881, the following graphic de­ noted hunter accompanied the caravan scription of "going to mill": as chief forager, whose unerring rifle The nearest grist mills for the settlers would easily, every day, from the woods, along the Maumee were located at the supply the meager larder with juicy veni­ mouth of the river Raisin in Michigan, son steaks, or a young bear roast where the city of Monroe now is, arid at Sometimes, when the country was Cold Creek in what was then Huron flooded, and the rude trails through the county—now Erie county, Ohio, near forests back to the older settlements were where the village of Castalia now is. impassable even to a man on horseback, The distance in either case being not far the bread material of our hardy pioneers from seventy miles, and with the easy was prepared as was that of the ancient going ox teams and the horrible roads, Hebrews, every family doing its own going to mill was a vast undertaking, grinding, in their hahdmills, or as their the journey often taking ten days or two Indian neighbors did theirs, in a sort of weeks to perform even if the hungry pio­ rude mortar attached to a spring pole, neer did not have to camp out, or hunt always remembering that among the In- work in the neighborhood of the mill; diaris the ladies manipulated the hominy and wait for sufficient water to accumu­ mall. late in the crazy old dams, to enable the Uricle John Gingery has in his pos­ miller to turn out their grist session today, a coffee mill that he pur­ Alexander • Brown, once worked, log­ chased in Wayne county, Ohio, in 1826. ging, at Cold Creek, and then had to The old mill is still hale and hearty, turn in and help grind his own grist on ar.d has good teeth yet for a pioneer of Sunday, and even then did riot finish be­ 57 years old. Bushels of buckwheat and fore the water gave out, and he was corn have met the crushing influence of forced to leave a portion of his grist at that old mill, and bolted through a fine the mill, the miller promising to grind meal sieve have furnished "Snap Jack" it and send it to Perrysburg by the first material that fried in "bar" fat, went chance. Mr. Brown got his grist in a far toward nourishing the sinewy arm of little over two months all right the Old pioneers when by reason of the When an expedition was fittedou t to impassable condition of roads or the in­ go to mill either to the mouth of Raisin clement weather, they were prevented river or to Cold Creek, it usually be­ from going to mill. came a neighborhood affair, and was con­ sidered a bigger undertaking than a trans-continental journey would now. A "team," consisting of two or three yokes It is-a matter of fact that in the Mau­ of oxen, would be rigged to a wagon, mee VallOy a greater number of battles arid the grists of the whole neighborhood have been fought, and with greater re­ be loaded on, with feed for the cattle and sults than in any similar extent of ter­ a sack of potatoes, coffee pot and frying ritory in the Union. THE PIONEER

ATTACKED BY WOLVES startling chorus of howls. After going a mile or so he came to where a tree had been blown down and ran into the top Mahlon Meeker's Struggle at Night With a to get a stick. While here^ four more Pack of These Animals wolves joined in the chase, and on taking the1 trail again they became so fierce and bold and approached so close that several GN E night as Mr. Meeker "was going times he* succeeded in striking one with home followed by one- of his dogs his club, after which they would howl he suddenly heard the howl of a wolf near and snap their teeth in disappointed the trail he was following.. This was rage, but continue to follow" him Until instantly answered by another wolf and he arrived on the ridge at the cabin of presently a wolf appeared in front of Howard, who had a great firei n his fire; him. The dog slunk close to him. He •place, the light of which shone through had no means of defense and.so knew the unchinked cracks and which with two it was just as safe to go ahead as to turn savage dogs finallyscare d the wolves off. back. So he walked boldly up to the Meeker thinks if he had tripped his foot one in the trail until almost within and fallen they Would have all attacked reach of it when it sprang to one side him at once. They were of the large and joined with two others in the rear, brown species and seemed maddened when they all broke out in a deafening, with hunger.—C. W. E.

WILD HOGS that they turned all their hogs loose, if any they had, to devour the Indian corn­ fields growing along the, Maumee. At Some Startling Experiences With Them by all events it is known that large droves Mr. Meeker of hogs were brought in during the war of 1812, and it is not at all unreason­ able to suppose this the origin of the ' I 'HE earliest recollections we have from vast herds of wild hogs which roamed 1 the first settlers all speak "of the'. the woods many years ago. We refer to great numbers of wild hogs that frequent­ this matter in this place in connection ed the woods in the Black Swamp. They with a couple of incidents relatedb y Mr. were more numerous at times than the Meeker. deer arid many years later they were Cap­ tured in the dense woods north of what Wild Hogs Tree a WoFf is called the."Devil's Hole." While in search of 'some horses one Softie of the early settlers claimed that day in company with one of the peckers> they were not, nor could-riot be the pro­ they heard a loud commotion Some dis­ geny of the domestic hog, being entirely tance away among the wild-hogs. It wild and untamable and fierce of dis­ grew louder and louder until their cu­ position. But we incline to the belief'. riosity led them to cautiously approach that they were originally strays, or cast the place or as near as they dared, when offs from the quarterinaster's department they spied a wolf on a high fallen log of Hull's or Harrison's army. PerWps barely out of reach of the infuriated ani­ Mad Anthony Wayne and his legion mals, which seemed to have gathered in 1794, after the victory, felt so well there by hundreds—at least the ground SCRAP-BOOK; 79

was covered with them. But the wolf ing just in time to drop the pig and may have seed the men, for he sprang hastily climb a small tree as the excited off his perch and was instantly torn to animals gathered beneath him foaming pieces and devoured. The hunters were and gnashing their teeth, while several only able, after the hogs left, to find a "ferocious old boars fought witiyeach oth­ small string of his hide. er for the privilege of gouging the bark off the tree with tfieir tusks. After much Meeker Treed by Wild Hogs noisy demonstrations and watching the . At another time Mr. Meeker was re- prisoner for a time they began to drop /turning home when Tie heard the Cries off and finally the siege was entirely 'of a young pig, which seemed to have raised by the departure of the last hog Iteen deserted by the rest of the herd —a surly Old boar, a very patriarch and was too weak to get alOrig. Mr. whose large tusks and fiercemie n might Meeker took it up thinking to take it have well challenged comparison with home with him, when it set up such a any dwellers of his kind in the famous squeeling as soon "brought the whole Black Swamp.—C. W. E. drove upon him. He heard them com-

THE MAUMEE COUNTRY time celebrated from One end of the United States to the other, as the most forsaken, desolate and ague-smitten wil­ Once Regarded as One of the Most Dreary, derness of tangled forests and inhospit­ Desolate and Uninviting Regions able swamps, only excelled in dreariness of Earth and desolation, perhaps, by the great "Dismal Swamp" of Virginia, or the im­ penetrated everglades of Florida. THE late Dr. Geo. B. Spencer wrote Hull's troops had cut and floundered to the Sentinel early in 1884, as a passage through this country on their follows: way to the disgraceful surrender at De­ Before the year 1820, Wood county was troit, in 1812. Mad Anthony Wayne's a part of an indefinite, undivided, un­ victorious army, had 18 years before this, explored wilderness, known as "North­ in 1794, followed down along the swampy west Ohio," with its county seat at Belle- "Miami of the Lakes" from Fort Defi­ fontaine, and but few settlements in all ance to Fort Miami, to punish the re­ the "Black Swamp" of the' "Miami of flectory Indians, and as the soldiers of the Lakes." Waynesfield township of Wp'fl'. Hull and Harrison dispersed to Logan county, included within its limite, their Jjpjnes back in the old colonies, all of the present counties of Wood ana vt^le^f^rrietK with them their soldier sto­ Hancock, and in that year, 1820, the ries of the horrible swamps of the total tax for all purposes collected in the "Miami of the Lakes," as the Maumee said township was $139.45. In 1823, on river was then called. the 28th of May, the township of Waynes­ See how names are changed, and new field was divided by the organization of words made. The river was by its earl­ Perrysburg township, which included all iest French settlers, called the Miami, of the present county of Wood. pronounced by the French "Me-ah-me," "The Maumee Country", was by this, and by the corrupted influence of the 80 THE P10NFJTR

Indians' and .backwoodsmen's attempts at enough settlers were located about'Fort pronunciation, it became first "Me-aw-. Meigs, at the foot of the rapids in the me" and then "Mau-mee" until now as river, to demand a better means of com­ we pronounce the "Mi-am-i" of southern munication with their county seat Ohio and the "Maumee" of northern Bellefontaine, than was presented by Ohio you wouldn't suspect any blood Hull's old trace, in its serpentine wand­ relation. And as "Maumee" it became erings southward through this county; a famed locality and went heralded so what is called yet the: Wapakoneta in song and wierd story as the place road, was petitioned for, granted, sur­ where "Potatoes they grow small on veyed, and woric begun on it in 1821. Mau-mee, on Mau-mee." The road led from Fort Meigs along up But in spite of its drawbacks, and un­ the river on the south side, to near the pleasant natural features, and the unfa­ mouth of Beaver Creek, then followed vorable reports circulated far and wide nearly the course of Beaver Creek, and so about the country, the speculating spirit on south of Wapakoneta. Then the of some of Wayne's soldiers 'and those of trade of the Indians at the head of the the war of 1812, was attracted to the rapids, attracted settlers along up the Maumee Valley by its wonderful game river. At that time there were no other supply, and the hopes of a remunerative white settlers between that point and traffic in furs and peltries with the In­ Fort Defiance, where the town of Defi­ dians, and traders; posts were establish­ ance now is. ed at several places in the valley im­ There was quite a good sized Indian mediately after the peace following the village on, the Maumee and scattering war ofs!812. outlying settlements along up Beaver Settlements started first near the shore Creek, and on the sand ridges south from of the lake, then gradually spreading up the river, the Indians dwelling in peace the rivers and tributaries. In 1821, and harmony with their white neighbors.

WESTON TOWNSHIP all of what is now Wood county, was in­ cluded in one big township called Perrys­ burg, which township has been divided Gradual Accession of Settlers—Organization and sub-divided since that time. and the First Election So in the spring of 1830, the settlers at the head of the rapids and mouth of IN his reminiscences, the late Dr. G. B. Beaver Creek and at Bear Rapids or Spencer wrote to the Sentinel in Otsego, petitioned for a new township to- 1884, as follows: be called "Ottawa," and the township Year after year during the Twenties, was duly created by the county commis­ white settlers came, and by occasional sioners, but before the time came to elect accessions of other families, the little township officers in the spring of 1831, settlement at the mouth of Bear Creek the name was changed from Ottawa to and at the head of the rapids of the Weston. Maumee, grew, until in the spring of The township as first organized includ­ 1830, they demanded a township organ­ ed all of what is now Weston, Milton, ization for themselves. The reader will Jackson" and the west part of Washing­ please remember that up to this time ton townships, or a strip of land six: SCRAP-BOOK. 81

miles wide, and extending back from the more than 50 families came into Weston river to what is now the southern limit township. •of Wood county. Start of Village We may say then that the village of First Election Weston was not started until in 1854 The first election ever held in Weston when the Taylor saw mill was put jn township was on the 4th day of April, operation. Thirty years ago the site of 1831, when aU of the voters met at the our town was all farm land and used as house of Edward Howard, and proceed­ such. In 1854 Jonathan Crom built ed to elect themselves, ToTv at tiutt first his shanty, started a saloon and kept a election there were barely enough voters few groceries. Benjamin West came in to intelligently fillth e offices. The first 1854, and wishing to get an eligible site officers were .as follows:- Trustees, Ed­ tfor his blacksmith shop, went directly ward Howard, Wm. Pratt" and Emanuel across the street from Crom's saloon, and Arnold; treasurer, R. M. Howard; clerk, located his forge just about where Indle- R. A. Howard; poor overseers, M. P. kofer's bar stands in his saloon today. •Morgan and Jas. Donaldson; constables, His shop was a- mere shanty. In 1855 Wm. North and Wm. Wonderly; fence Levi Taylor built the front half of the viewers, Wm, Loughry and Joseph building now owned by Ames, and in North; Justices of the peace, Alexander the fall of that year, put in the first Brown and Emanuel Arnold;, who did stock of dry goods and groceries that not receive their commissions from the the village ever saw. governor until in August of that year. James Donaldson was also elected road Van Tassel Killed • supervisor, and the only road that came Many of our older citizens frequently under his supervision was the road lead­ speak of the celebrated missionary, Isaac ing along down the river bank irom the Van Tassel, one of the pioneer preachers settlement to Fort Meigs, which was a who frequently visited Weston and talk­ poor excuse for a road at that time, ed to the few citizens in the little old being only,! partially chopped out and not school house. He was found dead on worked at all. For the care of this, the the Gilead road, about 20 rods west of only road in the township, except the where Allen "Bortell now lives. He was Indian trails, Mr. Donaldson, received on his way to his home in Plain town­ the princely salary of seventy-five cents. ship, from Gilead. It is not known The only officer who received any sal­ whether his horse threw him off, or ary during the firstyea r was the treasur­ whether he died suddenly of heart dis­ er, R. M. Howard, who drew, all at one ease. It occurred March 2, 1849. time, seventy-five cents. So for $1.50 Weston township was as peacefully gov­ erned as she has ever been since that In 1697 French forts were built at date, and I find no record of any specula- Fort Wayne aatf at the foot of the "tion or defalcation. The Fence Viewers' Rapids. ^- office in 1831 was almost a sinecure, unless they went to inspect the rude The entire Northwestern territoryes/or brush fences that surrounded the first some years had but three county organ­ clearings. But the settlements were izations. These were Washington, Ham­ looking up, new people coming in every ilton and sWayne, the latter .embracing year, and during the next five year% Wood county. 82 THE PIONEER

ATTACKED BY SAVAGES tile Indians at Maiden, and take part in the council spoken of by Sac-a-manc. They had plundered and set fire to the Settlers in Flight—Their Homes Burned— buildings at Monclova, and would soon The Account of Navarre—Manor be at the foot of the Rapids. Proves a Lame Guide ' But little time was left to escape. The major with his family and the few settlers that had remained in the valley, E late Hezekiah L. Hosmer said, on hastened immediately to the river, where the authority of Peter Navarre and they dislodged and launched a large others, that Pierre Minard, known as barge, in which some officers had de­ •Peter Manor, received the news of war scended the river from Fort Wayne the from a Delaware named Sac-a-manc, who year before. Raising a sail made of a iri passing through the settlement said: bed blanket, they were enabled, by dint "I shall go to Owl Creek. I shall kill of hard rowjng and a favorable breeze, some of the Long Knives before I come to round the point and get under cover back, and will show you some of their of old Fort Miami just as the Indians scalps. In ten days after I get back all made their appearance on the bank, the hostile tribes will hold a council at where Maumee,City is built, and before Maiden ;v very soon after that, we shall the boat passed Eagle Point they saw come to this place and kill all the Yan­ the flames. ascending from the homes kees; You, Manor, are a good French­ they had just deserted. This little band man, and must not tell them, what I say." of fugitives, favored with fair winds, Sac-a-manc returned, after an absence made a safe passage in their crazy craft of six days, and showed Manor three to the Quaker settlement at Milan, where scalps, which he said were those of they remained until after the war. Ma­ a family he.had murdered on Owl Creek. nor says they were panic-stricken, and He repeated to Manor in confidence that left their horses, cattle, and most of their it was the intention of the Indians to household goods. Their property was come to the valley in force sufficient to taken by the Indians, who completed their ma6sacre the American settlers. This work by burning every dwelling, belong­ intelligence Manor communicated to ing to an American, in that part of the Major Spafford, accompanied with advice valley. This accomplished, they pursued to leave the valley immediately. The their course to Maiden, to attend the In­ major laughed, and dismissed the subject dian council spoken of by Sac-a-manc. with some remark expressive of incredu­ Not long after Hull's surrender, the lity, and Manor left him, promising that French settlers remaining at the foot of should he learn of any further cause of the rapids, received a call from a party alarm he would let him know. of sixty Delawares, who arrived there in About a month after this conversation, advance of the main body»of the British a man by the name of Miller, (some ac­ army, on their march to Fort Wayne. counts say Gordon), who had lived many Manor says that he, with some of his years with the Ottawas, and who was well neighbors, was standing in front Of Beau- known to Major Spafford, entered his grand's store,, at Maumee, when the In­ house in breathless haste, and told him dians came out of the woods—that they that at no greater distance than Mon- drew up in line, and each put his gun clova there was a band of fifty Pottawa- , tc his shoulder and aimed, as if to firea t toroies, on the march from their country the little group of settlers. Beaugrand on the St. Joseph River, to join the hos­ came out and waved a white handker- SCRAP-BOOK. 83 chief. They dropped their muskets, and The above differs from other accounts approached the store on a run, and re­ as to the time the settlers left the mained a few minutes. An hour after Rapids. In this, Mr. Hosmer quotes their departure, about 100 British sol­ Manor incorrectly, no doubt. Hull had diers, and as many Pottawatomies and news of the declaration of war July 2nd. Wyandots, came up. Their first inquiry He surrendered his army August 16th. was for guides. Manor, from prudential From Mr. Hosmer's statement, we would motives was seized with sudden and se­ "bb'led.to'-fcelieve that the settlerB fled on vere lameness; but it would not do. The hearing war had been declared. Mrs. officer in command pressed him into ser­ Creen and Clark both say the flight was vice as a guide, and lame as he seemed, after the surrender of Hull. Their ver­ he was compelled to conduct this com­ sion is doubtless the correct one. In the pany, to the head of the rapids. Here history of Erie county, incidental men­ his lameness so increased, that his perse­ tion is made" of Major Spafford being at cutors dismissed him, and he set out on the mouth of Huron river, with his fam­ his return home. At the foot of Presque ily, in a boat, about September 1st The Isle Hill, he met Colonel Elliott, the of­ reasonable inference is that he had tut ficer in command of the detachment, and recently sailed from the Maumee, that is, the remainder of the troops and Indians in the latter ..part of August, after the composing it. Elliott examined him surrender. The probabilities are that in closely, and on learning that he had been the impending danger, after Hull's' sur­ employed as a guide, perriiitted him to render, the settlers foresaw that they go on his way, were no longer safe for even a single day; Mr. C. W. Evers makes the following that in the confusion and anxiety-df the criticism in regard to the incidents above hour each acted*as his hopes or fears given: impelled him.

BOWLING GREEN turb the forest solitudes where Bowlipg Green now stands, was in June, 1812, when Hull's army passed here, matching Something About Its Early History—The from Dayton to Detroit. • First Log Cabin—How the Town Re­ That column of troops, preceded by ceived Its Name—Interesting Inci­ guides, scouts and axmen, followed in dents of the Past turn by the cavalry battalion, with* its gaudy pennons, escorting the command-" PROBABLY there has been no more ing general' with his gaily uniformed accurate and succinct account of the staff retinue,' then the infantry, field early history of Bowling Green, than the bands, artillery and trains formed a following, penned by the late C. W. Evers, pageant which even to-day would attract whose studious efforts in gathering every all Bowling Green to the east side of incident connected with the pioneer his­ town, about where the T. & 0. C. rail­ tory of Wood county, rendered him a way track lies. "That, is about on the reliable authority in all that pertains to line the troops held, until near Ridge that early period: street, when they turned a little to the west, coming out on the Maumee nearly Hull's March— oppos'ite Waterville. That was the first The first time white men came to dis- vagon trail through the interior of Wood 84 THE PIONEER county, and the only one for the two suc­Walker, Jacob Stouffer and others came ceeding decades. The land was then and built in the summer and fall of '33. owned by the Indians. After the war, Alfred Thurstin began bis cabin in No­ in 1817, at a treaty at the foot oi the vember, 1833, as did Joseph Hollington Maumee Rapids, the United States bought si'., but so far as known the Martindale the land, at a price slightly less than four cabin was the firstan d stood on the first cents an acre, and in 1819 sent surveyors land entry in what is now Bowling here, which was the second appearance of Green. white men on official business. In 1821 (Without going into all the particu­ the final surveys were completed and the lars of the land entries given at that plats made, when the lands, were ready early day and noted by Mr. Evers, we fcr market. will simply give the names of a few of those who entered land. Among them The Black Swamp were Joseph Hollington, Benjamin Reed, Unfortunately the Black Swamp coun­ J. M. and Samuel Lamb, Stephen Ward, try, after the war of 1812, had a worse Thomas Tracy, Henry Walker, Andrew reputation, if possible, than ever; the Race, Jonathan Fay, -Robert Barr,, Alfred soldiers and others who had been here, Thurstin, Lee Moore, David Hickson and told horrible stories about itJ Few buy­ others.) ers of land came—none to the interior of the county. Those who stopped inva­ A Few Came to Stay riably located on or near the river: so These few notes from the land entry that, aside from roving parties of In­ books, though nOt including all entries dian hunters and occasional white fur- embraced in the present corporation of traders, or the weekly trips of the old Bowling Green, neither the names of all Bellefontaine mail carrier, the interior of purchasers, are yet sufficient to afford the the county was practically unknown and reader some idea of the pioneer real estate shunned by settlers for more than a de­ men of the town and when they first cade after its survey. Prior to the year came. Some, perhaps only one or two, 1828, Collister Haskins, at Portage, was of all those named bought merely for the only settler between Findlay and the speculation. |Cost came in quest/ of Maumee settlement homes. Some tried life here, got tired of it and left Of those faithful ones who The First Cabin remained to buffet with adversity and Some few land entries were made in fight the battle thr,t was eventually to Plain and Center in 1831, but the'pio- make a town here, of which they never neer entry in the present corporation of even dreamed perhaps, most &kis> have Bowling Green, was made October 29, passed-from this stage of action; their 1832, by Elisha Martindale;. the tract, toils arid trials have ceased. They did 40 acres in the northwest part of town, their [part bravely and well; their work lying on both sides of Haskins road or of subduing the wilderness, begun more street, is known as the Clinton Fay place. than half a century ago, and its results, Martindale later bought 120 acres more; are before us to-day. Their'descendants he built his cabin where the present Fay and successors surely have just cause to house stands, near the great willow tree remember them with respect and pride. just west of the road, the following If the story of their humble start in the spring, 1833. Careful inquiry has failed race and their faithful stewardship to to discover evidence of any cabin here the end, shall inspire UB with the ambi­ prior to that date; Lee Moore, Henry tion and will to do our part as well, then SCRAP-BOOK, 85

this story will not have been told in vain. of a town,bu t what or who suggested that name, often becomes of interest Struck by the Panic Since Bowling Green has become thjfl A glance at the old land entry books thriving seat of justice of one of the shows the rapid influx of settlers from most prosperous counties in Ohio, inquiry 1833 to 183ft or 1837. That was an it often made how it happened that it era of speculation. Everyone had a was so named. For the first time, in mania to buy land, but the money panic , print trie story is here told, with the and business crash of 1837 brought it to incidents that led to the-naming, as told . a sudden end. That was a paralytic to the writer by two of the pioneers who stroke from which the western country had a part in it at the time, and several did not entirely recover until the Cali­ others personally known to all the cir­ fornia gold discovery, more than a decade cumstances. Bowling Green was chris­ 7 later. Wood county was especially pros­ tened after, or for the capital town of trated. There was nothing here that the Warren county, Kentucky, by Joseph people could sell, not even their homes; Gordon, a veteran mail carrier of the but there was most everything in the pioneer days here. Of one who perform- way of necessities even, to buy. There t-d so important a part for us in our in­ was in those gloomy years, little to in­ fantile state, Tve naturally ask, Who was spire hope; much to thwart and discour­ he? in his paper, the Findlay Courier, age effort January 1847, William Mungen wrote editorially of Gordon as foUows: The Mail Carrier Who Gordon Was By the middle of the year 1834 the "Joseph Gordon was born in Allegheny ridges and higher spots within a radius county, Pennsylvania, on the 29th day cf three miles of this place were mostly of January, 1784. * In the year 1801, patented from the government and in when but 17 years old, he commenced many instances the owner had built and carrying the mail, on horseback, from occupied his cabin on his new purchase. Russellville, Kentucky, via Bowling This brought the population largely to Green, toGlasgow , a distance of 85 miles, the west and north, where the most ridges once in two weeks, for which he received lay. The mail carrier between Perrys­ $12 per month. In 1802 he took a con­ burg and Beliefontaine passed on the tract to carry the mail from Shelbyville, old army trail once each week, at first Kentucky, to Nashville, Tennessee. In every two weeks, arid this group of set­ consequence of the route being changed, tlers petitioned for a postoffice in their he carried the mail only two months. midst; they were distrustful, however, From that time till October, 1804, he that Collister Haskins, of Portage, might carried it from Shelbyville to Russellville, not approve of the move and went about Ky. In October, 1804, he commenced it a little cautiously. The story of this carrying the mail on horse-back from enterprise incidentally reveals Wheeling, Virginia, to George Bey- mer's in Ohio, a distance of 50 miles, How Bowling Green Got Its Name with a led horse and a heavy mail on The civil history of a town is but the each. In 1805-6, he carried the mail biography of its founders and their suc­ from Wheeling, through St. Clairsville, cessors, in which every incident, some­ Zanesville, and New Lancaster, to Chilli­ times the most trivial, has an interest to cothe. In February, 1823, he commenc­ the dwellers therein. Not only the name ed on the route between Bellefontaine 86 THE PIONEER

and Perrysburg, a distance of 81 miles, of Bowling Green," swallowed the cider through a wilderness, there being but and was in the act of mounting his horse one'family residing in Hardin county, wheri those present detained him a mo­ and but one postoffice on the route, and ment while they could write a name in that (Findlay) at this place. Mr. Gor­ the petition, which, ,sure enough, was the don was the only contractor on this route one Gordon had suggested. from February 7, 1823, to December 31, The papers were soon folded and on 1839. Since 1839, he has carried the their way to Perrysburg for some addi­ mail semi-weekly from Bellefontaine to tional endorsements, after which thev this place, 55 miles." were sent to Washington. The office was Few indeed have constitutions suffi­ .established,March 12, 1834. In 1835, ciently strong to endure such labor for when Walker sold his place, he and the such a length of time. It is to such men Stouffers moved over to the west side of a* Gordon-i-to our hardy pioneers, who Main street, where the office was kept for were ready to encounter all kinds of toil a time, since which it has had many dif­ and privation, that Ohio owes her pres­ ferent locations and masters. ent state of prosperity and advancement. Afterwards in 1855, when the village For such men we cannot but cherish sen­ was incorporated, there seemed no good timents of respect reason why it should not take the same name as the postoffice, under which name The Postoffice it had been going in fact since in the Jacob Stouffer's cabin here was the early fifties. That is the way Bowling central point of the new postoffice move­ Green came to have its name. ment. Henry Walker, son-in-law of Stouffer was to be the postmaster. The White Hall Tavern Walkers and Stouffers occupied the same Aside from school and church work cabin; it stood on the high ridge just Bowling Green had but little history east of Main street, not far north of prior to the time she was incorporated, Merry avenue. that does not properly come within the Gordon on one of his northward trips purview of the histories of Plain and had stopped at Stouffer's as was his usual Center townships. Robert Mackey's store custom, in passing; the petition for the enterprise at the Napoleon road in the new office was ready, except that the south part of town, intended as the movers, two or three of whom were pres­ nucleus of the village of Mt Ararat ent had not yet agreed upon a name. never, under its various proprietors, met The old mail carrier who stood on the expectations. John Hannon in the north cabin steps listening to the discussion, end of the street, with his tavern and said to Stouffer, half jestingly, "if you blacksmith shop did not attract village will give me a tumbler of cider I'll give neighbors about him. When, in 1847, you just the name." Dr. E. D.< Peck sent L. C. Locke out here to start a mercantile enterprise, most of Drank to Bowling Green the settlers were sure it would be a fail­ Stouffer who had brought out a keg ure; the proprietors did not feel san­ of cider from Columbiana county, filled guine for the stock was opened on a very a glass and handed it to Gordon; the small scale in a little room in one corner latter briefly explaining how appropriate of a tavern called then White Hall, on the name he would suggest was to the the west side of Main just north of the landscape about them, said with a sweep intersection of Liberty street where a of his arm; "Here's to the new postoffice hotel called the American House has SCRAP-BOOK. 87

since sjood. A man named Gossett kept opens a new chapter—a new era in the the hoteTthen. history of Bowling Green. This circum­ Locke's Store stance is of greater import to the town than the firstcasua l thought would sug­ Locke soon felt encouraged to call on gest. Not in the sense that we expect the his partner for larger quarters; then was town to be a center of vast population or Mt Ararat's chance , for resurrection; a great commercial or manufacturing Locke tried to buy out Emerson, Eaton center. Its development in these respects & Co., who were sort of successors to rests largely with those who now rule its Mackey, though in a newer, better build­ destiny—their enterprise, ambition and ing and on the east side of Main street. far-sightedness. The owners declined to sell and the star The railroad from north to south, a of Mt. Ararat sank to rise no more. distance of 30 miles through a rich and Locke bought an acre of Alfred* Thurstin, largely unoccupied portion of the coun­ including that part of the east side of ty, will not only develop a vastly increas­ Main street from the First National ed trade and make better market facili­ Bank south, and taking in the opera ties for the town, but settle forever its house, and there built a store and resi­ status as the business center—capital, of dence under one roof; his trade was pros­ one of the largest and most prosperous perous, and not long after he was ap­ agricultural counties in Ohio. As san­ pointed postmaster and a little later built guine as many of our people felt on this and operated an ashery, the first manu­ point it was. not settled, beyond cavil un­ facturing enterprise begun in the village, til this road came. This settles it and if we except Caleb Lord's cabinet shop. the town now stands on solid footing in Locke had by his enterprise practically this respect. It is thp capital of a grand determined where the center of the vil­ and populous county. It is the official lage would be. Anyone who came in af­ business center and is naturally the trad- ter that, and wanted to go into business, " ing center. located as near Locke's as he could get. A New Era Opened A number of lots were sold at public The advent of a second railroad here auction in Perrysburg, in 1823.

THE BELL SCHOOL HOUSE desired to have a house for a private school, as well as for religious purposes. The bell, from which the house took its Purpose for Which It Was Built—Much In­ name, wad formerly used on the Mission terest Attached to It— Whereabouts of Chapel on the Maumee river. It was the Bell Discovered presented to the builders of the school' house and placed in a cupola" erected for THE Bell school house was built in the purpose. A subscription school was 1841, says Joseph R. Tracy, on Sec- carried on for a number of years, after 'tion 26, Plain township, by John White­ which the house passed into the posses­ head, John E. Jenkins, carpenters, and sion of the common school trustees. Joseph R. Tracy and other residents as­ Some time in 1857, the house was de­ sisting. The money was contributed by stroyed by fire,an d another building was the leading citizens of the township, who erected for the same purposes about a 88 THE PIONEER

mile to the west. The Methodist class bought it for something like $3.00 from that used to meet there was merged into a party west of Bowling Green, and if I the church at Bowling Green. The remember correctly he presented it to the sumo is true of the Baptist and Congrega­ district by placing it on top of the school tional adherents. Each became the building and it is there today if it has members of larger churches. Thus the not been taken down." particular necessity of this school build­ Mr. C. W. Evers once doubted whether ing ceased. -w the old Mission bell and that on the The bell has been the subject of much Minton school house was the same. But theorizing as to what became of it As after more thorougn investigation and far as can be learned, it being the prop­ the statements of those upon whom he erty of Isaac Van Tassel, he took pos­ could rely he was less skeptical and ad­ session of it and removed it. Mr. J. R. mitted the probability that they were the Judson says it was removed in 1845 on same. Mr. Evers attended school in the the plea that the belfry was not safe. old Bell school house in 1846-7, and had He says he does not know who had charge many tender associations in all that per­ of it the next 10 or 12 years, but he is tained to it. In writing bf the bell he pretty. certain that it was placed in the says: "Its silvery peals swelled up from Minton school house in the late 50's. that little forest-hidden chapel over for­ Newton Stearns says it is on the Minton est and glade, and bore the glad tidings school house and has not been changed. to the scattered settlers, far and near, He says he bought the bell for $2 and that some one would preach, some one sold it for" $3 to Nate Minton. T. W. Would sing, and some one would pray Minton, writing under date of February that day at the 'Bell'. That bell was 1.1909, says, "In 1870, a new school the pioneer evangelist of this kind in house was built on his father's farm in Wood county, or for that matter in Plain township, five miles west of Bowl­ Northwester!, Ohio. It came with the ing Green—that his father learned where vanguard of Civilization." the old mission bell was and went and

LAST OF BIG GAME had wounded a deer and was following in its track when, about three o'clock in the afternoon he came across a big brown The Last Bear That Was Killed Within the bear poking along in the woods. Mr. Limits of Wood County Avery thought no more about his deer, but immediately turned his attention to IN the Sentinel of November 27, 4884, the "bigger game." His gun was a small Mr. Evers gives substantially the one, and not just the thing to tackle a story, as told by Wm. Mears and J. G. bear with, but Wash did not stop to think Ralston, of the killing of the last bear of that but pulled up and blazed away. ever slain in Wood county: The ball.struck the bear in the thigh, It was late in the fall of 1858; there inflicting a flesh wound of no conse­ was a nice tracking snow on the ground. quence, and bruin set off in an easterly Wash. G. Avery, who then lived on his direction. Wash went over to Joe Ral­ farm north of town, was out hunting; ston s on Sugar Ridge, and got Joe and SCRAP-BOOK. 89

Geo. Walker, who were there visiting, and sued, when Mears and Wm. Avery agreed the three set out in pursuit They fol­ to join the bear hunt They agreed that lowed the trail as far as the McCutchen- the bear which had gone away in west ville road over in Webst«*"fand then, it of the road would attempt to get back being late in the night ana all hands be­ to the Devil's Hole, and that they had bet­ ing tired, they went tox the Ten Mile ter station themselves along what was house and stayed until morning. At known as the Rudolph ditch. Ralston, daylight they were again on the trail, Mears and Wm. Avery accordingly went the crowd re-enforced by the addition of over on the ditch. Joe Ralston took up Jesse Williams, a harness maker from his station on the ditch-bank, while Wm. Perrysburg, and a friend of his. They •.Avery stood about 15 rods east of Joe, followed the trail to the Ottawa county and Mears about the same distance- east line, where they found that the bear had of Avery. "As it began to get dusk they taken the back track, crossing the Mc- heard the dogs coming, yelping at every Cutchenville road within a mile or so of jump. Pretty soon bruin came in sight where they had started in the morning. of Joe, lumbering along to within a few As they crossed the road, they found that yards of him, with back bowed up, mouth some one else, with a dog had taken the open and tongue hanging out looking trail. tired and savage. - Joe pulled up his Jesse Williams said it was old Jake gun—and it snapped. Tried it again, Hedinger, an old hunter who lived in but it was no good. By this time the the vicinity; said he knew his track. bear had passed on to Mr. Avery, who, Away they all started on the dead fun, owing, to the gathering darkness could whooping and halloing to Hedinger to not see to shoot very good. He fired, stop and wait for them, but he did not however, striking the bear in the back, stop. They finally heard the dogs and but not inflicting'a serious wound. Now taking a short cut came up with Heding­ came Mr. Mears' turn. He waited until er. They found where the bear had at­ the bear was within a few feet of him, tempted to climb two different cotton- and had just cleared a 14-foot ditch at wood trees, but had been pulled down by a bound, when he put a half-ounce ball Hedinger's big dog, and had been obliged through his heart Bruin fell, apparent­ to continue his flight by the near ap­ ly dead, and the dogs coming up at that proach of the men. He finally came out instant, sailed in, and then immediately and crossed the. plank road at the inter­ sailed out again, for, with his last section Of Center and Middletou township strength, the bear struck one of them a lines. When the men came out on the terrible blow with his paw, knocking him plank road Williams and his friend fol­ about 20 feet away, whereupon the two lowed the trail after the dogs, and Ral­ dogs set off through the woods, howling ston went down the plank road to watch as if "the old Nick" was after them. what was then called the Rudolph road. When they found that the bear wag Wm. Avery, Wm: Mears, and Benj. dead, Mears, Aver)' and Ralston set up a Johnson had been hunting that day in shout of triumph which soon brought east of the John Hood place, north of the Wash., Williams 'and Hedinger to the bend. Mr. Mears had killed a turkey scene. After a consultation it was de­ gobbler that weighed 55 lbs., and they cided to take the bear up to Thomas' were returning homeward. Mr. Johnson •* tavern and there divide up. They ac­ had left them and gone home, and the cordingly dragged the carcass through others met Joe just aB he turned off from the snow to the place of destination. the plank road, and an explanation en­ Arriving at the tavern, those who felt 90 THE PIONEER

disposed to do so celebrated the occasion tired and worn out, but well pleased with by indulging in a little tangle-toot, after the day's adventure. . ' which they divided the bear,, which This is the story of the last "big game" Weighed about 250 pounds. Wash, took ever brought down, or which probably the hide, and the meat was divided among ever will be brought down in Wood the' others, after which all. went home, county.

TURKEY FOOT ROCK But an avenging Nemesis was after them at last. The highest tribute paid to Wayne's generajship> was by Little Turtle A Boulder Monument Commemorative of in a council speech the night previous to Wayne's Great Victory tlie battle, which he was not in favOr of. Said he, '(the Americans are now led by a chief who never sleeps. The night and THE large boulder called "Turkey Foot the day are alike to him. During all the Rock" which lays on the north bank time he has been inarching on our vil­ of the Maumee denotes the point on the lages we have been unable to surprise river where Gen. Wayne gained a decisive him. Think well of it" But the coun­ victory over the combined Indian tribes sel of Blue Jacket who was more bloody of the Northwest, on August 20, 1794. and precipitate prevailed. The Indians The Indians were principally directed and were overpowered, out generated, driven coriunanded by Blue Jacket and Little into the river and almost annihilated, Turtle, and the tribes engaged included and the glad tidings were heralded across the Shawanese, Miamis, Wyandotts, Pot- the Alleghanies in shouts of triumph. tawattomies, Delawares, Chippewas, Otta­ That boulder is a mute reminder of the was and a few Senecas and other rem­ battle of Fallen Timber. nants of tribes. The Wyandotts, a once powerful tribe lost all their chiefs, nine A Piece of Fiction in number, at that battle, and tradition In a communication to the Sentinel, says that one of the bravest of their clan, the late C. W. Evers thus disposed of, the called "Turkey Foot," was slain by prevalent theory that Turkey Foot was Wayne's infuriated followers near this an Indian chief: rock and that after Wayne, whom the I notice in your daily of June 15 that Indians called the "Whirlwind" was Dr. Dwight Canfield in his review of gone, the few scattering members of the the battle of Fallen Timber has fallen Wyandott nation repaired to the spot into the usual mistake of people who where their beloved chief had fallen and write about Turkey Foot rock. There is carved the representation of a huge such a rock as we all know, but that there turkey's foot on the rough boulder with was a "noted Indian chief" named Turkey their hatchets. This roughly chiseled Foot, as he stated and as many others tttrkey's foot is still to be seen, although have done, I deny, I know I am going the rock has been sadly defaced; by in the face of a long standing legend— sacrilegious and disrespectful hands. breaking an idol as it were; but it is The armies of Banner and St. Clair best, that We get our history of the long had been butchered and destroyed, and ago correct before it is too late. „ the savages, encouraged by the British If any one interested, will take the agents, were exultant and blood thirsty. trouble to consult a book written per-

SCRAP-BOOK. 93 haps some time in 1830 or possibly earl­ Thus it was the stone took the name ier when the Indians were still here, by Turkey Foot rock. There was no noted T. M. •Coffihberry, called the. Forest chief of that name. No treaty record Rangers, foot riote,page — (I have not with the Indians bears such a name. No the book before me, though several of such name is mentioned in the many them are .owned in Toledo) they will get fights before Wayne's battle. If he had the. facts, regarding Turkey Foot rock. been a noted warrior, some where his Mr. Coffinberry was a lawyer, lived at name would appear. It is just a fiction Perrysburg, was well educated and ming­ of some of the white men of the later led, out of curiosity perhaps, much with years and with some has grown into an the Indians, and knew their habits, cus­ honest belief as is the case with many toms and history quite well. ' other fictionsw e cling to as truths. According to his statement, I give the There is a turkey foot rock. It is substance rather than his words, the In­ a land mark denotirig the high tide spot dian killed, at or near the big boulder, of Wayne's battle. Near it a brave of August 20, 1794, was a sub-chief of the the turkey dan was killed. He was pop­ turkey clan of the Wyandott tribe, whose ular and his clansmen cut the clan em­ totem or coat of arms or monogram was blem, the print of a turkey's foot, on the the imprint of a turkey's foot Each stone and very naturally it has gone by tribe is divided into more or less clans; |he name Turkey Foot rock. Its chief the beaver, the muskrat, the eagle, the importance, however, is that it marks the dog, the bear, or any favorite Object may -place of one of the great battles of the be adopted as the emblem of a clan. A border war period. turkey in Wyandott is Massas. Until recently it was the only battle This warrior, killed that day was evi­ ground in this part of the Maumee valley dently -popular and beloved of bis clan that had a marker of any sort for they not only carved the emblem of The old rock should be cared for and the clan, a turkey's footprint on the big preserved and above all when we take granite boulder, but always, When pass­ our school history pupils to these historic ing that way, some of his kin or clan places we should give them tthe history would stop and leave some little tribute straight—unmixed with any fiction or of their affection, oftener plug tobacco carelessly drawn conclusions formed than anything else. without due irivestUration.

UNBROKEN FORESTS were primeval in beauty, and teemed with bears, wolves, deer and other animals, while countless multitudes of',wild geese Black. Snakes, Rattlers, Wolves and Other and ducks quacked in the tangled un­ Pests That Annoyed Early Settlers dergrowth along the various branches of the Portage. About the year 1830 solitary hunters AN old pioneer of Perry township, in would come in occasionally and chase a writing to the Sentinel, says that bear or herd of deer, but for the most prior to the year 1830, the southern part part it remained an unbroken wilderness, of Wood county as far as known was and although speculators and those con­ without a living white' settler. Its for­ templating actual settlement had entered ests of oak, walnut beech and poplar lands, they were laughed at for their 94 THE PIONEER

credulity if they asserted it would ever out. McCormick named the town Mill be a habitable region. The "Munchau­ Grove, to which has been suffixed West sen" stories of the Black Swamp repre­ to distinguish it from Mill Grove in sented, it as being occupied by a species Morgan county. The sale of lots was of genii closely allied to mother Eve's slow and building slower. persuader. Black snakes-were said to at­ tain constrictor proportions, while the The Wolves dread rattler was supposed to hiss forked One of the greatest pests to the raising lightning from every stump and crevice. of any kind of stock were .wolves, the Gradually, however, these stories became forests seemed literally alive with them, "old," and some adventurous spirits be­ and in the winter they were ravenous, gan to talk seriously of making a "clear­ attacking every living animal from a ing." chicken to even the settler himself. The cholera which made its firstap ­ Gradually, however, they disappeared, pearance in the United States in 1831, drew deeper into the forest, and it has spread north with great rapidity and dire been many years since the wolf lost his effects. At the old town of Gallipolis identity in the county. Settlers used on the Ohio, its advent Mas felt and sent different modes to protect their stock many northward, who preferred any hard­ from them, the steel trap and chain be­ ship to a tussle with the dread malady. ing very effective. Many daring exploits are related of the old hunters then young Named Millgrove men, chuck full of grit One is worth In the election of '34 the number of relating. voters had increased to twenty-eight and George McCormick at that time a mere during the fall and winter the settlement boy, went out one morning to see his at the McCormick entry was sufficiently trap, and found a very large wolf fast large to warrant James McCormick in but unhurt. Now as there were some surveyirig a piece of his land and laying new settlers just come in, George deter-, it out in lots. He secured the services of mined they should have a* close view of Davis, and lots were laid on the Mc- a live wolf. After considerable planning Cutchenville road, and the road to Fre­ he succeeded in tying the wolfs mont and the streets named Main and mOuth and feet. He then very coolly Sandusky. Since that time several addi­ strapped him on his back and walked tions have been made and new streets laid home, a distance of over a mile.

TlflvHOLLINGTONS land, embracing what is now a fine farm south of Bowling Green. Mr. Holling­ ton selected a spot about one-fourth of a Like Other Early Settlers They Shared in the mile west of the Findlay road as his Sufferings of Pioneer Life future abiding place, and in course of time had a fine orchard of apple trees AMONG the list of early settlers of planted from the old Station orchard on Plain township, may be mentioned the Maumee. Richard Hollington, who »came out After contracting with a man named to the Maumee country in the year McKnight, for the building of a log 1834, by the lake, and almost directly house, and buying two yoke of oxen (the from England. He entered 400 acres of first ever owned in the township) he re- SCRAP-BOOK. 95

turned to Buffalo for his family, whom for windows. were practically out of the he had preceded in search of a home. question then, nor had the cabin ,even a He had a wife and five children, four puncheon floor, but such as they had the sons arid one daughter. Richard, the early settlers shared freely with each eldest son, then 13 years of age, became other, or with the stranger who came a resident of Williams county, this among them. State. Mary became the wife of Hon. It was here in mid-Winter, after the OctaVius Waters, of Fulton cOunty. last weary day of their'long journey was JosephWas a resident of Bowling Green. . done,. that the Hollingtons began fully William, the youngest of the family, be­ to take in the situation. They had came a resident of Missouri. reached the goal of their ambition, free Ambrose, next to the youngest will be America, where every man is a law unto remembered by many of the present'day himself, no kingly power, no necks galled throughout this section of Ohio, as Rev. with the yoke of oppression, no ex­ Ambrose Hollington, who was classed cisemen, a land of plenty arid unmixed among the most eloquent of pulpit ora­ happiness. But alas, how different the tors. His son, Dr. R. D. Hollington, of picture Of fancy and the homely reality. St. Paul's M. E. church, Toledo, is des­ tined to become as famed as his father. A Triumph Through Tears Mrs. Hollington, of all the souls gath­ Privation and Inexperience ered, there, was the most disheartened In due time the Holliiigtons arrived and most keenly realized their discon­ at the dock in Perrysburg, where the solate situation. Overcome at last by rough side of life's rcullcy in the Black her feelings, she sank down on one of Swamp, set in. the floor sleepers and burst out crying. Mr. Hollington" had in the old country But her grief was not the grief of de­ been a tradesman, while his wife, who spair. It was a transition in her life was a well educated woman, had been ac­ pilgrimage. This evanescent storm of customed to all the comforts and con­ tears seems to have washed awav all veniences of life. But her piano had the weaker elements of her womanly na­ been left across the ocean, and the only ture, and instead of the dependent timid music she would be likely to hear for woman, she became the strong arm, the many long months would be a medley of pillar of strength in that household; uncouth sounds of frogs, mosquitoes, wild when her husband grew despondent, she beasts and birds. Hollington knew noth­ spoke words of encouragement to him. ing of woodcraft, did not know how to use With each new and trying vicissitude, an ax, in fact with his wife, he was enter­ h

INDIAN ASSOCIATES to work to build a cabin, which they completed in forty-eight hours ready for occupancy, and in which they slept on In Milton Township—Hardships of Settlers— the second night spent on the premises. Expert Hunter—Coon Pot Pie- This cabin, the first in the township, Rev. Joseph Badger stood on the farm entered by Mr. Hutch­ inson, sr.

IN the Sentinel of November 29, 1883, Indian Associates Mr. Evers says that James Hutch­ After getting a good start on this farm inson, sr., and family, and sons Andrew each of the sons entered a piece of land arid James and families, who came from and built a cabin for himself. The only Summit county, Ohio, in April, 1834, associates of these families until the next were the first settlers within the borders settlers moved in, were the Indians, who of what is now known as Milton town­ of course, were very numerous. The In­ ship. The family of Mr. Hutchinson, dians had a camp for years on the place besides his wife and two married sons, owned later by Morris Brown and by H. consisted of three daughters. Andrew C. Strow,. and after being disturbed and wife had twelve children. In James there, camped for a long time on the east Hutchinson, jr's, family were only him­ side of the Van Tassel farm. self and wife. The settlers' children and Indian pap- These families found Milton to be an pooses would play together day after day unbroken forest the home of the red man just as jieighbors' children do now. The and the abiding place of the deer, wolf Indians learned' the sports of the whites and bear. Not a tree had been cut in and vice versa. The Indians lived most­ the township, unless by hunters, and ly on hominy arid wild game, such as everything was in a state of nature. venison, coon, wood-chuck, 'possum, They came with five yoke of oxen and musk-rat, etc. Andrew Hutchinson states one span of horses, making their journey that he had often when visiting their from Summit county in ten days; they camps, seen large copper kettles (which took what is now the Maumee and. West­ they obtained from the government) con­ ern Reserve road to Perrysburg, then al­ taining perhaps eight or ten fat coon most bottomless with mud, thirty miles each, mixed with hominy and water, in length and supplied with a tavern to swung over a fire and boiling like a every mile, and one to spare. At times j-oung volcano. The coon would be skin­ on their journey the wagons would get ned and quartered, then thrown in the stuck, compelling them to put all five kettle head, feet, claws and all. Mr. yoke of oxen to one wagon to pull it Hutchinson relates that his brother out. From Perrysburg they traveled most James went .back to Suminit county and of the way over what was known as married a rather fashionable young lady "Hull's Trace" to Lee Moore's place, in who came out to the Wood county wilder­ the south part of Bowling Green. From ness to share the trials of the pioneer there Mr. Moore piloted them by the life with her husband. About the first way of the sand ridge to their future Sunday she was there they went to visit home, and for many a mile they were their neighbors—red neighbors, and of obliged to cut their way through the course were invited to stay to dinner. woods, step by step. The young Summit county bride took a The three men with the help of the look into one of the kettles and got a women, on their arrival, immediately set full sniff of the steaming coon pot-pie SCRAP-BOOK. 97 which so sickened her that she had to probably not less than 2,000 deer iri his be taken off home which amused the In­ time. dians very much. Rev. Joseph Badger Some time later Rev. Joseph Badger Expert .Hunter and family, moved in from near the old Mr. Andrew Hutchinson, who, with "Missionary Station" and lived on the his father and brother were, as before farm now owned by M. B. TodcL Fath­ stated, the first settlers o*f the township, er Badger was a soldier in the Revolution­ is yet living (1883) at Milton Center, ary, war, chaplain in a regiment of Har­ and though 74 years old, told us a few rison's army in the war of 1812 and he days since that he had cleared 12 acres of was also present at the siege of Fort land the past year. Mr. Hutchinson when Meigs, near which place his ashes now young was one of the best hunters in repose (the Perrysburg cemetery). He northwestern Ohio. He supplied most was a man of deep piety, greatly respect­ of his pioneer neighbors with their meat ed by all, kind and generous, was never such as venison, turkeys and other wild known to refuse a favor, and would ren­ game, and they in turn would work on der assistance to an Indian or even a his farm to pay him for hunting; dog. The esteem in which he was held "Change works" it was called. He was can be aptly illustrated by the follow­ schooled in the art of hunting by the ing fact He was on principle opposed Indians, and hunted with them day after to hunting on the Sabbath, as was the day. In giving him instructions about custom of many of the hardy, careless hunting they would say: "White man pioneers. But'they knew Mr. Badger's hunt deer slow, go still. When see deer opposition .to the practice and if they watch him close. When deer look up, chanced to pass near his house on a Sab­ white man stop, stand straight; when get bath hunt they would always as a mat­ close take good aim, fire, and down come ter of respect to his feelings, leave the deer." He evidently followed their in­ road and go around his house in the structions well, as he said he had killed woods and thus escape his observation.

TINGE OF ROMANCE come west with a friend and while in this county became favorably impressed with it as a refuge for his family from The Story of Horace Cady—Why the Young the outside world and settled here in Frenchman, James Bloom, Came 1832 or '33. Leaving his family he is Wood started for South America with the hope of regaining his lost fortune. While on his way to Valparaiso, he HORACE CADY was an eastern man came across a dashing and spirited young and at one time quite wealthy. Frenchman of high parentage and wealth He lost heavily in a large speculation who was also on a tour of speculation- and as is always the case his position and in Lima, Peru. He became much at­ the prestige of his family among the tached to the young man and after they wealthy social .circles of the east dimin­ had been in South America some time, ished with his fortune. He chanced to Cady not making any advancement in 98 THE PIONEER

his project and the young Frenchman be the greatest enerriies of the early set­ losing heavily in his operations, they tlers were the- concluded to return to the United States and Cady invited his friend to accompany Ague and Mosquitoes him to his home iri this county, which Ask any old settler of Liberty to-day he did. about the mosquitoes and.he will tell The young Frenchman, with his high you the swamps along the Portage river ideas and aristocratic notions was not in those days bred the best specimens of favorably impressed with the country but mosquitoes the world ever saw. They what, was lacking in this was made up were of the Jumbo type, blessed with by the presence at Cad/s home of a fine long lives, powerful endurance and a looking and accomplished daughter to perseverance equaled only by the settlers whom he soon become greatly attached themselves. And as the latter sat around and in a short time married and settled their cabin homes on warm, pleasant for life in Liberty. The young French­ evenings, their only mode of protection man was James Bloom and the daughter, from the ravages of these little perse­ Harriet Cady, became Mrs. Harriet cutors would be to build a "smudge" arid Bloom. envelop themselves in the smoke arising Though this story may not be correct from the same, like a ham in a smoke jn every particular, it in main explains house. As a breeder of malarial com­ how Mr. Bloom came to reside in Liber­ plaints the Portage had an established ty. He was evidently never cut out for reputation. As soon as the summer and a farmer and the style of life he was fall months rolled past they would bring compelled to live, in the early days here, with them malarial fevers of the most failed to bring prosperity. He died dreaded type and ague iri all the stages about 1870 at an old age, and his re­ and forms known. Whole families would mains now lie in the Liberty township lie stricken down at one time and many cemetery. , of them died from the dread complaint. To tell how these first settlers toiled Dr. Eli Manville, father of the late Dr. to make comfortable homes of their A. J. Manville, was the fifsikdocto r to "farms in the wilderness" of the priva­ practice in this community and the way tions and hardships they endured, of their he fed quinine to his patients was a, cau­ great distance from family supplies, etc., tion, but he was a blessing to the com­ would be simply a repetition of what has munity, saved many lives and is grate­ been said of other localities. Two things, fully rememberedjjy his few surviving however, worthy of mention that used to patients of 70 years ago.—C. W. E.

MIAMI OF THE LAKE records recently, several copies of a Perrysburg newspaper came into view, called "Miami of the Lake." These cop­ A Paper Published at Perrysburg 72 Years ies were dated in March and April of Ago—Gleanings from Wood County's 1837—about 72 years ago. J. H. Mc- Oldest Newspaper Bride was the editor and publisher. The first page of these numbers is WRITING to the Wood County largely made up of literary matter, both Democrat, a correspondent gives prose and poetry. One article by Judge the following sketch of interest: Story is entitled, "What is to Become Rumaging through a trunk of old time of This Country?" He refers to the na- SCRAP-BOOK. 99 tions of the old world—to Greece, Rome, ant works of internal improvement in Italy, Venice, Genoa—one time republics, the state. In speaking of Hollister, the that have passed away. He closes in an editor says: "There has been a straight impassioned appeal in the following lan­ forward and honorable course adopted guage: and pursued by the representative from "I call upon you, fathers, by the shades this district, in all matters of legisla­ of your ancestors, by the dear ashes tion, which has received the approbation which repose in this precious soil; by all of political enemies as well as political you hope to be, resist every project of friends." disunion, resist every attempt to fetter In another editorial the condition of your conscience, or smother our public the Western Reserve Road is scored in schools, or extinguish your system of the severest language. Says the editor, public instrubtion." ^ "It is only those who have become stalled After proceeding at some length in in the mud, in endeavoring to work his appeal to the' fathers, the mothers their way through this Ohio Golgotha, and the young men of America, he thus that can draw a true picture of this concludes: ' ' stigmti upon the character of the state." "Life can never be too short, which Again he says: "Teams are not unfre- brings nothing.but disgrace and oppres­ quently five days in passing through this sion. Death never comes too soOn, if section of the road of thirty-one miles necessary, in defense of the liberties of in extent!" our country." From an editorial on the money panic In the number of April .5, 1837, an may be found the following: important discovery is announced—"the "One firm in New YOrk alone has paid greatest siice the days of Franklin.'' the enormous sum of $30,000, usury James P. Espy, Esq., has ascertained that money the past year." the weather is regulated by fixed, unal­ "The most wealthy and prudent firms terable laws—easily understood, so that are disheartened and ready to yield to the captain of a vessel'may. tell wheth­ the pressure of the times." er there is a storm raging anywhere with­ "The rich men are now made poor, in 500 miles of him, and how he may and. the poor made beggars." direct his course so as to avoid it. "Every man in the country is now The proceedings of the Ohio legisla­ made to suffer except the broker and tors in both the senate and house of re­ extortioner." presentatives are given at considerable "Every day matters grow worse, and length, occupying nearly a page. The as the exchanges are still becoming more paper is a four page folio, with six deranged, thick gloom and darkness rests columns to a page. upon the future." At the. head of the editorial columns Petitions froim many points were pre­ delinquent subscribers are stirred rip- sented to the Ohio Legislature for the money is needed, "badly needed." The construction of the Wabash and Erie panic of 1837 was then spreading over canal on the southeast side of the the country, and "the money market at Maumee river from Defiance to the lake, New York was hourly becoming more which location was never realized. alarming." In markets fresh beef and^ pork quoted Hon. John Hollister was the represent­ at 8 to 12c; butter 20 to 25c; eggs, 12 ative of this district, and the district em­ to 15c; flour, per bbl., $11.50'. braced nine northern counties, in which In the Perrysburg marine list arrivals was included some of the most import­ of vessels from March 30 to April 4, 100 THE PIONEER

were steamboats General Jackson and of the Board of Public Works advertises Oliver Newberry from Detroit, with pas­ that "sealed proposals will be received at sengers; steamboat Cincinnati from the town Of Maumee in Lucas county, Cleveland, with passengers; also schoon­ Ohio, on the 15th day of May, 1837, for er Delphos from Cleveland with pork, the construction of so much of" the line flour and merchandise. of the Wabash and Erie Canal, as lies During the same time the departures between the head of the Rapids of the were steamboats General Jackson and Maumee River and the eastern termina­ Cincinnati for Detroit, with passengers; tion of said Canal near the town of Man­ steamboat Oliver Newberry, for Cleve­ hattan, at the head of the Maumee land and Erie, with passengers, and the Bay." schooner Caroline, for Cleveland. Several advertisements appear from A. Hills, postmaster advertises nearly Detroit, Erie, Pa., and other places. 200 letters remaining in office April 1, The following are the legal firmswhos e 1837. cards appear under the head of "Law The fourth page is mostly devoted to Advertisements." advertisements. Henry Reed, jr., Horace Sessions, J. Chappel, sheriff, advertises a num­ Henry,Bennett, H. C. Stowel & J. D. ber of sales. . Brown, J. C. Spink & A. 0. Coffinbury, Some ten or twelve legal notices are Isaac Stetson and. Mason Brayman, the scattered through the paper. latter located in Buffalo. Independent voters are notified that There are many points of interest em­ John C. Smith is a candidate for Mayor. braced in this relic of two generations Among the merchants advertising ago, and not desiring to prove tedious their goods, Woodruff & Spafford, Rus­ with further detail, the foregoing is sell & Brigham, Beach & Bennett, J. probably sufficient to indicate the activi­ Hollister & Co., Doan & Earl, Oren ties of the first settlers and business men Clark and Spink & Smith. at Perrysburg and along the Maumee Jones & Tucker and Earl Brothers river.—F. J. O. advertise their stores at Waterville. Forwarding and Commission mer­ chants of Maumee and Perrysburg, com­ prise the following firms: John Hollis­ Some geologists are of the opinion that ter & Co., and Doan & Earl, of Perrys­ Lake Erie, at one time, extended west­ burg; J. J. Bingham, Forsyth & Hazard, ward as far as the source of the Mau­ Cook and Kirtland and J. A. Scott, of mee; citing as evidence the existence of Maumee. These firms publish their various "moraines" yet plainly visible in prices at length for storage, wharfage that vicinity. and commissions. D. Wilkison, Master, advertises that The first school house in the east part the steamer Commodore Perry will leave of Middleton township was a small log Buffalo every Monday evening for De­ building built by joint contributions of troit and Perrysburg. Will leave De­ the settlers on Section 24, in 1844, and troit every Thursday morning and Perrys­ Mrs, Amelius Robertson, who was then burg every Thursday afternoon for Buf­ Margery Frazier, just from Glasgow, falo. Scotland, was the first teacher. It was Charles Stoner offers six cents reward also for some years used as the first for a runaway apprentice. church for that community, until a so­ Leander Ransom, acting commissioner ciety was organized at Haskins. SCRAP-BOOK. 101

THE TOWN OF BENTON a saloon. The store house was moved and is now used as a barn at the stone house.. • Why It Was so Named-Samuel Ewing Killed The Hedges place has a strong claim for priority of settlement in Washing- •ton township, though our chronicler has THE town of Benton, one of the "has- in the recent sketch of the township, beens," was located a short given the preference to the Chris Gundy distance west of Tontogany>; and David farm located on by Michael Sypher in Hedges was its proprietor. It was laid the spring of 1830. out during the best days of Thomas Iri 1819 Samuel Ewing, father of An­ Benton, "Old Bullion" as he was called. thony Ewing, and of the late W. H. Ew­ Hedges was a Jackson Democrat, and a ing (Uncle Hank, near Hull's Prairie) great admirer of old "Tom," and named settled on this place, then called Wolf the town in his memory. Rapids. The building used as Hedges' store was moved away and was afterward used for a barn by Henry Nearing, on the Killed at Ruih-Te-Boo Hedges farm, owned by Morehouse heirs. Ewing lived here until 1823, when one Mrs. Gen. Commager, of Toledo, was a day while at Richardson's tavern at Rush- daughter of Hedges. The stone house te-boo, the same place where Porter shot on the place was built by him in 1834 or Richardson, Ewing and a man named '35. Mr. John Whitehead, now of Ton- French got into an altercation and togany, who had just come on from New French struck Ewing in such a manner Jersey, helped to do the carpenter work. as to dislocate his neck, killing him in­ The saw mill at this point did not stand stantly. French was imprisoned, on very long. charge of murder in the little log jail The ruins of the cellar under the store at Maumee and escaped one night and building is all the. vestige left of the town never was heard of after.—Sentinel, of Benton. It did riot even live to get 1888.

BATTLE OF GRAND RAPIDS our Indian wars occurred just where your little village of Gilead now stands. A company of U. S. troops, of which I was A Fierce and Savage Battle That Has Not one, was ordered from Defiance to Fort Figured Largely in the War Meigs. We passed down the north bank of 1812 of the river. About noon on a certain day, we came opposite the island that GEN. LIDA of the United States is in the river there. Our commander troops gave the following account chose this as a safe place to rest and eat of a fierce battle with the Indians in the dinner. About two hours were consumed war of 1812, on the site of the present in this way, and then we made prep­ village of Grand Rapids. It was not un­ arations to continue our journey. Equip­ til 45 years afterwards that he related ped as we were with the trappings of this account of that battle. He said: soldiers and the necessaries for an ex­ "One of the toughest and most hotly tended march our freedom of locomotion contested little battles ever fought in was not a little encumbered. We pro- 102 THE PIONEER ceeded to cross the Rapids to the south gained, In tike''maimer we must nave bank, but only a little over half the dis­ passed back and forth over the battle tance had. been accomplished) when, with­ ground five or six times during the af­ out a moment's warning, from the top ternoon. Each time we fell, back we of the bank and beautiful grove over were careful to carry our dead and the bottom froiu the river to the bluff wounded with" us—as far as possible—-to behind, belched forth a volley of musketry our rallying point below. wounding several of our men, but killing "On that hotly contested ground many none outright. The foes, of course, were met in hand to hand encounter, at short Indians, who appeared to be a host in intervals throughout the entire afternoon. number. They had been lying in close Amid the sharp crack of rifles came the concealment, but after the first discharge battle shout of the whites, the warhoop4 could be seen, and 1 remember, to me at of the savage, and the death yell! No least, every tree in the bottom seemed one can realize the horrible and blood­ to conceal an Indian. Wo promptly took curdling sensation produced by the death refuge under cover of the bank before yell of an Indian, except,, one who has they could load and fire again. The seen and heard for himself. The groans river bank here was bluffy and perhaps of wounded aud dying, and that green 15 feet in height. We found immediate bottom land grove, all this, comes up protection here from the eneiriy's fire, before me to-day, as vividly as they were and began making our way gradually produced in that battle on the lonely down the river to a ravine about 80 rods banks of the Maumee over forty-five distant, carrying our wounded with us. years ago, and I say again it was a bat­ "This ravine was a dense thicket Of tle well worthy of the name. I had brushwood and larger trees, while, from been in a dozen battles and skirmishes the high ground to the river was free before that, and several after, but none from brush; the trees were principally were as active and- tierce, in contest! 80 maple and made a beautiful looking tenacious and stubborn -in holding every grove, which for six hours we were com­ advantage, considering the number of pelled to turn into a bloody battle field. combatants engaged and length of time Before night the dead and dying had fought incessantly. The soldiers number­ been strewn from one end of the bottom ed about one hundred and twenty-five and to the other. As soon as we had suc­ of the Indians, no doubt, they "were double ceeded in establishing ourselves in the that many. The closing act in this forest shelter of the ravine, we began to.be tragedy occurred, as dusk was coming on, aggressive in our operations, forcing by our force driving the Indians to the our way up the bottom, keeping ourselves bluffs before mentioned. We then retired- in the. protection of every friendly1 cov­ to our ravine to watch the night through. ert afforded by thicket tree and hollow, The Indians did not follow us, and during and^compelled the savage foe to retire night for some reason, withdrew from the from place to place; driving them stead­ vicinity entirely, leaving us to bury our ily up the bottom until we reached » dead and go on our way unmolested." point about a hundred or more rods from In the course of narrating this bloody our place of starting, where two or three encounter, Gen. Lida became quite ab­ mound like knobs with ravines and sorbed with the memories of the past thickets furnished capital rallying points Evidently this incident of all others in for the Indians. Taking advantage of his life impressed him the most. He this they, with redoubled exertion, forced had been a soldier under Wayne and seen us back over all the ground we had much of Indian warfare. SCRAP-BOOK. 103

MERCER SETTLEMENT found it was caused by a flock of nearly Three Hundred Wild Turkeys v • That were fighting a terriblebattle . He Advent of Caleb Mercer—A Plucky Young­ said he had never seen such a sight in ster—Lost in the Woods—Tur­ his life, and it is probable that two key Fight strange flocks had come together, and the matter of chief gobbler was being de­ - V- cided. CALEB MERCER was the second of After dispersing the battle of turkeys the Mercer family to come to Wood he turned to find the trail he had left, •county, and arrived here at the age of but much to his dismay he was unable 19, in March 1834. He started out as to find it. He wandered about for some a mere boy'from his home in Columbiana time and soon became confused and lost. county, to seek his fortune in the wilder­ After a time he struck a creek, the; mean­ ness of western Ohio.' All he brought dering of which he aimlessly followed un­ with him was his "knapsack" and gun, til about dark, when the welcome sound and money enough to enter a small piece of a cow bell struck his ear. Following of land. He was nine days on his the sound he soon came upon a cow, and journey" of 200 miles; and spent his first near by perceived the blue smoke curling night in Wood county at the house of up from a cabin, which he, thinks must Ashael Powers, the first"settle r at the have stood near the Hancoek county .line. "forks" in Freedom township, and from Upon going to the little hut he found there went to his brother, George Mer­ a man and woman just preparing to cer, in Liberty, who had at this time abandon their home in the wilderness been here about a year. It is needless the next morning. Mercer asked for to say it'required pluck for a mere, boy something to eat and lodgriient for the to start out alone, oil foot} to,make a night, and was informed they hadn't "a long journey into an unknown and al­ bite in the house to eat" but that he most uninhabited- wilderness, through might remain over night, which he did. mud and water, 'and leave behind friends- The next morning he got his bearings, and relatives, to seek a home, in the and struck for Rome which he reached foreBt familiar only to the red man and that afternoon, when he got something to the. objects of his prey. eat, the first nourishment he had had Young Mercer immediately on his ar­ since his departure from Haskins* about rival located. land in Section 14, of Lib­ thirty hours before. From Rome he pro­ erty, and set out in a day or two, again ceeded to Buoyrus, entered his land and on foot, for Bucyrus, a distance of 60 returned to his brother's again on foot. miles, to enter the land^at the land Of­ It might be stated here, that Mr. Mercer fice. He left the house" of Collister Has­ traveled the road between Columbiana kins about 10 o'clock one cloudy March county and Wood county, a distance of day, intending to reach Fostoria, then 200 miles, on foot five times, and between, called Rome, that night. After -he had Bucyrus and here, GO miles, on foot six proceeded on his journey about five times. miles, by the way of an Indian trail lead­ The same spring, '34, he cleared five ing in a southeasterly direction, he heard acres'of land on his new farm and built a queer noise in the woods off to one side a cabin. The five acres he planted to of the trail, and being curious as to its corn and a small patch of potatoes. The cause, he- proceeded to investigate arid corn crop was devoured by the squirrels 104 THE PIONEER

and coon, but he managed to save a few drove through with them a herd of 40 potatoes. cattle, probably the largest riumber ever The following fall he went back to brought to the county up to that tune. Columbiana county for his father (Wm. They, however, had much difficulty in Mercer) and mother, who returned with keeping the cattle through that winter, him, accompanied by his sister Lucretia, a number of which strayed away and and brothers Abram and Charles. They never were found. Thus began the Mer­ all took up their abode in the cabin he cer settlement in Liberty^-G1. W. E. had built the previous spring. They

OIL IN WOOD COUNTY lees thaii hundreds of dollars per acre. One incident may suffice to show thisi One farmer who had a tract Of 50 acres, Brief Summary of Its History—Wood in the who would have gladly disposed of his Very Center of Oil Production farm at $50 an acre, declared he would not sell under $30,000 and he didn't care for that This is not an isolated MANY of the residents of this por­ instance, but there were many of the tion- of Ohio well remember the same kind. Such was the excitement at intense exciteinent twenty-five years ago that time that it was difficult to secure in the eighties upon the discovery of land at any price. Values went to a oil in Wood county. Peri cannot describe high level throughout the county, al­ the wild, feverish unrest and anxiety though in the passage of years, there has that prevailed among all citizens. In­ been a decline froiri the high standard of vestors and speculators were attracted to that period, yet they are maintained to­ the county by hundreds. It was the day day at a high level, when compared with of the gusher, While oil was struck in prices before the oil period, and that different counties in NortG^estern Ohio, high level is normal and will so continue. Wood county, in the. heart of the Black More than half Of the oil producers in Swamp proved to be the\"King Bee"— the Wood county field came from Penn­ the greatest oil producing county in the sylvania, experts in the business. They history of crude oil probably on the con­ not only came thpmselves, but brought tinent at that time. No county equaled their household goods, their families, and it then even in Pennsylvania. Oil was all the property they had; they have set­ found in no less than sixteen townships, tled in the towns; they have become per­ indicating that hundreds of feet beneath manent residents and tax payers; they us was a vast lake of oil. are helping build up the towns and a/e In those days Bloom, Henry, Liberty, increasing the duplicates with refineries, Portage and Jackson townships were re­ their pipe lines and all of their property, garded as gusher territory, while remark­ which would not be there a moment if it able producers were also found in Plain, were not for the oil development They Middleton, Montgomery, Freedom and have added to the wealth of ®e state— Perry townships. Prices for land went it is difficult to say how much, but an skyward. Farms that previously could cx-auditor of Wood claims that in this have been purchased for $10 to $25 and county alone these producers increase J50 an acre, could riot be touched, for the value on the tax duplicate of more SCRAP-BOOK. 105

than five million dollars, more than that one gusher gave 600 barrels.. Nearly a of any other property or interest in the score of wells drilled in 1891 yielded county. 7,300 barrels. In 1892 twenty gushers There were in those early days many yielded 36,600 barrels. In 1893 there gushers. One developed at Hammans- Were recorded 22 gushers yielding 16,000 brirg in Deceinber of 1886 will suffice as barrels. In 1894 four gushers yielded a sample of those spouters. William 3,300 barrels. Several gushers were re­ Carothers, an experienced driller, had the corded in 1895 yielding 4,000 barrels. contract for sinking the well and the Other gushers were recorded in the work was in charge of C. Ash. They years 1896, 1897 and 1898> yielding an drilled 400 feet through lime stone and average of 500 barrels each. In 1901: 770 feet through slate, At this point a 1,200 barrel producer was drilled in they struck the Trenton rock, and said Liberty township. These figures are Mr. Ash, "we drilled in this awhile and taken from the oil reports as given in had about given up getting anything. the newspapers at that time. Hundreds We were losing hope every minute and of other gushers too numerous to men­ Monday afternoon, the 6th, at 5 o'clock, tion were completed throughout Wood we were just 30 feet in the Trenton when county, making it one jpf the wealthiest we heard a noise in the well which began counties in the Btate. '". to fill. We stopped- the drill and were Since then the oil -industry has con­ hardly out of the way when the oil spout­ tinued to be a paying one. Here is ed up over the derrick and 85 feet in the what an old oil expert sa)-s with regard air. We quickly put .the fire out under to the future of Wood county: "With the boiler and withdrew from the field. the richest land, with inexhaustible soil, The flow was so continuous that we were with a county agriculturally standing at not able to get our tools out until Thurs­ the head, and add to it the natural gas day. advantages which,is bound to bring man­ A representative of the Spntinel visit­ ufacturing, and oil" with the attendant ed the gusher when it had been flowing business outgrowing therefrom—I say, for four days at intervals averaging about with all these things taken into consider­ 18 minutes, and he says it seemed sure­ ation, I know of no spot in America with ly that if there was one there were-4,000 a brighter future. Real estate in any barrels of oil running on the ground. A event is bound to boom and good results wagon path in the woods was nearly a •follow from what has alreadv 'taken foot-deep in oil, which run each way for place." many rods from the well. A half acre of land Avas covered with it, and a man walking a log made a misstep onto the ground and went over his boot top. The derrick and surrounding trees were drip­ The earliest tradition has it that at ping With the crude material and the one tinre there was a continuous water men at work were covered with it route from the Lakes to the Mississippi, This was the first well of any import­ navigable for canoes with the exception ance drilled in the county, and in 1887 of a "portage" about nine miles across four gushers. were completed, yielding at the head of the Maumee, and that this 1,200, 4,800, 1,500 and 800 barrels re­ "portage" was owned or controlled by spectively. Two gushers in 1888 gaVe an Indian woman who exacted tribute 3,000 and 1,250 barrels. Eight gushers for all goods that were transferred across in 1889 yielded 27,100 barrels. In 1890 it. 106 THE PIONEER

EARLY SCHOOL DAYS time, probably, waB devoted to spelling exercises, and in addition, at least one night of each week was devoted to what The "Little Red School House" of the Past was known as. spelling matches; These —The Enjoyment of Spelling Matches were attended by the best spellers from the neighboring schools. The highest ambition of the pupil was to be the best MANY there are who may yet re­ speller in school. member something of the educa­ In an address on those early days, tional facilities sixty or serenty years the late Gov. Foster says that he is per­ ago. Then: they knew nothing Of the fectly safe in saying thai he attended grades in schools. The settlers were few spelling school three nighfe-'out of a in number, their wants were few and week, during the three months of school these were bountifully supplied. The for several\ years—visiting alternately benches were crude, seats had no backs, three different school houses. He believ­ and yet there was little or no complaint, ed that his sister, Emily, was the best as^ they knew of nothing better in the speller of all, and she was rader twelve way of conveniences. Pupils were com­ 'years Of age. The larger scholars used pelled to trudge through brush and mud to carry her on 'their backs as they went and cold from one to-three miles or to the different schools on foot, the only more. Way of going to these meetings.\ The The average wage paid to the teacher (jovernor relates'this inciderit in his boy­ then was $10 a month of 26 days, and hood school days, "I remember Of go­ three months was about the limit of the ing one night, to the Kiser school house, contract. Included probably in the con­ through the woods the most of the way, tract was that of "boarding 'round," as and alone, to attend a spelling match. was the custom in those days. I broke through the ice, and was wet up ' One of the customs of that time was to my knees when I reached the place; to bar the school master out of the yet I do not think I ever .felt better re­ house, and keep him out until he yielded paid for a day's work than I did over to the demands of the scholars 'to treat my success on that occasion, for I spelled them to apples, candies, raisins, or such down the entire school." luxuries as could then be had. Those good old days are only reminis­ Gov. Foster in speaking of those early cences now in the dim and distant past. days, himself a' teacher in that early "Good old days" may be said deliberate­ day, says that James Pillars, who after­ ly and seriously without exaggeration, wards graced the bench for ten years, for it is very doubtful if any of the as the Common Pleas Judge of this judi­ pupils of the present day experience more cial district, when a young man contract­ delight and genuine pleasure in any ed to teach a school for ten dollars per equal number of days at the present time. monjtii, of twenty-six days; one-half to be pajid-in cash, and the other half in provisions. In those days the great feature of our schools was the attention given to spell­ At the meeting of the Coirimissioners, ing. It is seriously doubted whether the May 5, 1820, Attorney McOurdy present-, schools of the preserit day can produce ed an order of. Court for $20, his com­ so much excellence in spelling as did pensation as prosecuting attorney, of those of that day. One-fourth of the Wood county, for the May term of 1820. SCRAP-BOOK. 107

HENRY DUBBS Rapids, and SaprfT, who married Daniel Barton of Milton township. Mr. Irabbs and his son Lewis, were tanners by trade and'soon .after their ar­ One of the Early Settlers of Liberty—With rival built a tannery on their lands, His Son Lewis Built a Tannery. probably the first in the county* and did a large and successful business. Lewis Dubbs was Justice of the Peace HENRY DUBBS was the firstsettle r in Liberty for 27 years. He was prom­ in the west part of Liberty town­ inent in advancing the best interests of ship. He came from Ashland county and the early settlement and a leader in'pub­ entered the lafid upon which he built his lic improvements; educated* kind and home. He had one son Lewis, now de­ generous, and his name is remembered ceased, and two daughters, Ann, who with respect by those who know him.r- married Ebenezer Donaldson of Grand C. W. E. ft. 11

MAIL ROUTE whom were Indians and with whom he built up a large fur trade. Thus it will be seen that Haskins was Established in 1829 Between Perrysburg and not only the first resident of Liberty Bellefontaine township, but also established the first store in Portage and might be called the AS this northwestern part of Ohio founder of the onjy village in Liberty began to be opened up a mail route township. This store was probably the was established on March 12, 1829, be­ third regular trading point started in tween Perrysburg and Bellefontaine, and Wood bounty, others being at Perrysburg the first post office in the interior of and Grand Rapids, Wood county was located where Portage The first inail .carrier on the route now is, with Collister Haskins for .post­ above mentioned was James Gordon who master. Soon after this Haskins built a carried the mail on horseback, made one log store on the south bank of the Port­ trip a week each way and usually arrived age river and stocked it with goods best at Haskins at noon where he took his adapted to his customers, a majority of dinner.-^C. W. E.

INDIAN SKELETON dUne, on the north side of Keeler prairie, known- to the early settlers by the., Indian name of Shut-nOk. Exhumed Over Thirty Years Ago—Somewhat In the Sentinel Mr. Evers says this of a Mystery ThatlMay Never skeleton is supposed to be the remains Be Solved of an Indian, or some other human of giant stature. He had been buried with his head to the west. Between his legs IN the spring of 1879, a skeleton was sat a two gallon brass kettle in a good exhumed five miles west of Bowling state of preservation excepting the bot­ Green, by brick yard men, who were en­ tom, which is partially gone. Inside this gaged in excavating sand for their yard kettle set a small iron kettle which is on the top of a somewhat noted sand nearly consumed by rust, except the bail. 108 THE PIONEER

Near the side of the skeleton lay a rust- others who have been led to believe this eaten tomahawk, scalping knife and a spot was the burial place of a chief flint steel for lighting fire, also a stone whose name it bore. But why a chief smoke pipe. The bones, of which but or any other influential man in his tribe few if any are missing, even to the toe should be buried in this theri lonely and finger bones, are in an excellent state place when the burial ground was only of preservation and indicate by their size a few miles away on the Maumee, we that they were once the mechanism of cannot understand. a powerful man. The skull on which There is another story that comes to still clings some frizzy substance like us more directly, from an early chronicler, hair, is one which phrenologists would who was once connected with the Indian say indicated the Indian to have been no mission at the Station Island. He states common fellow in his tribe. It is a that the Indians avoided the place under well-shaped, large skull for an Indian, the. superstitious belief that the Great though the prominent cheek bones and Spirit had set its seal of displeasure— low forehead are distinctly- recognizable. a curse upon the place for some sin com­ The fellow had, in his day, an excellent mitted by his children,, the secret of set of teeth-—Bmall, sound and evenly which was hidden beneath the grassy sur- set, though well worn and only two fsfce of the mound. ' missing out of the two and thirty. One arm had, in his lifetime, been broken and An Indian Legend the bone had knit together very clumsily, In this connection a story is circulated deforming the arm by a great bulge and that the chief Tondoganie had a daugh­ crook. In the back of his skull is a ter either his own or an adopted daugh­ small hoUv but whether this hole had ter—a beautiful girl who was loved by anything to do with his taking off, is an a young Indian of the Shawanee tribe, uncertainty. and of noble birth, but whose tribe had Mr. Avery says fronl the best informa­ dwindled down to only a fragment, so tion he can get from the old settlers, that he had lost his greatness in the eyes the grave has been there not less 'than of the chief Tondoganie, who looked up­ 45 years, that is, no burial has taken on him with disfavor. The young In­ place there since the neighborhood was dian's love was reciprocated by the girl, settled. He also thinks that the grave and was a secret between them. Her was not less than four feet deep original­ lover's home was at Sandusky plains ly, something not usual in Indian burials. along with the great chief Black Hoof or Tarhe, but he often made visits to Avoided by Indians the Maumee ostensibly to fish, but for Shut-nok, on which this grave was no other purpose than to see the dark found, is, or was before its surface was eyed maiden. This secret love was de­ disturbed by the plow, the highest sand tected by the quick perceptions of the mound in Wood county. How it came chief, and with flashing eye and angry to bear this name, none of the old set­ voice, he pointed the young man to the tlers seem to know, though the belief plains and told.him to GO and never has been current and has been handed return. Both the lovers knew the penal­ down from generation to generation that ty of disobeying. it bore the name of a chief of one of The girl secretly stole away and fol­ the fragmentary tribes inhabiting the lowed her lover in the direction of his Maumee country after Anthony Wayne home until they reached a high inound, broke their power in 1794. There are the highest perhaps in the county, on the SCRAP-BOOK. 109

north side of "what is now known as the by the name of Shut-nok> said to be the Keeler Prairie, when she bade him fare­ name of tbe girl. well, and watched his receding form un­ The same authority for the above ac­ til he passed from heir sight forever. count, stated that Tondoganie's anger The heart broken girl returned to her was such because of the love of the girl father's wigwam, but fell into a despond­ against his wish, that he called upon ent state of mind arid could not be some of the young men of his band to roused. She would be missed at times rid him of the cause. These young men for days and nights together, and some stealthily dogged the movements of the of Tondoganie's runners reported to him girl until they discovered the place where that she was wont to stand on the high she met her" lover, whom they waylaid, mound looking to the south chanting a murdered and buried in the mound, and mournful song. Finally she was missed on the final disappearance of the girl and came back no more and ajgtpersti- the chief forbid his tribe from visiting tion prevailed that in the darkness of the place which only brought him memor­ night the figure of an Indian girl with ies of remorse and sorrow. her blanket about her shoulders, could Such is one of the stories handed be seen on the mound and that strange down from mouth to ear and which may sounds as of some one singing a funeral have lost many details of what was a dirge could be heard echoing in the grove tragic romance, or it may, as is often below. The mound has ever since gone the case, have gained much by repetition.

A FIERCE BATTLE Lawrence, Jackson, and marched to the foot of the rapids of the Maumee river. From Urbana they followed Hull's trail. Fought in the Fall of 1812 on the Ground As they approached the river the Indians Which Perrysburg Now Occupies appeared on the opposite bank. Tupper endeavored to cross the river in the night, but owing to the rapid current IT may not be generally known that and the inexperience of his men, he failed the site of the present town of Perrys­ and went into camp on the ground where burg was once the scene of a fierce battle Perrysburg now stands. The enemy soon between the Indians and Americans, but after collected a superior force, and at­ such is the fact. The news of the tacked him in his camp but after a short, cowardly surrender of Gen. Hull at De­ sharp engagement, they were defeated troit in August, 1812, spread like the with considerable loss and returned to wind throughout Ohio, and struck the Detroit The Americans fell back on frontier settlers with dismay. It aroused Fort McArthur. the people from their lethargy, and showed the government the' necessity of greater activity and stall in the conduct of the war. In the fall of 1812, General In 1701 Cadillac, with a Jesuit mis­ Tupper, of Gallia county, raised 1,000 sionary and 100 men, laid the founda­ men, mainly from the counties of Gallia, tion of Detroit, naming it Ponchartrain. 110 THE PIONEER

THE DREAD CHOLERA settlers. He located about two miles south of Mill Grove. A very large wal­ nut stump served him for a laboratory, Dr. Kinnaman, First Practicing Physician in drug repository and general reception Perry—Rude Tools for Surgical room. He laid out a town at this poirit Operation and named it Royalton, but it died in its infancy shortly after the demise of its founder. IN October, 1835, says a correspondent Dr. Kinnaman's patients were scatter­ of the Sentinel in 1877, 0. Diver en-N ed over the entire southern part of the tercd 80 acres one-half mile south of ^bunty> and his indefatigability in riding Mill Grove, this being undoubtedly the Ws wonderful and denoted a man of last entry near Mill Grove. iron nerve. Many times in riding he About this time the cholera made its would cut down a tree, hitch his horse appearance at Rome (now Fostoria) and to. one of its branches and let him browse Risdon in Seneca county, but few died. until his patient was out of dariger, often However, its advent sent terror to the from eight to ten hours. v hearts of the settlers in Perry, who with The foUowing is .an instance of this or without—for they were often without man's nerve and ability in his profession. —qUinine^could battle the "shakes" from Swane a settler of Perry was hurt by July to late in September, and without the falling of a tree. In a few days it a physician would successfully cope with was found necessary to amputate the leg. the malarial fevers that followed. Dr. Kinnaman was sent for and arrived.' Cholera, however, the very word itself Without any assistance and with no made the boldest quake. Dr. John surgical implements but a razor and old Kinnaman a graduate of Philadelphia saw, the Doctor amputated the limb neat­ College was the first practicing physic­ ly and speedily, and the man got well. ian. He was a young man highly edu­ Dr. Kinnaman died in '38 a victim of cated and a lover of his profession. ,His excessive attention to medical study and coming was hailed with delight by the overwork.

PASSED AWAY grounds and space for the young warrior to practice himself in imaginary battles to improve his skill in an art which A Once Powerful Tribe That Enjoyed a fortunately, he has never since had an op­ Happy Life Close to Nature portunity to practice. The river and creek furnished them THE first settlers of Washington with fish, and on the flowery banks they township, found here the remnants .passed a happy, indolent life. They of a once powerful tribe of Indians. were the remnants of a race whjch ac­ Their old men and warriors had listened cording to the laws of nature, had hadf< to the counsels and obeyed the commands its time on earth, and in obedience to' of their great Chief. Tondoganie. Their that inexorable law, they were fast yield­ wigwams were in the belt of timber which ing to those who were to succeed them skirted the river; and the broad prairie and here they lived to meet and Bee the which has become so fertile under skill­ mighty race of men who were to take ful cultivation, afforded them hunting their places. For ages they have lived SCRAP-BOOK. Ill

on the bounties of nature without mak­ nest in imitation of the parent bird. ing her any return. Their time had come; their race was They were a race governed by instinct; doomed; and here on the banks of this they made no advance in agriculture, beautiful stream, where the dark eyed commerce or the arts. The son made Indian maiden had taught the young his canoe and armed himself with the chief to love her, a fairer maiden was bow and arrow as his father had done, to take her place and by the graces of as mechanically and with as little im­ a purer virtue, teach a noble heart to provement as the young robin builds its love her.

A SUMMER OF GLOOM following there were 117 deaths—at least that is the number buried in Fort Meigs cemetery, and there may have been many When Northern Ohio and Indiana Suffered— more. Among that number are included The Cholera Scourge in Perrysburg Albert D. Wright, editor of the North­ In 1854 western Democrat, Dr. James Robertson, Dr. Frederick, Jarvis Spafford, John J. OLDER citizens will undoubtedly re­ Spink, and many others. The deaths member the fatal summer of 1851. were startling in their suddenness and It was indeed a summer of sorrow and sadness. The epidemic was one of great gloom. This was not only true of virulence. So great were the ravages ipf Northern Ohio, but of Northern Indiana this terriblevisitatio n at that place, that as well. Not a village between Buffalo it put a check upon business of every and Chicago that did not furnish its kind, no paper was issued and no other quota of suffering and death from the business transacted for seven weeks or malarial poison that impregnated the longer, excepting that of caring for the very atmosphere, spreading intermittent sick and the burial of the dead. In­ and typhoid fevers, as well as that dread­ cluded among those who passed away ed scourge, cholera. These afflictions were some of the most active business became epidemic, and in some localities men of the place. Dr. E. D. Peck and there were not enough persons well Dr. James Robertson were on duty night to take care of the sick. and day, the latter falling a victim to Take Goshen, Indiana, population the scourge in the very midst of his 1,500 then. For two months there was strenuous labors. Two-thirds of the res­ a funeral daily, sometimes two or three. idents fled from the town, leaving a Not a family escaped affliction. Two comparative few to fight the dread epi­ cabinet shops were busy night and day demic. Among those noble men and making coffins, and physicians had women, aside from the physicians may mighty, little rest-from their strenuous be mentioned Joshua Chappel, Seth labors. Bruce, N. H. Callard, Mrs. A. E. Fred­ Probably no town suffered like Perrys­ erick and Mrs. Amelia Perrin, who were burg. The scourge started, it seems volunteer nurses during the terrible from a ball that was held on the night calamity. There may have been a few of the 4th of July, when the first others, but we have not their names. case of cholera made its appearance, and All these have passed away, but they from that time until, the 19th of August nobly performed their duty during their 112 THE PIONEER

life's span. Perrysburg was indeed "a died alone, a young man who had a room deserted village." Grand Rapids fared in a tenement house. He breathed his but little better, with a score or more last before the return* of his attendant, of 'cases and a number of deaths, the who had gone for medicine. The women disease beginning like Perrysburg at a were patient and heroic in their care for 4th of July ball. Never perhaps in the the sick, and there were brave, noble history of the cholera were its ravages men who remained and stood beside so fatal as in Perrysburg, and never did them in the terrible conflict. the few who remained meet death with The physical condition of the inhabi­ more resolution or endure suffering with tants, reduced by fever and ague, and greater fortitude. their systems poisoned by well water Seth Bruce made coffins in the hall rather than by miasmatic exhalations, of the log court house and no victim left them an easy prey to the ravages of was buried without a coffin being furnish­ this sweeping epidemic. ed. Only one person of all that number

WOOD COUNTY FAIRS organization of a County Agricultural Society should originate there. On the 26th day of April, 1851, a meeting of A Grand Feature of the County's Prosperity the farmers and mechanics of the town­ —Origin and/History of These ship was held> 1ft which David Creps Exhibitions presided and H. H. Pain acted as Sec-. retary. The object of the movement was THERE is no question of the fact stated to be the promotion of the inter­ that much of the superiority of ests of farmers and mechanics, and it the agricultural products of Wood coun­ was decided to call a mass meeting of ty has been due to the stimulating in­ the people of the county at Bowling fluences exerted by the Agricultural So­ Green, on the second Monday of June, ciety. It has lifted the science of agri­ 1851. culture to a higher plane. It has In addition to the President and Se­ brought forth observation, comparison, cretary, the following citizens of Middk- thought and efforts on the part of the ton township signed the call for the fanner as well as those interested in mass meeting, viz; David Whitney, mechanics and arts. Each one learn3 Henry Sarvis, Henry Hood, James Mc- something of value from a competitor, Ginness, Francis E. Meagley, Patrick while it is apparent that there has been Mclsaac, Robert Clark, Wm. Ewing, much of benefit from the results Of com­ John Hood and Martin Byers. The call bined effort was subsequently signed by the following The following account of its early persons: E. Huntington, John Bates, origin and history is taken from the John Brownsberger, David Ladd, J. premium list published in 1877: Spafford, James Hood, Asher Cook, Middleton, township, at an early period James Hall, John Groves, Joseph A. in the history of the county, contained Creps, Gabriel Yount, Henry Crook, L. a number of intelligent and enterprising Fi Robertson, Amelius Robertson, James citizens. In these respects, it surpassed W. Frazer, and John Taylor. any other township in the county, and it On the 9th of June, the people con­ was natural that the movement for the vened at the Methodist Meeting House, SCRAP-BOOK. 113 in Bowling Green,, when Emelius Wood John McMahan; Vice-President W. R. was chosen chairman and Asher Cook Peck; Recording Secretary, E. Elliott; Secretary. J. R. Tracy, Henry Hood, Corresponding Secretary, George Powers; Patrick Mclsaac, James Bloom and Geo., Treasurer, John Bates; Managers, Benj. Powers, were appointed a committee to Olney, TJavid Ladd, Edwin Gorton, draft a constitution for the Wood County Henry Hood and John Groves. Agricultural Society, David Whitney, Aside from the fact that a meeting John Bates, N. D. Blinn and S. W. St was held on the 26th of July, 1851, to John were appointed a committee, to arrange for holding the 'first Fair, and nominate officers for the following year. also the fact that the Fair for 1852 is Thomas Jolly, L. C. Lock, and Henry designated as the "second Fair," there Groves, were appointed a committee to is no recorded evidence that a Fair was "procure suitable persons to address the held in 1851, nor is there any record meeting and explain the objects of ihe of the place where it was held, though contemplated organization." In the after­ probably the first County Fair was held noon, in response to the request of the at Bowling Green. last named committee, the meeting was The foregoing facts respecting the or­ addressed by Messrs. Elliott, Cook and ganization of the Society are quite com- Bloom. The committee for that purpose 1 plete, except the almost total omission reported a constitution, made up of 12 of reference to the first Fair, in which articles, which was adopted and signed the people of to-day would feel a lively by 56 persons, who became members of interest. Subsequent Fairs were ignored the society. by the Society's secretaries with equal Then a series of by-laws were adopted. care, and the points of real interest are The following persons were appointed a thus largely omitted. The'second Fair committee in each township to collect was held at Perrysburg, the third was statistical information to be reported to held at Bowling Green, the fourth and the Secretary of the Society: fifth at Portageville, and the sixth and Perrysburg—N. D. Blinn, Asher Cook seventh at Bowling Green. At the and James Hood. seventh annual meeting of the Society, Middleton—D. Whitney, Henry Sarvis the board elected for the ensuing year and Patrick Mclsaac. was authorized to "procure suitable Washington—Martin Warner, Jr., John grounds for the Annual Fair and per­ Bamber and Geo. Warner. manently locate the same." Weston—B. Bassett, S. Jefferson and At a meeting held in July, 1858, a Benj. Olney. vote was taken upon the permanent loca­ Liberty—James Bloom, Henry Groves tion of the Fair, when Bowling Green and John 0. Wooster. received five votes and Portageville .two Plain—S, W. St. John^ Nathan Min­ votes. The next Fair was held at Bowl­ ton and J. R. Tracy, ing Green, but the permanent location of Center—L. C. Lock, Lee Moore and the Fair was not satisfactory to rival Henry Shively. villages. Portageville inaugurated an in­ Portage—Collister Haskins. dependent Fair, and in 1860 the County Bloom—E. Gorton. Society held their Fair at Perrysburg. This was an important work, but there Subsequently, perhaps in 1865 or is no evidence that any of the commit­ 1866, the Society purchased grounds at tees* were ever heard from in an1 official Tontogany and permanently located the capacity. The following officers were Fair at that point This result grew chosen for the ensuing year: President, out of the county seat contest and is 114 THE PIONEER

understood to have been brought about that first Fair here years ago is behind by Perrysburg in the hope that it might to-day.—G. W. E. result to the disadvantage of Bowling Green. The latter village naturally felt resentful and organized an Independent Society, but it proved a losing operation AN HISTORICAL CRISIS and was soon abandoned. The importance of the victory at Ft. Space will not permit further record Meigs to the nation is thus summarized of the Society's history here, but it may by a pioneer chronicler of the times: not be improper to mention the fact that As a pivotal point in the war of 1812, the fairs of Wood county have compared no battle was of greater importance than favorably with any exhibitions of a simi­ the battle of Ft. Meigs. Had Gen. Har­ lar character in the state. With the rison been compelled to surrender, the richest of soil in the hands of intelligent battle of. the Thames would never have and enterprising farmers, the products "been won. Perry's conflict on Lake Erie of Wood county have excited the pride would never have been fought, the whole of citizens of the county and command­ Northwest would have been in the hands ed the admiration of strangers. At state of the British and Indians, and the fairs, Wood county has carried off her frontiers along the whole continent would , full share of premiums, and seldom fails not have been safe' for an hour against in a competition with other localities the attacks of the wily savages. Gen. where she has a fair chance. Jackson - might have been defeated at Further Growth New Orleans, the British under Prevost In addition to this pieee of ancient arid Ross might have 'won at Ogdens- history it may be said that this Society burg, or captured Baltimore. Gen. has grown and expanded with -the years Brown and Gen. Scott might have lost and its exhibitions hold their own in Lundy's Lane, and still the defeats would popularity and are visited by hundreds have left the nation-safe. But the cap­ throughout the "State. It stands in the ture of Ft. Meigs by Gen. Proctor would van. of all similar exhibitions in'North­ have lighted the torch all over the North­ western Ohio. west. It would have made the British Within a few years past the needle masters of Michigan, Ohio, Indiana, Hl- work, art and educational exhibits have inois and Kentucky. It would have en­ proVen to be a strong feature and have abled the allies to push on to the foot attracted the interests of thousands of of the Alleghanies and even the Easterfi visitors. The erection of buildings and states would npt have been proof against other equipment are added from'year to the attacks of Proctor and Ms savages. year/and this expansion can not fail to Fort Meigs is indeed historic ground. give added interest to all classes of our people, and thus keep pace with the pro­ gress and prosperity of all. Under the Hull's trace through Wood county was stimulup of the great and instructive ex­ designated many years ago by the dis­ hibitions, such as have been given, new covery of a large pile of gun barrels, ideas are brought out new* sciences de­ locks; ilmts and bayonets near - Portage. veloped and better and more profitable The discovery was made by a little girl methods learned, and we will go on in in search o'f^cows. At another time the the march of progress until we of to-day entire.iron work of an army wagon was will be as far behind in comparison as found near the same place. SCRAP-BOOK. 115

THE MAUMEE PIONEERS

Written by Mrs. Kate B. Sherwood for the Reunion of the Maumee Valley Pioneers, Held in Toledo, February 22,1880, and Recited by Mrs. Elisabeth Mansfield Irving

Come, friends, around this festal board, Our feet are on historic ground. Where peace and plenty smile The very streets we tread Arid memories in each bosom stored Re-echo to a solemn sound Are quickening thev while; Above the shroudless dead. Come, let your hearts go back again, Now French, now British we define, With more of joy than tears, Now red ally appears,— Unto that sturdy race of men, * They form a vast and shadowy line, The Maumee Pioneers. The Maumee Pioneers.

Let others tell the tales of Dee, Here sleeps the braves of Pontiac, The Danube and the Don, There Harmar's hosts go down, The Rhine that ripples to the sea, And bold "Mad Anthony" brings back The Iser rolling on;— The knights of old renown; New England's glades and palisades, There Harrison's battalions glance Virginia's vaunted years,— Along the burnt frontiers, We'll tell of sturdier men and maids, And in the trail of arms advance The Maumee Pioneers. The Maumee Pioneers.

We'll tell how came the brave La Salle, Fort Meigs and Fort Miami show Two hundred years ago, A sweet and solemn truce, To list St. Mary's madrigal, And old Fort Industry I trow Responsive to St. Joe; Has met a nobler use; To speak the vows that woke the trance So we above our levelled graves, Of long unfruitful years, \ Across the-flood of years, And give to Frontenac and France J May name with once dishonored braves The Maumee Pioneers. The Maumee Pioneers. Of Couthemanche whose lonely fort For valor's not of any race, A century before, And right of grace has none, Stood guard where Fort Miami's port If Wayne is given a hero's place, Heard British cannon roar; Tecumsehfs fame is won;- How stripped Perrot the faggot sees If Wells be praised for warlike deeds Flash through Miami's jeers, That wring the heart With tears, 'Till save the swift Outagamis, Then Simon Girtv's fealty lends The Maumee Pioneers. The Maumee Pioneers. I mind me in those bloody days The days of bow and spear are fled, Of Foxes, Sacs and Sioux, Of tent and bark tepee, Of Miamis and Ottawas, The'ax is ringing iri their stead, And Iroquois and Pous, The woodman zones his tree; An Indian woman 'tis we see And where the Indian village stood Before her Priest in tears; The cabin chinked appears, Her prayers have saved from massacre And white-haired children scour the wood,— The Maumee Pioneerq. The Maumee Pioneers. 116 THE PIONEER

They fight no barbed and painted foe, The wind is up, the sails are spread, They run no gauntlet where The gales of traffic blow; The Indian tomahawk is slow .The Yankee comes with level head, A captured foe to spare; The Teuton sure and slow; They fly no cruel massacre The thrifty Scot, the Irish true,— Of plundering buccaneers; And Quaker grace appears But deadlier foes they stricken see, A wholesome leaven running through The Maumee Pioneers. The Maumee Pioneers.

They fought the famine and the cold, 0 free born sires! from whom there runs They conquered fieldan d flood, A tide of valor through They drove the murrain from the fold, The hearts of sons' remotest sons! The fever from the blood; 0 wives, and daughters true I— Their triumphs blossom in the vales, Who toil and spin, and spin and pray, And blush along the piers, And hiding homesick tears And fleck the lake with snowy sails, Keep heart and hope that crown to-day The Maumee Pioneers. The Maumee Pioneers I

Blow soft above their lowly grave, 0 North wind swift and keen I And South wind that the lily waves Keep aye their grasses green! 0 Spirit of the Centuries I Blow on his heart who hears, And wake to fragrant memories The Maumee Pioneers!

and the arm of the sentry been more BUT THE SHOT MISSED steady a vast amount of bloodshed and On a clear, bright morning, in the cruelty might have been averted, for that early spring of 1813, writes a pioneer Indian chief was the notorious Tecum­ chronicler, Gen. Harrison was standing seh, his companion—the hated Proctor. on the earth works of Ft Meigs. As he stood there his eye rested on scenes which have since become famous in the history of the state and nation. In the clear sunlight every foot of ground for At One time during the siege of Fort miles around was visible. At his feet Meigs the ammunition was nearly all flowed the rapids and to the southward gone, and Gen, Harrison offered a gill of the river was lost behind the hills. For­ whisky to any man who would bring in ests stretched away in every direction. a cannon ball from outside the fort. The Through an opening among the trees an soldiers kept a score to see who would Indian chief and a companion were seen. bring in the most and in this manner A sentry fired and the parties disap­ cannon balls were obtained only to tljrow peared. ' Had the aim been more true them over at the British batteries.

SCRAP-BOOK. 119

COL. SELDEN A. DAY successful inventor of a series of military and scientific appliances. Mr. Day chanced to be the firstoffice r This Young Officer of the U. S. Artillery of the^prison guard at Fort Monroe, when Jefferson Davis was brought there Had Charge of Jefferson Davis a prisoner after the close of the war. at Fort Monroe Notwithstanding the account of Ben Per­ ky Poore of the distinguished prisoner being put in irons, the experience of Col. GOLONEL SELDEN ALLEN DAY Day, while he was in charge of Mr. and his talented wife, Helen H. Davis, shows that the prisoner was of a Gardener, will be remembered by many most tractable and gentlemanly disposi­ of the citizens of Bowling Green, as they tion. Here are extracts from a letter visited Wood county several years since, written by Colonel Day in February, when the accomplished lady gave a lec­ 1890, from Fort Schuyler, New York: ture. As writer, author and speaker, she is widely known on account of the many Day's Letter books she has published of a semi-medical An article ii!"1i New York paper head­ nature along the line of heredity. They ed "Grateful to his Guard," alludes to are written in such form and language kindness on my part to the distinguished as to make them understood and appre­ prisoner, the late Jefferson Davis, while ciated by the general reader. Her suc­ he was confined at Fort Monroe. While cess is demonstrated by the fact that the I did my duty as best I could I disclaim products of her pen, put out partly as now, as I did then, the idea of kindness fiction, occupy the reference shelves of in doing what any man ought to have Cornell university and other scientific done for another whom the fortunes of libraries of national reputation. All this war had placed in his keeping. The has required much earnest study on the kindness in the case was rather the other part of thi§. earnest writer, to whose work way. Although I had seen four years is attached more than a literary value. of solid war, I was still a youngster in No less interest attaches to Colonel the service, while his experience includ­ Day than to his talented wife arid he ed the entire range of promotion from is known, from the Atlantic to the Pa­ West Point cadet to Secretary of War, cific seaboard, where he commanded Fort and extended froiri the fall of Richmond Mason, San Francisco, for four years. back to and through the war with His military career began in 1861, when Mexico. he raised a volunteer company at the j It so happened that I was the first first call for troops, serving continuously officer of the prison guard, detailed from in the fieldunti l the close of the war and the regulars when we came to Fort was finallymad e captain for "gallant and Monroe after the close of the war, and meritorious service during the war." of course I took charge of the State Colonel Day's record in the war with prisoners, Messrs. Davis and Clay. This Spain was also notably brilliant. He was after their removal from the case­ commanded the firsttroop s that entered mates to Carroll Hall. Mr. Davis' room, Porto Rico and on July 28, 1898, ran up or cell, was on the second floor, arid ad­ the American flag on the custom house, joining it was a room occupied by the the first American flag raised over the officer of the guard. island possessions. In addition to his Though many a time during the early career as a soldier, Colonel Day is the part of the late war I had, as a young 120 THE PIONEER volunteer, trudging along On the march chair until I. send for it." "Cer­ under the weight of knapsack and gun, tainly," said he, and emptying one joined in the chorus: "We'll hang Jeff of my hands into the other, I dragged it Davis on a sour apple tree," yet, when into his room, came out closed the door brought face to face' and introduced to and bade him "good evening," just as him by the officer, whom I relieved as my relief entered the outer room. The his custodian,. I need hardly say I recog­ next night when I came' on guard again, nized a gentleman and treated him ac­ the prisoner was standing at the grating cordingly. This was the sum total of looking out,, pipe in hand, and said after my kindness to him. No one could have greeting, "I have your chair here." "Oh, been more particular or careful that the yes!" said I, looking over my shoulder orders governing the prison should be into my room, "but I. see John has carried out than was the prisoner him* brought up. another, just keep it, won't self. you^ until n- want it" One little incident may serve to show Mr. Davis made no reply, but he gave how delicately the prisoner had to be me a look that will remain in my mem­ dealt with. His cell was scantily fur­ ory, as a ray of sunshine. He had seen nished with only, an iron single bedstead, through iriy little ruse. a hospital mattress, a small table or ^aAfter Mr. Davis was given the parole stand) buckety bowl and pitcher, and two of the fort, all was changed for him; as straight-backed, hard wooden kitchen well as for us of the garrison. We offi­ chairs—one for the prisoner and the cers then gOt more than "one night in other for any visitor he might have; and bed," aa the soldiers say, and the duty the visitors were few and far between. was not so hard. We, officers of the guard, used to have our easy rocking chairs brought from Mrs. Davis joined her husband and' our quarters (nine were in the same they were assigned a set of officers' building) to sit in during our hours of quarters, which by the way, included his duty, sending them back when relieved. old "prison cell," and they lived like One; day I offered to exchange my easy "white folk." With Mrs. Davis came chair for. one of his for the time being. their little daughter ("Pi" we called her "No!" said he, "these are the ones fur­ then), now "Miss Winnie,?' or the "Daugh­ nished by the authorities for my use, ter of the Confederacy," as she is some­ and it might not be right to exchange times spoken of. With them also for a them." "Oh," said I, "if need be I will time was Mrs. Davis', sister, Miss Mag­ speak to the General about it, and I gie Howell, all of whom made a sunny have no doubt it will be all right." addition to the social life of the garrison "No,", he said, -"don't do it on any ac­ in a quiet and becoming way, and they count," and I knew he meant it. Still, changed the atmosphere fOr Mr. Davis I did not feel quite easy in my rocking in many respects. chair, seeing him sitting bolt upright I could fill a volume of reminiscences reading day after day on his hard seat. and incidents connected with our invol­ One evening as I was about leaving, my untary intimacy during Mr. Davis' im­ colored servant had not come up, as was prisonment, at Fort Monroe, but I will. usual, to take away my things, so gather­ mention-onjy one more in closing tins ing up my books and papers, and with letter. Mr. Davis had a grim sense of both hands full, I said, "Mr. Davis, John the humorous under all circuhistances. has not come for my things, won't you On one occasion Doctor Craven, who had be kind enough to take charge of riry been the post surgeon and attended Mr. SCRAP-BOOK, 121

Davis during his severe illness in the Davis, that at one time, over there in the casemates, came back to Fort Monroe casemate, I really thought you were go­ on a visit, and called upon the prisoner ing to die?" in his cell. In the course of conversa­ "Ah, doctor," said Mr. Davie, "that is tion the doctor said, "Do you know, Mr. the last thing I am going to do."

'UNCLE" GUY NEARING that he possessed a "rough side," and was given sometimes to fearful ebullitions of temper, and startling profanity, nor A Remarkable Man—His Athletic Build and that he was averse occasionally to having Strength—Interesting Incidents a good time, when, more than at any in His Life other time he prided himself on his ath­ letic powers, and feats of great strength. IN the Sentinel of December 20, 1883, At a Circus Mr. Evers gave an extended account One day he was in Perrysburg after of "Uncle" Guy Nearing, as he was it had become quite a Village, attending called by. the early settlers, and "Nawash" a circus, an event he never missed if he by the Indians, from which we clip the heard of it in time. He was leaning following: against the cage in which was a large Guy Nearing in his early manhood zebra and the keeper cautioned the spec­ came to the Maumee country from tators lest the animal which was vicious, Cayuga county, N. Y. The date was should kick some of them. In an instant about the year 1817, and he first located Uncle Guy thrust his hand into the cage on what is now the Forest Pratt place, and seized the zebra's hind leg which he Perrysburg. Nearing -^as a remarkable pulled out between the bars °and held man in many respects, and is better re­ with one hand in spite of the animal's membered and oftener and more kindly wild struggles. Guy would have done— spoken of by the- early settlers than any the same with a young lion only that one who lived on the Maumee. the keeper prevented him. In physical make up he was a man of almost gigantic stature and strength; Cut His Toe Off broad shouldered and bony; he scarcely Though rather slow to anger he was knew his own strength, and his power like niost of that kind of persons very of endurance was something wonderful. wrathy when he did get warmed up. It He was a sort of local Hercules of that is told of him that the little toe on one day, arid a terror to the Indians, great of his feet had a habit of vgetting on top and small., His qualities^of head and of the next/toe and the friction of the heart were no less marked than his phy­ boot kept it constantly sore. In a fit of sical powers. He inherently loved and anger one day he jerked off his boot, trusted his fellow men. He had great seized a chisel and mallet and off went big bumps of generosity, and benevo­ the offending toe, to trouble him no lence. He always had a cheering word more. for the despondent and friendless, and would divide his last piece of corn bread Always Kind to All with the needy. Still with all his eccentricities and It is not denied by his many friends faults, he was, as before mentioned, a 122 THE PIONEER kind-hearted syrupathetic man. If a Nearing's cabin where he saw no one stranger moving in, needed help to get in the room but a couple of women, and his wagon out of the mud, Guy would drew his hunting knife and began to talk take his team and assist, him without pay Indian and make murderous flourishes. or thanks. If a newcomer wanted to find The women were terrified,a s the old land for a home, Guy would leave his buck had a satanic gleam in his eye which own affairs and go with him, board him was threatening to behold. They con­ besides, accepting no compensation, es­ cealed their terror as well as they' could pecially from the poor. If the pioneer/ until one of them on some pretext slipped needed help to raise his log cabin, Guy out and told "Uncle" Guy, who was mak­ would take his men and go and help him; ing an ax handle in a shed near by. Guy Anything he had or could do was always was angry in a minute, and seizing a big at the command of a needy neighbor or black whip, he went round to the door stranger. Such a man was "Uncle" Guy and pulled the buck out, and between Nearing. He was fitted by all his phy­ the sounds of the terrific blows of the sical and mental qualities for a leading whip on ofd Nawash's breech clout and and useful man amid the rugged vicissi­ his hideous screams, there was a small tudes incident to pioneer life, and well bedlam there for a little while. An ac­ he filled the bill. count of the incident soon went up and Two years after Nearing came, his down the river and reached the other In- family followed, wife and three children. diaris. This buck was a sort of revenge­ There were two sons and a daughter. ful fellow and some of Guy's neighbors Minerva afterward married Wm. Ewing. did not know but he might try to retal­ Neptune Nearing, one of the sons, father iate, but he was too much humilated, and of G. C. Nearing, now of Bowling Green, in a day or so came back and shook hands settled at an early day on the ridge and with Uncle Guy and said, "Me bad Injun! prairie three miles west of Bowling me good now." .Pointing to Nearing he Green, or where the town now is. said "You big Nawash." After that Another son, Henry, who is well known Nearing was nicknamed "Big Nawash/' and respected in the north part of the and quarrelsome Indian bucks never county, and who in stature and appear­ troubled his family again. ance, much resembles his father, lives now near White House, Lucas county. Contractor and Builder In the latter part of 1825 Nearing Thrashed an Indian took a contract to build five miles of Here is an incident by Henry Nearing, the Maumee and Western Reserve pike, explaining why his father, "Uncle" Guy, which he did not complete till 1827, and was called "Big Nawash." at about the same time he took fivemiles ' Nearing's cabin was on the route fol­ of the Maumee and Monroe pike. lowed by the Indians in passing up and In 1823 when the county seat was down the river. The red men, while un­ moved from Maumee to Perrysburg, usually quite peaceful, got fire water there was not much to move except the down at Hollister's trading post some­ little log calaboose. This, Nearing times and some of the bucks were a trifle hauled over for which, and the rebuild­ ugly. A big buck of some prowess and ing, he received $45. athletic pretensions who frequently, when In 1824 he helped to build for Wood tipsy, would boast of blood-thirsty deeds county its firstcour t house, a little log- he had perpetrated on white men at the structure located on Front street, Perrys- massacre at River Raisin, one day entered burg/out torn down some years ago. In SCRAP-BOOK. 123

1826 arid '27, he and Elisha Martindale and by September a second run of stone built a new log jail near the court house with bolting facilities. This was a great and took their pay in part, in town lots help and convenience to the pioneers, at $12 apiece. and people patronized the mill from a On Christmas day 1829, Uncle Guy distance of 20 to 30 miles. Nearing with his men and •teams, went to Bear owned the mill until the spring of 1833, Rapids, since called Otsego, and built when he sold it to a New Yorker named a cabin on the hill, to board and lodge Asa Gilbert and the mill went by the his help in. He had previously bought name of Gilbert's mill. Later Gilbert 60 acres of land there, of the Mason sold to a man named Flanders, who lost estate. Stickney had also built a cabin the mill by a great freshet Flanders re­ near there, to prospect for free stone, built it arid a little later the mill passed and expected to open a grind stone into the hands of Samuel Clymer, who quarry. owned it until the freshets finally de­ stroyed both mill and dam and it was Built a Mill never rebuilt The old mill, the build­ By New Near's day, 1830, all was in ers, and owners have all passed away and readiness, and next day all hands began the town of Otsego, a name once familiar work on timber for a dam. The winter to all the early settlers, is a thing of the was mild and dry, and the river low. By past and exists like many of the noble May Nearing had a dam in, and a saw race of hardy men and women of that mill in operation, and by the middle of early day only in memory. June a grist mill with one run of stone.

"WORST OF ALL ROADS" on. April 16, 1816, authorizing the Presi­ dent to make such alteration in the survey as he may deem proper. Graphic Description of the Maumee and Nothing, however, seemed to have Western Reserve Road been done, for February 28, 1823, Con­ gress passed an act granting to the State of Ohio all the land for this purpose ob­ AGREEABLE to the treaty of Browns- tained by the treaty of Brownstown. By town in 1808, the Indian tribes an act of the Legislature, the State of ceded a tract of land for a road 120 Ohio accepted the grant made to her by feet wide from the foot of the Maumee the last recited act of Congress, and at Rapids to the western line of the Con­ once set about building the road. necticut Reserve, and all the land within In locating this road it was so laid out one mile of said road on each side thereof as to pass through Perrysburg and Lower for the purpose of establishing settle­ Sandusky.^ The contracts were let and ments along the same. By an act of. work commenced in the year 1824, but Congress December 11, 1811, the Presi­ the road was not completed until the dent was authorized to appoint three year 1826, if, indeed, such a road could commissioners to survey and mark the be called completed, but such BB it was, road. It seems this work was not satis­ it was accepted and for years served as factory. Hence Congress passed an act the thoroughfare * over which the 124 THE PIONEER

thousands in search of a paradise in the in this respec^ were well supplied, for West were obliged to travel the almost there was a tavern to each mile of the impassable Black Swamp. distance between Perrysburg and Lower It would be difficult to describe this Sandusky, and travelers were sometimes worst of all roads, and the agony border­ compelled to stay two nights at the same ing on despair to which the emigrant was tavern, notwithstanding the most vigor­ reduced in*his effort to pass over to the ous efforts to proceed. Things remained land flowing with milk and honey beyond. in this situation until the year 1838 when It is said nature is equal to all emer­ the state commenced to macadamize the gencies, and it proved so here. On the road, which was completed in the year desert the caravan may stop at any point 1841, and from that time to the present and pitch their tents, but travelers wad­ has been one of the best roads in Ohio. ing all day in mud and water, require a From this period the real prosperity of place of rest for the night, where they Wood county began, and was materially can dry as well as rest their weary limbs. aided by the completion of the Wabash On the route of this road, their wants and Erie Canal a few years later.

LAKE COMMERCE which came to this port by water, afford­ ed a very lucrative business for nearly all the schooners and steamboats in the An Extensive Commercial Traffic Carried on service. _„ / at Perrysburg at an Early Date There yfere between the above dates steam boats enough running from Perrys­ burg to Buffalo, to form a daily line had BETWEEN the years 1828 and 1840 they been so arranged, besides many there was transacted at Perrysburg schooners, as the steamers could not carry as large a commercial business as any all the freight offering for this port. In port, on Lake Erie, excepting Buffalo addition to the above, there was a daily and Cleveland. This business was trans­ acted chiefly through the forwarding line of steam boats running between and commission houses of Hollister & Perrysburg and Detroit It may be asked, what has become of this commerce ? Smith, and Bingham & Co. Through The answer is, it still exists, but the these houses nearly all the goods con­ headquarters have been removed, and signed to Northern Indiana, and a large other modes of transit have driven the portion of Northwestern Ohio, and South­ ern Michigan were forwarded by teams steam boats and vessels from the river. from PerryBburg, to the head of. the rapids of the Maumee river, where they were taken on keel boats, pirogues and flat boats, and transported to Fort Wayne, The last siege of Ft Meigs lasted about and thence distributed to their several eight days and was most obstinately re­ destinations. These boats returning sisted by Gen. Clay. The siege was brought back furs, skins and dried meats, finally abandoned by Gen. Proctor after which were brought to Perrysburg by the 200 men and officers had been killed and teams which had carried goods to the wounded. No less than six wagon loads head of the rapids. From 1835 to 1840, of balls and unexploded shells were this business, together with the emigration picked up and utilized by the Americans. SCRAP-BOOK. 125

AN AMUSING INCIDENT them a good bed. They took their sup­ per and on getting into the sitting room found that the movers had all disappear­ John C. Spink's First Introduction to This ed. How this had been done,-they -could Region—His "Maiden" Speech not tell. That, however, was soon re­ vealed. They were shown to the only spare bed in the house which was located 'THE late N. H. Callard furnishes the on the off side from the door, and they 1 following incident of an early date: discovered there were ten females and four Among the earliest lawyers residing in males extended on the floor covered by Wood county may be named John C. their own bed clothes, he and the Spink and Willard V. Way. The latter preacher making the number sixteen in mentions in his notes a ludicrous in­ what was but a small room. They picked cident that occurred to Spink when on their way through the sleepers as best his way from Wooster to Perrysburg to they could, when getting to the bed side commence the praotice of law. As show­ they found just light enough from ing the condition of travel through the the burning wood in the'fire place op­ Black Swamp, and its inconveniences of posite them as to show everything in the transit it is worthy of note. It was on room. It appeared to them as if all eyes this occasion that he made his first or were upon them, and they were at a loss maiden speech as a lawyer. to know how they could, get into hed. Spink was on his way in company with "The preacher suggested to Spink that he a young preacher, who like himself, had would take off his coat and that he Spink left his home for the first time. He stated should hold it as a screen between them that the roads were simply terrible, being and the floor occupants. That was like a sea of mud and water. At that speedily done, the preacher jumped into time many immigrants were moving from bed on the off side and covered himself the eastern parts of Ohio to places further up, and left Spink in the lurch. This west It was frequently the case that took hirn by surprise—he was at a loss they could not advance with their wagons what to do. He could not go to bed more than two or three miles a day, and with his clothes on him as they were wet they would return at night to the same and covered with mud. He concluded tavern they had left in the morning. that as a lawyer he should have to make Spink and the preacher had left what is his living by his wits, and he might as now Fremont in the morning and reached well begin then and there as at any a small log tavern at Sugar Creek a few time, and make a speech, yes, a maiden miles west late in the evening. They speech, supposing that they were as wide found the house crowded with moving awake as himself. His speech was brief families, with apparently no room for and to the point he said: them to find a bed. At that time there "Ladies, this is my bed, and there is were only two beds, in the house. They nothing to screen me from your obser­ could not well return neither could they vation while I get into. it. This is my advance with the chance of getting better first introduction to a new country life, accommodation, as they would have to and probably it is yours, as you appear flounder in the mud. The landlord, to be moving, I will therefore take it as however, was equal to the emergency. a great favor if you will kindly duck He did not want to lose two guests so your fyeads under the clothes while I get prominent as the lawyer ana the preacher into bed." All heads were instantly and assured them that he would give covered, he got into bed and concluded 120 THE PIONEER

that he had made a great fool of himself, criminal lawyer, his reputation extend­ for they were all of them asleep, and he ing throughout the northwest, The late had waked them tip by his speech. This James Murray of Sidney, Ex-Attorney he ever after declared to be his maiden General of Ohio, was a student at law speech as a lawyer. with him. Spink died in 1853, in the Mr. Spink was highly successful as a zenith of his fame.

RECOVERING A STOLEN HORSE trail, and discovered that one of their THE following incident is related by horses had large iron shoes. He followed Gen. John E. Hunt: the track, and that evening camped with In July,, 1812, my brother bought a the party. After eating, they wanted to very fine horse, which had been driven know where he was going. He said he with the army from Dayton. It was a was directed to go to Chicago to call the large, elegant dapple grey, and he rode it Indians in to fight the Long Knives. acting as the aid of Gen. Hull at the sur­ They told him they had a very fineAmeri ­ render. Soon after the BritiBh took the can horse. Jack says, "My horse is tired. town the Indians stole the horse, saddle If he is a good horse maybe in the morn­ and bridle from my brother's stable. He ing me swap with you," and added, shak­ went to the store next morning looking ing his silver in his pouch, "and give very much down at the loss of his fine some boot." In the morning, after an horse. There he met Jack Braridy. early breakfast, Jack, told them to put Jake says, "Harry Hunt, what's the mat­ the saddle and bridle on the horse. "Well ter with you? You have a very long me try him, see if he is a good horse." face this morning." Says my brother: He mounted, and it was the last they saw "Jack, the Indians have stolen my big of Jack or the horse. We were standing horse!" Jack- says: "Dam rascal! in front of my brother's store about sun- Maybe me find him. Give me some dowm the next, day, when we saw an money, some meat and some bread." My Indian coming up the road on horseback. brother gave him $5 in silver and what It proved to be Jack on my brother's grey else he wanted. Jack mounted his pony horse. When he jumped off and delivered and 'started up the River Rouge. him to my brother, he said, "Harry Hunt, The next day lie crossed an Indian you see now, Jack Brandy can't lie."

LIBERTY TOWNSHIP built a log cabin on the west side of the established route of the Findlay pike and on the south barik of the Portage river, Settlement Begun in 1824—Collister Haskins and moved in with his family, who had First Settler—Organization of resided in Waterville. Township Let the mind of the reader imagine Wood county one vast unbroken forest.of THE first white settler in what is now virgin timber, without a white inhabitant Liberty township was Collister Has­ (except as their cabins now and then dot­ kins, in the spring of 1824. In the fol­ ted the bank of the Maumee river); the lowing September, with the help of kind stillness of which was only marred by the Indians and friends from Waterville, he presence of the red man who built his SCRAP-BOOK. 127 camp fire unmolested, and where the wolf, township, and the next day cut a road deer, bear and other animals roamed in from there to Mr. Haskins', making the their natural state; a wilderness unpene- trip from Woodville in two days. His trated by a single well denned road; a family stayed at Mr. Haskins' and he im­ wilderness containing 390,000 acres, in mediately set to work with the assistance the center of which is orie solitary cabin, of Peter Johnson and Adam Phillips of with none other nearer on the north than Portage township; and Mr. Haskins, and Waterville, thirteen miles distant, and soon had a pole cabin built on his own none on the south nearer than Fort Find- land and moved in with his family. The lay, "twenty miles away," and they have same spring he "broke up" 15 acres of the home of Collister Haskins in 1824. prairie land belonging to Mr. Haskins And oft' was the time of an evening, and planted it to com; using five stout when this solitary white man of the in­ yoke of oxen and a big old-fashioned terior, with his little family, would be wooden plow to break up the prairie and gathered about his cabin fire that the says he raised about half a crop. He Indians would congregate about him and raised a family of nine children. curiously survey his surroundings and as The advent of new settlers into this they became more familiar, converse as community ••• was now not so infrequent best they could upon topics of mutual and on the firstda y of April, 1834, there interest. In Mr. Haskins' family besides were eight families in Liberty, as follows: himself and wife, were three daughters, Collister Haskins, John Sargent, Thos. Sarah, Wealthy and Cynthia, and one Cox, Geo. Mercer, Caleb Mercer, Horace son, Henry. Sarah was the first white Cady, Henry Groves, John Groves and child born in Liberty township. James Birdsell, and late in the same year The next settler, or rather squatter, in came Henry Dubbs, John McMahan, Liberty was J. M. Jacques, who came Joseph Mitchell, Wm. Mercer and John from New York and built a cabin. Mercer. Wm. Mercer was the head and Jacques only remained about three father, of the Mercer family, which settle­ years, for in the spring of 1833 John ment in Liberty numbers nearly 200.. Sargent moved in from Ross county and entered the land upon which Jacques had Liberty Township Organized located, paid him for his improvements A sufficient number of settlers having and moved into the cabin he (Jacques) moved in, a petition was presented to the had built. In Mr. Sargent's family were commissioners on March 20, 1.835, for the three sons and two daughters. organization of'a township, to be called Liberty. The petition was granted and The Mercers the first township election held on the The next settler in Liberty was Geo. first Monday in April, 1835, which re­ Mercer; the firsto f the large Mercer set­ sulted in the election of the following tlement in that township, to locate there, officers: Trustees, James Birdsell, Henry who came from New Lisbon, also in the Groves and Geo. Ellsworth; clerk, Reuben spring of 1833, and entered the land upon Strait; treasurer, Hugh Arbuckle; jus­ which he made his home. He came with tices of the peace, James Birdsell and two yoke of oxen and a wagon by the way John Groves. The poll books of this of Woodville, making the trip of 200 election contains the names of 22 elec­ miles from New Lisbon in 11 days. From tors. Woodville he came up the Portage river Their choice for treasurer proved to be on a road cut through a few days previous an injudicious one. He was a native of by Adam Phillips, who settled in Portage Scotland, a fine scholar and apparently a 128 THE PIONEER gentleman. He was in the stock business iri the treasury at that time. Mr. John in company with a Messrs Reed & Bishop McMahan and Henry Dubbs were bis of Urbana. During the year he was bondsmen and jointly made up the same serving the township as treasurer, he sold to the township, but not without some a quantity of the partnership stock, pock­ pointed remarks about the defaulter. eted the money and "migrated." At the John Sargent was elected his successor time he left he also took $28.-00 of the the spring following and held the office township funds, fortunately all there was for twenty years.—C. W. E.

ORGANIZATION OF OHIO revenue arising from donations made by the United States, for the support of PURSUANT to a proclamation of the schools and colleges; and the doors of the Territorial Governor, members of a said schools, academies and universities constitutional convention assembled at shall be open for the reception of scholars, Chillicothe, November 1, 1802, and dur­ students and teachers of every grade, ing this session of 29 days formed the without any distinction or preference first constitution of the state of Ohio as whatever, contrary to the intent for the state was named. which said donations were made." The state government was organized The second, section 26, provides, "That under the constitution so formed on laws shall be passed by the legislature March 3, 1803. which shall secure to each and every de­ The Bill of Rights, which is a part of nomination of religious societies, in each the constitution, includes, among other surveyed township, which is now or may things, substantially the provisions of the hereafter be formed iri the state, an equal ordinance of 1787; but to two provisions participation, according to their number of this Bill of Rights particular attention of adherents, of the profits arising from is called, viz, to sections 25 and 26. the land granted by congress for the sup­ The first, section 25 provides, "That no port of religion, agreeable to the;ordin­ law shall be passed to prevent the poor, in ance or act of congress making the appro­ the several counties and townships within priation." the state, from an equal participation in It will thus be seen these are the the schools, academies, colleges and uni­ fundamental principles on which the versities within this state, which are en­ northwest territory, and the state of Ohio dowed, in whole or in part from the have been established.

AS TO HULL'S TRACE part of the farm owned by Noah Foltz, also the premises of Jas. Taborn (de­ IN a recent number of the Sentinel, aceased) , which was the original Parshall pioneer makes the' following correc­ lot. Parshall had a large family, all girls. tion regarding Hull's trace: These young women and their parents Hull's trace in Portage after crossing had been Hying in their log cabin near the stream, turned its course west of the northwest corner of Portage township. north, passing through the village of Por­ One day, while Sarah was taking a stroll tage near the old ashery, M. E. church east of their cabin, she walked out on a and Quaintances' lime kiln, passing north fallen tree in the top of which she found on the limestone ridge, crossing the east a load of muskets. The news soon spread SCRAP-BOOK. 129

that "Sail" Parshall had found 40 mus­ loss of the army trail near the Haskins kets. (Quite a prize, over $200 worth if saw mill, and the mistake made by S. B: they had not been damaged.) HuU's Abbott and others, was the mistaking trail here crossed through the point of our pioneer trail down stream past the timber between the Little Prairie arid "Aborginal Grave Yard" for Hull's trace. another that lay in the southwest corner The same is true of the pioneer trail or of Center township, passing close to the road made by John Gallatin and others west of the original John Taborn cabin across the east end of the Sizer farm, a across the original Thomas Rigly lot and branch pioneer road into that of Hull's so on towards the Pernot farm.. The army road.

THE LOST CHILD the hunt They started with torches in hand and calling her by name, and ring­ ing bells, but all without success. An Agonizing Search by Hundreds for a Then they sent word to Ft. Ball, Tiffin, Little Tot Alone in the Woods Findlay; and Perrysburg, to the search. for Eleven Days They came with their teams, feed and provisions, to assist The company so engaged, numbered about two hundred AN old pioneer gives, in the Weston and fifty persons. About the third day Avalanche, the following some­ they found tracks north of Woodbury, what sensational account of the search crossing Hull's trail, that they knew to for a lost child in the wilds of Wood be her tracks certainly, as a little dog county, seventy-five years ago: was with her, and they saw his tracks The child was that of Frederick Frank- also. fauder, who lived in Bloom township; in Then the excitement grew intense; this county. In the year 1835, some they continued the search west and north time in the month of November of that of the windfall, and bordering on the year, on Sunday (as was their custom), prairie, but found no sign of her, till the Mr. Frankfauder and wife went to their seventh day, when they found tracks in place of worship, and did not return the windfall south of John McMahan's. home until late in the -evening. During There she lost her little dog, she after­ their absence the children were gathering wards said, "as I lay by a fire I saw a hickory nuts, under a tree standing in the big dog come and they took Penny and fence corner close by the woods. There killed him." They were wolves. Then were a number of children on both sides all began to despair but the parents. of the fence, and tbe little girl, five years Some left for home while others con­ and six months old, was with them gath­ tinued the search. ering nuts, and probably on the side of Reader, pause and think! How must the fence next to the woods. The chil­ the parents have felt, when all began to dren did not miss her until the parents despair; when a fruitless search was kept came home at night. You can imagine up for eight or ten days, when all gave up the feelings Of that family when they in despair, but a praying father, who said found that little Margaret was truly lost, that his trust was in the Lord; that He night on hand and very dark. They would restore the child to his arms in sent to the nearest neighbors for help in answer to his unceasing prayers. What 130 THE PIONEER^ hope was there? The child gone ten said that he saw a child playing on a log, days, in a wilderness like the Black on the north side of the clearing, an hour Swamp forty years ago, plenty of In­ or so ago, but thought that it was an dians, bears, and wolves; and the worst Indian child. So they all went to look of all, the wild hog. after the child and in a few minutes they On the eleventh day,they sent a man found her in the woods on the north side around by Portage, up the Ellsworth of the clearing, and they soon saw that ridge, then to Hutchinson's in Milton, she was the long lost child, as she had and to Major McMillen's. Just before deep blue eyes. he arrived, Orlando McMillen and Sam­ You can imagine the joy and rejoicing uel Clark got home from hunting cattle, when they found her; they took her to and McMillen asked his mother if Indian Mr. Dubbs' and sent word at once to her children had blue eyes; she said, "No, bereaved parents, who got word in the Why do you ask?" He said that he and fore part of the night. You can't Mr. Clark had seen one that had blue imagine how the parents and friends eyes, and they gave it a biscuit, and it passed that night as there was joy mixed ate it greedily. They thought it an with doubt. Before daylight Mr. Mahlon Indian child, as they could not under­ Whitaker and Mr. Frankfauder were stand her language. I will just say she plunging through the woods to Mr. was German, and did not understand Dubbs'. They made the distance in English. double quick time, and found the child This re])ort of the lost child explained all right,but quite wild and strange. the whole matter to theni. Mr. G, The little one had wandered 14 miles Alberty and Mr. McMillen started at for 11 days amid the terrors of the Black once in pursuit of the child, over to John Swamp. That child lived to be a Dubbs'. There they saw a man by the woman, was married and passed away name of Henderson Carrothers, who was some years ago. chopping in a clearing for Dubbs; he

JIM SLATER'S CURSE downfall—these are the facts. The retri­ bution that followed those connected with Slater's persecution and the calamitous Is There an Avenging Nemesis Hanging Over incidents that have attached to the Bairdstown on Account of the Curse vicinity of Bairdstown, so strikingly de­ of a Ruined Man? scribed by the facile pen of Mr. Evers, strongly reminds one of Hamlet, when THE following weird,", uncanny inci­ he says: dent came in the experience of Mr. « C. W. Evers, during-his term of sheriff "There are more things in heaven and in the later sixties, when the county seat earth, Horatio, was at Perrysburg. The raving agony Than are dreampt of in your philosophy." of Slater, crazed with his losses, his bit­ "Say/my boy," said an ex-Tsheriff to terness in being ruined by a crime of a reporter some years ago, "do you be­ which he was undoubtedly innocent, to­ lieve in retribution through Providential. gether with the curse he pronounced upon agency here on this earth, for sins done the place and all connected with his by the sons of Adam? If you do, pos- SCRAP-BOOK. 131

sibly I can give you a partial solution to some other articles were stolen from Mc-, the serious misfortunes of our neighbors Murray's or D. Wineland's barn, near by. at Bairdstown." Slater, who was not a favorite among "Explain and we'll see," said the his neighbors, was of course set upon at scribe. once among the gossips, as the instigator, "Well, these late calamities to the town if not tbe direct agent in burning the and the mystery of their origin has set stacks; all because of the constructive me to thinking of the place when there threat made. No other evidences could was no town there; and if one was in­ be found against him except that asser­ clined to be superstitious it would not be tion, made in anger; and on this slender very difficult to believe that evil spirits thread and a good deal of prejudice, he come back from the dominions of the was arrested, and tried before a justice, dead and curse the haunts Of living men and I believe bound over to court. with deeds of vengeance." David Hays of Fostoria, who made some But I'll give you the story as I recall pretensions to a slight acquaintance with •it, and you may draw your own con­ Blackstone, pettifogged Slater's case. clusions. At the next term of common pleas Away back about the close of the war court, Slater was indicted; the late with Mexico, the quarter section of land George Strain being the prosecuting at­ where Bairdstown is, was Owned by an torney. After heavy expense in lawyer old man named fees and other ways, Slater was acquitted. David Hays and Dodge & Tyler defend­ Jim Slater ed his case. Old Jim was not considered very Public sentiment was1 divided as to bright, or rather, some of his neighbors Slater's guilt, and strangely too, McMur­ doubted at times if his mind—reason— ray, who with Slater was the loser by the was rightly balanced. He was rough and fire, did not believe Slater guilty, though uncouth in manner, inclined to be^irrit- at a loss to explain the origiri of the fire, able and violent, when he imagined he which was clearly the work of an incen­ was being imposed upon; but with his diary. This prosecution, or persecution family, worked hard, and lived poorly. as Slater termed it was the cause of his In this uphill struggle, his wife, who was ruin. The lawyers got notes, secured by an estimable woman, far above Slater, mortgages on his farin, and an old cred­ sickened and died. Soon after this itor in Tiffin, with a mortgage of four or Slater's misfortunes began. William five hundred dollars, got uneasy and McMurray, a neighbor, put in a piece of began proceedings of foreclosure. This wheat on Slater's land on shares. At scared small creditors and they began a harvesting, Slater objected to the grain crusade in justice court against the un­ being hauled off the farm for threshing. fortunate man, probably on the old rule, A sharp war of words and much feeling "kick a man when he's down." Slater grew out of this trivial affair. Slater in tried to fight them off. He was com­ his ungovernable anger, swore that the bative and Hays, his lawyer, was a wheat would never do his neighbor any ready servant to help him,,but alas! in good. Possibly he took the case into deeper, in nearly every instance. At last justice court. I believe he did, and got and not lorig either, the evil day came non-suited or beaten. and the sheriff with an order of sale in So the matter rested until some weeks which were marshaled all the liens, came later, when one night the wheat stacks with appraisers to value the property. I were burned,,, and a new harness and can see Slater yet as he sat on a log near 132 THE PIONEER

his cabin, sullen and dispirited while the I have no friends. All are down on me. appraisers near by were trying to fix upon No one has a good word for me; even my a value. He scarcely spoke during the lawyer is against me; I am robbed of my ' time we were there. He asked if "he place and driven from my home. There could take off the growing crops. He is no law; divine or human, that will said he had not slept nights because of justify this robbery. If there is a just this trouble arid the Only hope he had was God, he will curse the place to the last that none of the neighbors would bid on end of eternity as a warning; That farm the farm when it was offered. r will never do, John Baird any good. He The day of sale came. There was has been againBt me. He wanted my only one buyer. John Baird, a prosper­ place; he has got it, and the curse of a ous farmer, living some two miles from wronged man goes with the place and all Slater's, bid in the land. who have had a hand in robbing me." A day or so after the sale, as I sat at I do not pretend to give Slater's exact the office table ^writing (this was while words, nor could I possibly give even a the court house was in Perrysburg) I faint expression of his intense agitation, heard a shuffling step at the door, at my bitterness and despair. Words of encour­ back, I turned my head and said "Good agement or kindness were alike useless. morning, Mr. Slater!" for it was he. The fires of hope and ambition were He said nothing, but silently took a chair quenched—drowned forever in his breast.

near the table. After a little he said, •*•'*' * * * * * * * * "Sheriff, did my place sell?" "Yes." James Slater died a pauper. He lies "Who bought it?" I told him. He said, buried at the infirmary. "I heard so, and came clear here to see On his old farm is Bairdstown. When if it was true." He dropped his head the B; & 0. railroad located its line OH' hie arm on the table and trembled as through there, John Baird with the enter­ though suffering agonizing bodily pain. prise characteristic Of himself, laid out He did not speak for many minutes. I a town and beside giving it his name, felt so much moved by his distress that promoted the growth with all his energy. I could scarcely go on with my work. I He built a fine flouring mill, hotel, etc., had from the firstbelieve d him innocent' and the town grew rapidly. of the crime which brought- this trouble About this time misfortunes, one after on him. I had had little experience in another began to stop at Baird's door. detecting criminals, but from the first I His downward career, as did Slater's and felt that Slater was the unfortunate vic­ as do most men's, commenced in litiga­ tim of circumstances which almost com- tion. Law suit after law suit harrassed .pletely screened the real perpetrator of him. Creditors, pressed him from every the crime, whoever it might be. side. Judgments and executions dis­ After his agitation had subsided a turbed his sleep until he did not know little, I told him there was yet time to which way m turn. One or two of his save his place—that he should not give sons becarnlf Unsteady in habits, being a it up so—that he could probably borrow hindrance instead of a help to the father money to cancel the judgment liens and in his troubles. Next in the line of bad secure the lender by a mortgage on the luck his" finemil l burned, attributed at land as soon as the liens were off. That the, time to incendiarism, the first I be­ if these liens were paid, before the first lieve in that line of calamities which day of court, the judge would not con­ later on have so frequently been visited firm the sale. upon the ill-fated town. Finally as if in "No! No!" he said, "I cannot do it; sheer desperation at the bootless fight he SCRAP-BOOK. 133 was. making against fate, Baird gathered died, afterwards in an insane asylum. up what little he could front the wreck, What has been the fate of the jurors who and taking his estimable wifef and daugh­ indicted the unfortunate, man, I have not ter, went to Arkansas and engaged in inquired. In fact, I have not cared to hotel keeping. But fate still had mis­ pursue the unpleasant subject further, fortunes in store for him. His daughter lest the truth might reveal a like sad sickened and died and later on the final state of affairs clear through. blow, the loss of his beloved but heart­ It is a little singular, too, that with broken wife. Stripped Of family and rare exceptions, nearly every enterprise, property, brokeri in spirit and bowed nearly every business man, no matter with age, Baird returned to Ohio, where how worthy, starting in Bairdstown, has with relatives, in the Southern part of met with disaster or ill-success, sooner or the state, if living, he makes, his home, later. David Hays, Slater's lawyer, fell, too, The recent fires, from whatever mys­ into hard lines. He was at one time the terious cause, are, to all appearances, but owner of much property,, but fortune, the greater culmination of misfortunes, ever fickle in her ways, turned against of which previous ones have been as but him arid, like Baird, for a time he felt muttering warning of the slumbering like "calling upon the rocks to cover volcano beneath. him" frorii the clutch of remorseless cred­ It is but proper to state here upon the itors. - authority of Frank W. Dunn, who relat­ But at the last, by a lucky turn in the ed the fact to me only a day or so since, tide—a sudden advance in some city that a woman now living in Kansas, but property he owned-—he reached shore who lived near Slater at the time of the with something saved from the wreck, stack burning, wrote a full account of the though, in the meantime, he had the sad burning and theft, 'to William McMur- misfortune to lose his wife—a most ray before his death. Her statement worthy woman—who died bereft of her corroborated as it was by circumstances, reason, her death having been preceded was doubtless true and was the firstposi ­ only a short time by that of their only tive '-testimony &B to Slater's innocence of daughter. the crime. But it came too late. The George Strain, the prosecuting attor­ woman as is well shown in her letter, ney who drew the indictment and prose­ had good reasons for not daring to reveal cuted Slater, went insane, later on, and her story at the time.

A TEN YEARS' STRUGGLE county seat from Perrysburg to Bowling Green was no exception to this fact. Probably no removal was ever productive The Intense Strife in Removal of the County of more intense feeling or more bitter Seat Half a Century Ago denunciation on both sides in that memorable contest Ananias held full IT has ever been the experience that in sway, and to such an extent that enmi­ every instance involving the removal ties were provoked.sixii. friendships es­ of a county seat from one locality to tranged. For the time the prosperity of another, strife and opposition have been the county was measurably checked, and engendered, and the removal of the the turmoil tended to weaken the popu- 134 THE PIONEER

lation morally, politically and financially complete arrangements to carry the old as weU. material from Perrysburg to Bowling Fifty years have passed away since Green, but were then "'prevented by the that time and many of our Older citizens court, invoked by the anti-removal inter­ still remember that prolonged struggle. est, and they never received one cent It began in 1805, arid was hot definitely from the sale of the property of the and permanently, settled until in the fall cojunty at Perrysburg. Thus this condi­ of 1875. The first election was held in tion on which the bond hinged was not 1866, and resulted in faVor of the re­ available. moval from Perrysburg to Bowling The auditor was then directed to adver­ Green. The citizens of Bowling Green tise, for bids under the authority of the entered into a bond to build as good a coirimissioners, and an entire new jail was court house and jail at Bowling Green built for the contract price of $14,506, as those at Perrysburg Were at the'time which was $494 less than the Bowling they were built, on condition that the Green bond, and much less than the esti­ material of the old buildings at Perrys­ mate made of the county buildings at burg and the lots on which they stood bel Perrysburg, Thus there was no bad given to the removal interest.'.''.If the faith whatever on thejpart of the removal conditions were fulfilled the cOurity was interest as was charged in the heat of not to be taxed for court house and jail. that contest. , But the people, were taxed, and under Judge Phelps, probate judge, removed the following circiuiistanccs: The com­ his office from Perrysburg as soon as the missioners stepped in and demanded to court house at Bowling Green was ready, be heard as the guardians of the county's transacting business there a year or more interests. They changed the location before the other offices were removed in from the one chosen where the founda­ 1870. tion could be laid on the solid rock; the The year following the court house was size of the court house, under their direc­ destroyed by, fire, but after considerable tion, was also enlarged. They demanded litigation an enabling act was secured to that the county required better arid more give the people another opportunity to commodious buildings than those at vote on the removal question, this time Perrysburg; The removal interest adopt­ to take the county offices back to Perrys.- ed the suggestions and demands of the burg. Tvhe Perrvslrarg interest had re­ county commissioners and built accord­ built thent-cotirt house more substantial ingly. The commissioners also demand­ and in better condition' than ever^-and ed many OJI.T iiiiprovcmcnts and pro­ the vote on removal was again taken on posed to pay for the same out of the the 12th of October, 1875. county treasury, They took into account It resulted in a large vote throughout the increasing business of a large, rich the county—it may be said an extraordi­ and rapidly developing county, and their narily large vote^-but the vote in Perrys­ action was taken after a conference with burg capped the climax. Out of a vote a number of the best and most judicious that would be a large one at 1,000; the men of the county. None of these im­ ballot box, when opened, revealed the provements were contemplated by the number of ballots cast in favor of re­ signers of the bond; For these improve­ moval— 3,016! -; ments the people were taxed $3,006. The vote on governor at that election The removal interest proceeded in good was very close, and when Ezra S: Dodd, faith to carry out their pledge in the of Toledo, heard of Perrysburg's vote, he bond. When they were ready they made at once sent a telegram to John G.' SCRAP-BOOK. 135.

Thompson, chairman of the Democratic o'clock that night in a disagreeable rain. state executive committee asking, "Would We remained until the votes were all 1,000 froni Wood be of any good ?'-''• receivedThat , but Dodd had not put in an has now* passed into quite a familiar appearance. phrase. Mr. Dodd left Toledo4 as soon as The vote of T'errysburg was thrown he sent the telegram,and , it was surmised out without much ceremony, and the vote by the chairman of the Republican execu­ against removal proved to be a large,' tive committee in Toledo, Rev. Robert unmistakable majority. Thus ended that McCune, that Dodd had struck but for memorable struggle, and the present Bowling Green. Accordingly the writer prosperity of Wood county strongly with George S. Canfield, was dispatehe.d affirms the wisdom of that decision by to Bowling Green, leaving Toledo-at'il the people.

CAPT. DAVID WILKINSON history of the deceased, and the following extracts-are taken from the eulogy of each. \_ One of the Veteran Steamboat Pioneers of From the Blade.—One by one the pio­ the Maumee Valley neers of the Maumee valley are passing away, and today there are few left to ON Monday, September, 8, 1873, at relate the incidents a,nd struggles through his residence in Perrysburg, Cap­ which the early settlers of this now "fer­ tain David Wilkinson, in-the 74th year tile and prosperous section' of the state, Of his age, passed away. were called to pass. Yesterday (Mon­ The relatives and a very large' circle of day) closed the life of another one of friends were called upon to mourn the loss those who lived to see their hopes respect­ of another pioneer of the Maumee valley. ing the Maumee valley more than real­ A few days before Mr. Wilkinson was ised. Captain David Wilkinson of Per­ Visited with a stroke of paralysis which rysburg, is no more. The captain was affected his left side and rendered him born in February, 1800, at or near Buf­ helpless and almost insensible, in which falo, and the writer of this has often condition he remained until death had heard him speak of the- •/ ' ••.•• vn s relieved him from his suffering. His in the village of Buffalo during the war wife and five children were all present of 1812. At an early age he went upon during his last moments. the lake as a sailor, and in 1815 he satibjd The funeral services took place from up the Maumee river on the schooner his late residence on Front street, and Black Snake, commanded by his uncle, were conducted by the members of Phoe­ Jacob Wilkinson'. This was a small nix Lodge No. 123, Free and Accepted craft to venture upon the lake, being of Masons, of which lodge he was a charter but "twenty-five tons burden. At that member. The Rev. G. A. Adams offici­ time, where Perrysburg riow stands, noth­ ated as chaplain. The remains were ing but a wild forest was to be seen. followed to the cemetery by a very large This little schooner as we • learn from a . concourse of relatives and friends, and memorandum furnished by Capt. Wilkin­ were deposited in the grave with the son to H. S. Knapp, Esq., torhi s history accustoiried Masonic honors. of the Maumee valley, brought up as The editors of the Toledo Blade and passengers the family of Mulhollen, who Commercial were familiar with the early kept the noted tavern at Vienna some 136 THE PIONEER years later, also a Mr. Hunter and time he has devoted himself to the culti­ family, Scott Robb, and a Mr. Hopkins, vation of his farm and to the charge of who settled on land above the present the Light-house in the Maumee Bay, near village of Perrysburg. At that time, Manhattan. Fort Meigs contained about forty sol­ Deceased was a man of great kindness diers, who were taken to Detroit by the of heart and geniality in disposition, schooner on her returntrip . whereby he won his way to the esteem From the Commercial.—The deceased" of all acquaintances; while by his in­ was in his 74th year, having been born in tegrity and honorable dealing he com­ the year 1800. His first advent to the manded the confidence of his fellow men Maumee valley was in 1815, as a hand on in an eminent degree. His independ­ board the schooner Black Snake, a craft ence of character ever prompted him to of about 25 tons, commanded by Jacob self-reliance and unremitting effort. Wilkinson, an uncle, which brought sev­ After a residence in the Valley of 58 eral passengers, who landed at Perrys­ years, he passed away amid a state of burg, and most of them became settlers things in extraordinary contrast with the of the town and vicinity. This was dur­ scene which presented itself to his ing the year in which the war with Eng­ youthful eyes. He leaves five, children land closed, and Fort Meigs, above Per- - —two sons and three daughters—to rysburg, was still garrisoned by United mourn the departure of one who never States troops. The chief industrial failed in his duty to them, and whose interest at that time was fishing. In advantages in life have been mainly due 1817 the young navigator, though but 17 to his unceasing care. Few, indeed, of years old, was promoted to the command his earliest contemporaries now remain, of the Black Snake. In 1818 he took and the last of them will soon follow command of the schooner Pilot, which him. Be it the care of those who have plied between the river and Buffalo, and or shall come after them not to forget continued to sail different vessels until the debt due to their early enterprise 1835. Among these crafts was the and sacrifices. Eagle, a schooner built in 1828 at Port Capt Wilkinson is said to have made Lawrence (now Toledo). In 1835 he the first chart of the Maumee river and became the commander of the steamer baj^, which was adopted by the govern­ Commodore Perry, which he sailed for ment, and was in general use until a ten years, when he took charge of the more accurate one was made many years Superior, in which he remained until later. 1852, when he left the lakes. Since that

MAIL CARRYING "Black Hawk war"—in the^first week of that year, Hiram Wade made his first trip as a mail carrier under Guy Near­ The Struggles and Hardships Endured by ing who had the mail contract. The Mail Carriers in the Early Thirties route was from Perrysburg to Lima. His first trip was a pleasant one. On THAT old pioneer, Noah Reed, thus his second trip he got through to Lima speaks of the trials of the mail. all right, but on his return to Perrys­ carriers in the early history of Wood burg he encamped on a sand ridge near county: i the center of Wood county, and during T QQ P the year 1 2—the year of the the night the WOIVCB in large numbers SCRAP-BOOK. 137

flocked so closely about him that he was but he had no bad luck. Following him compelled to build a fire between a large was a man, whose name I have forgotten. stomp and the butt of a whitewood log He came very near being drowned and that was hollow as a shell. He was his horse crippled in the Blanchard somewhat frightened, and for greater se­ river. He left the horse and hung the curity he crawled into the log -to keep saddle on a tree. This man simply un­ clear of the wolves. Finally the log it­ dertook the job of carrying the mail out self caught fire and he was obliged to of curiosity, to see whether it was as desert his quarters. However, Wade did difficult as had been reported by Wade not get out of that log unscathed. His and Reed. He found out, and his curios­ face and hands were badly burned, the ity was fully satisfied. mail bag scorched, and two large holes Now, I undertook the work of carry­ were, burned through his blanket. That ing the mail. I made my first trip dur­ was his last trip. ing the last week in February of 1832, Next my brother, L. W. Reed carried and carried the mail until the last of the mail two trips, which resulted in a November of that year without any in­ lameness of his horse. He met with a jury to my horse. However, quite fre­ mishap in which he nearly drowned both quently I was compelled to break the ice himself and horse, and lost the mail bag, for myself and horse, and had great which was recovered a few days later full difficulty in crossing the Blanchard. On of water. On his second trip there was one occasion I was utterly unable to no mail to collect on his way to Lima cross that stream on account of the ex­ and on his return he had but two letters traordinary high water, and could not —one for Gilead and one for Perrysburg. make the trip. For this the government That was his last trip. kept back $50 of my hard earnings in Next A. B. Crosby made on© trip. that perilous trip. Next was Hiram Fane, who made a trip,

REV. JOSEPH BADGER county, where he died fourteen years later, in 1849, at the advanced age of 89. Thrilling Incident in His Life When Attacked One Sunday morning from his pulpit hy Wolves in Gustavus, he related the following thrilling adventure: THIS gentleman, so well known and "I had started to come through from identified with the early history of Ashtabula, but there being no path I Wood county, had his home in Gustavus, got ahead but slOwly, and I can not say Trumbull county, where he began his un­ how far I had come when darkness came selfish labors as early as 1804. A high­ upon me. As I could make no headway ly educated man, a graduate of one of through a pathless wood I tied my horse the great Eastern colleges, he yet chose so that it could feed about some, and to tread the thorny path of a pioneer then lay down on the grass to rest. Ere' missionary, enduring the hardships and long I was aroused by the cry of a wolf. facing the dangers of the western forest This cry was answered, and soon it that he might do good Unto his fellow- seemed that a hundred ravenous wolves men. In 1835 he removed to Wood were howling for their prey. I quickly 138 THE PIONEER arose, tied my horse more firmly, and, serving me through this and similar feeling about in the darkness, found" a perils I was again proceeding on my stout limb, which I cut for a cudgel way when once more the. barking of and prepared for an encounter with the wolves resounded through the forest enerily* There was little opportunity for me to "The wolves formed a circle about hasten, as fallen trees, brush and bushes me. I drew near to my horse and walked were in the way. The pursuers were. around him constantly. The wolves coming quite near and their howling rent came so near that I could hear the snap­ the air, when suddenly there was a crash-. ping of their jaws. All night long I ing near me and like a flash of light a kept up this walk, boating the trees with fine, full grown deer leaped out, bubbles my stick and shouting to keep the hungry of white foam falling from his mouth, animals at bay. My horse trembled, but and panting for breath. He thrust his. trusting to my protectiori did not try to head alongside my faithful horse and so get away. came beside me until we reached a clear­ "In the first gray light of morning ing probably four miles from the place the wolves began to creep slowly away. where I had spent the'night. The hun­ Their cries grew fainter and fainter in gry wolves were again baffled and retired the distance and I found that they had to await the coming of another night in left me. Blessing God for the countless which to continue their search for food." manifestations of his goodness in pre-

STRANGE INCIDENT made to do extensive hotel duty. All classes per force patronized it—emigrants A Memorable Little Cabin—Three Lives from afar as well as local dignitaries, Snuffed Out, and Under a Veil of sought friendly shelter in its narrow Mystery limits. The Spinks, Hollisters, Robys, Spaf- fords, Drs. Dustin, Peck Burritt and ON the right hand, or cast side of the Conaiit, Collister Haskins, W. V. Way, Haskins road, about two and a Count Coffinberry, Ralph Keeler, all the fourth miles from Bowling Green, the leading men of that day, had sought passerby may have noticed on the crown shelter under the roof of that diminutive of the sand ridge, just inside the field, a cabin on- the sand ridge. True it was little old dilapidated, deserted log cabin. but one story high and nearly all of one . It has stood there for years and years, end was taken Up by a great fire place, like a faithful sentry noting the progress but for all that it was the only dry place of surrounding events, and the days of the benighted traveler, with his weary its existence exceed that of any other horse, could find. Stay he must, and cabin in Plain township. It was for some nights there were almost as many many years previous to the drainage of sleepers snoring away as there were split the country adjacent; a sort of Mt. puncheons in the rude floor, on which Ararat to the unfortunate travelers on the guests had to lay, for bedsteads were the "old" Miltonville road. Many a scarce in those days. weary man has sought rest in that little homely cabin. It was long known as Involved in a Law Suit the Wilson place, and was built by a But enough about the old cabin. It man named Wilson, and was for a time was in the year 1840, the year in which SCRAP-BOOK. 139

Gen. Harrison was elected President, open and find if possible what caused that the two Harris brothers, Seth and his death. James, moved into the cabin, which had Snspicioi been abandoned by its former occupants. Rice, it seems, had suspicions that the James Harris was a bachelor and lived two men's lives had been cut short by in his brother's family, and the brothers something they had drank or eaten. He worked together. They had a short got a butcher knife and sharpened it, time previous lived in Liberty town­ but before he was ready to operate, Dr. ship, • either on the premises or not far Thomas was taken with a shake of the from where the late James Bloom lived. ague and had to lay down. Rice ripped Bloom and the Hams' had become in­ open the stomach of the dead man and volved in a law suit, which suit had been could discover nothing wrong as he said, taken Up and was pending trial in the though his frequent drafts on the half county court at Perrysburg. Court was gallon.jug, did not improve his sense of in session, and both parties, plaintiff and vision any. defendants were there ready for trial. He then turned and cut open the breast Before the case was called up, how­ and throat clear to the chin, Ralston ever, the parties to the suit had effected holding the chest open while the heart, a settlement, though' considerable bad liver and lungs were examined. During feelirig had been worked up in the mean the savage operation with the butcher time. It was the current, talk at the knife, Rice scratched one of his.fingers time, that all the parties met at the on the jagged breast bone of the dead tavern and took a drink, after which the man, but paid no further attention to it Harris' started home. On the road than to clap his finger to his mouth and home, Seth Harris was suck the oozing blood from the skin abrasion. Taken Very Sick The lungs of the man were discolored And as soon as they reached the cabin and showed an unnatural condition, but James Harris went for a doctor Rice, 1 Rice pronounced that he could find no who lived where Portageville now is. trace of poison, and soon after he and Before he arrived at the cabin with the Thomas left. Mr. Ralston took the doctor, James Harris also was taken very carved body of Harris and washed, ar- sick with similar symptoms to those of rariged and wrapped it as well as he bis brother Seth. All the efforts and could, and the bodies of the two men skill of the doctor could, nor did not were taken from the cabin and buried. relieve them, and Seth died in great agony, and twelve hours after, his broth­ The Doctor Succumbs er James was laid on the bed beside him Three days after their burial, Mr. Ral­ a corpse. ston was in Portage, and learned that Mr. Ralston, who was about the near­ Dr. Rice was lying in a critical condi­ est neighbor, except Eli Martindale, on tion. He called in to see him and the the present Clinton Fay farm, was alone doctors were just in the act of amputa­ in the cabin, washing tbe body of James ting the frantic man's arm, which, from Harris and was in the act of putting a the small finger wound received while clean shirt on him, when Dr, Rice operating on Harris's body, had become Jarrived, bringing with him another physi­ intensely inflamed, mortification followed, cian named Thomas and a half gallon jug and the flesh came from the arm in of whisky. Rice told Ralston not to dress chunks and flakes while the doctors were the body as he desired to cut the man performing the amputation, which was 140 THE PIONEER

'effected near the shoulder, to arrest if of himself including the too free use qi possible the further progress of the whisky. poison; but it was too late. The poison Thus three strong, healthy men were had taken possession of his whole system, suddenly snatched from the sparsely blood, brain and muscle. Rice was a settled neighborhood—from life to death, doomed man and survived the cutting off and the living, neither then nor since of his arm only a short time, when he were able to satisfactorily answer the too, died in great agony, helped and question; what caused their sudden hurried off, no doubt, by the hard usage death?—C,W.Et

CYGNET'S CALAMITY covered until it'had gained an impetus that was irresistible. It was 5:30 when the flames asserted their presence in the Flames Destroy Human Lives and Wipe Out bed room of Mrs. Maloney, who was oc­ Much Property Nearly a Score of cupying a bed on the first floor with her Years Ago domestic, Mattie Stackhouse. The fire caused an explosion of gas which awak­ ened her to the danger of her situation. ON the morning of the 30th of Jan­ She immediately awakened Miss Stack- uary, 1891, Cygnet was visited by house and her five-year-old son and the a mOst disastrous conflagration. The two hastily donned their dresses and fled Wood County Democrat chroniclea the tc the rear of the building, taking the fact that three lives had been snuffed out boy with them. When they got out of and $50,000 worth of property destroyed. doors the two women looked back into Here follows The Democrat's account: . the burning building, and saw Francis Cygnet, as is well known, is an oil Slattery, a brother of Mrs. Maloney, town and is one of. the incidents of the crawling about on the second floor cov­ discovery of oil in Ohio. ered with flames. They called to him to All the buildings in the town were come out of a certain door, but he was hastily and poorly constructed affairs, probably unconscious. Slattery was and many of them were more or less sleeping on the second floor with Mr. saturated with the oil that not only per- Maloney and Mr. Maloney's 15-months- riiea'tes the earth, but also the very atmos­old child, and the three were burned to a phere, and deadens and discolors the crisp. genial current waters. . Mr. Maloney was 30 years old and was Buildings of that variety are easy prey a boiler maker by trade. Mrs. Maloney to the fire-fiend,ari d most woefully did kept a millinery store on the first floor of he perform his deplorable mission today. the ill-fated building. The business portion of the town coin- The flames spread before the influence prises only one street which is intersected of a western wind towards the east, and about middje by the T., C. & C. railroad. in an hour had destroyed' several of the West of the railroad on the north side of principal buildings of the town. In less the street, a disastrous fire occurred this than an hour, the whole block was a morning, destroying $50,000 worth of unoldering ruin. property and ushering three human be­ The baby was burned up completely, ings into eternity, nothing but its skull being found in the The fire originated in the millinery debris. The town is full of people come store of Mrs. Maloney and was not dis- to see the great conflagration. SCRAP-BOOK. 141

A FALSE ALARM that they buried and hid their property, and then went to Nearing's Mill as a place of safety. Some fled to Beaver An Indian Rumor Frightened Settlers—And Creek for greater safety2 and placed This Was the "Blackhawk War" guards on duty so that they might be duly warned of the approach of the sav­ age chief and his warriors. THE "Blackhawk Jtfag',rin 1835V was "Uncle Guy Nearing learning of the no war:at all:''All it amounted to consternation that prevailed among the was a senseless rumor that thoroughly settlers, and regarding the rumor as noth­ alarmed the settlers for a short time. In ing more than an idle report, without his pioneer recollections, Noah Reed even the semblance of truth, determined gives the following version of the inci­ to have some sport with those who had dent: barricaded themselves within the mill at "In the summer of. 1832, as some of Damascus. One night at 10 o'clock he tbe Pottawatoriiies were out hunting they came riding like Jehu of old, splashing ran across some of our young Ottawa the water and singing in the Indian style Indians. They conveyed to them the until he came up to the guard. 'Who alarming intelligence that the blood­ comes there?' was the prompt query of thirsty Blackhawk of Illinois, was on his the guard. 'Nowash,' answered Uncle way to this point, and his purpose was to Guy, giving his Indian name. This act kill every Indian woman and child. This on the part of Uncle Guy convinced the intelligence so frightened the Ottawa guard, that the rumor of Blackhawk com­ Indians that they scattered in every direc­ ing was a silly hoax, and those who were tion in their canoes or by other methods huddled in the mill began to regard, the of escape. Many of them slept in their matter in a different light, and in some canoes. The Ottawas spread the rumor embarrassment they- concluded to return far and near, and were so positive of the to their homes, confident that all their truth of the report that the white settlers fright was needless. And this was the were thrown into a state of anxiety and sum and substance of the so-called dread. Some of them were so alarmed 'Blackhawk War* on Beaver Creek."

JONATHAN SALSBURY In the spring of 1834 he bought 880 acres of timber land in Liberty township, then a wilderness, the patents for which An Athlete for Work—Never Idle—In an Evi1 were signed by Andrew Jackson. He Hour He Was Stripped'of His immediately set to work to clear and im­ Possessions prove the tract and after staying on it about 30 years had improved over 300 JONATHAN SALSBURY and the Sals- acres. Aside from the work on his farm, bury farm in Liberty township, will wherever there were extensive contracts long be remembered by the oldfflettlers. for work such as teams could be used Old man Salsbury, as he waB Mriiliarly on with advantage, Jonathan Salsbury called many years ago, was ralfler a re­ was a competitor. When the people be­ markable man and had endured hard gan to open artificial water courses in work and man-killing hardships enough Wood county, and the prairie or swamp to have killed four or five ordinary men. lands were to be brought under cultiva- H'i THE PIONEER

lion, Salsbury found a field in which he Salsbury was not one of your men that was peculiarly a success. He fitted up worked hard for a season arid then idled •an enormous plow that was gauged and away months of time. He was always on guided by wheels and capable of cutting the move. Scarcely an hour-of the night and turning a furrow 32 inches wide, and in the working season on the farm that so constructed as to require nobody to he was not'up and out looking after "hold the plow," in fact the plow had no stock, crops or fences—fact, those who handles. To this breaking machine six knew him best wondered when he slept pairs of oxen and one span of horses or how he existed, leading such a hard, were hitched, and when under full head­ grudging, toiling dog's life. Yet when way no ordinary root, sapling or grub he was nearing his ninetieth year he would disturb its progress. The cutter seemed as smart and active as ever. and shear were kept filed sharp and it The Plague Spot of His Life was not necessary to grub land for this With his large landed estate at the sort of a plow. start, and his working habits, dogged Always at It perseverance, he had a good start, it will When Salsbury started on a job it mat­ be inferred, to make a fortune, and to tered not to him .about the weather. which his industry and slavish services Rain, snow, mud or water never deterred undoubtedly entitled him, if, indeed, him from pushing the work from break worldly pelf can be called a compensa­ of day in the morning until after dark tion for such a life. Yes, he made a for­ at night. tune, but it went from him in an unfor­ We remember on one occasion when he tunate hour, else he had been the richest broke 100 acres of land for Dr. Cass on man in the county, and yet, after a long the Keeler prairie, to have passed across life of drudgery, he has but little of this the prairie after night and seen the old world's goods to show for it, hardly a man camped under his wagon with sure reliance for his old age. While scarcely bedding to keep him off the wet conversing with him he was reticent on ground, A cheerless fire flickeredu p a this subject, but we will tell it briefly, little light occasionally, and but for the and let the story not be lost on those who barking of his dog, his only companion, no hear it. one would have supposed a human being Jonathan Salsbury was induced to in­ to have been within two miles of the vest in a lottery. He was uneducated place. His team grazed on the prairie and credulous and avaricious. Like two- near by, and before other people had . thirds of the sons Of Adam, he was ready taken their breakfast in the. morning, to invest in any speculation or game Salsbury had made one "bout" with his which promised a good deal for nothing big plow and a full half acre of prairie or, next to it, a small investment. Dr. had been turned upside down. Roback of Cincinnati, is the man to When George Williams began on the whom Salsbury attributes his misfortune. prairie east of here years ago, he con­ First $100, then $500, $1,003, $1,500, tracted with Salsbury to plow a half sec­ until over $3,000 was gone. The trick tion of land (320 acres). The old man was baited and the old man drew a lucky came with his big plow and team the 17th ticket or so. Then he lost. Then the day of March, and never left even to go man who was leading him on pretended home, until the work was completed on by some power of necromancy or legerde­ the 4th day of July. His feet were wet main to be able to forecast the lucky num­ a great portion of the time, and yet he bers. These Salsbury reached for to re­ never was sick. cover what he had already lost,, and of SCRAP-BOOK. 143

course drew blanks. All was gone now, Hon. George E. Pugh. The prisoner and ho as a last resort caused Roback's was so hedged about that the law or tes­ arrest on a criminal charge, and the timony could not reach him and he went sheriff brought the prisoner to Perrys­ free.—C. W. E. burg, accompanied by his lawyer, the ,late

IMPREGNABLE filled the whole country with surprise, alarm and indignation, and he was every­ where denounced as a traitor, in spite of Against the Vicious Assaults of Great Britain his patriotic services during the Revolu­ and Her Allied Savages Stood tion. He was courtmartialed on two Ft. Meigs charges, treason and cowardice. He was condemned to be shot but was afterwards NO greater victory, none of more trans- reprieved. cendirig import is recorded in our Winchester's Defeat nation's history than that of the sieges of Fort Meigs. It was the purpose of In an address of Cassius M. Clay, in Gen. Harrison, the commander-in-chief, 1891, he said that on the first day of to retake Detroit which had been so in- January, 1813, the Northwest army un­ gloriously surrendered by Gen. Hull. der Brig.-Gen. Harrison rested, with the Harrison had been appointed Governor left wing, commanded by Gen. Winches­ of the Northwestern territory, including ter at Fort Defiance, on the Maumee Indiana, Illinois, Michigan and Wiscon­ river, and the right wing under the com­ sin—having done much civil and mili­ mander-in-chief at Upper Sandusky. tary service, well known to history. Detroit being the objective point of at­ tack, Winchester was ordered to march Victory of Tippecanoe with his brigade of Kentuckians and On the 5th of November, 1811, Gov­ regulars, commanded on the left by Col. ernor Harrison marched with some regu­ Lewis, to reach the rapids and await lars and militia, 800 strong, upon the Harrison's arrival. But Winchester on Prophet's town (the brother of Tecum­ the 14th, hearing of the weak garrison seh), on the Tippecanoe river, in Indiana, of Frenchtown, on the river Raisin, in where he was entrenched. The Indians Michigan, detached Col. Lewis to capture were defeated and dispersed, their lead­ it, which was done on the 18th of Jan­ er, the Prophet, being killed. This uary, 1813. overawed the Indians, who were in al­ Winchester, hearing of the capture, most entire possession of the whole terri­ marched to the support of Lewis, refused tory, but war with England being im­ to enter his pickets, and camped his regi­ minent, they refused a peace. ment on the plains outside, because he would not take post on the left of Lewis Hull's Surrender —military etiquette ordering—and he War with England was declared June slept at a farmhouse a mile distant from 12. 1812. Gen, Hull was sent with his Col. Wells' regiment. -army to Detroit to conquer western Can­ ada. In August following he surren­ Massacre at River Raisin dered his entire army, Detroit and the A British force under General Proc­ Northwestern territory to Gen. Brock, tor, marched with regulars and Indians of the British army. - This surrender in the night of the 21st, assaulted Lewis' 144 THE PIONEER

fort, and were repulsed with great slaugh­ and the firing was something terrible. ter. They then turned on Wells' regi­ Only the strong earthworks saved the ment and cut it to pieces, taking many Americans from death and destruction. prisoners, among them Col. Wells him­ Round and round, the Indians skirmished, self. The whole British force, with six picking off the American soldiers when­ field pieces, was turned'upon Lewis, who ever they had a chance, while the British surrendered under promise of the protec­ * kept up an untiring cannonade. tion of civilized warfare. The generals, Gen. Harrison had dispatched a mes­ colonels and men were saved as stipulat­ senger, Major Oliver, to tJen. Clay, who ed, but all the wounded were massacred was at Fort Defiance, and on the night in Frenchtown. There was no guard of May 4, came the cheering news that left, and two houses full of the wounded Clay was above Fort Meigs with 1,200 were burned. men. The historian Collins in his Ken­ Siege of Fort Meigs tucky History says: "Gen. Harrison, with the rapid resolu­ Defeat after defeat seemed to be the lot of the American forces, and after the tion of military genius, dispatched by battle and massacre at Frenchtown, Gen. Capt Hamilton an order to Clay, to Harrison was compelled to abandon the land 800 men upon the northern shore, recapture of Detroit and to stand on the opposite the fort, to carry the British defensive. During the spring of 1813, batteries there placed; to spike the can­ he pushed forward to completion the nons and destroy the carriages, after work on Fort Meigs, so-called in honor which they were immediately to regain of Gov. R. J. Meigs, of Ohio. This was their boats and cross over to the fort. a work of no small magnitude and mo­ Hamilton, ascending the river in a canoe, ment. For no sooner had the ice com­ delivered the orders to Clay.. But he, menced to move in the river and lake with that sagacity which distinguished than the British general, Proctor, form­ his life, sent Hamilton to deliver Harri­ ed his plans for the invasion of the son's order to Col, William Dudley him­ Maumee Valley. By threats, by entreat­ self. Dudley captured the batteries and ies, by cunning schemes and false promis­ filled his orders literally:—all but the im­ es, Proctor secured the assis'tahce and' portant one. Led off by the artifices of fired the zeal of Tecumseh, promising to Indian warfare, he was killed with, all turn over to the Indians Fort Meigs, its his force, save about 150 men. Clay garrison and immense stores, and the landed his 1,200 men." savages, fresh from the bloody scenes of In a letter written by Gen. Clay to a Raisin Valley and Frenchtown, were only friend in Kentucky, dated July 8, 1813, too ready to join in the crusade for while he was in command at Ft Meigs, plunder. • he says: Gen. Proctor embarked from Detroit "On the day of the action, Maj. David with 2,000 regulars and Indians, in Trimble accompanied me to cover the the last week of April, 1813, and occu­ retreat of the remnant of Col. Dudley's pied Fort Miami, when the savages in­ regiment, and behaved with great eool- dulged in their favorite pastime of skirm­ ness and gallantry. * * * Here the" ishing, pillaging and scalping in the Kentuckians drove Tecumseh, where the yicinity. hottest battle was fought, and then he Meanwhile, on the 1st, 2d and 3d of crossed the river, and with their whole May, the British and their allies were force overthrew Col; Dudley." pouring hot shot into the fort. Batteries The Bed-Rock of History had been erected just across the river, Acting under General Harrison?s or-

SCRAP-BOOK. 14? ders> on May 5, 1813, with 1,200 men, fighting the Indians single-handed in the Green Clay, defeated the immortal Te­ swamp. He died surrounded by the cumseh and the British forces, 3,000 savages whom he had killed. But they men, iri open daylight, drove them over had their revenge. His body was slashed the river, and saved 150 Kentucky sol- and in many places large pieces were cut diers, the remnant of his brigade, from out—pieces which it is thought the death. This was the first real victory, savages in their drunken madness cooked within the lines of this address, since and ate." the declaration of war, January 12, 1812. But the sorties from Ft. Meigs were successful. The British were driven from Col. Dudley's Fatal Error their batteries, and forced to beat a hasty After the British batteries opposite retreat by the remainder of the Kentuck­ Fort Meigs were dismantled, the guns ians commanded by Col. Botwell, Maj. spiked and the flags. pulled down, in Johnson and Maj. Alexander. The siege obedience to orders, a writer in the'To­ was raised. The fort was saved. ledo Blade gives this account of Dudley's disaster: The Second Siege "Capt Coombs and 30 riflemen were Gen. Green Clay was in command of in advance of the main body when the Fort Meigs during the second siege, Gen. Indians in ambush turned on Coombs. Harrison was at Lower SanduBky. On Dudley saw the danger and ordered his the 20th of July, the British again ascend­ men to their assistance. The Indians ed the Maumee river. The united forces were driven back and Coombs was saved. of Proctor and Tectunseh amounted to "But it was only for a moment. The more than 5,000, while the Americans Indians re-enforced turned. Dudley arid at the fort amounted to but a few hun­ his men were scattered through the woods. dred, Gen. Harrison having withdrawn They were surrounded. Fighting desper­ the American forces to other forte in ately some of the command were pushed, Ohio. back towards the boats. AH along the When Gen. Harrison heard of the river they were driven backward arid movements of the British, he sent Capt. forward, fighting,strugglin g bravely and McCune to the assistance of the garrison. contesting every inch of the ground. But His knowledge of the plans of the enemy Dudley fell a victim to the savages while prevented a wholesale slaughter of the 630 outi of 800 who landed with him, soldiers at the fort were either killed, wounded or taken prisoners. A Cunning Device Failed ' "Gen. Harrison, with indescribable Tecumseh had planned a cunning anguish, saw this advance movement from strategem which almost proved success­ Fort Meigs and saw what must be the ful. The British infantry were secreted inevitable result. He tried to signal in a ravine near the fort, the cavalry in Dudley's command back, but in vain, and the woods, and the Indians in the forest all the orders sent were not received. back from the fort. The British and Col. Dudley had sacrificed almost all his their allies commenced a sham battle army to save Coombs and his riflemen among themselves. So cunningly was frojn destruction. When too late he tried the scheme planned, and so skilfully was to call his men back, but the Kentuckians, the fraud managed that it deceived the confident of success, only pushed on deep­ garrison, but not their commander. The er into the forest an,l to their own ruin. men demanded permission to go out and "Col. Dudley, when last seen, was assist in the battle, and were indignant 148 THE PIONEER

when this permission was denied. Had succeeded in storming the fort and thus not a shower put a stop to the sham all. would have perished together. It is battle, the men would probably have been more than probable that Proctor learned led into an ambush and the fort taken. of their resolve, for he must have guessed that after the terrible scenes at the River A Desperate Resolve Raisin and Maumee the garrison would But the soldiers in Ft. Meigs would never fall'into his hands alive. On July never have fallen into the hands of the 28, Proctor discontinued the siege, and enemy alive. Preparations were made discouraged and disheartened, retreated to fire the magazine in case the allies down the river in his boats.

WOLF HUNTING tation of a wolf which he could imitate with such accuracy as to defy detection of almost any man, and easily deceived The Method and Cunning of John Carter in the unsuspecting wolves. He had not His Expeditions howled long before he was answered. Now mark his cunning. He blazed sev­ JOHN CARTER became famous in the eral trees as nearly as was possible in the forties in southern Wood county as darkness, in the direction of the sound a leader among all those engaged in the and laid by for the next night. Soon dangerous sport of hunting wolves. One as the woods were still and night had of his many exploits will serve to show shrouded the trees with their thick green his style and craft in this, his chosen foliage, in darkness almost tangible, avocation. Carter again took his station at a point It was in the early summer of 1839, at right angles with the line of blazes John: Carter called ait the cabin of John made the first night, and again began Johnston, who had just settled on the to howl. Again he was answered and bank of the middle branch of the blazed his trees in the direction of his Portage river, about three miles east of answers and awaited the return of day­ the village of that name, and desired to light make his headquarters there while he The next day he followed the lines scoured the swamps further up the river indicated by the trees he had marked m search "of wolves. until they intersected each other, and not He wpuKl remain at the house all day a rod from that point in a great hollow until at dark, and often not until the log, he found the old she wbjf and four family had retired would he strike for cubs. From the glare of the fire of the the woods; and the wilder the location eyes of the old wolf he was able to plant the better. He threaded his way through a ball in her skull, and then crawling in that swamp where the old corduroy road on his hands and knees he finished the was afterward constructed—on further, cubs with his tomahawk. in a southwesterly direction until he Mr. Carter continued hunting until reached a point in that region of fat mos­ 1847, when he closed his hunting in quitoes, indicated on our old maps of Wood county, as the following last affi­ Wood county as a lake and called "Inun­ davit of his, takeri from the records of dated." Here in this inaccessible region, the clerk's office, will show: in the weird stillness of darkness and The State of Ohio, Wood County, ss.: desolation, Carter began howling in iml- You, John Carter, do solemnly swear, SCRAP-BOOK. 149

-that the six scalps of wolves taken within Sworn and subscribed before me, this the county of Wood by you within twenty 2d day of June, 1847. days last past, and you verily believe THOS. UTLEY, Clerk. under the age of six months, and that The last wolf scalp redeemed in Wood you have not spared the life of any she ^ounty was Dec. 20, 1871, and pre­ wolf within, your power to MR, with sented by Leonard Rush, and the stub in the design to increase the breed; and the clerk's office is signed by Geo. Wed- have received an order for $15.00. del, clerk.—-C. W. E.

TRAFFIC IN 1833 had to get all his help, from the river, some of the men coming from Perrys­ burg, and even then they would not con­ Experience of Mahlon Meeker—first Log sent to come, so busy were they, unless h • House Built in Plain Township would raise on Sunday, which of course he had to do. So on Saturday afternoon MAHLON MEEKER who came from he made a shelter of poles and prairie Butler county in 1833, left his grass, and with a supply of bread and family and brought with him only a few meat And some blankets for the raisers head of cattle, remaining on the river and a dozen or so bunches of pea-vine most of the summer, working for Guy grass, which he had mowed and placed Nearing, Elias Hedges and others. To­ about against small saplings for the ward fall he went out to the prairies to horses, preparation for his help was cut hay for his cattle and make prepara­ made; early in the evening they began to tions to build a cabin, after which he and arrive by the Indian trail in ones, twos a man named Howard, took a wagon load and fours until sixteen had arrived. By of white bass which they bought of John the first light next morning they were at Hollister at Perrysburg, to Bellefontaine work, and now as this was the first sys­ and West Liberty by Way of Fremont and tematic house raiBing in Plain township, Fort Ball. With this they bought twelve we subjoin the names of the party as barrels of flouran d ten gallons of whisky near as Mr. Meeker can recollect and started back. When near Bellefon­ Elijah Herrick, Guy Nearing, Michael taine, Howard proposed that he could Sypher, John Whitehead, John Howard, drive the three yoke of oxen home and Epaphroditus Foote, Jesse Decker, -Levi Meeker could go down to Butler and see Decker, Moses Decker, Nathaniel Decker, his family and arrange for their coming James Spafford, Eber Wilson, Charles out to the Maumee, which was accord­ Wilson, Johnston White. ingly done and Meeker started south­ By two o'clock the cabin was up, the ward. roof (of shakes) on, and all cobbed off, After making a short visit Mr. Meeker with weight poles in good shape. Some soon found himself again on the prairies of the men had got pretty hilarious by in Wood c^nnty. Howard had got back this time, not just because of the good and disposed of all .the flour excepting work they had done, but because of sixty pounds; this, with a keg of whisky, frequent visits to the ten gallon keg, being all Mr. Meeker got out of the load. which in those days was an indispensable He was now ready to raise his cabin, a aid on occasions of this kind. work which among the early settlers was After the work was done, Mr. Meeker attended with no little difficulty on announced that he had found a bee-tree account of living so far apart. Meeker near by, and if they would like some 150 THE PIONEER honey, he would lead them to it. A vote after which they mounted their horses, was taken, and carried in favor of the and started home, on the Indian trail sweet undertaking. The honey proved with such whoops and shouts as would to be of the finest kind. One man made have startled a native denizen of the a paddle, and as fast as the honey was forest. Shortly afterward Mrs. Meeker put in. a pail, stirred it up well, after arrived with their five children, and a which the. pail was filled with whisky. few household articles, and made the Then a commissary was chosen, with in­ new cabin their home.—From Evers' Log structions to administer to each man Cabin Sketches. present, a tin cup full, no more, no less,

MISSION STATION This clothing had been sent by the Home Mission for the heathen—probably white heathen. Mr. Reed thinks this Mission Some Doubt About Its Benefit to the Indian; was of no great benefit to the Indians. The Mission Board through their agent, NOAH REED hauled the bricrforthe got into litigation with David Hedges Station chimneys from Daniel and others. The island, about which •HubbelPs brick yard at Port Miami, they went to law with Hedges, was re­ there being seven loads, for ,which he turned to the Government Survey as a received pay mostly in second-hand cloth­ sand bar. Hedges bought his claim ing and stockings for the Nearing family. front the Indians.

EDSON G01T was of age started for the western country, finally reaching Tiffin. He worked at odd jobs, taught school One of the Honest, Sterling Characters That in both Tiffin and Fremont, then unpre­ v Are Beloved tentious villages, and in the meantime read law with Abel T. Rawson. In due course of time he was admitted to the bar EDSON GOIT was a man of strong to practice law and opened an office at physical constitution, tireless en­ Findlay. He made his home in the ergy, vast will power and of great indus­ family of the late L. Q. Rawson. After try and endurance. Combined with these six months of studious days and anxious he had honor and integrity of the highest ''nights—six months of patient waiting order, and his impulses toward his fellow for a client, none came. Six months men were generous and rioble. were gone—nearly all his scanty means Mr. Goit was born in Oswego county, were gone—his clothes were well worn New York, in 1808. While he was yet and only a single dollar had he earned. an infant his father died and during his After he had Bat down with the family at boyhood he had but little time or oppor­ the breakfast table one morning, he told tunity to improve his mind by the aid of them that it was to be his last meal with books; but such chance as he had, he them as he had decided to leave the place. improved to the best possible advantage While they were yet at the table there and by the time he was 20 years old he clime a rap at the door. A stranger was taught a district school, and before he there and wanted to know if a lawyer SCRAP-BOOK. 151

boarded at the house. The stranger was In 1833 he married Miss Jane Patter- from the east and he had come on to col­- son and from this time on he was pros- lect a claim against a man who was perous. By the year 1840 he had accum- teaching school not far away, and who ulated quite a competence, owning at that owned 40 acres of land near the town... time nearly 2,000 acres of the best land The case was somewhat complicated and1 in and about Findlay, and having in papers had to be taken out Goit pre­- ready cash over $10,000. pared the papers through the day and ai His future, however, was wrecked in constable was quietly sent for so as to> mercantile business and indorsing for give no alarm orywarning to the man off others. The rascality of a partner the birch-tree government. Everythingt brought him to Bowling Green, where ne being all ready they pounced down on1 secured a portion of that due him. him at night, and the result was that thei Through all his misfortunes Mr. Goit stranger got the 40 acres of land, thei left in his later days a comfortable com- teacher skipped out for some reason and1 petence for himself and remaining fam- Goit got as fee ten dollars and an ax.. ily and as he himself said a short time Then the district had no teacher and who> before his death, "after so many ups and could be a more proper man to fill out thes downs in my life I am glad to know that term than Goit, which he did to the satis­• if I do not get well I shall at least die faction of alheoncerned. square with the world."—G. W. E. '

NOT ALL A DREAM to realize otherwise than that her eyes were gently closed in sleep, BO natural and painless was the expression of her More Things in Heaven and Earth, Horatio, lifeless face. Than Dreamed of in Thy Philosophy A strange coincidence in connection with her death was related by her hus­ band and friends, and given from the ON the morning of the 3d of Decem­ pulpit during the funeral services. Some­ ber, 1877, the citizens of Bowling where near three years before she had a Green were startled by the sudden death dream in which it was foretold her that of the wife of Albert E. Royce, a promi­ she would be taken sick on the 27th of nent business man. She was sick but a November, 1877, and that she would die few days, and her ailment was not con­ on the 3d of December following. This sidered serious as she was in possession dream she related to her husband who of all her faculties of mind up to the made light of it as did her parents and very last, and was up on her feet only, a immediate friends when she told them short time previous to her death. the story; but with her it was not so. She was known, respected and liked by The matter appeared to weigh upon her every one. Her kindly presence and mind, and several times during that time cheerful aid, said the Sentinel, was al­ she spoke to her husband about it, re­ ways ready where she could be of use or minding him that the time was drawing do good in the community, and few near. Very naturally he laughed the could be taken from our midst who would matter off, and even when on the 27th be more sadly missed. As she lay ult she was taken suddenly ill and again in the burial casket, apparently in the referred to the dream, her friends could fullness of health, it seemed impossible not be persuaded that there was anything 152 THE PIONEER in it But when the morning of Decem­ to acknowledge the dreadful accuracy of ber 3d had arrived, and at about 10 her dream. o'clock she quietly passed away, and her This statement is literally true as gentle spirit took its flight, then only, given, and is one of the mysteries that were the sorrow-stricken relatives forced must remain forever unexplained.

AN ODD GENIUS fully prepared, commenced his argument. When fairly under way, one of the mem­ bers suddenly sprang a question of order, "Judge" Lord of Perrysburg, the Butt of and others in the secret joined in dis­ Local Ridicule cussing it, until the evening was spent and its further consideration adjourned AMONG the early oddities, says Heze- till the next meeting. Other preliminary kiah L. Hosmer, which a thirst questions were introduced in succession, for adventure or a spirit of. enterprise each one so timed as to break in upon and brought to Perrysburg, was one Fred­ arrest the argument which Lord was al­ erick Lord, better known to old residents most bursting to deliver. He bore with as Judge Lord. He came from Maine, these delays and annoyances through from one of whose universities he was a three or four meetings of the club; but graduate, walking all the way with a finally Lord's patience was exhausted. pack on his back. He arrived in Perrys­ Waiving the interruption, and with his burg destitute, money gone and clothing arm extended towards his tormentors, in tattered. Failing to obtain a situation a voice hoarse with passion, he shouted: as a student in a law office, he took a "Mr. President: There is a point be­ small piece of land and cultivated it to yond which human nature will not pass, onions. These, eked out by an occasional and I give these gentlemen due and timely loaf, constituted his principal diet. notice that we are now upon the very The neighbors regarded him as the v-e-rge of that point." very genius of famine, for he never for­ The violent gesture and bodily contor­ sook an undrained coffeepot or left the tion with which this menace was empha­ cat her portion. After a while he applied sized, rendered the scene intensely ludic­ to the trustees for the district school. rous, and elicited from the audience a Judge Hollister's ingenious argument that perfect yell of applause. The speaker, "every man is good for something," pre­ however, delivered his argument without vailed, and he obtained the position, further hindrance. which he filled acceptably, until his ad­ Soon after his admission, Judge Lord mission to the bar. Meantime, however, opened a law. office at Napoleon. Here he became unconsciously, the butt of local he fell naturally into drinking habits, waggery and ridicule, and the inglorious in which he indulged at the expense of hero of many laughable occurrences. his associate. When William Sheffield On one occasion he was appointed lead­ put out his legal shingle, Lord called on ing affirmative disputant in the debating him, and after a brief interview, told club, to open that much mooted question, him he had an important confidential "Was the English Government justifiable communication to make to him. They in banishing Napoleon to St. Helena?" walked some distance into the forest The audience had assembled and Presi­ skirting the town in perfect silence, dent Wheeler called upon Lord, who, Sheffield meantime pondering over the SCRAP-BOOK. 153

supposed gravity or ix>ra s relation. JNOW, my advice is, tnat you miy your Seating themselves on a log, Lord opened liquor by the gallon, take the jug to your the subject somewhat after the following office, and whenever you feel obliged to manner: treat your friends, just take them to the "Sheffield, you know you are a young office and treat them there. It won't man, just setting out in life, and have cost a quarter as much as to pay for not had as iriuch experience in the world drinks at a grocery. As a matter of as I haveN I know these fellows pretty economy you'U find it a very judicious well, and don't want to see you taken in, arrangement" and I thought I might do you great favor Lord soon left Napoleon and settled in by telling you on the start what yOu one of the new counties in Michigan. ought to do. Just as fast as you make He was elected county treasurer, and at acquaintances here you will be asked to last accounts had become a man of more drink with them. It is their social cus­ wealth and influence than many of those tom, and they will expect you to treat who laughed at his oddities many years them in return, and it's pretty expensive. before.

REV. ROLLA H. CHUBB days, and his life and adventures as a minister of these swamps, would make a volume quite as interesting, and in many One of the Venerable M. E. Ministers of the instances as pathetic or thrilling as a Maumee Valley romance. There may now be living some who remember Rev. Rolla H. Chubb when he was young and in his full strength of. FEW men in the Maumee Valley were, manhood, and all can attest the won­ better known in Northwestern Ohio derful pulpit oratory with which he was than Rev. Rolla H. Chubb. Born in endowed. With clear conceptions, strong Poultney, Vt, Sept. 18, 1812, he came convictions, a retentive memory, and a west with his father at an early age, who mind to grasp the contents of libraries, had charge of an Indian station on Lake and that power of language always at his Superior, where he remained about five command, he became eminent as a public years, after which he. accompanied his speaker. brother to Michigan. When quite young His sermon preached at Greenwich, he had followed the footsteps of his .Huron county, 0., during the war, was father, joining the M. E. church, was characteristic of the man, and was widely admitted to conference, and from that copied in the public journals. He was in time on until about 1867, he was actively attendance at the Ft. Meigs celebration engaged in the ministry, when he retired in 1840, and about that time became from active work and was enrolled among acquainted with Olive Ewing (sister of the superannuated ministers of the con­ Judge Ewing), whom he married March ference. From 1838 to 1855 Mr. Chubb 1.6, 1841. She died July 14, 1863, at was prominent among the itinerant min­ Ashland, 0., leaving four children, three isters of the M. E. church in the Mau­ daughters, Mrs. Emily Peacock, residing mee Valley, and traveled Wood county at Gallatin, Tennessee; Mrs. Maria Bris­ on a four or six weeks' circuit, when he tol, of Fremont, Ohio; Mrs. W. S.Eberly, encountered all the perplexing embarrass­ and one son, Henry, of Perrysburg, Ohio. ments incident to those early pioneer On October 4, 1865, he married Miss 154 THE PIONEER

Mary C. Hamer, of Ottawa, 0., and of attending the college there. He died moved back to Perrysburg. His last Friday night, Nov. 7, 1884, after a short regular appointment was Freeport, in illness, and his remains were brought to 1868. He moved to Delaware, 0., in Perrysburg and interred in Ft Meigs 1883, to give his children an opportunity' cemetery.—Wood County Repyfilican.

WOOD COUNTY MASONRY which stood—and still stands—upon the bank of Tontogany creek a short dis­ tance north of the present village of History of the Masonic Order in Northwestern Tontogany. It was an ideal location; Ohio for Almost Seven Decades first because it was comparatively cen­ tral, and, second, you could, as a rule, IN October, 1907, Grand Rapids cele­ get there from three different directions brated the fiftiethanniversar y of its without swimming your horse. .Being at Masonic Lodge organization. Grand the confluence of the two Green Encamp­ Rapids Lodge had its origin in Wood ment trails, the Perrysburg people could County Lodge No. 112. Among the ex­ take the one which left the river at Mil- ercises was an address by George A. Boll, tonville, and the Gilead' (Grand Rapids) in which he gave the following interest­ people could take that which left the ing history concerning Freemasonry in river a short distance east from South northwestern Ohio: Otsego; then, when the five trails joined "'It is quite probable that the history at Wood's, the combined trail went on of Freemasonry in northwestern Ohio be- into Plain township. •gatt when Army Lodge, No. 23, spread "For six years Wood County Lodge its charter at Fort Meigs, in 1813, and worked in the loft of Wood's dwelling, worked there until the fort was aban­ and then removed to Eaton's Corners-- doned. Next, in 1818, the grand lodge of later known as Selkirk's Corners, now Ohio chartered Northern Light, No. 40, a part of the city of Bowling Green. at Maumee. This lodge was active until "Of the Gilead people who took the 1828. A new charter, however^ was degrees in Wood County Lodge, the first granted in 1845, and the lodge was al­ was Alvin Gillett, father of Jay L. Gil- lowed to retain its old number. lett, of Toledo, Emanuel Arnold, John "From 1828 to 1842, there was not Edgar and Omar C. Carr and S. H. a single Masonic body in 22 counties of Steedman. northwestern Ohio, and strange to relate, "In July, 1856, the five brethren last the first lodge sprang up in the midst above mentioned, together with Emelius of the Black Swam]) of Wood county. Wood, Everett R. Wood and Daniel Bar­ "In October, 1843, the grand lodge ton, also of Wood County Lodge, A. J. .chartered Wood County Lodge, No. 112, Gardner, of Youngstown, Selah A. Ba­ naming Martin Warner, Emelius Wood, con, a past master of New England, No. Morris Brown, Morrison McMillen, James 4, of Worthington, Ohio, and Samuel Curtis, Leonard Ferrin, David Maginnis Blytrie, from Steubenville Lodge, No. and Sylvester Hatch as charter mem­ 45, petitioned and received a dispensa­ bers. tion for a lodge, to be known as Grand "The firsthom e of Wood County Lodge Rapids Lodge, and to be located at was in the second story of the home of Gilead (Grand Rapids), Wood County. Emelius Wood, a primitive log house The dispensation arrived July 31, nam- SCRAP-BOOK. 155 ing S. A. Bacon as the first senior war­ sons, A. J. and E. R., to Wood county, den and Alvin Gillett as first junior and settled on-the bank of Tontogany warden. creek, as we have mentioned. Here he "The charter was received November married a Miss North, and a number of 4, 1856, bearing date of October 3, children were born, the eldest being the and naming S. A. Bacon, A. J. Gardner, well known surveyor, William H. Wood,. Alvin Gillett, Emelius Wood, E. R. of-Bowling Green. Brother Wood was Wood, John P. Nye and Samuel Blythe a principal mover,in the organization of charter members. The three stationed Wood County Lodge, was its master in officers were named as in the dispensa­ 1847, 1848 and 1855. He was the first tion, and the minor officers also held over. justice and the first school examiner of The officers were installed by R. W. Bro. Washington township. He died in 1876, Hez. L. Hosmer, of Toledo. He was a aged 78; having been a Master MasOn for prime mover iri the organization of Phoe­ 67 years. nix Lodge No. 123, of Perrysburg, of "Fifty years to those who are past Fort Meigs chapter, and of all the Tole­ the meridian of life seems but a brief do bodies up to 1862, when he was ap­ period, and yet, looking backward, many pointed chief justice for Montana terri­ things may happen in fifty years. In tory, and it is of record that he gathered 1856 the territoryo f Grand Rapids Lodge together the Masons of that vast terri­ extended from Fulton Lodge, Delta, on tory and instituted lodge, chapter and the north, to Kalida, Putnam county, on counciL/at Virginia City. the south, arid east and west from "Speaking of individual Masons, the Bowling Green to Napoleon. Up to date it has given of its territory to Deshler, two pastmasters, who were prime movers r in the organization of Grand Rapids Holgate, Liberty Center, W aterville, Lodge, S. A. Bacon and Emelius Wood, Tontogany and Weston. That shows had a remarkable Masonic career. Mr. some change, but let us contemplate Bacon was born at Granby, Conn., in Wood County Lodge again for a moment; 1797, and received the Master's degree it is just 13 years older than Grand there in 1818; removing to Franklin Rapids lodge. When Wood county was county, Ohio, he affiliated with New Eng­ constituted, its territory comprised more land Lodge No. 4, and was for several than ten thousand square miles, figuring years its master; removing to Henry from door to door of nearest lodges, but county, half a mile west of this village, to-day that territorycontain s 110 lodges he assisted, as shown, in the organization and more than 12,000 members." of this lodge and was for four years its master. Mr. Bacon's death occurred in T~ March, 1883, he being 86 years of age, It is not an exaggerated belief that and for 65 years a Master Mason. had Hull's army, which passed through Emelius Wood was born in 1797, and is the site of Bowling Green, almost a cen­ said to have been the third white child tury ago, been led by a man of the nerve born in the old fort at Marietta. He of Anthony Wayne, that a portion of was educated at Athens and received the Canada would to-day be a part of the degrees in Paramuthia No. 25, in 1818; United States. Hull's disastrous failure later he went to Somerset, the then compelled the few settlers at the Maumee county seat of the new county of Perry, Rapids to leave and the whole northwest where he served as county surveyor for was opened «to the merciless raids of some twelve years. His wife dying in savages. It was indeed a national calam­ 1833, he removed in 1834, with his two ity. 156 THE PIONEER

HON. THOS. W. POWELL er's team with the baggage,of a regiment to Sacketts Harbor, and in the spring of 1813 entered the place at the close of A Veteran Pioneer Lawyer, at One Time the battle. In 1814 he was appointed Identified with Wood County History by the military authorities to carrv dis­ patches to Plattsburg, and at the cloBe DECEMBER 12, 1882, says the Cleve­ of that battle entered the town with dis­ land Herald, Hon. Thomas W. patches to Gen. McCombs. Powell died at his residence in Delaware, In the year 1819 he came to Ohio and at the advanced age of eighty-five years. studied law in the office of Hon. James For several, years he had been almost W. Lathrop, at Canton, and in 1820 was blind. His name stands foremost as one admitted to the bar. He removed to of the greatest thinkers of the State. Perrysburg, on the Maumee, where he The following history was given by Hon. filled successively the offices of Prosecut­ James R. Hubble: ing Attorney and County Auditor of Hon. Thomas W. Powell was born in Wood county. South Wales in 1797. In 1801 he came In the discharge of bis official duties, with his parents to America and settled he was noted for his probity and indus­ in Utica, N. Y., in the Mohawk Valley. try as well as his abilities. In 1830 he During the war with Great Britain, al­ removed to Delaware, where he resided though a mere youth, he drove his fath- until his death.

INDIAN JUSTICE ~ for trial. The cause was duly heard with Indian solemnity, after which One- quit retired, smokng over his delibera­ How a Chief Carried Out the Law of His tions. The result of this deliberation Tribe was that the chief took down his rifle and shot and killed the convicted red man. ONEQUIT, a chief of a tribe of In­ Onequit himself was then brought be­ dians that occupied Station Island fore a magistrate near Miltonville to above Waterville, proved to be judge and answer for the crime of murder. The executioner, as the following incident will chief admitted the killing of the Indian, show, as relatedb y an early settler: but claimed that he had acted only with­ An Indian, who had been guilty of in the laws of his tribe. On this show­ some crime, was brought before Onequit ing he was acquitted and released.

NOTABLE ADDRESSES 1 ZZZ - denunciation of the British treachery at the River Raisin, his men were ready for action. Said their general: "Kentuck­ From Two Commanders That Thrilled the ians stand high in the estimation of our Soldiers With Enthusiasm | M . • Jcommo n country. Our brothers in arms who have gone before us to the scene GEN. CLAY and his KentuckianB of action have acquired a fame which were at Ft. Defiance in April, 1813, should never be forgotten by you, a fame having followed in Gen. Winchester's worthy of your emulation. Should we footsteps, and when he closed a ringing encounter the enemy, remember the fate

SCRAP-BOOK. 159

of your butchered brothers at the River when he casts his eyes to the opposite Raisin—that British treachery produced shore, the scene of his country's triumphs their slaughter." And the Kentudrians overfthe same foe, be influenced by any rcjiriembered it. other feeling than the hope of glory? Is not this army composed of the same ma- Gen. Harrison's Address - terials with that which fought and con­ Standing in sight of the battlefield of quered under the immortal Wayne ? Fallen Timber and under the severe can­ Yes, feUow soldiers, your general sees nonade from the British batteries across your faces beam with the same fire that the river, Gen. Harrison thus addressed he witnessed on that occasion; and al­ his men, some of whom had fallen wound­ though it would.be the height of • pre­ ed, and others who were fainting arid sumption to compare himself with that 'tired ofjthe conflict: hero, he boasts of being that hero's pupil. "Can the citizens of a free country, To your posts then fellow citizens and who have taken up arms to defend its remember the eyes of your country are rights, think of submitting to an army upon you." composed of mercenary Boldiers, reluctant In after, years in conversing with a Canadians, goaded to the field by the friend about the siege of Fort Meigs, he bayonet, and of wretched, naked savages? said: "It was the greatest speech of my Can the breast of an American soldier life."

TWO LOST GIRLS Stella and a lady cousin from "York State," nicely mounted on horseback, rode up to our cabin, on the north side Thrilling Episode Related by J. F. Dubbs in of the prairie to inquire if it would be the Early History of the County possible for them to follow the old Indian trail straight across to the Badger cabin. THE following interesting reminiscence [ was a young man at that time and far comes from J. F. Dubbs an esteemed too much interested in the two nicely pioneer of Milton Center and was written dressed young ladies to see them try to by a.-.W. Evers: pass over that dangerous miry trail, and In 1836, the old Revolutionary soldier at once advised them to go around by the and Missionary, Rev. Joseph Badger built usual wagon trail, which was of itself a cabin and settled On a ridge at the bad enough; they took my advice. west end of the Wadsworth prairie, over­ That evening my brothers, Lewis and looking the great marsh, stretching out John, W. R. Carothers and myself were miles to the eastward. When, a few chatting around a mosquito smoke at my years after his health failed and he moved father's, when, about 9 o'clock we heard his family away, the vacant cabin became some one hallooing in the distance. I a sort of rendezvous for- counterfeiters, told the boys of the incident of the morn­ and other law-breakers. They were fin­ ing—that two girls had rode over to ally broken up arid driven away. Badger's, which was about two miles from In 1851, Nathaniel Badger, nephew of our place. Carothers at once said, "that the old missionary, came and fixed up is surely a woman's voice"; we started - the cabin, got married and lived there at once for the prairie, taking with us a year or so. Nathaniel had a sister our two well trained dogs. Stella, a teacher, who lived in Plain When we got through the woods to the township. One bright morning in June, prairie we could hear the cries, but very 160 THE PIONEER indistinctly, away to the east of us; we a great part of the prairie was swampy. shouted so lustily that we made ourselves It was infested with all sorts of beasts, heard plainly by the lost wanderer, who birds and reptiles common to this country at once turned back toward us. at that time. Wolves, snakes, turtles, Soon the dogs were barking, away out frogs, cranes, pumpers, deer flies and last, in the gloomy waste in a somewhat dif­ but worst in early summer, were the end­ ferent direction. When Lewis and less swarms of ravenous mosquitoes. Carothers. got to them, they found the Then the heavy fogs which curtained this intelligent brutes had done their part well gloomy wilderness made the aspect so and faithfully. As if guided by some in­ dismal and forbidding that the strongest stinct, almost providential, in this case, man might well recoil from its treacher­ the dogs in some unexplained, or 1 should ous borders. / say unexplainable way, had understood Not long after the horses left the trail,' what we wanted them to do and had done they began to swamp down and the riders it, thereby saving a human life. were unseated from their saddles with no There, in a grassless spot, in the oozy possibility of; mounting, even if it had mire and water, her head barely above been desirable to''do so. In attempting the slimy surface, speechless and exhaust­ to lead the horses the girls had their ed, was one of the girls—the one froiri skirts trod on and torn off at the waist New York. She probably could not have and. were in danger, themselves of being survived an hour longer. I need not re­ "trariiped into thctmire by the floundering late our difficulties in getting the poor animals. ' girl out for she was perfectly helpless By this time they had worked so far to walk for sometime, even if she had east as to be in about the worst part of been on good ground. the swamp, probably not far West of the Soon after, Stella, whose shouts had notorious "Stoga Hole." Here the New first warned us of their danger, was York girl gave up to die. Stella left her found, and not long after, brother John friend and. the horses and started as she and I and the dogs found the horses, supposed in the direction of her brother's grazing in a place where the water was cabin; but how could a woman, wading shallow, and got them out to the woods. in water to her knees, in coarse rank grass Stella then told us how it all happen­ higher than; her head, blinded by mos-, ed: They had prolonged their stay at

the women, made as comfortable as pos­ with. Each passing day and year in our sible, and next morning were able to con­ lives has its sore trials, mingled /with its tinue their journey home. sunshine and joy. Each country has its One of, those girls Of nearly half a drawbacks, but I think now, in looking century ago, Stella, married Dr. Stephen back over my three score years' experience, Olney, brother of Professor Edward and that of my old neighbors here, that Olney, of • Michigan university, and at Wood county's early settlers had more thia time, 1894, is living in widowhood than their full share of trials. The in one of the thriving cities of New county was too, hgm causes only slightly Jersey. Her rosy cheeks of yore are alluded to in this narration; in very bad faded; her dark hair long since has repute. This bad name followed it hurt- turned gray; the voice that was strong fully for years after, arid kept improve­ enough to carry its pitiful appeal through ments back until marry fell, weary arid the Cimmerian darkness for help nearly discouraged in the conflict But all a mile away, is feeble now; memory too honor to the old pioneers, and the new fails, but not the remembrance of that ones too; it is different now. Wood coun­ dreadful night experience in the "Black ty is, at last, the first; arid the miry Swamp" of Wood county. swamp, where we found the lost girls, In thus imperfectly giving the details groans, each recurring autumn under its of this and other incidents, I have sought load "of golden grain; and the successors to also convey to the younger generation of those first pioneers would hesitate to a dim, outline picture of the country as swap situations with the most favored the pioneers first found it; also some of husbandmen in the land. the inconveniences and hardships met

THE OLD EXCHANGE BELL S. Davis, Detroit, Michigan Territory, and the year, in large, bold letters, ap­ pear on the bell. After due time Mr. Something of Its History and What Became Spafford got the bell home, and it was a of It great curiosity there in the wilderness, the whole country abounding with In­ ACORRESPON DEN T of the Elmore dians and wild animals. However, Mr. Independent says that in the year Spafford had the bell hung-up in a tree 1832 or 1833, Mr: Jarvi's Spafford built in front of his house, to ring when it was a hotel in Perrysburg, and it was a very time for mealB. fine hotel—even a model one in those ' The Indians used to gather around the days. In order to make it complete he tree to see and hear the bell ring; they had to have a bell on top of the house. would even climb up on the tree to get There happened to be a man by the name hold of it to ring it themselves, to the of S. Davip who had a bell foundry in }>reat annoyance of Mr. Spafford arid his Detroit, Mich., then Michigan Territory. customers, as they supposed meals were Mr. Spafford went to Detroit, saw Mr. ready when the bell rang. This annoyed Davis and made a contract to cast him a Mr. Spafford BO much that he was com­ tavern bell. For want of material to pelled to drive the Indians away by force, make a bell the desired size, Mr. Spafford but they, not being easily scared, came put in 36 Spanish dollars, which were one night and stole the bell and carried melted and run into the bell. In the it off to Upper Sandusky, which was the year 1834 the bell was cast; the name of headquarters for all the Indians in this 162 THE PIONEER

section of the country in those days. rifle, cut the sinew that the bell was fast­ Wlien Mr. Spafford missed the bell he ened to, and soon shouldered it and was much worried, and offered a big re­ started back to camp, to finish their ward for the thief and return of his prop­ breakfast of jerked venison and whisky. erty. After finishing the meal, they started As the bell cost him $75, he felt the back for home, a happy trio. In the loss of his investment, as well as the en­ meantime they kept a sharp lookout on joyment and convenience of it, but he was their retreat, but met with no interrup­ not long in finding the trail of the bell tion, and arrived home safe and whole, from friendly Indians. He secured the but worn out by fatigue and hunger, still services of a half-breed, by the name of" full of glee arid "good whisky." Sam Brady, an old scout, who had killed Mr. Spafford, in order to keep the In­ a.j many Indians and some white men, as dians from stealing the bell again, went any other man in those days. Mr. Frank to Detroit to a blacksmith, arid got a Hollister, the, first white man who settled heavy iron bar, one inch square, made in at: Perrysburg, and bought furs from the a half circle, with a cross-bar, and hung Indians, knew about all of them, and had- the bell in the circle, spiked it on top of slept in almost every Indian wigwam on his tavern, and the bell hung there until the Maumee river. The three started in the death of Jarvis Spafford, and for search of the bell, and were three days several years after. The property then making the trip from Perrysburg to the fell into the hands of Willis Norton, sheriff plains of Upper Sandusky, camping out of Wood county, and for a number of every night, with Sam Brady to pilot years he kept the house and bell. Finally them through. On the morning of the the hotel business died out and Mr. Nor­ •fourth day, to their great surprise, they ton had a good deal of sickiiess and re­ heard the sound Of the bell, arid leavirig verses and left Perrysburg, went west of their camp with their scanty breakfast Ft. Wayne, on a small farm, taking the half cooked, they struck out fully deter­ bell with him, with the full intention of mined to get the bell. After half an keeping it as long as he lived, but his hour's traveling through the deep grass health failed him, necessaries of life were arid thick underbrush, with rifle in hand hard to get, and getting an offer for the to shoot the firstIndia n they met, they old bell from the oldest landlord in came to the missing bell. To their great nOrtherri Ohio, who knew the bell ever amazement they found it tied around an since it was hung upon the old Exchange, Indian pony's neck, which was considered he concluded to sell it to his old friend, the leading pony of the plains. Mr. Spaf­ D. "M.Day, of Elmore, Ottawa county, ford says that it did not take Mr. Brady 0., where it can be seen and heard three long to bring down the pony with his times a day, on top of the Elmore House.

GEORGE HOPPER country from England, and reached Per­ rysburg in the year 1836, engaging in the service of the firm of Smith & Hollister His Experience with Hardships and Wolves in their large warehouse. He remained in Early Years with them three years, at the end of which time he took 160 acres of land in Troy GEORGE HOPPER, an early settler, township..fpr his pay, on which he made died at his home in Troy town­ his home until his death. ship, February 7, 1879. He came to this Mr. Hopper and his wife, like most of SCRAP-BOOK. 163

the people of that date in Wood county, he was pursued until .he entered his cabin. had to put up with hardships and incon­ door, when he heard the brutes jumping veniences, which to this generation of the fence, and no sooner had he closed people would seem unbearable. Mr. and the door behind him than they opened in Mrs. Hopper related as a fact that during an unearthly chorus, startling enough to their first settlemerit in the woods and make a dead man's hair stand on end. for years after, they seldom passed a This sort of solitary life was continued night without being disturbed by the un­ until 1847, when Samuel Shreiner moved welcome and dismal howl of wolves. in," he being their firstneighbo r nearer Sometimes these ravenous brutes would than the Gorrills. : In all his obligations come into their door yard and make the of citizenship Mr- Hopper wW a model night a hideous pandemonium. On one man, upright and honest, and commanded occasion Mr. Hopper had been to Perrys­ the respect and esteem of his neighbors burg to get some provisions and was be­ and all who knew him.-—Wood County lated and came home unconscious that Sentinel.

A SHAKING SCOURGE agues for one man; and oftentimes they had to have it twice in one day. The Chills, Fever and Ague the Result of Malaria well day as we used to call the day we of the Black Swamp missed it, men would be able to do some lighjfcwork, and it may seem strange, but the aay the chill was to come on you NOT the least of the ills encountered could look out from 10 a. m. until 2 p. by the >early settlers in the Black m., and you could see the boys come in Swamp, was the scourge of sickness, to take their shake, as much so as to take chiefly fever and ague, which widely pre­ their dinners. We were not troubled vailed. These ills were caused by the much in those days from any disease of a malaria of that day. malignant form. Aside from the ague, It took from three to five years to get we had some bilious, intermittent and re­ acclimated; every year from about the mittent fevers. We had no need of a first of July until frost and cold made its doctor to bleed the patient, for the pesky appearance, the people had the ague, and mosquitoes did all the bleeding that was they looked for it just as much, and it necessary. came with the same regularity, as sum­ Dr. H. Burritt was the physician; he mer and fall came. An old pioneer says: then lived at Gilead (now Grand Rap­ It took hold of a person and literally ids), and. lie also kept the postoffice; Oh, shook him up. I have seen fellows go to how he used to swear when he had to bed with the ague, and when the shake make his way through the woods and came on the very bed and floor would water, ten, twelve or fifteenmile s to see rattle. So violent was the disease that at his patients. times their teeth would rattle. Many times whole families would be down at one time, so that one could not The Maumee Valley Historical Asso­ give another a drink of water. The ague ciation Was organized in 1885 for the usually came on every other day, and purpose of 'perpetuating the memory and when there were not people enough preserving the historical places in the they had to have it every day, for some­ Maumee Valley. Hon, Morrison R. times there appeared to be about two Waite was its first president. 1C4 THE PIONEER

WHAT MIGHT HAVE BEEN lost to Perrysburg the only opportunity she ever had of becoming ultimately a great commercial center. If the Fulton Line Between Ohio and Michi­ With Toledo in Michigan, Ohio would gan Had Been Fixed have been interested in building up Per­ rysburg, and it is probable at least, that some effort would have been made to re­ COLONEL JOHN A. SHANNON in­ move the obstructions to navigation, dulged in the following probability known to exist between Toledo and Per­ of Perrysburg's future: rysburg, and that the fostering care of In 1835 was fought the great "Toledo the state of Ohio would have accom­ War." Gen. Bell, Gen. Brown, Col. plished for Perrysburg what the state of Van Fleet and many others in and out of Michigan afterward accomplished for De­ command of the forces of the state of troit, under similar difficulties. It is Ohio, and the territory of Michigan, probably vain to theorize over this matter marched and counter marched their re­ now, but it certainly does not seem ini-^ spective commands, and performed feats probable that* if the Fulton or southern of valor and strategy which entitle them line, between' Ohio and Michigan had to a more extended notice than in the been finally adopted, that Perrysburg limits of this history can be accorded would have been now a compactly built them. The net purport and upshot of city, from East Toledo to West Bound­ the matter was, that the Harris, or pres­ ary street, with miles of wharves and ent line, between the state of Ohio and docks, acres of elevators and depots, and the territory of Michigan, was adopted. tens of millions instead of tens of thous­ This left Toledo in the state of Ohio, and ands of dollars of personal property.

BLOODY WOLF FIGHT was found to be so badly chewed up that he died that day. The other dogs were found to be pretty badly used up aho. In Which the Docs Were Badly Used Up by Not far from the carcass of the steer, the the^Vicious Animal dead body of a wolf was found, a murder­ ous looking brute, and near him were plenty of evidences of a terrible fight be­ AN issue of the Wood County Sentinel tween the black monster and the dogs. in August, 1877, relates an inci­ It is supposed that Wall's dog, which was dent of a black wolf killed a few days a gamy, powerful creature, after getting prior to that by three dogs near Mr-; Wil- terribly punished by the wolf, had finally lison's hoUse in Jackson Prairie. A steer got hold of its throat and never let go till had died not far from Willison's place a he had choked it to death. This is the day or so previous, and late in the even­ first wolf killed in this county for several ing Mentioned, Mr. W. heard dogs fight­ years, and the second instance of the de­ ing as he supposed, until finally he be­ struction of a black wolf, and the only came satisfied from the continued bark­ instance we ever heard of dogs in open ing and fierce growls that the dogs, his battle attacking and killing a full grown own among the number, had some animal wolf. It is supposed there were two at bay. He did not go out however, that wolves, but that the other got away. They night. Next morning Jake Wall's dog usually travel in pairs. SCRAP-BOOK. 165

"THE DEVIL'S HOLE" outgrown its bad name; that has been changed from a dreary wilderness to an enterprising fanning community." An Almost Impenetrable Bog—What Was The late Mr. C. W, Evers, however, the Origin of the Name? claimed that the. name was first given to Is It a Den? that locality by the late Mahlon Meeker. Is It a Den? A WEBSTER township correspondent wrote the Perrysburg Journal as The Sentinel, in an issue in September, .1872, indicates that the place may have follows: "During the year 1813 or '14* a period been used by a band of marauders. It when the Black Swamp was yet a Tiow- says: ling wilderness,' well covered by water Buried in the heart of the dense woods some miles to the northeast of this place, »and occupied by Indians, wolves, bears, raccoons and wildcats, there was a low, known as the "Devil's Hole," two men wet swampy bog, extending from a por­ recently discovered a small, low built shanty, covered with bark and entirely tion of Wood county where trie Fenton obscure from the vision of man or beast P. 0., now is, to a point in Middleton, by the dense undergrowth, at no greater lately known as the Devil's Hole Prairie —it being a portion of country exceed­ distance than ten paces. It is off from any road and there is a single path lead­ ingly difficult to penetrate owing to the ing to and from it. Just behind it a hole depth of water and massive growth of Ms been dug tor water, and near it are timber, through which were numerous troughs cut in a log as if for the purpose windfalls that served to render the pro­ of feeding horses. Some hay inside in­ gress of the pedestrian very difficult and dicates that men have slept there, and quite uncertain. there has also been a fire kept in it "At the time mentioned Gen. Harrison Everything about it denotes that the ut­ came plunging through the wilds of San­ most precautions of secrecy have been dusky and Wood counties on his march taken. From its location and other cir­ to Fort Meigs, and while passing through cumstances, persons living nearest the the portion of Wood county near where locality are suspicious that it is a rendez­ this swamp was located, a scout,, whose vous or stopping place for horse-thieves. name the writer is not in possession of, Certainly there seems some coloring for while on the alert for the terror of the forest—the noble red man1—became en­ such a supposition. tangled in this man-trap, and only after a day's persistent effort did he suc­ ceed in findirig the trail of his brave It has been well said that Thomas commander, after which he soon o-iught Jefferson was more than the author of up with the command. Upon being in­ our Declaration of Independence in terrogated as to where he had been, he 1776; he, more than any American, laid replied that he had got lost in the "Devil's down the basis of popular liberty. Hole," asserting that he had truly dis­ covered the home of Satan, and in this There is not a city in Kentucky, there trifling manner (although undoubtedly is not a place in all Ohio that did not appreciated at the time) originated the hasten to the aid of Ft. Meigs nearly a name so long attached to what is now one century ago. And all these cities and of the most prosperous and prolific por- towns have an abiding interest in these 166 THE PIONEER

TOM LONG hotly pursued by Sheriff Evers, learning that his brother was in jail, wrote him a letter from some point out west, stating A Noted Horsethief of This Region Who Died that he would visit the imprisoned in the Ohio Penitentiary,, brother. This letter fell into the hands of the sheriff, and he was on the alert. Finally, after the sheriff had about FROM the Blade of July 18, 1873, re­ abandoned all hope of securing Tom, two garding this noted criminal, we men, one of them a well known citizen quote' the following: of Wood county, called at the jail and Among the names of those mentioned expressed a desire to see a prisoner. The by telegraph in Thursday evening's present sheriff, Mr. C. C. Baird, was then Blade, as having died of cholera in the jailor, and he at once sent for the sheriff. penitentiary at Columbus; was that of On the arrival of Sheriff Evers, he readily Thomas Long, sent from Wood county. identified the stranger as Tom Long, ar­ Long was a noted horsethief, and was rested him and locked him up with his serving out his fourth term in the peni­ brother. Both were convicted and Tom tentiary, although but just in the prime was sentenced to the penitentiary for of life. Perhaps no man in the country twelve years, while his brother got off with wras more familiar with the "runways" ten years. He had, therefore, served out of horsethieves than he. His range was but two-thirds of his time when he died. very extensive, reaching from Central Tom Long was a cool, sharp and cun­ Ohio through Indiana, Illinois and Iowa. ning horsethief. He was quiet, inoffen­ It is said that he would start from his sive to all appearances, and was highly home in Wyandot county, and make a esteemed by those acquaintances who through trip to Council Bluffs, stealing knew nothing of his secret history. With horses and selling them as fast as possi­ criminal law he was quite familiar and ble. The last horse which he stole was studied it even after his conviction, evi­ taken from a man by the name of dently not for a moment thinking of Wilson, living near Portage, Wood changing his habits on emerging from county, when he also stole a buggy front the penitentiary. With his arrest and a Mr. Roller, living in Portage. This conviction, a large gang of horsethieves occurred in 1865. He was accompanied •was broken up, some of them escaping to on this trip by his brother. The latter Canada, and now believed to be engagod was first captured and taken to jail. in running stolen horses across the upper Tom, who had escaped arrest, although end of the lake.

PORTER-RICHARDSON MJJRDER The news of the tragedy spread from the rapids to the lake in a few hours. Porter, who made no concealment of Capture, Trial and Conviction of George what he had done, from the first an­ Porter—Hung at Fort Meigs nouncement of the murder, seems to have been connected with the deed in the THE death of so notorious a man as minds of the settlers in the immediate Richardson, and the sudden and neighborhood who knew of the previous violent manner of his taking off while sit­ unfortunate state of business with Rich­ ting in the midst of his familv, startled ardson. But as the effect of the whisky SCRAP-BOOK. 167 turned, he began to realize what he had in proving the murder and; that George done; the instinct of fear took possession Porter was the murderer, but the counsel of him and he fled, he hardly knew for the prisoner set up the plea of in- whither nor from whom nor what. He sariity and urged it with much vigor, ad­ wandered about in the forests like a rest­ ducing as the strongest evidence the con­ less wild beast. duct of the prisoner to and after the Great search was made for him but murder and his behavior in jail and in­ without success until the third day when difference as to his fate. In rebuttal of he came out and delivered himself up to this position of the defense, the state Sheriff Webb not far from the river ford adopted the theory—(We give Powell's below Miltonville. He told Mr. Webb own language) : that it seemed the happiest moment of "That every person is responsible for his life when he had delivered himself his acts, whenever he acts upon actual" up and no longer felt that he was pur­ facts and real circumstances. That all sued, lie made no denial of the murder. that Porter claimed as motives for his He said it was the only thing left for him acts—the injuries and insults received to do to redress his grievances, and ad- from Richardson—were all founded upon .mittcd that he ought to pay the penalty actual facts and real circumstances. with his life. \^_ There was no delusion or unreal facts He was confined in the old log jail at about this case. Whatever motives ac­ Perrysburg for trial. The supreme court tuated him, they were like all the ration­ was in session with Peter Hitchcock and al acts of mankind, founded upon real Judge Brash on the bench. facts and actual circumstances." The prisoner had. a right to trial in the The court took this view of the case common pleas court if he preferred, and charged the jury accordingly and which would have deferred his trial some Porter was convicted. months, but he seemed indifferent The names of the jurors, selected, from whether any deferise was made at all. a panel of 30 men, none of whom are now He became penitent and zealously relig­ living, were as follows:. ious. Robert Shaw, Palmer Kellogg, John The following are the names of the M. Jaquis, Aurora SimfforJ, Reuben grand jurors impanelled, there being 16 Freshwater, Elijah Huntington, Sewell in all instead of 15 as now, and not one Cunn,. Thomas Learning, Nathaniel of whom to our knowledge is living to­ Decker, Knowlton Young, Nathaniel day, the late Eber Wilson, who was fore­ Blinn and Andrew Hoover. man, being the last survivor: The sentence of the court was that he Nathaniel Jenison, Samuel Spafford, be hung on Friday, the 5th day of the William Bigger, Eber Wilson, James following November. There was a great Wilkinson, William Houser, Amasa An­ deal of public sympathy shown for Por­ drews, George W. Bennetts, Silas Barnes, ter. He had to be sure, taken the life of David Mills, Hartman Loomis, Willard a fellow man, but that man Avas a notori­ Gunn, John G. Forbes, Joshua Chappel, ously bad man and the deed had been J. C. Adams, David Purdue, done under the most provoking circum­ Thomas' W. Powell, now of Delaware. stances. Porter was crushed and broken Ohio, was the prosecuting attorney, and in spirit and had no influential friends to Orish Parish and David Higgins (after­ intercede for him, a thing he was too ward Judge Higgins) were assigned to dispirited to do for himself, even if he the defense of the prisoner. The coun- had his liberty. The means of communi-. 1<>8 THE PIONEER

tedious, beside there were no good Meigs in the presence of a great number grounds, assuming the court's charge to of people who had assembled to witness the jury to be correct, upon which to base the sad spectacle. His body was buried a petition asking the clemency of the in the little burying ground just west of governor. Mr. Webb, a man of kind and the Perrysburg jail. humane disposition, formed quite a Whatever may have been the sympathy strong attachment and kindly feeling to­ for Porter, or however much his claim ward the prisoner on account of his to executive clemency, the execution no reconciled and submissive conduct, and doubt had a salutary effect Nothing is it taxed his utmost resolution of mind so much calculated to restrain crime as to reconcile sympathy and duty. ' the certainty that punishment and the in­ Porter was hanged, on the west slope exorable execution of the law will follow. of the ravine on the cast side of Old Fort —C. W.E.

SIMON GIRTY Simon Girty and Simon Kenton were at one time scouts together, and perhaps the only humane or kindly act in Girty's Something of the History of That Daring, life was his intercession for Kenton's life Treacherous Outlaw in one instance where he had been cap­ tured, tortured and sentenced to death by the Indians. Girty? however, after having in every conceivable manner an­ FROM the columns of a copy of the tagonized both Indians and: whites by old Toledo. Commercial, we clip the his multiplicity of inhuman and treach­ following: «v erous acts, was compelled to seek refuge There are few localities in the State and concealment in the territory now of Ohio more fertile in historic reminis­ embraced in what is known as Henry cences than Henry county, About five county. He had wantonly and indis­ miles up the river from Napoleon is criminately murdered and pillaged right what is known as Girty's island, so and left until he became a hunted fugi­ called from the fact of its having been tive, a veritable wanderer on the face of the abiding place of that notorious white the earth. He eventually sought safety renegade, Simon Girty, whose treatment^ sin the famous "Black Swamp" of the of white captives was more inhuman and northwest, and here opposite the island, fiendish than even that of the red sav­ on the, bank of the Maumee, he erected ages by whom ho had been reared from his cabin, and whenever danger would early childhood. The history of Simon menace him, would retire into the dense- Girty is familiar, no doubt, to thousands, ly wooded swamp, where it was absolute­ but there are features in the family ly impossible to dislodge him. How long record of the Girty family that always he remained here, is not definitely known, afford fresh food for conjecture. The or whether his death was the result of family in general was shiftless and ne'er the infirmities incident to old age, or more do well. There were four brothers, tragic in its character. Ho was unques­ Thomas, Simon, George arid James. tionably one of the boldest and at the Each was adopted by an Indian tribe, same time most treacherous and inhu­ Simon by the Senecas, the most warlike man outlaws of which American history of all the great Iroquois confederacy. has any record. SCRAP-BOOK. 169

WAYNE'S TWO GRAVES Dr. Wallace has an incredible sound, but it is literally and strictly true£ and will be corroborated by any old citizen of Mad Anthony Wayne's Burial Places—Story Erie. Young Mr. Wayne knew nothing of His Bones of Dr. Wallace's operations until many years after. He was then greatly shocked THE Buffalo Express gives the follow­ and declared that lie would never have ing remarkable incident touching permitted such treatment of his father's the 'disposition' of Mad Anthony's body: remains, but would have returned them Gen. Wayne is one of the few famous to the grave and postponed their removal men who have two graves, each equally to a more convenient season. Yet there entitled to commemoration. He died is no reason to doubt that Dr. Wallace, of gout at Erie, Pa., then Fort Presque who was a useful and prominent man Isle, in 1796, when he was on his return in his day, thought he was doing every­ from his successful Indian campaigns thing for the best, and meant no dis­ in the northwest. He was buried at the respect to the mortal part of his old foot of the flagstaff in the fort, and there friend and patient and army comrade, lay undisturbed for nearly twenty years. General Wayne. Then there came through the woods from Over the General's bones, in Chester the other end of the State, in a sulky, county, a monument was raised. But his son in search of his father's bones. his flesh was returned to its grave at He engaged Dr. John C. Wallace, who the foot of the flag-staff) in Fort Presque had been through the Indian wars with Isle, by Dr. Wallace, and forgotten. The 'Gun-.- Wayne, to exhume his bones, and fort—a mere stockade—crumbled away, pack them in a box, that they might be the flag-staff decayed; and the precise lo­ s'trapped to the sulky and taken through cation of the grave was lost. the woods and over the mountains to Some four years ago, however, a digger the family residence in Chester county. for relics on the site of the old fort, un­ When Dr. Wallace opened the grave he earthed a coffin-cover, into which brass- fpnnd, to his great surprise, the body iri headed nails had been so driven as to an almost perfect state of preservation. form the initials "A. W." with the figures The flesh had not decayed. Brit it was of Wayne's age, date of his death, etc. impossible for young Wayne to carry the This determined the location of the grave, coffin and contents in his sulky. So Dr. and there has since been in Erie a feel­ Wallace} who seems- to have been devoid ing that it should be marked by a monu­ of feeling as one of the Indians whom he ment of some sort. It has, in fact been fought, decided, on hisown- motion, surrounded by chains, supported by four and without consulting Mr. Wayne, pieces of superannuated artillery, and to separate the .General's bones from also marked by a flag-staff,bu t something their enveloping flesh and thus enable more permanent is desired, and will them to be removed. doubtless be built—if not by legislative To. accomplish this, boiling had to be aid, then by local subscription. resorted to, and the bones were then denuded of flesh by'the use of knives, and were packed and carried away by The last tribe of Indians to remove young Wayne, and buried near the home­ from Ohio was the Wyandot of Upper- stead in which Gen. Wayne was born and Sandusky, who ceded their lands in in which his descendants still live. This 1842, and the following year left for 170 THE PIONEER

BURNING OFF A PRAIRIE trail, and the Indians seemed as much surprised as they. After surveying the situation a moment the Indians gave the How the Flames Swept the Grass for Many Robertsons to understand their mission Miles was to "scotto," that is to burn off the prairie. They then proceeded about three.miles to the southwest, touched fire HERE is an incident in Middleton to the grass which had not been burned township history published iri the for two years. The flames spread like Sentinel in 1883: the wind and Mr. Anielius Robertson James Robertson came from Scotland states that it did not seem over ten and located in the eastern part of Mid­ 'minutes before it had traveled the in­ dleton township in 1836. One morning tervening distance between where it was after he had selected the land for his set and the edge of the woods where they future home, Mr. Robertson and two of were encamped, and that the smoke al­ his sons started from Perrysburg for their most suffocated them in their tent He land for the purpose of selecting a build­ also says that the flames went nearly as ing site, with a horse and wagon, hauling high as the trees, and that the streets a tent and some other material.' They of Perrysburg 5 1-2 miles distant were came by a blazed wagon track and pitched so lighted by the fire that they could see their tent in the edge of Hull's Prairie, to pick up a pin, and that all the grass arriving just at.sundown. About 15 on Hull Prairie covering . hundreds of minutes after they had arrived at their acres, was licked up by the flames in destination they were startled by the twenty minutes. Mr. Robertson built a sudden appearance of five Indians on cabin on his land the next spring, 1837, horseback, who had followed up their and moved in with his family,

A HUNTER'S PARADISE them in their bed or disturb the young, every hog would instantly become a savage, bristling, furious assailarit and Forests of the Black Swamp. Abounded in the intruder was lucky if he happened Game—How a Savage Old Boar to be* near a tree which he could climb Was Captured quickly. Among the bands that roamed ihe woods was one enormous

IN a.communication to the Tribune, Mr. Savage Old Boar J. F. Dubbs says: With murderous tusks, which was alike Wild hogs were very plentiful in the a terror, to hunters and dogs. This dan­ forests, but while they afforded the set­ gerous brute—a veritable king of the tlers a temporary resource at times, to forests—was as wily and Cunning as a replenish the pork barrel, they were at bear, but like all kings and rulers, all other times not only troublesome, but his ways were not the paths of wisdom. dangerous neighbors. They would mingle He got a notion of slipping ino nights with tame hogs in the woods and toll and lodging with the Dubbs herd till the them away often, where the tame ones chickens crowed in the morning, when he would soon be as wild as their forest kin. would rise, shake himself and join his Then too, if man or beast should sud­ wild brethren in the forest. denly come upon a band and disturb The Dubbs,discovered what was going SCRAP-BOOK. 171

on, and at the time there was quite a at once took a turn around a small sap­ . strife in the settlement as to who should ling where he could easily hold the hog. be the lucky captor of the big boar, One The plan was to capture, confine and morning the Dubbs, father and sons, feed the boar until he was fat; at that with their two dogs, stole a march on time Mr. Dubbs' son, John, came up, the old woods patriarch, and'as he passed the hog was tied and thrown, his nose out the dOgs were turned loose, and after lashed, his tusks cut off, after which he . a sharp race his "hogship came to bay was hauled m on a stone boat, and im­ and faced the dogs. When the men came prisoned in a high, strong log pen. up the brute again fled,bu t the dogs at When he found he could not escape, once fastened on him; one dog laid hold his gnashing of teeth and hideous aspect at the elbow of the fore shoulder; the was startling to witness, but in all the other at the ear; the latter was instantly scrap from first to last riot a cry or hurled into the air with a ghastly slash squeal, did he make, except enraged across its throat from which the blood grunts. For days the old fellow would poured in a stream. The other dog, a not eat; then he would eat in the'night. powerful fellow, was able to stop the At last he began to gain, and though boar, and the brute could not reach him when butchered and sold at Perrysburg with its deadly tusks. he was not fat, yet he was a monstrous big porker. Neatly Captured These wild hogs are supposed to have By this time, Henry Dubbs, James' sprung from strays from some of the father, a stout resolute man, came up, army quartermasters' droves brought furious-at the fate of his faithful dog, here in the war of 1812. They were and seized the boar by its long tail and quite numerous here from 1830 to 1842.

REMOVING THE INDIANS been deserted and left by General Knight, who made his escape and left Colonel Crawford to suffer 'because of his, Gathered from Many Points—Mission Station Knight's, treachery. on the Maumee River The tribes and parts of tribes that used to inhabit this part of the country, were the Ottawas, Pottawatomies, Kick- AN old pioneer, writing to the Sen­ apoos, Shawnees, Wyandots and Miamis. tinel, says: After General Harrison's victory at For"t Between the years 1835-40, the Govern­ - Meigs, and the treaty was effected and ment began to move the Indians to their peace was declared again, many of them reservations in the West and the tribes remained and they were considered becoming broken up, were scattered over friendly, and indeed were so as the old a large portion of Northwestern Ohio settlers well know. A mission station and Northeastern Indiana, and part of was made on the Maumee river; Rev. Michigan, reaching from Ft Wayne, In­ Isaac Van Tassel was sent as a mission­ diana, to Sandusky, Ohio, and including ary to preach to them, and I believe he Crawford county,: which was named .after taught school among them for a while. Colonel Crawford who was so brutally The largest settlement as I remember, butchered and murdered at the stake by was in Sandusky county, and the largest 172 THE PIONEER

at Tontogany, -which' is an Indian name a fat, good-natured fellow, a favorite and I think named after one of their with his tribe and very social with the chiefs. They had one small settlement whites. His half-brother, Noterio, was on Beaver creek'in Henry county, and grea)tl/'his superior in executive ability, a few stragglers were camped for a while an>Kat this time probably the most in­ in Milton township, this county. In the telligent man among them. PetOriguet, fall they would go from their camps in a tall, slender graceful man, with fea­ Sandusky, Seneca and Wyandot counties, tures of a Roman cast had been the hero to Wood and Henry counties to camp of a tragedy some years before in the out for the winter and hunt, and when neighborhood of Roche de Boeuf. He the spring would open they would return was much esteeriied for bravery and very again with their pelts and furs taken popular with his tribe. But a hundred during the winter season. In the sum­ in all remained of this once powerful mer they would resort to the rivers and people, and they were "like strangers in lakes where they could fish, that being a desert home." A day or two after the their favorite and principal diet during tornado, Ottoca, while passing the ruins the summer months. of the hotel, remarked, with significant gesticulation: H. L. Hosmer's Account "White man's shanty—no good—too Thejremnant of the Maumee "Ottawas big—he all whish when the big wind were at this time assembled at Button- come." „ " wood island, a mile above Perrysburg, After their removal these Indians aban­ preparatory to removal to the country as­ doned their habits of savage life, engaged signed them west of the Mississippi. in agriculture, adopted civilized customs, Robert A. Forsyth was entrusted by the and became a substantial, orderly com­ Government with the undertaking. The munity. They accumulated property, Indians made a pleasant cairip on the erected schools and churches, and to-day island for a month or more, and were I believe they are regarded by the people visited daily by the citizens of the towns of Kansas as among their most quiet, below. They had been sadly demoralized law-abiding citizens. Rev. Peter Jones by intercourse with the whites; but a was their leading clergyman, and he was few of their chiefs and leaders retained a lineal descendant of Pontiac, who little enough of the old ancestral spirit to in­ more than a century before was King of spire them with considerable energy and all the country from the Maumee to enterprise after they were settled in their Mackinaw, and disputed inch by inch its new homo. Ottoca, the head chief, was settlement by the whites. —4 NAVIGATION ing on the Maumee river. He says: A small steamer, called the Phenome­ non, remodeled from a canal boat was Ship Building at an Early Date on the River built at Rochester, N. Y., in 1834, and at Maumee and Perrysburg brought to the Maumee river, being towe/1 through Lake Erie in 1836. She was then called the Sun and was com­ AT a Pioneers' meeting held at Fort manded by Capt. C. K. Bennett. Meigs, iif 1880, Charles E. Bliven Old records reveal the fact that many gave an address, from which wc glean vessels were built on the Maumee river. the following facts regarding ship build- Among them the Detroit, 2^0 tons, was BURIAL GROUND OF COL. DUDLEY AND HIS MEN On May II, 1813, the Bodiei of Col. Dudley am) About 130 Kentuckiam Were Brousht to Ft. Mag. and There Buried. They Were Mauacred Six Day. Before

SCRAP-BOOK. 175 built at Toledo in 1834; Don Quixote, 1834; Anthony Wayne, 390 tons, in 80 tons, in 1836; Indiana, 434 tons, in 1837; Wabash, 44 tons, and Marshall, 1839.: 51 tons, in 1838; Gen. Vance, 75 tons, At Delaware creek, the Chesapeake, in 1839; St. Louis, 618 tons, in 1844; 410 tons, in 1838. Superior, 507 tons, in 1845; John Hollis­ At Maumee vessels were built as fol­ ter, 300 tons, in 1848; Samson^the first lows: Miami, in 1838; Gen. Harrison, propeller built on Lake Erie, 250 tons, 293 tons, in 1839; James Wolcott, 80 in 1842; Princeton, in 1854, and the tons, in 1840; St. Troy, 547 tons, in Maumee Valley, in 1862-3, which was 1845; G. P. Griffith, 587 tons, in 1846; the last vessel built there., Albion, 132 tons, in 1848; Minnesota,' The Griffith, built at Perrysburg, it 749 tons, in 1851-2;' Globe, 380 tons, will be remembered by our older citizens, in 1843. ! was destroyed by fireo n the lake, and a At Perrysburg the following were number of her passengers perished in built: Commodore Perry, 382 tons, in the disaster.

FREEDOM TOWNSHIP first, and indeed for a long time, chills, shaking ague and intermittent fevers visited them each year, and at times Name* of Early Settlers—Township Organ* there were not enough persons in the ized and Named by Hiram Pember settlement to take care of the sick. But still they hoped for a better day,, and IN the year 1833,. Isaac Cable and his kept courage arid faith. three sons, Silas, Benjamin and Late in the fall of 1834> there were Jonathan, also Michael Miller and barely enough able abodied men to raise Michael Myers, from near Canton, Stark a log school house at the Porks. At county, Ohio, settled at New Rochester. this raising, a petition was drawn up Almost at the * same : time a party of and signed, asking the commissioners for settlers, among whom were Henry Nail­ a separate township organization. Mr. er, Michael N. Myers, Christian Shelley, Hiram Pember, who now lives in Pem­ Ashael Powers, Henry Hahn, and several berville, and whom we hope may be others came in from Lorain county and spared many years yet, gave the town­ settled at Pemberville and above on the ship its name. north fork of the river. At the following December session, Most of the lands below the forks had the commissioners, Guy Nearing, JameB been bought up by speculators, but most Wilkinson and John Pray, and John C. of the settlers at that time, could get Spink, Auditor, heard the petition, and good lands near the river at government ordered the township set off in a separ­ price, $1.25 per acre.. Wood county was ate organization, and that an election be at that time in the Delaware land dis­ held at the house -of Michael N. MyerB, trict. The Pembers came the next year. the first Monday of the 'following April. James Pember had previously' married Freedom at that time Ms a part of Per­ the daughter of Ashael Powers, which rysburg township. It is in date of organ­ circumstance, no doubt, was the cause ization, the sixth township in the county, of his locating in Wood county, as his Troy and Montgomery townships were father-in-law was the chief landed pro­ organized at the Bame time, and held prietor of what is now Pemberville, their first election on the same day.— They encountered untold hardships at C.-W. Evers in Log Cabin Sketches. 176 THE PIONEER

AN ATHLETE involved in a difficulty with some of the canal men, and while passing up the river with a team ho was attacked by seven Battered Badly by a Mob of Stalwart and' Irishmen with clubs. He whipped five Ruffian Irishmen of them, but had seven of his'ribs broken and .dislocated from the backbone, from the effects of which he died about a year UNCLE GUY NEARING took a sub­ after, in 1840. Before being taken down contract from Contractor Beebe, with the fever at Providence, he had on the Miami and Erie Canal. Con­ made great preparatiori to take part tractor Beebe drew the money and ap­ in'the big Harrison gathering at Fort propriated it to his own use. He failed Meigs. He had a buckeye log cut on to pay Nearing, who was thereby ruined; Girty's Island above Napoleon. The log having mortgaged his property. While was, of large size and 50 feet long, which his canal work was going on he became lie sent to Fort Meigs.

BITTEN BY A SNAKE was most terribly swollen arid spotted, and Dr. Conaht failed to give any relief. About this time an old Indian came over After a Physician's Failure the Victim Cored from the Indian village opposite. The by an Indiam Indian proposed to cure the lad for a gallon of whisky, and his proposition was IK the year 1820, Anthony Ewing, a readily agreed to. The Indian soon be­ young lad,* was bitten by a snake, and gan to gather some herbs, and adminis­ was badly poisoned. Doctor Conant of tered his restorative , toth e boy. The Maumee, was sent for, who came up to cure was a success. But the Indian con­ Waterville, and called for a guide to take cealed his operations in effecting the cure him across the river over the Rapids. from the white medicine man. Dr. Con­ Noah Reed, then a boy, mounted a pony ant afterwards gave the Indian three gal­ and brought the Doctor over. The boy lons of whisky for his recipe.

THE MAUMEEfRIVER flag and the fate of the great northwest hung in the balance, amid the clash of arms and roar of cannon, is now polluted The Grand and Picturesque Stream Not What arid muddy from vast black alluvial de­ It Once Was posits sent in by the interminable cordon and. net work of artificial water courses THE glory of the Maumee with its and ditches tributary to its channel. .It pirogues, boatmen and fur traders; is no longer its natural self. It is a its Indian hunters and trappers with destructive, raging, mad torrent to-day; their canoes, 'peltries, pappooses and to-morrow its naked rocks and unsightly, squaws, is a thing of the past Even the slimy bed scarce deserve the name of sturgeon, muscalonge and ponderous cat­ river. fish of other days are. gone, and the waters Its primitive glory has gone and the of the old river, whose name is rich in\ recollections of the river, as our fathers Indian romance and historic lore—on sqw it, survive only as a memory.—C. whose banks the honor of our nation's W. E, SCRAP-BOOK. 177

SIMON KENTON council house, surrounded by his savage persecutors, a dejected, friendless being. Probably No Frontiersman Had Ever Passed He understood not a word of what his Through so Many Dangers 'fiendish captors said> but knew the dread­ ful import of their proceedings. ATtbat time a white man came in from la dis­ IN the editorial correspondence of the tant expedition with some scalps and Sentinel in June, 1876, we find the learned of the preparation for the torture following from Rush Sylvania: of a white prisoner. He addressed the Not far from this town is Rush Lake, prisoner in English and asked him his and'not far from that is the head waters nairie. When he heard Kenton's name of the Scioto arid Mad rivers. Near by, he fell upon his neck and cried aloud. too, the Auglaize, the head source of the It was the Maumee, starts on its tortuous course to Lake Erie.' It was on a high peak on Renegade, Simon Girty this divide where Wayne's faithful scouts He and Kenton had been fast friends lay secreted and discovered the massing and scouts together in the Dunmore war. of the.Indian forces under Little Turtle, The Indian warriors looked on the scene to crush Mad Anthony, then marching with amazement. What a theme for an his army to the Maumee country, as he artist's brush the portrayal of that scene had previously done to St Clair. The would afford, or what a startling stage wily chieftain, however, never got an op­ scene. Girty, who was~a bloodthirsty portunity to ambush Wayne, nor ever enemy of the whites, rose to his feet and caught him napping. in the most earnest appeal to the savages Near by, too, is the site of the old in behalf of the prisoner, an old friend Indian town of Wappatomica, now and brother whom he had not seen for Zanesfield, where is to he' seen many snows, succeeded in getting up a division of sentiment and saved the life The Grave of Simon Kenton of the prisoner, though a portion of the in a rude picket inclosure. savages were crazy mad for the torture "Tread lightly! This is hallowed ground, to go on. This is the only instance re­ tread reverently here! corded of Girty in which he showed Beneath this sod in silence sleeps the mercy to a prisoner. In a few days brave old pioneer thereafter Kenton was again condemned Who never quailed in darkest hour, whose and sent to Sandusky for execution, but heart ne'er felt a fear." this time a British agent saved his life. The iron nerve pf this remarkable man It seems a little strange that the old during the soul trying adventures of 40 hero should leave Kentucky in after life years' experience among hostile Indians and settle down in the very village where in the wilds of Virginia, Kentucky andV his narrow escape from a horrid death Ohio, would suffice for a regiment of ^-•~oeQrrred^bt)yelar8 before. Perhaps this ordinary heroes. During his captivity veryTortunateyescape made him regard among the Indians, he was made to run the spot with a kindly feeling. the gauntlet eight times, and three times he was tied to the stake for torture by November 8, 1900, a monument was fire. At this very little town, Wappato­ unveiled at Mansfield, Ohio, in honor of mica, he was once condemned, to die. "Johnny Appleseed," whose unselfish His face was painted black, and he had character made him so true to his mis­ resigned himself to his fate. He sat sion of plantitig nurseries and sowing tied hand and foot on the ground in the the seeds of medicinal herbs in Ohis. 178 THE PIONEER

SHOCKING SUICIDE found, the dog tied to a bush with his master's necktie; Near by under a root he dug up the money. What seemed still How Benjamin Waite Was Mentally Unbal­ stranger than all, was the fact of the anced by the Possession of Too night's, being exceedingly dark and his Much Money being wholly unfamiliar with the woods. The next night they reached Vermillion IN one of his Log Cabin Sketches Mr. river, where they stopped at a tavern Evers relates the following: again. His wife lay awake and watched Soon after James Pember's arrival in him for a time. He seemed to be rest­ 1836 in Freedom township, he purchased ing well and finallyovercom e with weari­ a tract of land from a man named Ben­ ness, she fell into a light sleep, only to jamin Waite, paying him for it $600, be startled in a short time with a heavy which sum proved to be the only per­ fall on the floor, in the room where they ceivable cause for the man's suicide. slept. She instantly perceived that his No sooner had Waite become possessed place in bed was vacant, and hastened to of the money, than he was seized with get a light. She found him lying on the insane belief that he was pursued by the floor, red with his own blood and robbers. He counted and recounted his with what little strength and life yet money. He grew to distrust his wife. remained, he was still dealing himself She was no longer a safe guardian of deathly stabs with a butcher knife. One his pelf. Avaricious spirits and wood almost imagines the poor victim in the demons haunted his footsteps in the for­ same state of mind as Poe, in Lenore: ests, and red-handed pirates haunted his "Up from the damned earth, fitful slumbers in apparitions more To friends above, from fiends below, dreadful than the "spectre bridegroom." The indignant ghost is driven— Gloominess and melancholy gradually From Hell unto a high estate took the place of a once cheerful mind. Far up within the Heaven— On other matters he seemed right enough. From grief and groan to a golden But that lie should be robbed he was throne certain, and nothing could dissipate the Beside the King of Heaven." delusion from. his.mind, and finally he lost confidence in all earthly things ex­ cept his dog. In 1776 England was the most ad­ It was in this state of mind that he vanced of all the ages in constitutional and his wife started back to Lorain liberty, but when we went to war "For county where they had come from. No Taxation Without Representation" The first night out they stopped at Sher­ and created a new nation, we reached a wood's tavern at Green Creek, Sandusky higher plane in the advance of civiliza­ county, still pursued by robbers, as he tion. thought. In the night his wife missed him, and began to feel uneasy on account In the latter part of the Eighties a bill of his absence, but he returned and told was introduced into congress and pushed ' her that he had been out to hide his to a vote. This bill provided means for money. As soon as it was light in the erecting monuments to perpetuate the morning, she went with him to get it memory of Perry's victory, Ft. Meigs, Ft. He went nearly a mile as she thought, Miami, Ft Industry and the battle of into the thick woods, as direct as if he Fallen Timber. This bill was finally had been following a path, where they stricken from the appropriations bill. SCRAP-BOOK. 179

WOOD COUNTY IN WAR 21st, 49th, 55th, 57th, 67th, 7,2d, 100th, 101st 111th, 123d, 144th, 185th, 186th, and 189th regiments of Ohio Volunteer Her Sturdy Boys Ever Ready to Respond to Infantry. Aside from these Wood coun­ Their Country's Call to Arms ty had its representatives in cavalry, ar­ tillery, battery and naval service,' while WE have no data at hand to give any many of her sons were enlisted in regi­ account of volunteers, if any, ments from other states. Then when. from Wood county during the Mexican the county had been well stripped of its war, as the county was then sparsely able-bodied meri; -hundreds more, known settled, there being a population of not as the "squirrel hunters" of 1862, has­ over 13J100 probably in the entire county. tened to the relief of Cincinnati when But iif the war of the rebellion, arid that threatened by the invasion of Kirby of the war with Spain she gave abund­ Smith and his'rebel legions. ant evidence of her patriotism and loyal- Then in the war with Spain in 1898, ty. Wood county furnished 222 men in Com­ In the War of the Rebellion, thous­ panies H and K of the 2d Ohio Regi­ ands of her sons enlisted in the various ment. The boys entered the service in regiments, and hundreds gave their lives April, 1898, and were mustered out in in the defence of their country. Her February, 1899, returning home without brave boys were distributed in the 14th, a man missing.

NEWSPAPER HISTORY of the principles of the Republican party, which it continues to maintain. The next paper issued iri Wood county The First Newspaper in the County—These was the Wood County Packet This Publications Increase and Keep paper* was Democratic in politics, and it Pace with Its Progress was said to have been ably conducted \ during the brief period while it existed. It was started in the year 1838 or 1839, THE first newspaper published in and closed in the year 1841, or imme­ Wood county was the Miami of the diately after the memorable hard-cider Lake, Jessup W. Scott, editor. The first and coon-skin campaign. number of this paper was issued Decem­ Soon after another Democratic paper ber 11, 1833, and the paper continued started at Perrysburg about the year to be published under this name until 1845, but there remains nothing from the 18th of August, 1838, when the name which its history can be learned. was changed to The Ohio Whig and con­ In the year A.D., 1853, Albert D. tinued under this name until the first of Wright commenced the publication of June, *1844, when the name was changed the North Western Democrat, a Demo­ to the Fort Meigs Reveille and under this cratic paper, as its name indicates. The name it was published till the 10th of first issue of this paper was on the 22d March, 1853, and was then changed to of May, 1852, and Mr. Wright continued the Perrysburg Journal. It was started the publication tmtil his death by cholera as a Whig paper and so continued until in the summer of 1854. the fall of 1854, when the Republican At the resumption of business after party drove the old Whig party from the , the cholera, the publication of the North field. The Journal became an advocate Western Democrat was resumed and its 180 THE PIONEER publication continued till the 22d of numbered among the things that were. January, 1855, when the name was The Weston Avalanche. The first is­ changed to the Maumee Valley Democrat, sue of this paper was on the 3d of June, and continued to be.published under thai 1874, and the publication continued till name until September 3, 1857, when 1875, when it ceased, and shortly after the name was again changed and from the Weston Free Press was started to that time to the 7th of October, 1858, take its place. it was published under the name of The The New Baltimore Enterprise was Democrat, when for want of support its commenced in March, 1875, and its suc­ publication ceased. cessor, the Wood County Democrat was In the year 1862 the Independent was issued in December, 1878, by D. E. & Btarted at Perrysburg, and continued to B. L. Peters. In 1880 it passed into be published when it was removed to the hands of Wm. B. and Russejl T. Toledo and the name changed to the Dobson; in July, 1889, Henry Holter- Democratic Record. man took the paper and in September, 1890, Henry S. Chapin became the pro­ The Buckeye Granger, a paper as its prietor, and continues its publication up name sufficiently indicates, was started to the present time. D. C. Van Voorhis at Perrysburg on the 10th of November, became connected with the paper in 1892, 1874, for the purpose of advocating the and iB still with the paper. The Demo­ principles and advancing the interests of crat was published as a daily in the., the "Grangers." It was neutral in campaigns of 1894 and 1896. It has a pplitics, but finally became the Demo­ wide circulation throughout the county. cratic organ of the county, continuing Other papers that have had a brief as such until its collapse. existence in Bowling Green, were the The contest between Perrysburg and Bowling Green Journal, The Wood Coun­ Bowling Green in the year 1866, over the ty Republican, The Bowling Green News, removal of the county seat, called into Wood County Agitator, The Reporter, existence the Advocate at Bowling Green, The Wood County Gazette, The Daily the publication of which was discontin­ Gazette, The Wood County News, The ued a short time after the election in the Wood County Free Press. above named year. In January, 1867 Besides these other papers in the coun­ the first number of the Sentinel was is­ ty are The North Baltimore Times, suc­ sued and subsequently the name was cessor to the Bairdstown Times, The changed to the Wood County Sentinel. Bloomdale Derrick, Wood County Tri­ This paper from, the beginning advocated bune, Evening Tribune, Weston News, the principles of the Republican party. Weston Avalanche, The Free Press, The In the fall of 1874, J. D. Baker com­ Weston Reporter, The WeBton Herald, menced the publication ,of the Wood Pemberville Independent Pemberville County Democrat, but discontinued after Brick Block, Pemberville Reporter, Wood about four months, and sold the press County Index, Perirberville Leader, Pem­ to Bowling Green parties, who began berville PresbyterianXFarm and Fireside, the publication of the Wood County Grand Rapids Triumph, The Cygnet News, in May, 1875, and which paper Globe, The Cygnet Gusher, The Christian had a lively existence until in November, Review, Tontogany Weekly Herald, The after the election, and at the age of six Weekly Graphic, The 'Bradner News, months the News office was merged with Prairie Depot Observer, and The Brad- the Wood County Sentinel, and was ner Advocate. SCRAP-BOOK. 181

A HORRIBLE TRAGEDY ranged. Several, times she made the at­ tempt to run away, but each time was brought back by her husband. She at A Crazed Wife Kills Her Husband in Milton last, as she afterwards expressed it, re­ Township in 1836 solved "to get rid of her husband*' and go back to her old home, and therefore watched her opportunity. One Sunday MR. HUTCHINSON'S first work as morfling Mr. Simmons rose early, built Constable in Milton township was a fire,an d then laid down to rest for a summoning a jury to hold an inquest while on a bed containing his three chil­ over the body of a man by the name of dren and went to sleep. His wife, evi­ Simmons, who was killed by his wife in dently perceiving a good time to carry the spring of 1836, and who lived on out her purpose, arose, took a broad-ax a place in the northeast corner of Jack­ from under her bed and with one blow son township, at that time a part of literally cut his head off. The jury sum­ Milton. Mr. Simmons had moved there moned found a verdict iri accordance with his, family against the wishes of his with the foregoing facts, and Mrs. Sim­ wife. She disliked the dismal situation mons was afterwards taken to an asylum, as it then was, and in brooding over her where, after lingering some time, death condition her mind probably became oV put to rest the crazed brain.

WILLARD V. WAY did more probably than any other man to build up the Democratic party in Wood county. - A Pioneer Lawyer and One of the Wealthy On the authority of Mr. Michael Hays, Men of Wood County an early Democratic associate of Mr. Way, the latter was a leader in the party and a convention had been called at MR. EVERS, in 1875, gave an ex­ which Mr. Way was a candidate for tended sketch of Willard V. Way, the State Senate. The convention folks who died at his home in Perrysburg in from the river were coming out in a two the latter part of August of-that year, horse wagon and had stopped at the at the age of 68. Mr. Evers says: Mr. Strickland place to "take something." Way was born in Otsego county, New About this time John C. Spink, the York, in 1807, and was a graduate of leading Whig spirit of the county^drove Union College, after which he read law up and asked Mr. Hays to get in his for a time, when he removed to Paines- buggy and ride out with him. Mr. Hays ville, Ohio, finished his law studies and said to Spink, "What are you going out located in Perrysburg in the year 1834. to a Democratic Convention for?" "To Mr. Way was an attorney by profession raise the devil," said Spink, and sure and though not an eloquent jury lawyer enough, remarks Mr. Hays, he did raise he attained the reputation of being an the devil. Way got mad at the way excellent and safe counselor. He held things went and was further irritated at several county offices, among others that his defeat, by what he considered unfair of Auditor and in every position he oc­ means in the Senatorial Convention. cupied he showed both care and ability. Mr*. Hays says that he was never more He was at an earlier day a politician of surprised than when a few' days after considerable foresight and sagacity and Way rode along by his place in company 182 THE PIONEER

with Asher Cook who was then reading mee Mr. Way returned to Buffalo and law with him and called Hays to him married Mrs. Sophia Hodge. and said with much warmth of feeling, In his will»the Union School of Per­ "Hays, I have built up the Democratic rysburg in perpetuity is given $5,000, the party in Wood county and now so help interest of which is to go toward defray­ me G—d L will tear it down." In later ing the College expense of some welt years he acted with the Republican recommended graduate of said schools. party. His homestead and six village lots are It is estimated that his real estate left in custody of his wife, so long as alone is .worth $80,000 and his estate is she lives, then it goes to the town for estimated at $150,000 to $175,000. He a public park. $15,000 is set apart as a was of a literary turn of mind and took perpetual fund, the interest only of which a great "interest in educational matters can be used in the support of the library. and the pioneer history of the Valley. All the rest of the proceeds of the estate He wrote and published in pamphlet may be used in the purchase of a ldt form a history of the "Michigan War," and the construction of a suitable build­ an amusing and rather interesting ac­ ing and the purchase of books as. and in count of the State boundary line contest. such manner as the town Council may Shortly after his location on the Mau- think best, but for no other purpose.

THE WOODBURY HOUSE ty dream of a city growing up there had been dissipated by a few wet, sickly sea­ sons, the house stood vacant at times for The True Story of This Building, Once Fa­ want of a tenant, and seems to have only mous in Wood County History been occupied by some chance comer who had no other place to go. Now you know (how soon a house of this sort will, IN a letter to the Wood County Repub­ deservedly perhaps, get. a bad name—get lican, C. W. Evers, at the request "haunted," etc. Some time in the tO's, of the editor, gave the following facts it burned to me ground, no doubt; by regarding the Woodbury House, correct­ design of some one to abate a nuisance. ing the many prevalent errors regarding The postoffice was moved about in the it. Mr. Evers says: , settlement still retaining the name The village of Woodbury was surveyed "Woodbury" until 1876, when it was and platted by Hiram Davis, a pioneer dropped from the rolls and is now only surveyor of Wood county, May 4, 1837, a reminiscence. for Jphn Thompson, Henry B. Gibson and Jabez B. Larwell. The location was at a point where the east and west line dividing Liberty and Henry townships, Wood county, intersects the Findlay pike. So far as can be verified by historical Two years prior to the survey or in 1835,., records or by Indian tradition, the Miami a postoffice had been established, kept tribe lof Indians were the original in a log store room by Joseph Thompson. "pioneers" of the Maumee Valley. They After the survey General Thompson built were always true to the confidence re­ the frame house which has been the posed in themj and in their chiefs, from theme of so many stories uncanny and time immemorial, were second in ability otherwise. After General Thompson's to none of their time. SCRAP-BOOK. 183

A NIGHT WITH INDIANS for he hated him because he had a wife. All at once the stillness was broken by Indian John pouncing upon Bob witlyul Intense Hatred and Jealousy of a Savage the fierceness of a tiger, grappling flim Inspired by Whisky by the throat and felling him to the floor, smashing the chair on which he was sitting; then the squaws took sides JF. DUBBS of Milton township, in with Bob; they were all in a pile before a 1883, furnished a startling incident the fire. The fight was fierce, but Bob for Mr. Evers' sketches. He said that soon cried murder! He said John has in February of the year 1838, his uncle, a knife and will kill me. John Dubbs, lived in a cabin in Jackson Uncle John Dubbs no sooner heard township, and he lived with him, being this than he ordered us to open the door, a small boy at that time. A lad named which we did; then he sprang and caught Simmons about my age also lived there. Big John by the legs and tumbled him There was an Indian shanty on his heels oyer head out of the cabin. Uncle uncle's land occupied by four Indians, John lit on top of him, and told trim two men and two squaws; the men were if he didn't lay still he would kill him brothers; John and Bob were their in a minute. Uncle John held him by names; the old squaw was the mother the hands and told Simmons and me to of the two men, the young squaw was run to the stable and bring his plow lines, Bob's wife. She was young and hand­ which we did quick as we could in the some, and Bob was very proud of his dark. Soon" Big John was thoroughly wife. John was always mad at Bob be­ bound froni1 nead to foot cause he had a wife and he, John, had Then Uncle John began to feel that none. The day preceding the night in he was monarch once more and that the question, it had snowed about eight inches red man had no. business his rights to deep and turned very-cold. dispute; he told Simmons and me to go Mr. Dubbs says: About 9 o'clock at and bring some straw which wc did, and night the Indian family came to our he rolled Big John in the straw, and cabin and asked for admittance, for they said, now lay there and freeze until you were very cold. Uncle John opened the can behave yourself. The cold soon made door. I can look back through the mists John beg hard to be let loose; he said of time and see those Indians walk in "me be good Injin, fite no more." When with their blankets • around them arid he was punished enough Uncle John let with their knives in their belts. The him loose and sent them home to their men were over six feet tall and built in shanty. proportion. They took their seats around It beirig now about twelve o'clock, and the fire place while we occupied the back the excitement of the evening being part of the cabin. All was quiet for a over, we retired to rest. We had little while. A man by the name of not been in bed more than one Rowan had a notion store and kept hour when the dogs began to bark whisky about one mile from our cabin. and soon the piteous cries of some one The Indians had been there and procured was heard at the door pleading to be let a jug of whisky, of which they had par­ in. Uncle John's patience being pretty taken quite freely. When they began to well exhausted he yelled at the top of thaw out the whisky began to take effect, his voice for them to go home and not and caused the spirit of Cain to rise in bother him any more. But the cries John, so he wanted to slay his brother, continued more pitiful, saying John has 184 THE PIONEER

most killed me and I will die if you do kill Bob. The girls got her something to not let me in. eat, and it was so near morning it was By this time the whole house wa3 not worth while to go to bed again. aroused again, and Uncle' John got up Soon as it was daylight Uncle John and struck a light and opened the door, took the squaw and started to the shanty and there stood the young and once beau­ to see the slaughter there which he ex­ tiful squaw with her face literally cut pected to find, but to his surprise he to pieces. She was covered with blood found the old squaw,- John and Bob all from head to foot, and nearly frozen, the laying with their feet toward the fire cold causing her wounds to bleed very sound asleep. He woke them up and profusely. Uncle John and the girls told John what he had done; and how he warmed some water and washed and had broken his promise, and now they dressed the wounds the best they could. must leave his place, and never come I think there were about four or five back, which orders they promptly obeyed, bad cuts on her face and head. She and-we never saw this Indian family any soon felt better, and said she guess John more.

THE BLACK SWAMP nine months in the year, and affording almost bottomless mud and mire from January first to December thiriy-first. A Region Once So Dreaded Now the Garden Old settlers relate many amusing inci­ dents connected with travel through the Spot of Ohio "Swamp" in those cUys, and the hard­ ships endured by "movers" can probably never be too strongly colored. "Taverns" YEARS ago, when the tide of emigra­ were located along the line of the travel­ tion was strongly settling to the ed road in great numbers, not more than then Western States of Michigan, Illinois one-half a mile or a mile apart; It is and Iowa, no locality, says the Toledo related as a fact that "movers" would Blade, was better known or more dreaded frequently travel hard each day for three than the "Black Swamp." The limits days in succession and put up at the same of this "Swamp" were never very well, de­ "tavern" each night. It was called fined, but the largest part of it is em­ "Black Swamp" because the soil was braced in Wood county. At the time black, and it was exceedingly1 difficult to when this "Black Swamp" was enjoying pass through it, because this black soil, its reign of terror, prior to the construc­ or loam, was of great depth and thorough­ tion of Western Reserve & Maumee Stone ly impregnated with lime, forming a Road, movers passing from the East to tough, waxy mud which would adhere the West found the greatest difficulty in to the wheels of wagons with great going from the Portage river, at Wood­ tenacity. ville, to the Maumee river, at Perrys­ But things have changed, and that burg. While all of th'|s distance was which years ago was regarded as a great not properly "Swamp," two or three stone curse, is to-day esteemed the greatest ridges rising out of the mud and water blessing. Clearing up the land and to cheer the weary traveler, the greater ditching it, has redeemed the "Black portion of the fifteenmile s was emphati­ Swamp," and the soil to-day is unsur­ cally a "Swamp," covered with water passed for productiveness. It is easily SCRAP-BOOK. 185

tilled and. yields the largest crops of failed to effect; and the "Black Swamp" grain and the best samples of fruits. to-day, where properly under-drained and • The "Black Swamp" farmers see no evi­ provided with ditches, will stand a dences of the once dreaded "Swamp," drought or a flood better than any other except in the deep, rich, black loam into section of Ohio. The land is much which their plows sink and which yields stronger than it possibly could have been such abundant returns for the husband­ but for the level surface of tbe earth, man's labors. Artificial drainage has ac­ which gave it the appearance of a vast complished what natural drainage has "Black Swamp."

HULL'S SURRENDER and heavy drinker. On the day before the surrender, his son, Captain Abraham F. Hull, came among my men in a Graphic Description of the Event—Hull an beastly state of intoxication. On the day Imbecile from Drink of the surrender I saw General Hull frequently. His face about the chin arid GEN. SANDERSON, who was pres­ mouth was covered with tobacco juice, ent at the surrender thus describes and I thought, in common with other the situation: officers, that the General was under the It was late in May, 1812, when General influence of liquor., His personal ap- Hull arrived .at our camp atDayton, and pearance, indicated . that he had been Governor Meigs relinquished command. drinking. The general was surrounded, A few days after we were on the march in camp by a military family, the mem­ for Detroit. The road was a difficult one bers of which wefe fond of high living, to travel, but by the aid of efficient wines, liquors, etc. I know us poor vol­ guides, and the protection of Divine unteers wondered how they could keep up Providence we arrived safely at our des­ such luxuries, but our surgeon relieved tination, after much suffering and many my mind by informing me one day that stoppages on the way. For nearly tw;o Hull's officers drew all the liquors from months after our arrival, we engaged in the hospital stores, on continued com­ the performance of no extraordinary plaint of illness, Hull's surgeon (one of military duty the general routineo f camp the party) certifying to the requisitions. life being the order from day to day. In When the news of the surrender was August the British and Indians arrived, known to the troops, they were scarcely and soon after the scene occurred which •able to restrainthei r indignation. Hun­ produced such indignation at the time, dreds of horrible oaths and threats as­ and about which histories do not agree. cended, which I hope has not been set My company, belonging to Cass' regi­ down by the "Recording Angel." Mc- ment, was surrendered with all the Ohio Arthur broke his sword, as did other offi­ volunteers, Miller's regulars,,an d a large cers. General Hull was repeatedly in­ force of militia. I shall never forget the sulted to his face, and soon hid himself scenes which then transpired. My opin­ • away. The members of his military fam­ ion of General Hull's conduct, formed ily, especially the General's son Abraham, at the time (and events since have not received some pretty tall abuse from us' changed it) was, that General Hull was Ohioans. After,, the surrender and before an imbecile—not a traitor or a coward the enemy had entered, many officers, but an imbecile, caused by the excessive myself among the number, implored use of ardent spirits. He Was a constant Colonel Findlay to take command of the 186 THE PIONEER

American forces, and resist the enemy, ed the white flag, August 16, 1812, Col­ but he declined. Colonel Jas. Miller was onel Isaac Brock, the British command­ importuned the same as Findlay, but he er, entered the fort attended by his staff was unwilling to assume the responsibil­ and several Indian chiefs. The Ameri­ ity, saying as near as I can recollect, can troops were ordered to the parade "Matters have gone too far, but had Gen­ ground and there piled up their muskets, eral Hull signified to me his intention swords, pistols, kriiVes, cartridge boxes, of surrendering, I would have assumed etc. A heavy guard was placed over us, command, and defended the fort to the and we were then sent to the "citadel" last." Miller would have done so and where we were kept until released on • so would McArthur had he been in the parole. Hull and the regular officers fort. were sent to Quebec. Some little time after Hull had order-

A MADMAN'S FRENZY ly hurt with an iron vessel with which Cross assailed them, roaring the mean­ while like a lion. Orson Cross, a Veritable Demon, and His At another time he got a new hat be­ Remarkable Recovery After 20 longing to another patient, in his cell Years' Confinement and refused to let it be taken out. It took the strength of two men to force the door open which he held with all his IN the old Perrysburg jail when the strength, until of a sudden he let loose insane patients of Wood county were when both came in nearly falling on confined in it, a stalwart middle-aged their knees. Cross instantly grappled one man with dark hair and beard was con­ of the men, pushing him over the iron fined in the firstcel l near the entry to bedstead against the wall while the other the crazy department, and few who ever seized hold of the mad man's throat with saw him ^in his crazy frenzy with that an iron grip. His eyes protruded from demoniac expression of the eye which at their sockets arid his tongue from his times seemed to emit fire while his mouth mouth, and his face grew black.before was choaked with foam, will have for­ he released his grasp on the man, which gotten it. He was one of the most dan­ he finally did completely exhausted, after gerous men ever put under lock and key. which he was docile as was invariably the When in a frenzy his rage knew no case when overpowered. bounds and his strength seemed almost Cross seemed to pass through three superhuman and he exerted both to the stages or paroxysms of insanity. During direst extent on any object within his the first he was ferocious, noisy and dan­ grasp. gerous, sleepless and moving nearly all On one occasion he dragged a young the time like a caged beast, muttering dog through the bars of the cell door, constantly to himself, more especially re­ crushed its head on the brick floor and peating in a disconnected way a portion licked up the blood. C. C. Baird, who of the multiplication table, but no mat­ was then Deputy Sheriff and jailer, as­ ter, what the numbers multiplied he al­ sisted by the best man he could select, ways got around to the same product, 27. undertook the dangerous job of entering He dwelt especially on numbers 9 and his cell. Mr. Baird got his head serious- 27. During this time he ate nothing, THE HARRISON WELL Which Supplied the Curiam with Water, Fort Meigs

SCRAP-BOOK. 189

and these spells lasted sometimes for a by main strength, at which time Baird number of days. At such times he would came to his assistance and they got the break all the glass from the window if infuriated man to Ms* cell. * he could get a stick to reach through The cause of his insanity is something the bars, and push his bedding out no of a mystery as is usually the case. matter how cold the weather. About 20 years before he was a hale, The next stage was a long, almost hearty young mqn and we believe in the deathlike sleep, from which it was nearly employ of R. W. Kelly, on his farm near impossible to arouse him. Then followed Millgrove and not far from where the a wakeful stupor in which he was sullen Cross people lived. It was thought that and cross, and in which he remained for he injured himself while wrestling one some time, and during which time he had night at a spelling school. He was a ravenous appetite. From this he would Sent to Newburg Asylum come to his natural self, in which he was Where he was the terror of the institu­ agreeable, talkative, and a pitiful being tion, and from which place he was sent to behold. His pale, emaciated, implor­ back to Wood county as incurable, and ing look would excite sympathy m the was confined in a cell in jail from the coldest heart. 'At such times he was time of Sheriff Guyer's; terraunti l the frequently allowed to spend an hour or establishment of the Wood county infir­ so in the open air in a back yard inclosed mary, to which he was removed in 1867. by a high fence. This of course was Here he was kept in the same manner somewhat risky, as his spells of frenzy until the Northwestern Asylum near To­ did not recur regularly, One afternoon ledo was established, when he was re­ Mr. Baird requested him to come in, moved there and put under care of Dr. which Ordinarily he did with the sub- Wright, who sent him out a well man. missiveness of a child,, but this time Ja^a he ha8 been back to visit some of his told Baird to go to h—-1. Mr. BaiJuTrelativesL , and is now at work in Michi­ was powerless to compel him to do so, gan, or perhaps at the Asylum, for nor dare he leave a moment for the wages. ' safety of his family. Cross was already Wright, we hear, discovered the cause frothing at the mouth. In the dungeon of his insanity to be in the derangement part of the jail among the prisoners was of his stomach,, and by watching closely a powerfully built Irishman the approach of his paroxysms and ad­ Named Pat Shady ministering powerful cathartics followed Charged with robbery. Baird closed the by other treatment, succeeded in break­ frorit doors and called Shady out. Cross ing, the force of his attacks until he closed in with him the moment he came finally showed no further bad symptoms. into the yard. It was the struggle be­ This would seem to be strong proof of tween two giants. Cross was, before his the astonishing and sympathetic relation troubles and disease, the best wrestler in of the brain and stomach, and is one Wood county, and was struggling with of the most remarkable recoveries we all the fury and wild energy of a mad have ever heard of. man. Shady, who' was not a whit his In his 20 years of prison life, confine­ inferior in size or strength, was nerved- ment, exposure and abuse of health and by the hideous appearance of his an­ the reversal of all laws of health, he had tagonist After a terrific struggle of endured that which would have killed some minutes, Cross threw Shady,. but 99 men in every hundred, He is to-day the Irishman proved stronger when down to all appearances, a well man of sound than on his feet even, and turned Cross mind.—Froth Evers' Log Cabin Sketches. 190 THE PIONEER NOTED BEAR HUNT rally and broke from his blood-thirsty tormentors, but within a few rods had again taken to a log. Rowland and I Fifty-Five Years Ago in the Black Swamp- had rushed up with all possible haste. Over 200 Miles Chase in Four Jim, who was watching With great anx­ Days and Nights iety, expecting every moriient to see a dog killed, suddenly stopped and leveled his rifle, and we saw the bear tumble off IN tbe Sentinel in 1881, Wm. E. Ca­ to the far side of the log. Every dog rothers gives an interesting account bounced him instantly. Jim began re­ of a strenuous bear hunt in December, loading; but what was our consternation 1854, with Jim Rowland. In three days when we heard one of the dogs giving a they had captured and killed two bears terrible cry of distress and saw the weighing over 400 pounds each. After shaggy, black beast standing on his hind letting their dogs rest a day, they started legs, with one of the best, dogs in his on the last day's hunt which is thus de­ deadly embrace, while with one paw he scribed by Carothers: - was beating and crippling the dogs with We started early in the morning, and frightful ferocity. I rushed up within for a time the dogs left us far in the 20 feet unnoticed by the bear, and shot rear, but we could discover traces of fre­ him in the head, killing him instantly. quent fierce conflicts, and a little after The dogs all laid hold of the beast with' noon the dogs were crowding the game terrible vengeance and fully satiated hard. The bear's feet were so torn and their wrath for all the trouble and cuffs lacerated on the bottoms, that he left and bites they had suffered. I took off blood in every track. We were now ap­ my hat arid yelled loud and long, and proaching the Jackson prairie or swamp, nev

few equals as a woodsman and hunter; forts to the very fewest and plainest. I can now think of one other, his brother, The cares incident to a luxurious State Bob Rowland. of liying, the turmoil of business, the -Providence seemed to have allotted frivolities of fashion, the struggle for so­ each man his proper sphere in the great cial supremacy, were unknown to those univejse, and this class of men—the early pioneers. They lived more for pioneers of the Black Swamp, bravely each other than people do now, but they and faithfully fulfilled their mission. were only the fore-runners of a higher The law of necessity gauged all their com- civilization.

A GHASTLY CRIME murderous blows and get free, is partly attributable her strangely mangled con­ Carl Bach'Hanged for the Murder of His dition, and the blood marks of her hands on the wall. She was doubtless dead Wife—One of the Most Brutal in before the infuriated murderer ceased History of Wood County hacking her body. Crime . With his three children, aged 13, 11 and 6 years, he slept until morning in ON the night of the 10th of October, an adjoining room and very early in the 1881, Carl Bach, a farmer of Mil­ morning he took the children to the ton township, most savagely murdered house of a neighbor, Mr. Heinzie, about his wife, which was the culmination of a mile distant He told what he had a long period of domestic discord. On done—that he had killed his wife and the rimming of the 11th, the murderer that he must go to Bowlirig Green, and voluntarily walked to Bowling Green and give himself up, and requested Mr. surrendered himself to the sheriff. Heinzie to take care of the children and The Sentinel of October 12; 1883, says left with him also a sum of money for .when the coroner reached the scene of the burial of his wife. Mr. Heinzie was the murder, in the middle of the room startled at his strange conduct and dis­ in a pool of blood, lay the body of a believed his shocking story, but told some woman, covered with a sheet. The floor, of the neighbors and together they went walls and ceiling ..were smeared and be­ to the house and found their worst fears spattered with blood; giblets of flesh, more than confirmed. • tufts of hair, brains and fingers were On the 5th of February, 1882, Bach scattered over the floor. was indicted for wilful murder. The On lifting the bloody sheet from the trial took place in June, 1882, and on body the sight was still more shocking. the 16th of tha't riaonth he was found The baok part of the woman's head was guilty as charged, and sentenced to be all hacked to a jelly. The left shoulder hanged October 13, 1882. had been nearly severed by one terrific Bach's counsel prepared a bill of ex­ blow. The Bide of the head was cut open ceptions and a short time prior to the from the mouth back; An arm was near- - time set for the execution, filed a mo­ ly cut off and several fingerswer e severed tion in the Supreme court for leave to on one" of the hands. Such a horrible file a petition in error. The motion be­ butchery it would be hard to paint in ing argued was sustained by the court the imagination. The woman when first and a stay of proceedings granted until attaclred lay in bed with her six-year-old ,. the hearing of the petition at the January child, andCto her struggles to avoid the term 1883, at which time the judgment 192 THE PIONEER of the court of Common Pleas was re­ of June, 1883, when the second trial be­ versed for the reason that said court gan, and on the 27th of that month the erred in empanelling the jury. The jury brought in a verdict of guilty. He cause was thereupon remanded for a new was then sentenced, and on the 12th day -trial and at the February term, 1833, of of October, 1883, Carl Bach paid the Wood Common Pleas, it was ordered to extreme penalty of his crime, being the be again placed on the trial docket of second and last murderer hanged in said court, and assigned for trial at the Wood county. May term thereof, viz: on the 11th day

A STRANGE STORY widow. Some months before her arrival she accidentally heard of a man of the same name as her long lost father, and from some circumstance related she was Woman Finds Her Filher After a Separation more than half convinced that it must of Over 30 Years be he and that he lived in Wood county, Ohio. With a woman's curiosity and tenacity of purpvise she resolved to go NUMBER of years ago the Sentinel and search for him. A As she drove along the road in the related an incident regarding an vicinity of where he lived on a farm less inteUigent, plainly dressed woman, above than ten miles from this place, she met the middle age, who arrived from an a couple of men of whom she made in­ eastern state arid stopped at one of the quiry. One of them answered to the Bowling Green hotels. She looked up a name of the man she sought. The man livery man and after making some in­ gazed at her intently for some time. quiries about prices, she made cautious Perhaps he saw in her face something inquiry for a family whose name need familiar. Perhaps she resembled her not be given. The livery man knew mother, once his wife. She nervously several persons of that name in the south disclosed to him a part of her errand, part of the county, and together they when he walked around the carriage to started, and after some inquiry found • the side where she sat and extending his the man for whom she searched. The hand said, "Sarah Jane, I am your lost balance ofsihe story as reluctantly told father." We will not attempt to describe by the ladySierself is this: Thirty-Bix the meeting of this long separated father years before that time, when she was a and daughter, but conclude after stating child six or seven years old, she lived the fact that the old man had lived in with her father and mother on a .beauti­ Wood county a number of years, and ful stream beyond the Alleghanies. She had eleven sons and daughters, most of had several brothers and sisters, but she them married and settled. He was then was the favorite of her father. A dark living with his third wife, the mother of cloud and domestic unhappiness came his second set of children having died over the household and her father fled some years before. Wife number one and became lost to his family entirely. was still living in comfortable circum­ The mother obtained a divorce and mar­ stances and perhaps ignorant of the ried again. The children grew up and whereabouts or fate of her long ago for­ married one after another, and finally gotten husband. the subject of this sketch became a SCRAP-BOOK. 193

INDIAN DANCES ' a wampum belt in his hand. He traveled iri an opposite direction to the rest and would occasionally single out a favorite Indian Rivals Have a Tragic Ending—A dancer at whom he would point his Young Lady Has No More Use wampum, and who would drop to the for an Indian Ball ground and again rise and join the dance after receiving a blessing from the medi­ IliLIAM EWING was especially cine man. recognized among the Indians as Ewing once attended a war dance at one of their-white friends or advisers a camp at the mouth of Tontogany creek, and has settled many of their disputes. the occasion being a little local difficulty. He says he has probably attended as Two young Indians named Nauquezike many as a hundred Indian dances in his and Pamquauk, rivals, got into difficulty time. Their dances were of two charac­ at the dance over a young squaw, and ters, one called "Manatoo" a religious Nauquezike killed Pamquauk by stabbing dance, and the other their war dance. him.with a knife. Their "Manatoos" would be held at their Ewing relates that himself and an­ camp, at which six or eight hundred other young man once attended a dance Indians would sometimes assemble, dress­ with two bright young belles of their ed in their finest costumes and wearing neighborhood and were invited to join their brightest jewelry. They would in the services, which invitation they ac­ build what might be called a bower, cepted. Swing's lady became so badly about 30 by 60 feet in size, for the oc­ frightened at the maneuvers of the In­ casion, with center posts, around which dians when about half way round the the Indians would travel in procession bower, that she "broke" and ran as repeating a chant and going through all though for her life. The Indians were sorts of antics; one Indian would sit in so amused at her discomforture that all the center and,beat a "one-headed drum," joined in a hearty demonstration of made by stretching a skin over a cut mirth, which frightened her still more from a hollow log. The medicine man and she nearly went into spasms, and left, was always a prominent guest, always resolving that she would never attend dressed in the finest furs and carried another Indian ball.

A SAD CHAPTER near the Plain church, four miles west of Bowling Green, Fanny Deering, a young lady of 27, cultured and intelli­ Poor Fanny. Deering—Harrowing Tale of gent, shot herself with a revolver. This Cruelty, of Crushed Hopes and is the legal verdict Black Despair But is there another, darker, more awful verdict in this .case? Was the THE Sentinel of March 23, 1882, con­ trembling hand that held the pistol to tains one of the saddest chapters the beating heart of Fanny Deering and probably in the annals of Wood county, pulled the fatal trigger the only hand written by Mr. C. W. Evers, who made raised against her life ? Are there others a thorough investigation of all the cir­ who, at the finaljudgment , must be held cumstances connected with the tragedy. responsible for her blood? The account follows: We will give the facts as near as we On the morning of March 14, 1882, have been able to get them from different 194 THE PIONEER neighbors of the Deerings and other one of the Mission Industrial school sources which seeni to be credible. classes. « Mrs. Hurlburt, matron of the.school, The Deerings writing of Fannie since the trouble be­ J. K. Peering, the father of Fanny, tween her and her father and step-mother was of a good, respectable family in began, says: Maine, and was given a college education "I visited them (Fanny and her fath­ and put into the ministry. At a synod er, who kept house in a rented room.— meeting he met an educated young lady Ed.) often, and never detected any signs and an accomplished musician and after of neglect or indifference to the needs a short acquaintance, married her. Their or comforts of her father on the part life was riot happy; he was a poor excuse of Miss Deering, whom I have always of a husband, scarcely able to provide for given credit for being a most dutiful himself, let alone a family, while she daughter, continually laboring far be­ was proud-spirited and ambitious. They yond her strength, under great disadvan­ continued man and wife until five chil­ tage of delicate health and other unfav-. dren had been, born to them, when a orable conditions. 1 am convinced that decree of divorce on the grounds of in­ if she had been less unselfish and devoted compatibility was given them by the to his interests, she would to-day be far court, and Deering kept the oldest child, better off in health and pocket than she Fanny, then thirteen or fourteen years now is. old. "From a close and friendly intercourse Fanny had, in the meantime, the ad­ with Miss Deering, extending over nearly vantages of schools and was a very bright, eight years, I can truly say that I believe apt child. Soon after, Deering took her to be truthful and worthy of the Fanny and went to Michigan where one respect and confidence of all whom she of his sisters lived, and where Fanny may meet" soon after taught school, her father, as Equally strong commendations come she said, appropriating most of her from Col. Slevin, Mrs. A. T. Babbitt, wages, which was almost a necessity to Mrs. Whitney, and others', who were well him, as he seemed incapable of main­ acquainted with Fanny. taining himself in any degree of respec­ Mrs. Babbitt says: tability. He seems to have been too "I know that previous to the marriage proud and impractical or lazy to work of her father to his present wife, she and was not a success as a preacher. (Fanny) cared for and supported her Fanny had a great adaptability and father by her own labor, when physically, love for music, and after a time entered he was much better able to do it than Oberlin College, and after two years of she was to do it for him. self denial \nd deprivation, during which "Miss Deering has been a member of time she taught, she graduated in the my family for several months and I know Conservatory of Music. Through her her to be truthful and honest to the proficiency and adaptability as a teacher, last farthing. I also know her character good address and good recommends, she to be spotless and her conduct without had no trouble in securing employment, reproach." and through the advice of a classmate These are the disinterested testimonials she went to Toledo and found profitable of Christian people and we produce patrons in some of the best families in them to silence the tongue of calumny the city, and was organist in one of the put in motion by Deering or some of city missions, also a beloved teacher in his apologists, that Fanny was undutiful, SCRAP-BOOK. 195

quarrelsome, bad disposition, etc. All That time came but still no money- Who knew her speak of her as a kind, nothing but promises. It was about this sympathetic, sweet dispositioned girl. time she heard the further unpleasant She'seems to have mostly supported her fact that her step mother was so fixed father tor a time until about 1876, when financially that the money was not col­ he married a woman at Perrysburg, who lectible by law and that there was but . now became her step mother and bor­ a remote possibility of her ever getting rowed Fanny's money as fast as she it at all. earned it. Fanny still taught music and This was a crushing blow to Fanny; practiced the greatest economy and self all her bright anticipations dashed to denial, going on foot bune as she was, naught—all her days and nights of toil from house to house to visit her pupils and privation—broken health—tired body rather than pay street car fare, in order and Blind all endured in vain—nothing that she might accumulate a little sum but black disappointment. of money with which she could visit Ger­ many and graduate in music, which was " Driven from Her Father's Roof the one great aim and ambition of her This discouragement and her naturally life. The energy of her whole being frail condition of health, together with centered in this one object. She took the mental strain, affected her health so lessons in the German language and that she did not feel able to teach, In studied nights until her eye sight began this condition she went sometime last to fail and she had to wear eye glasses. July to her father's at the Plain par­ She progressed rapidly and soon she sonage four miles west of this place where could read and write and converse in Deering had preached for two or three German. Thus it was she toiledo n night years past. and day that she might fulfill her musical She thought to rest regain her health ambition. and perhaps plead with her step mother In the meantime her step mother con­ to get her at least a part of her money, tinued to borrow her money giving noteB which Fanny fully believed she could therefor and assuring her that it would pay if she would. She soon began to be forthcoming when she got ready to go realize that she was none too welcome to Germany. She represented, that she even in her own father's house. They' had an abundance of property and it was had her money but did not care to be thrice secured. The sum now amounted troubled with her presence. From cool­ to over $1,400 and Fanny had set a time ness of treatment came bitter words, until to go, notifying her step mother, who at last Fanny received cruel blows and wrote her the money would be all ready. was driven from her father's roof, her Music pupils were dismissed, business trunks put in the wagon shed and the matters arranged and she was ready to doors locked and even, nailed against her depart. and she was told they would not pay tier. The Money Gone To get her away peaceably her father But what was the poor girl's chagrin engaged her board at a near neighbor's, and disappointment when she called for Mr. Lowes, for a short time, but Fanny her money and was told there would be at last had to become responsible for tbe a little delay in getting it There was payment This cruel treatment on the no help for it and she had to wait; the part of her father, seemed to crush her date was fixed anew when she could get proud spirit and she seemed heart broken. it and also a new date for the journey. MntterB went on in this way until Jan- 196 THE PIONEER

uary, during which time Fanny had been something should be done to prevent beard to express intentions on her own life. her taking her own life but he made a On January 12, she went in despera- cold, unfeeling reply and he even refused tiori to her father's again, and went to to build a firet o warm the room where she a chamber room she had been in the lay, and the ladies who were trying to habit of occupying, and some time later save her life were so uncomfortable that it was noised among the near neighbors they could not remain long in the room at that she was very sick and dying. She one time. He seemed to feel indifferent had taken laudanum enough to kill two After this, Fanny was treated harsher persons, and after three days of careful than before. When she got well enough nursing and care she was restored, al­ and went back to Lowe's near by, the though for a time it was supposed she doors at the parsonage were kept con­ was past help. stantly locked and nailed up. Her trunks She had made all preparations for were out in the shed and when any one death, and among the papers left, sealed knocked at the door Deering or his wife and addressed to a neighbor woman, was first looked Out of the window to see one addressed to her step mother. It who was there. shows the extent of her sufferings for the The Thursday previous to her death deep wrong that she felt had been done Mrs. Deering had invited a few members her, and is sufficient to draw tears from of the church society to spend the even­ a cast-iron monument. It may be proper ing. Each one noticed as they came in to say here that the lady never sent the that the door was locked behind them. letter to the step mother, Later in the evening as they sat talking, We extract as follows: the back door opened quietly and who * * "You knew that I had denied Should enter but Fanny looking like a myself of all that a girl and woman hunted deer. She was greeted cordially craves, and worked myself all but to death by the guests, but hardly a look'of re­ to gain just one. chance, and yet you cognition did she receive from her step deliberately robbed me of the fruit of mother, who, the moment o,^ the girl's seven years' toil for that one object. You entry, stared at her with a look of spas­ snatched my last, only hope from me, and modic agitation. Deering could conceal now you tell me you have done nothing his feelings better and nodded a good you regret or would have done different­ evening. No one asked Fanny to a seat ly! Oh, what can you be made of? or to take off her hat. All the time Though you knew that my strength was Fanny was there Mrs; Deering seemed broken and worn out in labor to support to tremble from head to foot with ex­ you and your husband, that you had citement and agitation. torn away my last hope and motive for Did that woman, Mrs. Deering, know life, and left me broken-hearted and des­ at that time what Fanny came there for ? pairing, yet, not content Avith refusing She acted as if she did. She knew that mo the barest necessities of life, you Fanny carried, and had carried for weeks, pursued mo with a relentless brutality. a pistol with her in a little box. The You knowingly goaded me on to despera­ neighbors had noticed that box. tion and death by every means your two nature's could jointly devise. Night after Was She Urged to Suicide? night have T heard you two conjure upon Mrs. Deering certainly knew what was ways and means to torment and injure in that box and must have guessed pretty me." * * * certainly what it was for; she did not Deering was admonished then that fear violence on herself or. Deering as SCRAP-BOOK. 197

will be seen by an incident farther on. tigress from her chair at the sewing ma­ No; in our belief she feared the girl chine, a few yards away, and beat Fanny wanted to take her life, and, of course, did about the head brutally, and finally not wish to have it happen in her house. knocked her over so she fell in her If she thought poor, friendless, robbed visitor's lap, and the shameful scene end­ Fanny was on the verge of suicide—we ed, Mrs.' Deering saying: "I'll teach you say if she thought BO—Deerjrig must to crack nuts on my stove hearth." have shared her suspicion. ' And if they The following Monday morning the thought so, did they care? Did they step mother left for Elmore because, as realize what it was that was driving the is Mieved by many that she was, as we broken-hearted being on to desperation ? hinted previously, apprehensive of what —that she knew they were fixing to^jo would happen and left. The next day, to Minnesota soon, and that her father, Tuesday, whose slave she had been and who was Fanny was a Corpse her only natural friend and protector on earth,, had. inhumanly steeled his heart Shot through the heart by her own hand. and hand against her, that his wife had About the middle of the forenoon Mr. got all her hard, hard earnings, and Carr, who was engaged on his place ad­ that lame, broken in heart and joining the parsonage, happened to look penniless, this proud-spirited, ambitious up from his work and saw Fanny's face at the window, where she seemed to be girl was to be turned adrift on thef world alone, to struggle on as best she could kneeling, whether in the attitude of or go to the poor house. prayer or not he did not know. A short time after, he heard a pistol shot but * Beaten Like a Dog not very distinctly, to which he paid but If they did think of these things then little attention, thinking it some boys in their sins will be greater, for instead of the road beyond the house. That was offering balm to her bleeding heart she the last time Fanny was seen alive and was subjected to further degrading, \vas the last time she gazed on the light cruel, inhuman treatment—to blows, like of day or on an unkind world which she a brute. We relate an incident as giving bade a last farewell. a probable clue to the life the girl had Mr. Carr says her pale, sad face as he been subjected to while under her father's saw it through the window glass is, in roof and from the woman who had taken the light of what followed, engraven on her money from her. It was not enough his memory like an image, never to be that the food was hidden from her, that effaced by time. she was denied fire to make her com- She had risen in the morning, combed fortabler-she was beaten, beaten like a her hair, and attired herself neatly, hay­ brute, for the most trivial offense. ing the previous evening written to several intimate friends and given minute Knocked Her Down directions as to the disposition of her The Saturday before Fanny's death personal effects, also of her body. Mrs. Carr called, at the parsonage to spend an hour, and while there Fanny A Letter of Farewell asked her if she was fond of hickory One of these letters, to Mrs. Harvey nuts. She went and brought some, and, Condit, whicli begins with allusions to finding nothing to crack them on, she another friend, Mrs. Prentice, and which thoughtlessly cracked one or two on the Mas published in the Toledo Bee, is as heavy stove hearth. Without a word of follows: warning the step mother sprang like a "Don't let her know of my death till 198 THE PIONEER

it is necessary. She and many others -"I thought of giving some books to will mourn my said error—as they will Ben (Minton) but as I havetft very call it—but they must remember that many it seems best that they should go one cannot judge correctly of a person's together. Please give the German pa­ error unless they are familiar with his pers to Mrs. Prentice. *** * understanding. They would feel diffef- "Your company has lightened and ently if they knew the greatest and best cheered many sad hours for ,me. I owe part of me. All joy and hope was dead you'much; I can make no return, but I long ago. .','-. . ; am grateful for all the kindness and • "It is better that the fragment left, go svmpathy I have received here. Farewell. with the rest. I cannot live without the "F. L. Deering." love and tenderness that may never be The above was written in pencil) but mine. If I could have attained my am­ the following postscript was written in bition and fitted myself for some posi­ ink. tion of usefulness that I could fill, it "I beg you to do what you can to keep might—probably would—have been very the manner of my death a secret, as far different; but now I only know enough as may be. I believe you will do this to be a drudge all my days, and I have for my sake. I never intended that any no heart or strength to drudge, even if one should know about it when I used there were any use in it. to think about it, but it cannot be helped '"; "I could never go into the world again now. I realize and feel the disgrace as to endure and contend with.all a lonely keenly as anybody possibly could." M'oman must. I have'for years—^-ages it seems—felt that some day it must come To Her Father to this, bnt could not give up till I came The letter addressed to her father, here. This summer has showed me more which shows the deep sense of wrong she plainly what I already knew—that there felt, concludes as follows: was nothing else for me. God only * * * "You are, undoubtedly, the one knows how desperate and bitter the person living who hid his daughter's food struggle has been, and I am tired to in the house, even to hickorynuts and wal­ death. My furniture is willed to a nuts picked by her, and told her you be­ friend who will not care for my stove I grudged her every mouthful she ate, after think. * * * > her whole life had been sacrificed to your "I should be so glad to help dear Mrs. selfishness. Live to remember that you Carr. If I had it to do again I would did all this, and infinitely more, to me distribute my few things differently than the day before I died; that you forced me I have, but I can not change without to spend my last days on earth in hunger more bother than it is really worth, for and wretchedness. The time will come I have but little for any one. When you when this will be impressed on you, but see Minnie Minton, give her my love, and not in this world. Remember that one tell her I look eagerly for, a letter from sign of honor or uprightness, one fatherly her until the day I die. I am so disap­ look even, would have saved me froih pointed not to hear from her again. Her this. When I was sick here I heard you friendship and sympathy have been much say I ought to be pounded half to death, to me. The gold pin I spoke of giving and you wished you could pound me to her 1 have given to another friend for death. You have killed me by inches. whom I seemed- to have nothing else. Are you satisfied?" Minnie will have enough to remind her These letters were all addressed and of me. sealed up in a large package and sent SCRAP-BOOK. 199

by a neighbor's child to Mrs. Lowe, so with trumped up mortgages to. her sons that they reached her house about the in order to prevent the collection of this time of Fanny's death or soon after. money which she grudged to see the girl get. As to the truth of this we do not So Ends the Sad Chapter pretend to know or say. We are simply Who is to blame, and how far the re­ relating this to show the influences that sponsibility for the dead, rests on the worked on the unfortunate girl's mind. living the reader must judge. We have That she was insane or ever showed the no comments further than to Bay that least symptorii of shattered reason the Fanny was shamefully wronged by her neighbors do not believe. They say it is father and step mother, and they can a trumped up story to break the force render to the public and to God to whom of damning sentiment, which lies against they must answer, no adequate justifica­ Deering, justly or unjustly. tion. Doubtless the girl had brooded. over We know it may be said that Fanny her disappointment her ill treatment and was of age and had no legal claim for a desertion till it affected her already shat­ home and support from her father; grant tered health and became a constant sor­ this to be all true. Yet she was his row and -burden which she could not child, sick and homeless, made so by shake off. She was kind and gentle to efforts to support him and help him and all, but especially to children and aged if the embers of human sympathy had people, and there appears to be not a riot been dried, and burned up in his person who has ever associated with her heart he would have shared the last crust but what loves and respects her, except of bread with her instead of turning her her father and step mother, who deliber­ away. ately drove her to despair. .And his wife, what shall be said of The sentiment in the community her? Had she dealt even as one despised there since the tragedy has been very Jew deals with another, given Fanny the strong against Deering and his wife and money she had taken from her, Fanny on Saturday night a Ku Klux crowd Deering would today be alive, a happy, visited his house bu£ found no occupants. useful woman. He had prudently absented himself,; but 9 The broken-hearted girl died in the there were plenty of signs left that the belief that her step mother had deliber­ party was well supplied with tar and ately planned to incumber her property feathers.

THE LOOMIS MURDER tiriel of $fay 16, 1886, the following ac­ count of the murder is condensed: Saturday afternoon, about 2 o'clock Long Search for Arthur J. Grover, the Mur May 9, 1885, a man was found lying derer—Pays the Penalty at Columbus dead in a pasture lot about half a mile —Story of the Crime northeast of the Empire House, Stony Ridge, Wood county. Every indication showed that the man had been most foul­ ON May 14, 1886, at the Columbus ly and deliberately murdered. His body penitentiary, Arthur J. Grover lay on the sod at full length, his right paid the extreme penalty of the law, by leg crossed over his left his hands folded hanging for the murder of Granville G. over his breast, and his head resting on Loomis. From the. Wood County Sen- a rock cropping out of the surface of 200 THE PIONEER the ground. The face and head were Frank Luee, a brother-in-law. of- Loom­ mangled beyond 'recognition, evidently is, and deputy-sheriff S. A. Squires, Of for the purpose of preventing identifica­ Ashtabula. They immediately identified tion. A large boulder weighing over the clothing of the murdered man as twenty pounds was on the ground near Loomis' arid expressed the Opinion that by, on which" there were traces of blood he had been murdered by Arthur J. and hair. With this rock the mutilation Groveri This point settled iri the minds had evidently been accomplished. of the officers, the next question was how The body was conveyed to the Empire to catch the murderer. The Ashtabula House and the clothing all removed in county parties stated that prior to their search of some clue that would lead to departure from OrweH Grover and Loom­ identification. The stockitigs were pe-^ is had talked a good deal about, going to culiar in their construction, and on each Dunn county, Wisconsin, where Grover one was discovered a strip of white cloth claimed to have some land. Sheriff about two'inches in length, on which was Brown and Prosecutor R. S. Parker be­ printed with a stencil the name of "G. came convinced that if Grover was the G. Loomis." This was the single clue murderer he would drive the horse and that led eventually to the discovery of buck-rboard through to Menominee, Wis,, the murderer. where his parents and brothers and sis­ The body had evidently laid where it ters lived. It was thereupon agreed was discovered a number of days, for among the officers and friends of the the grass under it was yellow. The cool murdered man, that Sheriff Brown and weather for a number of days previous deputy Sheriff Squires of Ashtabula, had evidently delayed decomposition. should proceed to Wisconsin and wait for Many theories were advanced regard­ the man to come. Accordingly on May ing the tragedy, after the inquest, and 19th, the two officers left this place quiet­ the fact was pretty clearly established ly and for the next month Sheriff Brown that the unfortunate victim had been was somewhere in search of Loomis' mur­ murdered for his money. On the 13th, derer. Sheriff Brown received, a letter from It is too long a story for us to repeat Edwin Goddard, of Ashtabula, saying a here, the many trials, vexations, and dis­ man answering the description of tbe appointments they passed through during dead man and bearing the name of Gran­ their long search among the swamps> ville G. Loomis had been stayirig at Or­ huckleberry brush, mosquitoes and sand well, that county. The next day a letter flies of northern central Wisconsin. How cariie from Will F. Babcock, Orwell, giv­ they had to travel about from one place ing the minute description of Loomis, and to another, constantly on the lookout for stating that he had left Orwell on the.thei r man, and yet daring to make but 27th of April in company with a man few confidarits; how, in order to elicit named Arthur J. Grover, a chap who certain facts they were all the time in a bore a pretty hard name, and also that feverish state of internal excitement and the.two had fled in the night, to escape hope, which they seldom dared express, some debts about the town, and that they lest Grover's friends might learn their had driven a cream colored Texas pony. mission and warn their man in time for hitched to*a buck-board. him to escape. Had Grover committed About this time, a party of four gentle­ the crime one day sooner or one day later men from Ashtabula county came here to in the course of their travels, we will look into the matter. They were R. E. venture the assertion that he would now Stone arid Z. C. Parker, of Orwell and be at large, and his victim occupying SCRAP-BOOK. 201

an unknown grave. But it so happened, the complete work, and all were placed that he murdered his man within the in just where they belonged'y; and when jurisdiction of the officers of Wood eoun- every page had been carefully read to the iy,' and when he was captured in the far jury, arid the book was closed, it was off woods of.Wiscorisin> he awoke to a- plain to everyone who had heard it knowledge of the fact that he had been throughout that the doom of Grover was hunted down by a man who did not sealed. So perfect was the chain of evi­ know what it was to give up a chase. dence as adduced by the state, and yet so On the 17th of June, Mr. Squires gave justly and fairly handled during the up all hope of catching their man, and trial, that Messrs. Parker and Baldwin started for horiie. Soon after Squires were highly complimented „by Judge had started for home, Grover was caught t)odge, and the Judges of the Circuit by a man named Sam. McCahn, a gen­ Court before whom it came, as was also tleman to whom they, had confided their Sheriff Brown for^the gallant work he story, at Fall Creek, a small town about had done in bringing the criminal to 40 miles from Menominee. McCahn justice. knew Squires had started home and so After very able pleas by aR the attor­ telegraphed him arid Sheriff Brown at neys in the case, and a charge from Prairie Farm, where he had gone that Judge.Dodge, which was marked by its day. Both men arrived at Fall Creek fairness and showed a great depth of that night, where they found Grover, thought over the trial, the jury retired with Loomis' pony, buck-board and a and were out" 20 hours, when they re­ host of small trinkets and belongings, turned a verdict of gui% of murder in which"- were subsequently identified as the firstdegree . Judge Dodge1 then sen­ the property of Granville G. Loomis. tenced Grover to be hanged on April 9, Sheriff Brown arrived home with his at the penitentiary. mail on Wednesday, June 24th, having Graver's attorneys. argued a motion come from Madison, Wis., without sleep­ for a new trial before the Circuit Court ing and almost without eating. Then at Tiffin, in March, but the court found came the most difficult task of all. The ro error, in the case, and, as they had collecting of sufficient circumstantial evi­ granted a suspension of sentence, order­ dence to convict their man. ed the sentence to be executed on May Prosecutor Parker obtained the ser­ 14th. Messrs. Tyler and Canary went vices of F. A. Baldwin to assist him in before the Supreme Court and there the ease, and they with Sheriff Brown argued a motion for a new trial, but that and deputy Dunn spent' many days and court also refused to interfere, and so nights in consultation and in weaving the sentence was executed as above the web of testimony that. eventually stated. brought the murderer to the gallows. When the grand jury met in September Grover was indicted for murder in the Gen. Anthony Wayne was not the first degree. reckless, daring commander, which might The Trial be supposed from the names given him Was like the unraveling of a strange by the Indians "Mad," "The Thunder­ and dreadful romance. All who heard er," "The Whirlwind." On the contrary, it said it was the most fascinating case he was prudent far seeing, methodical they had ever heard. The testimony of iri his preparations, but when in action, the witnesses for the state was like the no obstacle was allowed to thwart his leaves of a book. All were necessary to purpose. 202 THE PIONEER ROCHE DE BOEUF taken away by coinmercialism, in the shape of a traction bridge. This famous beauty spot of Northwestern Ohio is now Its Historic Glamour Destroyed by the Largest hemmed in on one side by a string Of Solid Concrete Bridge in the World. twenty-two ice-breakers, 12 feet square, and on the Other side by one of the bridge piers, which actually cuts out about 15 THE Lima & Toledo Traction Com­ or 20 feet from the side of the rock. Its pany has erected at Roche De Boeuf beauty as a landmark is gone, and now, a bridge Of one unbroken mass of steel instead of towering out majestically at and cement from shore toshore. In giv­ the head of the Rapids of the Miariii, as ing an account of its construction, the it was wont to do during centuries past, Toledo News-Bee says: it seems to be creeping and hiding its "That historical and famous up-river head in shame back of a pile of con­ landmark, Roche De Boeuf, has been crete and- steel, well calculated to dispel practically obliterated by the construction forever the glamour of legendary romance of this bridge. AH the glamour and that has hung; about the famous rock beauty of this famous rock has been from time, immemorial."

UP THE MAUMEE dients were resorted to by shippers to avoid this slovr and 'expensive way of shipping goods, previous to the building Unsuccessful Attempt in Running a Steamer of the canal. on the Upper Maumee The steamer dun It was in the summer of 1837 that an THE story that a steamboat once went enterprising man, a captain, brought to up the Maumee past Waterville, the river a little carial-boat-built steam Otsego and Gilead, seems to us of torday craft, constructed at Rochester, N, TV, like a legend, based ritostly on fiction. and astonished the .natives along the The Maumee of to-day with its> naked river by the bold declaration that he was projecting rocks, dams, rapids and riffles going up the Maumee. After passing and muddy water, is nOt the Maumee Fort Meigs, Buttonwood Island, arid the of 50 years ago. . Qnce the river arid its Presque isle riffles, the little boat's shrill banks on either side were the highways whistle loudly proclaimed her presence of a vast commerce between the Lake at the lock in Nearing's dam just below and the Wabash country. Miltonville. Scows, pirogues and canoes, ladened After much trouble and by the assist­ with valuable stores, brased its current ance of ropes and tackle block, and much from Fort Wayrie to Perrysburg, and pulling and puffing, the Sun got into the in winter or low stages of water, the car­ mill pond above the dam, where, on the rying of stores, passengers and merchan­ 4th of July, 1837, she was employed iri dise gave employment to a vast army giving the assembled people free rides of teamsters, horses and wagons. The back and .forth across the river. When, distance from Fort Wayne to Perrys­ finally she resumed ber up*river course burg was 100 miles. . The round trip she met trouble again at Rush-te-boo with team and loaded wagon usually oc­ rapids. A part of her freight was taken cupied 8 or 9 days, and various expe- off and hauled around to Otsego by "ROCHbl-UE-BOEUF At It Appeared Before Building the Cement Bridge Over ll—Here WMHeUWayr*! Council of War

SCRAP-BOOK. 205

wagons. A rope and fall block was car­ were* found lying near a tree shaking ried off to the boat from a tree at the with the ague and the grave was not dug. shore and then horses were hitched to Some of the men took the spades, and the rope, and in this way and with the went to work in the hard clay. It was assistance of men on shore the little craft a very hot day and the mosquitoes and ascended successively, Rush-te-boo Rapids, flies were so bad that they nearly drove Wolf Rapids and Bear Rapids at Otsego, horses and men crazy. Before the grave and finally landed safely in deep water was completed some more of the men above Gilead, where for a time she plied took the shakes, and Mrs. James Donald­ between that point and Flat Rock, below son, whose husband was one of the party,' Defiance. carried water for the sick and for those at work at the grave, and it was with Funeral Incident much difficulty that the burial was filially At Gilead later in the season, the Cap­ made. ) tain was taken' side with the Maumee The little steamboat stood the Mau­ fever and died. There was so much mee racket better than her master, and sickness that there were hardly well ones after a time ran down the river again enough to take care of the sick and bury and plied between Perrysburg and Vis­ the dead. Daniel Barton, now of Milton, tula, no\« Toledo. and Capt. Alva Gillett, wtio had a Another small boat called the Crockett line of hacks on the mail route, sent a attempted the ascent of the river, but team to take the dead Captain to the never got above the Miltonville dam, and graye near John Kimberlin's. When the thus ended all attempts at steam naviga­ burial party arrived, the two men who tion on the Maumee above Perrysburg. had been sent forward to dig the grave —C. W. E.

INDIAN CHARACTER band's murderer, and when tbe time came, she stepped forward and seized the long knife made for the„pnrpo8e with its No Mercy for a Murderer—They Will Not long shining blade, and standing in Be Burdened With the Old frorit of him she raised1 the knife and and Helpless plunged it into his heart. They were following out the old law which said, .A MONG his many interesting remi- "An eye for an eye and a tooth for a r\ niscences, J. F. Dubbs relates the tooth; and he who sheds man's blood by following, taken from the Sentinel: man shall his blood be shed." And as If any member of the Indian tribes Paul says, "Those having not the written committed a murder and escaped, they law, make a law among themselves." would follow him from year to year if When one of them gets old and sick so necessary, 'until they would capture him, that he -cannot hunt or fish,the y would and then he would be condemned to die. kill him so that they might not be bur­ The rule was that the nearest relative to dened with him in their oft removals the murdered man would have to take the and excursions. I recollect one day an life of the murderer. I believe that an old Indian came to my father's. He occurrence of this kind took place at could talk a little so we could understand Tontogany. The wife of the murdered him. He said-, "Indian sick." Mother man was selected to slay her hus- asked him, if sick why not stay with his 206 THE PIONEER

people and have them take care of him. that it was an Indian grave. It was He said, "If Indian stay me die." known by the peculiar marks on the And he was asked why and he said, trees and by the trinkets found on the "They will kill Indian;" that "when stakes around the grave. Any of the old Indian get sick and old and no hunt and pioneers can give a minute description of no fish any more, they Mil Indian." an Indian grave; when they bury one of We gave him something to eat and he their number they put all the parapher­ went off and we saw him no more; but nalia for hunting and war in the grave; only a short time afterward a new made the bow and arrow, the tomahawk, and Indian grave was found near their camp the scalping knife and belt, for they say and we always supposed that they found they will need them to use in the "Happ) him and killed him as he said they would. hunting grounds beyond the River." Some one may ask how we could know

PRESBYTERIAN JUBILEE And flowers wild abounded, 'til the city limits grew* We can scarce believe the fact it was once Celebration in 1905 of the Fiftieth Anniver­ our Bowling Green, sary of the Presbyterian Church in Where this church was organized, with Bowling Green—Poem by Mrs. the number of thirteen. . C. W. Even -Mrs. Bald­ win's Letter We are here to tell the story, as each has seen or heard, HPHE jubilee services at the Presby- Of the progress and the glory, of God's 1 terian church celebrating the fifti­ own Holy Word, eth anniversary of the organization of Will bring from memory's pages, those the church, were held in the latter part whose hands the work begun, of November, 1905. In his address Rev. With hearts all full of love, for the bet­ E. E. Rogers gave an interesting history terment of man. of the church, from its organization of That little band of Christians worked thirteen members, no one of whom were with zeal and iron will; then living in Bowling Green. Many They are resting from their labor, but letters of regret were read from members their good works follow still. in distant localities. Boys and girls in countless numbers have Among the proceedings Robert Dunn, been guided to the right, •Br., read the following poem by Mrs. C. And will testify in honor, of the sleeping W. Evers: ones tonight.

The fiftieth anniversary, and the JubileeCould those dear old charter members tonight scan the hamlet from above, Bring to mind a little viUage, that has It would be to see great churches in har­ long been out of sight. mony and love. No bells disturbed the quiet, no shrill Six thousand souls are wanted, and the whistles filledth e air, workers at the wheel No steam cars and electric, no machinery, Are praying without ceasing, in one earn­ rumbled there. est long appeal. The pathless woods surrounded, the habi­ They would see the brave Endeavors, that tations few, sturdy branch who thrive, SCRAP-BOOK. 207

With wondrous untold power, within there was a separation tor tbe men seated their active hive— on one side and the women on the other. The outgrowth of example that will never Hymn books were few in number and cease to be the hymn, if not a familiar one, was gen­ And they're marching grandly forward erally "lined" by the minister. to the next great Jubilee. The building was owned by the Meth­ /• odist church and we were kindly per­ The Sabbath school's broad mantle pro­ mitted to occupy it, on alternate. Sab­ tects the young today, baths, and our congregations were prac­ The seed so early sown, shows no sign of tically the- same, as there was no other a decay. service in the town. Knowledge gained along the pathway* We had a large union Sunday school has never yet been feared, and Mr. Solon Boughton was the faithful And the hosts of its instructors, are and beloved superintendent from its doubly more endeared. formation. Faithful ministers and choirs, that have Family reunions and social gatherings toiled night and day, were frequent and informal.. The quilt­ While many, 0! so many, have been ing bee and the husking party varied the gently laid away, monotony of country life. In time of From the work that never falters, but sickness or when the Angel of Death like the surging sea, brought distress and affliction neighborly With its billows rolling onward, to all kindness and sympathy were unfailing eternity. and abundant. From its beginning Bowling Green constantly, and more or less rapidly, in­ Mrs. Baldwin's Letter creased its population and was fast be­ A letter was read, written by Mrs. coming the business center of the sur­ Jane Baldwin, wife of the firstministe r rounding country and even at that early of the church. At that time she was day, some, with prophetic vision, were over eighty years of age. From that let­ inclined to look forward when it would ter we quote: become the county seat of Wood county. With pleasure I comply with your re­ Our church shared in its prosperity and quest that I write some account of the increased in members and in influence. early history of the church my husband With growing impatience we eagerly organized and was for ten years the first looked forward to the completion of our pastor of—a history full of delightful house of worship, which with great self reminiscence and events which are as denial and sacrifice, waB being erected on fresh and distinct in memory as are the the lot where the present beautiful scenes of yesterday. church now stands. Fifty years ago Bowling Green had but It was an occasion of great joy when one building that could by courtesy, be we felt that we had a home of our very called a church. This was small and un­ own. It was 'dedicated February 8, attractive and was used during the week 1860, with no indebtedness except for the for entertainments of various kinds and $200 loaned by the Church Erection often on Sabbath morning the odor of the Board, and this was paid in annual in­ atmosphere indicated the character of the stallments. At the evening service of gathering of the previous evening. the dedication, I well remember our de­ Families could "walk to the House of lightful surprise in finding our church God in company," but at the church door lighted with kerosene oil. It seemed like 208 THE PIONEER

a blaze of glory in comparison with the Miss Mary Day, who had a relative who dim light of the tallow candles to which was an organ dealer, was instrumental in we were accustomed. securing a reed organ, which for some years she played. Notes Mr. and Mrs. S. L. Boughton were The first communion set used by the among the most prominent and active church was the gift of Mr. Baldwin. members in the building up and the wel­ This was in use for eighteen years, until fare of the Presbyterian church. Mr. 1873, when the church received the pres­ Boughton assisted in the organization of ent of a communion set from the Sunday the Sunday school, on the 8th of April, school of the First Presbyterian church 1860, was its first superintendent, and as of Utica, N. Y. such continued for a period Of 25 years The bell which is still in use, was the or more. present of Mr. P. J. Latchaw in th&name The first instrument used in the of his wife, and was presented in April, church was a little melodeon. Later, 1874.

LIFE OF A RECLUSE Edgerton was of a very social turn at times and was a mechanical genius; just such a man as was invaluable in a pio­ Abram D. Edgerton Among the Earliest Pio­ neer settlement. He could "tinker" a neers—Peculiar and Eccentric—Sad K dock, solder a tin pan, fix a gun, set And Romance of His Life splint a bone, lance an arm or carbuncle, tell a. good story, sit up with the sick, AMONG the few who settled on the teach writing school—in fact, do almost sand ridges which skirt the old anything that was necessary to be done, Keeler Prairie in Plain township, was and "BrOm," as he waB called, was wel­ Abram D. Edgerton, a young man, about come to dinner or a night's lodging 22 years of age, who came out from Ash­ wherever night chanced to overtake him tabula county with his father and step­ in the settlement. When Bowling Green mother in the year 1834. The Edger- started up he engaged iri the capacity of tons, like the Holiingtons, found shelter clerk in the store of L. C. Locke for some with the Mitchells, who had just come time, after which he taught a term or so in until they built a cabin, which stood of school. He was a fair English on the north side of the Weston ridge scholar and an elegant penman. He then road at the place known as Carr's cor­ engaged in house-painting as a trade, and ners. The father of young Edgerton accumulated considerable property. At soon sickened and died, and some years one time he made an expensive tour after he and his step-mother sold out south in search of his brother, who bad their possession to Joshua Carr, and the died in the meantime of yellow fever. step-mother went to Michigan friends, After learning this fact he returned and where she died. was more unsettled than ever. This left A Great Favorite him without father, mother, brother or Abram, who was quite a general favor­ sister—in fact, without any kinsmen ex­ ite among the early settlers, remained cept some New York cousins whom he here, for he had, no other home; in fact had never seen. / no relatives except a brother who had Avoided Society located at Baton Rouge, Louisiana. He had no bad habits; neither waB he SCRAP-BOOK. 809

ever known to express any religious but he was disappointed and his projected views and he seldom, in later life, attended possession came to naught and left him worship. He was singularly shy and ret­ in quite straitened circumstances. To icent in the presence of women. He was make matters worse a dropsical affection social and pleasant to those females of seized upon him from which time he was his early acquaintance, but preferred if crippled in his limbs and gradually failed possible to avoid the general society of until he was unable to leave the club women. It could hardly be called an house. In this extremity the proud­ aversion, but it amounted to almost that spirited old man was a pitiable object for it grew upon him and for the last 15 He dreaded the thought of the poor years of his life he lived by himself house or of being an object of charity. wholly alone, without the company of He declined to be removed to the home man, woman, dog or cat. He did his of any of his old friends lest he should own cooking, washing and mending; oc­ make them trouble, for which he could cupying his spare time at odd jobs of nOt compensate them. A kind neighbor, clock "tinkering" and other light me­ Mr. Vollmer, for some weeks went each chanical work. He seemed perfectly con­ night and remained with him till morn­ tented and happy and but seldom would ing, lest he should die alone, and each accept the hospitality of friends, and then day sent him such necessaries, as he only as he made one of his periodical thought would be acceptable. He grew visiting rounds among the old settlers. worse but still refused to be removed until at last, bis old friend, John White­ At Station Island head, of Tontogany, went to\the club At one time he became infatuated with house with a wagon and bed, determined the gilt-edged stories told of Florida and to bring him away. \ her orange groves, sold his little property The old man bowed his head and broke and like the adventurer Ponce De Leon, into tears, crying like a child, the first made a fruitless trip in the "Land of time he had ever been known to give up. Flowers," only to return moneyless and After a few moments he quietly gave disgusted with the home of the mosqui­ some brief directions about some of his toes, alligators and countless swarms of affairs, and consented to go with his gnats and midges in that semi-tropical friends, where he was kindly cared for country. He then "bached" it in a little and nursed until his death in 1880. He shanty near town and some years after was bright and cheerful, and remained took charge of the Findlay club house at conscious until the last Station Island on the Maumee, at the re­ A Cherished Relic quest of the owners, and seemed to pass an easy, hermit-like life in fishing and He was a man of many singular peculi­ shooting; making a few dollars for "pin arities. He possessed a high order of money" by letting out club boats to little intelligence, in many respects was de­ pleasure parties through the warm season. voted and faithful- to his friends, and especially devoted to the memory of his His Last Days deceased mother, who died when he was He became impressed with the idea less than 20 years old. He had in one of that a large portion of the Station Island his trunks, what was once a beautiful was yet in the United States govern­ silk dress, the property of his mother, ment, and was so strong in the belief that and the dress in which she was married. he borrowed money and made a journey This he treasured as carefully aB if it to Washington to investigate the title, had been gold or precious gems. It is 210 THE PIONEER said, by those who knew him best, that lacked the courage to make a gallant, there was bold. dash in cavalier-like style, such as would carry the heart and hand of a A Secret Romance black-eyed, black-haired maiden of those Connected with his early life—a love pioneer days. This prairie belle was not affair, which, if known, would explain without suitors, one of whom soon sup­ much of the singular life of this old man planted the bashful, hesitating Edgerton whose last days were saddened with the and carried her off. thought that he was without home, kins­ She lived many years and seemed men or natural protectors. happy, but not so he who once loved her In the old Plain cemetery in an almost and still in the depths of his heart loved forgotten grave, rests the ashes of a lady, her.and when she died the canker of sor­ who was once the bright, cherished idol row preyed upon him, but no murmur and admiration of him whose sad story escaped his lips. A few words which he we have told. He loved her with a devo­ dropped a short time, before his death to tion that knew no bounds and could an old acquaintance and friend furnishes brook no disappointment, and the gossips a key to his untold secret and explains of that day say that she did not regard somewhat the story of his fickle, purpose­ him with indifference, but he failed to less, though harmless career. His book gain her hand more through what a cav­ is closed forever. He will be remember­ alryman would call a lack of soldiery ed kindly among all the old pioneers as dash, than through any other cause. a kind neighbor, a faithful friend and an Edgerton, like many other young men, inoffensive citizen.—C. W. E.

SUCCESSFUL SCHEME placed inside to appease his hunger, he could not get out. One day as the great bear hunter, Sam Edwards, and his son, were passing that Didn't Propose That Henry County Should way on one of their great chases, he came Benefit by a Wood County Wolf to a halt at the wolf pen where Uncle John had a wolf entrapped which he was trying to take alive. WOLF incident is told in the Wood "Why not kill him and save the A bother," said Edwards. "Well, sir," said County Tribune, by J. F. Dubbs, Uncle John, "I find that my pen is across illustrative of the schemes the settlers the Henry county line. Wood county sometimes resorted to, to make an honest gives a bounty of $10 and Henry county dollar in those days when money was so does not, and I am not going to bring scarce. Across the swamp in Jackson Wood county wolves over to Henry county township, lived his uncle, John Dubbs, to kill for nothing." who raised stock and the wolves gave The wolf was taken alive by Uncle him much trouble. He finally located John, carried over to Wood county, their hiding place in the wilderness where it no doubt had been boarding on where Deshler now stands, and built a Uncle John's live stock, and its thieving wolf pen of logs, so that when a wolf scalp soon after adorned the wall of jumped down through a hole left in the top, to get the bait, which had been Uncle John's cabin. SCRAP-BOOK. 211

A LOAD OF COONS spring. They didn't know what-to do. There were no employment bureaus then —ho chance to seU one's labor for cash— Brought Relief and Made a Handsome Pay­ nobody had any cash in fact, ment on Land So the boys possessed themselves of a couple of hunting dogs, one of which had been trained to locate a coon-tree by scent—that is, the keen-scented annual, THAT old-time pioneer, J. F. Dubbs, in passing through the forests day time of Milton Center, had a wide expe­ or night would locate the trees where rience in the hardships of Wood county's the coon had taken up its winter home. early days, and could tell many remi­ The wet seasons iri Liberty prairie, while niscences of the hard winters, the sickly not favorable to grain crops, were very season, the loss of crops, the destitution, propitious for the frogs, and that means -the lack of roads, markets, schools, or a good coon, muskrat and mink crop. medical aid when sickness or accident By spring when their notes were due came, all of which bore on the new set­ they had caught over two hundred coon, tler with disheartenjing weight Some besides other varmints, wearing valuable perished from disease; some fled; others fur. They started early in the morning staid and fought it out and came in late at night. The coon In writing to the Wood County Tri­ would be frozen so they could not be bune, Mr. Dubbs says when his father skinned, by the time they reached the died, he and his brother John, both young cabin at night. So the boys threw them fellows then, bought together 160 acres in the wagon box at the cabin door and of land in Jackson township, on easy covered them, and soon the wagon box terms of payment was full of unskinned coons. They worked hard and got out 40 Or One day a fur buyer came along and 50 acres of crop, but a wet season swept gave them $280 for the lot, and the note away all their labor and seed and a pay­ and interest was paid, and John and ment of $200 and interest at 6 per cent Jim were happy and had a lot of sport on $1,000 was to be met the following as well as hard work.

"JOHNNY APPLESEED is the record of one^ of the quaintest, sweetest characters produced in the pic~, neer west. Next to his religion, "Johnny Quaint Old Pioneer of the Early Northwest Appleseed" held apples to be the choicest Has a Monument blessing vouchsafed to man, He be­ lieved in the salvation of health by ap­ ples. He preached the gospel of apples, JOHNNY APPLESEED has a and he practiced it. He made the young monument, says the Chicago lands in Ohio and Indiana bloom with Times-Herald. Future generations shall the fragrant white blossoms of countless know of the unique mission of John apple trees. He added untold wealth Chapman, the Apostle of Apples. Mans­ and happiness to generations born and field, Ohio, has rescued his memory from unborn. Sage and simple, crank and oblivion and embalmed it in a statue. genius, seer and vagrant, "Johnny The story of his gentle, beneficent life Appleseed" was a penniless philanthro- 212 THE PIONEER

pist, a humble benefactor of millions. broken down the brushwood fence of a The cider mills of Pennsylvania were nursery he had planted. It was winter, his Mecca, and appleseeds his quest. and the nursery was twenty miles away, From every pilgrimage to the east he but the brave old crusader started out brought back precious sacks of seeds. on foot to save his beloved trees. He With his own hands he cleared forest worked for hours in cold and snow, re­ space for'his nurseries, and when the pairing the fence, and started to walk trees were two or three years old, he back home, He fainted from fatigue distributed them broadly, sometimes in and took refuge in the cabin of a settler. exchange for a bit of clothing, but more It happened the pioneer had come from often as a gift. Gentle and lovable, Ohio, and knew of "Johnny's" work in friend of white and redskin, the apple that state. He welcomed the weak old missionary was as one crying in the wil­ man, who asked only a bit of bread and derness. He went whither he would, a place on the floor to sleep. The next welcomed by all, and he dotted the woods morning "Johnny" was delirious, and and prairies of his kingdom with apple soon afterward he died of pneumonia. orchards. He was buried near by and a rude board "Johnny Appleseed" carried on his placed over his grave, but it has long work of distributing apple trees and since crumbled into dust, and the site appleseeds through Ohio and the Mau­ of the burial is unknown. mee Valley for twenty years or more, and then be followed the star of empire westward to continue his mission in the "Johnny Appleseed" newer field of Indiana, where he died in The following was written by James 1845. Newton Matthews, and dedicated to the "Appleseed Johnny" was a hero, too. American Horticultural Society, and During the war of 1812 Mansfield was read at a meeting in Austin, Texas, by frightened by rumors of a hostile attack. Miss Regan: The, nearest soldiers were at Mount There's a hero worth the singing that no Vernon, 30 miles away, where Capt poet's lips have sung, Douglass had a troop. When a call was A prophet of the wilderness whoBe deeds made for a Volunteer to carry a mes­ have found no tongue,— sage to Mount Vernon, "Johnny'' stepped A homely, humble-hearted man—a gen­ forward. The journey had to be made tle spirit sent at night over a new road, that was little To cheer the world and plant the newer better than a trail, and through a coun­ gospel as he went,— try swarming with blood-thirsty Indians. A specter of the Solitudes, whose bare- The unarmed Apostle of Apples sped feet, where they pressed, through the woods like a runner, and Prankt with never-dying beauty the dark came back in the morning with a squad borders of the West—• of soldiers, It was an incident worthy A Druid of the Valley, but as worthless a poem, but has been almost forgotten. as the wave, The death of this strange missionary ^Scorning comfort-Hseeking nothing for was in keeping with his life-work. The the good things that he gave,— latter years of his life were spent near A poor old, plodding pilgrim of a brave, Ft. Wayne, where, although 70 years old, unselfish breed, he continued to grow and scatter apple God showed the way, and shod the feet trees. He learned that some cattle had of Johnny Appleseed. SCRAP-BOOK. 21a

I touch the stainless record with a deli­ Get scorched against the flames of it in cacy due their uncertain flight; .To the reverence that bows us, when ?Tis said he oven spared"the snake whose the great soul comes to view— venomed fangs he felt, How pales our petty passions and ambi­ And all the air was soft with love and tions, when we scan pity where he dwelt; The garnered love that glitters from one The pappoose prattled on his knee—the guileless-hearted man; panther on the limb And such was he to whom we pay the Seemed conscious of his harmlessness, tribute of a tear, and only glared at him— The orchard-planter of the West—our And thus along the world he went, as oldest pioneer, destiny decreed, Whose only weapon of defense against Arid happy in the life he led, this Johnny a war-like race, Appleseed. Was the glow of childish innocence that gladdened in his face — Thro' every forest where he passed he And so no knight of any age that ever scattered germs that grew mounted steed, , To blooming benedictions, as he drifted Went forth to battle better arme^d than on into . Johnny Appleseed. The gloomy regions farther west that swallowed him from sight We frame him in our fancy like a figure As a cloud absorbs a star-beam, in the in a dream, silence of the night; A specter on a phantom boat, a-floating He sank into the solitudes, like some re­ d

A health to Johnny Appleseed! and may And as long as poor humanity stands his glory be ' naked in its need, Regrafted in the years to cOme, on Life's God send us souls as white as-that of eternal tree, Johnny Appleseed.

MAYOR ANDREW ROACH No. 123, Free and Accepted Masons, since February 16, 1863, and for three years was Secretary of the lodge, and One of the Strong, Energetic Executive during this long term had always been Officers of Perrysburg held in high esteem by his brethren. In his earlier life he was engaged in AFTER a long and painful illness, railroad building, and was in charge of Mayor Andrew Roach passed from the construction of the Dayton and life at his Perrysburg home on Saturday Michigan railroad from Lima to Toledo morning, September 14, 1901, diabetes and for more than 30 years was road- being the cause of death. master for the company. Mr. Roach was born in Ireland, in The first engine used on the road, he 1833, and had he lived until the 5th of brought overland from Mad river, and November, would have been 68 years old. Archie Rider of Tontogany, was the en-. His parents moved to Kingston, Canada, gineer. in 1837, where he. lived for 10 years. In The funeral services were conducted 1848 he moved to this state, and for at the late home on Sunday in charge several years was engaged in railroad of Phoenix lodge of Masons with Rev. building, and in 1859 located in Perrys­ Adams as chaplain and Bro. A. R. Wil­ burg, where he has since resided. liams as acting Master. He was twice married. To the first The services were attended by a large union three daughters and two sons were number of people from Perrysburg and born, all of whom preceded him to the neighboring towns—the members of the world beyond except, one spn, Edward, council, Clerk and Marshal attending in aged 43, who resides in Dayton. His a body. second wife died a number of years ago leaving one son, Andrew, Jr., now Sheriff An Error Corrected of Wood county, who with Edward Roach One writer, in describing the sieges of of Dayton, are the only children who Ft. Meigs, makes the statement that after survive the father, and they, with one the first siege, which ended May 8, 1813, sister of the deceased, Mrs. Birk of Day­ Gen. Proctor embarked his troops and ton, were present at his bedside at the sailed away to Maiden, but that he re­ time of dissolution. turned ten days later, with a force of During his life Mr. Roach had been 5,000 whites and Indians, arid that the a very active citizen. In politics he was second siege was abandoned May 28. an ardent Democrat and at various times This is an error. The fort was invested held the offices of Mayor, Councilman, the second time on July 21. On the member of school board, library board, 26th Tecumseh resorted to the trick of and gas trustee. In every position he a sham battle expecting to draw out held he has been a credit to himself and the garrison, but his scheme failed, and the people he represented. on July 27, 1813, the second siege He was a member of Phoenix lodge ended. Wl .Jtf'-^•^•"•' .'.'*• liiitei *• w^*

'Sri1

i lit ' /*<"' i

L- ;• v.

FORT MEIGS The Naiural Ravine Where ihe Soldier. Were Chartered During the Siege of 1813

SCRAP-BOOK. 217

THE RIVER RAISIN MASSACRE Winchester was assigned to the command of the advance with a force of some twelve hundred men, composed of the One of the Bloodiest Tragedies in the Annals Seventeenth United States regulars,an d of the War of 1812 the First, Second and Fifth Kentucky Volunteers, and the First Kentucky Ri­ flemen. It will thus be seen that the THE ignominious surrender of Detroit troops of Kentucky bore a most conspicu­ by Gen. Hull in August, 1812, ous part in the initial movement of the caused the whole Michigan Territory, campaign. for the time being to pass under the control of the British. Under these con­ At the Rapids ditions to recover and hold possession of It had been determined by the General the territory which Hull's unfortunate in command as a step in his advance up­ surrender at Detroit had transferred to on the enemy, to concentrate his forces British domination, and expel the invad­ on the Maumee, and to that end General ers therefrom, and at the same time pro­ Winchester was directed to take position tect the helpless pioneers from the torch at the Rapids, fortrfyJthe place and hold and scalping knife, was the task imposed it as a depot for supplies and a base of upon General Harrison, a task which a operations of the army in its advance less fearless and intrepid leader would into the enemy's country. have looked upon with apprehension and On the 10th of January, 1813, Win­ dismay. chester, in the execution of his orders, Senator Burrows says the execution of reached the Rapids of the Maumee, es­ this plan involved the penetration of an tablished and fortified his camp and almost trackless wilderness, invested on awaited the arrival of supplies and the every side by hostile savages intent only remainder of the command. While thus upon murder and rapine. General Har­ encamped, disquieting rumors came from rison was not oblivious to the difficulties the inhabitants of Frenchtown, a. little and dangers of the situation. Replying hamlet of less than thirty families, and ito an inquiry as to when the army would where the thriving city of Monroe now advance, he said: "I am not able to stands, to the effect that the British fix any period for the advance of the forces at Maiden, across the border, only troops to Detroit. It is pretty evident eighteen miles distant were about to that it cannot be done upon proper prin- , move on the defenseless inhabitants of ciples until tie frost shall have become ' Frenchtown. Upon the confirmation of so severe as to enable us to use the rivers these rumors an appeal was made to Gen­ and the margin of the lakes for the trans­ eral Winchester to go to the defense of portation of the baggage upon the ice. the panic-stricken people. General Har­ To go forward through a swampy wilder­ rison was sixty-five miles away, and ness for nearly 200 miles in wagons or therefore could not be consulted, and the on pack horses, which are to, carry their troops were impatient for the advance, own provisions, is absolutely impossible. and General Winchester, responding to My present plan is to occupy Upper the humane impulse of his troopB, on Sandusky and accumulate at that place the 18th of January, 1813, ordered as much provision and forage as possible, Colonels Lewis and Allen, with 660 men, to be taken from thence upon sleds to the "to hasten to their defense, attack the River Raisin." enemy, beat them and take possession of In the execution of this plan. General Frenchtown and hold it." When the 218 THE PIONEER

American forces. reached Frenchtown dispelled the illusion of security, and they were confronted by 200 Canadian the roar of shell and rattle of musketry, militia with their 400 Indian allies, pre- mingled with the yells . of: the savages, pared to resist the consummation of this . proclaimed the presence of Proctor's purpose. . forces, and sounded the A Temporary Victory Death Knell of the Americans Though confronting an enemy supe­ Let History record the slaughter that rior in numbers, Winchester's forces cross­ followed: "No rule of civilized warfare ed the River Raisin on the ice and in was observed. Blood arid scalps were a fierce engagement drove the British the chief qhjects for which the Indians and their savage allies from the town fought. They seemed disposed, not to and took possession of the abandoned talce any prisoners. A party of fifteen camp of the enemy. The conduct of our or twenty, under Lieutenant Garrett, troops on this occasion elicited from the after retreating about a mile, were com­ historian the declaration that the disci­ pelled to surrender, when all but the pline of the troops "amply supported the young commander were killed and double character of Americans arid Ken- scalped. Another party, of forty- men,i tuckians." The twelve Americans killed^rvere moie tnan half murdered under and the fifty-five wounded testify to the similar circumstances. Colonel Allen, severity of this engagement. who had been wounded in the tiiigh in Although a temporary victory had been the attempt to rally the troops, after won, yet.the positiori of our troops was abandoning all hope, and escaping about exceedingly perilous, being only twenty two miles in the direction of the Mau­ miles from Maiden, the headquarters of mee, was- compelled, by sheer exhaustion,. the enemy, from which point reinforce­ to sit down upon a log. He was observed ments would be readily and swiftly for­ by an Indian chief, who, perceiving warded. Yet the heroic band, after an his rank, promised him protection if he informal council of war, deliberately de­ would surrender without resistance. termined to hold the place at all hazards He did so. At the same moment two and await reinforcements. , other savages approached with murder­ Winchester was immediately advised ous intent, when, with a single blow of of conditions, and on the 19th of Jan­ his sword, Allen laid one of them dead uary, with 300 men, hastened to the upon the ground. His companion in­ support of his decimated forces at stantly shot the Colonel dead. 'He had Frenchtown, arriving there on the 20th. the honor,' it was said, *of shooting one On the following day, the 21st, news of the first and greatest citizens of Ken­ was brought to Winchester that a large tucky.' " force of British and Indians had left Maiden and were on the march towards Proctor's Infamy Frenchtown and had already reached The last act, however, of this horrible Stony "Creek, and would be at the vil­ tragedy was yet to be performed. In the lage before daylight the following morn­ struggle Winchester had been taken pris­ ing. General Winchester refused to oner, and Proctor, by threats of further credit these rumors and confidence slaughter and extermination of his en­ and repose settled down over the doomed tire command, induced Winchester to American camp. Before the break of sign an order directed to Major Madison, the following day the repof?t of a sen­ the next in command, and who was still tinel's musket sounded ^tire alarm and heroically defending his position, tosur - SCRAP-BOOK. 219

render the entire force as prisoners of Proctor's plighted faith, and without war. This order borne by one of Gen- reciting the deeds of individual heroism, erel Winchester's staff, accompanied by Which characterized the actors in this General Proctor himself under a flag of final scene, the awful truth stands re- truce, was carried to Major Madison,"Q corded that on.this field,ou t of a force who refused to obey the order, saying, of 934 Americans, only 33 escaped) while "It has been customary for the Indians nearly 400 were massacred and the bal- to massacre the wounded and prisoners ance taken prisoners. after a surrender; I shaU, therefore, not Thus erided a conflict which will go agree to any capitulation which' General down the ages as one of the bloodiest Winchester may direct, unless the safety tragedies in the annals of war. The re- and protection of all the prisoners shall suit here, although our forces were de- be stipulated." To .this refusal Proctor feated, opened the way later for the ad- replied, "Sir, do YOU mean to dictate vance of our army, the recovery of De- to ME?" Madison answered, "I mean 'trait, the invasion of Canada and the to dictate for myself, and we prefer sell- defeat of the British forces on the ing our lives as dearly as possible rather Thames, with the death of Tecumseh. than be massacred in cold blood." Thereupon Proctor promised protection — ;—— to all the prisoners, and pledged his honor asa soldier to the performance of Ann Austin, of Cygnet aged 102 the obligation. It is needless to say that years, died some years ago. She waa the pledge was riot redeemed. one of the band of Wyandot Indians Without relating the story of the mas- who came to Wood county nearly 70 sacre of the helpless prisoners after the years ago. She was the queen of the surrender, in shajneful disregard of little Indian settlement

THE BATTLE IN CANADA lish soil and began the pursuit of Proc­ tor and Tecumseh, who after Berry's glorious victory began a retreat eastward The Scenes That Closed the Memorable Con­ toward Hamilton. flict and the Death of Tecumseh With the 3j000 Kentuckians Gen. Har­ rison and Gov. Shelby began on October 1st the hunt of Proctor and Tecumseh IN an address by CoL. Bennett II. in earnest. The dismounted militia vied Young, delivered at Monroe, some with Johnson's regiment in making the years since> he thus describes the closing pursuit vigorous. Many portions of the scenes of the battle of the Thames that march were passed at half run, and one ended Gen. Harrison's remarkable cam­ day they covered twenty-five miles. paign : Thamesville was a small settlement east Shelby and his Kentucky army report­ of Detroit on the English highway from ed to Gen. Harrison at Perrysburg on Hamilton to Detroit, 63 miles east of the 14th of September, 1813, and re­ the latter place and 12 miles from Lake mained at Put-in-Bay until the 27th, Erie;. Here on the afternoon of October, when leaving their homes at Portage 1813, the English and Indians were river, they embarked on -Commodore brought to bay. • Perry's fleet, landed at Maiden on Eng­ Proctor had with him the 41st British 220 THE PIONEER

regiment They had been at Raisin. est courage and truest patriotism. The These he placed on the main road; Te­ generous impulses of brave and chival­ cumseh had 1,800 Indians; these were rous souls impelled every man to the assigned to a place in a swamp at right noblest discharge of duty, and every ear angles to the main road. Johnson'* was listening with absorbing interest for Kentucky mounted riflemen, 1,200 in the sound which should call .them to number, held the front line of the Amer­ battle with their detested foes. ican advance, while the* five brigades of "Re«esaber the Raisin!" dismounted men were a few hundred feet behind. Proctor was with the Brit­ In the fierce charge there was but one ish forces 1,500 feet away from the front cry oft repeated, but rising each time in of his line. sharper and quicker tones; "Remember the Raisin—Remember the Raisin." Pursuit of Proctor These avenging warriors, catching the The hour for action had come. Be­ enthusiasm and delirium of combat, rose hind, weary marchings of four hundred high in their stirrups, and plunged their miles, full of self-denial and unchanging spurs into the flanks of. their chargers as privations, before them, enemies arous­ they approached their enemy, still more ing an immeasurable hate. Every heart furiously, waved their guns aloft and was full of memories of savage brutality with their voices made stronger and and cruelty to relatives, friends and fel­ stronger by the excitement of their im­ low citizens for a quarter of a century. petuosity, cried the more vehemently, The horrible massacre of the Raisin, its "Remember the Raisin." "Remember indescribable barbarity and its fiendish the Raisin." ' inhumanity was painted on every soul, A quarter of a mile away at the rear, and the spirit of its slain victims seemed in the edge of the forest, along the trail, to ride side by side in martial proces­ was the commander of the British regu­ sion with these living horsemen, fate's lars. General Henry A. Proctor, who avengers, chosen to inflict punishment on was responsible for the revoltingbutch ­ its ferocious perpetrators. ery and brutality at Raisin and Meigs, The atrocities of Fort Meigs were not came to Canada as the Colonel of a forgotten, and the cry of the Kentuck­ British regiment, and his atrocities have ians, tortured and murdered by the sav­ never been reproved by his government age red men within the sight of British For his conduct at Raisin he had been officers, and coolly tomahawked or shot promoted to a brigadier-general. while helpless and defenseless in their His ear was quick to detect danger. very presence, seemed to beseech heaven He knew his fate if the Kentuckians for a just and complete revenge upon (many of whom had sworn that he should those guilty of such unspeakable horrors. not be taken alive) should capture him. Among Kentuckians now aligning for conflict were men who had looked upon Proctor's Flight all that was awful at Raisin and terrible He distinctly heard the tramp of at Fort Meigs. Some had shared in the Johnson's mounted men, and his ear humiliation of Detroit's surrender, and -caught that portentous and to him fate­ had witnessed their country's flag and ful cry, "Reriaember the Raisin." Dis­ honor sullied by Gen Hull's cowardice mayed, he watched and waited for the and imbecility, while others had endured result.' He saw one line brushed out of the trials, insults and torture of British the path of the horsemen or rush in prisons. All were animated by the high­ confusion upon the second line. He be- SCRAP-BOOK. 221 held this last line disappear and the mand, "Forward, march," they quietly black hunting shirts and grey hunting and calmly rode to death. breeches of the Kentuckians as they dis­ In the thickets of the swamp, in which mounted and turned upon his stricken lay Tecumseh, and his red soldiers, they and helpless grenadiers, and then with peered in vain for a foe. Not a man his cowardly conscience impelling-him, stirred, but the ominous silence betoken­ he turned his horse's head eastward and ed only the more dreadful fire when the accompanied by a small guard of horse­ moment of contact should come. men precipitately fled toward Burling­ Along the narrow space they advanced. ton. Hard pressed by Major DeVall Stunted bushes and matted and deadened Payne, he abandoned his baggage and grass impeded their horses' feet, but followers and fled through the forest to these heroes urged their steeds forward escape capture. His ignominious con­ with rapid walk, seeking the hidden foe duct brought upon him the contempt of in the morass that skirted the ground his associates. He was tried by court upon which they had aligned. martial, disgraced, and deprived of pay for six months, and was publicly re­ Fate of the "Forlorn Hope" primanded by his superiors by order of A loud, clear, savage voice rang out his government the word "Fire." The sharp crackling of half a hundred rifles was the response, A Bloody Conflict and then the deafening sound of a thou­ A sterner conflict and more sanguin­ sand shots filled the air. The smoke ary fate awaited the second battalion of concealed those who fired the guns but Johnson's regiment the murderous effect was none the less This was formed in two columns, on terrible. Of the twenty, one* alone es­ horseback, while one company was dis­ caped unhurt or failed to b "unhorsed. mounted and on foot placed in front of A mass of fallen, struggling horses, a the right column, which was led by Col.. company of wounded, dying men lay .side Johnson. The front of each column by side. The bleeding beasts whinneyed was something like 500 feet At the to dead masters, arid wounded masters head of the column led by Johnson was laid their hands on the quivering bodies a company on foot While in front of of their faithful steeds. Of the twenty, those mounted was what was known as fifteen were dead, or to die. Their lead­ the "Forlorn Hope," in the courage and er with a dozen wounds, still sat erect gallantry of which on that day was writ­ his judge advocate, Theobald, close to ten one of the most heroic and sublimely his side. The remainder was lost in the brave acts which had ever been recorded battle's confusion. of Kentucky men. * The "Forlorn Hope" had met its fate.' The "Forlorn .Hope" consisted of twen­ Its mission was to receive the fire of ty men. Ccl, Johnson himself rode by the savages, when their fellows and com­ its side. It was led by the grand old rades might safely charge upon the red pioneer, William Whitley. men with guns unloaded. Its purpose These twenty men with Col. R. M. had been fulfilled. Johnson, and the pioneer William Whit­ The five hundred and fifty men of ley, at once advanced to the front The Johnson's battalion were reinforced by main line halted for a brief space, until quite a number of volunteer infantry- this advance could assume position, and / men from Trotter's, Donaldson's and when once they were placed, at the com­ Simrall's regiment,* who hearing the fir- 222 THE PIONEER ing and the shouts both of the Indians He was certainty a great leader, and and white men, rushed to the assistance it was at this time that somebody in the of their comrades. battle killed Tecumseh. For a quarter of an hour the result The red men with amazement looked of the battle seemed in doubt. Eighteen upon the sudden and unexpected death hundred Indians in the swamp and on of their valiant chief. They heard no their chesen battlefield, behind trees and more his shouts of encouragement, saw fallen logs, did not hesitate to throw no more the gallant wave of his hand, down the gage of battle to the six thou­ and with utter alarm and despair, and sand Kentuckians who now advanced to with a great cry of disappointment they the assault rushed from the battlefield. As the lines were pushed along through A Crushed, Defeated Foe the morass, Col. Johnson saw behind a Tecumseh was dead. The Indian fallen tree, an Indian chief, who with power was crushed. Proctor was in vigorous words of*command and loud cowardly flight and disgrace as a man cheers and most earnest encouragement and soldier. The red men had by a was urging the red men to stand firm lesson never to be forgotten, felt the against the assaults of the white men. power of the white man's strong arm, Death of Tecumseh and learned that no British agency could At the head of the column opposing save him when the white man undertook these men, Johnson still sitting upon his punishment The red men were his white mare, rode around the tree and humbled and their hopes destroyed. advanced upon the red man. At the first The great northwest was free. Michigan fire he had lost by a wound the use of was the wpite man's possession by right his left hand, in which he would carry of conquest, and by the power of the his bridle. The Indian placing his gun sword had been made forever a part of to his shoulder immediately fired and' the American Republic. added another to the many wounds al­ The British soldiers who had com­ ready received by the gallant Kentuckian mand at the shameful massacre of these and then having exhausted his trusty knightly Kentuckians, were now prison­ rifle, with uplifted tomahawk, he ad­ ers and were to march as captives, over vanced upon the white man, who, al­ this battlefield, where their barbaric though wounded, was now riding upon cruelty and brutality had done so much him fearlessly and rapidly. The savage to blacken the name and honor of their jerking his tomahawk from his side, and nation, and in the end to be prisoners waiting for no assistance except his own of war in the penitentiary of the state strong arm backed by his courageous whose soldiers they had ruthlessly allow­ soul, rushed upon Col. Johnson to strike ed to be murdered, while their savage him from his horse, but when he had allies whom they had incited to kill, burn. advanced within four feet, Johnson let­ and scalp, while men, while women and ting his horse loose, seized his pistol from even children, whose only offense was io his helpless left hand and fired its con­ be an American, were hiding in the path­ tents into the breast of the Indian. Be­ less woods of Canada and Michigan to ing loaded with one bullet and three avoid the white man's wrath. buckshot, at such close range, and pierc­ Raisin was remembered; Raisin was ing the heart of the Indian, he instantly avenged. fell dead. Some said it was Tecumseh. SCRAP-BOOK. 223

JAMES H. PIERCE On March 6, 1855, he was united in marriage to Miss Sarah Guy of Sidney, Ohio, who with a family of six1 daugh­ Life and Death of One of Wood County's ters survive him. In 1857 he came to Sterling Citizens Perrysburg township, and located on the pike where he engaged in the lumber business, and continued in it until 1872, when he was appointed Commissioner to JAMES PIERCE, of Perrysburg, ex- fill the unexpired term (3 months) oc­ commissioner of Wood county, to casioned by the death of Commissioner whom more than any other, individual Eber Wilson. At the expiration of this are the farmers of Wood county indebted term he was elected Commissioner for for the present magnificent system of two years, and was afterward re-elected ditching, died very suddenly and unex­ for two 3-year terms, and has been re­ pectedly at his home on Sunday after­ garded as one of the very best Commis­ noon, May 6, 1894. sioners who ever filled that important Whether through premonition, or office in Wood county. otherwise, is not known, but previous After that he served .as Mayor of to Sunday Mr. Pierce had requested that Perrysburg, and member of Board of all members Of his" family be invited to Education of that village, and was again dinner on that day, which was accord-* elected to the Union school board at the ingly done. spring • election and at the time of his In the forenoon he repaired to a room death was also a member of the Board on the upper floor, which he was wont of Township Trustees. to occupy during the daytime, either to read or sleep. At dinner time his grand­ For several years he was proprietor of son went to summon him, but finding the Exchange hotel of Perrysburg, and him asleep, he returned and the meal was known throughout the country as a was eaten in his absence. An hour and genial and popular host a half later his daughter Mattie went His family consisted of a kind and to. the room, and seeing her father lying loving wife, six daughters, Mrs. Emma in a reclining position she approached J. Norton, Mrs. Carrie A. Thompson, him, only to be horrified by the discovery Mrs. Jennie E. Priest, and Misses Fran­ that he was dead. ces A., Martha A., and Cora M„ Pierce, Drs. Hamilton and Rheinfrank were all of whom were present at the time immediately summoned but found that of his death. life was extinct; he had probably been Mr. Pierce was a member of Phoenix dead about an hour, death coming as a Lodge, No. 123, F. & A. M. of Perrys­ sweet sleep without pain or struggle. burg, and his funeral services were con­ Mr. Pierce was a native of New York ducted by the members of that order, State, where he was born December 19, under the direction of Master John H. 1831. When three years of age his pa­ Thornton, the sermon being delivered by rents moved to Blissfield, Mich. In Rev. G. A. Adams, the chaplain of the 1846, he moved to Shelby county, where lodge. A large number of the members he commenced life in a practical way, of Phoenix lodge were in attendance and' and from the age of 12^ to2 6 years he visiting members from neighboring was employed on the Wabash canal, the towns were also present latter part of which time he was cap­ James Pierce was a man of character tain of a packet boat, the "Sidney Belle." in every station in life; honest, coura- 224 THE PIONEER

geous and a whole-souled man wher­ The funeral was one of the largest ever you found him. He was one of the ever held in the village. The floraloffer ­ best known men of Wood county and ings being numerous and of beautiful filled a niche in public affairs which few designs—the last tribute to a beloved men have had the honor to fill. For a and departed citizen, neighbor and number of years he had retired from friend. Every business house in the vil­ active work, and was living contentedly, lage was closed during the funeral.—Per­ surrounded by most of his children. rysburg Journal.

JUDGE H. H. DODGE tinued until Mr. Murray's election as Attorney General of Ohio, in 1859. In 1860 he associated himself with the late Sketch of His Life—Tributes of Respect to James R. Tyler until 1869, then with His Memory Edson Goit, now deceased, and Jasher Pillars of Bowling Green. AFTER a lingering iUness of several In 1877, Mr. Dodge was elected Judge months the life of Hon. H. H. of the Common Pleas court, holding this Dodge came to a peaceful close on Mon­ position for a term of ten years with day, May 16, 1904, about 3 o'clock p. m. marked distinction. Of late, says the Perrysburg Journal, Mr. Upon retiring from the bench he Dodge had seemed to be in better spirits formed a partnership with John W. and health than for some months and a Canary of Bowling Green, which lasted few days prior to his death visited rela­ until his removal to Perrysburg in De­ tives in Bowling ,Green in company with cember, 1897. Here he thought he might his wife, when he had a most enjoyable retrieve his health surrounded by the fa­ time. On Friday, May 13, he was strick­ miliar Bcenes, in his old homestead, on en with paralysis from which he did not the banks of the beautiful Maumee. recover, but sank rapidly until death In 1857 he was united in marriage came as a happy release. with Sarah Hodge Wilkinson, and to them Henry H. Dodge was born February were born two children, Mary E. the old­ 4,1830, at Pompey Hill, Onondaga coun­ er, wife of Ernest G. Miller of Creede, ty, New York, He received his early Colorado, died in December, 1893, leav­ education in his native town and at the ing two children Hobart and Mary to age of 16 waB sent to the St. John's the care of her parents. Frederick G., College, conducted by the Jesuit Fath­ the younger, general agent for the Bloch ers, New York City, from whieh he was Bros. Tobacco company of Wheeling, graduated in 1849. After a couple of West Virginia. years spent on the farm with his father Judge Dodge was a devoted husband he began the study of law with Victor and father and was never happier than Birdseye of Pompey Hill. when surrounded by his family. He He came to Perrysburg in 1852 and was a member of the Catholic church, finished his law studies with the firm strong in his religious beliefs, a con­ of Spink & Murray, being admitted to scientious character. the bar in 1855. Upon the death of Mr. The Wood County Democrat pays the Spink, Mr. Dodge became a partner of following tribute: James Murray, which partnership con- "Politically he was an ardent Demo- SCRAP-BOOK. 225

crat of the Jackson school, and his Seney and Judge John McCauley. counsel and assistance was always eager­ Front Findlay, Judge Geo. F; Pendleton, ly, sought by and freely given to his co- Col. J. A. Bope, A. Zugschweit, Jason'" laborers in the cause of the parly whose Blackford and Aaron Blackford. principles he espoused. He was always The pall-bearers all ex-judges who as­ courteous and manly in his demeanor, sociated with Judge Dodge at various warmly cherished friendship, and detest­ times were Judge Geo. E. Seney and ed treachery with all the force of his Judge John McCauley of Tiffin; Judge strong mind. Geo. F. Pendleton of Findlay; Judge "He enjoyed the highest esteem of all Frank Taylor, North Baltimore; Judge who were favored. by his acquaintance, R. S. Parker, Bowling Green, and Ool. and he will be greatly missed by the bar Bope. and in the everyday walks of life. It The remains were laid to rest in Fort can truthfully be said that mankind has Meigs cemetery. been ennobled and the world made better by the life of Henry H. Dodge, who has gone to his rest with the universal TECUMSEH'S CONTEMPT respect of the people among whom he It was at Ft Miami that a quarrel labored, and who were witnesses of the occurred between Gen. Proctor and the honor and uprightness of his daily life." Indian Chief Tecumseh. In the pres­ ence of Gen. Proctor and other British officers, the Indians robbed and toma­ hawked the American prisoners. It is The funeral services were held at the said that the number killed without Proc­ St. Rose de Lima church Friday morn­ tor's interference at the close of the bat­ ing at half past nine o'clock. tle, fully equalled those slain on the field The Reverend Father • Griss of Fos- of. battle. When the prisoners were in­ toria, celebrated requiem high mass as­ side the fort the Indians commenced sisted by the Reverend Father Schriener loading their guns for a general slaugh­ of Bowling Green, as deacon, and the ter. At this juncture Tecumseh rode up Reverend Father Mertes of Maumee as and inquired for Proctor. sub-deacon, who spoke feelingly on the "There he is," said an Indian ally, life of the deceased. pointing to the British general. On account of the prominence of the "Why- don't you stop this?" inquired deceased the funeral was one of the the Indian chief. largest ever held in Perrysburg, being "Your Indians cannot be restrained," attended by a large concourse of friends said the Englishman. and admirers from his home county and "Go put on petticoats," retorted Tecum­ neighboring counties. The members of seh. "You are not fit to command the Wood County bar, some accompanied men." by their wives> attended the services in a body. Those present from Bowling Green were W. S. Haskell, Jas. 0. Troup, Just above WaterviUe, at the lower F. A- Baldwin, A. R. Campbell, E. G. end of Station Island, is a solid block McClelland, Thos. F. Cbnley, B. F. Of granite in a private burial ground. James, G. C. Nearing, L. C. Cole, E. It is the resting place of the remains M. Fries, Robert Dunn, J. E. Shatzel, of "Robert Dunlap, Soldier of the Revol­ R. S. Parker, J. W. Canary. Those utionary War," born July 28, 1752, died present from Tiffin were Judge Geo. E. July 25, 1836. 226 THE PIONEER

MAJOR GEORGE CROGHAN Gen. Harrison; but before the decisive battle Of Tippecanoe he was made an aide-decamp to Gen. Boyd, the second A Gallant Youngster, Not 22, After Service in command. Croghan displayed such at Fort Meigs, Became the Hero of remarkable conrage in battle that en Ft. Stephenson . the recommendation of Gen. Harrison, he was appointed a captain in the 17th U. S. Infantry. ON August 2, 1906> Fremont, in a In August, 1812, his command was splendid manner, commemorated ordered to accompany the troops under the defense of Fort Stephenson so gal- Gen. Winchester, which started from gantly and successfully accomplished by Kentucky to the relief of Gen. Hull at the valiant Major George Croghan. The Detroit. Owing to Hull's disgraceful event was attended by thousands, and surrender, the plan of campaign was among them some of the most prominent changed, and Winchester's command men in public life. On that occasion marched through the wilderness to assist the Croghan Bank directors issued the Harrison in the relief of Fort Wayne, following sketch of the life of the hero and then down the Maumee to Fort De­ of Ft. Stephenson: ,' fiance, in September, 1812. In Decem­ ber, Winchester started on the disastrous expedition which ended in the massacre at the River Raisin, January 23, 18.13, leaving Croghan, in spite of his extreme youth, in command of the important post Of Defiance. Captain Croghan, with his command, joined Gen. Harrison at the newly con­ structed Fort Meigs, on the Maumee, and participated most gallantly in defending that fort against- the combined assaults of Gen. Proctor and Tecumseh. During the siege,. Croghan distinguished himself greatly by a sortie made against a Brit­ ish battery, in an effort to afford Col. COLONEL GEORGE CROGHAN Dudley's unfortunate Kentucky volun­ HERO OF TORT STBPHBNSON teers an entrance- into the fort As a AUGUST SECOND, III] result of Harrison's report of this battle, Croghan was promoted to the position of George Croghan was born of dis­ major in the 17th U. S. Infantry. tinguished ancestry, near Louisville, Early in July, 1813, Major Croghan, Kentucky, November 15th, 1791. He with his battalion, waB sent to take com­ was a boy of manly appearance and in­ mand of Fort Stephenson, erected in telligence, and at a very early age de­ 1812, at Lower Sandusky (Fremont), veloped a strong desire for military life. which guarded the approach to Fort He graduated at the college of Wil­ Seneca, where Harrison had his head­ liam and Mary, Virginia, July 4th, 1810, quarters and stores. After an inspection and entered upon the study of law. In of the fort by Gen. Harrison, Croghan 18il, however, he enlisted as a private proposed to shift its location to higher with the Kentucky volunteers under ground on the east side of the Sandusky SCRAP-BOOK. 227

river. Harrison refused consent to this, Croghan had but one piece of artillery, for the reason that the British were which was shifted from place to place momentarily expected; he thereupon or­ to induce the belief that he had several. dered Croghan to retreat to Huron or During the night of the 1st the British Fort Seneca, should the British appear landed three six-pounders, and on the in sufficient force to indicate the pres­ morning of the 2d opened fire from a ence of heavy artillery.' point about 250 yards distant, directing Just previous to the battle of Fort their fire against the northwest angle of Stephenson Croghan wrote to a friend the fort. A redout and tablet on State as follows: "The enemy are not far dis­ street, opposite Park avenue, in Fre­ tant I expect an attack. I will de­ mont, now marks.this memorable spot fend this post till the last extremity. I Late in the afternoon under cover of have just sent away the women, the chil­ the smoke, the British assaulted with dren and the sick of the garrison, that about 300 men of the 51st Regiment I may be able to act without encum­ while the Grenadier battalion made a brance. Be satisfied: I shall, I hope, feint against another portion of the fort. do my duty. The example set me by The assault was most gallantly made my Revolutionary kindred is before me. under command of Lieut. Col. Short, Let me die rather than prove unworthy who, as they leaped into the ditch, com- of their name." , inanded to "give the Yankees no quar­ On July 30 Gen. Harrison, after ter.'' Croghan, with only 160 men, re­ a council of; war, ordered Croghan to served fireunti l the red coats had enter­ destroy the fort and repair to head­ ed the ditclv when he fired with such quarters. To this order Croghan re­ fatal precision that the British faltered. plied, confidently expecting his letter He then turned his battery of a single would be intercepted by the British: gun upon them, and the ravine through "We have decided to maintain this which they were approaching was short­ place, and by Heaven we can." Gen. ly filled with thedead and dying enemy. Harrison immediately sent Col. Wells The British loss in killed and wounded to relieve Croghan of his command and was about 150, while that of Croghan order him to,report at headquarters. was one killed and seven wounded. There Croghan satisfactorily explained Thus, on the Second day of August his insubordinate letter and was prompt­ 1813, at the age of 21 years, the heroic ly restored to his command. Croghan against a vastly superior force, About 700 British Regulars, many of won the victory that proved the turning them veterans of Wellington's peninsu­ point in the war of 1812. For this ex­ lar campaign, arrived on gunboats of ploit he was breveted lieutenant-colonel Commodore Barclay's fleet; while Te­ by the President of the United States; cumseh's Indians,. 2,000 strong, swarmed Congress awarded him a gold medal; through the woods from the vicinity of and the ladies of Chillicothe, then the Fort Meigs. Gen." Proctor at once sent capital of Ohio, presented him with a a messenger to the fort demanding im­ beautiful sword. mediate surrender, thereby avoiding, as In 1825 Croghan was made inspector he thought, the massacre that must sure­ general, with rank of colonel, and served ly follow. To this was returned the as such with General Taylor in Mexico, defiant answer: "When this fort is 1846-47. taken there will be none to massacre." Coloriel George Croghan died in New Firing began August 1st from the Orleans, January 8, 1849. To keep alive British gunboats and howitzers on shore. • his memory, Fremont, through these sue- 228 THE PIONEER

ceeding years has continued to celebrate the limits of Ohio, was made near the the second day of August present site of Maumee City, in 1679. Fort Stephenson Park comprises the The west4 wall of the Ottawa county original fort as reconstructed by Cro­ court house is decorated with the scene ghan, and contains within its stone walls of Commodore Perry's great victory. its one cannon, "Old Betsy;" it also contains the monument in honor of After the battle of Fallen Timber, Croghan, his men and those of the war Gen. Wayne returned to what is now the of the Rebellion. At the base of this city of Ft Wayne, and on October 22, monument was placed, August 2, 1906, 1794, established a garrison. After fir­ the remains of Colonel Croghan, brought ing a volley from the cannons, it was from tie family burying ground in Ken­ named Ft. Wayne, in honor of the gal­ tucky through the instrumentality of lant commander. Col. Webb C. Hayes. In the vicinity of Mackinaw Island Fort Stephenson is unique in being three forts have been erected at various the only fort in this country preserved periods in sight of one another. One is in its original dimension, with its orig­ inal armament and with the body of its preserved for the education and pleasure of future generations,- while the ruins defender. of the other two can be traced in-the !Prof. Hulbert, in his history, claims cruinbling walls at St. Ignace and Mack­ that the first settlement of whites, in inaw City.'

AN OLD CEMETERY skirmish occurring in, that locality be­ tween 400 Kentuckians under Gen. Clay, who cut their way through British and Burying Ground of Indians Long Prior to the Indians to reach the fort. It will be Time of the White Settlers remembered by those who are familiar with Ft Meigs history that the Ken­ IN conversation with Mr. John E. tuckians were divided—one portion led Gunckel, some days after he had at­ by the heroic Dudley to his doom, and tended the flag-raising ceremonies at Ft. the other fightingthei r way to Ft Meigs. Meigs, he said he stopped at Maumee and These bullets were undoubtedly mute while in conversation with several citi­ reminders of that desperate struggle. zens, a lad hailed him with, "Say, Mr. Gunckel, you ought to go on the other An Indian Burial Ground side, just above Ft Meigs, down on the In this connection may be said a word flat The boys are gathering hundreds in regard to the unearthing of human of bullets, washed out by the flood; and, skeletons at Orchard Grove, just opposite say, one boy found a copper cent dated Perrysburg, and just below the site of Ft 1813." The locality was visited by Mr. Miami, brought to view by the action of Gunckel, who found it to be just as the the flood. The indications are that at boy had said. It appears that down one time there was a burying ground at near the water edge, the soil had been that place. It may have been used by washed off probably 18 inches or more, the garrison occupying the fort. The leaving a gravely bed. The bullets were daily press of Toledo at that time in strewn in a very small area. giving an account of the discovery, stated Mr. Gunckel's theory is that this de­ that no one of all those who had lived posit of bullets was the result of a severe in that locality all their lives can re-' FORT MEIGS-(HARRISON POINT) Where Gen. Harrison Stood Watching Colonel Dudley"i Attack on the Opposite Side of the River

SCRAP-BOOK. 231 member .of hearing a rumor that there height of Indians. The history of that had been a burying ground there. mound may reach back several centuries In the latter part of the Sixties or —a history involved in the vague mysti­ early in the Seventies, the Perrysburg cism of the past Journal recorded the fact that many human bones had been unearthed at that point, and the theory was then advanced that they were the bones of Indians, and Col. Dudley's Dead that a burying ground had existed there As far as can be ascertained, the names probably many years before there was a of those who were killed in Col. Dudley's settlement of whites in this region. No command were as follows: attempt was ever made at excavation, and Col. Wm. Dudley, Wm. Martin, in course of time the matter was for­ Thomas Burrough, Jesse Polly, gotten. , N icholas Moran, George Clark, Opposite Waterville, in Wood county, Edward Dyhouse, Daniel Sloan, there'is evidently .another burying ground Benj. Helberson, Ewel Wallace, which may ante-date the time of the Robert Helberson, Joseph Statin, Indians :by many years. Its history may Corp. Anthony Sammal, Henry White, reach back to the mound builders, evi­ Capt.^John C. Montson, James Pebles, dences of whose works are scattered Sergt. Joseph George, Joseph Clark, throughout Ohio. To these builders may Capt. Thomas Lewis, " James Elliott, also be attributed the mound that was /John Stevenson, John Johnson, some years since unearthed on the banks Silas Fitzgerald, Walter Gregory, ov Ottawa Creek on the Michigan bound­ Joshua Weathers, Theodore Mass, ary line, and from which seven human John" Daugherty, James Simpson, skeletons were taken. These skeletons Lieut McClintock, Sergeant Scott were of a giant type, above the ordinary Winfield Bamni.

A MEMORABLE ADDRESS occasion, before you in accordance with my own individual views or wishes. It has ever appeared to me, that the office Delivered by Gen. Harrison at the Great of President of the United States should Fort Meigs Celebration in June, 1840 not be sought after by any individual; but that tbe people should spontaneous­ ELSEWHERE in this volume has ly* and with their own free will, accord been given a succinct account by the distinguished honor to tbe man whom Mr. Evers of the celebration at Ft. Meigs they believed would best perform its im­ in 1840. But one of the notable features portant duties. Entertaining these of that day was the address of Gen. Har­ views, I should, fellow citizens, have rison, which can not fail to produce remained at home, but for the pressing something more than a passing interest and friendly invitation which I have re­ in every, lover of the historical incidents ceived from the citizens of Perrysburg, of the Maumee Valley. The address and the earnestness with which its ac­ was steriographically reported by a re­ ceptation was urged upon me by friends presentative of the New York Tribune, in whom I trusted, and whom I am and was given in full as follows: now proud to see around me. If, how­ iFellow Citizens—I am not npon this ever, fellow citizens, I had not complied 232 THE PIONEER with that invitation—if I had remained my commission to serve unaer uen. at home—belfeve me, my friends, that Wayne. In 1794 I was hiB aide at the my spirit would have been -with you; battle of Miami. "'Nineteen years after­ for where, in this beautiful land, is there ward I had the honor of again being a place calculated, as this is, to recall associated with many of those who were long past reminiscences, and revive long my companions in arms then. Nine­ slumbering, but not wholly extinguish­ teen years afterwards I found myself ed, emotions in my bosom? commander-in-chief of the northwestern In casting my eyes around, fellow citi­ army; but I found no diminution in zens, they rest upon the spot where the the bravery of the American soldier. I gallant Wayne triumphed so gloriously (found the same spirit of valor in all— over his enemies, and carried out these not in the regular soldier only, but in principles which it seemed his pleasure the, enrolled militia and volunteers also. to impress upon the mind, and in which What glorious reininiscences does the it has ever been my happiness humbly view of these scenes around me recall to attempt to imitate him. It was here, to my mind! When I consented to visit fellow citizens, 1 saw the banner of the this memorable spot, I expected that a United States float in triumph over the thousand pleasant associations (would flag of the enemy. There it was where to God there were no painful associa­ was firstlai d the foundation of the pros­ tions mingled with them) would be re­ perity of the now widespread arid beau­ called—that I should meet thousands of tiful West. It. was there I beheld the my fellow citizens here—and among indignant eagle frown upon the British them many of my old companions—met liOn. It was there I saw the youth of here to rear, a new altar to liberty in our land carry out the lesson they im­ the place of the one which bad men have bibed from the gallant Wayne—the prostrated. noblest and the best an American can And, fellow citizens (continued the acquire—to die for his country when general), I will-not attempt to conceal called to do so in its defense. •.'...' from you that in coming here I expect­ (At this moment the speaker's eye fell ed that I should reeeive from you those upon Gen. Hedges, when he said: "Gen. evidences/

to place himself in my situation, and directed the arrangement of the army then say whether the extreme pain and under my command, I trusted to no anguish which I endured, and which colonel or other officer. No person had every person similarly situated must any hand in the disposition of the army. have endured, can meet, with any ade­ Every step of warfare, whether for good quate compensation, except by such ex­ or ill, was taken under my own direction pressions of the confidence and gratitude and of none other, as many who now of the people, as that with which, you hear me know. Whether every move­ fellow citizens, have this day honored ment would or would not pass the crui- me? These feelings are common to all cism of Bonaparte or Wellington, I know commanders of sense and sensibility. not; but, whether they would induce ap­ The commanders of Europe possess them, plause or censure, upon myself it must although placed at the head of armies fall. reared to war. How much more natural­ But, fellow citizens, still another mo­ ly would those feelings attach to a com­ tive induced me to accept the invitation mander situated as I was? For of which had been so kindly extended to what materials was the army composed nie. I knew that here I should meet which was placed under my command? many who had fought and bled under The soldiers who fougblN and bled and my command—that I should have the triumphed here were lawyers who had pleasure, of taking them by the hand thrown up their briefs—physicians, who and recurring with them to the scenes had laid aside their instruments—ifte- of the past. I expected, too, to meet chanics, who had put by their tools— with a few of the great and good men and, in far the largest proportion, agri-, yet surviving, by whose efforts our culturists, who had left their ploughs freedom was achieved. This pleasure in the furrow, although their families alone would haVe. been sufficient to in­ depended for their bread upon their ex­ duce my visit to this interesting spot ertions, and who hastened to the battle upon this equally interesting occasion. field to give their life to'„ their country I see my old companions here, and I if it were necessary, to maintain her see not a few of the Revolutionary vet­ rights. I could point from where I now erans around me. Would to God that stand, to places where I felt this anxiety it had even been in my power to have pressing heavily upon me, as I thought made them comfortable and happy— of the fearful consequences of a mistake that their sun might go down in peace! on my part, or the warit of judgment But, fellow citizens, they remain un­ on the. part of others. I knew there provided for—-monuments of the in­ were wives who had given their hus­ gratitude of my country. It was with bands to the field—mothers who had the greatest difficulty that the existing clothed their sons for battle; and I knew pension act was passed through con­ that these expecting wives and mothers gress. But why was it restricted? Why were looking for the safe return of their were the brave soldiers who fought under husbands and sons. When to this was Wayne excluded ?—soldiers who suffered added the recollection that the peace of far more than they who fought in the the entire west would be broken arid • .Revolution, proper. The Revolution, in the glorj of my country tarnished if I fact, did not terminate until 1794—until failed, jrou may possibly conceive the the battle was fought upon 'the battle anguish which my situation was cal­ ground upon which my eye now rests culated to produce. Feeling my respon­ (Miami). War continued with them sibility, j personally supervised and from the commencement of the Revolu- 234 THE PIONEER

tion until the victory of Wayne, to which soldiers in an Indian war cannot pro­ I have just alluded. The great highway cure. Instead of shelter and warmth he to the west was the scene of unceasing is exposed to the thousand ills incident slaughter. Then why this unjust dis­ to Indian warfare. Yet no relief was crimination? Why are the soldiers who extended to those who had thus suf­ terminated the war of the Revolution, in fered. fact, excluded, while those by whdrn—it After the war closed under Wayne, I was begun or a portion of them, are re­ retired; and when 1 saw a man poorer warded ? I will tellyo u why. The poor than all others, wandering about the remnant of Wayne's army had but few land, decrepid and decayed" by intemper­ advocates, while those who had served in ance it was unnecessary to inquire the Revolution proper had many friends. whether he had ever belonged to Wayne's Scattered as they were over all parts of army. His condition was a guarantee the Union, and in large numbers they of that—was a sufficient assurance that could exert an influence at the ballot- he had wasted his energies among the box. | They .could,. ,whisper _, thus in, theun-whotespme. . swamps of. the West in ears of those who sought their influence the defense of the rights of his fellow at the polls: "Take care, for I have citizens, and for the maintenance of the waited long enough for what has been honor and glory of his country. promised. The former plea of poverty Well, fellow citizens, I can only say, can no longer be made. The treasury that if it should ever be in my power is now full. Take care; your seat is to pay the debt which is due theSe brave- in danger." "Oh! yes, everything that but rieglected men, that debt shall first has been promised shall be attended to of all be paid. And I am very well if you will give me your voice." In satisfied that the government can afford this way, fellow citizens, tardy, but it provided the latch string of the treas­ partial, justice was done to the soldiers ury shall ever be more carefully pulled of the Revolution. They made friends in. Perhaps you will ask me for some by their influence at the ballot-box. But proof of my friendship for old soldiers. it was different with Gen. Wayne's sol­ If so, I can give, it you from the records diers. They were few in number, and of congress. When the fifteen hundred they had but one or two humble advo­ dollar law was repealed, I opposed it, cates to speak for them in congress. as I opposed changing the pay of mem­ The result has been, justice has been bers of congress from six to eight dollars, withheld. until we had done justice to and pro­ I have said that the soldiers under vided for these soldiers. You will find Wayne experienced greater hardships my votes upon this question, among tho even than the soldiers of the Revolution. records of congress, and my speech upon This is so. Everyone can appreciate the it, in the published debates of the time. difference between an Indian and a regu­ I will now, fellow citizens, give you lar war. When wounded in battle, the my reasons for having refused to give soldier must have warmth and shelter pledges and opinions more freely than I before he can recover. This could al­ have done since my nomination to the ways be secured to the soldiers of the presidency. Many of the statements Revolution. In those days, the latch published upon this subject, are by no string of no door was pulled in. When means correct; but it is true that it is wounded, he was sure to find shelter and my opinion that rio pledge should be very many of those comforts which are made by an individual when in nomina­ BO essential to the sick, but which the tion for any office in the gift of the SCRAP-BOOK. 235 people. And why? Once adopt it, and all the state governments, and that one the battle will no longer be to the strong department of the government would r—to the virtuous—or jthe sincere lover swallow up all the other, departments. of the country; but to him who is pre­ 1 do not know whether my friend, Mr. pared to tell the greatest number of lies, Van Buren (and he is, and I hope ever and to proffer the largest number of will be, my personal friend), has a throat pledges which he never intends to carry that can swallow everything; but I do out. I suppose that the best guarantee know that if his measures are carried which an American citizen could have out, he will lay a foundation for others of the correctness of the conduct of an to do so if he does not individual in the future, would be his What reflecting man, fellow citizens, conduct in the paBt, when he had no cannot see this? The representatives temptation before him, to practice deceit of the people were once the source of Now, fellow citizens, I have not alto­ power. Is it so now? Nay. It is to gether grown gray under the helmet of the executive mansion now that every my country, although I have worn it for eye is turned—that every .wish is di­ some time. A large portion of my life rected. The men of office and party, has been passed in the civil departments who are governed by the principles of of government Examine my conduct John Randolph, to wit: the five loaves there, and the most tenacious democrat and two fishes, seem to have their ears —I use the word in its proper sense; constantly directed to the great bell at I mean not to confine it to parties, for headquarters to indicate how the little there are good in both—may doubtless ones shall ring. discover faults, but he will find no single But to return,.I have but to remark act calculated to derogate from the rights that my anti-federalism has been tem­ of the people. pered by my long service in the employ . However, to prove the reverse of this, of the country—and my frequent oaths I have been called a federalist! (Here to support the general government; but was a cry of "The charge is a lie—a I am as ready to. resist the encroach­ baBe. lie. You are no federalist") ments on state rights as I am to support Well,.what is a federalist? I recollect the legitimate authority of the execu­ what .the term formerly signified, and tive, or general government there are many others present who recol­ Now, fellow citizens, I have very little lect its former signification also. They more to say, except to exhort you to go knu w -that~the ^federal party was ac­ on peacefully if you can—and you can cused of a design to strengthen the —to effect that reform upon which your hands of the general government at the hearts are fixed. What calamitous con­ expense of the separate states. That sequences will ensue to the world if you accusation would nor cannot apply to fail! If you should fail how the tyrants me. I was brought up after the strict­ of Europe will rejoice. If you fail, how est manner of Virginia anti-federalism. will the friends of freedom, scattered, St Paul himself was not a greater de­ like the planets of heaven, over the votee to the doctrines of the Pharisees world, mourn, when they see the beacon than was I, by inclination and a father's light of liberty extinguished—the light precepts and example, to anti-federal­ whose rays they had hoped would yet ism. I was taught to believe that, soon­ penetrate the whole benighted world. If er or later, that fatal catastrophe to hu­ you triumph, it will only be done by man liberty would take place—that the vigilance and attention. Our personal general government would swallow up friends, but political enemies, remind 236 THE PIONEER each other that "Eternal vigilance is the Republicanism, to a .monarchy in spirit price of liberty." While journeying if not in name. thitherward, I observed this motto wav­ A celebrated author defbieB mon­ ing at the head of a procession composed archy to be that form qf government in of the friendB of the present administra­ which the executive, has at once the com­ tion. From this I inferred that dis­ mand of the army, the execution of the crimination was necessary in order to laws and the control of the purse. Now, how is it with our present executive? know who to watch. Under Jefferson, The constitution gives to him the con­ Madison and Monroe, the eye of the peo­ trol of the army, and the execution of ple was turned to the right source—to the laws. He now Only awaits the pos­ the administration. The administration, session of the purse to make him a however, now says to the people, "iou monarch. Not a monarch simply, with must not watch us, but you must watch the power of England, but a monarch the Whigs! Orily do that and all is with powers of the autocrat of Russia! safe!" But that, my friends, is not the For Gibbon says that an individual pos­ way. The old fashioned Republican sessed of these powers "will unless closely rule is to watch the government. See 10 watched, make himself a despot." the government. See that the govern­ The passage of the sub-treasury bill ment does not acquire too much power. will give to the President an accumula­ Keep a check upon your rulers. Do tion of power that the constitution with­ this, and liberty is safe. And if your holds from him, thus providing the re­ efforts should result successfully, and I quisites of a monarch. This catastro­ should be placed in the presidential phe to freedom should be and can be chair, I shall invite a recurrence to the prevented by vigilance, union and perse­ old Republican rule, to watch the ad­ verance. ministration and to condemn all its acts ("We will do it," resounded from which are not in accordance with the twenty thousand voices, "we will do it.") strictest mode of Republicanism. Our In conclusion, then, fellow-citizens, I rulers, fellow citizens, must be watched. would impress it upon all—Democrats Power is insinuating. Few men are and Whigs—to give up the idea of satisfied with less power than they are watching each other, and direct your eye able to procure. If the ladies whom I to the government. Do that and your 6ec around me, were near enough to hear children's children, to the latest poster­ me, and of sufficient age to give an ity, will be as happy and as free as you experimental answer, they would tell you and your fathers have been.; that no lover is ever satisfied with the first smile of bis mistress. It is necessary, therefore, to watch, At the close of General Harrison's not the political opponents of an ad­ address the vast multitude of hearers ministration, but the administration it­ gave "three.times three" with a vim, an self, and to see that it keeps within the earnestness and an unanhhity that elo­ bounds of the constitution and the laws quently voiced the truth and beauty, of of the land. The executive of this the sentiments so forcibly portrayed by Union has immense power to do mis­ the honored speaker. chief, if he sees fitt o exercise that pow­ This monster demonstration at Fort er. He may prostrate the country. In­ Meigs was well calculated to give even deed, this country has been already pros­ additional force and character in the trated. It has already fallen from pure further progress of that remarkable SCRAP-BOOK. 237

campaign. Not a political meeting of inal states. These lads were dressed in any consequence was held throughout blue hunting shirts with coonskin caps, .the country that did not bring out dele­ and sang campaign songs from the Log gations in wagons and vehicles of every Cabin Song Book. Among the airs description, reaching sometimes a mile were Dan Tucker, Rosin the Bow, Buck­ in length. These wagons were trimmed eye Brawn, John Anderson My Joe, in many fantastic designs, and always AU Id Lang Syne, etc accompanied with martial music. Another ornamented wagon contain­ On General Harrison's return from ed a number of girls dressed in white, Fort Meigs he Visited a number of towns and these represented the stars in tbe in Ohio, among them Columbus, Spring- Union at that time. field, Dayton, Germantown, Cincinnati Many similar spectacular features, and other places. processions, patriotic displays and il­ At Germantown there were some luminations characterized the campaign unique preparations for his reception. of 1840 in every town and village of Among the features were thirteen lads, note throughout the country, north and of whom the writer (F. J. Oblinger,) south—a Campaign that has never had was one, representing the thirteen orig­ its counterpart in our political history.

•

/fS

- W^^i Jk-^A

- ^k

" *~sPsW» ~t* !H^

OTTOKEE An Indian Chief Who Oppoaed War. Was Alway. Friendly to the Whiles,. and the Latt to Leave the Valley 238 THE PIONEER

RANDOM NOTES age, then north through Center, Plain, and Middleton into Perrysburg, leaving the county at the foot of the Rapids. Gleaned From Wood County Records and HarrisOn's trail struck Wood county on Reminiscences. the east boundary of Freedom, zigzagging along Portage River, then through Web­ ster, through Perrysburg to Ft. Meigs. WOOD COUNTY'S present area is Mr. Joel Foote says that when his 598 square miles, comprising father, E. Foote, in 1830, went back to 382,856 acres. York State to marry his second wife, he Bowling Green is 635 feet above sea had not enough money to bring her level, and 70 feet above Lake Erie. back. So he took with him a portion In 1823 Samuel Ewing was killed in of his wheat crop and sold it in the a fight at Rushteboo, by a man named Buffalo market. -The wheat was raised Lewis, who afterwards escaped from the on the island opposite Waterville, and jail in Maumee. This' is probably the was the first wheat grown and mark­ first known murder in the county. eted from the Maumee river country. Guy Nearing, took the contract in This Mr. Foote gave as a fact, within 1832, to carry the mail from Perrys­ his own recollection. burg to Lima. Most of the time Noah Under an act of the legislature, Febru­ Reed carried the mail. ary 12, 1820, Wood county was outlined First Presbyterian church in Perrys­ and what is now Lucas county, was a burg was organized 1833-34. part of its territory. In 1821 a mail route was established The first sessions of the grand juries from Piqua, by way of St. Marys, Fort would, in good weather, be held in the Wayne, Defiance and Waterville to shade of some generous tree or in some Perrysburg, 200 miles, with Thomas nook in the then wilderness close at Diver as mail carrier. hand, and intruders were kept away from The convention of Territorial Ohio as­ the jury and witnesses by the prosecutor sembled November 1, 1802, and by the and court constable, as best they could. 20th of that month completed its work Wood county's first court house, was •of framing a constitution, and in the built of hewn logs. Daniel Hubbell and following February, 1803, Congress ad­ Guy Nearing were the contractors and mitted Ohio as a member of the sister­ the job was let to them March 3, 1823, hood of states. for $895. This building was paid The firstregula r mail in the Maumee for by the sale of 105 lots granted by Talley was carried by Horace Gunn in the government for that purpose and 1808. Benoni Adams carried the mail were to be sold for $20 or more each. in 1809 from Cleveland to Maumee, re- The firstcour t which was held within •quiring two weeks to make the trip, part­ the limits of the present Wood county ly through the Black Swamp on foot. was held at the residence of John Hollis­ Rev. Joseph Badger was a missionary ter at Orleans, March 27, 1823. among the Indians in the Valley as early The first brick court house was erect­ as 1808. He was at Ft. Meigs a part of ed in 1843 at a cost of $20,000, the con­ the time during the war of 1812. tractors being Brigham & Curtis. After Hull's trace struck Wood county On the county seat was moved to Bowling the south line of Heriry township, zigzag­ Green this building was burned in 1871 ged into Bloom, again into Henry, con­ and the present Perrysburg town hall tinued north through Liberty, into Port­ built on its site. SCRAP-BOOK. 239

JOHN WEBB Ohio, and then went into partnership with his father. He remained there, un­ til November 1, 1822, when he started, A Veteran Pioneer of Perrysburg—Brief with his wife and son Charles, for Per­ Sketch of His Active Life—Died rysburg, arriving at his destination on on the Ninetieth Anniver­ the: 6th of the same month, after passing sary of His Birth through many difficulties while eriroute. He first went with his family and household goods, to Portland (now San­ THE sketch of Mr. Webb's life that dusky City) by wagon, expecting to take follows was compiled from mem­ a vessel there for the Maumee river, but oranda found among the papers of the no vessel was there. Leaving his goods late Francis Hollenbeck, Esq., and is there to be shipped forward at the first well worthy of record: opportunity, he, with his wife and child, John Webb, the father of the subject took a horse boat (or "mud scow") for of this sketch, was born upon the banks Lower Sandusky (now Fremont) where, of the Susquehanna river, in Pennsyl­ by previous arrangement, he met his vania, and resided, though a mere boy, brother Thomas Lincoln Webb (then a near Wyoming, at the time of the terri­ young lad) with two horses and a side­ ble Indian massacre at that place. Im­ saddle. Thomas R. McKnight (a mediately after that horrible tragedy, brother-in-law of Mr. Webb, who had John Webb, sr., moVed with his father's come from the Maumee river to meet family to Berks county, Pa., where he them) and Mrs. Webb rode the horses learned the trade of'a-hatter at Reading, and carried the babe, while Mr. Webb the county seat. About February, 1794, and his little brother Lincoln, and a ho married and moved to New York man by the name of Hawley (who had City, and manufactured and retailed been waiting for company through the hats in a shop on Maiden Lane, residing swamp) followed on foot. in the same building. At that time, Starting from Lower Sandusky, they nearly all the hats in the city were made went down the Sandusky river two miles and sold upon that street and then took the trail for the West, In that little building, on August 27,. arriving on the night of the first day, 1795, John Webb, jr., the subject of this at "the crossing" of the Portage river, sketch was born, and after several now Elmore. The trail was well beaten, changes during the years that followed, and this was the only place where the moved nine miles west to Miflinburg, river had a rocky bottom and could be where he resided until 1814. It was fcrded. The next day, they came here that John Webb, jr., learned the through to Perrysburg, striking the trade of hat manufacturing, having river at Rock Bar, about one and one- commenced his apprenticeship in 1811, half miles below the town. At that at the age of sixteen years. In 1814 time, no wagon had ever traversed "the the family removed to Canton, 0., where swamp." Perrysburg was entirely unin­ father and son worked togejpjr at their habited, except by beasts and birds of trade, until 1820. Jg the forest, and "The Future Great" had Mr. Webb took a tripJret into Union not yet been conceived. county, Pa., and thegjT on March 8, After leaving Lower Sandusky the 1821, became unitecrin marriage to solitary travelers discovered ho habita­ Miss Elizabeth Charles. He immediate­ tion until they reached "the crossing" ly returned with his wife to Canton, (now Elmore), where there was one log 240 THE PIONEER cabin, where the wayfarer might be fed corners, and "chinking", and "daubing" and sheltered over night for at that the structure, arid Mr. McKnight moved time it was impracticable to journey into it the following spring (1823). overland from Lower Sandusky to the The county seat was then at Perrys­ Maumee River in one day. The next burg, and Thos. R. McKnight was Clerk habitation they met with was that of of the Court, but the first termso f court Victory Jenison, on the south bank of were held at Maumee, for the reason the Maumee River, in the bend below that there was no building in Perrys­ the present site of Perrysburg. He had burg in which to hold them. Subse­ made a little clearing about his cabin, quently, three or four terms were held but cultivated a small tract of bottom in the second story of a warehouse at land which had never been grown over Orleans, owned by John Hollister. Hol­ with timber or brush. John Noel and lister, at that time, lived in Maumee, Thomas Learning were living in small but owned the warehouse, occupying the cabins in the bushes on the hillside, on ground floor as a store room; afterward what afterward became the farm of he removed these goods to the building Judge David Ladd, and cultivated a por­ in which he was doing a retail business tion of the bottom lands at the foot of at Orleans. the hill. ,.' ' Soon after his arrival Mr. Webb fitted up a shop for the manufacture of hats Arrived at Perrysburg in the basement of his dwelling, but did The town of Perrysburg had been sur­ not commence working at his trade until veyed and platted by the United States 1824, being unable to sooner obtain the Government in 1817, five years prior to necessary tools. He manufactured the Mr. Webb's arrival, but at that time no first hats ever made in the Maumee one was yet. living upon it, and no por­ Valley, and the only other establishment tion of it was at that time cleared, ex­ of the kind in the West was orie at De­ cepting in-lot No- 144, now occupied by troit. The next fall he purchased three the residence of the late Francis Hollen- rods front On the north side of Front beck, Esq., and the logs from the felled street, at the head of Walnut street, ex­ timber were piled upon it, intended to tending toth e river, where he at once be used by Thomas R. McKnight for put up a log shop. He commenced busi­ tbe erection of a dwelling. Mr. Webb ness in this building in 1824, and worked took up his quarters in a small frame industriously there for about three and building standing at the bottom of the , one-half years, paying, with the pro­ hill at the head of the bayou and near ceeds of his labor, 'for the tract on which the extension of West Boundary street his shOp stood, and also for the lot on (known as Green Lane) over the flats. which he afterward erected the dwelling He with his family, thus became the in which he died. Both of these real first inhabitants of the Perrysburg town estate purchases - were made from Seth plat At this time, Messrs. Thos. R. Doane. McKnight, Aurora and Samuel Spafford, In the autumn of 1822, Samuel Spaf- Jacob and James Wilkison, Mrs. Omans fcrd commenced preparations for the and one other person, resided at Orleans erectiori of the Exchange Hotel, which of the North, a village located ori the lie completed and moved into during the flats, under Fort Meigs hill. Imme­ next fall, coming down from Orleans, diately after his arrival, Mr. Webb aided which village was being' abandoned for in erecting Mr. McKnight's log residence higher ground, owing to the river floods. on in-lot 144, carrying up one of the About the same time Judge Thomas W. SCRAP-BOOK. HI

Powell, late of Delaware, 0., erected the spectators might occupy the hillside and dwelling on Front street, afterward pur­ all witness the execution. Among the chased and occupied by Mr. Jonathan large crowd present^' were many from Perrin. From this time buildings con­ Michigan, Pennsylvania and New York,, tinued to be erected here arid there over who came expressly for the occasion. the town plat and Orleans was gradual­ This execution is celebrated in history ly deserted, the inhabitants locating at as the firsti n the annals of the Maumee Perrysburg. Valley. In 1848, Mr. Webb, was again elected Held Many Offices County Clerk, and held the office until' Mr. Webb was elected Sheriff of 1860, when he retired to private life. Wood county in 1826, and again in Since the latter date, a large portion of 1828. In May, 1831, he was appointed his time was occupied in setting up the Clerk of the County, arid continued in numerous accounts which had accumulat­ office about eleven years, when he was ed during his long terms of office, and succeeded by Joseph Utley> who appoint­ looking after his farm, which he had ed him his Deputy. He was again elect­ leased. He employed the most of his ed Sheriff in 1842 and re-elected in time in reading, and his mind was a 1844. storehouse of information, both regard­ George W. Porter was executed No­ ing the early history of the country and vember 5, 1830. #Mr. Webb being at current events. He always, took a great that time Sheriff, and performing the interest in politics, and, since the or­ duties of the office (the particulars of ganization of the party, has been an this crime are given elsewhere in this earnest Republican. He has been mar­ volume). *• ried three times: March 8, 1821, to When Mr. Webb first realized that he Elizabeth Charles; July 18, 1834, to would be obliged to execute a fellow- Mary Dean; February 23, 1851, to Mary being, his whole soul recoiled from it. A. Jones, the latter two of Perrysburg. Mr. Porter was under his care for about There is probably no citizen of the six months, and during that time talked valley who had more warm friends, in freely of the act he had committed, al­ whose hearts his memory will be kept ways declaring that he was ready and green. © willing to die, not desiring to live with For many years, nearly every one in such a load upon his mind. He was the community has fondly called him always calm and greatly regretted the "Uncle John," anaVit is doubtful if he commission of the deed. While in prison had an enemy in the world. His' name no fetters of any kind were placed upon will be inscribed among the most worthy him, nor was he confined to a cell, hav­ of the old Maumee Valley pioneers as ing the free range of two large rooms. one wrho, by his industry, gained a com­ Richardson was regarded by the whole petence for himself and family and never community as a bad man, while Porter committed a dishonest or dishonorable was esteemed as a kind-hearted, well- act disposed citizen, who, under great pro­ vocation and excitement, had committed the fatal act. The sympathizing citi­ The territory northwest of the Ohio zens of the community desired to secure river, by Virtue of the Ordinance of a pardon, but he would not allow them 1787, was the first, within the present to do so. He was executed on the flats limits of the United States, dedicated to at the foot of Fort Meigs, so that the universal liberty. 242 fHE PIONEER

CHOLERA VICTIMS Bellinger, Miss Cronewald, Mrs. Rebecca McKnight, Lewis Mundy, Celia Simonds, Mrs. Hernia Irwin, Miss Julia As Its Ravages in Perrysburg Were Described Irwin, Miss W. Gates, J. W. Lang, W. by the Journal in the Year 1854— Mead, Geo. Burns, Esther Burns, F. List of Deaths Zanger, Mrs. Abner Brown, Wm. H. Courser, Rosanna Ferdig, Mrs. Huff­ man, John J. Cook, Elijah Huntington, THE Perrysburg Journal suspended Mr. Wolfley, Henry Pfleghart, Findley publication for four weeks in July, J. Ross, Stanley T. Ross, Dr. James 1854, and in its first issue after the sus­ Robertson, Cornelia Spink, John J. pension, dated August 12, 1854, it gave Spink, Mr. Huffman's boy, Mrs. J. A. the following particulars: Hall, Geo. Clemens, Christian Eichholz, "It is four weeks to-day since, the last Lawrence Hircel, Mrs. Brown, Robert number of the Perrysburg Journal was Chambers, Mr. Hamilton, Jarvis Spaf­ issued. Up to that time we tried to ford, Mrs. Shannon, Frederick Dortion, believe that the worst -phase of the Margaret Hircel, Mary drain, Edward cholera had been: reached, but each suc­ Lee, Jacob Rufly, Theresa Oscam, ceeding week brought a greater number George W. Blobmfield, Jacob Kingfield, of victims, and all business having ceased, A. Coster, Naomi D. KeUey, Samuel this paper and the M. V". Democrat sus­ Webb, Adaline Frederick, August Rhodae, pended publication, both frorii choice arid Thomas Atkinson, Mr. Zimmerman, H. necessity. Hands could not be employed D. Right, John Reiser, Mrs. Asher to work when everybody else who could Cook, Richard Atkinson, Mr. Arrie, Mr. leave was deserting the town, nor did Shaw's boy, .Zimmerman's boy, Mrs. it seem desirable to work much when Goodwin, Mr. Shannon's child, Johanna death was decimating our numbers. We Reisly, Sophia Blinn, Mrs. Rhodae,' Mrs. have been through two* or three cholera Catherine Reiser, Christina Rhodae, child seasons before but never have we seen of Wolfley, Mr. Kelp, Mrs. Jane Crook, such fearful and fatal results. boy Keider, Miss Eichholz, child of Os- "We are happy to announce that the burg, child of John Reiser, Mrs. Persis dreadful disease has now almost, if not Peck, Margaret Schuckmeal, Geo. entirely, subsided here. There have Schitz, James Shannon, Mrs. Shaw, Mrs. been perhaps two or three modified cases Wolfley, Wory Hoelzly, John Neider- within the past week, but the dreaded house, Margaret Wild, Philip Riley, fatality which characterized it hitherto Nicholas Reiser, Theresa Reiser, and has passed away, to return here, we child—104. • hope, no more. "We are indebted to the politeness of "The following is as nearly a com­ Mr. John Yeager, the sexton, for the plete list of the deaths by cholera in foregoing list." this place and immediate vicinity as we can at this time procure. It is probably not far frorii correct: Tecumseh's wild dream was inspired "Geo. Jones' child, Stephen Williams, by his brother, the Prophet, who with his Judson Tocker, Frederick Lucas, wife wonderful visions foretold the capture of and five children, Peter Laney, Henry Harrison at Ft. Meigs, the destruction of Bason, Mrs. Perkins, Jacob Snyder, Geo. the western forts, and the grand confed­ Schuler, William Bellville's child, Mrs. eracy of all the Indian tribes and their James Perrin and child, Miss Lucy final supremacy in the west. FORT MIAMI Facing the Maumee River

SCRAP-BOOK. 246

AMOS DEWESE Thames river in Canada. The mission was a dangerous and difficult one but he accomplished his object One of the Pioneer Settlers of Weston Town- His Early Trials Ship—His Early Life and Privations Amos Dewese came to Wood county in the Black Swamp from Hancock county, February 17, 1843, and of his early experience here he AMOS DEWESE was one of the gave a graphic account in an article pioneer settlers of Weston town­ contributed to the Weston Herald, on ship, and one of the sturdy, reliable the occasion of the 40th anniversary of rrien, whose character was one of moral his advent into the "Black Swamp." worth and integrity. He was well known He wrote: , throughout Wood county, and was a The snow was 18 inches deep when man thoroughly alive to its prosperity, I started from Hancock/county without Amos Dewese was of Revolutionary a cent of money, but a few clothes, and stock. a dry chunk of bread constituting my His great grandfather, Samuel De­ pack; my shoes out at the toes and car­ wese, was a soldier in the war of the rying a few books. Revolution. He was wounded arid cap­ In the evening I crossed the line and tured at the siege of Ft Washington and saw a hunter riding an old horse, to the thrown into one of the filthy British tail of which was tied a large deer. I prison ships. Afterwards he re-entered followed a trail and came to a Mr. Rob- the Colonial army and died of disease in bins, of Bloom township, where I staid a military camp, Allentown, Pa. all night- Early next morning I started After his death his son, Samuel, for Mr. Frankfather's at Bloom Center, while a mere boy, tramped through the found my old friend, Joseph Shelia, and snow to Valley Forge where he enlisted made my home with him, and went to and subsequently became a captain of chopping to get a pair of boots. Mr. militia in the First Battalion, 36tlj regi­ Shelia, and I rode through the woods ment of Maryland Troops. "At the close to Risden and Rome (now Fostoria) of the Revolutionary war he was made for an ax. We found a few, but as captain of a volunteer military company. they wouldn't trust either of us, we had Capt Dewese's brother, Thomas, who to returri without it. Then I went back was the grandfather of the late Amos to Hancock county, got • my ax and was Dewese, was a school teacher in early rich., I took a job of a Mr. Buisey to life, and later became a farmer. chop seven acres, for which he gave me Samuel Dewese, the father of Amos a rifle and some second-hand* clothing. Delvese, at the age of 20 years enlisted I finished my job March 24, when the under Capt. James Drennan for the war mercury was 20 degrees below zero, that of 1812, and served under Gen. Harri­ winter being still known as the "hard winter." son. He was discharged at Detroit, May 14, 1814. When enlisted he first Jonathan Stull went to Cleveland' and later to Ft. I began work for Mr. Solether April Stephenson, at the present site of Fre­ 1; snow and ice on the ground, and mont, arriving there just a day after sleighing. He gave me a watch. While Majof Croghan's gallant defense of the working there Mr. Jonathan Stull came little stockade. While at Detroit he was into the clearing. He had a bag on sent by Gen. Harrison as* a scout to the his shoulder with a peck of corn that 246 THE PIONEER he had got from a Mr. Daniel Milburn. him and the stock I lost the benefit of Mr. Stull was much depressed and dis­ the school. I worked tor him three couraged on account of the hard winter. months for $25, to take riiy pay out of He talked on Adventism, as tbe Miller- the store. ites said the end of the world was at The teacher, Mr. Jesse Osborne, of hand; Mr. Stull said he prayed for it New York State, received 25 cents a every day, as he had seen all the-trouble day or five dollars a month. ; The he wanted to see. He said he had eight scholars were Miss Mary Taylor, George head of horses, and all bad died; 28 head Lewis, Thomas and William Taylor, of cattle and 260 head of hogs, and all Samuel McAfee, Olmstead, AmeUa and were dead. I had to pass Mr. Stull's Melicent Keeler. The teacher was paid cabin often. He told me they had been by the parents, there being no School married 12 years and that they had 10 fund at that time. children, all of whom: were almost nude. Mr. Taylor lost about 45 head of cat­ Not one had a full suit of clothes. They tle, Mr. Keeler 75 head, while the Sals- hadn't a bed or a window in the house. burys, Sargente, Ellsworths and Greens He was the owner of a three-quarter lost about the same proportion during section of good land. "There," said Mr. that terrible winter, never to be forgot­ Stull, "I have one peck Of ears of corn ten by the old settlers. Many had to in this sack, and wheri I take it home move out of the "Black Swamp" before and grind it • in the hand mill and mix spring. So ended my first year as a it with water, bake it and eat it with pioneer. my wife and ten children, God knows In March 1851 Mr. Dewese entered where the next will come from- They the land which now forms a portion of must starve." He wept like a child. the Dewese estate. On this he built a (Mr* Stull was the founder of Jerry log house and began to make for him­ City). self a home. On November 3, 1853, Mr. Dewese A Severe Winter was married to Miss Sarah Green, who Mr. Dewese said that during that win­ was born August 17, 1829> in Liver­ ter nearly all the wild hogs perished pool, England, and came to this country from cold. Later Mr., Dewese worked. with her parents in 1834. for Mr. Whitacre two weeks, for which Mr. Dewese was a whole-souled, public he received $3,25. Continuing he says: spirited man, whose ambition was hon­ I thenr went to Milton Center and orable citizenship and .financial inde­ cleared /ve acres for James Hutchinson pendence. He was an upright;citizen, a for a pair of two-year-old steers. In kind neighbor, a devoted husband and a July I went to James Bloom, and work­ loving pareht ' ed for Bloom and Henderson Carothers, The hospitality of the Dewese home helping to cut 45 acres of wheat and was known far and wide, and Mr. Dewese cut and haul 100 tons of tame prairie found great pleasure in entertaining his hay, for which I received one pair of many friends at his firesidean d suinptu- boots and 50 cents in money—-a sum ous table. total in money for the year of $3.75. , In the beginning of the year 1843 I The corner Stone of the first court went to Ralph Keeler's to work tor my house in Bowling Green was laid July board, and to go to school, in the old 4, 1868. The cost of the building was log school house at Weston. Mr. Keeler about $23,000 and Norton Reed was 'the' took sick, and as I had to take care of contractor. SCRAP-BOOK. 247

JOSEPH B. NEWTON Bowling Green. He was also a member of Wiley Post G. A. R., of I. 0. 0. F. Encampment and of the Loyal Legion. One of the Prominent Figures in Wood Captain Newton and Miss Maggie County History That Will Long Black were married iri 1868, and his Be Remembered *ife and three sons and one daughter • w survive him, The funeral services took place at the family residence and were ON the morning of April 10, 1905,, conducted by Rev. Thos. Barkdull, of there passed away from earthly Toledo;'' who had been a friend of the scenes one who had long been a promi- Captain from his early boyhood. He nent factor iri Wood county history— spoke feelingly o"f his associations and Captain Joseph B. Newton. recollections of the dead. These ser- Captairi Newton was born in Chenango vices were attended.by the city officials, county, N. Y., in 1837, and with his members of council, Grand Army mem- parents came to Ohio in 1840, locating in bersi county officials arid a large number Center township, and later on moving to of personal friends. The pall bearers Bowling Green..... While a young man, he were C. W. Evers, J. D. Bolles, A- % taUght school and was. corporation clerk Roycc, I, L., Hankey, J. E- Merry and of Bowling Green. At the outbreak of ML. Case. Under the Grand Army the War of the Rebellion Mr. Newton ritual the remains of Captain Newton volunteered in Co. A, 14th 0. V. I., and were placed in beautiful Qak Grove ceme- won promotion by faithful and efficient; tery. service to Corporal, Sergeant Major, .'" One who for a number of years was Second Lieutenant, Adjutant and Cap- closely and intimately associated with tain. He never was absent from his him, claims that a more everi tempered, command but once on account of sick- serene, patient character is seldom to be ness. He was with the army in Sher- found. Under the most trying ordeals man's march to the sea,-and in the final in official life, calm, patient, self-pos- review at Washington &t the close of sessed, he was ever unruffled—ordeals the. war—literally starting at the begin- that would exasperate and confuse any ning of the war and holding out through one less masterful. -..'.. all the dangers and vicissitudes in camp In his business relations he was thor- and field, in skirmish and battle, to the oughly methodical and systematic. He erid. inspired confidence among all who came After the war he returned to Bowling within his influence, and was affable and Green. He was elected auditor of Wood courteous to all. Whoever sought his county for two terms. Owing to a counsel in perplexity,. whether rich or change in the terms of county officers, poor, high or low in station, his advice Mr. Newton served nearly five years as was freely given, and often too at the ex- cOunty auditor. Some time afterward pc-nse of both time and money on his while erigaged iii farming he became in- part. terested iri the glass industries of Bowl- He gave a patient, respectful hearing ing Green arid Indiana, holding promi- to all, and it was this trait in the man nent positions in the management of that .that to a large extent brought about the industry. He served as Secretary of the high esteem in which he was regarded Wood County Fair Company, arid-at the by his fellow riaen. In the discharge of time of his death was a member and his duties as auditor there were mariy try- president pro tem of the City Council of ing circumstances. At many meetings 248 THE PIONEER

of the commissioners, when diverse inter­ He was ever ready to help his fellow- ests were in clash before the board New­ man, and it is of. such, material that good ton was ever calm arid unruffled and citizenship is made; whether in the do­ throughout all he was unswerved, self- mestic and social circle or in the wider poised, fearless, confident in his well arena of civic duty.—Cor. of Wood Go. studied and matured judgment. Democrat.

NATHANIEL H. CALLARD addition to this the loss of his wife by death in the same year greatly increased the burden of his afflictions, leaving him One of the Veteran Journalists of Wood with three motherless children. In 1861 County—One Who Lived Much of he chose a second wife, Miss Ellen Mc- His Life for Others Naughton, who proved,a devoted mother to his children. During the early years of the war he IN the death of Nathaniel H. CallanL was an editorial writer on the Perrysburg there passed away a man who was Journal and directed the policy of that identified with the growth of Wood paper. He was an enthusiastic supporter county and the prosperity of the Maumee of Hon. James M. Ashley and advocated Valley for nearly half a century. the vigorous prosecution of the war for Mr. Callard was born in Devonshire, the preservation of the Union, and was a England, February 3, 1819, where he strong adherent to the principles of the grew to manhood's estate, leaving Eng­ Republican party as advocated by the land and coming to America in 1848. leaders of that period. He resided several years in Detroit and In 1875 he established the Buckeye Toledo,.filially' making his home in Per­ Granger in Perrysburg, a weekly paper, rysburg in 1853, where he resided until advocating the principles of the Patrons his .-death, January 5, 1900. of Industry, and for six years that paper * In 1854, when the cholera raged with was conducted with signal ability, wield­ such violence that it seemed to baffle all ing an influence for good throughout medical skill, when scarcely a family Northwestern Ohio. Subsequently he escaped from the dread pestilence, when was a frequent contributor to many the fortitude of the bravest was tested in newspapers in Toledo and Wood county. this crucible of disease and death, Mr. He was a close political student and as a Callard, with unflinching devotion, ga\a& writer he was concise, forceful and his energy and skill unreservedly to his logical. fellow citizens stricken with the plague. In his political views of men and For the time he abandoned his business, measures, he was thoroughly independ­ and day and night found him minister­ ent. If he favored any measure of pub­ ing comfort to the sick and dying and lic policy, he did so irrespective of any providing necessities wherever needed. political party. The only question with In that time of gloom his services Avere him, in regard to any political issue, was in constant demand and no appeal was "Is it right; or wrong; is it just or un­ ever made to him in vain. just?" His sympathies were ever with The panic of 1857 swept away his busi­ the people. Whatever would benefit his ness prospects as it did that of thousands fellow citizens received his active sup­ Of others in that financial distress. In port. He was free in the expression of SCRAP-BOOK. 249 his opinion. There was no subterfuge in Adams, who had been the friend and as­ his make-up. In all his relations with sociate, of the deceased for nearly half a his fellow man he was courteous and century. The remains were laid away in affable. He was ever generous to a Ft. Meigs cemetery. fault. His cheery smile and hearty Thus ended the earthly career of one greeting were genuine, coming from a who in spite of most discouraging busi­ heart overflowing with sympathy for all. ness reverses always remained- cheerful The funeral services were largely at­ and hopeful, whose long life proved a tended by Perrysburg citizens arid riaany benison to bis fellow men—a man of from a distance. The services were in sterling integrity—a broad-minded, open- charge of Rev. D. Stecker, pastor of the hearted, generous, consistent Christian M. E. church, assisted by Rev. G. A. gentleman.—F. J. 0.

SETH HUNT FAIRCHILD applied himself strictly to the, practice of law, attaining a good practice. He A Cultured Gentleman of the Old School of also served Center, township as justice of the Legal Fraternity the peace for several terms. On account of poor health, he was obliged to give up his profession,' after which he lived ONE of the oldest members of the a quiet life alone in his home on Pros­ Wood county Bar Association at pect street the time of his death, was Seth H. Fair- During the county seat fight he be­ child, beloved and respected by all who came quite a conspicuous figure among knew him. He had been in feeble health the most active workers in- behalf of for a number of years, before he passed Bowling Green. into the Unseen. The funeral took The Wood county bar in the expres­ place from the residence of his daughter, sion of its esteem records the following: Mrs. Stanley Thurstin, and was largely "In the removal of brother Fairchild attended by the citizens of Bowling our association recognizes the loss of a Green. The remains were interred in member largely entitled to our respect Oak Grove cemetery beside those of his and esteem, and a prominent link in wife who had preceded him a decade be­ the chain uniting the old with the more fore. modern practice of our profession in Mr. Fairchild was one of the old pio­ this state. neer lawyers of Northwestern Ohio. He "Brother Fairchild, in his courteous possessed a number of quaint ways, and demeanor towards the members of the was of a methodical manner in the con­ bar, as well as in his high appreciation duct of his affairs. He could properly of the principles of equity, was a model be termed a gentleman of the old school, which the younger members of the pro­ courteous and friendly in manner. He fession would do well to imitate; and was the dean of the Wood county bar, we can all see much to admire in the being the oldest member in point of age. simplicity and strict integrity of his Mr. Fairchild resided in McComb prev­ character."—C. W. E. ious to his moving to Bowling Green. He owned a large grist mill there, and served that place as mayor and justice The famous chief, Little Turtle, in of the peace for many years. 1812, died at Fort Wayne, where he had In 1869 he went to Bowling Green and come to lie treated by the army surgeons. 250 THE PIONEER

ALFRED M. RUSSELL major. He was discharged from the service iri 1866, and soon after located in Bowling Green> where he continued A] Prominent and Influential Citizen Who to reside, with the exception of a few Had Filled Important Official Posi­ years spent at Perrysburg. tions in the County He has filledvariou s positions of trust and responsibility having been twice elected county treasurer and having AFTER many months of paralytic served several terms as deputy county suffering, Alfred M. Russell passed treasurer and deputy county auditor. away at his residence in Bowling The deceased enjoyed a wide acquaint­ Green, on Tuesday morning, June 13, ance throughout the county and was 1899, leaving a wife and two children— honored and esteemed by till who knew Charles H. Russell and Mrs. Frank him as an upright citizen and public Reed—together with a host of friends official. He was a member of Phoenix in Wood county. Lodge F. & A. M., of Perrysburg, and Mr. Russell was born March 7, 1835, of Crystal Chapter R. A. M., of Bowling and was the youngest of a family of ten Green, and was also, a member of the children. He was educated at Antioch Grand Army of the Republic.. and Oberlin, after which he spent a num­ The funeral was held Thursday after­ ber of years as a school teacher. At the noon at 2 o'clock, at the Presbyterian breaking out of the Civil war he enlisted church. The services were under the as a member of Co. G, 14th 0, V. I., and direction of the Masonic fraternity, of was made first lieutenant. He was dis­ which Mr. Russell was a prominent charged at the end of three months on member. Rev. Adams, of Perrysburg, account of injuries received, and re-en­ assisted by Rev. Dillon, had charge of listed as a private in Co. C, 68th the church services. The remains were 0. V. I., in 1863, and was made sergeant- interred in Oak Grove cemetery.

HON. E. W. POE ful medical attendance, but all to no avail and he passed away peacefully as stated above, without being able to In the Prime of Life, One of Wood County's recognize any of his family, all of whom Worthy Sons, Passed to His Reward surrounded his bedside. Mr. Poe was a self-made man in all AT the age of 52 years, stricken with that the term implies. He was born and apoplexy, Hon Ebenezer W. Poe, reared on a farm near Van Buren, in one of Wood county's worthy sons, passed Hancock county, and in his boyhood away at his home 691 Bryden road, Co­ days was fitted for the sturdy responsi­ lumbus. The summons of the dread bilities of life by hard work on the farm. Messenger came Sunday morning, June He made the best of every opportunity 19, 1898, at 11 o'clock. that presented itself for advancement, He was stricken early Saturday even­ and his efforts were crowned with suc­ ing, while down town with some friends, cess. and never regained consciousness. He He was twice elected auditor of Wood waB conveyed to his home in an ambu­ county and made a most competent and lance, where he waB given the most skil- obliging official. Later he served two SCRAP-BOOK. 251 terms as auditor of state, in which posi­ the prime of life was universally lament­ tion he acquitted himself commendably. ed by his legion of friends in Wood At the time of his death he was a mem­ county and throughout the state. ber of the board of trustees of the Boys' The funeral was held*from the resi­ Industrial Home at Lancaster. dence the following Tuesday afternoon. Mr. Poe- was a member of the Masonic Rev. Mscafee, of the Broad street M. E. fraternity and of several other secret so­ . church, of which Mr. Poe was a member, cieties, and he numbered his friends by conducted the services at the house. the score in all parts of the state. He The Masonic fraternity had charge of was of a genial disposition, simple and the services at the grave. The interment unostentatious in his manners and a true was made at Green Lawn, the beautiful and trusted friend. His taking off in Columbus cemetery.

HON. GEORGE LASKEY world for himself. Going to Grand Rapids, Ohio, he accepted a position as clerk in the store of Francis Hinsdale. At One Time State Senator and for Many Industrious, energetic, reliable and Years Identified with Wood County thoroughly honorable in his relations to Interests his employer, he showed while still a boy the sterling qualities that were so marked HON. GEORGE LASKEY, one of in his later life, and.at the end of nine the prominent pioneer citizens of years' time was admitted to a partner­ the Maumee Valley, after many months ship in the firm, which made a marked of paralytic suffering, passed away at his success. In 1851, fiveyear s after young home in Toledo, August 11, 1899, and Laskey had become identified with the in this final ending there passed from firm, Mr. Hinsdale died and Mr. Laskey earth the soul of a grand man, a devoted continued to carry on the extensive busi­ father and a whole-souled public-spirited ness, looking after Mrs. Hinsdale's in­ citizen. He was honest, energetic, up­ terests in connection with his own. Later right in every phase of life—a man of he and his brother bought out Mrs. Hins­ sterling integrity who enjoyed the un­ dale and the firm name was changed to shaken confidence of all who knew him. Laskey Bros. Being energetic, wide­ The Toledo Bee in announcing his awake young men, possessed of more than death gave the following brief sketch of ordinary business ability, they became his busy life: the most popular merchants of Grand Hon. George Laskey was born in Rapids and won many friends. In 1866 Devonshire, England, near the town of they sold out and retired from the mer­ Bristol, August 23, 1824. His parents, cantile business, becoming interested in George and Ann (Southard) Laskey, real estate. came to this country in 1833, landing After retiring from his mercantile in New York. Coming to Ohio, they career, Mr. Laskey became interested in settled in Lucas county, then a wild, agricultural pursuits, having previously uncultivated state, and proceeded 'to purchased large tracts of land in Wood, make a home'among the early pioneers Henry, Putnam and Lucas counties. At of Ohio. ' the time of his death, he owned several In 1837, at the age of 13 years, the thousand acres in these counties, most subject of this sketch started .in the of which is laid out in fine farms and 252 THE PIONEER

under a high state of cultivation. This many acres of wet land. He had always venture proved markedly successful and taken an active part in the drainage he confirmed in the occupation until system and in all public affairs, being September, 1877, when he reinoved to an important factor in the growth and Toledo. improvement of the community in which In 1853 Mr. Laskey was elected to the he made his home. He served as com­ Ohio state senate, to represent the six missioner of Wood county for six years. counties of Lucas, Wood, Hancock, Mr. Laskey and Antoinette Howard Henry, Fulton and Putnam, serving a were united in marriage January 1, term of two years. While in the senate 1848. The union was a happy one and he was one of the committee on railroads, was blessed by six children, four sons and chairman of the committee on ditches arid two daughters. For many years and roads, doing more than any other they attended the Congregational church- man in Ohio toward inaugurating the of Toledo, and were among its most ac­ drainage system that has reclaimed so tive members.

THE HOOD FAMILY rysburg, which subsequently was pur­ chased by the corporation of Perrysburg, and has been used since then as a council Reminiscences of These Worthy Scotchmen room and engine house. The partners So Well Known to Our Older had a large miscellaneous stock of goods Wood County Citizens and were then doing a profitable busi­ ness. SOME years ago Mr. N. H. Callard In 1854 the scourge of cholera pre­ furnished the Wood County Demo­ vailed in the village but the Hoods brave­ crat with the following reminiscences of ly stood their ground in the midst of it. the Hood brothers: Thomas Atkins, an Englishman, and The Hood family comprised five sons his son, at that time kept a saloon and and one daughter. They were natives of grocery. The older man was taken down Midlothian county, Scotland, and after by an attack of cholera in its worst form. landing in the city of Montreal, came to He died in a short time and his son im­ Ohio in 1851, settling in the village of mediately followed. Perrysburg. They had all been well The Hoods performed the kind duties educated, and in all their personal and of humanity for them and as an adminis­ public services have shown the highest trator of the Atkins estate, managed it Characteristics of integrity and public through the action of. Asher Cook, who spirit. then was probate judge, so that the The writer located in Perrysburg in Atkins children in England participated 1853 and is familiar with their life in their father's estate, instead of its be» record, and its services from that time to ing held by those who had asserted a the period when five members of this claim to it in this country. worthy family has passed away, and two' Another instance in which the Hoods others who had been allied with them by were useful in the cholera time was that marriage. of a poor inebriate Scotchman named In 1853 when I came to Perrysburg John Anderson. He was a working James and William Hood were owners of blacksmith for Mr. Lawrence and made the brick building on Front street, Per- his home on the river bank in a dilapi- SCRAP-BOOK. 253 dated house on Front street, opposite citizens at large in Middleton township. what then belonged to Mr. Lindsay. He was elected trustee and treasurer of Information was brought me as a Middleton township during several member of the committee of the M. E. terms, and at all times he was favorable church which together with a similar to public improvements when they were committee of the Presbyterian- church, honestly conducted. was charged with the/duty of visiting Henry Hood,:,, together with David the sick and the dying, and to aid them Whitney, John Ulrich, James Robertson all to the best of our ability. and some others were instrumental in the I at once went to the. house where he establishment of the Wood County Fair, was lying alone without food, and in an which became a source of much good to exceedingly dirty condition, as he had the agriculturist and the citizens gener­ merged into the second stage of that ter­ ally of Wood county. It has been rible disease. I obtained a change of merged with the Bowling Green Fair, the under-clothing for him from Mr. William results and.influence of which are now Hood, also some medicine from Dr. felt by the citizens of adjoining counties. Smith and with incessant labor the poor At the time of his death it was found inebriate was restored to health. that Henry Hood had bequeathed a fund In this and other cases the Hoods per­ for the purchase of a lot on the Prairie, formed good service for the. public. and the erection of a church, that under Shortly after this event William Hood the control of trustees should be held in removed to Bowling Green and as the perpetuity regardless of sectarianism, for second merchant in that place became a public worship. leading factor in its mercantile affairs, John Hood resided in Perrysburg until and subsequently when the change of his death, which occurred a few years county seat from Perrysburg to Bowling since. Oreen was rife, he became one of the most active, resolute and liberal factors in the accomplishment of the removal. He was a leading factor in the con­ THE IRONSIDE MURDER struction of the Tontogany and Bowling WILLIAM IRONSIDE was killed at Green railway, and the citizens of Bowl­ the head of Station island. Two ing Green placed the name "William men named Griffin, Orrin and Ben, had Hood" on their first locomotive. He died a kind of fish hut for catching cat fish, many years ago. both drinking men and bard cases. Wil­ James Hood's services in aid of the old liam Ironside wajs a half, breed from plank road brought to light the ways Canada where he had been educated in and methods by which selfish partisans a mission school. He was engaged in then as well as now, siaddled the tax­ trapping around the island., The Grif­ payers with unjust and unscrupulous fins saw him lifting his trap and sup­ burdens. He left Perrysburg and re­ posed that he was taking fish from their moved to the Hull Prairie farm in 1856, lines. They were somewhat intoxicated where he subsequently died. at the time and began to threaten him Henry Hood, ariother of these five and finally chased and struck him with brothers, was a practical agriculturist. a boat oar. After a hard fight Ironside His personal record of' integrity, of pub­ was killed. The Griffins were sent to lic usefulness, and of liberal views in penitentiary for the murder. This took both politics and in religion commanded place in 1835. Ironside was harmless, the. respect and confidence of his fellow intelligent and peaceable. 254 THE PIONEER

HON, ASHER COOK preceptor, and held his own with such men as John S. Spink, James Murray, Samuel M. Young, Morrison R. Waite In Spite of Almost Insurmountable Obstacles and. other noted lawyers of that time, He Became a Leading Member of When Mr. Waite became Chief Justice the Wood County Bar pf the United States, he said, "In knowl- e.lg.' and understanding of the-funda­ mental principles of law, Asher Cook has IN Richland county, Ohio, on May 3, no equal in tbe Maumee Valley." 1823, the subject of this sketch first Soon after his admission to. the bar, he saw the light of day. In his early child­ was elected prosecuting attorney of Wood hood his parents came to Perrysburg. county, and in 1851 was elected probate The father was a. stone mason and plas­ judge. He was married in 1853 to terer. The son, Asher, with a meagre Amanda Hall, sister of Augustus and education obtained from the common Manning Hall, pioneer merchants of school of that day, learned his father's Perrysburg. His wife died during the trade -and for a short time followed it cholera epidemic in 1854. Soon after­ Later he worked with the force of labor­ ward Judge Cook spent a year in Europe, ers employed in the construction of the studying in Paris and in Heidelbtirg. Maumee and Western Reserve turnpike, On returning to Perrysburg he took up which at that time was the main line of the practice of his profession, and in. overland transportation from the east 1858 married Sophia A. Hitchcock, to the Maumee Valley. Still later he daughter of W. J. Hitchcock, a promi­ worked as a common laborer in the con- nent merchant of Perrysburg. Struction of the Mad River railroad. Not Originally Judge Cook was a Denio- content with the lot of a common laborer -.crat, and took an active part in politics. he changed his occupation to that of a On account of his pronounced anti-slav­ sailor under Capt. W.' H. Wetmore then ery sentiments, h» could not consistently engaged in lake traffic. When that pop­ continue with that party. He was the ular captain took command of a steamer, leading spirit in a meeting held at Por­ Asher Cook went with him as wheels­ tage, Wood county, and at which resolu­ man. ...'.;....* tions were adopted embodying the iden­ But nature and his studious habits tical principles afterward announced in endowed him for a wider field of useful-, the Pittsburg platform. He was a mem­ riess. In spite of poverty and the abso­ ber of that famous Pittsburg convention, lute necessity for constant and severe out of which the. Republican party had toil, he finallysecure d a most thorough its birth as a national organization, and knowledge of the common and some of which has cut so large a figure in the the higher branches of learning. He political history of the. United States. had a special liking for the study of dif­ In the early part of the Rebellion ferent languages, and became quite pro­ Judge Cook raised and\ commanded a ficient in Latin, French, Spanish and company of the 21st Regiment 0. V. I., German. He engaged in the study of and later commanded Company F in the law under Hon. Willard V. Way, one of 144th Regiment 0. V. I. He was a the strong pioneer lawyers of that day, member of the convention that first and in 1849 he was admitted to practice. nominated Gen. Grant for the Presi­ It was riot long until he took a leading dency. He was elected, in 1873, a mem­ position at the bar of Northwestern Ohio. ber of the convention to revise the con­ He met on equal terms with his former stitution of Ohio, and was made chair-

SCRAP-BOOK. 257

riian of the committee on education in ing her long, useful life she could not be that convention. With his wife, he spent persuaded to leave it and make her home a year in 1879 in traveling in Great Brit­ elsewhere. ain and continental Europe. In 1883, She was married to Jonathan Perrin, • he repeated, the trip, extending his "trav­ and together they did their share in help­ els, however, so as to include Egypt and ing to build the town of Perrysburg. Palestine. Whether in private conversa­ Mrs. Perrin kept fully abreast with the tion or in public address, it was a pleas­ times. She was ever alive and interest­ ure to hear him recount the mariy inter­ ed in the topicso f the day, and was well esting reminiscences with which his informed in ^1 that pertained to the memory was stored. history of the country. She was de­ His strength of mind, his scholarly scended from Revolutionary stock, and attainments, his varied experience, bis was a member of the Daughters of the genial courtesy, his unquestioned integ­ American Revolution. rity secured to him an unusual influence She was loyal to her country. Her with courts and juries, and won the pro­ tiriie, her strength and means, and above found respect and esteem of his brethren all, her son, Wilkison D. Perrin, were at the bar as well as that of all who given to the saving of the government in knew him. In his daily life: he exempli­ the Civil War. Her son gave his life in fied all that is best in trie teachings of battle juSt before the close of the war, Free-Masonry of which fraternity he was and although bowed with grief at his a loyal member. In his intercourse with fall, she rejoiced iri the final-triumph of his fellowmen he was public spirited, and. our arms. was ever ready to aid any movement Her memory will long be cherished adapted to the mental and moral ad­ bv those who knew her. vancement of the community. His do­ mestic arid social life was one of sympa­ thetic tenderness. He was unassuming. The sword of John Paul Jones, the* His character was a strong fibre—fear• naval commander, now rests iri the li­ less,. progressive, typical of that army of brary of the naval department at Wash­ pioneers, whose purposes carried out ington. It was presented to Jones by transformed this valley from a wilder- Theodosia Burr, the daughter of Aaron n ss into a garden. Burr. As the bells proclaimed the birth of Mrs. Mary A- Skinner, formerly Miss the year 1892, at midnight, Judge Cook Spafford; who died, aged 88, at West laid down life's burden, and his soul* Unity, was born in the old block house passed into the Unseen. at Fort Meigs, September 7, 1819. Her girlhood home was the Old Exchange AMELIA WILKISON PERRIN Hotel in Perrysburg, and there she was married. WHEN a child she came with her father, Jacob WilkisOn, to Or­ The old Mission House on the Maumee leans before the war of 1812. Later the river, above Waterville, was built in old settlement of Orleans was abandoned 1822. It was a massive log frame about as unsuitable, for a town, when a removal 60 feet in length and 16 feet wide, and was made to Perrysburg, then an un­ two stories, high. By many repairs that broken forest, and she afterwards saw have been made, since its erection, it is the town in all its stages of growth up to in a fair state of preservation, as a mem­ 1898, Identified with this Valley dur­ orable relic of the past CHARLES W. EVERS

His Own Sketch of His Birth and Parentage—The Life, Labors and Character of the Man as Gleaned from Those Who Knew Him '

AMONG the papers of-Mr. Evers we tract of land of Neptune Nearing in find the following written by him­ section 34, for which he hewed out and self: framed the timber and inclosed a 30x40 Johnson White, the pioneer ferryman foot barn. The shingles were made from on the Maumee river between Waterville a white oak tree standing almost on the and Miltonville had two daughters, Mar­ identical spot where a big oil well is now garet and Celinda. The Whites, who located. Mr. Nearing, who came from crossed the Cumberland Mountains from Otsego, was an excellent citizen, and by Virginia into Tennessee, shortly after this trade got a new barn and a new the war of 1812 were of English and neighbor. Welsh stock. Mrs. White was a Fuller. Neighbors were scattered wide apart Tt is not known in /frhat year they came in Plain township. Lee Moore lived in to the Maumee, but the records show a cabin on what is now South Main that Mr. White served as one of the street. Where Weston is now, Thomas judges at the first election in Middle- TaylOr lived on the sinuous woods trail ton township, November If, 1832. over ridges and across swales. Be­ About the year 1835, John Evers, a tween Moore and Taylor, 9 miles, lived carpenter and cabinet maker, who had five families, Daniel Eldridge, about two recently located on the Maumee, and miles east of Taylor's; on the Hollister Celinda White were married. The Evers land two miles from Eldridge lived an side was of German extraction. The Irish family named Gatehouse, and two family moved from Maryland to Western and one-half miles from there was Near­ Pennsylvania where John's mother died, ing and joining farms with him was leaving three daughters and four sons. Evers; next east a mile was the Mission­ His mother, in her childhood, had been ary, Rev. Isaac Van Tassel, on what is taken captive by the Indians, with whom since known as the Leonard place. From she lived for seven years. From Penn­ there to Moore's there was no cabin. The sylvania the family moved to Wayne Sf. Johns and Edgertons came on the County, Ohio, and John was later ap­ ridge later. prenticed to learn a trade, after which he From Other Sources came to the Maumee to grow up with In a biographical sketch of the life the country. and character of Mr. Evers, by one who His son, Charles W., the subject of knew him well, we compile the follow­ this sketch, was born at Miltonville, ing extracts from the Toledo Post and July 22, 1837. A couple of years later the Wood County Democrat: the family moved to Plain township Charles remained at home until 17 where Mr. Evers had bought a 40-acre years old, and from his father learned SCRAP-BOOK. 259

the carpenter's trade, which, with at­ ture and fine literary attainments, and tending school and school teaching, oc­ many glowing and well deserved tributes cupied his time until the war broke out were bestowed upon her worth of char­ He was a good carpenter, a successful acter by the literary societies with which teacher and a brave soldier. He early she was an active participant manifested a studious disposition, and Incidents in a Sheriffs Life making the most of, such advantages Mr. Evers' experience as sheriff was acquired a good common school education rather rough and he had several narrow and for a time engaged with marked suc­ escapes for his life. Once while enroute cess as a public school teacher. for Perrysburg on a train, with a desper­ At the age of 19 he made a trip to ate character he had arrested, the fellow, the West, intending to locate there, but though handcuffed, suddenly made a later returned to Ohio and entered Ober- spring and jumped through the car win­ liri College. At the breaking put of the dow as the train was pulling out of Ton­ Civil War he laid aside his books, donned togany. Mr. Evers sprang after him the uniform of a Union soldier, having and was thrown so violently upon a pile enlisted in the Second Kentucky "In-' of ties lying by the track, he received fantry in which he served three years, severe injuries upon the head and breast taking part in the battles of Perryville, Notwithstanding this, on his recovery Shiloh, Murfreesborough and Chicka- mauga. In the battle at the latter place from the shock he gave chase and after running his man for some distance across he received a severe bullet wound in the the country overhauled him. While leg, was taken prisoner and starved three bringing.him back to town on the rail­ months in the rebel peris, and was road track, the fellow; yet handcuffed, paroled just in time to obtain proper suddenly with both hands struck Mr. surgical treatment that saved his wound­ ed leg from beirig amputated, Evers a violent blow over the head and knocked him senseless. As soon as he Returning home badly disabled, he was elected sheriff in 1864, and discharg­ had sufficiently recovered Mr. Evers ing his official duties to the entire ac­ with revolver in hand again gave chase and after firing several shots again halt­ ceptance of the public was honored by ed his man. Greatly fatigued, the sheriff re-election two years later. and prisoner, both bleeding from bruises, Mrs. C. W. Evers sunk down for a rest within a few feet The court house at that time was in of each other. In the meantime a posse Perrysburg at which place he and Sarah of men from Tontogany had started after C. Bronson were married October 29, them, and when they came upon the two 1866. "."'• men and saw Mr. Evers in his bruised His wife was the daughter of James and bleeding condition, it was only by M. Bronson, of Eagleville, where she threats from Mr. Evers that they were was born, December 20, 1842. Her en­ prevented from lynching the prisoner. tire life was spent in Wood county, where The fellow was lodged in jail that night, her death occurred May 15, 1907. Of and afterwards convicted and sent to the this union there are three living chil­ penitentiary. dren, Mrs. J. A. Murray, of Manchester, Another time Marcellus Fugate and 0.; Mrs. May Evers Ross, of San An­ Wm. Wagstaff, two prisoners in jail tonio, Texas, and John , Evers, now a made a desperate attempt to escape. As practicing physician of Flint, Michigan. Sheriff Evers entered the corridor ad­ Mrs. Evers was a woman of rare cul­ joining the prison cells to lock up the 260 THE PIONEER

two men for the night, Fugate struck of an adequate system of public drain­ him a terrible blow with a stick of stove age and the advancement of the educa­ wood, at the same time throwing a hand­ tional interests of the county. ful of ashes in his face. Luckily, as Mr.: Evers was particularly well in­ was her custom, Mrs. Evers stood by the formed on all matters touching the early door and immediately locked the jail history of Wood county and the Maumee door arid firmly informed the prisoners Valley: she would not unlock the door under any His latest historical work was the circumstances. On taking in the situa­ souvenir history of Ft. Meigs which was tion the prisoners made no further at­ written for the occasion of the dedication tack and were locked in their cells. Mr. of the-Fort Meigs monutnent. Evers was badly though not dangerously Passes Into the Beyond hurt. On: July 29, 1909, at the age of 72 At another time by his' watchfulness, years, this busy, active and useful lito he frustrated a jail full of prisoriers from came to an end at Robinwood Hospital making their escape, whose plans were in Toledo. For nearly two years he had similar to the one just related. Mr. been in declining health, and three weeks Evers was a keen discerrier of character before his death he submitted to a surgi­ and had remarkable faculties in detecting cal operation for a chronic ailment. criminals. Although the operation was pronounced As a Journalist a success, yet in his weakened condition Pursuing a' natural bent" for journal­ he was unable to withstand the shock, ism Mr. Evers acquired a half interest and his vitality gradually waned till ...with Robert M. Travis iri the Wood death ensued. > County Sentinel and moved to; Bowling On the following Suridajf the remains Green in 1870, assuming editorial man­ of this brave soldier and esteemed citi­ agement of the paper with marked abil­ zen were taken to the G. A. R. rooms ity. Upon the death of Mr. Travis Mr. in the City Hall, of Bowling Green, Evers became sole owner of the paper. where for several hours they were viewed Desiring to engage in the real estate by hundreds of his old friends and neigh­ business which offered a fine opening, bors. The body reposed in a solid oak lie sold the Sentinel to M. P. Brewer, but casket, surrounded and covered with a when the county seat contest was inau­ profusion of beautiful floral tokens, a gurated he with Dr. A. J. Manville, E. regulation U. S. flag, an expressive es­ W. Merry and M. P. Brewer founded the teem, from the trustees of the Maumee News for the purpose of championing Valley Pioneer and Historical Associa­ tin' claims of Bowling Green as the logi­ tion, being entwined among the flowers. cal seat of county government. The The funeral services were held in the News having served its purpose was G. A. R. rooms at 2 o'clock, under the merged with the Sentinel, and Mr. Evers direction of Wiley Post.G. A. R., the continued in active journalistic work till full ritualistic service of that patriotic 1884, when he sold out to A. W. Rudolph, order being observed. he having conducted the paper for the Dr. E. E. Rogers, pastor of the. Pres­ lour previous years alone. byterian church, coiiducted the burial It is conceded that to Mr. Evers was service of the church, and Rev. T. N. largely due the moulding of public senti­ Barkdull of Toledo, a lifelong friend of ment which culminated in the building Mr. Evers, paid a touching tribute to of the county infirmary, the inauguration bis memory. Appropriate vocal selec- SCRAP-BOOK- 261 tibns were rendered by a quartet com­ difference of opinion on political or oth­ posed of Messrs. E, M. Rose, S. R. Case er questions had not the slightest effect and B. C. and It. J. Eberly. ' on the harmony of our personal rela­ Tributes to His Memory tions. And this fact brings his 'death I iomo. to us as, a personal loss." Judge Baldwin says: "He was a man From the tribute of F. J. Oblinger, a of rare capability, keen perception, in­ life long friend, we extract the follow­ domitable courage, and irresistible will. ing: "1 know of no person whose life labor • "His influence for all that pertains to has left a deeper impress upon every the benefit of his fellowmen iri honesty^ phase of public couccrn to the entire in courage, in loyalty, in industry, in people of Wood county than that of Mr. all the activities of social, commercial, Evers. During 'what, may be called the municipal'and "political life, can not fail •constructive period of the county's his­ to prove an incentive to those who are tory, he was especially active, and much conversant with the story of his career of the prosperity arid general welfare of 'from boyhood to manhood. our people may be directly traced to the "He was ever active, courageous, pro­ •adoption of policies originating with him. gressive. Honest in purpose, industri­ "At tiines he was misunderstood, and ous in endeavor, no labor however ardu­ at times criticised for his advanced posi­ ous, no obstacle however seemingly in­ tion upon public and "civic questions, but surmountable appalled him. almost invariably the correctness of his "One characteristic cannot be passed foresight and the wisdom of his over in silence. He never made a state­ mature judgment were completely de­ ment, either verbal or written, unless its monstrated. It is no disparageirient truth could be^.substantiated by incon­ that he encountered much opposition and trovertible proof. In this regard he was was subjected to occasional censure, for scrupulously careful and exact, and when no man with whom all the people al­ once he made an assertion it was un­ ways agree, ever says or does anything deniable and cOuld be relied upon." that endures. He was iri. the broadest sense a philanthropist—whose disinter­ A Fitting Tribute ested efforts for the public weal will be (From the Democrat of Aug. C, 1909.) more appreciated as the years go by." As an expression of appreciation of The Bowling Green Sentinel says: the gniat interest in and effective work "When the ritualistic service of accomplished for the Maumee. Valley Wiley Post was concluded,, when the Pioneer and Historical Association, the three perfectly timed volleys rang out , trustees of that organization at a special from the rifles of Company H and the meeting held at Fort Meigs last Friday clarion toned notes of Musician Harry afternoon, unanimously adopted the fol­ .N'oyes sounded 'Taps' at the grave of lowing Memorial and Resolutions: C. W. Evers, Sunday afternoon, the last "This board learns with sincere sorrow sad rites were brought to a close for a of the death of its fellow worker, Mr. •man whose strength of character and Charles - W. Evers, of Bowling Green, patriotic devotion to the best interests which occurred at Toledo, July 29, 1909. of Bowling Green arid Wood county "It Is certain that there has npt been wrought so much good to the community a more zgalous nor a more faithful mem­ during the past forty years." ber of the Maumee Valley Pioneer and The Wood County Democrat says: Historical Association than he, and not "He was always a true friend, and any one whose evenness of temper and gentle- 262 THE PIONEER manly bearing has so endeared himself love for and interest in the work of the to our entire membership than has he. association. He possessed positive views regarding, "We recognize in Mr. Charles W. matters which he had investigated, yet Evers a good man, loyal citizen, kind he so maintained them as not to forfeit husband and father and faithful friend, the respect and regard of those from therefore, whom he differed. "Resolved, That on behalf of the Mau­ "Possessing a cultured mind and be­ mee Valley Pioneer and Historical As­ ing well informed regarding historical sociation this Board extends to his matters, particularly those connected family its sincere sympathies. Be it with the Maumee Valley, his services in further behalf of this association in making a "Resolved, That this Memorial be record of the military events, and of spread upon the records of this board, pioneer trials and achievements in this and that a copy of the same be offered section have been of great value. Ow­ for publication, and also that a copy be* ing to his enfeebled bodily condition sent to. his family. much of this work was accomplished at "D. K. HOLLENBECK, President the cost of great physical suffering, yet "J. L. PRAY, Secretary." with an enthusiasm which told of his SCRAP-BOOK. 263

ERRATA

On page 10 under tub-head "The First Legislature," twelfth line, you find mention of Indiana Territory-. It should read INDIAN territory. On page 13,first column, twelfth line from the bottom, you find 1878 given as the date of the settlement of Marietta. It should be 1788.

CONTENTS

Page 'i> Page AmuBlng Incident, An 126 Fierce Battle, A... 10» Appleseed, Johnny 211 Fish and Ague...... 67 Attacked by Savages 82 Freedom Township...... 175 Attacked by Wolves 78 Athlete, An 176 Ghastly Crime, A 181 Girty, Simon 168 Badger, Rev. Joseph 187. Goit. Edson 160 Battle of Grand Rapids 101 Going to Mill. 77 Battle In Canada, The Grand Rapids..... 66 Bell School House, The Grand Organization SO Benton, The Town of 101 Bitten ,by a Snake..... 176 Historical Crisis, An... 114 Black Swamp, The...... 184 Hood Family, The 252 Bloody Wolf Fight 164 Hollister's Prairie -. 76 Bowling Green ,.„;•.. 83 Hollingtons, The...... 94 Burning Oft a Prairie 170 Horrible Tragedy, A 181 But the Shot Missed , 116 Hopper, George 162 Catholic Missions 16 Hull's Surrender 185 Callard. Nathaniel H 248 Hunter's Paradise, A.. 170 Campaign of 1840, The 69 Hull's Trace, As to 128 Cemetery, An did 228 Illustration, An. 66 Center. Township 85 Impregnable Fort 148 Chubb, Rev. Rolln H 158 Indians Foiled 64 Cholera, The Dread 110 Indian Justice. 166 Cholera Victims...! 242 Indian Character 205 Cook, Hon. Asher 254 Indian Dances 193 Croghan, Major George. 226 Indian Skeleton 107 Cygnet's Calamity....! 140 Indian Associates 96 Day, Colonel Seldon U9 Ironside Murder, The 253 Devil's Hole, The 166 Jnll in the Woods, A 46 Dedication of Ft. Meigs Monument 32 Dewese, Amos 245 Kenton, Simon 177 Disastrous Campaigns.... 18 Last of Big Game , 88 Dodge, Judge H. H. 224 Lake Commerce 124 Dubbs, Henry 107 Laskey, Hon. George 251 Early History 24 Land Sharks 62 Earljjv School Days 106 Little Turtle 87 Early Formation 10 Liberty Township... 126 Error Corrected, An 214 Life of a Recluse 208 Evers, Charles W 258 Long, Tom... .166 Exchange Bell, The Old 161 Logical Reasons, i K^M False Alarm, A 141 Lost Child, The... 129 Fairchild, Seth Hunt.../ 248 Load of Coons 811 Loomis Murder, The 199 2

Page P.T,->- Madman's Frenzy, A 186 Roche de Boeuf 202 Maumee Hlver, The 176 Roach, Mayor Andrew 214 Mall Carrying 136 Russell, Alfred M 250 Mnnor, Peter «*,,.., ;..... 67 Sage Child Tragedy 74 Mall Route :\£.! .-...... 107 Sad Chapter, A : 193 Maumee Country, The ': 79 Salsbury, Jonathan 141 Mercer Settlement 103 Snaking. Scourge, A 163 Memorable Fourth, A 38 Shocking Suicide 178 Meeker, Mahlon.... 62 Slater's Curse, Jim 130 Memorable Address, A 231 Sijintf Shibnah 43 Milton Township 76 Strange Story, A... 192 Mission Station 160 Strange Incident 138 Miami of the Lake f. 98 Successful Scheme .' 210 Navigation J 172 Summer of Gloom, A ill Navarre, Peter 68 Tecumseh, Eloquence of 58 Nearing, "Uncle" Guy 121 Tecumseh, Described 59 Newspaper History 179 .Tecumseh, Death of 60 Newton, Joseph B ;. 247 Tecumseh's Contempt... 226 Night With Indians. A 183 Ten Years' Struggle, A 133 Not All a Dream 161 Tinge of Romance 97 Noted Bear Hunt 190 Treaty of Maumee, The... 13 Notable Addresses 156 Traffic In 1838 149 Odd Genius, An 162 Turkey Foot Rock 90 Oil In Wood County 104 Two Lost Girls 159 Old Time. Tragedy..... 46 Organization of ,Ohio.; 128 Unbroken Forests 93 Up the Maumee 202 Passed Away U0 Petersburg Volunteers 40 Wayne's Daring Scouts 29 Perrin, Amelia Wllkison 257 Way, Willard V 181 Pecki Erasmus D., M. D 60 Viayne's Two Graves 169 Webb, John 239 Pierce, James H 223 Weston Township... 80 Presbyterian Jubilee 206 What Might Have Been. 164 Tlttsburg Blues, The 39 Wilkinson, Capt. David 136 -Pioneer Families 64 Winter ot 1842-3, The 73 Porter-Richardson Murder 166 Wild Hogs 78 Powell, Hon. Thomns W 168 Wolf Hunting 148 Poem, Johnny Appleseed 212 Wood County Masonry , 154 Poe, Hon. E. W 250 Wood County Born '... 16 Poem, Our Pioneers 6 Wood County in War 179 Poem, Maumee Pioneers. The 116 Woodbury House, The 182 Random Notes 238 Wood County's Birth 7 Recovering a Stolen Horse 126 Wood County Fair 112 Removing the Indians 171 Worst of All Roads 123 River Raisin Massacre 217 Wood County Organization 31

ILLUSTRATIONS

Page Page Burial Ground of Col. Dudley and Men.... 173 • Harrison's Well ...; 187 Croghan, Major George 226 Maumee River and Valley 117 Evers, Chas. W. ...;..... S Navarre, Peter 63 Ft. Meigs 145 Ottokee 287 Ft. Meigs (Harrison Point) 229 Petersburg Volunteer Monument 41 Ft. Meigs (Ravine) 215 Roche de Boeuf 208 Ft. Meigs (Monument) 255 Tecumseh 56 Ft. Miami 248 Turkey Foot Rock 91 Harrison Gen. -Wm. H 157 Wayne, Gen Anthony , 19