USA > Ohio > Williams County > County of Williams, Ohio, Historical and Biographical > Part 26
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Totals
1955
1318
1956
1842
1956
1848
1958
1889
Of the Williams County soldiers in the army, 362 voted, and of these all cast their votes for the Republican candidates, with the exception of two, who voted for Vallandigham ; and three cast their votes for each of the others upon the Democratic State, legislative and county tickets. Since this memorable election, the politics, or party lines in Williams County, have not been sharply defined. The voters have been generally " independent," and it has been difficult to estimate results, particularly as regards candidates for county offices, until the votes have been off- cially canvassed, though there can be no doubt that the Republicans have now a clear majority in the county.
Passing here an interval of sixteen years, it may be mentioned that Gov. Charles Foster (Republican), in Williams County, in 1879, received 2,761 votes, and Gen. Thomas Ewing (Democrat) 2,628 votes, giving to the Republican candidate a majority of 133.
In 1881, Gov. Foster being a candidate for re-election, he received 2,588 votes, and John W. Bookwalter (Dem.) 2,257 votes, giving to Gov. Foster a majority of 331.
Digitized by
(Dem.).
(Rep.).
(Dem.).
NAMES OF TOWNSHIPS.
262
HISTORY OF WILLIAMS COUNTY.
1880.
REPRESENTATIVE IN CONGRESS.
SECRETARY OF STATE.
James M. Ritchie
Frank H. Hurd
Benjamin F. Miller
Charles Townsend
William Long
Charles A. Lloyd
Brady
887
189
2
888
148
2
Bridgewater
177
180
23
176
185
20
Centre
195
207
2
194
208
2
Florence
224
288
7
229
288
7
Jefferson
159
209
2
157
209
2
Madison
240
201
18
289
204
12
Mill Creek
107
129
7
104
132
7
Northwest.
160
119
75
160
120
75
Pulaski
570
508
8
567
510
7
Springfield.
256
228
8
255
229
8
Superior
287
200
24
285
206
28
St. Joseph
221
257
8
222
256
3
Totals
2888
2615
174
2871
2635
168
Following is a tabular statement of the Presidential and Gubernatorial vote of the years 1880-81 :
1881.
GOVERNOR.
LIEUT. GOVERNOR. ATT'Y GENERAL.
1880. PRESIDENTIAL VOTE.
Garfield Electors
Hancock
Brady
229
111
287
114
290
118
866
184
Bridgewater
162
100
168
98
168
98
184
188
Centre
172
164
174
164
176
164
192
201
Florence .
188
215
187
215
189
216
287
281
Jefferson
125
186
127
187
128
187
154
216
Madison
195
177
195
178
196
178
281
191
Mill Creek
96
189
96
189
96
188
109
188
Northwest
181
107
188
106
182
106
162
118
Pulaski.
586
480
541
487
588
441
568
498
Superior
249
198
249
188
252
188
287
218
Springfield.
280
206
285
207
236
207
251
225
St. Joseph
215
229
221
230
2:20
231
280
248
Totals.
2588
2257
2608
2268
2616
2267
2881
2591
Electors.
NAMES OF TOWNSHIPS.
Charles Foster
(Rep.).
J. W. Bookwalter
(Dem.).
Rees G. Rich-
ards (Rep.).
Edgar M. John-
son (Dem.).
George K. Nash
(Rep.).
F. C. Daugherty
(Dem.).
(Dem.).
(Nat.).
NAMES OF TOWNSHIPS.
(Rep.).
(Dem.).
(Nat.).
(Rep.).
So far as attainable from official and other records deemed authentic, the vote of Williams County in its original and present limits for Presi- dential electors is here given, commencing with the memorable log cabin and hard cider campaign, as it was at the time characterized, that occurred nearly a half century ago.
1840-William H. Harrison (Whig), 896 votes; Martin Van Buren
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HISTORY OF WILLIAMS COUNTY.
(Democrat), 407, giving the latter a majority in the county of 11 votes. Mr. Birney, the Abolition candidate, received no vote in Williams county.
1844-Henry Clay (Whig) received 583 votes, and James K. Polk (Democrat), 673 votes, making Polk's majority 90. Again, there were no votes cast for Mr. Birney, who ran the second time in the canvass as the candidate of the Abolitionists.
1848-In this contest a convention of Free-Soilers held at Buffalo, N. Y., placed in nomination a candidate for the Presidency, and adopted a chart of principles satisfactory to nearly all the Abolitionists, and to many others of the old parties. In Williams County, the vote stood : Zachary Taylor (Whig), 328 votes ; Lewis Cass (Dem.), 510; Martin Van Buren (Free-Soil), 154. Majority for Cass over Taylor, 182.
1852-Franklin Pierce (Dem.), 832 votes ; Winfield Scott (Whig), 546; John P. Hale (Free-Soil and Abolition), 160. Majority for Pierce over Scott, 286. Between this and the quadrennial election following the very name and machinery of the Whig party had passed out of existence.
1856-James Buchanan (Dem.), 1,022 votes; John C. Fremont (Rep.), 1,327; Millard Fillmore (American), 49. Majority for Fremont over Buchanan, 305. And since this memorable struggle between the contending parties to secure the Presidency, the Democratic party, as organized upon its ancient principles, has been consigned, like the old Federal and Whig organizations, to its political grave, though a respecta- ble organization exists that retains its name. Williams County, it will be observed, gave the heaviest vote for the Republican ticket, by more than double that it had ever cast against the Democratic party, and its majority against the combined vote of its opponents, amounting to 256.
1860-This contest terminated the "irrepressible conflict " between the Free and Slave States, as Mr. Lincoln and Mr. Seward had declared several years previously that it was destined to become, and, so far as law could make it so, placed the former master and slave upon terms of civil and social equality. Williams County very largely increased her Repub- lican majority, giving to Lincoln (Rep.) a vote of 1,713, to Douglas (Dem.) a vote of 1,180, and to Bell (American) 29 votes, making the majority of Lincoln over the combined vote of his competitors, 504.
1864-Lincoln's (Rep.) vote, 2,197; Mcclellan's (Dem.), 1,425; Lincoln's majority, 772, very closely approximating two-thirds the whole vote.
1868-Ulysses S. Grant (Rep.), 2,280 votes, and Horatio Seymour (Dem.), 1,814, resulting in a majority for Grant of 466.
1872-The Bryan Press (Rep.) of date November 14, 1872, review- ing the result of the autumn elections of that year, said :
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HISTORY OF WILLIAMS COUNTY.
" At the election in October, 1871, our majority in the county was only 199. At the October election this year, it was 367, being an increase over the majority of the previous year of 168. At the Presi- dential election of 1868, we gave Grant a majority of only 466. This year we give him a majority of 805, being an increase of 438 over our majority at the late October election."
The official Presidential vote of 1876 stood as follows :
TOWNSHIPS.
Tilden (Dem.).
Hayes (Rep.).
Brady
142
308
Bridgewater
154
161
Centre
203
164
Florence
285
202
Jefferson
197
137
Madison
183
228
Mill Creek
121
106
North west
138
220
Pulaski
477
519
Springfield
191
232
Superior
205
231
St. Joseph
250
193
Total
2546
2701
The official vote for Presidential candidates in 1880, is given on a preceding page. There is nothing to add.
Between the opening of the time when insurrectionary forces made assault upon Fort Sumter, in April, 1861, and then following during the entire progress of the conflict of four years, there was scarcely a discord- ant voice heard in Williams County against a vigorous prosecution of the war for the preservation of the Union, so far as diligent inquiry can estab- lish. There were diverse opinions regarding the modes and ulterior ob- jects, but finally all diversities became fused in a common crucible, and following the advent of peace, an effort, which resulted in utter failure, was made to resurrect the parties known in ante-bellum times upon former bases, but such labor was unproductive of fruit. Of the living issues, if there in truth be any, between the so-called political parties of our day engaged in a struggle for supremacy, it is in order for those who under- stand the issues to explain through other channels than these pages, as such discussions have no proper place here.
WILLIAMS COUNTY JOURNALISM.
In 1837 a sheet, "medium " in size, made its appearance in Defiance entitled the Barometer, and was under the management of John B. Seamans. Although in politics Mr. Seamans was a Whig, the paper main- tained a neutral position. The editor was a lawyer and a good writer,
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Philetus. S. Gleason
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HISTORY OF WILLIAMS COUNTY.
but his Barometer relied mainly for its support upon the county pa- tronage, and its existence was a brief one. The next newspaper experi- ment in Williams County was planned in Columbus in the winter of 1842-43, and originated with a few leading Democratic politicians, among whom were United States Senator Benjamin Tappan, of Steubenville, James J. Faran, of Cincinnati, Gen. James B. Steedman, of Lucas County, Dr. William Trevitt and Col. S. Medary, of Columbus, and a number of others. In discussing the most eligible point for the location of the new press, Bryan, although then the county seat, was not discussed, the town having scarcely any population or business, except during court terms and tax-paying seasons, and a greater portion of the year the roads were in such a state that an interdict was almost placed upon travel. And 80 Defiance, the recognized business town in the county, and regarded as the most eligible political center of any place in Northwestern Ohio, was determined upon as the point for the establishment of the new paper. Accordingly, a journal, entitled the North- Western, by J. B. Steedman & Co., was established in the spring of 1843. Its life was precisely twelve months, and when No. 52, Vol. I, was closed, the publication was suspended indefinitely. Steedman, with his brother-in-law, Elijah Dodd, had a contract with the State for rebuilding the Providence dam, and the "Co.," H. S. Knapp, had another establishment on his hands, the Kalida Venture, a Democratic publication, which he could not afford to discontinue, and under these untoward circumstances, the North- Western never fully realized the anticipations of its projectors and friends. Mechanically, the paper was a rare specimen of typographical excellence, its managing printer and supervisor being Stephen T. Hos- mer, a good workman, and known throughout the Maumee Valley. The printing material was sold to Samuel A. Hall, in May, 1844, and shipped aboard a canal boat for some place in Indiana, then not fixed upon by him when he left Defiance, but he accompanied his freight in person, and floated himself and it down to Logansport, Cass Co., Ind., whence he at once systematized his material and soon commenced the Democratic Pharos. Through his enterprise the paper acquired large reputation, and, although Mr. Hall deceased several years ago, the journal he founded in the spring of 1844 is to-day recognized as a power in that State.
October 31, 1845, is the date of commencement of Bryan's effort to establish a printing office. Thomas H. Blaker undertook this experiment, and issued the North- Western, Democratic in politics, but having only short life.
November 19, 1846, J. W. Wiley, who had been associated with I. G. Yearick, in the publication of the Defiance Democrat, succeeded Mr. Blaker, and named his journal the Williams County Democrat. This
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HISTORY OF WILLIAMS COUNTY.
same year, Wiley enlisted in the Mexican war, and became First Lieu- tenant of Capt. Daniel Chase's company, and after that war closed, he established a newspaper at Puget's Sound, Washington Territory, and there closed his earthly career.
In 1847, William A. Hunter, an eccentric gentleman, who had, in his life-time, some unfortunate journalistic experience at Carrollton, Carroll County, and at Ashland, Ashland Co., Ohio, removed his family to Bryan, and had charge of the Democratic organ ; but after the county seat conflict between Bryan and West Unity occurred, he transferred his printing material to the latter place; and here, in May, 1851, Hunter and T. S. C. Morrison started the Equal Rights, a Free-Soil Democatic organ. The firm, politically, were not altogether in harmony, and Mr. Morrison removed to Napoleon, and identified himself conspicuously in what was then orthodox Democratic journalism, held several county ofices, and died there, leaving scarcely sufficient momey to pay his funeral expenses. He was a brilliant writer, who would have been one of note, had he lived. Mr. Morrison's death, occurring in manhood's prime, was widely deplored. Mr. Hunter's official life is given among the county records, and appears on other pages. He is now a resident of Iowa, and in affluent circumstances.
Judge Joshua Dobbs established & Democratic newspaper in 1852, at Montpelier. Its career was a brief one. Van Buren Shouf, now a well- known citizen of Bryan, was his printer and manager. The next effort to establish a Democratic paper, was made by Robert N. Patterson. In his issue of May 18, 1882, the editor sketches its business career as follows :
"To-day begins the twentieth volume of the Bryan Democrat. The first number was published April 30, 1863. From the initial number to the present it has continued under one management. During nineteen years, only three weeks' publication were missed-one in 1863 for repairs on the building, one in 1865 for removal of the office, and one in 1871 for the holidays. With the exceptions named it has always been printed on time, never was a day late, and never issued a half-sheet. From a small venture occupying a single room it has 'grown up with the coun- try,' and is now one of the largest and best appointed printing establish- ments in the country."
The Williams County Gazette was established by Isaac R. Sherwood, in December, 1857, and entered upon its second volume December 30, 1858. Its dimensions were about one-half the present size of the Press. The issue of March 31, 1859, contains the salutatory of J. Palmiter, as editor, and from this time forward until September 22, 1859, the publica- tion of the Gazette was continued by Sherwood and Palmiter, when Mr.
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HISTORY OF WILLIAMS COUNTY.
Sherwood retired and was succeeded by L. E. Rumrill. October 27, 1859, the name of the paper was changed to Williams County Leader, and Mr. Rumrill, after a publishing experience of six weeks, retired, and Mr. Sherwood resumed his management of the paper, and added one column to each page, and continued its publication until the rebellion occurred, when, at the first war meeting held at Bryan, and having, meantime, been elected and qualified as Probate Judge of Williams County, he came for- ward at the meeting and enrolled his name the first on the list of volun- teers. Mr. Sherwood served in the three months' service throughout the West Virginia campaign. His career as a soldier and a civilian had some features so unusual that it may be proper to briefly sketch them in this place. He entered the military service as a volunteer in the Fourteenth Ohio Volunteer Infantry and rendered hard work as a private throughout the West Virginia campaign. He was offered promotion, but refused it. His name being first upon the roll, he pledged himself to go through his first campaign with a musket. But he re-enlisted under the three years' call, and was com- missioned First Lieutenant in the One Hundred and Eleventh Ohio Volunteer Infantry, of which regiment he became Adjutant. February 12, 1864, Sher- wood became Lieutenant Colonel of the One Hundred and Eighty-third Ohio Volunteer Infantry, and for gallantry throughout his brilliant military expe- rience, was brevetted Major General, an honor he justly won. But now we resume the newspaper history. J. H. and I. R. Sherwood continued the Williams County Leader. Starr and Spencer had charge of the Repub- lican Standard, May 7, 1857, and their issue of that date is No. 2, Vol. II, which would indicate nearly the date of its establishment. As its name would suggest, the politics of the Standard was Republican. July, 1857, the name of Alvan Spencer appears as editor, and December 24, Mr. Spencer retired, having transferred his interests to I. R. Sherwood. In 1868, Gen. Sherwood having received the nomination for Secretary of State, on the Republican ticket, resigned the editorial management into the hands of Robert N. Traver, though Gen. Sherwood continued as pub- lisher. In the issue of August 26, 1869, Gen. Sherwood announced the sale of his interest in the Union Press to Gen. C. P. Hayes, and in the issue of October 28, 1869, the name was changed to the Bryan Press, and the dimensions of the sheet considerably enlarged. July. 2, 1874, Gen. Hayes sold his Press to D. B. Singer, and the latter's salutatory appears in the issue of that date. Gen. Hayes removed to Illinois and purchased a newspaper establishment, and in less than two years after he settled in that State he was elected to Congress, and served two terms. Mr. Sin- ger continued in charge of the paper until November 15, 1877, when he sold to Bowersox & Gillis-C. A. Bowersox, editor, and S. Gillis, bus- iness manager. This firm continued until November 28, 1878, when the
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HISTORY OF WILLIAMS COUNTY.
property passed into the hands of Gillis & Ogle, the present editors and proprietors of the Bryan Press.
It will have been noticed, in what is said above of Gen. Sherwood and Gen. Hayes, that the public career of those gentlemen has been singularly fortunate. Scarcely less so has been that Mr. Singer. After his sale of the Press he immediately crossed the border, and purchased a Republican press at Charlotte, Mich. ; a year later, however, he was appointed to the responsible and lucrative position of Postmaster at Washington City, in which office he yet continues. The Bryan friends of these gent- tlemen, who are many in both parties, rejoice in their prosperity. It is proper to add here that the present editors of the Bryan Press rendered. both of them, gallant service in the war for the Union.
The Fountain City Argus, Shouf & Williams, editors, issued No. 1. Vol. I, May 25, 1876. April 26, 1877, the name of Van B. Shouf ap- pears alone as editor and publisher, and June 7 following, Van Shouf & Plummer, and in August, 1879, Van Shouf again appears alone. The Argus was radically Democratic in politics, but directly after the close of the October election of 1879, the Fountain City Argus closed its newspaper life, and the material was disposed of to different parties at private sale. It was generally understood, although his name did not appear, that Judge M. R. Willett was the managing editor throughout the term of the existence of the Argus. As a partisan Democratic jour- nal, it achieved wide prominence. Vol. I, No. 1, of the Buckeye Vi- dette, made its appearance April 22, 1880-J. W. Northrup, editor, and J. R. Douglas, assistant. The Vidette was an organ of the Greenback party, and early in 1882, the material and publication were transferred from Bryan to Columbus.
On the last Saturday of June, 1879, the first number of the Border Alliance, a six-column folio newspaper, made its appearance at Pioneer: editor, C. J. De Witt ; publishers, the Alliance Printing Company. In four weeks, the paper was enlarged to a seven-column folio, and its name then became the Pioneer Alliance; but two years later the name was changed to, simply, the Alliance. The paper is Republican in politics. has a circulation of nearly eight hundred, is read by the citizens of Ohio. Indiana and Michigan, and was again enlarged, July 8, 1882, to a six- column quarto, and its name changed to the Tri-State Alliance, named thus from its large circulation in three States. Mr. De Witt, an able editor and an excellent man, claims to have in his office " the brightest 'and biggest and devil in Northern Ohio." A small paper, called the Christian Messenger, was issued for about four months, at Pioneer, in 1880-first appearing as a monthly. then as a semi-monthly, and finally as a weekly. Its aim was to reform the questions of politics and intem-
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HISTORY OF WILLIAMS COUNTY.
perance, and to advocate strenuous moral measures. Its editor was Rev. J. L. Rusbridge. A very mysterious little sheet, called the Brush Creek Herald, appeared semi-occasionally, for a short period, at Pioneer, some two or three years ago.
The Montpelier Eagle was the first newspaper experiment at Mont- pelier. It was an organ of the Spiritualists, and expired after a few is- sues. Second, was the Star of the West, a neutral paper, devoted es- pecially to local interests, and established in 1855, by T. D. Montgomery, a practical printer, who removed from Hillsdale, Mich., and. after running it two months, sold to D. Stauffer and Aaron Crissey, by whom it was conducted about six months, when the material was sold to Frank Rosenberg, who afterward removed it to Ottokee, then county seat of Fulton County, and there founded a Democratic organ. The Star of the West was about one-half the dimensions of the present Montpelier Enter- prise. It may not be improper to add that David Stauffer, above- named, is the senior member of the important hardware firm of Stauffer, Garver & Co., Montpelier.
Notwithstanding the adverse circumstances due at a time which would render the undertaking hazardous, when the publication of a newspaper was not warranted by the support of business men, Messrs. Ford & Smalley, with a keen foresight of the advantages that would be afforded Montpelier by the opening up of the Wabash Railroad, commenced the publication of a paper, styled-significant of the growth and prosperity of the place Montpelier Enterprise. The paper was established Sop- tember 18, 1880, Mr. Ford as editor, and Mr. Smalley as publisher, be- ing equal proprietors. The Enterprise is an independent paper, and ignores politics, its columns being devoted exclusively to local and gen- eral reading matter. Until July 1, 1881, it was a seven-column folio, since which time it has been issued as an eight-column folio, weekly ; sub- scription price, $1.50 per year. Although the Enterprise is less than two years old, it now boasts of a widely extended circulation, a happy and merited result of the energy of its founders, and the activity and enter- prise of the town and surrounding country. Without doubt, the Enter- prise has been, and still is, the most powerful auxiliary of any business institution of the place, and the greatest factor in Montpelier's rise, pro- gress and permanence.
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HISTORY OF WILLIAMS COUNTY.
THE OHIO AND MICHIGAN WAR. BY WESTON A. GOODSPEED.
After the American colonies had thrown off the yoke of Great Brit- ain, and the settlers had begun to pour into the Northwest Territory, it was soon perceived by Congress that new States would eventually have to be created out of the broad domain lying northwest of the Ohio River. While the thirteen separate colonies were yet independent of each other, and even for a time after the constitution of union had been adopted by all, each colony was more or less jealous of the boon of independence which it had gained through eight long years of war, and only by de- grees relinquished its claim to State or colonial sovereignty, as the splendid provisions of the constitution were gradually unfolded, and the wisdom of indissoluble union became apparent. Each colony (and for a time after- ward as a State), claimed under a charter from the European monarchs an extension of its territory from the Atlantic to the Pacific, the latter at that time being thought only a comparatively short distance inland, and known as the " Great South Sea." New York was the first to relinquish her claim to this Western Territory, which she did by act of her General Assembly March 7, 1780. The other States afterward did likewise from time to time. On the 10th of October, 1780, Congress enacted that such territory when ceded to the General Government should be disposed of for the common benefit of the United States, and finally formed into new States. By the " Ordinance of 1787," Congress divided the Northwest Territory into three parts ; the Western to include all the present States of Illinois, Wisconsin and a portion of the Upper Peninsula of Michigan : the middle to include the present State of Indiana, and north to the British line; the eastern to include the territory bounded by Indiana, Canada, Pennsylvania, and the Ohio River, with the proviso that, if ex- pedient, one or more States might be formed out of the territory lying north of an east and west line passing through the southern extremity of Lake Michigan. This is known as the "Fulton Line," and now separ- ates the northern tier of townships of Williams County from the middle tier. Afterward, the surveys in both Michigan and Ohio were made with reference to this line, and a tier of fractional townships occurred on each side of the same, one being No. 8 north, and the other No. 10 south.
At the time Congress established this line by the " Ordinance of 1787." no accurate map of the Western country was in existence, and the southern extremity of Lake Michigan was erroneously thought to be a few miles north of where it really was. In 1802, Congress bounded Ohio " east by the Pennsylvania line, south by the Ohio River to the mouth of the Great Miami west by a line drawn due north from the
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