Historical collections of Ohio in two volumes, an encyclopedia of the state, Volume II, Part 21

Author: Howe, Henry, 1816-1893
Publication date: 1907
Publisher: Cincinnati : Published by the state of Ohio
Number of Pages: 916

USA > Ohio > Historical collections of Ohio in two volumes, an encyclopedia of the state, Volume II > Part 21

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).

152

LUCAS COUNTY.

Brewing Co., lager beer, 85; Milburn Wagon Co., carriages, etc., 632 ; Toledo Overall Co., pants and overalls, 72; Mitchell & Rowland Lumber Co., planing mill, 365; Wabash Railroad Shops, railroad repairs, 300; Jewel Manufacturing Co., sewing machines, etc., 93; Toledo Window Glass Co., window glass, 81; W. L. Libbey & Son Co., glassware, 165; Maumee Rolling Mill Co., rolling mill, 260.

Population in 1880, 50,137. School census, 1888, 24,413; H. W. Compton, school superintendent. Capital invested in industrial establishments, $15,517,600. Value of annual product, $23,018,800 .- Ohio Labor Statistics, 1887. Census of 1890, 81,434.

Toledo has 134 daily passenger trains; yearly receipts of grain, 45,000,000 bushels ; ditto, of lumber and staves, 459,000,000 feet ; ditto, of coal, 2,500,000 tons ; ditto, of iron ore, 250,000 tons, and the city has 750 manufacturing estab- lishments.

MISCELLANIES (Historical, Biographical, etc.).

The first known white settlers of the Maumee valley were Gabriel Godfrey and John Baptiste Beangrand, who es- tablished a trading post at the foot of the Maumee Rapids about 1790. Other French settlers came, including La Point, Momenee and Peltier. James Carlin, a blacksmith, and his son, Squire Carlin (now of Hancock county), came from Monroe about 1807. At that time six American families were there. David Hull, a nephew of a scout of General Harrison, General Isaac Hull, resided at Manmee. Near the mouth of the Maumee river, and opposite Manhattan, a small French settlement was established about 1807. It was near to a village of Ottawa Indians, which is said to have existed from the time of the Pontiac conspiracy (1763), and the widow of Pontiac, with her son (Kan-tuck-ee-gun), and his son (Otussa), were yet there. Mesh-kee- ma, a cousin of Otussa, was a chief of the west side of the river, where he PETER NAVARRE. was prominent as an orator. A-bee-wa, a young chief, was poisoned, and died while young. At this time there were in this region about 8,000 Ottawas, living chiefly by fishing and hunting. Of these, the remnant, made up largely of vagabonds, were removed to the West in 1837.

No name is more prominent among the early settlers of the Maumee valley than is that of PETER NAVARRE. He was said to be a grandson of a French army officer, who visited this section in 1745. Peter was born at Detroit in 1785, where his father before him was born. In 1807, with his brother Robert, he erected a cabin near the mouth of the Maumee (east side), which continued to be his residence while he lived. Besides

Canadian French he could speak the Potta- watomie Indian dialect, and partially those of other tribes. In woodcraft and Indian methods he was very skilful, while his bear- ing was ever that of a "born gentleman." For several years he was employed by a De- troit house in buying furs of the Miamis near Fort Wayne, Indiana, where he made the acquaintance and friendship of chief Little Turtle. The war of 1812-15 closed the fur

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LUCAS COUNTY.

trade, when Peter and his three brothers- Robert, Alexis and Jaquot (James)-tendered their services to General Hull. He also be- sought General Hull to accept the services of the Miamis, which were declined, and they afterwards took part with the British. Before seeing active service, the Navarres were included in the surrender of General Hull, and paroled, although they denied the right to treat him as a prisoner of war, and at once took an active part for the United States ; whereupon General Proctor, the British commander, offered a reward of $1,000 for Peter's head or scalp.

Until the close of the war he acted as scout for General Harrison. He used to say that the worst night he ever spent was as bearer of a despatch from General Harrison, then at

Fort Meigs, to Fort Stephenson (now Fre- mont). Amid a thunderstorm of great fury and fall of water, he made the trip of over thirty miles through the unbroken wilderness, and the morning following delivered to General Harrison a reply. Because his name was not on an enlistment roll, the law provided no pension for his great service, but hy special act of Congress his last days were made more comfortable by pecuniary relief. At the close of the war he returned to his home. near the mouth of the Maumee river, where he spent the balance of his life, dying in East Toledo, March 20, 1874, in his eighth-ninth year. For several years previous to his death he served as President of the Maumee Valley Pioneer Association.

The foregoing sketch of Peter Navarre is from Clark Waggoner's History of Toledo and Lucas County. Col. D. W. Howard (see vol. 1, page 662) has given us the following sketch of another interesting character in the person of Uncle Pete Manor.

UNCLE PETE MANOR was one of the last representatives of his class, the French trader, now only found in the northern and northwestern wilds of Upper Canada. When quite a young man he entered the employ of the Northwestern Fur Company, then carry- ing on the fur trade with the Indian tribes of the Northwest. This trade was a very laborious and to some extent a dangerous one, and none were employed but the most robust and intelligent of their class. Goods were transported by bark canoes and on the backs of men for hundreds of miles, and in the winter season on snow-shoes, over fields of ice and snow, to the far regions of the Lake of the Woods and Hudson's bay.

Mr. Manor served several years in this lucrative trade, but left it about the breaking out of the war of 1812, came to the Mau- mee, opened a trading-house and commenced the fur trade with the tribes in this region, consisting of Pottawattamies, Ottawas, Shaw- uees, Delawares and Miamies.

I simply desire to give in this sketch the character of this good and brave man-for he was both good and brave. His trading- house was located under the hill on the Mau- mee just east of the Claflin Paper Mill in Maumee City, and immediately on the trail travelled by the Indians when passing up and down the river.

During the early days of the war of 1812 Uncle Peter proved his bravery and his kindness to his fellow-men. There were a number of white families settled on the south side of the river, near Fort Meigs, the Spaf- fords, Capt. Pratt and his family, Wilkinson and some others, who had not heeded the warning of Uncle Peter to take their families to a place of safety, for the Indians were many of them friendly to the British, and it was only a question of time when they would strike the white settlers. Finally, one even- ing, just at dark, an Indian scout, a friend

of Manor, made his appearance at the cabin of Uncle Peter, and after feasting on Uncle Peter's venison and hominy, and smoking his tobacco, told him in an Indian's quiet way, that in four days 1,000 Pottawattamies would be there to scalp the pale-faces, and would come to see him, but, as he was the Indian's friend and had been made a chief and adopted into the tribe, that he and his family would be safe.

Uncle Peter had been looking for this news for some time, and as soon as the Indian scout had rolled himself in his blanket and gone to sleep, he crossed the river in the dark, and notified the white settlers to leave that night, for the Indians would surely come.

But after all he could urge of the necessity of leaving at once they did not go. On the morning of the fourth day, at daylight, the friendly scout made his reappearance at the cabin of Manor, and told him that the Indians would be there at ten o'clock, pointing to the place where the sun would be at that hour. Manor was anxious, knowing that all would be massacred that could be found when the Indians should arrive. He urged his wife to feed the scout bountifully, while he made an excuse to the Indian and hurriedly crossed the river, arousing his still sleeping neighbors, many of whom were women and children, who joined Manor in entreaties to fly at once.

They succeeded in getting started a little after sunrise, their route running through the Black Swamp in the direction of Fort Find- lay and passing through a small prairie, where Manor and others had been cutting hay.

The chiefs at once demanded to know where the white men were, and were told that they had been gone several days. A chief drew his tomahawk and demanded of Manor to tell the truth or he should die. Manor knew the Indian well and knew that

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155

LUCAS COUNTY.

he did not jest, and if they found out that the whites had just gone he would not be spared. His situation was critical in the extreme, for the Indian scouts just come in from the south side of the river had seen the fresh tracks of the cattle and wagons of the flying refuges. As quick as thought Manor pointed to the fresh-mown hay in his stack, and said that the tracks they saw were those of his men drawing hay, and after consulting with the scouts this explanation seemed to satisfy the chiefs, who did not follow the helpless families, but contented themselves with feast- ing on beef and green corn. They killed the cattle and destroyed the crops of Manor, as well as those of the other settlers, and burned most of the houses, plundered his store and took his ponies; in fact, plundered and destroyed everything within reach, but did not molest Manor or his family.

After the war closed a petition was signed by all who had lost property by this raid, and the Government paid them for their losses. Strange as it may seem, after risking his life and the loss of all his property to save them, Mr. Manor was not requested to sign the petition for redress, and, in fact, knew noth- ing of it until long after (as I have heard him relate the circumstances many times), and he never received one cent for all his risk and loss.

The Indians, more generous than the whites, gave Uncle Peter a section and a half (nine hundred and sixty acres) of land for his many kindnesses to them. This grant was located at the head of the Rapids, most of which was very fine land; it also covered a splendid and valuable water-power, which is now well improved.

Mr. Manor laid out the village of Provi- dence, and it was at one time, during the flour- ishing days of the canal, a lively business place, but the decline of the canal destroyed its busi- ness. Fire and the cholera of 1850-52 destroyed the town and its inhabitants, and to-day there is but one house, the old brick residence of Uncle Peter, standing to mark the spot of this once flourishing village.

Uncle Peter lies buried on the farm, taking

his last long sleep in the bosom of this his- toric soil. I shall ever remember the kind- hearted Frenchman for his universal deeds of kindness to our family and the settlers in the dark days of the early pioneers. His wife was equally noble and generous with himself, and was a great help to the women of the pioneers. She, too, has been dead many years.

Uncle Peter and his good wife left quite a large family, the eldest, Frank Manor, now living on the old grant at the Rapids ; John J. Manor, in the city of Toledo ; the daughter in Defiance ; one son, Joseph, a farmer in Indiana, near Fort Wayne ; and two sons in California, Alexander and Louis, Alexander being a large wheat farmer of that State.

LEGEND OF ROCHE DE BŒUF.

The following legend of the Roche de Bœuf, was told by Peter Manor, the celebrated Indian scout and guide. Evidences of its truth are found in the many relics and skeletons found in this vicinity :

" At the time when the plum, thorn-apple and wild grape were the only products, and long prior to the advent of the pale-faces, the Ottawas were camped here, engaged in their games and pastimes, as was usual when not clad in war-paint and on the lookout for an enemy. One of the young tribe, engaged in playing on Roche de Bœuf (Rock in the River), fell over the precipice and was instantly killed. The dusky husband, on his return from the council fires, on being informed of the fate of his prospective successor, at once sent the mother in search of her papoose, by pushing her over the rocky sides into the shallow waters of the Maumee. Her next- of-kin, according to Indian law, executed the murdering husband, and was in turn executed in the same manner, until the frantic passions were checked by the arrival of the principal chiefs of the tribe. This sudden outburst cost the tribe nearly two-thirds of its mem- bers, whose bodies were taken from the river and buried with full Indian honors the next day."

THE GREAT DROUTH OF 1838.

One of the greatest drouths in the history of the State was that which occurred in the summer of 1838, in that area south of the lake bounded by the rivers Raisin and Huron. No rain fell from May until the middle of October; disease was never so prevalent as during that year and the mortality was very great. Some peculiar natural phenomena occurred which have been recorded by Dr. Daniel Drake.

"All the smaller streams throughout the whole region were exhausted and their beds became dusty. Wild animals of every kind found in that region collected on the banks of the larger rivers, and even approached the towns. Deer and raccoons were numerous between Toledo and Maumee City ; quails passed over the town plat ; and frogs of the shallow and sedgy waters of the old bed of Swan creek, now dried up, migrated in countless numbers through the streets of Toledo to the Maumee river. The wet prairies of the interior were dried, and the grass of the dried ones withered ; the marshes and pools of the post-tertiary

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LUCAS COUNTY.

uplands, even those of the Black Swamp, from the Maumee to the Sandusky river, were evaporated, their bottoms cracked open from the shrinking, the leaves of many of the trees growing in them perished, and, in some instances, the trees themselves were killed."

PIONEER RAILROAD OF THE WEST.

In the winter of 1832-33 Dr. Samuel O. Comstock projected the " Pioneer Railroad of the West," viz. : the Erie & Kalamazoo. The charter was granted by the State of Michigan "on the ground that it was a mere fanciful object, out of which could come no harm, and it would greatly please the Comstocks of Toledo." The company was organized in 1835, and the next year the road was built to Adrian, Edw. Bissell, of Toledo, and George Crane, of Adrian, being the most active agents in locating and constructing the road. The original plan was to use oak rails four inches square and draw the cars by horses, but before the road was completed it was decided to lay " strap-rail " and use steam-power. The "strap-rails" were iron five-eighths of an inch thick and two-and-a-half inches wide, fastened to the wooden rail with spikes.

The road opened for business in the Fall of 1836 with horse-power. The passenger rate from Toledo to Adrian (thirty-three miles) was $1.50, with fifty pounds of baggage allowed. Freight charges were fifty cents per hundred and a trip and a half was made every twenty-four hours. In June, 1837, the first locomotive was put on the route, and the following October a contract was made with the United States Government for carrying the mails. The rate of speed at this time was less than ten miles per hour, but it was confidently stated that a speed of twenty miles per hour could be attained. This same year "the accom- modations of the road were increased by the arrival of a new passenger car of pretty, though singular aud fanciful model." It was called the " Pleasure Car."

The " Pleasure Car" shown in the picture was about the size of a street rail- way car of the present day. When full it held twenty-four passengers, eight in each compartment. The lower middle door opened from a place for stowing baggage.

The original projectors of the road had an experience not unknown at the present day, for, after fighting great obstacles and placing the road in good run- ning condition, they were levied upon by the sheriff in June, 1842, and the road subsequently became a part of the Michigan Southern system.

VALUE OF OHIO RAILROADS.

The history of transportation in Ohio is marked by three eras : the first, that of the stage-coach and freight-wagon ; the second, the canal ; the third, the railroad. The opening of the canals at once brought a wonderful improvement in the material progress of the State. The introduction of railroads was more gradual, but vastly more important in its effects.

The first railroad chartered and constructed in the State of Ohio was the Mad River & Lake Erie (Sandusky to Dayton). Its charter was granted in 1832, and the road opened to Bellevue (16 miles) in 1839 ; and through to Dayton in 1844.

The first road constructed in Ohio was the Erie and Kalamazoo, under a char- ter from the State of Michigan, and opened from Toledo to Adrian, Mich., in 1836.

Since then the railroad system of Ohio has developed until, in 1889, there is within the State a total of 10,144 miles of track, valued at $101,273,801.

As an illustration of the far-reaching beneficial results accruing from railroads, we quote from an excellent address on the " History of the Lake Shore & Michi- gan Sonthern Railway," which was delivered in 1887 before the Civil Engineers' Club of Cleveland.

157

LUCAS COUNTY.

Mr. C. P. Leland, the author of the address, is the Auditor of the L. S. & M. S. R. R., and during the thirty years he has been connected with this road has given much study and research to the history of the development of railroads in this country. He says :

" When next you hire an express-wagon to haul a load of stuff a mile, paying therefor a dollar, which is cheap enough, just remember this fact, that the average pay received by this road in 1886 for transporting one hundred tons one mile (about six large car-loads) was sixty-four cents. Small as this was, it was nine cents more than the average of 1885.

" What was the result of this slight improvement which hurt nobody ? It was the signal of the dawn of better times, after the long night of depression, and, instantly, fires were started in idle rolling mills, locomotive and car works, and every industry in this great land, even gas and oil and real estate booms, felt the improvement in the trade barometer. This little improvement gave the long- suffering four thousand stockholders of the L. S. & M. S. R. R. a little dividend of two per cent., or a million dollars, to be poured into the arteries of trade.

"As this road operates only a little more than one per cent. of the railroad mileage of the United States, I leave it to your imagination to estimate the aggre- gate benefit of a little more pay for this mighty torrent of freight. . . .

"There are on the pay-rolls of the L. S. & M. S. R. R. the names of 10,400

E.&K.R.R.

THE PIONEER RAILROAD OF THE WEST

men, among whom were distributed $510,000 in March. Then there is another large army of men working for the company indirectly-making steel rails, build- ing locomotives and cars, mining the 1,250 tons of coal consumed every day, and manufacturing the many supplies used. It is safe to say that one-tenth of the large population of the United States gain a livelihood by working for railroads, either directly or indirectly.

"The introduction of the Bessemer steel rails brought about a great reduction in the rates for freight ; the rate for 1887 being but thirty per cent. of the rate for 1886, and every dollar of this benefit has been enjoyed by the consumer and not by the railroads.

"The L. S. & M. S. R. R. earned in 1886 $15,859,455, and it has averaged for seventeen years $16,006,161 per annum. Now, it is my opinion, after con- siderable thought and research, that the aggregate earnings of all the craft trading upon this great chain of lakes, from the St. Lawrence to the heads of Lake Superior and Lake Michigan, never in the most prosperous year enjoyed earned ten million dollars, which is considerably less than this road earned from freight alone in 1866, even at the low rates I have given."

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LUCAS COUNTY.

MEMORIAL BUILDING.

The Soldiers' Memorial Association was organized in 1879, for the purpose of securing the erection of some suitable memorial to the memory of the soldiers who lost their lives in the Civil War.

It was resolved to erect a building, the first of its kind in the country, to be

TOLEDO SOLDIERS' MEMORIAL BUILDING.

not only a beautiful memorial to the honored dead, but of material benefit to the city.

The corner-stone of the building was laid with Masonic ceremonies on July 4, 1883. The means necessary for the construction of the building were largely voluntary contributions from the citizens of Toledo, but there not being a suffi- cient amount raised to properly complete the work, it was turned over to the city in June, 1884, and city bonds issued to the sum of $30,000 to provide for its completion.

The building was formally opened with appropriate ceremonies on Washinton's Birthday (February 22), 1886. At the close of the ceremonies it was dedicated by Mayor Forbes, in the following words : "On behalf of the citizens of Toledo, I hereby dedicate this building to the honor of the soldiers and sailors of Lucas county in the late war, and in memory of those who gave up their lives in the maintenance of our country, and to be the home of the military of our city for- ever. And may the God of battles smile auspiciously upon this memento of patriotism and loyalty."

Memorial Hall is situated on the corner of Adams and Ontario streets, in the heart of the city. It is constructed of brick with Berea stone trimmings. Iuter- nally the building is arranged to meet the requirements of a Memorial Hall and military establishment. The basement is set apart for artillery and infantry com- panies. On the upper floors are the headquarters of the Memorial Association, the Library, Memorial and Memorial Annex Halls; also, on the third story, a large Military Hall, 64 by 103 feet, with reception-rooms and side-rooms for companies. This room is the largest and finest assembly and drill hall in the State.

The cost of the building complete, exclusive of site, was $65,000.

MORRISON REMICK WAITE was born in Lyme, Conn., November 29, 1816, and died in Washington, D. C., March 23, 1888. He was descended from a long line of eminent jurists ; his Pilgrim ancestor was a son of one of the judges who condemned King Charles I. His father was a Justice of the Supreme Court of Connecticut. Morrison R. gradu-

ated at Yale in 1837, a classmate of William M. Evarts and Samuel J. Tilden. He first studied law in his father's office, but emi- grated to Maumee City, Ohio, in 1839 ; was admitted to the bar and formed a partnership with Samuel M. Young. In 1849-50 he was a member of the Legislature. In 1850 he removed to Toledo, and three years later the

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LUCAS COUNTY.

firm of Young & Waite was dissolved, and Mr. Waite formed a partnership with his younger brother Richard.

His studious habits, sincere love for his profession, legal acumen, upright character and quiet, unostentatious manner, won for him a leading position at the Ohio bar. His assertions on questions of law were said to be indisputable. Before the days of the Re- publican party he was a Whig, but on the organization of the former he became a staunch Republican and remained one through life. After his defeat in 1862 as Representa- tive for Congress, he would not accept candi- dacy for office, although repeatedly offered State and Federal positions.

The first position in which his abilities at- tracted the attention of the whole country, was that of counsel for the United States in the tribunal of arbitration which met at Geneva in 1871-72. He was associated in the matter with Caleb Cushing and William M. Evarts, and their skill terminated the difficulty arising out of the civil war between the United States and the United Kingdom.

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Historical collections of Ohio in two volumes, an encyclopedia of the state, Volume II, Part 21

Author: Howe, Henry, 1816-1893 Publication date: 1907 Publisher: Cincinnati : Published by the state of Ohio Number of Pages: 916

Author: Howe, Henry, 1816-1893
Publication date: 1907
Publisher: Cincinnati : Published by the state of Ohio
Number of Pages: 916