CHAPTER XIV

LIBERTY TOWNSHIP

Organization—First Settlers and First Events—Names of Electors in 1840—Some of the Original Land Entries—Sketches of Some of the Pioneers—Wild Game in the Early Days—Interesting Pioneer Incidents—Railroads—Public Highways—The Ohio City Oil Field—Pipe Lines in Liberty Township—Churches—Towns in Liberty Township.

The commissioners at their March meeting in 184o formed this township. The petitioners for the organization were : John Shaffer, John Schlater, William Reed, George Clouse, Daniel Riley, Peter Putman, Peter Brubaker, Emanuel Cummings, Asahel Culver, Jeremiah Agler, John Rollins and Thomas Townsend.

The first election was held at the house of Peter Putman on the first Monday of April, 1840.

The officers elected at that election were as follows : Trustees—Peter Putman, Asahel Culver and George Clouse; clerk, John Shaffer; treasurer, William Reed; constable, Thomas Redman. The first justice of the peace was Emanuel Cummings.

FIRST SETTLERS AND FIRST EVENTS.

The first settler in the township was James Hemphill from Richland County, Ohio, who settled in section 31 in the year 1837. There were no others till the spring of 1838 when Jeremiah Agler, Peter Putman, George Clouse, Madison White, John Shaffer, John Schlaterand George Shaffer came in. Daniel Riley and Graham Jewell came about the same time.

The first laid-out road in the township was known as the Mill road, running from the Rhodes Mill to Van Wert diagonally, and keeping on the highest ground, which was surveyed by John G. Morse in the fall of 1840. The viewers were William Thorn, William Priddy and William Davis. The first schoolhouse in the township was built in the fall of 1841 on the land of John Schlater. The first school was taught by Thomas Redman.

The first death was that of a child of John Shaffer named Cornelius. The first birth was that of Jacob Clouse, son of George Clouse, born November 19, 1838. The first marriage was that of Jacob Gates and Fanny Hemphill. They were married by Esquire Cummings. The first sermon preached was by Rev. Daniel Riley at the funeral of the wife of Peter Brubaker, in July, 184o.

The first round-log house was built by James Hemphill in 1837, the first hewed-log house by William Reed; the first frame house by Peter Brubaker; the first brick house by William Rumbaugh.

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NAMES OF ELECTORS IN 1840.

At the election held in Liberty township on October 13, 1840, there were 16 qualified electors, whose names follow. Jeremiah Agler, A. McClung, Peter Putman, John Shaffer, Samuel Hemphill, George Shaffer, George Schlater, Emanuel Cummings, George Clouse, John Frysinger, Peter Brubaker, Conrad Agler, John Temple, Graham Jewell, Ephraim Medaugh and Peter Dull. The officers in charge of the election were: Emanuel Cummings and John Schlater, judges, and John Shaffer and Peter Putman, clerks.

SOME OF THE ORIGINAL LAND ENTRIES.

SKETCHES OF SOME OF THE PIONEERS.

Of the early settlers, Mathias Tombaugh Brewer who was born in January, 1813, in Pennsylvania, came to Ohio with his parents when three years old. The experience of the Brewer family was that of many others. As soon as the clothes that they brought with them were worn out, they were replaced by homemade ones made from flax or buckskin. He was dressed in that fashion, buckskin pants and moccasins, tow-linen shirt and foxskin cap and home-made jean wammus or round about. He came to Van Wert County in 1853 and was well known and respected. He served years as township clerk, seven years as assessor, two years as township treasurer, and 18 years justice of the peace.

George Clouse was another of the early settlers of Liberty township. He and his wife came from Wayne County, Ohio, in September, 1838. When they reached their land, they unloaded their goods under two oak trees and here put up a shelter for protection until they could build a cabin. When the logs were cut for the cabin, the neighbors helped to raise it and then Mr. Clouse and his wife split clap-boards for the roof and door and puncheons for the floor, these being hewn with a common axe.

They had brought a cow with them, but she died the next year and they sold their bureau so as to obtain money to buy another cow. They at one time were so hard pressed for food that Mrs. Clouse dug up seed potatoes that had been planted and roasted them but could not eat them. At one time her father came to visit them. Seeing their destitute condition he went to Shane's Crossing and bought 12 pounds of flour for which he paid $1.

Jeremiah Agler and his wife Polly came to Liberty township in 1838 and commenced a farm in section 19. There were no roads laid out and it was difficult to reach places where supplies might be purchased if they had the means ; even to procure water for cooking and drinking purposes, the women were required to go some distance to the spring, while the husband was clearing the ground for agricultural purposes. Mgrs. Agler, as often as circumstances required, would secure two of her children to the bedpost while she with a strap over her shoulders and a jug in each hand would go the spring and bring back the jugs filled with water. Such was pioneer life in this county. Often while attending to family affairs, Mr. Agler would go to Piqua—60 miles —to mill and be absent several days. Sometimes for six months they did not see the face of a white person. They lived in a log cabin and it was necessary to keep the fire carefully, as matches were then unknown.

Silas Hardman was born in Virginia in the year 1844. William Hardman, his father, was a' full-blood Cherokee Indian and was in the British Army in 1812. William Hardman's wife was a Spanish woman. They raised a family of nine children. William Hardman died at the age of 98 years. Silas Hardman was in the Union Army in the War of the Rebellion for two years and was twice taken prisoner; once he was recaptured by the Union

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forces and once he escaped by jumping off a train while in motion and escaping in the darkness.

Philip Hertle was born in Germany in 1834 and came to America in 1852, locating soon afterward in Liberty township, Van Wert County, Ohio. His father, Jacob Hertle, was born in Germany in 1794; his mother, Elizabeth Heitman, was born in 1801. They were married in 1820. Jacob Hertle died in 1836, his wife in 1844. Philip Hertle married Agatha Lehmann in 1857 and they had eight children. Four of their boys are still living, viz : Samuel, Joseph, Albert and James, who own good farms and are among the county's best farmers, having all the latest improved machinery, both for farming and for household convenience.

When Philip started from Germany, he had just $4o after paying his passage. This took him as far as Pittsburgh, where he found a friend who loaned him $5, which took him to Stark County, Ohio. He remained there for six months, working all the time, and then came on to Van Wert County in November, 1852. He then worked till January for $5, which he sent to his friend in Pittsburgh from whom he had borrowed. He now hired out for $40 a year, and worked by the year for five years. He then got married, bought 80 acres of land in the woods, put up a cabin and commenced life in earnest. He cleared his land himself and added one farm after another until he was able to give each of his children an 80-acre farm when he came of age.

In his prime he was a man of wonderful endurance. He says that he never knew what it was to be tired until he was 45 years old, not-withstanding he was working all day and often half the night for many years.

Adam Roeder was born in Germany in 1820 and came to Amercia when 28 years old. He remained in New jersey one year, and then removed to Stark County, Ohio, where he lived until 1852 when he came to Van Wert County. In 1854 he married Catherine Good. They commenced in the woods on an 80-acres tract of land. They were poor but industrious and energetic. Mr. Roeder would work for the neighbors during the day, while his wife would work in the clearing at home. Then at night they would burn brush and logs until near midnight. The same thing was repeated from clay to day. Selling his farm in Pleasant township he commenced again in the woods in Liberty township on a 160-acre tract. This he cleared and put in a good state of cultivation. He was saving of his earnings and invested in land and at his death had furnished good farms for each of his children. He left them the heritage of a good name beyond reproach.

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[For the valuable information contained in the succeeding portion of this chapter, the editor is indebted to Capt. W. T. Exline, of Liberty township.]

WILD GAME IN THE EARLY DAYS.

At the time of the first settlement of Liberty township, wild game was plentiful, such as deer, wolves, bears and fur-bearing animals of all kinds, such as opossums, .raccoons, minks and skunks. The beaver had all. disappeared some years previous but traces of their work are still visible in section 8. Where they built the clams across the Twenty-seven Prairie their work can be traced, resembling lines of entrenchments constructed by an army for self-defense. The last wolf killed in the township was killed by Alexander Putman. He was calling wild turkeys by mimicking their call, when a wolf supposing he was a turkey approached him, expecting to feast on wild turkey. Putman saw him place

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his fore feet on a log, listening to catch the sound of the supposed wild turkey's call, and shot him while in this position. This occurred late in the '50's. In the year 1856 Samuel Shafer found and secured a litter of young wolves, in a hollow elm log near the northeast corner of the northwest quarter of section 17, land now owned by W. T. Exline. John Agler shot and killed the last lynx that was killed in the township.

INTERESTING PIONEER INCIDENTS.

Early in the history of the first settlement of Liberty township, many events transpired in the experience of the early pioneers that would be very interesting reading at this time if they were remembered. The early pioneers have passed away and their unrecorded experiences as related by them have mostly been forgotten. One incident, out of many that occurred, happened to William Stewart, who was among the first to settle in the township. He had been one day at a raising of a cabin a mile or two from his home. The wolves followed him and to escape from them he climbed a tree. He was kept on the tree all night by the wolves, and as the weather was somewhat cold, he almost perished.

Another incident remembered occurred in the spring of 1852, while W. T. Exline and his father, Valentine Exline, were cultivating a field of corn on the Culver farm near the angling road known as the Van Wert and Rhodes Mill road, also near where said road crossed the Twenty-seventh Prairie. A couple of large wolves attacked a yearling heifer be-longing to John Rowland. It was dinner time and the animal was standing in the middle of the road, when the wolves made their attack. In less time almost that it would take to tell it, the wolves killed the animal and dragged herinto the brush beside the road. Mr. Rowland who was going to his dinner, heard the animal bawl ; suspecting that the wolves had attacked one of his young cattle, he quickly got his gun and dog and started for the place where the heifer was, but the wolves had dispatched her before he got there, as he had upwards of a half mile or more to go to reach the place. His dog, which was a large, powerful one, took after the wolves and attacked them but was killed by them.

RAILROADS.

Liberty township has three leading railroad lines traversing its territory. These roads intersect and cross each other at Ohio City. The Toledo, St. Louis & Western Railroad, commonly called the "Clover Leaf Route," was the first line constructed. Dr. C. A. Evans, of Delphos, Ohio, was the leading spirit in what was called the Delphos & Kokomo Narrow-Gauge Railroad. A meeting was held in the Center schoolhouse in Liberty township in the summer of 1878, to discuss the building of this road from Delphos to Willshire by the farmers of Washington, Jennings, York, Liberty and Willshire townships. There was a general attendance of Liberty township's citizens at this meeting H. C. Williams was chosen chair-man and W. T. Exline, secretary, of the meeting. Among those from other townships who were present at this meeting were Dr. C. A. Evans, D. W. Evans, Morgan H. Morgan and Dr. Shaffner. Dr. C. A. Evans addressed the meeting, and discussed the propriety of building a narrow-gauge railroad from Delphos to Willshire by the farmers along said line—the farmers to build, own and operate said line when constructed. This proposition was quite generally discussed. Every one present had the privilege of expressing their views on the

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subject. Suffice it to say that the proposition of building said line from Delphos to Willshire was favorable received. An organization was effected, capital stock subscribed and a charter secured. Among the farmers who subscribed to the capital stock were D. W. Evans, Morgan H. Morgan, John A. Smith, W. T. Exline and H. C. Mills. The first officers of the company were. Dr. C. A. Evans, of Delphos, president ; Morgan H. Morgan, secretary ; and D. W. Evans, treasurer. The directors of the company were Dr. C. A. Evans, Morgan H. Morgan, D. W. Evans, John A. Smith, H. C. Mills and Dr. J. F. Shaffner. The organization having been effected, the first thing to be done was to secure the funds necessary for the construction and equipment of the proposed railroad. It was arranged by the officers of the company that they would take subscriptions from farmers and others interested in the construction of the road, for which notes were given, made payable on the first day of January, 1879, at which time the road was to be completed or to be placed in such condition that a locomotive could pass over the line from Delphos to Willshire. This requirement had to be complied with in order to secure the validity of the obligations given by the farmers and others for the road's construction. In order to comply with this requirement, for the last mile or two near Willshire the ties were laid on a snow road-bed and the rails temporarily laid thereon. The amount secured from farmers and others for the construction of this line amounted to $68,000. The con-tract for the construction of the road was given to General McKee, of Norwalk, Ohio. The officers of the company purchased the rails for the road of General Thomas, of Columbus, Ohio, giving their joint dividend note for the same, and depositing the notes they had secured for the construction of the road with General Thomas as collateral security for the note they had jointly signed. Here the officers of the company got themselves in a dilemma. The notes given for the construction of the road, the proceeds of which they expected to use in paying for the rails they had purchased, were held as collateral security. The obligations were good and collectable and were also due, but they were not presented for payment; and the joint note given by the officers became due also and was not paid, General Thomas sent these notes to a Lima bank for collection. A scheme was concocted by which these notes were to be sold to the highest bidder. Fortunately for the officers of the company, they discovered the scheme for disposing of these notes in time to frustrate it. Morgan H. Morgan went to Columbus, Ohio, to see General Thomas, armed with a letter from the county auditor of Van Wert County, stating that these notes were all on responsible persons and were all collectable, and recommending that General Thomas give Morgan H. Morgan an order ordering the bank to turn over these notes to him for collection, which he did. The notes were collected without delay by Mr. Morgan and the proceeds applied to the purposes for which they were given. After the road was constructed, it soon became apparent to the officers of the road that it took railroad men, and not farmers, to operate a railroad successfully. This line was soon extended northeastward to Toledo, Ohio, and westward to Frankfort, Indiana, under the management of a new company and a consolidated line. The narrow-gauge system was changed to a standard-gauge road. It was considered cheaper to change the gauge to a standard gauge than to build a narrow-gauge outlet to New York and other eastern cities on the Atlantic coast. The Cincinnati Northern, a north and

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south line, was the second railroad built through Liberty township. The citizens of Van Wert, immediately after the line from Delphos to Willshire was established, constructed a narrow-gauge road from Van Wert to inter-sect the Delphos & Kokomo Narrow-Gauge line, as it was first called. The point of intersection was in the woods about seven miles south of Van Wert. No public road leading to it, the point of intersection was first called Van Wert Junction, and the postoffice was named Koogle. A short time after these roads were constructed, Butler, Patterson & Company purchased the land where these roads intersected, of S. White, of Cleveland, Ohio, and established the town of Enterprise (now known as Ohio City), which is located very near the center of Liberty township: This road was extended north to Jackson, Michigan, and south to Cincinnati, Ohio, and was changed to a standard-gauge line. Local aid was voted by townships under a special law authorizing township trustees to build railroads. Bonds were issued by the township trustees of those townships that voted local aid by taxation, and placed on the market and sold, and the money obtained from their sale was used for the construction and equipment of the line. The law was afterward held by the Supreme court to be unconstitutional. The bonds were never redeemed. A great wrong was certainly done by not reimbursing the parties who put up the money for the bonds. They should have had their money, returned or else they should have held an equivalent interest in the road.

Almost simultaneous with the building of these two lines through Liberty township, another east and west line was projected from Marion, Ohio, was the first president of the was originally named the Chicago & Atlantic Railroad. This line is now known as the Chicago & Erie Railroad. General Robinson, of Marion, Ohio, was the first president of the Chicago & Atlantic Railroad Company. The right of way, 100 feet wide, was secured from Marion, Ohio to Chicago, Illinois. The next step taken was to bond this right of way for $25,000 per mile. The interest on these bonds was guaranteed to be paid by the Erie Railroad Company in consideration of being allowed to use this line, when completed, for a Chicago outlet. The line was a standard-gauge road from the beginning. The bonds thus guaranteed were placed on the market and sold at par. The contract for the construction and equipment of this line was awarded to Col. S. P. Smith, of New York. When the bonds became due, they were taken up by the Erie Railroad Company and the Chicago & Atlantic Railroad was absorbed by the Erie and became a part of the Erie line. One remarkable feature about the construction of this line is not one cent of local aid was asked by the Company from citizens of Van Wert County. The company also paid for every foot of the right of way at a fair price per acre.

PUBLIC HIGHWAYS.

The leading public highways of Liberty township are mostly all piked. The material used in constructing these pike roads was crushed limestone. At a special election held in the township the people authorized the bonding of the township for pike improvements. Township bonds were issued by the trustees of the township and sold to the highest bidder to obtain funds to pay for building pike roads. These bonds, with the annual interest thereon, are paid by taxation as they become due.

With pike roads, rural free delivery and rural telephone lines, the citizens of Liberty township have the advantage of being supplied

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with all modern improvements and up-to-date conveniences.

THE OHIO CITY OIL FIELD.

The first oil-well drilled in the Ohio City field was drilled in by C. S. King & Company, of Lima, Ohio, on the northeast corner of the southeast quarter of section 18, Liberty township, on. land owned by Valentine Exline's heirs. The first oil piped into the line was from this well. This was in the month of February, 1902. The second well in the Ohio City field was drilled by the same company on the southwest quarter of section 17, land owned by W. T. Exline. The third well drilled in this same field—the first gusher in the Ohio City oil field—was drilled on the farm of W. N. Williams in section 21, Liberty township.

The second gusher came in a short time after the Williams. It was drilled by the Ohio Oil Company, on land owned by Andrew Medaugh in Willshire township, about one mile west of Dull station. The third gusher was drilled on the farm of W. H. Ayers. These three gushers coming in quick succession raised the oil excitement to a fever heat. Oil men from everywhere came to see the new oil field and secure leases. Over 200 oil-wells have been drilled in Liberty township. A gusher was drilled in very recently on Mrs: Louisa Tickel's farm in section 21, one mile west of Ohio City.

While the oil excitement has abated in a measure in this field, the rush having extended to other newly discovered oil fields, yet the Ohio City oil field has only been partially developed and oil operations in this field will be continued for a number of years to come. The oil boom, as it was, may not return, but a steady development of this field will bring its reward. Everybody was benefitted by the oil boom, business men and laboring men alike.

PIPE LINES IN LIBERTY TOWNSHIP.

There are three pipe lines laid through Liberty township; these lines extend from Lima to Chicago. Two of these lines are on the south side of the right of way of the Chicago & Erie Railroad ; the third line is contiguous to the other two, but not on the railroad company's land, the right to lay another line having been secured from the farmers residing along the other two lines. A fourth line will be constructed this spring (1906) ; it is to be laid in close proximity to the three already laid.

The pipes laid in these lines are all eight inches in diameter. For the privilege of laying their line through their farms, the pipe line company pays the farmers 25 cents per rod and all damages to crops and timber destroyed by reason of the laying of these lines. The lines are buried to a depth of two feet on an average.

CHURCHES.

There are nine church organizations in Liberty township at the present time; also nine organized Sabbath-schools and nine church buildings—three brick and six frame structures.

There are three Methodist Episcopal churches in the township, namely : North Liberty Methodist Episcopal Church, Walnut Grove Methodist Episcopal Church and Ohio City Methodist .Episcopal Church. Each of :these church societies has a good frame church building in which to worship.

The denomination known as the Church of

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God has two church organizations—one called the Church of God, of Ohio City, and one called the Olive Branch Church of God, of South Liberty. Both of these organizations have frame church buildings.

The United Brethren Church has two organized churches. The one called the Liberal U. B. Church, of South Liberty, has a new brick church building. The one called the Radical U. B. Church, of Northwest Liberty, has a frame church edifice, which was formerly the Wolf schoolhouse.

The Evangelical Church, of Northeast Liberty, and St. John's General Synod Lutheran Church, of Ohio City, are the oldest established churches in the township. Both have new brick church buildings.

TOWNS IN LIBERTY TOWNSHIP.

There are only two towns or villages in Liberty township.

Ohio City, formerly called "Enterprise," is located near the center of the township in section 22; later additions to the town are in section 15. This town was originally laid out by Butler, Patterson & Company. On account of there being another town in the State by the name of Enterprise, which frequently caused mail and express packages to be missent, the name was changed to Ohio City to avoid this trouble.

There are three church organizations and three church edifices in Ohio City, two of the church buildings being of frame and one of brick. There is one Union school building.

The village has one bank, two dry goods stores, one clothing store, two hardware stores, two millinery establishments, one bakery, three hotels, three restaurants, four saloons, two shoe shops, one tailor shop, one silver-smith shop, three livery barns, one slack barrel. factory, one lumberyard, and two black-smith shops. The three railroads all use the centrally located Union Depot. The town is also well supplied with telephone service.

The village of McKee was laid out by J. M. Dull, Martin Lintermoot and Nicholas Fry in 1879 at a point in sections 19 and 20 where the McSherry road crosses the "Clover Leaf" Railroad. It is 2 3/4 miles west of Ohio City. This village is more particularly known as Dull station, and Dull P. O. At the present time there is one store that handles dry goods and groceries, poultry, eggs and butter. The proprietor is Lemuel Rutledge, who is also the railroad agent and postmaster.

The Standard Oil Company have their pumping station located here, where all the oil produced in the Ohio City oil field is received; from here it is pumped into the pipe lines that are laid from Lima to Chicago. There are 12 dwelling houses in this village. The warehouse formerly here has been removed. The tile factory, where so many tile were formerly manufactured,, has also been re-moved.