USA > Ohio > Fulton County > A standard history of Fulton County, Ohio, an authentic narrative of the past, with an extended survey of modern developments in the progress of town and county, Vol. I > Part 22
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In the following year, 1857, another Ottokee paper was founded. It was named the "Democrat," and was owned by Henry McElhiney, who conducted it from spring to autumn, when H. Day became owner. Formerly its policy had been independent, but under Mr. Day it became a democratic paper, and its name became the "Fulton County Mirror." About twelve months later, the plant and paper were pur- chased by the owners of the Wauseon "Sentinel," the material being taken to Wauseon, and the paper merged in the "Sentinel."
The representative democratic paper of Fulton county is the "Democratic Expositor" of Wauseon. It was founded in January, 1875, by William H. Handy, later a prominent jurist of Fulton county. In April, 1877, the paper passed to John C. Bollmeyer. Until his death, twenty-one years later, Mr. Bollmeyer held editorial con- trol of the "Expositor," and adhered faithfully to the best principles of the democratic party. He had very many friends in Fulton county, and under his management the paper was a success, financially and as a news journal. It was continued in publication by his estate for some months after his demise, passing eventually, by purchase, to W. W. Croninger, a former county auditor. He carried forward the paper satisfactorily until 1910, when he sold it to E. L. Burgoon. On April 26, 1912, the "Expositor" came into the possession of its present editor, H. T. Meister, of a pioneer German Township family. Mr. Mcister still retains the editorship, but early in 1920 admitted into junior partnership, C. M. Gibbs and H. M. Jay, the latter being prominent in educational matters, at present holding the position of superintendent of Supervision District No. 2, under the Fulton County Board of Education, and also being president of the Fulton County Board of School Examiners. The "Democratic Expositor" is a well- established weekly newspaper, having almost an exclusive field.
The "Delta Avalanche," an independent paper, made its appear- ance in 1876, the first number being issued on February 22nd of that year by E. L. Waltz, who thus began a creditable connection with Fulton county journalism which did not terminate until more than thirty years later. In 1879, Mr. Waltz sold the "Avalanche" to Col. Albert B. Smith, under whom its policy became distinctly republi- can. Colonel Smith a year later sold to E. J. Patch, who after about a similar period sold to W. O. Knapp, under whom the paper again
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HISTORY OF FULTON COUNTY
became non-partisan in tone. It again became partisan, and republi- can, in 1884, when Mr. J. H. Fluhart exchanged his half-interest in the "Fulton County Tribune" for Mr. Knapp's ownership of the "Ava- lanche." About three years later, Mr. Fluhart disposed of the paper to its original owner, E. L. Waltz, who merged it with the "Delta Atlas," which he had established in 1885. The first issue of the "Delta Atlas" was on June 6th, 1885, the partners, E. L. Waltz, editor, and C. R. P. Waltz, manager, father and son respectively, trading as the Atlas Printing Company, and rapidly building a large subscription list for their paper, which was of independent tone, and high standard. Fire destroyed the plant early in 1887, but the publication was only temporarily suspended, resuming as soon as new material had been procured. In that year the "Delta Atlas" absorbed the "Avalanche," and from that time until the present the Delta "Atlas" has been in the forefront of Fulton county newspapers. The principals, father and son, both gained enviable repute as public servants and citizens, and although the father, E. L. Waltz, has not been directly interested in the publishing since 1906, when the son, C. R. P. Waltz, became editor and sole owner, he is still indirectly connected with the paper, contributing occasionally to its columns. Both father and son have had prominent part in the affairs of Delta during the last three or four decades. The paper is an eight page one, sixty-four columns, mostly home print; and the principals have the confidence of both readers and advertisers ; so much so in fact that local advertisers have for many years been in the habit, it has been stated, of leaving the mat- ter of advertising space to the discretion and judgment of Mr. Waltz, the editor, confident that he would not give a half-page or more to an advertisement that merited in importance only four or five inches. It is understood that the present circulation of the "Delta Atlas" is 2,100.
In January, 1876, a weekly newspaper was established at Fayette, under the name of the "Fayette Record." W. A. Baker was the founder, but within a month the publication was acquired by O. M. Holcomb and M. Lewis, who were its owners until May, 1878, and G. W. Griffin purchased the Holcomb interest. Fire destroyed the plant on May 8, 1880, but two months later publication of the "Rec- ord" was resumed, and the printing plant re-established. The owners of the "Record" were enterprising, and gained the distinction of being the first publishers in the county to introduce a cylinder press. In 1882, the publishers erected a substantial two-story frame building in which to house their printing plant, but that building also, within a year, was gutted by fire. The "Record" was then of course suspended but publication was resumed a month later. A few years later John Young, of Wauseon, purchased the paper and plant, and continued to publish it until 1903. John S. Young was another of the worth- while newspaper men who graduated from the "Republican." He was connected with Fulton county newspapers and printing plants for thirty years; was in the "Sentinel" plant in 1853. He died in Fayette in 1905, two years after he had passed the "Record" over to his son, Frank C., who continued to regularly issue the paper until 1907, when it was absorbed by the Fayette "Review," which paper had been established six years earlier by C. E. Yost and E. W. Balch. In 1901 Balch sold his interest to his partner, and Editor Yost has
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since that time faithfully labored to provide for his subscribers a worth-while weekly. The acquirement of the "Record" in 1907 added considerably to the circulation of the "Review," which has since been the recognized organ of the people of the Fayette section of the county. Mr. Yost is a forceful writer, and the "Fayette Review" is perhaps chiefly distinctive among the newspapers of the county because of the length and strength of its editorials, which reflect the editor's sin- cerity, ability, and broad-mindedness.
The "Fulton County Tribune," which was established on May 18, 1883, was, it is stated, the outgrowth of a divided sentiment in the ranks of the republican party. Its founders were Col. A. B. Smith and J. H. Fluhart, the latter disposing of his interest in the paper, in June, 1884, to W. O. Knapp, who owned the Delta "Avalanche," as hereinbefore stated. In 1889 Walter J. Sherwood purchased the Knapp interest, and within a year became sole owner. Two years later, on August 29, 1892, the paper became the property of Levi S. Jameson, who for fourteen prior years had been editor-owner of the "Observer," at Celina, Ohio. He owned the "Tribune" until 1902, and for the re- mainder of his life, which ended in 1911, lived in Wauseon, in the affairs of which community he took interested part. During his own- ership of the "Tribune," he built the Tribune Building, and in many ways was an active useful citizen. He sold his paper and printing plant in March, 1902, to James L. Shinnabarger, who managed the business until January 1, 1903, when it passed into the possession of Frank H. Reighard, who was editor-owner until August, 1910, during which period the subscription list grew considerably; in fact the circulation of the "Tribune" was more than doubled during Mr. Reighard's regime as editor. He gave the people of the county a good news service in the "Tribune," and when they sought to send him as their representative to the State Legislature, he aimed to give them equally good service as a legislator. Thus he was influenced to sell the "Tribune" paper and plant in August, 1910, to Frank B. Kenyon and Catherine B. Weir. Mr. Kenyon, who was formerly pastor of the Congregational Church in Wauseon, and still is one of its most prominent members and workers, has since 1910 been editor of the "Tribune," and he has well maintained its former high standard. On October 6, 1919, Miss Weir sold her part interest in the publishing house to Robert J. Bissonette, upon his return from overseas service with the American Expeditionary Forces. First Ser- geant Robert J. Bissonette, a printer, was formerly on the "Tribune" staff, and was a member of the first detachment that left Fulton county, in 1917, for service in the national army. He saw most of the strenu- ous fighting in which the American forces participated in France; was with the Thirty-eighth Infantry, of Third Division, at Chateau Thierry, passed through the terrible Argonne fighting, and on almost to Metz, before the signing of the Armistice ended hostilities. Later for eight months he was with the Army of Occupation in Germany, during the greater part of that time being foreman in the plant of an Army of Occupation organ, "The Watch on the Rhine," a creditable publication.
Next to the "Fulton County Tribune" in date of establishment comes the "Archbold Herald," which was founded by W. O. and J. M.
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Taylor, in 1885. A year later W. O. Taylor bought the interest held by his brother, J. M., and thereafter until 1893 was editor-owner. He then sold the paper and plant to George O. Dix, who some time later sold to E. W. Ames. In about 1898, the paper was suspended for a brief period, during change of ownership, but resumed publication, and continued as the "Archbold Herald" until May, 1898, when it was consolidated with the "Archbold Advocate," then owned by J. E. Hutchinson and E. E. Hallett, and founded by them a year prior to the consolidation. The merged papers took the name of the "Arch- bold Advocate," Mr. Hallett taking the editorship. Two years later he became sole owner, and has since held the paper in successful circu- lation. The circulation is now almost a thousand copies weekly, and the paper gets its proper proportion of advertisements of business houses in its territory. The "Advocate" was originally non-partisan ; later it was democratic in tone; but since 1916 it has been what might be termed American in its policy, Editor Hallett believing that such a political party will eventually be formed. Mr. Hallett has been connected with journalism in Fulton county for almost a generation, is a practical printer, and a conscientious editor.
In 1886 a foreign-language newspaper was established in Fulton county. It, "Der Deutsche Gazette," circulated among residents of German antecedents or birth; but its life was brief.
In 1886 also the "Swanton Enterprise" was founded. A year later its owner, H. S. Bassett, took as partner Charles H. Rowland. After several changes of ownership, the paper passed, in 1916, from A. Hoch- strasser to Cooney and Cullis, its present owners. They are young aggressive men, and are issuing a good local weekly, a seven-column cight-page paper, non-partisan in tone. The partners also have a well-equipped job plant.
The "Metamora Record" was established in February, 1900, by E. A. Brooks, who about three years later sold to J. J. A. Parker, of Sylvania, Ohio. J. J. Malone was local representative and editor for several years, and the paper was eventually sold to Thomas Daly, of Adrian, Michigan. Two years ago Mr. Daly removed the printing plant from Adrian to Metamora, and in July, 1919, Clyde H. Mc- Comb became owner of the paper and plant. The present circulation is about six hundred copies.
Mr. W. O. Taylor, who in 1885 founded the Archbold "Herald," began to issue the "Archbold Buckeye," in 1905. He, is still its owner and editor, and the paper has the distinction of being the only semi- weekly now published in the county. At one time the "Democratic Expositor," of Wauscon, was published twice weekly, but when short- age of news print during the World war made the lot of newspaper publishers somewhat worrysome the "Expositor" became a weekly, and has so remained. The "Buckeye" however has maintained its semi- weekly issuing, and Mr. Taylor has a good following. The paper is non-partisan in politics, and strives to keep its home town well to the front. Mr. Taylor is among the capable editors of the county.
At one time there was a "Lyons Herald," and in 1913 the "Lyons Journal" was established by two newspaper men of Toledo. They, however, only issued the paper for three weeks, then selling to H. D. Meister, editor of the "Democratic Expositor" of Wauseon. He has
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maintained the "Lyons Journal" in regular issue to the present, the paper being printed on the press of the "Expositor." It is non-parti- san in policy.
From a reading of this chapter it will be realized that Fulton county, peopled by less than thirty thousand, is well supplied with newspapers; and it is somewhat surprising that the majority of them are profitable business enterprises ; that is to say, comparatively so, for a newspaper publisher and editor rarely gets a properly adequate re- turn for the long hours of manual and mental labor he has to give weekly to conscientiously cover the news needs of his subscribers. As a matter of fact, the average country newspaper is sold at a lower rate than the production costs justify, and the papers published would be fewer, were it not possible for the publisher to glean some additional revenue from the outside job work that he is usually able to handle in his printing plant. The newspaper editor is, as a rule, not one of the wealthiest men of the community, but he certainly has it in his power to become one of its most useful members; and if he conscien- tiously works for what he considers to be the good of his community he is generally accorded a substantial degree of respect by his fellow- citizens. With such a possession the earnest editor is content to labor on.
CHAPTER XI THE HISTORY OF CLINTON TOWNSHIP
INCLUDING THAT OF WAUSEON, THE COUNTY SEAT
Prior to 1820, Clinton Township area was recognized as Indian Territory. On April 1, 1820, by enactment of the Legislature of the State of Ohio, it became part of Wood county, which status it held until July, 1835, when Lucas county was organized, part of which it then became. It was unorganized territory, however, until March 5, 1838, when the commissioners, in session at Toledo, established it as Clinton Township. It is bounded north, east, and west by the townships of Dover, York and German, of Fulton county, respectively, and on the south by Henry county; and it has become the principal township of the county, in that it includes the incorporated village of Wauseon, the county seat.
One good authority, who was then living in the vicinity, and is still alive, states that the organization did not take place until 1841, and the first election was consequently not held in 1838; but his version is not substantiated by any other record. Three historians have recorded the date of organization as March 5, 1838, and Clark Waggoner, in his "History of Toledo and Lucas County" (1888), in the chapter on "County Affairs," page 314, states: "March 5, 1838. The Townships of Gorham and Clinton (now in Fulton county) were established." Although the township early records are not now in existence, at least one official document is available to bear out the general understanding that Clinton Township was organized prior to 1841. The instrument referred to is a copy of a receipt, now in the possession of the Bayes family. It reads:
Clinton Township School Fund.
Received Jan. 1840, by E. Huntington
for Isaac Tedrow $31,217
Township poor fund 1,832
Township road fund 3,666
$36,715
Isaac Tedrow, Dr. to E. Huntington, for settling with Auditor and bringing the money from Toledo, O. $3.50
As the territory was laid out, as Clinton Township, by the Lucas County Commissioners, on March 5, 1838, it may be assumed that the settlers took early opportunity to effect the formal organization, and that the statement that the first election in the township was held on the first Monday of April, 1838, is correct.
It is not possible to state, confidently, who was the first white settler in the territory, but it is, clear that 1835 was the first year in which
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HISTORY OF FULTON COUNTY
settlers came into it to establish homes therein. Some historians have given Elisha Williams, who came in October, 1835, the distinctive place as the pioneer settler, but it seems that Thomas Bayes was also in the township in 1835; and that Thomas Lingle, a bachelor, came into it at about the same time as Elisha Williams; and Rufus Briggs, writing in 1903, of "Pioneer Days," stated that "Elisha Huntington and family came from the state of New York by wagon, and drove the first pair of horses and wagon, into the township in 1835," adding incidentally that "while clearing away a place for the foundation of his log house, he killed forty-one blue racers and black snakes."
Elisha Williams, and his son John H., came in the early fall, and built a log hut in what was designated the "Six Mile Woods." That accomplished, father and son returned to Seneca county, Ohio, but two months later, in December of 1835, Elisha Williams was again in the
"ELISHA HUNTINGTON KILLED. .... . 41 BI.UE RACERS, AND BLACK SNAKES" IN CLEARING GROUND FOR HIS LOG CABIN.
Six Mile Woods, accompanied this time by his whole family, consisting of his wife, at least four adult children, and at least one younger child. The adult sons were John H., Jerry, and Burt; there was a daughter, who in 1838 married Thomas Lingle; the younger child was William F., then a boy of six years. He, who later became known throughout the county by the military title of Captain, and honored as a veteran of worthy record during the Civil War, wrote his "Experiences in the Days of Long Ago," in 1908, his narrative, in part reading :
"I was only six years old when I came with my father, Elisha Williams, in the fall of 1835, and settled on a farm one and a half miles west of here (Wauseon). That was nearly seventy-five years ago, and in what is now Clinton Township there was not then another white man living. It was a dreary place then, and nothing but woods and water, and the only company we had were the friendly Indians, and the howling wolves. I can well remember how, along about sun-down on a cold winter's day, we could hear those wolves set up their yelp.
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HISTORY OF FULTON COUNTY
First, you would hear one in one direction, then one in another, and so on, until our home was surrounded by packs of these howling beasts. Fortunately for the early settler, the wolf was naturally a coward, and a firebrand or a light has saved many a flock of sheep for the pioneer. You know in those days every settler had to have his own sheep, from which to get wool that our dear old mothers could make into clothes for us. Every stitch of clothing that us children had was made from cloth that mother first wove from wool from the sheep. And in those days we had our high pens into which we drove our floek every night, to protect them from the wolves. The black bear was common here then, but they gave us very little trouble, and about the only time I ever remember of one attacking stock was a year or two after we came here. Father had a drove of hogs running at large in the woods, and,
"EVERY STITCH OF CLOTHING WE CHILDREN HAD. . MOTHER FIRST WOVE."
when they were about where George Brown's house now stands, a large bear that had crept into the drove attacked one of the largest, and while the hog got away it was so injured that it died a few days later.
"In 1835, and 1836, many Indians roamed over this county. In those days there was a small Indian town on what was generally known as the Zina Eager Farm, one and a half miles east of here, and a large town on what is now the Sam Foneannon Farm, while the chief lived on a little hill, in the west part of what is now Wauseon. This last statement is disputed by some of the early settlers, who claim that the chief lived in the north-east part of town, on a hill where the residence of the late Col. D. W. H. Howard now stands, but I am positive that when I first saw the chief's home it was in the west part of what is now Wauseon. The Indians were very friendly to us, in fact too friendly, as they often hindered us in our work. If you offended one Indian
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HISTORY OF FULTON COUNTY
you offended the whole tribe, while if you did one a favor it was never forgotten by any member of the tribe, and they always stood ready to defend and protect you.
"One morning, in the spring of 1836, father came into the house, and addressing mother said: 'I hear a white man chopping, over north of us.' Mother went to the door of our log cabin and listened, and said that she thought it was an Indian. Father said: 'No. Listen closely, and you can tell it is a white man chopping.' Father started in the direction from which the sound came, and after going about a mile to the north of our home came upon Avery Lamb, who was getting out timber to build a cabin. At that time father and Avery Lamb were the only white settlers in this township, but that fall and the next year settlers began to arrive quite rapidly.
The land upon which Elisha Williams and his family settled in 1835 was later acquired by Jacob Biddle, and was immediately south of the forty-acre farm owned eventually by Elijah Burr.
In substantiation of the claim that Elisha Williams was the first white settler in Clinton Township, it may be stated that although the "History of Henry and Fulton Counties" (1888) states that "Thomas Bayes and his wife, Lamenta, settled in Clinton Township in 1835, and resided on section twenty-two" and adds in further comment, that "Mr. Bayes and his wife still live to recount the experiences of those days," which comment would lead one to suppose that the compiler had obtained his information direct from Mr. Bayes, yet Elliot Bayes, grandson of Thomas and son of William W., but almost in the pioneer class himself, having been born in Clinton Township in 1840, is responsible for the assertion that "Thomas Bayes lived in York Township several years before moving to Clinton Township." Another chronicler stated that Elisha Huntington did not arrive until March of 1836.
Rufus Briggs, who spent much time in collecting historical data of Clinton Township, and was aided in such endeavors by Captain William F. Williams, son of Elisha, gives the last-named credit for having erected the first "house," built of logs, in the township, which house he states was erected on October 23, 1835, and was occupied by Elisha Williams and his family on December 22, 1835, this establishing Elisha Williams in first place among the "permanent" settlers of Clinton Township, yet Rufus Briggs makes the following statement regarding the coming of Avery Lamb:
"In the fall of 1835 Avery Lamb built a log cabin, about six by twelve feet, on land that he had bought of the government the previous Julv. and his cabin was situated on the west side of the township line between York and Clinton Townships, in which he wintered. and chopped off a small piece of land for spring crops. In the spring of 1836 Mr. Lamb returned to his home in Onondaga county, N. Y., and arrived with his family in June, 1836 .... During this spring, '36, Mr. Lamb erected a hewed log house, which when chinked and daubed and whitewashed, presented a very comfortable and cheerful appear- ance, and was for many years a pleasant and hospitable home."
Presumably, therefore, the chopping Elisha Williams had heard in the spring of 1836 was that of timber for Avery Lamb's second log home. Regarding Avery Lamb's property, Rufus Briggs continued : "Previous to 1847, all of Mr. Lamb's buildings were in Clinton
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HISTORY OF FULTON COUNTY
Township, and although after 1847 he built a home in York Town- ship where he lived, his interests were closely identified with Clinton Township. Mr. Lamb built the first frame barn forty by sixty erected in this township. The whitewood lumber for the barn was procured from the McQuillin saw mill, near Delta, at $6.00 per 1,000 feet; nails cost $8.00 per 100 lbs; total cost of barn, as taken from memorandum, $143."
Between the coming of the first white settler in 1835, and the holding of the first township election, in 1838, many settlers had taken up land, nearly all of them purchasing from the government at $1.25 or $1.50 an acre. Besides those hereinbefore named, the pioneers who had settled in Clinton Township in or before 1838 were: William W. Bayes, Isaac Tedrow, Adam, William, James, and George Mikesell, Mary (Mikesell) Case, and her son, Thomas J. Case, then a boy of nine years, Meek Baves, Horace Pease, John Losure, Sr., Erastus Briggs, Sr., Cyrus Coy, William Jones, Thomas Mckibben, Jonathan Barnes, Asa Young, Samuel Beck, William Dye, Henry Krontz, St. B. Geer, S. B. Willey, Isaac Dowell, Holmes Bishop, Samuel Gonld, Lewis and Samuel Eckhart, John Lilliek, Jonathan Inman, Ebenezer Keiser, Philip Krontz, James Cornell.
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