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 37
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One of the early industries of the township was the cheese factory established on section seven, in 1868, by Benjamin Davis, of Royal- ton. He conducted it for very many years, as the Amboy Cheese Factory, and did a flourishing business, as was to be expected, situated as it was in a growing agricultural district which had practically no other convenient way of marketing its milk product. Conditions have radically changed, since the establishment of the huge evaporated milk plants in and near Fulton county.
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SCHOOLS OF AMBOY TOWNSHIP
Early data regarding the Ainboy Township schools is not avail- able from official records, all early records having been destroyed, or lost, but Lewis S. Hackett, who passed his boyhood and early man- hood years in Amboy, and has maintained a close interest with Meta- mora and the township, has contributed the following "Recollections of the Schools of Amboy Township seventy years ago." He writes:
"There were only four schoolhouses in Amboy Township in the fall of 1849: one near Metamora; one on a farm now owned by George Davoll, and called Davoll School; one on the town line west, near Santee Corners; and one on east and west road, west of Bartlett's Cor- ners, at the intersection of an angling road from Metamora, s. w. to said east and west road. That angling road now only follows where it then did for about forty rods of the six miles of angling road, i. e., for forty rods north of the Petter Berry farm.
"The schoolhouses were of log, and very crude at that. I shall never forget my first day at school. We got to my uncle's, George Hackett, on 20th of September, and the next day, being the last day of school, in the Bartlett School, I, being company, was invited to go with my two cousins, Samuel and Ann Hackett. Miss Melvina Howe was teacher. She had one small table, about 20x36 inches, having one small drawer. The teacher had a common splint-bottomed chair for herself, but the scholars sat on split-log benches that had no back. There were no desks.
"In the fall and winter of 1850-51, a new schoolhouse was built about one-half mile west of this one. It was of frame. Margaret Fullerton was the first summer teacher, and Naaman Merrill followed in the winter. The school books used at that time were: Sander's Readers, Elementary Spelling; Adams and Colburn's Arithmetic; Mitchell's Geography ; and Brown's Grammar.
"There was another new schoolhouse built in the Davoll district, about a year later; and also a frame schoolhouse about one-half mile east of Metamora."
In about 1861, or 1862, Lewis S. Hackett commenced teaching in a schoolhouse situated on the town line between Amboy and Ful- ton townships. That served the children of both townships and the district was known as the Everett, or Sipe, district. Regarding that experience, Mr. Hackett writes :
"There was not much difference in wages, then and now. I taught . 22 days for a month, and earned $56.00 in four months, or $14.00 a month. The following winter I got $16.00 a month for five months of teaching in the same school. What I lacked in cash for my work was made up to me in my board, as I boarded around the district, as all the teachers did at that time.
"At that time (1862) there were seven schoolhouses in Amboy Township. It was quite a habit to have spelling schools, old fashioned. We would go for miles to one; would choose sides and spell, then spell down, the one last standing being the winner."
In 1888, there were five school districts in Amboy Township, sec- tions 4, 7, 16, 26 and 29 each having a schoolhouse; and in addition there was a good village school at Metamora.
As re-districted in recent years, the schools of Amboy Township
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HISTORY OF FULTON COUNTY
include: four one-room elementary schools, valued at $3,700, and affording education to about seventy-two children for a term of 32 weeks ; a special rural district, known as Amboy-Richfield, to which go about eighteen children of Amboy Township; another fractional school district, the Amboy-Fulton, which enrolls about seventeen Amboy scholars; and the Metamora school which is valued at $30,000. It has four rooms for elementary grades, and four for high; and for the 1919 session one hundred and sixty-six pupils were enrolled, fifty- seven of them for the high school course. C. A. Hudson, district superintendent is a capable educator. In addition, there is the well- attended parochial school at Caragher.
CHURCHES OF AMBOY
In 1850, stated Lewis S. Hackett, "there was only one church, or meeting house, in our vicinity, none in Amboy Township; but on the
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METAMORA HIGH SCHOOL.
town line between Amboy and Royalton there was a log church, on the Royalton side. It was many years after that that there was one in Metamora."
The Methodists were active in Amboy from its early days. The Methodist church referred to by Mr. Hackett as being on the Amboy- Royalton line is probably that to which Historian Verity refers. The last-named authority records the building of a church in that locality in 1867. That probably was a frame edifice built to take the place of the orginal log meeting house.
The Metamora M. E. Church history began in 1854, when a Meth- odist society was organized, the members of which worshipped in a house situated about one mile to the eastward of Metamora. The circuit was composed of Sylvania, Richfield Centre, Metamora, Tiney, and the Red Schoolhouse, near Lyons. John R. Colgan and Henry Boyers were the visiting ministers, one living in Sylvania, and the other in Swanton. Mr. and Mrs. Reuben Tredway, Mr. and Mrs.
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HISTORY OF FULTON COUNTY
Simon Ford, Mr. and Mrs. Hiram Parker, Mrs. Winchell, and Mr. and Mrs. Kellogg composed the original membership. The first church building was erected in 1866, in Metamora. That eventually was dis- placed by the present church, which was built in 1894, at a cost of $4,000. D. B. Nelson is the present pastor. He succeeded G. A. Edmunds.
The Reformed Church of Zion was built by German residents in 1870 on section nine. The most prominent pioneer member was Peter Kohl.
The United Brethren society at Metamora built a church in 1874, and for many years had a strong membership. The Congregationalists have also within recent years been active in the village, and its Sunday school is a thriving one. Then there is of course the Catholic Church at Caragher.
THE HAMLET AND PARISH OF CARAGHER
The development of the little village of Caragher is of course closely identified with the history of the Catholic Church of that place, a re- view of which has been written for this work by the present pastor, the Rev. H. P. Waechter. The review reads, in part :
"The Catholic Church of St. Mary's Assumption, at Caragher, Ohio. is situated three miles south of Metamora, and twenty miles due west of Toledo, on the Central Avenue road.
"Members of the Catholic faith began to settle in Amboy Town ship as early as 1850. ..... For a few years divine services were held in the homes ...... by priests, who came from Toledo, Maumee and Providence, at irregular intervals. The first mass in this section was said in 1853, byRev.F.Foley, in the home of Mr. Forester, about six miles west of where the church now stands.
"When the Rev. Barbier was appointed first resident pastor of Six Mile Woods in 1863, he was also given charge of the Catholics in Amboy Township ...... Eventually a movement was started to build a church and organize a regular parish. Accordingly two acres of land were donated in 1867 by Jacob Berrens, for church and cemetery purposes, where the present hamlet of Caragher now lies. ..... In the same year a church (frame) 45 x 28 feet, of simple design, was erected, but lack of funds prevented its completion until 1869, when it was dedicated by the Rt. Rev. Rapp, Bishop of Cleveland, O. The parish continued to be a mission of Six Mile Woods until 1872. For the next three years, it was served by the Jesuit Fathers from Toledo. When the Rev. J. G. Vogt was appointed pastor of Six Mile Woods in 1875. he was given charge of Caragher parish, the Catholic families of which had by that time increased to thirty-five, and they petitioned the Bishop for permission to build a parochial residence ... .... A frame house of humble appointments was built in the autumn of 1876, and it has ever since served as parochial residence.
"With a parish of fifty-six families, and enjoying a constant growth, the people petitioned the Bishop to send them a resident priest The bishop finally appointed the Rev. F. Gauthier, D. D ....... to take office on February 8, 1877 ...... Bishop Gilmore visited the parish in 1879 and consecrated the cemetery. Soon it was necessary to en- large the church, by building galleries along both sides. Father
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Gauthier ended his pastorate in December, 1880, and for the next few years, the Revs. Kelly, Mueller, and Norman had charge, successively, of the parish. On August 1, 1883, the Rev. Thomas McGuire was ap- pointed ....... In 1888 ...... Msgr. Boff laid the corner-stone of the new church ...... and first services were held Feb. 17, 1890. and on November 8th, the church was solemnly dedicated.
"The church is a brick building of graceful lines, with stone trim- mings 80x40 feet, and has a steeple 90 feet high. In 1892, the parish again became a mission of Six Mile Woods, but a year later, the Rev. John Schaffeld was appointed pastor of St. Mary's, and remained until 1901, during his pastorate he entirely cleared the church of debt; had the church refurnished; a pipe organ installed; and other church furnishings were placed in position. He was succeeded by Rev. Tom Fahey. A year later, the Rev. W. S. Agle was appointed. He at once began to enlarge and to beautify the parish cemetery. In 1902 the old frame church was remodelled and converted into a parish hall .... With an ever-growing parish, it became necessary, in 1906, to en- large the brick church, at a cost of nearly $10,000. It now has a length of 127 feet.
"Father Agle next sought to establish a parochial school, and .... accordingly a frame dwelling was built in the rear of the church in the fall of 1909. . .. . . to serve as a teacher's residence ...... It cost less than $2,000. The parish hall was fitted up as a school building, and on Feb. 1, 1910, the parochial school opened with fifty children in attendance. The school has eight full grades, and is taught by the Sisters of St. Dominic. Father Agles' pastorate ended November 27, 1912. He was succeeded by Rev. J. A. Christ. Two years later, the Rev. Albert Zemp was appointed. By this time, the school had outgrown its quarters, and at a meeting of the parish in January, 1915, it was decided to proceed with the erection of a modern brick school building. .. A substantial concrete and brick building was erected ...... and solemnly dedicated June 8, 1916, by Bishop Schrembs, D. D. An electric lighting plant was installed, of power adequate to supply all the buildings of the parish with light. The school, electric light plant, and other minor improvements cost about $18,000."
Father Waechter became resident pastor in 1917, and at that time the parish was heavily in debt. Chiefly by his efforts and persuasive influence, however, the debt was wholly cleared before the end of last year. The parish now numbers 140 families, and about. 110 pupils attend the parochial school. Undoubtedly, St. Mary's Parish, and the hamlet of Caragher, has grown sturdily.
SOCIETIES
Apart from the argicultural organizations, there appears to be only one society in Amboy Township, that at Metamora which con- tinues the Sanders Tent, No. 421, of the Knights of Maccabees, organized on January 22, 1900, with the following named Metamora residents as first officers : Everett C. Saunders, com .; H. A. Barrett, It. com .; John M. Horton, rec. kpr .; Peter Biehl, F. K .; George F. Frasch, chaplain; Fred H. Mobus, mat. a .; Chas. W. Henrick, sent .; Orrine E. Henrick, picket. The chief officers for 1920 are: Justin
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HISTORY OF FULTON COUNTY
Bartlett, eom .; Melvin Luke, It. com .; U. D. Saunders, r. k .; Peter Myers, chaplain.
POPULATION
Previous to the last three decadal eensus tabulations, the popula- tion of Metamora was not made public separately from the figures for Amboy Township, but for these three census years, the figures given for Metamora were: 1900, 263; 1910, 475; 1920, 484. The statistie for Amboy Township for the last fifty years are: 1870, 1089: 1880, 1264; 1890, 1450; 1900, 1423; 1910, 1590; and 1920, 1522. These figures are inclusive of Metamora population, and the 1920 figures are subjeet to correction, being the "Preliminary Announcement of Population" released by the Bureau of the Census, prior to verification of totals.
CHAPTER XV HISTORY OF ROYALTON TOWNSHIP
Royalton Township has a distinctive place in the history of Fulton county; it was the part of the county to which Eli Phillips, who is claimed to have been the pioneer settler, came, in 1833. And it also has place, although under another name, in Michigan annals, for its set- tlers seem to have taken a more active part than did the settlers of adjoining townships in the boundary dispute between the Territory of Michigan and the State of Ohio. The boundary dispute, which almost brought the Territory of Michigan and the State of Ohio into actual bloody conflict, and did bring the military forces of those two contending states into what might be termed a state of warlike dem- onstration, even so far as to cause bullets to fly through the air upon one occasion, will not be further referred to in this chapter, for it has been extensively reviewed in an earlier chapter of this work. Suffice it here to give a reason for the apparent antipathy shown by some of the early settlers of Royalton, and other northern townships of the present Fulton county to the authority of the state of Ohio. The set- tlement of Lenawee county, Michigan, began in 1824, the first settle- ment upon its soil being in the northwestern corner, in the valley of the Raisin. In 1826, the southern half of Lenawee county, which then was one township, named Fairfield, and formerly Logan, was subdivided into three townships, which from east to west were Fair- field, Seneca, and Medina, these townships embracing in their respec- tive jurisdictions the territory of what is now Fulton county down to the line commonly known as the "Fulton Line." Settlement of Lenawee County, Michigan, proceeded rapidly, and as the choice loca- tions of the northern part of the county were taken up, the settlers travelled further south, entering, from 1832 onward to 1835, their land at the Land Office at Monroe, Michigan. As the territory was recognized at the Federal Land Office as being in the Michigan sur- vey, the settlers were hardly to be blamed for refusing to recognize the right of Wood county, Ohio, and, in 1835, Lucas county, Ohio, to levy taxes, for the State of Ohio. They considered themselves to be in Lenawee county, Michigan, and did the greater part of their legal and other business at Adrian, county seat of Lenawee county, Michigan, which town was much more accessible than Maumee. The majority of the early settlers came in from the north, and some had had resi- dence for many years in more northerly parts of Michigan. Also, the Territory of Michigan was literally in possession, and could enforce its authority, whereas the State of Ohio had no official grip of the dis- puted strip. Verity recorded that "Wood county, at a very early period, much earlier than 1835, attempted to extend the law of Ohio over this strip to the county of Williams, and claimed it to be in that county. They levied taxes (there being some settlers in the east part, near
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(Toledo) but the people did not recognize the act and authority of Wood county, and refused to pay the taxes. It was in this township that some of the scenes of the Ohio and Michigan war were enacted. When, in the beginning of 1835, Olio undertook to enforce jurisdic- tion along the whole northern border to the Harris line. ..... they (the Michigan authorities) 'dared' the Ohio militia to enter the disputed ground, and 'welcomed them to hospitable graves.'" Eli Phillips was at that time, apparently, in authority in that part of the territory being lieutenant-colonel of militia, under Major-General J. W. Brown, of Michigan; and it seems that Col. Phillips "fouglit in the only battle of the Toledo war, in which no one was killed, and only a few very badly scared." That probably was the incident when, after the first warlike demonstration of the state armies had apparently ended in a truce, the Ohio boundary commissioners, properly eseorted, entered the territory in dispute, and while pursuing the survey were set upon by "banditti" of Michigan, who actually fired many shots and took as prisoners almost all of the escort, the commissioners eseaping. Verity says :
"Early in April, Governor Lueas (of Ohio) sent a surveying party to run the Harris line. The commissioners had commenced their work at the northwest corner of the State. General Brown had sent scouts to wateh their operations, and when running the linc, to report im- mediately when the surveying pary had reached the county of Lena- wee. The under-sheriff of that county, with a warrant and posse, made his appearance to arrest them. About ten miles east of Morenci, along the line, in Royalton Township, he came upon the trail of the commissioners ...... and arrested nine of the party, but the com- missioners and Surveyor Dodge made a timely eseape, and ran with all their might until they got off the disputed territory."
Eli Phillips undoubtedly did not settle in Royalton Township until June 10, 1833, although it seems likely that he entered his land at the Land Offiec in 1832. Further information regarding his eoming is embodied in the fourth chapter of this volume. He and his wife came from "the vicinity of" Adrian, and settled on sections 10 and 11, town 9 south, range 3 east. If their home was not actually on the "outskirts of eivilization," their log cabin certainly was much isolated, for some time, for to the south there were no settlers nearer than the Maumee River, and to the west, it was "an unbroken wilderness for at least seventy miles."
Colonel Eli Phillips gained an honorable reeord as a useful and influential citizen of Fulton county, taking aetive part in much of the pioneer building. He, and his brother-in-law, Musgrove Evans, were the first settlers upon the soil of what was afterwards Lenawee county." They settled at Tecumseh, in June, 1824, eoming from Pennsylvania, Evans was a Quaker. They built a log house twenty feet square, "floor bare earth, the roof elm bark," and during the winter of 1824 and 1825, it furnished shelter for sixteen persons. Like conditions, excepting as to number of occupants, Eli Phillips probably experienced nine years later, when he and his wife eame into the wilderness, and began the settlement of what is now Fulton county. He was then about twenty- seven years old, and he lived the remainder of his long life in Fulton county, attaining octogenarian age. Judge Verity wrote of him.
"He stands here today (1887) almost the only monument of the
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past-the first of all the settlers-of over a half century crowded with significant history. He recalls a Jefferson, a Madison, a Monroe, and a long line of the same worthies up to the present time. He was before steamboats, before railroads, before telegraph or telephone. Thus, when closes his life's career, which has been a busy one, it will be thoroughly interwoven with the present and future of Fulton county."
Eli Phillips, the pioneer, did not however remain for long without neighbors. It is said that William (Uncle Billy) Smith settled in the township in the same year; indeed very soon after Eli Phillips came. Smith was a bachelor, one record stating that he came "with, or soon after" Eli Phillips. Butler Richardson is generally thought to have been the second pioneer to settle in Royalton. He came in 1834, and thereafter, until 1840, there was a steady influx of settlers. The popu- lation of Royalton Township in 1840 was four hundred and one, so that the following-named families did not probably embrace the whole
SIXTEEN PERSONS, INCLUDING ELI PHILLIPS, LIVED THROUGH ONE WINTER IN A LOG CABIN TWENTY FEET SQUARE.
of the settlers of the first seven years of Royalton's settlement. How- ever, to state the record as it is, among the settlers who came in 1834 were Butler Richardson, George W. Welsh, Warren Dodge, Frazier Smalley, and Joseph H. Applegate; in 1835, Nathaniel S. Ketchum, Charles D. Smith, John Sturdevant, Will L. Windship, Joshua Youngs, David Wood, and the brothers Blain, Wm. and Charles; in 1836, Elias Richardson, Ansel M. Henderson, George B. Brown, Amos H. and Henry Jordan, Daniel Bueler (later of Amboy), Ebenezer S., Mordecai, Willey, John T. and Snow Carpenter; in 1837, Amos Rath- bun, and Hiram Richardson; in 1838, Jenks Morey, Benjamin Davis, Alpheus Fenner, John Hinkle, John Erastus and James Welsh; in 1839, Barney M. Robinson ; in 1840, Enos C. Daniels, Michael Forester, Patrick Burroughs, and David Potes.
Butler Richardson came in May, 1834, and settled on section fif- teen. He was a native of New York state, and became a leading
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farmer of Royalton Township. George W. Welsh, also from Niagara county, New York, settled on the same section. He and his wife, Mary Whitney, were the parents of cleven children, all of whom were born in Royalton. George W. Welsh was one of the early township officers. Warren Dodge, and his wife, Permelia Church, also were the parents of eleven children. The family was formerly of New York State. Frasier Smalley, who also came in 1834, has the distinction of being the father of the first white male child to be born in Royalton. Nathaniel S. Ketchum, and his wife, Emeline Smith, came from Orange county, New York. Charles D. Smith and his wife, Jane B. Helms, were also of Orange county, New York. They settled upon section 7. Charles D. Smith served as sheriff for six of the first seven years of the existence of Fulton county, and was in the prime of man- hood when he died in 1858. Two of his sons, Martin V. and Laton, later served with honor in the Civil War. Joshua Youngs was the pioneer physician of Royalton Township. He settled upon section 26,
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CORN BREAD WAS THE STAPLE IN EARLY ROYALTON.
and died in 1873, having practiced medicine in the township for many years. David Wood settled on section 9. The brothers Blain settled on the line of Amboy and Royalton. Elias and Lucinda (Dowd) Richardson settled on section 9, Mr. Richardson soon afterwards ac- quiring additional land in section 10. He was an enterprising pioneer ; was director of the plank road company, in 1850, and built eleven miles of that road; and for two terms of three years each he was county com- missioner. The Richardson family was from New York, and one rec- ord says that Thomas, brother of Elias, came also in 1836, to Royalton, although another record says that Thomas stayed in Niagara county, where he had a good farm, and his son came to Royalton in 1838, pur- chasing forty acres, and subsequently an additional eighty acres, the latter being the farm later owned by Cyrus Downer. The son's name was Martin, and if he came in 1838, he probably accompanied his uncle, Hiram, brother of Elias, for Hiram Richardson came in 1837 or
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HISTORY OF FULTON COUNTY
1838. Ansel M. Henderson, of the 1836 immigrants, from Niagara county, New York, took active part eventually in township affairs. George B. Brown was the first sheriff of Fulton county. The Jordan family has been prominent in Royalton affairs. They originally came from Vermont. Henry was county commissioner for one term, and held some township offices. And the Carpenter family has to this day had close connection with the life of Royalton Township. ยท Extensive biographical mention of scions of the family will be found in the second volume of this work. Samuel Carpenter, who came in 1843, was a worthy pioneer. Amos Rathbun, who came from Salem, Connecticut, in 1837, and settled about a mile south of where Lyons eventually was platted, was a public-spirited man. In the same year (1837) he built upon his land a log schoolhouse, and later upon that site, or near it, the "Little Red School House" stood until about 1850. Jenks Morey came in 1838, from Mentor, Lake county, Ohio. He settled upon section 9, becoming thus eventually the original proprietor of Lyons, or of the greater part of that incorporated place. Lyons originally was known as Morey's Corners. Jenks Morey was the first hotelkeeper in the town- ship. He died in 1871. Benjamin Davies eventually became one of the most responsible business men of Royalton. He owned and ope- rated on an extensive scale a cheese factory, handling a large portion of the milk product of Royalton and Amboy townships. He and his wife came originally from Dutchess County, New York. Alpheus Fen- ner, from Massachusetts, settled on section 10. He undertook many offices and responsibilities in the township administration. The Hin- kle family has been one of the prominent families of Royalton since almost its beginning. Members of the family are still in the township, well-to-do and public-spirited. The name is encountered in almost all phases of the public history of Royalton Township, and Lyons. Michael Forester was comparatively an elderly man when he settled in Royal- ton Township in 1840. He lived to be more than one hundred years old, in longevity being in the class with Lucius P. Taylor, of Pike Township, still alive and now one hundred and four years old. David Lewis Bueler, who settled in Royalton in 1836, or 1838, lived in the township until 1852, when he was attracted to California by the dis- coveries of gold in that state. He returned three years later, and pur- chased a farm in Amboy. He took prominent part in church and school affairs, he alone constituting the building committee responsible for the erection of the first Methodist Episcopal church of Royalton. Later, he retired to Wauseon. Enos C. Daniels, a native of New York state, and later of Lake county, Ohio, where he married Mary Ann Carroll, lived from 1840 until his death, in 1902, in Royalton Town- ship, and became the owner of an extensive tract of agricultural land. By trade, he was a carpenter and cabinet maker, and was evidently a capable building contractor. He was the builder of many of the pio- neer buildings of consequence in the township. He built the first hotel, that owned by Jenks Morey ; the first brick church in the township, that owned by the Disciples in Christ society; the first frame house in the township, probably that of Elias Richardson; and the first grist mill. His son, Albert C., became a Civil War soldier, and later owned the Eagle Cheese Factory, the first to be erected in Royalton. He was twice elected treasurer of Fulton county.
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