HISTORY OF FULTON COUNTY - 177
CHAPTER XIV
YORK TOWNSHIP
TOPOGRAPHICALLY, this township in general is level. Bad Creek with its tributaries drains the territory and flows in a southerly direction, entering the township at its northern boundary and running across it until the water finally makes its way to the Maumee river. The valley or bottom lands adjacent to these streams are especially fertile, highly improved and very valuable. Some other parts are not so rich for agricultural purposes. The streams mentioned above afford the drainage of the surrounding country.
The principal varieties of timber which abounded in exhaustless supply and excellent excellent quality were hickory, walnut, butternut, ash, poplar, sugar maple, oak of all kinds, cherry and Sycamore.
With the advent of the first white settlers, the woods abounded in game of all kinds known in the country. Deer and wild turkeys, exceedingly plentiful, afforded the principal meat supply of the early settlers. Fvery man and boy and some of the female population were expert hunters, and many are the tales told of hairbreadth escapes from, and single-banded contests with Bruin, the
arch enemy of the young domestic animals about the settlers' cabins. Wolves, panthers and wildcats also made night hideous and nocturnal travel precarious With their prowling, stealthy and deceptive methods of attack.
The first settlement of York township antedates its organization by a couple of years. The township organization was effected on June 6, 1836, after the territory came under the control of Lucas county, and the very early settlers went all the way to vote at what is now known as York Center.
William Jones and family are entitled to the honor of being the first settlers, they having located in the township in May, 1834. They settled on the northeast quarter of section eighteen about
five miles west of Delta on the old George Wright farm. It is claimed by some that William, John and James King were in the township earlier in the same year, but this is merely supposition, and the honor of being the first pioneer of the township is generally accorded to William Jones. It might be added here that he only lacked a twelve-month of being able to contest with Eli Phillips is (who is mentioned in connection with Royalton township) the honor of being the first permanent settler in the county. Mr. Jones purchased land in the vicinity mentioned, and there built his cabin
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and established a home. Other families arrived soon afterwards and became near neighbors of Mr. JoneS, but it must be remembered that "near neighbors" in those days might be separated by several-miles.
By the close of the year 1834 the following named persons were residing in this township: William, John and James King were living on section 24; John S. Trowbridge, Cornelius Trowbridge, Alanson Trowbridge and a Mr. Hampton, in addition to Mr. Jones.
John S. Trowbridge was born November 18, 1816, in Saratoga county, New York, and settled with his family in York township in 1834, thus becoming one of the first permanent settlers in what is now Fulton county. He was a highly respected citizen and filled various local offices with honor to himself and satisfaction to his neighbors. Cornelius Trowbridge came from Saratoga county New York, in 1834, and Alanson Trowbridge also came the same year. Mr. Hampton came that year looking for land. He took an entry of eighty acres, made by William King, and moved upon it, cleared it up and made a fine farm. As stated above, William King and family settled in York townShip in May, 1834, and located lands on Section 24, where they erected a cabin, which be came their home, rude as it was.
John Murray settled in York in the thirties. He came from Pennsylvania and settled upon section 26, cleared and improved a large farm, reared a family and died thereon.
Robert McClarren, a brother-in-law of William Jones, came from Maryland and settled in York township, February 6, 1836. He was born in Maryland, January 28, 1809.
Henry Fluhart located here in the very early days of the settlement of the township, locating on section seven. At a later period he moved to Missouri and has since died, but members of his family remained in Fulton county and one son, James, was well known at a newspaper man.
Abram Cole and family came in January 1835, and settled on the east half of the northeast quarter of section 25.
Peter Wise, Gilman Cheadle and William Fowler came in 1836 Gilman Cheadle was an early pioneer farmer and Stockgrower, and was born in Morgan county, Ohio, in 1807. He settled in York township in 1836, and lived there continuously until 1870, when he removed to Wauseon and lived the remainder of his life there. He served as a postmaster fourteen years, being first appointed by President Jackson. Gardner Trernain came in 1836. He was born in Cayuga county, New York, April 15, 1813, and in early manhood came to Fulton county. He settled on sections 25 and 36, where he lived the remainder of his life. Rev. Uriel Spencer and son, William, came in 1835 and settled on section 17. He was afterward elected auditor of Lucas county.
John Jones came with his father, William Jones, and hence may be considered among the Settlers of 1834.
John Batdorf settled upon section 21, in 1842. He was born
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in Pennsylvania, in 1816, removed to Wayne county, Ohio, and lived there until 1842, when he migrated to Fulton county and settled in York township. H. E. Whitney came at a very early date, and with his family settled on section 25.
James Trowbridge, wife and two children, left Saratoga, New York, July 4, 1837, and landed at Perrysburg, in the Maumee valley, thirteen days later. His route of travel was from Albany to buffalo, by freight boat on the Erie canal, and from there on Lake Erie to Toledo, on board of the boat, Commodore Perry.
William Fowler, Sr., came originally from Cumberland county, Pennsylvania, to Fairfield county, Ohio, in 1828, and in August, 1835 he came to Fulton county with his family. With him were three sons, who may also be considered pioneers of that age—William Thomas and Robert. The father located on his farm in York township and died there many years ago,
Stebbins R. Stebbins came to York in 1844. He was born in Middlesex county, Connecticut, March 30, 1808, and at the age of nine years was brought by his parents to Cuyahoga county, Ohio, the family moving with ox teams, a distance of 650 miles. Stebbins R. came to York in 1844, and became engaged in farming, which he followed until 1883, when he removed to Wauseon and lived the remainder of his life in retirement. While living in York township he served as justice of the peace and also held other minor offices. George Wright came in 1847, and settled upon section 7. He was a native of England, where he was born, November 1, 1802. William Markle and wife, from Pickaway county, came in 1844, and Elijah Smith and his wife came in 1840. Mr. Smith was from the State of New York, where he was born, December 17, 1809, They settled upon section 26. "Alfred B. Gunn settled in York in 1844. At that time he was in Henry county, but became a resident of Fulton on April 1, 1850, when that part of Henry county became a part of the newly-organized county. He was one of the delegates to the convention that established the boundary line of Fulton county. He settled upon section 12 in York township, and during his long and useful career served a period of six years as county commissioner, and was one of the commissioners who located the court house at the place where it now stands, in Wauseon. Further notice of Mr. Gunn is given elsewhere in this volume.
Samuel and Elizabeth Biddle Settled in York township, October 13, 1842. They came from Pennsylvania, "the land of the Quakers," and raised a family of five girls and three boys. In his lifetime, Mr. Biddle was one of the foremost men of the township. He settled on section 17, on lands that were entered and unproved by Uriel Spencer, one of the first settlers. Mr. Biddle died, February 17, 1867. Calvin Biddle, son of Samuel, settled in York in 1842, having come with his parents from Pennsylvania.
Mark Berry, from Wooster, settled here in 1843, and Stillman C. Biddle in 1842. The latter came with hiss parents when but a small
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boy, and growing to manhood here, became one of the formost men in the township.
Abner P. Brainard settled in York, in 1846. He was born in Genesee county, New York, December 20, 1828, and after locating in Fulton county became a brick manufacturer on quite an extensive scale. John Harrison came in a very early day and settled upon section 17.
The record of the first election in York township has been lost or improperly kept, but it is known that it was held at York Center, June 30, 1836, and elections were held at that place for a number of years thereafter. One of the first justices of the peace, and in fact one of the first officers elected in the township was Alfred B. Gunn, but offices were not sought then as they are now. Mr. Gunn and Alanson Bradley were assessors for years. An office now abolished, and which it was difficult to get anyone to fill, was that of fence viewer. Alanson Bradley was born in Connecticut, April 12, 1802, and came to Fulton county in an early day where he filled the offices of School director, treasurer, assessor and land appraiser.
The first white child born in Delta, and it may be the first in York township, was to George Wood and wife, in 1841. The infant then ushered into the world was Mary Augusta Wood, who of afterwards became widely known in the literary world, being a writer of considerable note. The first marriage was a social event of considerable importance, and was doubtless largely attended by the pioneer families in that section. The contracting parties were William Spencer of the male persuasion and Emily, a daughter of Mr. Donaldson, representing the gentler sex. The first school house erected in the township was located upon the farm of William Trowbridge, one mile west of Delta.
The Presbyterians were the leaders in religious efforts in York township, the first meetings being held in the settlers' cabins. After continuing the services in the houses of the members for several years, school houses were used, and later, houses for worship were erected. The first church built in the township was by the Presbyterian society of Delta; but at the present time, the township, including the village of Delta, has eight houses of public worship located as follows: Four in Delta, one, each on sections 11, 29, and 31, embodying in faith all the principal denominations of county.
The first burying ground in the township was located at Delta used by the German Baptist society, and a Mrs. Doolittle was the first person buried there. Nearly all the early churches provide a place for the interment of their dead, but these were gradually abandoned, and the Cemetery at Delta contains the remains of many of the early pioneers.
The first tavern in York township was opened by C. B. Lewis at his private residence on the north Side of the State road, the at present site of Delta. He kept a little tea and tobacco for sale,
and
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on Sunday always had preaching in his house, so his was a dwelling, tavern, store and church. This was really the first beginning of business in Delta. The first resident physician was Erastus Lathrop, who settled near Delta and died very soon after the village was located. He has been succeeded by many others during the sixty-nine years that have elapsed since the organization of the township.
Delta was incorporated and assumed the position accorded by that legal proceeding by the election of a mayor and establishing a municipal government. It has numbered among its mayors many esteemed a citizens, not the least of whom is the present incumbent, George A. Everett. Delta is located in a beautiful agricultural district and is surrounded by, the most fertile and highly prolific lands. The usual number of secret societies are represented in the town, each order being prosperous and numbering among its members many of the best people in the town and surrounding country. According to the a census of 1900, Delta contains a population of 1,230. This is an increase, of ninety-eight during the last decade, a percentage that is small but it represents a substantial growth. It is a busy trading point, sustained by a large scope of good farming country, and its support is assured in the character and reputation of the businessmen. Some of the stores would do credit to a much larger place. Considerable manufacturing is also done, and an excellent public school in the village affords ample opportunities to the children in the acquirement of a good practical education.
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CHAPTER XV
SWAN CREEK TOWNSHIP
THIS is one of the townships that was included in the township of York when the latter was erected, and prior to the organization of Fulton township, it included all the territory now embraced by the latter, south of the "Fulton Line." When originally organized, Swan Creek township was described as, scribed as follows: All the territory belonging to Town seven north of Range eight east; also, the southern tier of sections in Town eight north of Range eight east, and including all the territory north to the Fulton line. It will be noticed that this description does not include the two southern tiers of sections in the present limits of the township, but it must be remembered that this strip of territory was a part and parcel of Henry county prior to April 1, 1850;, when Fulton county was organized. Swan Creek was organized in 1836, but the names of the officers who were elected then td administer civil affairs are no longer remembered; neither can it be learned who first served after the township was given its present limits. In March, 1841, Fulton township was organized, and nine years later Fulton county, aS it now is, was created, thus giving to Swan Creek its present limitations.
The surface of the township is gently undulating in some parts and quite level in others. The greater part of the northern portion of the township was heavily timbered, and contains, naturally, tiok strongest and readiest soil for agricultural purposes. A great deal of this township is what, in local parlance, is called "openings," or "open lands," a designation or qualification as applied to the character of land the origin of which is somewhat difficult township determine. There is comparatively little waste land in the township the and the condition of the farms, buildings, and surroundings are indicative of thrift and prosperity. The natural drainage of the township consists of a small sluggish stream called Blue Creek, a somewhat larger one called Bad Creek, both coursing in a southeasterly direction, and Swan Creek, from which the township was named, running almost due east, and all tributaries of the Maumee river. These streams are the objective pointS of all the numerous ditches now threading the township, by means of which it has, within a comparatively few years, obtained a very excellent drainage.
Swan Creek township was mainly, especially in the northern part, covered with heavy timber, though there was originally consider-
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able marshy land upon which there was only shrubs and brush. But the wet lands have been recovered by ditching and under-tiling, until they are very valuable and highly productive. It is said that this boggy land originally semed like earth floating on water, and that in the early days a pole could be forced into it to the depth of twenty feet. The principal varieties of timber were black walnut, sugar maple, elm, ash, oak, beech and hickory. Some of the choicest timber was used for buildings, making rails, and sawing into lumber, but much of it which would now be very valuable was ed in clearing the land.
Among the first to establish a home within the bounds of Swan Creek township was William Meeker, who was found there in the woods as early as 1833, according to the reminiscences published in regard to the life of Peter Manor, the Frenchman of the Maumee. Another conspicuous figure in that early day wilderness was Nathaniel Leggett, an extended mention of whom is given on another page. Clearing the land and hunting was his occupation for about ten years, and there was no doubt fully as great a fascination in those pursuits as in many of our later day pastimes and vocations. He located in Swan Creek, about 1834, and he is said to have been a great worker and hunter. He encouraged settlers to its final came to the place, and did much toward starting the township on its prosperous career.
Others of this township's first settlers were John Witmer, Wells Wathkins, Joshua Fassett, Thomas Gleason, David Williams, Eccles Nay, Looman Hall, Sidney Hawley, William Fewless and Jesse Browning all of them becoming residents therein prior to 1840. John Witmer settled in the northwestern part, on what is now section seventeen, in 1834. He came from Berne, one of the three leading cantons of Switzerland, and both he and his wife were natives of that country. After settling in Swan Creek, they first lived in a bark Shanty, in the woods, and on June 21, 1834, a terrible storm of wind and rain blew down the trees of the forest in a frightful manner; but fortunately not one limb struck the pioneer's cabin. In due time a portion of land was cleared and planted and a better house erected.
Wells Watkins was born in Jefferson county, Ohio, April 7, 1818. He grew to manhood there, and on August 6, 1838, when but Twenty years of age, he left the place of his birth and journeyed
nine days to reach Fulton county, where he settled and endured the hardships of pioneer life. The first winter he carried his grists three miles on his back to a horse mill; walked to Perrysburg to
market, starting on Monday morning and returning on Saturday evening, paid fifteen dollars per barrel for flour, fifteen cents a pound for pork, one dollar and fifty cents per bushel for potatoes,
etc. At that time he had to chop two and a half cords of green hickory wood for a day'S work; for which he would receive fifty cents. Indians were numerous, the nearest village was Maumee,
and this state of things continued for some time after his settlement in the township. Mr. Watkins was in Company H, One
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Hundred and Thirtieth regiment, Ohio Volunteer Infantry, in the one hundred day service during the war of 1861-5.
Joshua Fassett was a native of Ontario county, New York, and Settled in Swan Creek township in 1834. Eccles Nay was born in, Bristol, Vermont, September 11, 1807. In early manhood he migrated to Ohio, and settled m Swan Creek township in 1834. After. paying for his land he had no money left, and no personal property of any kind except an ox team. But the few neighbors, among whom were David Williams, William Meeker and Sidney Hawley were kind and accommodating, and subsistence was partially provided from the abundance of wild game all around. The settler had to go with ox teams to Maumee for provisions, a journey of three days. Wolves were abundant, and the early settlers used to build fires to scare them away from their cabins at night. Mr, Nay was at twenty-seven log-house raisings the first summer after his arrival, and that fact gives us some idea of the rapidity with which that locality was being Settled at that time. James Nay grandfather of Eccles Nay, was one of the "Tea Party" at Boston and carried away some of the tea in his Shoes, which was in the possession of his friends at his death. He was also in the Revolutionary war and took part in the battle of Bunker Hill.
In 1834, as nearly as can be ascertained, William Fewless, an Englishman by nativity, came from Long Island to Swan Creek; but the malaria and mosquitoes were so annoying that he became discouraged, and returned to his former home. He did not remain at Long Island a great while, however, before he returned west and came into Swan Creek township once more, where he lived for many years and cleared and improved a farm. He died there in 1881.
John Watkins, a native of Steubenville, Jefferson county, came into this township about a year later than William Fewless, butt he was a reSident there only a few years, when his land, on the organization of Fulton township, was included therein, and in consequence his allegiance was changed. He was a cousin of Wells Watkins.
Jesse Browning, who died in Swan Creek in 1867, went there from Oswego county, New York, hiS native State, in 1835, and about the Same time Alexander and Africa Spalding became settlers, also John Viers. Africa Spalding was a native of Maine, and John Viers was born in Jefferson county, Ohio. The latter died July 2, 1873. In 1836, Ormand Pray settled on land in the neighborhood of the farm known as the J. D. Lutz farm, and about this time a man named Crosby, who was a hatter by trade, located about three miles due south of Centerville. Mr. Crosby has been dead many years and left no descendants. In 1839, Jacob Reighard, a member of that provident class of people known as Pennsylvania Dutch, came from the Keystone State and settled in section twenty-eight of this township, where he lived the remainder of his life,
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dying in 1866. He was buried in the Raker cemetery, which burial ground was established in 1836.
Socrates H. Cately, who is given appropriate mention elsewhere, was also one of the early settlers of Swan Creek township. Comose who settled her at a later date, among the more coming to be found the Templetons, Braileys, Bassetts, Blakes and Lewises. These families were all people of push, energy and resolute intellectual force, some of the members rising to local prominence as business and professional men and teachers.
John Templeton, the progenitor of the Templeton family in Swan Creek township, was born in Washington county, Pennsylvania, September 28, 1807. Early in life he came with his parents to Ohio and settled in the thriving county of Wayne. There he lived until 1853, when he removed to Fulton county and located in Swan Creek township. The family descended from the Highland Scotch and Irish and its members were very Stout and robust. John Templeton in his best days, weighed 446 pounds, and could take an iron bar seven inches square in his hands and lay it out of his road. He was known, to lift a dead weight of a thousand pounds, but his splendid gifts of nerve and muscle. were never expended in the physical opposition of anyone. Nathaniel Templeton, grandfather of John, lived riear where Simon Girty led the Indians across the Ohio into Pennsylvania, and was with Crawford in the battle with the Indians on the Sandusky plains. He was wounded in the first day’s fight, and, overcome by the loss of blood, was captured on the third day and tomahawked and scalped by the Indians. His comrades obtained and buried his body and carried his gun home to his wife. This relic is still in the possession of the Templeton family, considerably over one hundred years old.
John S. Templeton, the third son of John Templeton, was born in Wayne county, Ohio, March 22, 1833, and died in Swan Creek township in 1886. He inherited largely the physique and strength of his father, but was one of the most genial and best-natured of men. A considerable portion of his lift was Spent as a railway conductor, but he always made his home on the old Swan Creek township farm. He enlisted in Company I of the Thirty-eighth Regiment, Ohio Volunteer Infantry, on August 21, 1861, was elected first corporal, and was promoted through all the intermediate offices to a first lieutenancy. He took part in the battles of Stone River, Chickamauga and others, and was mustered out of service, January 4, 1864, on account of deafness.
In 1857, Moses R. Brailey, being then in the prime of a vigorous manhood, came from Huron county, Ohio, and settled in section Twenty-two in Swan Creek. Mr. Brailey is given appropriate mention in the chapter on Bench and Bar.
Palmer R. Lewis was born in Seneca county, New York, November 27, 1821. In 1848 he settled on a farm in this township and there spent the remainder of his life. Previous to removing to Fulton county he lived during several years in Erie county, Ohio,
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and after removing to Swan Creek he was identified with the official affairs of the township as justice of the peace or trustee for twenty years. He was first lieutenant of Company A, One Hundred and Eighty-fourth regiment, Ohio Volunteer Infantry, in the war of the early Sixties.
Orra Blake was born in Alleghany county, New York, August 25, 1821, and settled in Fulton county in 1852. Besides clearing and improving an excellent farm he built many farm buildings throughout the township and was a prominent and very useful citizen. The same year that Orra Blake settled on his farm, Wesley Knight of Middlebury, Vermont, bought and took charge of the old tavern at Centerville. Mr. Knight was born in the Green Mountain State in 1808. For nineteen years he kept the public house of Centerville, but never sold any intoxicating liquors of any kind, taking a wide departure from the example of those who had preceded him there.
Centerville was formerly quite an important gathering place for the people of the township and the old tavern furnished entertainment for the traveling public before the days of railroads. There. is perhaps nothing in its annals of any great historical importance, other than the fact of its existence; but the mention of the name to some who still survive brings back recollections of by-gone days that are doubtless pleasant to dwell upon in memory. The construction of the Lake Shore & Michigan Southern railroad through the northern part of the township changed the mode of travel and transferred the business center to Swanton, a few miles away. All that part of the village of Swanton which lies south of the railroad is in Swan Creek township, and comprises a population of about five hundred. The minor share of the business is on the Swan Creek side, but there are several energetic and enterprising business establishments in that section of the place. The entire village is included in a special school district, and the schools are graded to a high degree of excellence.
Although it had a poor start, Swan Creek now enjoys the distinction of being one of the best agricultural townships in Fulton county. Its soil is especially adapted to diversified farming, fruit growing and truck-gardening, in which pursuits, combined with stock-raising, the intelligent and industrious farmers have met with phenomenal success. The pleasant homes arid thrifty surroundings are abundant proof of this, while an occasional handsome mansion, with modern improvements and appliances, affirms the conclusion that even in this favored land, some have been more successful than their worthy rivals. And thus it will ever be. so long as accumulated wealth is the measure of success and Cunning sits upon the throne that Merit should occupy.
One of the religious landmarks of the community is represented by the Methodist Episcopal Church, now located in the village of Swanton, but originally established in the little hamlet of Centerville. In the northwestern part of the township there is a Union
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church, so called, belonging to no religious denomination and under no ecclesiastical control, but intended and used for united services, where any and all religious bodies of people can meet for worship. It is known as the Viers church. Another church building, erected with the same view, is the Raker Union church in the western part of the township. It was dedicated in 1881. In October, 1886, the members of the United Brethren church in the neighborhood of what was formerly known as the Union schoolhouse, in section 31, purchased the school building and removed it two and three-fourths miles east, in Section 35, upon land owned by William Phare, and dedicated it to the service of their denomination, making four churches or places of religious worship in the township. Methodism, , however is the prevailing church faith, but there are also some Presbyterians, and a few Catholics and Free Methodists, the last named being an offshoot of the powerful sect founded by John Wesley.
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CHAPTER XVI
AMBOY TOWNSHIP
AMBOY was one of the three townships formed in old Lucas county out of the territory known as the "disputed strip." The date of its organization was June 4, 1827, a few months after that territory passed under the unquestioned control of the Buckeye State. Amboy is the northeastern corner township of Fulton county, and was originally six miles east and west, by seven north and south; but at the formation of Fulton township, two tiers of sections were taken from the south side, and in 1846, another tier was detached and added to Fulton township, thus reducing the are of Amboy to about twenty-six square miles. The surface of the country is somewhat of varied but the major portion of it is generally level, partaking somewhat the character of the land in Pike and Fulton townships. The soil is referable entirely to the drift deposits, and would be classified
as drift clays. The township is traversed from the southwest to the northeast, near the center, with a beach ridge, of sand and gravel. This clay, with slight deposits of sand and gravel, covers the major portion of the territory, and is deposited with a flat and often a very level surface. This beach ridge, crossing nearly through the center of the township, has, with its branches, but a. small area, yet it crosses many farms that would be otherwise destitute of sand, and it affords to the farms and the township a desirable variety. This beach of sand and gravel abruptly terminates about two miles south of Metamora, a small village near the northeast corner.
Amboy was originally covered with heavy timber, mostly of the hard wood varieties, as walnut, butternut, hickory, the various kinds of oak, beach, maple, yellow poplar, whitewood, white ash, elm, etc. These were abundant, while the buckeye, sycamore, wild cherry, ironwood and dog-wood were less generally distributed. The shrubs were the hazel, blackberry, huckleberry, Juneberry, hackberry and spice. Most of the varieties of timber and shrubs are still represented, though the best has long since found its way to the mills and markets, if not the pioneer "log heaps."
The township was noted in early times for its abundance of wild animals, and was a favorite hunting ground for the Indians for many years after the cession of the land to the whites. By general consent, they were permitted to make annual visits, which they seemed to greatly enjoy. There were bears, panthers, wolves and wild-cats in great numbers, while deer and wild turkeys furnished the principal
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meat foods to the early settlers. The larger wild animals were of for course many years a source of annoyance and danger.
Amboy township was settled nearly as early as any of the townships in Fulton county. The first settler was undoubtedly Jared Hoadly, who entered his land in the month of July, 1833, and late in the fall of the same year moved to the township. It is found that in the early part of January, 1834, he built a cabin on his purchase, on in section seven, and made his home there for many years, until later in life he removed to Michigan. He was a very prominent man with the first pioneers, and was very influential in all the affairs of the township. He was prosperous in all his business ventures and bore well the hardships incident to early life in a new country, his home being an asylum for the distressed and unfortunate. His outlet for trade was at Perrysburg, and occasionally at Adrian. Mr. Hoadly was an active man and performed his full share of labor in the developing of the township in its very primitive days, holding the plow break to the first piece of land, and building the first cabin of which there is any record.
Among the other settlers who came to this township in 1833 were Alvah Steadman, Aaron Steadman and David Steadman (the latter being the father of Alvah and Aaron), Frank O'Neil, Charles Blain, William Blain, John Roop, Joseph Roop and Alfred Gilson. The Blains were originally from Lodi, near Syracuse, Onondaga county, New York, and they first made a halt at Toledo, at a very early day, from whence they came on foot across the country westward, and settled in Amboy, then, however, under the jurisdiction of Blissfield township in Michigan. Coming here in the fall of 1833, each of them raised large families, all of whom grew to man and womanhood and have since been respected citizens of Amboy township. Alvah Steadman is supposed to have been ...the second settler in the township, but possibly that honor will have to be divided With John and Joseph Roop, yet Oliver B. Verity is authority for the statement that the best informed of the old pioneers accorded that honor to Alvah Steadman , Frank O'Neil settled where Metamora is now, located and built the first cabin in that part of the township, enjoying with his family alone the the full fruits of a pioneer's life and the honor of being ahead of the other settlers.
Following the settlements of 1833, there was a large accession to the population. In 1834, David Duncan from Onondaga county, New York; also John Blain and Jerry Duncan from the same place; Lorenzo Abbott, Seneca Corbin from New York; Park White and his son, David White, Jonathan Gilson, Clark Gilson, James Hallett, John Labounty, Samuel Purdy, Joseph Richey, Nathaniel Welch and Harry Welch. Park White was a native of Vermont. In the year 1835 there came Hiram Bartlett, who first emigrated from Cooperstown, Otsego county, New York, in 1826, and settled at Port Lawrence (now Toledo), and resided there nine years before coining to Amboy township. Calvin Skinner, Cyrus Fisher, Horatio Stevens and Caleb Remilie came from Niagara county, New York.
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usually had a "shake" roof, fastened on by weight poles, with a clay or puncheon floor and a door made of boards split from native timber, and fastened together with wooden pins, or, in the absence of this, a blanket hung in the opening; if a window was provided, the aperture was covered with greased paper instead of glass, The dimensions of the cabin were usually limited to the smallest size which would accommodate the family, the walls of rough logs, cracks "chinked" with split sticks or stones, and plastered with clay, with sometimes a little cut straw mixed in the "mortar" to prevent, its falling out. The chimney was usually the most liberal arrangement on the premises, and often filled nearly the entire end of the, cabin. It was generally built of split sticks liberally plastered with mud to prevent their taking fire from the heat of the tremendous "log-heap” beneath. In those days, there was no scarcity of fuel, as the timber had to be removed before the land could be cultivated, and the logs which could not be utilized in making rails, or constructing buildings, were rolled together in great heaps and consumed on the ground. With the advent of the saw mills and various other appliances for manufacturing lumber, as devised by the ingenious pioneers, the best of the timber was usually worked into lumber.
A "full-dress" suit in those days consisted of buckskins, over a flax shirt, and moccasins for the feet, the latter sometimes "reinforced" by a sole of stiff leather fastened on with buckskin thongs. These were all the product of home industry, even to the raising, heckling, scutching, spinning, weaving and making, of the flaxes garments.
The pioneer shoemaker, gunsmith and blacksmith were welcome adjuncts to the early settlements, as were, also, the back-woods school masters and preachers. The first schools were conducted on the subscription plan, and usually embraced only the rudiments of the "three R's." The "master" taught twenty-two days for a month, at a salary of about eight dollars per month, and "boarded around.” He was oftener selected because of his muscular development than on account of his scholastic attainments, though both were considered essential to complete success. The unruly boys of pioneer days were prone to mischief, and happy, indeed, was the schoolmaster who escaped "barring out," for a treat, on holidays. Should the master arrive in the morning before a sufficient number of the belligerents reached the scene of hostilities, they would smoke him out by placing boards over the chimney. The school "furniture" was in keeping with that which adorned the homes of the pupils, entirely home made and of the variety created for Utility rather than beauty. The desks, were puncheons, or at best planks, resting on wooden pins driven into auger holes in the logs of the wall. These were bored at an angle of about thirty degrees. Fronting the desks were stationary seats made of slabs of puncheons, with flaring legs of wooden pins and these were made high enough to accommodate the largest pupils, while the smaller ones sat with their feet dangling in mid-air. Usually there was no floor in the schoolhouse, and globes and outline maps were unknown to the pupils, and a mystery to the masters.
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The “text books" comprised Dabol's arithmetic and Webster's elementary spelling book. These covered the curriculum of reading and spelling, mathematics, language and literature, history and science. The ancient "pot hooks," more difficult to form than any letter in the alphabet comprised the first lessons in writing, but were never heard of afterward. There was no system by which these characters were made hence each "master" had a "system" of his own. Sundry boxing of ears and other barbarous punishments often followed the pupil’s futile efforts at imitating these useless hieroglyphics. And yet we must credit the pioneer schools with producing a class of plain
and neat writers, a feature very noticeable, and often commented upon, in the reading of ancient documents. It is equally true that most of the students of those early days were excellent spellers, according to the rules then in vogue. But the primitive schools of pioneer days have long since been succeeded by the excellent school system so nicely provided for, in part at least, by the reservation of a portion of the public domain for that purpose.
For many years after the settlement of the township, religious exercises were conducted by the traveling ministers of various denominations, usually at private houses or in the schoolhouses of the township. There is one Methodist Episcopal church which was built in 1870, and the class there contains a large membership. There is also one United Brethren church which has a fair list of members. It was built in 1874. Amboy township, aside from these two church organizations in the village of Metamora, has one Catholic church, called St. Mary's, built in 1864, upon section twenty-six, and connected therewith is a cemetery especially dedicated for Catholic burials. The Methodist Episcopal church, upon the town line between Amboy and Royalton, was built in 1867. It has a small number of worshipers, and has sustained itself under adverse circumstances. The Reformed Church of Zion was built by the German residents about 1870. This society and the church edifice is due to the labors of Peter Kohl, who for years was their resident minister. The church building was located on section nine.
Amboy is one of the most wealthy and prosperous townships in Fulton county. Agriculture being the principal industry, and in fact almost the exclusive occupation of the people, it has received careful and thoughtful attention, and the farmers are equipped for the varied branches of agricultural pursuits, including extensive stock raising and fruit growing. Early attention was given to the introduction of improved strains of domestic animals, and this has proved a source of pleasure and profit. The well tilled farms, with their substantial residences of modern design, or the old and well built mansions of more ancient days, together with an occasional log house or unpretentious cabin, all evince the varying degrees of prosperity attained by their owners, and emphasize the fact that "there is no place like home." The inhabitants are a class of intelligent, public-spirited people, who, in several instances, trace their lineage, with just pride, to the founders of the great republic whose perpetuity they are ever ready to defend.
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CHAPTER XVII
CHESTERFIELD TOWNSHIP
THE organization of this township occurred on the 4th day of June, 1837, by taking all of town nine south, ranges and two east, and all of town ten south; ranges one and two east, excepting a strip one mile wide from the west side of towns nine and ten south, range one east, and embracing all the territory described from the "Harris line" on the north, to the"Fulton line" on the south. The house of Chesterfield Clemons was designated as the polling place of the township.
The boundaries established by this action of the commissioners remained undisturbed until March 6, 1838, when the whole of town nine and ten south, range one east, was set off and erected into the township of Gorham. Then Chesterfield relinquished her jurisdiction to the territory so set off. Again, at a commissioners session held at the city of Maumee, June 5, 1843, the whole of town ten south, range two east, was taken from Chesterfield, and with alter territory south, was organized into the township of Dover. The township of Chesterfield for several years thereafter exercised municipal control over the balance, of the territory. But at some unknown date since the organization of Fulton county, the commissioners thereof struck off and set to Gorham the west half of fractional section 7, and the west half of section 18, lying west of Bean erect leaving the present township of Chesterfield as it exists today it is very nearly in the form of a square, bounded by straight line, about six miles in length, east and west, and about five miles, mirth and south. The portion near the Tiffin river is exceedingly rich, arid is not surpassed in fertility by any land in the county. The soil of the township is largely "sand openings," excepting a strip along the State line which seems to be of quite stiff clay of the lacustrine order. The Bean creek valley is chiefly "made" land and contains lar deposits of soil left by the overflow which has continued for a period of years. When drained, the land is exceedingly production. In many places sand spurs from the openings reach clown to a beach formation, leaving the creek upon its east side as a general rule. The sand lands of the township are as productive as the more level clays, and much easier to work. In the western part of the township it is, if anything, better than in the eastern part, where the surface is not as often filled with the low depression common to tht openings, and called "prairie lands."
The main water, course for the streams of this township is upon its extreme western boundary, and is called Bean creek, to which
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the streamlets of the greater part of the township lead in a westerly direction and empty therein. The waters of the eastern part are discharged mainly into Ten Mile creek, which is formed in part
from the waters of the township of Royalton and Amboy, and tend generally east. In the township of Cheterfield the streams are principally ditches or drains through the prairies so prominent in the openings of the township, and wherever, there is any large area of sand deposits. All the waters of this township find their way to the Maumee Bay by two widely different outlets: Ten Mile creek, running directly east near the state line to the Maumee Bay, and the western waters through Bean creek, running in a southwesterly course to Defiance, into the Maumee river, and thence to the Maumee Bay, where they discharge into Lake Erie. The waters of the eastern part of the township flow over a very gentle slope in their long run for an outlet, as the eastern portion has but a slight inclination eastward toward Lake Erie, while the western part of the township has quite a marked inclination westward towards Bean creek, with a general, but a very slight dip southward. Chesterfield has an altitude of about two hundred and thirty-five feet above the water level of Lake Erie. There is no outcropping of rock, but a few glacial boulders in the township. The drift overlying the rock is from one hundred and sixty to one hundred and eighty feet in depth, the largest share of which is the Erie or blue clay.
The Detroit Southern railroad traverses about five miles of the central portion of the township, with a station known as Oak Shade. The Toledo & Western electric railway is also a "common carrier," traversing the northeastern part of the township.
The township is fairly well supplied with well kept roads. In the early days, the territory of Chesterfield was a popular hunting ground, the heavy timber in portions of it affording excellent cover and favorite resorts for all the larger game found in the country. Even after the general settlement had progressed for some years, large game was plentiful and hunters were well rewarded for the time spent in their favorite sport. Heavy timber of the usual varieties found in the county covered a good portion of the township, this being relieved only by small patches of prairie in the "openings."
It is known that Chesterfield Clemons and his family were the first white settlers within the limits of Chesterfield township. They selected their home here, October 6, 1834. Mr. Clemons was a
native of New York, being born in Ontario county, that State, in 1797, and in 1821 emigrated to Painesville, Ohio, from whence he came to this county as stated. Animated by the true pioneer
spirit, as he must have been, Chesterfield Clemons and family bravely penetrated into an almost undisturbed wilderness of what was then southern Lenawee county, and commenced to make a home for himself and family. His faithful and untiring industry, privations and hardships, were largely instrumental in converting a howling wilderness into a flourishing and enlightened community. Mr. Clemons came in the morning of life with his children and wife, possessed
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of little else than willing hands, stout hearts, and sincere and honest desires. This family endured trials and dangers, sorrows and tribulations, unknown to the later settlers, because they were alone in the wilderness with no thought save to grapple with their dangers and adversities. Chesterfield Clemons lived but a short time to see the fruits of his labor, or the wilderness blossom as a rose. He died at his home in Chesterfield township in the year 1842. The first election held in the township was ordered at the house of Chesterfield Clemons, and he was accorded the honor, which now stands as a monument to his memory, of having the new township named for him—Chesterfield.
One of the earliest settlers of Chesterfield township was Garmer Willett, who is spoken of more at length in another chapter. His father-in-law, or rather the man who was destined to become such, Daniel Parsons, came to the township in 1834, and lived to prosper and spend his last days in ease. Definite information as to the date of settlement of many of the early pioneers is not obtainable; since early records of the township Seem to have been imperfectly kept. The first school teacher in the township was Flavel Butler; Lyman Beebe built and operated the first mill. Mr. Beebe was born in West Bloomfield, Ontario county, New York, July 7, 1808, and was one of the pioneers of Fulton county, where he settled in 1840, and purchased six acres of wild land in section 27, Chesterfield township at three dollars per acre. He built the first steam saw mill in the township, in 1844, and twelve years after built one in section thirteen. His first mill was located on what is known as the Crittenden farm, on the south side, and the second he conducted for a number of years and then abandoned it.
George P. Clark was born in Rhode Island, and settled in Chesterfield township in 1834. He located upon section twenty-three but some years later he sold out and went to Michigan, where he died in 1872.
Alanson Briggs came to this township in 1834, and settled upon section five. He came from the State of New York, city of Utica. He kept a hotel for several years to accommodate the immigrants who were rapidly filling up the country, the building being located on the premises afterward owned by Elizur Clark. Mr. Briggs was a colonel of the State militia of Ohio, which at a later period held general muster at Aetna, in Pike township. Mattson Briggs died in 1879.
In the fall of 1836 a mail route was established and run from Toledo to Lima, Indiana, over the old territorial road, sometimes called the Vistula road, being the first mail service in the township The distance was one hundred and ten miles and the mail was carried twice a week. There was but one postoffice between the terminal points and after passing four miles west of Morenci, Michigan, the road laid through a continuous Stretch of unbroken forest for thirty-three miles. John S. Butler, who is spoken of in the chapter on Early Set-
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tlements, was then a boy of about eleven years and carried the mail on horseback twice each week for a number of years.
The Butler family was quite prominent among the early settlers. Harlow Butler was born in West Bloomfield, Ontario county, New York January 4, 1798. He was seized with the western fever in
1835, and on his way to Ohio in the time of the Toledo war, was taken prisoner, but was retained only a short time. He settled with his family in Chesterfield township in 1836, and planted a nursery with apple seeds, which his son, Derwin E., had washed out in Bloomfield, before leaving the old home. For sixty years the orchard thus started has been one of the best bearing ones in the township. The members of the Butler family were pioneers in the truest sense, as they were the fourth to settle in Chesterfield township. For a long time the family was dependent upon the rifle of the father and the eldest son, Derwin E. Harlow Butler was the first justice of the peace. In the township, and the first and only school examiner under in old regime. In the latter capacity he issued the first forty-seven certificates to teachers, and as justice of the peace he held the first law-suit, which was Simmons vs. The State of Ohio, for settling on school land. The oldest son, Derwin E. Butler, was born in Cataraugus county, New York, May 28, 1822, and came with his parents to Chesterfield township in 1836. He was a machinist and music teacher and was a very useful man to the community. He died at his home in the township in the spring of 1886.
John B. Roos was born in Duchess county, New York, in 1791, and came to this township in 1836, settling upon section twenty-four, where Mr. Roos died in 1859. A son, John P. Roos, parents came with his ts to the township.
William Onweller was born in Maryland, May 29, 181z, and came to Fulton county in 1835, settling upon section twenty-three of Chesterfield township. He was a very industrious citizen and accumulated considerable property. He died March 20, 1864.
Samuel Stutesman came to the township in 1837 and settled upon on section fourteen. Heman A. Canfield came in 1838 and settled upon the farm afterwards owned by John S. Butler, on sections and thirty-two thirty-three. Jacob Boynton came in 1835 and bought of Chesterfield Clemons some thirty acres of land, which was afterwards owned and possessed by Elizur Clark. He afterward sold out and moved from the county.
Alfred C. Hough was born in Onondaga county, New York, and came to Chesterfield township in 1836, where he settled on section twenty-one. He held the office of auditor of Fulton county, serving with satisfaction to the people and credit to himself, and was the first school examiner, while the territory belonged to Lucas county. He was several times honored by the people of the township in an election to important positions.
James M. Hough was born in Onondaga county, New York, June 10, 1819, and came to the territory when a young man, settling upon section twenty-one, where he raised a fine family. He filled for a
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time the position of postmaster at Oak Shade and also township treasurer.
George W. Patterson was born in New Hampshire, and came with his family to this county in September, 1838, settling in Chesterfield township upon section thirty-one, where he lived many years. In 1849 he sold out and settled in Dover township, where he in 1869.
Jeremiah Sheffield and his wife, Sarah, were married in Newburg, Orange county, New York, on October 10, 1838, and started the same month for Ohio, landing in Chesterfield, November 11, 1838 where, with the aid of John P. Roos and Charles Smith, they selected the land upon which they lived the remainder of their lives.
Nathaniel Parsons and family came to Chesterfield in February 1835. At one time Mr. Parsons went to mill at Tecumseh, thirty miles away, and the mother divided what bread they had in the house among the children, and the family, lived on fractional rations while he was gone.
James S. Dean, Sr., came to this township in October, 1838, from Chemung county, New York, and settled upon sections twenty-for and twenty-five. Nehemiah Cone came in 1835 and settled on section twenty-four. Gersham Livesay came in 1836 from Elmira, Chem county, New York. David Lee came in 1837. He was the fa of Peleg S. Lee, who became noted as a cheese manufacturer at Fulton county. David Lee liyed upon his farm in Chesterfield township until his death in 1850.
In 1834, 1835, 1836 and up to 1840, many came to the township of Chesterfield that have not been heretofore named, who had much to do with improving the country. Mention of some of these will be made, who have been particularly identified with the township. They were: Nathaniel Butler, Hiram Butler, Manley Hawley, Flavel Butler, Daniel Fausey, James Aldrich, Hyson Aldrich, Cicero H. Shaw, James M. Bates, George W. Roos, Thomas Welch, Isaac Stites, Benjamin Stites, William Stites, William Richards, Lothrop Briggs, who first settled what was afterward known as the Dean farm; James Livesay, Joel Briggs, son of Lothrop Briggs; Warren Beebe, George W. Kellogg, Azariah Shapley, Daniel F. Turner, Amaziah Turner, Philip Whitehead, Joseph Thorpe, father of Washington, Lewis and Jesse Thorpe, who became prominent farmers of the township; Sartiuel Ranger, who came in 1835; Elizur B. Clark, Mrs. Ama Welch, Gideon Clark, Marietta Turner, and Adaline Whaley. All of the last five named were children of George P. Clark and his wife, Elizabeth. Amaziah Turner came in 1835, settled on section six-teen, and died many years ago. George W. Bates was born in Livingston county, New York, April 4, 1825, and Settled in Chesterfield township in 1842. He became quite prominent as a farmer and dairyman, and filled the position of township trustee for five years.
Elizur B. Clark was born in Orleans county, New York, January 6, 1826, and although young at the time of settlement, he was an early pioneer of Chesterfield township. The family settled in Fulton
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county in 1834, but afterward moved to Michigan, where the father, George P. Clark, died on September 13, 1872. Returning to Fulton county, E. B. Clark became a man of character and influence and filled several offices of trust in the township, being highly respected by his
neighbors.
From 1840 until 1850 there came to this country and settled in Chesterfield, David Marks, who came from Ashland county, Ohio ; William E. Pennington, from Somerset county, New Jersey, in 1847; Ephraim Pennington came with his son William. The father was a soldier of the Revolution, and died at his son's residence, aged ninety years; Josiah Lee, in 1845, settled on section twenty-two; Peter Powers, and his wife, Julia A. (Kennedy) Powers, in 1849, on section nineteen; Harry L. Smith and his wife, Eunice ; Charles Bowen in 1843; he came from Berkshire county, Massachusetts, and married in this county to Miss Julia A. Baldwin; William Lee and family, in 1846; they came from Gorham; William A. Williams and his brother, Edward, in 1845; Ezra Mead and William E. Parmalee, in 1840; Thomas Cuff and Asahel Kennedy in 1840; John W. Bradley, James H. Turner, Jesse Thorpe, Washington Thorpe, Chauncey Bulkley, Asahel Scofield, John Moffett, Fletcher Bishop, Lewis A. Lee, Almon M. Lee, Charles McKenzie, Clarkson Warne, Lafayette Sherman, Peter Romans, Oliver Todd, Oliver Griffith, John H. Martin, Moses LaRue, Daniel Clock, Samuel Stout, William Holben, William Lee, James Martin, John Smith, Isaac Jones, Peter Jones, Jackson Jones, I. Schoonover, Holloway H. Beatty, and his sons, Sidney S. Beatty and Whitfield Beatty, who came from Sussex county, New Jersey, in 1845 Eustice Leggett, John Stites, Samuel Gillis, who under the present constitution was honored as the first probate judge of the county. He died many years ago.
David Marks was born in Ashland county, Ohio, August 28, 1837, and came with his parents to Fulton county, eight years later. He belonged to Company H of the Third Ohio Cavalry, during the war of 1861-65, and served as General Wood's body guard, dispatch carrier etc., until discharged on account of illness in 1862. Afterwards he re-enlisted in the one hundred days' service.
Josiah Lee, a pioneer farmer of Chesterfield township, was born in Holmes county, Ohio, October 6, 1823. He moved to what was then Lucas county, in 1845, where he remained for over three years, when sickness in his family compelled him to return to Holmes county. In 1855 he moved to Fulton county and settled in Chesterfield township on section twenty-two, at which time he purchased 120 acres of land, a farm that he afterwards increased to 157 acres. He held different offices of trust in the township during a period of twenty years, among them being the office of assessor for three years.
Few postoffices, possibly not more than one or two, have ever been established in Chesterfield township. But the "star route" system distribution has been superseded in recent years by the admirable system of rural free deliveries, and the need of country offices is no longer felt.
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CHAPTER XVIII
ROYALTON TOWNSHIP
THIS is not the largest, nor is it the wealthiest and best improved township in the county. But the soil is largely of what they called in the early days, "low lands," under the excellent system of under draining and ditching has become unsurpassed in fertility. The higher lands, though good for grazing fields and reasonably productive in the growth of grain and fruits, are less fertile than the redeemed swamp or marsh lands. The main water courses run through the center of the township, a northeasterly course, and are but a continuation of the waters of Ten Mile Creek, referred to in the history Amboy township. This stream has its rise in the adjoining township of Chesterfield, on the west. Another prominent water course comes out of Michigan and runs south, just west of the village of Lyons, and empties into Ten Mile Creek. The waters of the greater part of this township empty into Ten Mile Creek, and flow with a gentle slope in their long run for an outlet. The strew upon the southern side find their way south to Swan Creek ash Bad Creek, coursing their way down to the Maumee river, and emptying therein, by two different outlets, into Maumee bay. The land was originally covered with a large growth of excellent timber, which, instead of adding to its value in the early days, involved a large amount of labor and expense in the removal and the preparation of the soil for cultivation. Much of this was rolled into log heaps and burned on the ground, a prodigal destruction of much Wealth, had it existed in later years. The principal varieties of timber were the black walnut, hickory, sugar maple, burr-oak, butternut, wild cherry and elm, on the lower lands, with oak, ofttimes of a Scrubby variety, on the higher or uplands.
Royalton was the fourth township in its organization m the county, being organized June 4, 1837. Since its organization there has been but one change in its size, when the three southern tiers of sections were taken from it and added to the newly created township of Pike. As is well understood, it is in the northern tier of townships and lies between Amboy on the east and Chesterfield on the west, Pike bounding it on the south and the State of Michigan on the north.
There has been a little difference of opinion as to who was the first settler in the township, but Eli Phillips is generally accorded that honor. Mr. Verity, who took a great deal of interest in local
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history and wrote quite extensively upon the Subject, thus disposes of the question of the first Settlement in Royalton township:
“Coming into the territory, as these early settlers did, from the east, by the lake or the so-called white prairie schooner, upon its southern shore, through Ohio, or from the North, through Canada, via Detroit, it was quite natural that these explorations should be solely confined to this territory. Not Until 1832, did entries begin be made. In this year Eli Phillips entered his land, and his charter right to it (a deed and seal), was signed by Andrew Jackson, president of the United States. Early in the season of the following it year Eli Phillips, with his young wife, started from the vicinity of Adrian for this disputed Strip, and located where he had purchased the year before, upon sections ten and eleven, town 9 south, range now 3 east, now in the township of Royalton, which was then an unbroken wilderness for at least seventy miles due west, and none nearer on the south than the Maumee river. Who, of today, would by willing to take such a step for a home, then of so little money value and face the difficulties apparently insurmountable, to make one of greater value? Accustomed as he was to the Berkshire hills of old Massachusets, where he was born, in the land of the Puritans and of learning, with his young wife, Vesta (Arnold) Phillips, and children, we must realize that in that time the trial was a severe one, but through all these difficulties there was no repining. Mr. Phillips has kept that land, and he lives upon it today [1888]. It was fifty-four [now seventy-one] years ago that he erected the log cabin, the first of this township, and also the first upon the soil of Fulton county. Very soon after Eli Phillips settled in this township, others followed, and came to stay. Butler Richardson, it is said, was the next to follow Eli Phillips. He came in May, 1834, from Niagara county, New York, and settled upon section 15. He was born in Ontario county, New York, June 30, 1806. In later years he returned to Niagara county, where he was married to Elizabeth McCumber, on October 1, 1839, and came from there to Fulton county, and became one of the successful farmers of Royalton township. He had a family of three children. On the first of February, 1866, his son, Chapman, was supposed to have been murdered, while he was caring for the stock. On that fatal morning the barn was set on fire and consumed. His bones were found among the ruins, together with the remains of nineteen head of cattle. Prosecutions were made, but no convictions obtained. At in same time Mr. Richardson lost a large amount of hay and farm utensils."
George W. Welsh, another of the pioneers, was born in Montgomery county, New York, October 13, 1804, and came from Niagara county, that State, to Royalton in 1834, settling upon section 15, where he lived and reared 'a large family. During his life he was called upon to fill the several offices of township trustee, justice of the peace, township clerk, and assessor.
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Barney M. Robinson was another old pioneer of the township. He was born in Dutchess county, New York, March 5, 1812, and with his wife came to this county in 1839. Before locating here, he had been called out by General Brown, of "Ohio and Michigan war" fame, and participated in the military maneuvers of that bloodless affair. But this was not even a taste of war, and on March 1, 1861, Mr. Robinson enlisted in Company I of the sixty-seventh regiment, Ohio Volunteer Infantry, and served eleven months, when he was honorably discharged
Charles D. Smith, who came to this territory during the stormy contest for ownership of the disputed strip, was born in Orange county, New York, July 24, 1811, and came to Fulton county in 1835, settling on section 7. He died at his home in Royalton township, October 21, 1858, in the prime of his manhood. He was a highly respected citizen, and was thrice honored by the people of the county by being elected to the position of Sheriff.
Amos Rathbun came to Fulton county in 1837. He was the among men of that time who came to make a home and was ever willing to endure the hardships incident to a pioneer life. He was born at Salem, Connecticut, January 20, 1812, and grew to manhood among the thrifty New Englanders, being fully prepared when he came to Fulton county, as a man, to meet the Indian ground, and subdue an almost unbroken wilderness. Mr. Rathbun built the first schoolhouse in his neighborhood, of logs, with a floor of Split puncheons, hewed upon the face, the seats and desks being of the same material. It was built upon the corner of his farm, one mile south of the present village of Lyons. In later years he left the county and settled near Weston, Lenawee county, Michigan, where he died August 18, 1887.
Jenks Morey came to this county in 1838, from Mentor, Lake county, Ohio, and settled upon section 9, Royalton township, where a large part of the village of Lyons is now built. He kept the
first hotel in the township, in 1850, in a fine wooden structure, in hotel accommodations were furnished for years. He died after many years of toil in the wilderness, November 15, 1871.
Elias Richardson came to Royalton township May 14, 1836, and settled first upon Section 9, but afterwards bought eighty acres adjoining, on Section 10, upon which he built a frame house in which he resided the greater part of his life. He was one of the directors of the plank road which was built in 1850, from Toledo to Morenci, Michigan, and built eleven miles of the road. Thomas Richardson came at the same time of his brother Elias, and Hiram Richardson came in 1837, a year later, all of them being from Niagara County, New York. Elias. Richardson was twice honored by the people of the county with the office of county commissioner, and served six years.
John Sturtevant came in 1835, Joseph H. Applegate in 1834, and Witt L. Windship in 1835. Benjamin Davis came in 1838, from Dutchess county, New York, and became a very successful farmer
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and business man of the county. Ansel H. Henderson came in 1835. He was born in Niagara county, New York, November 22, 1813, and after settling in Royalton was recognized as a leading man, filling the offices of assessor, township trustee, and other positions of trust.
George B. Brown came in 1836. He was born in Connecticut and was honored by being chosen as the first sheriff of Fulton county. In 1836, there came to this township many families whose members have been honored citizens. Amos H. Jordan and Henry Jordan came from Vermont ; A. C. Osborn, who Settled on Section 15, came from Montgomery county, New York ; Jared Hoadley, David L. Buler, who first settled in Royalton township in 1836, and several years later, 1855, bought a farm in Amboy and moved there ; Ebenezer S. .Carpenter, Mordecai Carpenter, Willey Carpenter, John T. Carpenter and Snow Carpenter. "Uncle" Billy Smith came
to this township in 1833, with, or Soon after, Eli Phillips. Smith was a bachelor. Warren Dodge settled in the township in 1834, coming from New York. Joshua Youngs Settled here in 1835. The same year David Wood settled on section 9. Frasier Smalley came in 1834, and in 1835 came William and Charles Blain, brothers, who settled in the eastern part on the line of Amboy and Royalton townships. Alpheus Fenner was born in Berkshire county, Massachussets, July 29, 1813, and settled in Fulton county in 1838, on section 10, of Royalton township, being one of the pioneers of the county. He filled the office of constable and other positions of trust.
Enois C. Daniels was born in Madison county, New York, December 22, 1814, and settled in Fulton county in March, 1840, where he built the first frame hotel, first church, brick building, dwelling house and block in Lyons, and the first grist-mill in Royalton township.
Samuel Carpenter came to Lenawee county, Michigan, in 1828, and from there to Fulton county, in 1843, consequently he had more experience in pioneering than most of the persons named. He settled on sections 21 and 22, just sixteen miles south of Adrian At or near the hamlet called Logan (now Adrian) Mr. Carpenter spent most of his boyhood days.
Michael Forester and Patrick Burroughs came to this county in 1840, and the former lived to be over one hundred years old. David Potes came in 1840, John Hinkle in 1838, and Nathaniel S. Ketchum in 1835, the latter being from Orange county, New York. John, Erastus and James Welsh came in 1838, from Niagara county, New York. Many others came during the same period whose names have been lost or not definitely ascertained.
The early schools are Spoken of in the chapter on "Educational Development," but it is perfectly germane to say here that the educational interests in Royalton township have kept pace with the Onward march of civilization in other directions. The log structure of pioneer days soon gave place to the more pretentious buildings of the middle period, and these, in turn, to the modern and finely
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equipped buildings of the present day. Among the first teachers of the township were Miss Olive Green and Warren J. Hendrix.
Elder Hodge, a Baptist minister, was the first preacher in the township, and Colonel Lathrop of Lucas county preached in the very easy days to those of the Universalist faith. The first church was the Universalist at Lyons, in 1862. There are now four churches in the township: one Universalist, one Disciples in Christ (both of these being in the village of Lyons,) one Free Methodist and one Methodist Episcopal, the last two being on the eastern border of the township.
The first burial places in the township were usually private grounds, established on the farms as necessity required; but finally public cemeteries were laid out, and these "cities of the dead," of which there are several in Royalton township, receive the care and attention that is due them.
Almost all the early families obtained their flour at Tecumseh Michigan and those who did not were compelled to go further before finding another mill. Probably the first saw mill constructed and operated in the township was built in 1850, by the Plank Road Company, and it was located on the west side of the present Lyons cemetery. James Baker of Gorham was the manager of the mill, which was used exclusively for sawing plank for the road. The mill in later years, was moved to Gorham where it was owned and run by Thomas F. Baker.
There is but one small town in Royalton township— Lyons or Morey's Corers, the postoffice name being the former. From the days of its existence it has been a popular trading point, and in later years it has progressed until it does quite a flourishing business being sustained by an excellent farming country. In writing of churches, schools and other public enterprises, this village has been frequently mentioned. The various industries incident to town of this size, together with the social, religious, educational and political functions, are all represented, while the mercantile and other business interests are quite extensive.
Rural postoffices for the accommodation of the people were early established, some of which were kept in the farm houses. They have been discontinued on the adoption of the admirable system of "rural free delivery," which brings almost every farmer in daily contact With the outside world, and his mail is left at his door. Add to this the convenience of the modern telephone, and the isolation of country life is reduced to the minimum.
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CHAPTER XIX
CLINTON TOWNSHIP
PREVIOUS to March 5, 1838, the territory of Clinton township, excepting the two tiers of sections on the south, was attached to York township for the convenience of the people in the adjustment of local affairs. On the date above written, Clinton township was organized by taking from York township towns 7 and 8 north, ranges 5 and 6 east, and the first election therein was held on the first Monday of April, 1838.
Clinton township originally included in its domain what is now German township, and all of Dover which lies south of the Fulton line. This territory was taken from Clinton, of course, when the townships named were erected; and the last change in boundary, which gave Clinton its present size, was made under the provisions of the act erecting Fulton county, said act giving to the new county and Clinton township a Strip of land two miles in width, taken from the northern border of Henry county. The adjoining townships to Clinton are York on the east, Dover on the north, German on the west and Freedom township, in Henry county, on the south.
The topographical features of the township are not very striking, if to be so comprehends a great variety of natural scenery. The broad and fertile fields, rich and productive, are the principal sources of agricultural wealth. The first settlers of the township were of the class of the heroic pioneers who were identified with the settlement of all of this portion of Ohio. They were seeking homes on productive soil, and hence the lands of Clinton township were very generally occupied by actual settlers at an early date in the history of the present limits of the county.
In December, 1835, EliSha Williams removed from Seneca county, Ohio, with his wife and four grown-up children - John H. Williams, Jerry Williams, Burt Williams, and a daughter who became the wife of Thomas Lingle. Mr. Williams and his son, John H., came to what was called the "Six Mile Woods" in October, 1835, and erected a cabin on the farm which was afterward owned by Elijah Burr; and then returning to their Seneca county home, they came on with the family in December, and established themselves in their new domicile. About this time, and perhaps a little later than the first visit of the Messrs. Williams, Thomas Lingle came into the township. He was a bachelor, and about two years afterward, on January 7, 1838, he was united in marriage
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to Miss Lucinda Williams, eldest daughter of the first settler. This was the first marriage contracted in the township.
In 1836, a large accession was made to the settlements of the year before, and among the number that came to the township were: Avery Lamb, who brought his family from Onondaga, NewYork, in June, and Settled on Section twenty-four, having come alone the previous winter and built his cabin ; and John Losure and family came in the Summer of 1836. In April, 1837, Isaac Tedrow and family and William Mikesell and wife came and settled, the former on Section nine and the latter on section fourteen. In September of the same year, a large party arrived, consisting of George Mikesell, Sr., and his sons, George, Jr., Adam, Thomas, and James, and a daughter, MrS. Mary Case, and her Son, T. J. Case (then nine years old), who died in 1904; Thomas Bayes, Sr., and his sons, William and Meek, and their families. These all settled in one neighborhood. Elisha Huntington seems to have been the first man with his family to have entered Clinton township in 1836, March being the month of their arrival. He Settled upon section twenty-five, and became one of the foremost men of the township in that early day, continuing an active life until his death in 1866.
William Fraker, who in later years was a prominent citizen of Clinton township, was also one of the pioneers of Fulton county. He was born in Ohio, January 19, 1822, and in boyhood came to Fulton county in 1835. He lived in York township for a number of years, and then moved to Clinton township, on section eighteen and became a very successful farmer.
The first election in Clinton township was held at the home of John LoSure, Sr., on the first Monday in April, 1838, at which fifteen votes were polled, and the following persons were elected to the several offices: Elisha Williams, justice of the peace; Thomas Bayes and Jonathan Barnes, trustees; William Jones, Sr., clerk. It is impossible to give the names of those who voted at this first election, but the names of those who were residents of the township at the time of its organization will Suffice. The list may not be complete, but as near as can be ascertained the following settlers were then living within the limits of the township: Elisha Williams, Avery Lamb, Horace Pease, John Losure Sr., William Bayes, Elisha Huntington, Erastus Briggs, Sr. Cyrus Coy; William Jones, George and Thomas Mikesell, Thomas McKibben, Jonathan Barnes, Asa Young, William Mikesell, Samuel Beck, Isaac Tedrow, William Dye, Henry Krontz, St. B. Geer, S. B. Willey, Isaac Dowel, Holmes Bishop, ThomaS Lingle, Samuel Gould, Lewis and Samuel Eckhart, John Lillick, Jonathan Inman, Ebenezer Keizer, George Mikesell, Sr., Adam Mikesell, Thomas Bayes, Sr Meek Bayes and Philip Krontz.
Among the old pioneers of Clinton township is William W. Bayes, who was born in Somerset county, Pennsylvania. He was reared to manhood in Holmes county, Ohio, and in 1837 migrated to Fulton county and located in Clinton township. At that time Fulton
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county was in a state of nature, but Mr. Bayes took up a piece of land which he began farming. He became a prominent and influential man, and was very active in all church affairs, services being held in his house until they could find larger quarters. The town elections were also held at his log house for several years, such was the public spirit manifested by him.
Thomas McKibben came to America from Ireland, in which county he was born in 1806. He came to Fulton county in the early part of 1838, and lived in Clinton township until his death in 1873.
Henry Krontz was born in Bedford county, Pennsylvania, and settled in Clinton township in 1836. He was born in 1800, and early in life took up his residence in Holmes county, Ohio, and from there removed to Fulton county, where he spent the remainder of his life, his death occurring in 1874.
Thomas Lingle was born in 1807, and hence was twenty-nine years old when he came to Fulton county. He purchased 160 acres of land in Clinton township, paying therefor $1.25 per acre, and lived in the township until his death, March 23, 1886.
After the first two years of the advance guard in this wilderness home, there commenced a rapid influx of settlers to Clinton township, to whom vantage ground was given by the assistance of the first dwellers and workers, but the newcomers soon became used to the toils of a frontiersman's life. Among those who came during the few years following the organization of the township were: Joseph Wells, James C. Cornell, Jacob First, Robert McClarren, John Newcomer, John A. Clark, Jacob Funk, James Pease, John Hartman, George Beal, Jacob Miley, Matthias Miley, Joseph L. Royce, L. T. Morris, James Dunbar, John J. Clark, Shipman Losure Linfoot, William Harrison, David Gorsuch, Nathaniel Gorsuch, William Hill, David Cantlebury, Jesse Pocock, Israel Pocock, Jonas Batdorf, Jerome Shaw, Ford Lyon, Henry B. Williams, Anthony B. Robinson, and many others who came to the township to make for themselves and families a home.
Joseph Wells Was born in Holmes county, Ohio, October 14, 1817, and settled in Clinton township in 1838.
James C. Cornell was a native of New Jersey, and settled in Clinton township in 1839, where he resided until his death in 1882, at the advanced age of seventy-six years. In early life he was engaged in the tailoring business, but later gave his entire attention to farming.
Jacob First was born in Wayne county, Ohio, April 18, 1818. It is not known definitely just when he came to Clinton township, but he was married here on November 29, 1842, so it is certain that he located here prior to that date. His wife was Miss Lucinda Geer, daughter of Smith and Orlinda Geer, who settled in Fulton county in 1840.
Robert McClarren was born in Maryland January 28, 1809, and settled in Fulton county, February 6, 1836. though it is not certain that Clinton township was the place of his first residence.
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John Newcomer was a native of Pennsylvania, born in 1807, and removed to Fulton county, in 1844.
John A. Clark was born in Allegheny county, Maryland, September 19, 1829. He was a son of Ebenezer and Mary Clark, both natives of Maryland, and as a youth accompanied them to Fulton county, settling in Clinton township in 1841.
Jacob Funk was born in Wayne county, Ohio, February 13, 1818, and settled in Clinton township in 1843.
James Pease was born in New York, May 4, 1821, and settled in Clinton township in 1842. He was an earnest church worker, and gave freely to Christian enterprises, especially the erection of beings for public worship.
John Hartman, Sr., and John Hartman, Jr., father and son, settled in Clinton township in 1845. The younger man was born in Wurtemburg, Germany, in 1830, and one year later the family emigrated to America, first settling in Fairfield county, Ohio, then, in 1845, removing to Fulton county. The father was born in 1800, and died in Clinton township in 1850.
Joseph L. Royce was born in Lyme, Connecticut, in settled in 1809, and Clinton township, in 1842, locating on section twenty-one L. T. Morris was born in Ontario county, New York, in 1821 and settled on section eleven, Clinton township, in 1848.
John J. Clark was a native of Pennsylvania and settled in Clinton township, in 1839.
Nathaniel Gorsuch was born in Wayne county, Ohio, July 1, 1824, and settled in Clinton township, on Section seventeen, in 1848.
Jesse Pocock was born in Tuscarawas county, Ohio, in 1828, and in 1842 came to Clinton township with his parents, Eli and Catherine Pocock. who were natives of Maryland. They settled on the northeast quarter of section twenty-six, paying therefor three dollars per acre.
Henry B. Williams was born in Lindley, Steuben county, New York, in September, 1816, and was a son of Cornelius Williams. He spent his early life in Geneva, New York, and while quite young was thrown upon his own resources and compelled to take care of himself. He settled in Geauga county, Ohio, in 1833, and, in 1837, removed to Medina county, where he lived until 1853, when settled at Lena, Fulton county, and in April, 1866, came to Wauseon and engaged in the saw and planing-mill business with his son Henry Holmes Williams. He retired from active business in 1880 and died a few years ago.
Anthony B. Robinson was, born in the valley of Salt Wayne county, Ohio, September 28, 1825. His father was a farmer living in Salt Creek valley, and there Anthony B. spent the days of boyhood and youth, working on the farm and attending school. When he was eighteen years old, he attended Edinburgh Academy, in Wayne county, preparing himself for teaching and civil engineering. After sortie four or five terms at the academy, he commenced
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teaching and so continued for twenty-eight terms, gradually taking rank with the best and most successful instructors of the county. For four years he was one of the principals of the Fredericksburg school, which was a "summer and winter" school. Mr. Robinson followed teaching and working on a farm until 1862, devoting his leisure time and to the study of civil engineering, with the intention to go to Iowa and follow surveying; but the unexpected death of his father materially changed his plans for the future, and he decided to remain in Ohio. During the year 1862, he came to Fulton county and took up his residence on a farm about one and one-half miles southwest of Wauseon. In 1871, he was elected county surveyor and held that office for twelve consecutive years; and in the office of justice of the peace of Clinton, township, he served for an unbroken term of eighteen years.
Clinton township does not differ materially from the other town ships of the county in regard to early industries. The pioneer mills, churches and schools had their existence, and with the exception of the latter, have mostly passed away, with the increasing prominence of Wauseon as a marketing and trading point, coupled with the superior advantages of the village in a religious and educational way. The principal grain drops are wfieat and corn, for the product, and which the soil is admirably adapted. Corn is the staple product, and his is largely fed to cattle and hogs, these being the source of a large income. Horses and sheep are also raised with profit, on the rich grazing fields afforded on the productive farms, and which are not used at the time for the cultivation of crops.
It will not be out of place here to mention a couple of seasons, of which there is no record excepting in the memory of the very oldest residents. The summer of 1838 was very dry, so that the ponds were nearly all dried up and a large number of cattle died, of bloody murrain. Again, during the long and very cold winter of 1842-3, many of the later-coming settlers were short of feed for their cattle. To help out they cut elm and basswood trees and drove the cattle in to browse, thus keeping in them alive until grass started in the spring.
There are twelve school districts in Clinton township, exclusive of the Wauseon public schools, and one special joint district at Pettisville. With a carefully graded course of study, these give the persisting students the advantages of a good common school education, and fit their graduates for the ordinary business of life. The work of the common schools should not be passed without mentioning two teachers who for years, during the 50's, taught in northeastern Clinton township, and left their impress on the youth of those days, These teachers were John McIninch and Roswell Raymond.
In the year 1854, the Air Line division of the New York Central and Lake Shore system of railways, then. known as the Southern Michigan & Northern. Indiana (which it was always called in the early days), having been extended far enough west of the city of To-
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ledo, its initial point, to pierce the site of the present county seat of Fulton county, it waS clearly apparent that somewhere in this vicinity a new village would be located. Epaphras L. Barber, at that time a young man and one of the civil engineers engaged in the survey and construction of the road, learned of the probability that a station would be established at the present site of Wauseon, and in conjunction with John H. Sargent, who was assistant chief engineer of the road, Nathaniel Leggett and William Hall, the latter being an attorney of Maumee City, bought of Thomas Bayes, one hundred and sixty acres of land, which comprised what is known in the records of the county as the original plat of Wauseon. Mr. Hall was interested in the transaction only until the completion of the laying out of the lots in the original plat, and he then sold his interest to Mr. Leggett.
The residence of Mr. Bayes at that time, the only structure on the present village site, was a log building standing a few south and west of the court house. Thomas F. Wright was the surveyor employed to "lay out" the town and the plat was recorded in the County Recorder's office on April 11, 1854. Then the sale of lots began and the erection of buildings was commenced. Though a considerable settlement was made on the town site, during the few years following this action on the part of the proprietors and founders, the town was not formally incorporated until 1859. The original plat of the town contained one hundred and forty-eight in-lots with alleys between abutting lots, all being bounded by streets of proper width, Fulton street, the principal business thoroughfare, being one hundred feet wide. It is easy to imagine that the course of the streets was marked by blazed trees, for the virgin forest was as yet undisturbed by the ax of civilization, with a few exceptions only.
It is not possible to produce a complete and accurate list of names of the first dwellers in the town; but the first house built on the site of Wauseon after it was laid out, was erected at the corner of Birch and Fulton Streets by E. L. Hayes. It occupied the place where now stands the spacious three-story brick block, owned by the Masonic fraternity of Wauseon, F. R. Smallman and F. C. Bogart. The old structure was a two-Story frame house, its first floor being utilized for a general or country store by Mr. Hayes and his family lived up stairs. In 1871, for the purpose of making room for the brick building, it was removed to the farm just at the southeast edge of the village, now owned by Alfred F. Shaffer, became the upright of a very comfortable and roomy farm dwelling.
Thus, E. L. Hayes was the first merchant to establish him business in Wauseon, and John Williams built the first tavern. It was a frame dwelling and stood on the corner of Beach and Fulton streets, being first known as the Estelle House. Its first land lords and proprietors were W. E. and D. 0. Livermore, who came to Wauseon from Utica, New York, their native city and State
Gen. E. L. Hayes, who is now a resident of Glen Ridge, New
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Jersey, in a letter to Joel Brigham of Wauseon, gives the following historical incident in regard to the naming of the future county seat “Now I may mention the way the name of the town was selected. In the spring of 1854, the proprietors of the land, Messrs. Leggett, Barber and Sargent, met at my store for the purpose of selecting a name. Litchfield, Hayesville, and several other names were mentioned. While sitting at the dinner table Mr. Leggett Said to my oldest daughter, 'Hortense, perhaps you can suggest a name.' She replied; “Mr. D. W. H. Howard visited us a few days ago, and he remarked that he was pretty sure the hill west of the Station was the ground upon which a tribe of Indians (the Maumees) were once camped and a council was held there for the purpose of purchasing the lands of that tribe. The name of the chief was Wauseon.' My daughter was so impressed with the recital by Mr. Howard that she stated it as above to the proprietors, and in a few days thereafter we received the word that Wauseon had been decided upon as the or the town."
With an honorable record of more than fifty years of existence, Wauseon well sustains her long established reputation for solidity and the merited compliment of being a good town. The men who established the little hamlet in the woods, in 1854, founded that on, reputation and their descendants and successors have well maintained it.
The religious and educational affairs of the village also received early attention and liberal support. Merchants were aggressive and public spirited, their stocks often rivaling in value those exhibited by present day dealers. But if the reader will stop and reflect, he will observe that all the business of the earlier days, as well as at present, was closely related to agricultural supremacy. Fulton was then as now the center of one of the richest agricultural districts in the United States, a distinction which the locality has retained with creditable success. All business was directed towards handling the products of the farms and in supplying the farmers' needs.
The early settlers and business men of Clinton township were generally people with agricultural tendencies and traditions They sons of farmers, and parental traditions and customs are strong within the human breast. These men purchased land, cultivated and improved it, erected dwelling houses and lived out their allotted days in the peace and harmony of the quiet community their industry had established.
Wauseon has a population of two thousand one hundred and forty-eight according to the census of 1900. It contains a number of handsome and expensive residences and public buildings, while the average homes evince the air of thrift and prosperity in their surroundings, in keeping with the industry and frugality of the occupants. The village contains fewer poor and squalid residences, indicative of poverty and miSery, than most villages of its size.
The sanitary conditions are excellent and the drainage system as
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good as can be had. The board of health and sanitary officers are vigilant in the discharge of their official duties, and the streets and alleys are kept in the most perfect Sanitary condition. A well organized and trained volunteer fire department is equipped with the latest and best apparatus for the purpose designed. The efficiency of the department has been demonstrated on many occasions. A police force, the guardians of the public peace and property, although few in number, are noted for their efficiency in the line of official duties, and the village marshal, Frank Yarnell, has received high commendation for successful detective work. He and his deputies are courteous and obliging men, to whose vigilance and alertness, the village boasts, is due the Small percentage of unlawful acts.
The municipal government of Wauseon for the present year (1905) is as follows : Mayor, A. P. Biddle; Street commissioner, and marshal, Frank Yarnell; chief of the fire department, Philip Schletz ; clerk, A. S. Bloomer; treasurer, H. A. Barber. The council is organized as follows: W. D. Van Renssellaer, president; John Strong, W. H. Eager, Howard Lyon, Charles Cole and Thomas Mikesell. The board of health is organized with Frank Yarnell as health officer.
The nucleus of the present city library originated in 1875, when the cultured ladies and gentlemen of Wauseon took hold of the matter in earnest and organized the Citizens' Library Association. The books were kept at various places in the town until 1902, when a room in the court house was secured, which place is the home of the library at present. The first librarian after the association was organized was Miss Eva Boughton, who was followed in that capacity by different ones. Finally, Mary S. Hunt was given charge and she has continued to serve as librarian for several years. In 1904, negotiations were opened with Andrew Carnegie, looking to a donation by him to Wauseon for library purposes. The effort successful, the steel magnate agreeing to give seven thousand five hundred dollars upon condition that the citizens of Wauseon would furnish an annuity of seven hundred and fifty dollars to support the enterprise. The board of education of the Wauseon school district invoked the power, which is given them by statute, and levied a tax of one mill upon the property valuation of the district, and thus guaranteed the satisfaction of Mr. Carnegie's proposal. The Carnegie library building iS now in course of erection on Elm street, just off Fulton street, and the same will be completed and made ready for occupancy at the earliest possible moment. It will then be a popular resort, much appreciated by the studious citizens of all ages ; and Wauseon may well be proud of her public library, where three thousand choice volumes await the call of its patrons.
Wauseon is represented in journalism by three weekly newspapers, but as these have been given appropriate mention in another chapter, a repetition is not necessary. Nothing like an extended notice of the various religious organizations which have
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existed in the village of Wauseon can be attempted in this volume. The little leaven planted so many years ago has grown to mammoth proportions, and no town of like size in the State of Ohio possesses greater evidence of spiritual growth, or more devout and conscientious leaders in the great cause of Christian life. Several churches have been organized from time to time, in which the teal of their promoters exceeded the demand for their services, hence they had but an ephemeral existence. But of the persisting organizations which have grown to prominence and influence, there are several, and their present day status is the best evidence of their high Standing liberal Support.
The history of early Methodism in Wauseon dates from the first year of the town's existence, and is centered around a wooden house of worship, which stood at the northeast corner, of Fulton and Elm streets, where now is the brick block belonging to the Charles Gray estate, the upper floor of which is occupied by the printing office of the Wauseon Republican, The present church was erected in 1874, and is an imposing structure. Many familiar names have been associated with this congregation, and many distinguished divines have been connected with the organization. Rev. W. W. Lance is the present pastor.
There are in Wauseon devout and pious Catholics; but their numbers are small, and a missionary priest, at stated periods, holds service. They have a church edifice, and few as are the numbers of these worshipers, they command a high degree of respect from co-religionists on account of the firmness they manifest in holding fast to their faith.
First Baptist church of Wauseon was organized in 1864. The first regular pastor was Rev. George Leonard. The congregation has a neat church building on the west side of Fulton street, south of the railroad.
The Disciples, or Christian church, in charge of Rev. Charles Oakley, is located on the northside of Elm street, east of Fulton, regular services are conducted.
The United Brethren in Chrit have an organization in Wauseon the church being located on the east sides of Fulton avenue. Rev. Oren Misamore is pastor in charge and conducts services every Sunday, twice each alternate Sunday.
There is an Evangelical church building, located on West Chestnut street, in Wauseon, and quite a number of professors tenets of the of that creed are in the village and neighborhood.
The distinctive faith of New England Congregationalism has been prominent in the religious culture of the citizens of Wauseon, a number of its leading families being from the land of Puritanism. The Congregational society of Wauseon dates back to 1861. Their handsome, new and commodious place of worship was built and dedicated in 1904. It stands on the southeast corner of Clinton and Elm streets..
The public burial place of Wauseon is located one-half mile west
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of the village, just beyond the corporation limits. It comprises ten acres of mound-shaped land, and is far enough away from the busy bustle of village life to give it the quiet and seclusion which one always associates with a burial place for the dead; hence the selection of the site, which has been beautified as the years passed, until it is now an ideal spot. It contains the mortal remains of several of Fulton county's most distinguished citizens, whose final resting place are rendered conspicuous by the erection of worthy monuments. The private citizen and the soldier are equally honored by the reverence and sacrifice of surviving friends, to the end that this sacred spot is rendered beautiful in keeping with the sadly reverential purpose which made its existence a necessity.
The business interests of Wauseon are varied and extensive. The mercantile houses compare favorably in extent, variety and quality of goods with any town of equal size in the state. The volume of business is very large when the close proximity of rival towns is considered. The mercantile houses are generally backed with resources commensurate to their demands, and the element of losses from bad accounts is reduced to the minimum, by reason of the stable cjharacter of the buyers. Perhaps no town in the state, of equal size, has a smaller percentage of losses from bad debts. This is due, in part, to the fact that buyers are permanent residents, usually owning their own homes, though the element of honesty and business integrity among them is a dominant feature.
The social spirit of Wauseon is revealed in the following list of secret and benevolent societies: Masonic—Wauseon lodge No. 349, F. and A. M.; Wauseon Chapter No. 111, R. A. M.; Wauseon Council No. 68, R. and S. M. Independent Order of Odd Fellows, Wauseon lodge No. 362. The Grand Army of the Republic has as organization—Losure Post No. 35. Auxiliary to this is the Woman’s Relief Corps. There are lodges of the Knights of Pythias (No. 156). National Union, Modern Woodmen of America, and Knights of the Maccabees. It would be interesting to have the history of these various organizations, particularly the more important ones, but lack of space forbids the attempt.
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CHAPTER XX
GORHAM TOWNSHIP
THE territory embraced within this township is peculiar for having been in four township organizations, to-wit : Logan, Medina and Chesterfield, of the eat part, and Millcreek, of
the wetern part, and fifthly, and lastly, Gorham. As originally organized the township included all the land now within its limits, excepting three tiers of sections on the west, as well as one-half of the township of Franklin, which lies north of the Fulton line. The organization of Gorham dates from 1838, and its original territory has since contributed to the formation of Franklin township.
Upon the organization of Fulton county, in 1850, three tiers of sections were taken from the east side of Millcreek township, in Williams county, and attached to Gorham; and again, at some period of time since the organization of the township, and by the commissioners of county, the west half of sections seven and eighteen was detached from Chesterfield township and attached to Gorham, so that at present the township contains nearly forty-four full sections of land. Gorham is not only one of the most fertile and naturally wealthy townships of the county, but it is also one of the most prosperous in its material development. The course of the streams through the township is generally southeast towards Bean creek, which runs upon its eastern boundary, crossing the southeast corner, and thence southwest across Franklin on its southern boundary. The water power afforded by Bean creek was utilized in a very early day, when the primitive mills were hailed with delight by the industrious pioneers.
The first permanent improvement which was made in Gorham township is credited to Hiram Farwell, who came early in the fall of 1834 and settled on the east side of section ten, town nine south, range one east, now called Ritter's Station, on the Canada Southern railroad. He came from the State of New York with his wife, and raised a family of three girls and one boy. He was a man much esteemed by the early settlers for his candor and peace-making peculiarities in the whole range of his social circle. He sometimes preached and was often called to minister comfort and consolation to mourners at funerals and helped to lay at rest their dead. He has long since passed to that bourne from whence no traveler returns.
On December 31, 1834, in the evening, David Severance and his wife, Esther, arrived in the township of Millcreek (that portion of it which is now in Gorham) and located for themselves a farm on the
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north side of section thirty-six, town nine south, range one west of the meridian, which placed them among the early settlers of the original township of Millcreek, Williams county, and the sec family in the present limits of Gorham township. David Severance was born in the State of Vermont, and his wife, Esther (Knapp) Severance, was born in Jefferson county, New York, July 3, 1797. She died February 17, 1887, and David Severance in 1844. Both died upon the farm on which they first settled. They came to in Ohio 1819, soon after marriage. At the death of Esther Severance she ;eft six living children. (having, buried four), fifty-one grandchildren eighty-two great grandchildren, and two great-great grandchildren and many of this lineage are now living in the township of Gorham.
Among the settlers of 1834 that can be remembered were Abijah Coleman, town nine south, range one west, with a wife and family,
Waldron and Alfred Severance came at the same time, with their father and mother, David and Esther, and soon became the main support of a large and growing family.
Among those that came in 1835, that can now be called to mind were William Lee and his wife, who settled in Gorham in March 1835, upon section thirteen, town nine south, range one east of the meridian. William Lee was born at West Bloomfield, New York, in June, 1797, and died in Chesterfield township in 1854. He settled in Michigan about 1825, came to Gorham township in. 1835, and lived there until 1845, when he removed to Chesterfield. Mr. Lee was a tanner and currier by trade and upon settling in Gorham township became engaged in that business. He was justice of the peace and clerk of Chesterfield township at the time of his death. The very earliest of the settlements of Gorham township commenced just south of the Harris line, and north of this line many settlers had located at an earlier date. Very soon settlements commenced in the southwest corner and center of the township. They were John Gillett, Gorham Cottrell, Sr., September, 1835; Freeman Co June; Clement Coffin in June, and in September, 1835, Sardis, J and Erastus Cottrell. Gorham Cottrell, Sr., was born in Worthington, Hampshire county, Massachusetts, and died in Gorham township, which had been named for him, in 1852. He entered several hundred acres of land, and, with the assistance of his sons, cleared and improved the same. He was a very influential man. Just north of and contiguous to the Harris line were Henry Meach, Justice Cooley, James McCrillis, Sr., Orville Woodworth, Abel Perry, John Gould and Henry Teneyke, whose lands lay principally in Ohio. In the spring of 1835, came James Bakerl and wife, who settled on section fourteen, town nine south, range one east. They came from Pittstown, Rensselaer county, New York. He died many ago, his wife preceding him. In 1852 he built a saw-mill in Royalton township, just west of the present village of Lyons, and sawed the planks for that and the adjoining townships, for the plank road built in the season of 1853, and which road was laid out upon what is known in history as the Vistula road, leading from Toledo to
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Morenci, Michigan. James Baker was followed the same season by Martin Lloyd, Stephen Chaffee, William Sutton and Asa Butler. William Griffin was born in Westchester county, New York, and settled in Gorham township on August 8, 1837, with a wife and four children. He was a cooper and carpenter, but in early life began farming and followed that occupation until his death in 1843.
In the season of 1836 came Levi Crawford, Philip Clapper, John Whaley, John C. Whaley, Aaron Price, Nelson Fellows, John Danielson, his wife, Catherine, and son, Daniel Danielson.
Calvin Ackley came in 1840. He was born in Winfield, Herkimer county, New York, in 1815, settled in Fairfield county, Ohio, in 1836, and in 1837 purchased a farm of one hundred acres, for which he paid two and one-half dollars per acre. In 1840 he settled with his family in Millcreek township, or rather on that strip which was then in Williams county but is now a part of Gorham township, and he resided in Gorham the remainder of his earthly career. He purchased one hundred and fifty acres for three hundred dollars, in 1842, which he cleared and placed under cultivation. He was the first postmaster at Fayette and held that office for several years. He was also a justice of the peace and a member of the school board for many years.
Of the later settlers for 1837, 1838, 1839 and 1840, it is found from the best information on the subject, that they were George McFarland, John Jacoby, Elisha A. Baker, Simeon Baker, Lucius Ford, Nathan Shaw, Hosea Ford, Elijah Snow, wife and family, three boys and three girls; Wendal A. Mace and wife, one boy and two girls; George W. Sayles and family, Alfred Whitman and wife, Abel Paul and family, Nathan Salsbury and Nathan Salsbury, Sr., Joseph Sebring, Josiah Colvin, Milo Rice, John Kendall, M. D., James L. Griffin, Amos Kendall, M. D., Hiram Hadley, Alanson Pike, Rensselaer S. Humphrey and James P. Emerick. Of these we find that John Jacoby a native of Pennsylvania, came into what is now Fulton county, in 1835, and died here in 1842.
Nathan Shaw was a pioneer settler of Gorham township, coming here in 1838, and was born in Hampshire county, Massachusetts, in 1820. He removed to Michigan in 1833, and after coming west taught school for several terms. He became one of the representative men of Fayette; was justice of the peace, township treasurer, town clerk and a member of the school board for over thirty years. He purchased his farm, consisting of eighty acres, in 1844, but afterwards traded it for another, on which he spent the remainder of his life. He lived to see the wilderness cleared and the land blossoming as the rose, a country inhabited by the red men when he came settled by civilized people, and dotted over with school houses and churches.
Elijah Snow settled in Fulton county in 1839. George W. Sayles was born in Oneida county, New York, in 1807, and settled in Gorham township in 1838, when he purchased his homestead, consisting of 120 acres, for $250. Justus L. Hale was born in New York, May
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3, 1815, and settled in Fulton county in 1842. Willard E. Gay was born in Herkimer county, New York, March 29, 1815, and settled in Fulton county in 1841, his father, William Gay, having removed thither the previous year. Willard E. Gay filled the office of infirmary director of Fulton county.
Benjamin F. Russell was one of the early settlers of Gorham township, coming here in 1844, and was born in Rochester, Monroe county, New York, in 1818. He became engaged in the grocery and provision business at Maumee City, in 1841, but sold out and became a salesman, at Seneca, Michigan, in 1842. Two years later, he came to Gorham township and purchased a farm of thirty acres for which he paid $120. To this he added until he owned at one time nearly five hundred acres of land. He was a very active and successful man.
Almon J. Rice was born in Oneida county, New York, May 29, 1812, and settled in Gorham township in 1844. James L. Griffin came in 1837, when a mere boy, with his parents, William Griffin and wife, and consequently became well versed in the many trails of the early settlers and changes in the township and county. He was born in Delaware county, New York, in 1826. Amos Kindall, M. D., was born in Monroe county, New York, September 28, 1820, the son of Dr. John Kendall, who is spoken of on another page, Amos Kendall filled the position of postmaster at Fayette, and was justice of the peace sixteen years.
Within the first ten years a very large immigration set towards this township, mostly from central New York, and as Hiram Farwell first opened the forest to the sunlight, it was left for those to put the finishing touch to all that was primeval. They were Michael Martzolf, Ansel Ford, Sr., Asa Cottrell, Daniel Hoffman, Benedict Zimmerman, Cornelius Jones, Henry Emerick, John Saltzgaber, Oliver B. Verity, Day Otis Verity, James Henry Verity, Jacob Woodward, Abraham Van Valkenburg, Ephraim, Sergent, Truman L. Scofield, Jacob Cox, Martin Beilhartz, William H. Conrad, Amos Ford, Philander Crane, Israel Mattern, Jacob Mattern, A. P. Boyd, Joseph 0. Allen, Jacob Demerrit, John Gamber, Henry Gamber, George Acker, Sr., George Acker, Jr, Charles Hoffman, Samuel Hoffman, Isaac Hoffman, Daniel Hoffman, John Paul, Obediah Griffin, John Woodward, Stilly Huffman, William Davis, Daniel Bear, William C. Ely, Joseph Ely, Benjamin Dee, Stephen Hicker, Franklin Ford, Amos Belden, Bainbridge Belden, John Mallory, Peter Holben, George W. Kellogg, Truman Whitman, John B. Kimmel, John D. Brink, Jared Parker, Peter F, Chambard, William F. Ward, Junius Chase, J. P. Ritter, Jacob Hipput, Thomas C. Lester, J. L. Wise, George Lewis, Ebenezer Lloyd, Lyman Ellsworth, George F. Dubois, George Graves, David F. Spencer, Edward Gamble, A. Amsbaugh, Rjal Sweatland, Henry T. Caulkins, Daniel Rhodes, Oliver Town, Uriah S. Town, Hosea Harmdon, Isaac Town, John W. Lilley, George Gamber, Henry Punches, Samuel Farst, Hon. A. W. Flickinger, William Plopper,
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W. P. Garrison, William Thompson, John Wiley and Josiah Woodworth the latter being killed by lightning about 1846. He was living, when killed, in the part taken from Milkreek township.
Daniel Hoffman settled in Gorham township from Seneca county, New York in 1844, although he was a native of Pennsylvania. He died in Gorham township in 1873. Henry Emerick, an early and influential settler, who carne here in 1849, was born in Seneca county, New York, January 18, 1826. He purchased his homestead of eighty acres. in 1851, the land adjoining the corporation of Fayette. He served as trustee of the township, and was an active member of
the Agricultural Society. Abraham Van Valkenburg was born in Kinderhook, New York, in 1820, and settled in Gorham township in 1847, where he purchased eighty acres of land. Ephraim Sergent was born in Rutland county, Vermont, in 1808, and settled in what is now Gorham township, but what was then Lucas county, in 1835. He purchased his homestead farm of eighty acres, in 1836, and cleared and improved it, besides liberally educating his fourteen children. Truman L. Scofield was born in Onondaga county, New York July 5, 1820, and settled in Fulton county in 1844. He was a stock raiser and farmer. Martin Beilhartz was born in Wurtemburg, Germany, December 5, 1803, and emigrated to America in 1833, settling in what is now Fulton county. He was a shoemaker by trade, but became a successful farmer and stock raiser. William H. Conrad was born in Johnstown, Fulton county, New York, in 1818, and settled in Fulton county, Ohio, in 1845, with a cash capital of sixteen dollars. But before his death he owned 490 acres of the best land in the county. Philander Crane settled here in 1837. Israel Mattern was born in Columbia county, Pennsylvania, April 5, 1818, and came into Fulton county, in 1846. He served as justice of the peace for twenty-five years in Gorham township, and also filled the offices of township trustee and school director. Jacob Mattern, also a native Pennsylvania, settled in Gorham in 1846, where he engaged in the manufacture of wagons and carriages, was deputy sheriff of the county and active in other public affairs. He enlisted in. Company K. of the Thirty-eighth Ohio regiment, in August, 1861, under Colonel Bradley, was discharged on account of disability and died at his home in May, 1862. John Gamber was born in Seneca county, New York, in 1819. In early life he learned the carpenter trade, which he followed until he purchased his farm of 160 acres, in 1845, in Gorham, and for which he paid $460. He settled on the farm in 1846 cleared it, and in 1863 sold it and purchased a half interest in the stearn flouring mill of Humphrey & Allen. In 1869 he sold his interest in the mill and purchased the Fayette hotel, and in 1872 sold the hotel and became engaged in the real estate business. He was street commissioner at the time of the incorporation of the village of Fayette, and he also served as treasurer of the village. He was one of the most active business men of the town, but in 1880, he retired from business life.
Samuel Hoffman, a pioneer farmer of Gorham township, but who
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later engaged in the mercantile business, was born in Schuylkill county, Pennsylvania, June ii, 1824, and was a son of Daniel Hoffman, who came to Gorham township from Seneca county, New York, in 1844. Daniel Hoffman was born in 1798, and died in Gorham township in 1873. Samuel Hoffman commenced business life as a poor man in 1845, when with his brother he purchased a farm of one hundred and sixty acres, for which they paid $555. He became engaged in the mercantile business in 1875, and in 1880 he erected two brick store buildings in Fayette.
William C. Ely settled in Fulton county in 1848. He was born in Knox county, Ohio, April 1, 1831. William Ely, father of William C. was a native of Pennsylvania and settled in Fulton county in 1848, and lived here the remainder of his life.
John D. Brink was born in Ulster county, New York, September 19, 1807, and settled in Gorham township in 1844. Jared Parker was born in Rhode Island, in 1819, and settled in Fulton county in 1848, the county being thinly settled at that time. He commenced teaching school in Gorham township, however, in 1840, and taught seven years, summer and winter. After taking up his residence in the township he filled the office of justice of the peace nine years, township clerk fourteen years, notary public six years and postmaster at Fayette six years.
Peter F. Chambard was born in France October 12, 1822 came with his parents to America in 1836, and settled with them in Wayne county, Ohio. In 1851, he came to Gorham township, where he followed successfully the business of farming and stock raising.
Jacob P. Ritter, who was a leading and influential man of Gorham township, was born in Lycoming county, Pennsylvania, in 1824. He apprenticed himself to the carpenters trade and became a master builder and jobber. After locating in Fulton county, he at once evinced a great interest in everything pertaining to the welfare of the community. He became interested in the building of the Chicago and Canada Southern railroad and assisted in procuring the right of way. He held the position of tie inspector and was in the employ of the railroad for a number of years. He was the first ticket agent at Ritter's Station, established the postoffice and was appointed postmaster at that place. He served as justice of the peace for two terms, town clerk, assessor, trustee, and in 1874 became engaged in the grocery business at Ritter's Station.
Thomas C. Lester was born in Cayuga county, New York, February 22, 1819, and settled in Fulton county in 1848. John L. Wise was born in Cumberland county, Pennsylvania, in 1829, and settled in Fulton county with his parents, Hon. J. Wise and wife in 1848. He was a member of the One Hundred and Eighty-ninth regiment, Ohio Volunteer Infantry in the war of 1861-5. George F. DuBois settled in Fulton county in 1847, having been born in New York, April 28, 1814. George P. Graves was born in Massachusetts, June 23, 1841, and as a child came with his father Perry Graves, to Fulton county, in 1852.
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Edward Gamble was born in Leicestershire, England, and with a family of three sons migrated to America and settled in Richland county, Ohio, in 1841, coming to Gorham township in 1845, where he died in 1882, at the age of eighty-eight years. At the time of his death he owned 235 acres of land and had proved himself a successful farmer.
Henry T. Caulkins was born in Otsego county, New York, April 15, 1830, and with his father, Charles Caulkins, settled in Fulton county in 1845. He became quite prominent as a stock raiser and farmer and filled the office of township trustee and school director.
George Gamber was an early settler of Gorham township, and was born in Seneca county, New York, April 22, 1821. He settled in Fulton county in 1854 and purchased a farm of 185 acres. He served as trustee of the township for twenty years and held other local offices.
Henry Punches was one of the early settlers of Fulton county, and was born in Seneca county, New York, in 1821. He settled in Gorham in 1850, and purchased a homestead of eighty acres, which under his management was finely improved. He served as township treasurer for nine years.
William P. Garrison was born in Richland county, Ohio, March 12, 1847, and settled in Fulton county, in 1868.
As before stated, Hiram Farwell was the first settler, and it is supposed that he erected the first cabin in which white people dwelt. The first saw mill was erected near the western limits of Fayette, by Rensselaer S. Humphrey. Henry Boyd of Maumee City, was the first merchant in the township and opened his store at Fayette, in 1852.
The first election of which we have any record occurred at the house of Erastus Cottrell, on the first Monday in April, 1838, but the names of the fortunate ones—who were called from obscurity and compelled to withstand the trying ordeal of having political honors thrust upon them—have not been preserved to posterity.
The town of Fayette, which had a precarious existence for the first years of its life, gradually assumed the proportions of a thrifty town. Prior to the construction of the Canada Southern railroad, it was scarcely a business center, and had a small population, though there were successful business enterprises located in the village. But with the building of the railroad, and the establishment of a station there, the town began to take on life, and soon thereafter was incorporated. It is supported by a rich agricultural district, remote from formidable towns, and is an extensive shipping point on that branch of the Lake Shore railroad. Its business men are a class of progressive and enterprising people, who command ample capital and first-class facilities for the transaction of the large volume of business. Though it has not made rapid strides in growth, its population is mainly of that solid, permanent character which adds financial strength and stability. According to the census of 1900, the population is eight hundred and eighty-six. The town has well-
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built residences and business blocks and good educational advantages and church facilities.
Gorham is well supplied with district schools now, in stri