History of Crawford County, Ohio, and representative citizens, Part 32

Author: Hopley, John E. (John Edward), 1850-
Publication date: 1912
Publisher: Chicago,Ill., Richmond-Arnold Publishing Company
Number of Pages: 1302

USA > Ohio > Crawford County > History of Crawford County, Ohio, and representative citizens > Part 32

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).

Chatfield township is one of the most fer- tile sections of Crawford county. Crossed by

those extensive glacial ridges which extend from east to west in the northern part of the state, it has the advantage of long and grad- ual slopes which give it excellent drainage. The soil is chiefly alluvial in the eastern part, while the western portion contains more clay. Its principal drainage is Sycamore creek which, with several branches, covers almost the entire township. In the northern part Silver creek passes to the west entering Seneca county on its way to the Sandusky, while in the southern section of the township are small branches that find their way to the Broken- sword.

Many of the Wyandot Indians roamed over Chatfield township as late as 1830, as they came every autumn and camped near the cran- berry marshes in the southeastern part of the township. They often remained all winter, the squaws gathering the berries, while. the men engaged in the manlier occupations of hunting and trapping. The cranberries and skins were taken by them on their ponies to Sandusky or Bucyrus, and here exchanged for a few necessaries, more trinkets, and still more "Sandusky water," the latter an inferior whisky which was a bad investment for poor "Lo." The white settlers were not long in discovering that the cranberry industry was a profitable one, and the same rule prevailed in Chatfield, as elsewhere, of the survival of the fittest, and the Indians were gradually driven from the region. The influx of settlers, with the clearing of the land, no longer left that

212

213

AND REPRESENTATIVE CITIZENS

section a hunting ground, and in 1843 the few of the Wyandots who occasionally drifted into the township joined with their tribe and turned their faces toward the setting sun, typical of the departed glories of their race, and found a new home in the reservation allotted to them in far away Kansas.

The first settler in Chatfield township was Jacob Whetstone, who as early as 1820 roamed through the woods hunting and trapping. He built for himself a cabin about a mile and a half northwest of the present village of Chat- field on the bank of the Sycamore. He had a wife and family and cleared about an acre of land. But his principle support was the rifle, and the products of his skill, carried to Sandusky or Bucyrus on foot, furnished the necessaries of life the forest failed to supply. Later George Stuckman "squatted" near him, another hunter, but owning no land, support- ing his family by his rifle. As the first set- tlers came these hunters were employed by them to secure the game while the real pio- neers put in their time clearing away the for- est. They assisted the settlers in erecting their first cabins, and at times in the work of the forest and field. But manual labor was irksome to them, and both moved with their families to the west where the game was still plentiful.

Another early settler was John Henry, who devoted his entire time to hunting and trap- ping. He was an expert shot, careful and provident, and from the sale of his furs se- cured sufficient money to purchase a farm in section 19, and as the country became more settled and game became scarcer, he devoted less attention to hunting and more to farming.

As early as 1824 the road, which later be- came the Columbus and Sandusky Pike, was in existence from Columbus through Bucyrus to Sandusky and there was already much travel along this route. Settlers began locat- ing along this road, among the first being Silas and Oliver Chatfield, James and John Robin- son, William Spanable, William Champion and David Clute, the Chatfields entering land near the present village of that name and Champion and Spanable north of Chatfield.

Among other early settlers were Ira Chase, Demetry Winterhalter, John Hamilton, Thaddeus Kent, David Tipton, Ichabod Smith,

who came about 1828; John Armitage, Luther C. Flint, David Kimball, John Mitchell, Dan- iel Shaffstall, in 1829; Lloyd Ady, Jacob Bib- ble, Richard Davidson, Samuel Foote, Sidney Holt, William McPherson, Truman Wilkin- son, Jonas Yingling, in 1830; and Nathan An- thony, Jacob Bunce, John, Benjamin and Ephraim Clements, Richard Frisbie, Adam Fauser, in 1831.

These settlers were mostly of English de- scent, and came to Chatfield from the eastern counties of the state, having previously em- igrated from New England. They entered land along the Columbus and Sandusky turn- pike, which being an outlet both north and south soon became lined with the log cabins of these and other settlers. Many of them be- came early prominent in township affairs. In 1831 Ichabod Smith was elected justice of the peace, Richard Davidson in 1834, and Daniel Shaffstall in 1837; Richard Davidson was also township clerk in 1833, and David Clute and John Mitchell were trustees the same year ; Luther C. Flint was appointed the first post- master in 1834 by Andrew Jackson.

As early as 1832 was an influx of Germans, coming direct from the mother country. In later years their friends were sent for and eventually Chatfield and surrounding town- ships were so strongly settled by this nation- ality that public and private business was best conducted in the German language, and at the national and state elections, the tickets were printed in both English and German. These German settlers were steady and industrious, temperate and frugal; they labored early and late, cleared the forests and reclaimed the marshes, and half a century later, in times of monetary depression, when the business men of Bucyrus had need of cash to meet some pressing emergency they took a hurried drive to Chatfield township and never came back empty-handed.

Among the Germans and others arriving in the thirties were the following :

1832-George Brown, Edward Biggs, Jacob Bright, George Carrothers, Henry Durr, Harris Garton, John Heckenlively, John G. Karg, John G. Long, Benjamin Lindsley, Jacob Nigh, John Scott and five sons, Isaac, Solomon, George, William and John H.

1833-Daniel Brindley, Jacob Gross, Chris-

214

HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY

tian Hipp, William Koenig, Gottleib and Michael Lutz, Jacob Regala, Peter Reidel, Thomas Timony, Peter Wieter, George Wid- dle, John Winterholter, James Adams.

1834-Hugh Goshorn, Jacob L. Gurwell, Abraham Harmon, Benjamin Hilliar, John G. Ott, Benjamin Royce, Jacob Schlater, B. Dimock.

1835-Johannes Burgbacher, John Fissel, Thomas Johnson, William King, David and James McKinley, George Shaffer.

1836-William Kolb, Spencer Moffitt, Timothy Park, Nathan Rich.

1837-George Leonhart, David Spore.

As their names indicate some of these set- tlers were of English or Scotch-Irish origin. David McKinley above mentioned being no less a personage than the great grandfather of the late President Mckinley, and James Mc- Kinley his grandfather. These settlers located in different parts of the township, and their log cabins and clearings soon began to en- croach on the primeval forest, their settle- ments being the germ of that advanced civil- ization, and well cultivated farms and com- fortable homesteads that meet the eye on every hand today. The substantial and well fur- nished residences which the farmer of today regards as necessary to his comfort and re- spectability would doubtless have been re- garded by them as palatial, and they would no doubt have looked on such modern furnishings as brussels carpets, cane-seated or plush fur- niture, pianos and all the various nicknacks in which the modern housewife takes such pride, as scandalous superfluities.

They experienced the same inconvenience of those in other portions of the county. Money was scarce, and besides clearing their land, and making their own crude furniture they obtained needed cash by working on the turnpike then being constructed, or leaving the farm during the summer to the care of their wives and children, went on foot to the western part of the state, where they obtained employment on the Miami canal, then build- ing between the Maumee river and Dayton, and the cash obtained for their labor they promptly invested in additional land.

One of these settlers was Jacob Shaffer, who came from Germany in 1833, at the age of 18, settling in Stark county, and in two years

saved $50, when he came to Chatfield town- ship with his wife and entered forty acres of land in section 3. He built his log cabin, and it was pointed out for several years as the best house in that neighborhood. His land was all forest, and the first year he cleared three acres, which he planted in wheat. Shaffer was one of those who walked over sixty miles to Paulding county to obtain needed money by working on the canal.

George Leonhart came to America in 1833, and having $600, invested it in land in Stark county, which he later sold at an advance of $200, and came to Chatfield where he started with 160 acres, adding to his land as the years passed until his holdings were nearly 1,000 acres.

Gottleib Lutz came to Chatfield in 1833, and his brother Michael about the same time. Gottleib started with forty acres in the woods where he built his cabin. He was married in Germany to Eva Kibler, and his wife accom- panied him to their new home. Like the others they were much annoyed by the wolves whose depredations on stock left the sheep- pens and pig-styes tenantless.

William Kalb came to Crawford county in 1833, settling first in Holmes township where he remained three years clearing the land, and in February, 1836, removing to Chatfield township where he had purchased IIO acres of land in section 19, the price being $400, less than four dollars an acre. Three acres of this land was already cleared. He planted his crops among the stumps, and in some places harvested them with a butcher-knife.

Christian Hipp came from Germany with William Kalb in 1833, and settled in Chat- field township that same year. Accompany- ing him was his II-year old son Frederick Hipp, who when he became of age learned the trade of a wagon maker in Bucyrus, went into business at Chatfield, was one of the early postmasters of the village, justice of the peace for twenty-one years, only resigning in 1882, on account of his removal to Bucyrus, having been elected probate judge of the county.

Johannes Burgbacher settled in the north- western part of Chatfield in 1835, purchasing eighty acres of land in section 7. Here he died in 1842, and on his eighteen year old son John devolved the support of his family. The

215

AND REPRESENTATIVE CITIZENS

day before the Fourth of July in 1849 John married Susanna M. Koenig, a daughter of one of the pioneers, and later he became active in the affairs of the township. He was first elected justice of the peace in 1856, and re- elected in 1859 and 1862. Retired from the office long enough to serve as county commis- sioner for two terms, and at the expiration of his services as commissioner, in 1872, he was again elected justice, and re-elected every three years until his last election in 1899, mak- ing thirty-six years as justice of the peace, the banner record of the county.

One of the first industries of the county was a cooper shop started by William Koenig, who arrived from Germany in 1833. David or Daniel Shaffstall built a sawmill on Sycamore creek as early as 1834, this being one of the first industries in the township. It was located where there was quite a slope of land toward the mill on the opposite side from the stream, and often in winter, when this slope was cov- ered by snow or ice, the logs were rolled down it to the mill. After being operated for nearly twenty years by Mr. Shaffstall, it passed into other hands for ten years and was again disposed of and finally abandoned.

As early as 1832 there were two taverns on the turnpike about a mile north of Richville, one kept by Richard Frisbie and the other by Nathan Anthony. They were located on op- posite sides of the pike, were two-story frame buildings, and both were well patronized, as this turnpike was largely used by settlers from the central part of the state, who passed along to the northern markets on Lake Erie, with large droves of hogs or cattle, or with grain- loaded wagons, and these drovers being a thirsty and hungry tribe, they seldom passed a tavern without stopping a few moments to refresh the inner man.

Another tavern was opened in 1833 near the southern boundary of the township by Garton Frislen, and still another was built about this time in the extreme northern part, which, however, bore a somewhat bad reputa- tion, as a resort of carousers or even worse characters, though nothing more serious seems to have been proved against it except excessive drinking and some gambling on the part of its frequenters. It was at one time, however, suspected of being a resort of coun-

terfeiters, and the suspicion may have been well founded, as at a later period some im- plements such as counterfeiters use, were dis- covered in an old shed near the tavern. With this tavern was also connected a distillery hav- ing two copper stills, having a united capacity of about thirty gallons. After this place had been conducted for about ten years the land- lord was forced by popular opinion to sell out, and he moved to another locality, and a pub- lic nuisance was ended.

The Richard Frisbie tavern and the Senate House kept by Nathan Anthony were at the crossing about a mile north of the present vil- lage of Chatfield, where the pike is crossed by the road running from Plymouth to Sycamore and Mccutchenville, which was a much trav- eled east and west road in the early days. Other taverns along the pike prior to 1840 were kept by Luther C. Flint, Jacob Bunn, Samuel Webber and Harris Garton, the Shade House kept by a brother of Samuel Shade, who ran a tavern in the northern part of the township, also the tavern of Nathan Plum- mer. Later Martin Wirt had a tavern south of Chatfield which he advertised as a "tem- perance inn," and near him Phillip Moffitt had a tavern. L. D. Johnson fitted up grounds at considerable expense south of Chatfield, and established a sort of summer resort hotel. which was known as the "Everglade Retreat." It was a great place for picnic parties and dances, but proving unprofitable was discon- tinued, and Johnson moved to Bucyrus, and purchased the McCoy House, now the Deal.

In 1837 Jacob Reidel built an ashery near Richville, which was conducted for about ten years. The majority of asheries in those days were run in connection with stores, as owing to the scarcity of money, business was largely conducted on a system of barter and exchange. Goods were exchanged for the ashes, which were subsequently manufactured into potash.

In 1840 John Lucas, with his widowed daughter, Mrs. Sarah Breston, started a silk manufacturing industry in Chatfield township. They reared the silkworms from eggs obtained in Eastern cities, feeding them on the leaves of the few mulberry trees found growing in the woods. The attempt was only partially suc- cessful, owing chiefly to the difficulty of ob-

216

HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY

taining a sufficient supply of mulberry plants. Some good silk was made, however, and found a ready market in Bucyrus or Sandusky city and the enterprise was carried on for some twelve years, when it was finally abandoned. No cloth was manufactured, although neck- ties and ribbons were woven by Mrs. Breston. The buildings were located in the northeastern part of the township, and were visited by many people from all over the county and elsewhere. Mr. Lucas and his daughter were of English descent and were educated and refined people ; their business, if not wholly successful, was an object lesson in intelligent enterprise and as such was probably not without its fruits.

Among the prominent early settlers in the northern part of Chatfield was the Scott fam- ily, whose members were industrious and in- telligent citizens, having a large share in the building up and improvement of the town- ship. A member of this family, John H. Scott, a son of the original settler, was one of the contractors on the turnpike and in addition to money, had received an extensive tract of land adjoining the turnpike as part payment for his services. After residing in Chatfield for many years, the Scotts sold out and moved farther west.

About 1838 a wool-carding factory was erected in the northern part of Chatfield by Martin & Hilliar, the building being a two story frame. The business was carried on for some eight or ten years, when it was aban- doned, the proprietors taking up farming, as a more profitable industry.

James McKinley has been mentioned as one of the early settlers of Chatfield township. He was the grandfather of President Wm. Mckinley. He settled on the pike, south of Chatfield, near where German Lutheran church now stands, and near the site where his cabin stood is now the brick school house of that district. When he came to Crawford county he was accompanied by his brother Ephraim who settled in Bucyrus, and married Hannah McCreary, a sister of the late Thomas Mc- Creary of Bucyrus. Both the brothers were carpenters, and a number of buildings in Bucy- rus, Holmes, Lykins and Chatfield townships were built by them. When James moved to his farm in Chatfield all his sons accompanied

him, excepting William, the father of the president. There was also with him his father, David Mckinley, and his mother-in- law, Hannah C. Rose, both great-grandpar- ents of President Mckinley. David McKin- ley was a soldier in the Revolutionary war, and was born in 1755, and died in August, 1840, and was buried on the farm of his son James. A week later the mother-in-law of James McKinley died and she was buried be- side David Mckinley. The land was owned by David Mckinley, and in 1844 it was sold by James McKinley and he moved to Lykins township, a little over a mile west of Lykins. At this new home on August 14, 1846, there was a double wedding, one daughter, Hannah, marrying T. J. Tilford, and another daugh- ter, Ellen, marrying James Winters. On Christmas day, 1853, another daughter, Mar- tha, was married to Stephen Waller. The parents had moved to South Bend, Indiana. where both died on the same day on the for- tieth anniversary of their marriage in 1847, and were buried in the same grave. James Mckinley, the grandfather of the president, was a soldier of the war of 1812, and passed through this section during the war, and was so favorably impressed with the country that it eventually led to his location in the county. In disposing of the farm the David Mckinley heirs still retained control of the burial site, and on the death of James it passed to his son William, the father of President Mckinley. More than a half a century passed, and the stones that once marked the last resting place of the ancestors of a president of the United States had long since mouldered into decay, the graves alone remained, grass grown and briar covered, when the name of Mckinley became known through the length and breadth of the land, and the old settlers re- called the fact that the grandfather of one of the nation's greatest men had-once made his home among them. The coming president, then governor of the state, visited the site, and at his request the little churchyard was ex- tended to include the Mckinley burial plot, and in the extreme southeastern corner of the yard can be seen the two stones, erected by the president of the United States, and bear- ing the simple inscriptions :

PLANING MILL OF GALION LUMBER CO.

BIG-4 DEPOT, GALION, O.

ERIE RAILROAD DEPOT, GALION, O.

PLANT OF E. M. FREESE & CO., GALION, O.

219

AND REPRESENTATIVE CITIZENS

DAVID MCKINLEY REVOLUTIONARY SOLDIER Born 1755, Died 1840. HANNAH C. ROSE Born 1757, Died 1840.

In 1830 one of the pioneers was Richard Davidson. His father, George Davidson was a soldier in the Revolutionary war, and was a cousin of the ill fated Colonel Crawford. Richard was born in Virginia on May 28, 1799, on land which was granted to his father by the government for services in the Revolu- tion, but the title was never perfected and the land passed into other hands. George David- son went to Knox county, Ohio, and in 1830 his son Richard came to Crawford, settling on land just southeast of Chatfield, and in 1834 was one of the first justices of the county, serving for three terms.

The complete list of justices of Chatfield township is as follows: Ichabod Smith- 1831-34; Richard Davidson-1834-37-40; Daniel Shaffstall-1837-40-43-49; Levi Cas- key-1846; James Gibson-1846; John Rob- erts-1849; Demetry Winterhalter-1849; Ormond W. Johnson-1852; Wilson Stewart -1852-55-58; Simon Nefsger-1853; John Burgbacher 1856-59-62-71-75-78-81, 84, 87-90-93-99; Frederick Hipp-1861-64-67-70 73-76-79; J. H. Davidson-1865-68-82; John H. Lust-1885; John Guiss-1888-91-95-98; D. H. Angene-1894-95; Joseph H. Mollen- cop-1896; F. H. Barth-1898-01-07-II ; and C. F. Hammer-1903.

The first town laid out in Chatfield town- ship was by John Henry who came to the township in 1824 as a hunter. From the pro- fits of his markmanship he bought land in sec- tion 19 a mile south of the present village of Chatfield, but he was not cut out for a farmer. In those early days stock was allowed to run at large, and the hogs soon grew wild. As a protection settlers marked their stock so that even the hogs when wild could be identified. These marks were made a matter of township record, as the following from a township clerk's book in the possession of Frederick Hipp shows :

"Thomas Johnson's ear mark for his cattle and hogs is a square crop off the left ear and a slit in the same."

"Adrian Hoblitzell's ear mark for cattle and hogs is a slit in both ears."

"John Davidson's ear mark for cattle and hogs is a swallow fork in each ear."

If the ears of the hogs held out it is prob- able that each settler had his distinguishing brand. There were many wild hogs in the early days, and also many not marked, but when a settler shot a hog it was the almost invariable custom to return the dead animal to its owner. John Henry was an expert shot with the rifle; he disliked farming, and it was generally reported by his neighbors that many of their hogs found their way into his larder. At any rate he salted down large quantities of pork, and realized considerable money by sell- ing this pork to his neighbors. One day he sold a barrel of this pork to Richard Davidson, who lived about a mile from him, and after Henry left, Davidson humorously remarked to his wife: "Well, we are only buying back our own pork."

John Henry concluded to lay out a town along the pike, so in the summer of 1834, he sent for the surveyor of the county, Thomas C. Sweney, and a town of forty-one lots was platted along both sides of the pike. The plat was filed in the recorder's office at Bucy- rus on June 9, 1834, and showed the location as being on "the north half of the southeast quarter of section No. 19 Chatfield town- ship." It was nearly a mile south of the present village of Chatfield. The town was called North Liberty, the Pike was the prin- cipal. street and was called Bucyrus street; west of this was a street running north and south called Poplar and east of Bucyrus street was Sycamore. There was but one east and west street, which was called Cranberry, but for lack of east and west streets it had an alley on each side. There were sixteen lots on Bucyrus street, eight on each side, seven- teen on Poplar and eight on Sycamore. The prospects of the town were good, with a daily line of stages passing along the road, with Bucyrus nine miles to the south and Caroline eight to the north. The Bucyrus Journal, of June 1834, thus mentions the enterprise :

"John Henry, sr., has laid off a new town to be called North Liberty, in the center of Chatfield township, and offers lots for sale on

220

HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY

July roth. The town is nine miles north of Bucyrus, on the Columbus and Sandusky pike, on which there is a daily line of mail stages. the county road from Cranberry to Sycamore crosses the turnpike at the town."

When the town was originally laid out John Henry had his house on the land and near was a small frame which had been erected by Demetry Winterhalter. The two first settlers in the new town were Jacob Bibble and John Winterhalter, who built houses into which they moved with their families, two other families coming soon after. The place never advanced to the dignity of having a store or a tavern. There were taverns north and south of the village, and half a mile south, in 1839 Jacob Kronenbach started a store with about $300 worth of goods, which he had pur- chased in Bucyrus; this store was continued until about 1851 when the proprietor died and the store was discontinued. The only in- dustry ever in the village was the ashery of Jacob Reidel. The serious drawback to the town was the proprietor himself. He was openly accused by his neighbors of shooting their hogs. On one occasion several settlers while hunting near the cranberry marsh heard the crack of a rifle, and creeping through the brush saw Henry in the act of cutting up a hog he had just slain. One of them indig- nantly fired, bringing Henry down with a shot in the leg. However, after shooting him they carried him home on a stretcher, and ever after he was called "Hog Henry." He made no complaint of the shooting, rather gloried in the name, and as soon as he was able to be about again his supply of pork was kept up as before. His town was known all over as "Hog Town," and without a store or a tavern or a friend it died a natural death. Henry eventually removing to the west.

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.

History of Crawford County, Ohio, and representative citizens, Part 32

Author: Hopley, John E. (John Edward), 1850- Publication date: 1912 Publisher: Chicago,Ill., Richmond-Arnold Publishing Company Number of Pages: 1302

Author: Hopley, John E. (John Edward), 1850-
Publication date: 1912
Publisher: Chicago,Ill., Richmond-Arnold Publishing Company
Number of Pages: 1302