USA > Ohio > Auglaize County > Wapakoneta > History of Auglaize County, Ohio : with the Indian history of Wapakoneta, and the first settlement of the county > Part 8
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HISTORY OF AUGLAIZE COUNTY, OHIO.
they took up their march of 800 miles for their sunset home. All ages and classes ; all ranks and conditions, the remnant of a proud free people, not even demanding justice-for they knew they had no rights, but rather supplieating that sympathy which they dared not expect-they went forth, fearing to look back, and the moek pageant of the commissioner was to the Indian a mere show, signifying nothing but his undone con- dition. Gardner accompanied them to the Mississippi River, and then returned. They pressed on across the prairie after traversing the wilderness, and reached their destination about Christmas. They were joined the next spring by the Hog Creek tribe, who were under the direction of Joseph Parks, and fared much better than the Wapakoneta band, as they had the advantage of season, and a leader of heart. The next sea- son Harvey and two others visited them, and obtained permis- sion to ereet schools, and continue the work of the mission. This work progressed until 1839, when it was suspended, on account of sickness. Mr. H. and family took charge the next year, and remained until 1842, when they returned home. When he was about to leave, the Indians took a very affec- tionate leave of his family.
George Williams was appointed to extend the farewell of the whole tribe, and in doing so, he spoke as follows : " My brother and my sister, I am about to speak for all our young men and for all our women and children, and in their name bid you farewell. They could not all come, and it would be too much trouble for you to have them all here at once, so I have been sent with their message. I was directed to tell you that all their hearts are full of sorrow, because you are going to. leave them and return to your home. Ever since you have lived with us we can all see how the Quakers and our fathers lived together in peace.
" You have treated our children well, and your doors have always been open to us. When we were in distress, you re- lieved us ; and when our people were hungry, you gave them food. For your kindness, we love you. Your children and our children lived together in peace, and at school learned toge- ther, and loved one another. We will always remember you, and teach our children to never forget your children. And now, my brother and sister, I bid you farewell, and Caleb and his sisters, and the little boys and their sisters, farewell !" He then took Mr. Harvey by the hand, saying " Farewell, my bro- ther," and then taking the hand of Mrs. Harvey said, " Fare- well, my good sister." He then bade the children an individual farewell, and went away in sadness. The next day about twenty chiefs spent the day with the Friends, and towards
79
HISTORY OF AUGLAIZE COUNTY, OHIO.
evening took leave of the family in a manner similar to that of the representative chief on the preceding day, and then left the house in the manner of leaving a grave, without looking back, or speaking a word. The mission was still sustained after Harvey's return, until it became supplemented by several district missions of different denominations. It may here be added that, in 1853, Congress appropriated $66,000 as addi- tional compensation to the Wapakoneta and Hog Creek Shaw- nees, and their claims were thereby extinguished.
Our purpose is now accomplished, and we cast a lingering farewell look upon that people whose history we have reviewed. We thus traced the connection with this territory of the dis- inherited offspring of the Algonquin nation, which knew no superiors, and acknowledged no equals. Springing from the head of the Great Spirit, all other tribes and nationalities were inferior, because they sprang from the inferior body. Endowed by superior wisdom, all other tribal or national wisdom was obtained through them, as the terrestrial fountain head. Brave, generous, and strong, they possessed a nomadic nature which makes their history almost coextensive with a continent. From the Atlantic to the Father of Waters they left their foot- prints, and from the great cold lakes to the broad warm gulf, the forests echoed their voices, and the streams reflected their images. Proud and arrogant in the knowledge of their strength, if that strength waned they substituted prudence for arrogance, but never compromised their superiority nor sacrificed their dignity. More than other tribes, they appre- ciated nature, and there found their storehouse of eloquence, for their imagery was the reflection of nature's heart. Their language was thus limited, but rich, and better calculated for lofty oratory than trivial conversation. Single words adorned whole ideas in poetic beauty.
They were in harmony with nature till the mutual sympathy caused the "very leaves of the forests to weep tears of pity" at the suffering produced by the pale-face intruder, whose con- tact, like a whirlwind, swept forest and savage alike before him in his destructive career. Such were the Shawnees at the advent of the whites, and although driven about and wronged, they still hoped to find a spot they could call their own, and from which they never would be driven. Destiny reserved no such boon for them as yet, and when they settled on the Auglaize and the lands were " guaranteed to them forever," the promises were false, and the hopes delusive. Contented if here they could remain, they were willing to even forsake their fathers' graves, relinquish their claims to their tribal lands, renounce their ancestral lives, and adopt the habits of civilized men. The Auglaize is a
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HISTORY OF AUGLAIZE COUNTY, OHIO.
witness to the transformation, while Wapakoneta is a mon- ument to the progress of the same race. Here they abandoned their wild past, and embraced the teaching of the whites. In- stead of warring, they cultivated the soil; instead of the chase, they gathered harvests. For tradition, they accepted eduea- tion, and for barbarity they accepted humanity. It was enough, and they were happy; but again they must leave all they love; all the associations of their new condition, and all the incentives to the new life they embraced.
Their hope was erushed, for the hand that plays with the heart-strings of association and affection is ernel and relent- less. So in their case ; the tender cords snapped asunder, and warriors, who knew not how to flinch before a tomahawk, nor yet to weep before the stake, were touched to galling tears. It was a night of gloom on which Destiny looked in pity, and provided in the Quakers a star of promise, until, in humanity, the sun of reality could rise. Let the dark past, with its suf- fering and its wrongs, be forever dissipated by the golden light of humanity which beams justice and happiness, not for the whites alone, but for the whole brotherhood of man.
AUGLAIZE COUNTY.
This county was erected in 1848 from portions of Allen, Logan, Shelby, Darke, Mereer, and Van Wert Counties. Its geographical position is in the Black Swamp district of the " Northwest," and occupies the great dividing ridge which forms the separation of drainage between the northern lakes and southern rivers. The county contains four hundred and four square miles, comprised in fourteen townships, as follows: Wayne, Moulton, and Logan twenty-seven; Union and St. Marys thirty-six; Goshen and German eighteen; Pusheta, Noble, Washington, and Clay thirty; Jackson twenty; Du- chouquet forty-two; and Salem twenty-four square miles.
BODIES OF WATER.
The Mercer County reservoir, a great artificial lake with an area of 17,600 aeres and an average depth of ten feet, extends two miles into St. Marys township, the greater portion being within Mercer County. This reservoir abounds with fish, ducks, and geese.
The Auglaize River traverses Union, Duchouquet, Moulton, and Logan townships, when it leaves the county on its general northwestern course to the Maumee River.
The St. Marys rises within the county, flows through St.
81
HISTORY OF AUGLAIZE COUNTY, OHIO.
Marys, Washington, Noble, and Salem townships, and also seeks the Maumee of the northwest.
Both these streams pursue a serpentine course within the county, and were formerly considered permanently navigable, the former to Wapakoneta, and the latter to St. Marys; but cleared and cultivated lands, with attendant evaporation and absorption, have served to diminish the volume of water below any navigable consideration.
Blackhoof, Wrestle, and Pusheta Creeks and Quaker Run are all tributaries of the Auglaize within the county, while the St. Marys has several branches of minor importance.
The Miami and Erie Canal, constructed in 1838, crosses the western part of the county from north to south a distance of twenty-one miles, and contributed largely to the development of the county, but more especially of St. Marys, which was afforded means of commerce long before the period of railroads.
A feeder within St. Marys township supplies water to the canal from the Mercer reservoir.
RAILROADS.
In 1858 the Dayton and Michigan Railroad crossed the centre of the county from north to south, passing through Wapakoneta, the county seat. Upon its line sprang up Criders- ville, a small village near the Allen County boundary.
In 1877 the Lake Erie and Western extended its line to Minster via St. Marys and New Bremen. This road also ex- tends westward from St. Marys into Indiana. Upon the road within the county have sprung up the villages of Buckland in Logan and Glynnwood in Moulton township.
The county has thus the commercial advantages of two rail- roads and the canal.
At this writing the prospect of securing the New York, Pennsylvania, and Ohio Railroad across the county from east to west via Wapakoneta and St. Marys is very promising, and by a little effort it appears the citizens may secure this road in the very near future.
WAGON ROADS.
Although much labor and expense have been bestowed upon the thoroughfares, they may still be said to be in an infantile condition. Roads are located and opened all over the terri- tory, but gravel is necessary to render them passable at all seasons. The present year is remarkably active in this direc- tion, and in the course of two more years the county will un- doubtedly be supplied with many miles of gravel pikes.
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82
HISTORY OF AUGLAIZE COUNTY, OHIO.
At this writing there are three main pikes completed, one leading from Wapakoneta to Belle Centre, Logan County; an- other from Wapakoneta to the northeast via Uniopolis and Waynesfield, while the third leads from Wapakoneta to Sid- ney, Shelby County. The Wapakoneta and St. Marys Plank- road leads between these towns, but is destined to yield to the pike movement. In the south part of the county New Bremen and Minster have the benefit of some short local pikes as well as main outlets to the railroad in Shelby County. St. Marys and New Knoxville are also connected by a gravel road.
TOPOGRAPHY.
Belonging to the Blackswamp region the surface features are generally level, broken only by the different natural water- courses, which resolve the surface into bottom lands, second bottom lands, and uplands. The soil of the bottoms, including both river and swamp basins, is an alluvial. deposit usually about three feet in depth. The second bottom soil is, perhaps, shallower and contains a greater admixture of clay, while the uplands consist largely of clay drift with croppings of sand and gravel in different localities. The soil is all very produc- tive, and as yet has yielded abundantly withont any fertilizing worth the name.
TIMBER.
The principal varieties of the uplands are beech, lime, ash, elm, hickory, white and red oak, while those of the flats take in addition to the above black and white walnut and burr oak.
VILLAGES.
Wapakoneta, the county-seat, on the Anglaize River and D. & M. R. R., in Duchouquet township; St. Marys, on the St. Marys River, M. & E. Canal, and L. E. & W. R. R., St. Marys township; New Bremen, on canal and L. E. & W. R. R., Ger- man township; Minster, similarly situated in Jackson town- ship, present terminus of the road; St. Johns, Clay township; New Hampshire, in Goshen; New Knoxville, in Washington; Waynesfield, in Wayne; . Uniopolis, in Union; Cridersville, in Duchouquet; Buckland, on L. E. & W., in Logan; Kossuth, on canal, in Salem; and Moulton and Glynnwood, in Moulton; the latter a station on L. E. & W. R. R., comprise the villages of the county.
SCHOOLS.
Great pains have been taken to provide educational facilities for all the youth of the county, and the comfortable school
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HISTORY OF AUGLAIZE COUNTY, OHIO.
buildings, which present themselves to view on every hand, attest the value placed upon education by the people. These may not have reached the highest degree of efficiency, but the solicitude and jealousy of the people is a guarantee of the ad- vancement and higher usefulness of the schools.
CHURCHES.
The different denominations are represented throughout this field, and are all generally supplied with comfortable buildings. The English portion of the population, with the Germans of New Bremen and largely of Wapakoneta, are Protestant by education ; the German of Minster and Freyburg, with some of Wapakoneta and St. Marys, and the Irish element of Moul- ton township, are largely of Roman Catholic faith.
INHABITANTS.
As foreshadowed above, the territory now comprised in Ger- man, Jackson, Washington, and Pusheta townships was settled principally by Germans, while Wapakoneta and St. Marys con- tain a significant per cent. of the same nationality, but now largely by descent. Moulton township contains an Irish set- tlement, while the same nationality is represented to greater or less extent in other sections. The other portions of the county were settled chiefly by immigrants from Pennsylvania, Virginia, and New England, and are still occupied by their descendants. The settlers were all industrious laborers in the improvement of the lands by clearing and drainage, until many waste tracts have been reclaimed and rendered tillable. Drainage, with its miles of buried tile, has contributed largely to the material development of the community, as the flat sur- faces of certain localities of a few years since bear testimony by the productive fields into which they have grown, and the golden harvests which they yield.
MATERIAL WEALTH.
The following listed tables of averages with respective pro- ducts thereof exhibit the material development and wealth of the county :-
Agricultural, 1878 :-
Wheat .
22,109 acres.
337.355 bushels.
Rje
659
7,436
66
Buckwheat
155
1,943
Oats
11,295
371,804
Barley .
826
26,697
66
84
HISTORY OF AUGLAIZE COUNTY, OHIO.
Corn
39,975 acres.
1,026,343 bushels. 14,151 tons.
Timothy
10,035 66
Clover
3,883
4.528
Grass secd
66
5,209
Flax
708
5,481 bush. seed.
Potatoes
1,329
75,980 bushels.
Sweet potatoes
9
..
104
Tobacco
19
6,000 lbs.
Sorghum
406
66
19,448 gals. syrup.
Mapie sugar
2,879 lbs.
1,294
66
Bees, hives
.
1,077
8,165 lbs. honey.
Horticultural : -
Orchards
3192 acres. .
Apples
.
.
1703 bushels.
Peachies
25
Pears
134
66
Live stock, chattels, etc., 1879 :-
Horses
8,157
Value $316,357
Cattle .
14,780
154,548
Mules .
314
13,045
Sheep .
14,405
26,650
Hogs
24,714
42,525
Dogs ·
2,767
66
2,152
Carriages
3,814
111,995
Watches
473
66
7,039
Pianos and organs
249
66
19,080
Merchant stock
66
58,373
Moneys on deposit subject to order
66
265,849
Credits minus bona fide debts
6.
257,500
Money in bonds, stocks, and otherwise Bonds not listed by requirement
66
5,400
Bank and other corporation property
66
294,371
Grand total
1,907,797
Improvements, 1878 :-
New dwellings
Value $85,120
Flour mills .
66
1,200
Stores
66
3,400
Other buildings .
66
10,000
Total new buildings
.6 39,720
.
.
All other personals
180,638
8,625
.
140,080
Manufacture stock
.
.
·
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HISTORY OF AUGLAIZE COUNTY, OHIO.
General valuation :-
Number acres of land
247,894
Value $4,240,730
Real estate in villages
66
1,330,010
Chattel property
66
2,052,820
Total value
66
7,623,560
State school fund
66
7,623
State tax
66
22,102
County tax
66
26,682
Township tax
66
8,798
Village tax
66
13.827
County debt
66
62,000
Village debt
66
10,652
School debt
66
44,400
THE COUNTY SEAT.
At the organization of the county a strife arose between St. Marys and Wapakoneta for the location of the seat of justice. The former, as the oldest town located in the more populous portion of the county, urged these facts as grounds for priority. The latter urged geographical advantages, being more centrally located, and thus entitled to priority. The claims of both were well founded, and with this status the question was sub- mitted to the people. There was little doubt of the ascendancy of St. Marys, as the populous settlement in the south was favorable to her interests, while Wapakoneta was largely de- pendent on the more sparsely populated section of the east.
When the question was thus submitted to the voters of the county, German township, holding the balance of power between the rival factions, was generally conceded to have favored St. Marys, but, by some manipulation of the returns, they were never handed in with those of the other townships, and Wapa- koneta, in absence of those returns, had a decided majority, and thus secured the prize. It is impossible to determine what the result would have been had this self-disfranchised township expressed its real sentiment; but it is evident that it lay in its power to dictate between the rival towns. This rivalry, naturally enough, developed into enmity, and this, in its turn, has retarded the progress of both towns. Perhaps the most prominent illustration of the evil results produced, was in the case of the P., F. W. & C. R. R., which was driven from the county by the jealousy of these towns. To-day many realize the need of this road, and are watching closely the prospects of securing the N. Y., Pa. & Ohio road over about the same old proposed route. Let them bury the past, im- prove the present, and build a future. 8
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HISTORY OF AUGLAIZE COUNTY, OHIO.
GEOLOGY. BY C. W. WILLIAMSON.
Auglaize County lies at the southern extremity of the region known as the "Black Swamp." It is only the north- western portion of the county, however, that possesses the characteristics peculiar to that noted region. It lies on the watershed sloping toward Lake Erie, except a small portion near the eastern line drained by the Scioto River.
There is no portion of the county that can be termed "hilly," yet it is sufficiently undulating that, by a proper system of ditching, the greater portion of it has been brought under cultivation. The Auglaize and St. Marys Rivers drain nearly the entire county.
The rock underlying the county is, with one exception, con- cealed by heavy beds of drift, varying in thickness from a few feet, on the farm of George Lathrop, in Logan township, to perhaps a hundred feet in other sections. The only outerop within the county is the exposure of the Lower Helderberg formation in the bed of the Auglaize River, in Logan town- ship, on lands owned by Daniel Richardson, Benjamin Backus, J. Pierson, Russell Berryman, and George Lathrop. The stone is generally thin-bedded, of a dark blue color, and con- tains a large percentage of organic matter Specimens have
been received by the writer, containing as high as 30 per cent. of asphaltum. If this asphaltie stone, on examination, should prove to be extensive, it might be made of considerable eco- nomical value in macadamizing roads. One of the State geologists pronounces it to be similar in composition to the stone used in the construction of the celebrated roads about Paris, known as the Boulevards. It is not well adapted to lime-burning, and shales too much, when exposed to the air, to be of much value as a building stone. The fossils common to the Lower Helderberg are not abundant in this outerop. Leperditia alta and Pentamerous galeatus are the only char- acteristic fossils found.
Judging from the formation of surrounding counties, the Niagara limestone must underlie the townships of Wayne, Goshen, Clay, Pusheta, Washington, Jackson, German, and St. Marys, the boundary line between it and the Lower Helder- berg formation passing toward the southwest through Union township, thence northwest through Noble township, and about a mile south of Wapakoneta. This line, then, is the shore-line of the Helderberg Sea, that covered the north- western portion of the country.
As before stated, the entire county, with the one exception, is covered with a deep deposit of drift, the depth of which
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87
HISTORY OF AUGLAIZE COUNTY, OHIO.
has not yet been definitely ascertained. This deposit consists of boulders, gravel, sand, and stratified clay, surmounted by deposits of sand, gravel, and blocks, of all sizes, of rock traceable to formations that lie far to the northwest, north, and northeast. Among this miscellaneous collection the writer has noticed specimens from the Galena limestone, from Azoic rock, Hudson, Clinton, Niagara, Lower Helderberg, Corniferous, and Hamilton formations. Many of them con- tain fossils characteristic of the formations to which they belong. The same remark is true of most of the gravel de- posits of the county, except that the above-named varieties of stone have been broken into small pieces and rounded by attrition. Most of the larger transported stones are rounded by wear. The Corniferous, and an occasional block of Niagara stone are the only exceptions. They seem to have been dropped at a date so late that they escaped the eroding and disintegrating agencies that were at work during the time that preceded their deposit.
The phenomena of the drift period have been accounted for in different ways. The glacial theory seems to be the one most generally accepted by geologists of the present day, and is the one adopted by Prof. Newberry, chief geologist of the Ohio Geological Survey, in discussing the drift deposits of the State.
The glacial theory, as applied to our locality, supposes a continental elevation to have taken place at the close of the Helderberg period,-the elevation being greatest in the regions north of the Great Lakes, and that this elevation was accom- panied by a reduction of temperature corresponding to the altitude that brought on a long arctic winter.
With an elevation of several hundred feet above the present level, the climate of Ohio must have been similar to that of Greenland at the present day. The northern regions are sup- posed to have been covered by a vast ice sheet that reached as far south as the fortieth degree of latitude. This ice-field of vast extent and thickness moved slowly southward, down the long slope, planing and striating the rocky beds until it reached the warm waters on the south. The surface of the rock at Lathrop's quarry is striated in the same manner as are the surface exposures of most of the rock formations of the State.
The history of the effects of modern Alpine glaciers goes far toward establishing the theory of an ancient glacial period. The moraines of modern glaciers correspond to the accumula- tions that are common to all the northern regions, and the smoothing, rounding, and polishing of the rocks are the same
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HISTORY OF AUGLAIZE COUNTY, OHIO.
beneath the Alpine glaciers as over the whole northern hemi- sphere.
" There came a time at last when the region south of the northern line of the great lakes was depressed five hundred feet or more below its present level." During this epoch the fine laminated clays, which cover so much of the rock surface in the interior of the continent, were deposited. They are called the Erie elays by geologists. The blue clay encountered in digging wells belongs to the series. The thickness varies from five to forty feet in different sections of the county. Wells only penetrate to the water-bearing gravel or sand that lies between the blue clay and the rock. As before stated, the entire surface deposit probably does not exceed one hun- dred feet in depth.
The forest bed overlying the Erie clay in some sections of the State is not represented in Auglaize County.
The drift of the Terrace Epoch here rests upon the blue clay, and is composed of sand, gravel, clay, and boulders. These materials are arranged in a somewhat promiscuous manner, except in the ridges crossing the country. They, as a general rule, exhibit an oblique stratification, commencing a few feet below the surface and extending downward to the blue clay.
In a few instances the terrace drift seems to have broken through the thin blue clay stratum, and mingled with the gravel and boulders lying next to the rock foundation. "That these materials were not carried by currents of water or glaciers is certain; either of these transporting agents would have torn up the Erie clays, which now form an unbroken sheet beneath them." Unbroken sheet we say, because the instances referred to, in which the terrace drift seems to have broken through the Erie, was probably produced by the grounding of icebergs.
The emergence of the continent after the Erie clay deposit was somewhat slow, and marked by intervals of rest. The glaciers had retreated to the regions north of the great lakes. As they moved southward down the slope, and were protruded into the sea, icebergs detached from the protrusions, and loaded with sand, gravel, and boulders floated ont to sea, sowing broadcast their cargoes over the southern shallows, just as they are now doing over the banks of Newfoundland and the bottom of the Antarctic Ocean.
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