Commemorative historical and biographical record of Wood County, Ohio : its past and present : early settlement and development biographies and portraits of early settlers and representative citizens, etc. V. 1, Part 13

Author: Leeson, M. A. (Michael A.) cn; J.H. Beers & Co. cn
Publication date: 1897
Publisher: Chicago : J.H. Beers & Co.
Number of Pages: 1060

USA > Ohio > Wood County > Commemorative historical and biographical record of Wood County, Ohio : its past and present : early settlement and development biographies and portraits of early settlers and representative citizens, etc. V. 1 > Part 13

Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).

By the close of the year 1819 the Maumee villages, and adjacent settlements, numbered over six hundred people, exclusive of Indians. The increasing population and business of the settle- ment made it burdensome to the citizens to have to travel seventy-five or eighty miles, across the swamp, with scarcely any road facilities, to get to the seat of justice, and they petitioned for a new county.

On February 12. 1820, the Legislature, by boundaries and names, carved fourteen new coun- ties out of the territory lately purchased of the Indian tribes. Of the fourteen counties thus formed, provision was made in the Act for the organization of only two-Wood and Sandusky. Maurnee was named in the law as the temporary county seat of Wood, and the first day of April following was designated as the time when the voters should meet, at their usual place of holding election, to choose county officers. The law also provided that justices and constables, previously elected under the jurisdiction of Logan county. should fill out their unexpired ternis of office. It was further provided that the unorganized coun-" ties of Hancock, Henry, Putnam, Paulding. and Williams, should be attached to Wood. for civil purposes, until further provision was made by law.

WOOD COUNTY, OHIO.

Thus Wood had jurisdiction over territory which now comprises nine counties. The original six countie's have since, at different times, been divided and the counties of Lucas, Fulton and Defiance formed. additional.

On April 12, the commissioners, chosen April I, Daniel Hubbell, of Miami, Samuel H. Ewing, of Orleans, and John Pray, of Waterville, met in the second story of Almon Gibbs' store, in Maumee, and organized by electing Daniel Hub- bell clerk of the board. That was the beginning of Wood county's corporate existence. The first act of the commissioners, after electing their clerk, was to appoint William Pratt county treas- urer. The next was to buy a record book, which they got on credit, price $4.50, which shows that the grand old county, rich to-day, was poor at the start; she had not so much as a nickel; this suggests the inquiry as to why they needed a treasurer then. Wood county was organized; she had boundary lines and a name; a board of commissioners; a treasurer and a record book. That book, yet in existence at the auditor's office, in a fair state of preservation, is a medium sized, rawhide-covered volume, of about 300 pages. It was the first property owned by Wood county, and should be treasured as a relic. The county was named in honor of Col. Eleazer D. Wood, a gallant young engineer officer, and graduate of West Point, on Gen. Harrison's staff in the war of 1812. Under his commander's orders, he planned and helped to construct and defend Fort Meigs. Afterward, at the battle of the Thames, he had command of the artillery, and was in the front, with the Kentuckians, in the pursuit of the flying Proctor. After that battle, a part of Har- rison's army was sent to the Niagara frontier, and Wood went with it. In a desperate sortie of the Americans, from Fort Erie, the following year ( 1814), the intrepid Wood, then holding the rank of brevet lieut. - colonel, lost his life. His com- mander, Major-Gen. Brown, after the war, and at his own expense, erected a monument in mem- ory of Col. Wood, in the Post cemetery, at West Point, on the Hudson. The county was honored with the name of this gallant officer, as . was Perrysburg by the name of the hero of Lake Erie.

of his room, for one year, for a court house, for which they agreed to pay him $40. When they adjourned, the clerk took the record book under his arm, and carried it home for safe keeping. The county, though now organized and in running order, was lacking in many of the essentials of the present day. It had no safes, no fire-proof vaults, no tax duplicate, no money, no jail, no county roads, no ditches, no bridges-hardly any- thing, except the bright anticipations of her pro- jectors. In this humble plight Wood took her place in the sisterhood of counties-not a very promising one, to be sure, but destined to take an honorable place with them, after overcoming more discouragements than any other county in the State. It is difficult, indeed, for people of to-day to realize the homeliness and poverty of that beginning in the county's history; and yet. the contrast, so much in favor of the present, affords us just cause of pride in those people, our predecessors, and their successors, down to the present, who have worked this wonderful change amid so many disheartening obstacles. But while the hopeful settlers at the seat of justice of the newly-fledged county are waiting for the next event, which completed their county government --- namely, the court-it will be interesting to look back, through the mist of years, and catch a glimpse of the landscape surroundings at the Foot of the Rapids. It was not like it is now. In- stead of smoothi, grassy slopes and cultivated fields, with unobstructed views of the gentle curves and broad sweeps of the river for miles, as seen now, we would see it clothed in rugged forest trees and thick bush. Instead of the fine iron bridge, connecting two pretty towns, with fine business blocks, residences and public build- ings, there was a sluggish ferryboat and numerous canoes and skiffs to cross from shore to shore. The battle-scarred ruins of Fort Meigs, on the south side, and of Fort Miami, further down, on the north side of the river, told the stranger that this point had lain in the track of war. Three straggling river settlements, on the river bluffs among the timber, or on the flats, strove for city honors. Maumee, the most pretentious, lay on the north bank, scattered along nearly two miles. Orleans, on the south side, was on the slope and flats below the old fort. There were a few culti- vated areas at intervals, mostly of wheat and corn. Perrysburg had a few cabins, along a wood's trail, cut out where Front street is now. Her claims to city honors, other than her name and fine location, were seriously obscured by the heavy growth of timber. There were no streets

The county boundary lines were the same as now, except on the north Wood extended to Michigan. In the year 1835. Wood was dis- membered, and Lucas county formed, when the Manmee river became the northern line of Wood, except a short space on the northeast corner. Before the commissioners adjourned their first meeting, they contracted with Gibbs for the use , or roads, except the old army trails. Indians

WOOD COUNTY, OHIO.

were, at times, more numerous than whites, though usually peaceable and quiet, unless under the influence of whiskey. There were not, at that time. to exceed 650 whites, men, women and children, in all three settlements and vicinity. The census of 1820 makes the population 733; but taking the list of names of voters at the elec- tions up to 1825, it is difficult to figure out that many whites, on the usual ratio of five persons to every voter. But it is not improbable that in their efforts to get a county government, the settlers made the largest showing possible. At any rate, in ten years to 1830, the increase, as shown by the census report, only carried the population up to 1, 102. The point, however, is not material, except as a basis from which to note the after-growth of population.

Now let us go to Maumee and attend court, in fancy, at least. It is Wood county's first Common Pleas court; May 3, 1820. How dif- ferent from now. [The writer is indebted for an account of the first court, to the late Collister Haskins, one of the grand jurors on that occa- sion. ] These is no bell ringing in the lofty tower to call the jurors, attorneys, and witnesses to- gether. The clerk and his deputies are not hur- rying to the court room with arms full of heavy court records. There is no clerk, and there are

no record books. The attorneys are not edging up quietly to the sheriff's desk to learn if import- ant witnesses have been notified, and are likely to be present. Curious as it may seem to those conversant with later judicial history, lawyers were scarce at that first court. The event had not got noised about very far; but they soon began to come. Before court had been in ses- sion long, three arrived, showed their credentials, and asked leave to practice. Where lawyers were found, there are certain to be clients. But if lawyers were a little scarce, the court was "numerous." As courts were then organized, the Common Pleas had four judges-a president judge, and three associates, all appointed by the Legislature.

George Tod# was president judge at this first court, and his associates were Samuel Vance, Horatio Conant, and Peter G. Oliver. Four judges are considered, even now, as quite an imposing "bench;" and no doubt the proud dwellers in the new county seat felt, and justly, too, that quite an added dignity and prestige attached to their ambitious little city because of its court honors. David Hull was the name of the first sheriff who rapped on the table and opened the Common Pleas court. The first

official act was to appoint Thomas R. McKnight. clerk. While McKnight was hunting up suitable stationary and a record book, C. J. McCurdy was appointed prosecutor for the State. This completed the organization of the court, and they were now ready for business.

Many duties attached to the Common Pleas court then that do not belong to it now. All probate work belonged to it; such as the apoint- ment of guardians, granting administration, re- cording wills, taking bonds, etc. Besides this, the court granted all licenses. Every business paid license then: Taverns, stores, ferries, bridges, ware-houses, all had to pay rates fixed by the court. Thus it will be seen that the Common Pleas court embraced, in its scope of work, some of the most important functions of government in this new settlement-even the vital one of creating revenue, and the records. happily yet in a good state of preservation. afford us an insight into many interesting facts not elsewhere to be found. One thing is partic- ularly striking in the testamentary records of that time -- the frequent number of deaths noted. Before the end of the year 1822, the death list. in this sparse population, enrolls the names of several of the leading citizens. The United States collector and his wife; Gibbs. the post- master and merchant: one of the county commis- sioners, and one of the justices of the peace, are included, and the names of many other property owners appear on these tell-tale pages. There were doubtless as many more, of these hardy men and women, who fell victims to the preva- lent malarial fever, whose names do not appear in the books. These are some of the things shown by the old court records. They tell us. in sorrowful lines, that the pioneers, who laid the corner-stone of this civilization, had a hard struggle. Privations, disease and death met them at every turn. [Subsequent proceedings of Wood county courts are told in the chapter on Bench and Bar. ]

Now that the Maumee Rapids people had a county of their own, and a seat of justice right in their midst, it might reasonably be presumed that they would, after the great inconvenience they had endured, be happy to a man. No so. Human nature is not shaped thus. It was the same then as it is to-day; never satisfied. Mau- mee had the county seat temporarily, but not by general approval. Orleans and Perrysburg were not pleased. The settlers were pretty evenly di- vided on each side of the river. But in the new counties then formning, the seats of justice were fixed temporarily by the Legislature until the de-

*Father of Governor David Tod.

WOOD COUNTY, OHIO.

velopments of population should indicate where the proper place for the county seat would be, when three disinterested commissioners were ap- pointed, whose duty it was to carefully investi- gate the situation and fix upon the location of the county seat. Had the location of the seat of justice been made by a vote of the settlers, no doubt Maumee would have held it at that time. Orleans and Perrysburg, both on the south side of the river, were envious of each other, and would not act in unity, and, in a triangular battle, Maumee could out vote either of them. The question has often been raised in later years as to how Perrysburg got the county seat away from her stronger neighbor, Maumee, and we believe this is the first time an explanation has appeared in print. At the session of the Legislature, in the winter of 1821-22, Charles R. Sherman (father of Gen. Sherman), Edward Paine, Jr., and Nehemiah King were appointed commission- ers to fix the permanent location of the county seat of Wood county. At the May term of court in Maumee, 1822. the report of these commis- sioners. a copy of which had been placed on file with the clerk, was read in open court, and from which report (following the language of the Jour- nal) "it appears that the town of Perrysburg, in said county of Wood, was selected as the most proper place as a seat of justice for said county of Wood, the said town of Perrysburg being as near the center of said county of Wood as, pay- ing a due regard to the situation, extent of popu- lation, quality of land and convenience and inter- est of the inhabitants of said county of Wood, as was possible, the commissioners aforesaid desig- nate In-lot No. 387, as the most proper site for the court house of said county of Wood." It must not for a moment be supposed that Maumee surrendered up this coveted prize without a pro- test, or that Orleans looked on with an approving smile. Both opposed it with every possible influ- ence, but Perrysburg had a powerful ally. Just at this critical juncture, the United States gave some friendly aid to her protégé. In May, 1822, Congress enacted a law vesting the title to all un- sold lots and out-lots in Perrysburg, in the Com- missioners of Wood county, on condition that the county seat should be permanently located there.

The net proceeds of the sale of the lots were to be used in erecting public buildings, etc. There was a considerable number of these lots unsold, and the gift proved of great benefit to the county in its early poverty, in getting a jail and court house without much expense to the tax-payers. Regardless of this help to the county, the decis- ion of the commissioners, who located the seat of justice, was a wise and also a just one, either in the light of the views set forth in their report, or of what subsequently occurred, the dismem- berment of Wood county to forni Lucas.

There was, too, at this time a complicating question of jurisdiction between Ohio and the Territory of Michigan which well nigh provoked a war fifteen years later. According to the claims of Michigan most of the territory north of the Maumee belonged to her. The final decision of the question rested with Congress, as Michigan was not yet a State. This uncertainty of jurisdiction may also have had its influence with the commission which fixed the permanent county seat at Perrysburg. It was known to the friends of the latter place, and the Hollisters. Spaffords and others, who had at that time invested in property in Perrysburg, were tacti- cians enough to work the point for all it was worth.

Although the decision of the commission in favor of Perrysburg was made in May, 1822. there does not appear to have been any haste in the removal. The first meeting of the county commissioners in Perrysburg, as shown by their Journal, was held on the third of March follow- ing, nearly ten months after the decision had been made. The minutes of their proceedings in Maumee, during almost three years, show a light amount of routine work. They had constructed a log jail, and taken some steps looking to the establishment of roads. Their record for the entire time covers only about twenty pages, and the auditor, Ambrose Rice, received $29.75 for his services in the year ending March 4, 1822. Thomas W. Powell, then prosecuting attorney. was appointed auditor for the year 1823, and filled both offices, getting an allowance of thirty dollars for his services as auditor, which was twenty-five cents more than Rice got.

CHAPTER XII.

TRANSACTIONS OF THE COMMISSIONERS -- CHANGE OF OFFICERS-ENTRIES IN THE PIONEER RECORD BOOK-TAX LEVIES -- ESTABLISHMENT OF NEW TOWNSHIPS-EARLY COURT HOUSES-THE "TEN-YEARS' WAR " -- QUESTION OF REMOVING THE COUNTY SEAT FROM PERRYSBURG TO BOWLING GREEN-SUNDRY INDICTMENTS, ETC.

T was the intention of the writer to group, in one chapter, the doings of the commis- sioners, from 1820 to 1895; but this inten- tion was cast aside in favor of distributing the transactions throughout the local chapters with which they were specially associated, and, for this reason, what promised to be one of the most exhaustive chapters of this volunie now em- braces only incidents, which were not apportioned to the histories of the bench and bar, the soldiers and the townships. No apology is offered for these concise and dry relations; for, with the fore- going chapters (from the pen of Mr. Evers), dealing with the most interesting years in Ohio's history, the reader must be prepared to meet the matter-of-fact details of the history of Wood county.

In December, 1820, John E. Hunt took the place of W. H. Ewing on the Commissioners' board, and in the new organization was made clerk. Beyond a short meeting, held in June, 1821, to inquire into the treasurer's accounts, and one in December of that year, to order a payment of $12.50 for the use of court house, nothing of importance was considered, until March 4, 1822, when they appointed Thomas W. Powell auditor, to fill a vacancy occasioned by the resignation of Ambrose Rice, taking his bond for $2,000. On that occasion, they declared the township of Waynesfield within the jurisdiction of Wood county, to be co-extensive with the counties of Wood and Hancock, and the township of Auglaize with the counties of Williams, Henry, Putnam and Paulding. At this term, the proposal of Almon Gibbs to give the use of the upper part of his store for court purposes, on condition that his county, tavern and ferry tax be paid by the county, was accepted. In June, 1822, Samuel Spafford, appointed by the court in May previous, took his place as commissioner, vice Hubbell, re- signed. Walter Colton was appointed treasurer, and his bond for $2,000 was accepted; while David Hull qualified as collector of State and

county taxes. On September 2, 1822, the death of Almon Gibbs, one of the State road commis- sioners, is noticed in the record, and the appoint- ment of Francis Charters the same day as his successor, is recorded, while Daniel Hubbell was also appointed to take up the unfinished work of the pioneer, on the State road, from the town of Maumee to Fort Defiance, and thence westward.

The last session of the commissioners, held at Maumee, was that of September 2, 1822, while the first held at Perrysburg was that of March 3, 1823, when Hiram P. Barlow, Sam- uel Spafford and John Pray, were present. On that occasion the offer of Guy Nearing and Daniel Hubbell to erect county buildings for the sum of $895.00 was accepted. and, after some routine business, Aurora Spafford was appointed treasurer to succeed Colton, the bond being made at $3,000. Sixteen days later. the board assembled to view the jail building, which had been moved from Maumee to Perrys- burg, where it was rebuilt by Daniel Hubbell, who received only $48 for the whole work of raz- ing, moving and reconstructing. A sum of $25 was ordered to be expended on repairing it. These transactions, with the order to sell 105 lots at Perrysburg, by auction, on May 26, 1823, for the use of the county, at a minimum price of $20 a lot-one-fourth of which was to be paid in cash-and the cancellation of a contract with Thomas R. McKnight, to furnish a court room to the county for ten years, completed the first work of the commissioners at the new county seat.

The appointment of Francis Charter, as col- lector, was made June 2, 1823, his compensation being fixed at the rate of six per cent. of the sum collected. Aurora Spafford was reappointed treasurer, who reported that he redeemed or- ders issued by the commissioners to the amount of $408.35. The terms of sale of lots at Per- rysburg were made more popular, but the Act providing for placing the transfer of town lots on

WOOD COUNTY, OHIO.

the county records was ordered to be enforced, and the name of Commissioner Barlow to be used as prosecutor for the county.

Let us look back three-quarters of a century to the first financial doings of the commissioners, and measure, if we can, how far the compensa- tion offered by the new county was in accord with the work performed for her. In FF. 30-31-32 and 33 of Wood county's pioneer record book, the story of her first servants and of the moneys paid to them is told in cold figures. Let the form of the entries of orders be observed:

C. J. McCurdy, May 5, 1820. $ 10 00

Thomas R. Mcknight, May 5, 1820. 28 00

C. J. McCurdy, May 5, 1820. 10 00

Hunt & Forsyth, May 5, 1820 16 12

Almon Gibbs, May 5, 1820. 40 25

Seneca Allen, May 5, 1820. 2 50

George Patterson, May 5, 1820.

2 00

S. Allen, May 5, 1820 ..

1 00

James H. Slawson, May 5. 1820

1 50

John E. Hunt (lister).

11 25

Thomas Driver (lister).

5 00

George C. White (guard).

Ezra Kelly

Norman L. Freeman (roads).

3 75

James Carlin ..

3 00

James Slawson

75 75

Thomas Mcllrath.

1 50

Ephraim H. Leaming

3 00

. Thomas Leaming.

Jacob Wilkison.

David Hull

Wilson Vance (cancelled).

John Perkins

Andrew Race.

1 50 50 6 00

Guy Nearing (juror)

James Thomson.

George Marsh

David Hull

Almon Gibbs

Salmon Cross

Francis Charter.

Guy Nearing (work on jail)

William Griffith (work on jail).

James Carlin (work on jail).

Jacob Wilkison (work on jail).

Peter G. Olliver (work on jail). 2 00

Seneca Allen (grand juror) ... 4 50 Dexter C. Gunn (grand juror) 4 50 7 50

David Bucklen (grand juror)

David W. Hawley (grand juror)

4 50

Samuel Spafford (grand juror).

4 50

Guy Nearing (grand juror) .

Thomas Leaming (grand juror).

Artemus Underwood (grand juror).

John E. Hunt (grand juror).

James Carlin (grand juror)

Thomas Mclirath (grand juror).

Jacob Wilkison (grand juror).

John Jay Lovett (grand juror).

4 50

William Hunter (labor at jail;

1 00 4 50)

Wilson Vance (grand juror).

4 50

James Hunter (grand juror) .

4 50

Hiram P. Barlow (grand juror)

4 50

Guy Nearing ( work on jail

1 50

6 25

William Griffith ( attendance on court). 1 00

Almon Gibbs (jurors' room) 5 00

Seneca Allen (auditor's fees) 10 50

Daniel Hubbell (clerk to court).

5 37

Horatio Conant (judge of common pleas). 18 (*)

Samuel Vance (associate judge). 15 00

Daniel Hubbell (commissioner) 21 3:

Samuel H. Ewing (commissioner)

21 37 4 75

Samuel Vance (iron for jail).

John P'ray (commissioner). 19 12

Peter G. Oliver (judge) 15 00

David Huil (sheriff). 19 44

D). Hubbell. 2 25

W. Vance.

8 50

S. H. Ewing 2 25

Seneca Allen (auditor) 3 00

J. Richardson 10 00

G. Jones. 9 32

The orders represent the pay for work which would, to-day, cost ten times as much. The record is valuable not only as a souvenir of the first public servants of the Black Swamp, but also for purposes of comparison.

In December, 1823, the commissioners asked John Shelby, representative in the State Legisla- ture, and Joseph Vance, Congressman, to obtain for the county a complete title to the forfeited lots and to the common at Perrysburg. The ac- ceptance of the court house on March 15, 1824. and the tender of any unsold lots, at the county seat, for $15 each, to the contractors in lieu of cash, for the balance due them, formed the work of the board. In June of that year. Aurora Spafford was re-appointed treasurer, and Daniel Hubbell, collector. The former reported $333.553 as paid into the treasury, while a balance of $553.42 was due to the court-house builders, who were again offered ten lots for $12 each to pay part of that indebtedness. In the closing month of the year, repairs on the jail were authorized. In June, 1825. Jonathan H. Jerome was ap- pointed collector, and the old treasurer was re- appointed. A special tax, equal to one-fourth of all the county levies, was ordered, to pay off the court-house debt, as the revenue of the treasurer's office was only $488.66 for the year. In Decem- ber, the financial question was so pressing that the sale of lots at $12 each was ordered. and the trustees of the town of Perrysburg-T. R. Mc- Knight, Walter Colton and Samuel Spafford-were authorized to sell at any time, prior to June I. 1826, Inlots 151, 162 and 175 for $30 in all, said lots to be devoted to burial purposes. In June. 1826, a radical advance in taxation was made. being one per cent. on the grand levy, one-half of one per cent. for road purposes, and one-half of a mill on the dollar for school purposes. At that time, the treasurer reported the receipt of $498.86 3-10 for the fiscal year. Ambrose Rice

Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.

Commemorative historical and biographical record of Wood County, Ohio : its past and present : early settlement and development biographies and portraits of early settlers and representative citizens, etc. V. 1, Part 13

Author: Leeson, M. A. (Michael A.) cn; J.H. Beers & Co. cn Publication date: 1897 Publisher: Chicago : J.H. Beers & Co. Number of Pages: 1060

Author: Leeson, M. A. (Michael A.) cn; J.H. Beers & Co. cn
Publication date: 1897
Publisher: Chicago : J.H. Beers & Co.
Number of Pages: 1060