History of Crawford County, Ohio, and representative citizens, Part 42

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

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child born in Liberty township. She became the wife of Robert Andrews. Another daughter, Mary Ann, married Rev. George Reid and was the mother of Hon. William M. Reid, of Bucyrus. This marriage license is the first one on the record in the Probate Judge's office. It bears date of October 17, 1831, and the marriage took place on October 18, Rev. Samuel P. Shaw performing the ceremony. Prior to this date all marriage records were destroyed . by the fire which burned the county jail.

In November, 1823, Samuel Smalley ar- rived from Vermont, with his wife, who was a sister of William Blowers. They had jour- neyed for over 600 miles in a wagon. Soon after, Smalley settled on a farm east of Bu- cyrus, and about 1830 he purchased of Nicholas Singely what later became the Crum farm.

The year 1823 was marked by the advent of a considerable number of settlers, among whom were James McCurdy, Asa Cobb, Simeon Parcher, Ichabod Smith, Calvin Stone, Garrett Dorland, with his sons, James, Isaac and Luke; Matthias Markley, Thomas Smith, Benjamin Manwell, Jacob Gurwell, Joseph Chandler, John Chandler, Charles Doney and Edward Hartford. In 1824 came John G. Stough, Horatio Markley, Noble Mckinstry, John Kroft and others. These settlers mostly purchased Government lands, which were ex- empt from taxation for five years. The fol- lowing persons also, as shown by the tax duplicate of the county for 1830, entered lands previous to April, 1825: John Anderson, John Bear, John Clingan, John H. Fry, Wil- liam Huff, Daniel Ketchum, Philip Klinger, Richard King, Daniel Kimball, William Little, Richard Spicer, Daniel Shelhammer, John Slifer, Asa Wetherby, Anthony Walker and Mary Wood.

Other early arrivals, whose names and the facts concerning them have been derived from various sources, were the following: John Essig and wife came to Liberty township in 1832, taking up 160 acres on the Sandusky river. J. H. Fry came in 1824 and settled on 160 acres west of Sulphur Springs. In Janu- ary, 1827, he married Catherine, daughter of Thomas Williamson. Rachel Helm's parents came to Liberty in 1825. Jacob D. Heller,

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with his wife and nine children, came to Lib- erty in 1836, with a two horse team and en- tered seventy-seven acres. Andrew Hess came in 1831. In April, 1833, he married Mary Henry, who came to Crawford with her par- ents in 1830. Abraham Grogg came in 1836 and settled on what is now the farm of J. H. Moderwell. He also bought at the same time 120 acres in Chatfield township. John Hise, with his wife and three children, settled in Jackson township in 1824. His son, William H. Hise, born in 1818, learned the shoemaker's trade and opened a shop at Galion, which was probably the first in that place. Later he opened a shop in Bucyrus, where he remained three years; then went to Sulphur Springs, then to Whetstone township and finally took up a farm in Liberty, and was Justice of the Peace for thirty years.

John Williams came in 1832, with Solomon Shaffstall and family. In 1833 he worked for his brother, building a mill in Holmes town- ship. He built a log cabin on his place, using nails which cost ten cents a pound, which he paid for with maple sugar that he and his wife made.

Jacob and Mary Waters came to Liberty with six children in 1830 and settled on a farm on the Sandusky river, which had been en- tered several years previously by Philip Trout. Their son Isaac often spoke of the old log schoolhouse, in which sometimes the wood fire made so much smoke that teacher and schol- ars were obliged to take the benches out of doors and finish the exercises in the open air.

Martin Wolf came to Crawford county in 1834. His father, Henry Wolf, was a Revo- lutionary soldier. Martin was a sort of jack- of-all-trades, but was very poor and had five children. He bought sixty-three acres but could not pay the full purchase price, so gave his note of $25 for the balance, due in four months. He was a hard worker and in one week, while splitting rails in the day time, made five pairs of shoes in the evenings. In this way he paid for his land.

Jacob and Elizabeth Zeiter came to Liberty with four children in 1830.

Jacob Sell came to Liberty township with his parents in 1830.

Daniel Steen, who died in Liberty township September 27, 1868, was born in Donegal

county, Ireland, and came with his parents and two brothers to America, settling in Lib- erty in 1827 on the farm on which he died.

Michael and Elizabeth (Kleinknecht) Kafer came to Crawford county in 1833 and purchased eighty acres in Liberty.

Michael Treftz came to Liberty township in 1832; after he entered the land he left his fam- ily at Bloomingville in a barn, there being no other accommodations, and he came on foot to prepare their new home for them. In the meantime his daughter Magdalena and her sister walked from Bloomingville to San- dusky, where they secured work at eighteen cents per week. They afterward worked in Columbus, walking the entire distance several times through the forest, carrying their cloth- ing and food, and stopping at farm houses over night, and occasionally at the taverns where the price was six cents for a bed. The money they earned was used in helping to develop the family farm. Magdalena Treftz later married Jacob Green, one of the earlier settlers in Liberty township.

Michael and Susanna Sponseller, with seven children, came to Crawford in 1832, and bought 80 acres in section 20 of his brother- in-law, Jacob Mollenkoff, who came here in 1828, paying him $400, or $5 an acre.

Isaac Williams came to Crawford in 1828, and first bought 160 acres in Holmes township. Going back to Stark county, he returned in 1829 with his family, in a two horse team and wagon and driving a few cattle. Leaving his family at Spring Mills, he came on here and purchased 80 acres in Liberty, after which he went back to bring his family. In the vicin- ity of Galion he found the ground so soft that he had to hire an additional team to get the wagon through.

Gottleib and Magdalen (Brosey) Shieber came to Sandusky City by boat with a party from Germany in 1832. They then walked overland to Crawford county in search of Fred Feichtner, and found him in Liberty township, on the Brokensword. Liking this section, they walked back, hired teams, and returned to Crawford the same year, settling in Liberty township.

John G. and Catherine Klink worked in Co- lumbiana county in the winter of 1828 and saved enough to buy a pair of oxen and a cart.

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In the spring of 1829 they came to Crawford county, with their three children-Catherine, John A. and John G .- and settled in the woods in Liberty township, where he bought 80 acres, paying for it with what money he had and two watches. They stayed at a neigh- bor's until their cabin could be erected. They had many hardships to contend with. Their cattle strayed; one night John A. got tired of hunting for them and went to sleep in a hollow tree, where he stayed all night, returning in the morning. Many other times he stayed all night in some Indian camp. He became quite friendly with the Indians, visited their camps, and in his younger days they sometimes brought him home when he had lost his way. He was married, in 1848, to Melissa Kohlman and moved to a farm of II0 acres, which he purchased with money earned by chopping wood. To this he afterward added more land until he had a tract of 740 acres all together, besides 176 in the neighborhood. He brought his farm into a high state of cultivation and it was known as the "model farm" and for many years visitors were taken out from Bucyrus to see the Klink farm, as it had a state reputation for the neatness with which it was kept.

Adam Link, a soldier of the Revolution, re- sided in Liberty township, near Sulphur Springs. The Washington "Constitution," of August, 1859, thus wrote of this veteran : "Adam Link entered the regular service in 1777. His father had settled in Washington county, Pa., near the Virginia line, on the ex- treme borders of civilization. Here Adam was brought up, surrounded by frontier dan- gers in the vicinity of unfriendly Indians. On the commencement of hostilities the Indians made a descent on the settlements, captured his father, murdered and scalped him, burnt the house and barn and destroyed a large field of corn, 100 hogs, 40 sheep, all the cattle and horses and 300 bushels of wheat. From this period, the family, instead of being well-to-do and prosperous, suffered great privations and dangers during the remainder of the war. At the time of his enlistment, 1777, under Capt. Mason, he was so well known that the remark was made 'He is a good marksman and will now have an opportunity to try his skill.' At different periods he served in garrisons at

Wheeling, Moore, Dement's and Shepherd's forts and acted as an Indian spy, as well as scouting along the frontier. He was at Wheeling garrison when Capt. Mason was shot through the hips.

"The old man many years ago applied to a pension agency at Tiffin to secure the pension to which he was entitled. The agent de- manded an exorbitant fee, which Link refused to pay, whereupon the agent misrepresented matters at Washington so that the pension to which he was so justly entitled was withheld from him for twelve years. Some eight years ago the Hon. F. W. Green took the matter in hand and since that time he has received his pension regularly."

August 13, 1859, eight names were recorded which comprised all the Revolutionary soldiers on the pension rolls in Ohio. Among them ap- peared the name of Adam Link, Crawford county, aged 99 years.

Adam Link was born Nov. 14, 1761, and died at the home of his daughter, Mrs. Horatio Markley, in Liberty township, Aug. 15, 1864, aged 103 years, and was buried in the Union cemetery one mile northeast of Sulphur Springs.

R. W. Musgrave, born at Cayuga, N. Y., in 18II, came to Jeromeville, Ashland county, and in 1829 to Bucyrus, O., where he was ap- prenticed to Henry St. John in his store until 1831. He went to Massillon in 1832 as a partner of Mr. St. John; was married to a Miss Gillespie and in 1841 settled in Annap- olis, Liberty township. In 1845 the legislature elected him one of the associate judges of Crawford county, which position he held until the new constitution was adopted. In 1851 he became secretary of the State Board of Agri- culture and was president and secretary for six years.

August 28, 1856, Thomas Brown, editor of the Ohio Farmer, wrote of him as follows, and the account shows the wealth of the forests of half a century ago: "R. W. Musgrave, Esq., lives at Sulphur Springs in Crawford county, Ohio. He is now and has for several years been a very efficient member of the State Board of Agriculture, and for some time its president. His farm consists of 700 acres of as good land as there is in the rich county of Crawford and two-thirds of it are under culti-

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vation. As evidence of the quality of the soil, we might mention that the timber land is cov- ered with the largest growth of black walnut, sugar tree, ash, white oak, beech, etc. We have never seen such huge walnuts. Hun- dreds of them are from three to four feet in diameter, and their trunks clear of limbs from fifty to sixty feet from the ground. The sur- face of the country is not level, but sufficiently rolling to drain well. The soil is generally a deep black loam, that never bakes, but tills as kindly as best bottom land. The most promising field of corn we have seen this sum- mer we saw on the Judge's farm. He has close by his house a sulphur spring, whose chemical and medicinal qualities, we should judge from the taste and smell, are similar to the springs of Delaware and the White Sul- phur Spring of Virginia. The volume of water is quite large. It would average a stream of from two to three inches in diameter. There are other springs in the immediate vicinity and several others in the county. The waters are generally cathartic and diuretic and diaphoretic in their effects. There is also a chalybeate spring near Bucyrus."

From 1820 to 1825, Liberty township was a part of Sandusky. Westell Ridgely and Joseph Young were commissioned justices of the peace for Sandusky township April 15, 1821, and when their terms expired an election was held May 15, 1824, the successful candi- dates being Mathias Markley and Ichabod Smith, but they were both commissioned jus- tices of the peace of Sandusky township May 31, 1824, and sworn in as such by Zalmon Rowse, justice of the peace of Bucyrus town- ship. In 1824 Crawford county was tempo- rarily attached to Marion county and justices of the peace had been appointed for only four townships. The commissioners of Marion county, at the March session in the year above mentioned ( 1825) passed the following order : "That surveyed township No. 2, in range 17 south of the base line in the district of Dela- ware be, and the same is hereby organized into a new township, by the name of Liberty." For some reason Smith received another com- mission dated June 18. 1825. as justice of the peace for Liberty, but Marklev still continued to hold his office by virtue of the former elec- tion. Markley was twice re-elected, but after

serving for over eight years resigned and re- moved to Illinois. Ichabod Smith was re- elected in 1827, but resigned before his term expired to take a contract for building a part of the Columbus and Sandusky Pike.

The following is a complete list of the justices of Liberty township:

Mathias Markley, 1824-27-30; Ichabod Smith, 1824-27; James S. Gurwell, 1832; Asa Cobb, 1834-37-40-43-49; John Slifer, 1835-38; William Woodside, 1844; Charles Keplinger, 1846; William Snyder, 1847; Horace Rowse, 1848-51 ; Robert Johnson, 1851 ; Joseph Roop, 1852-55-58-61; Jonathan N. Harmon, 1854- 57-60; William H. Hise, 1863-66-69-78-81- 84-87-90-93-97; Henry Fry, I864-67-70; Clark Bacon, 1872; A. R. Briggs, 1872-75; Thomas Millard, 1873; S. A. McKeehen, 1873-76-79-82-85-88-91-02-07; William D. Mewhart, 1896-99; Rufus Aurand, 1900; Emanuel Schieber, 1903-06; Jacob S. Keller, 1905-09, and Samuel Hise, 1909.

It is probable that Liberty township was fully organized and township officers chosen at the spring election in 1826, but the names of the officers are not known, as, if any rec- ords were kept, they have been lost or de- stroyed. It is thought that John Kroft was the first clerk. John G. Stough was chosen one of the three trustees elected in the spring of 1828, James McCurdy being another. The first elections were held in private houses near the center of the township, until the Center schoolhouse was erected. Gen. Jackson polled a heavy vote for president in November, 1828, the polling place being at the cabin of James McMannes. On July 1, 1831, the township trustees, Isaac Rise, Elias Chambers and Rob- ert Foster, took an enumeration of the house- holders of the township, and at the same time appointing John G. Stough as treasurer. As Thomas Smith had been previously elected to this latter position, but had failed to take the oath of office, Stough declined to serve, and the trustees then served a notice on Smith, who appeared and consented to act. In those days many citizens preferred to pay a fine rather than serve in any public office.

Liberty township was divided into road dis- tricts by the trustees on March 5, 1832. On April 2d of that year the first election on record took place and was held at the house of

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Leven Conley, near the center. The persons chosen to fill the different offices were as fol- lows: Trustees, Isaac Rise, Robert Foster and Jacob Mollenkopf; constables, Isaac Slater and Frederick Beard; clerk, John Kroft; treasurer, John G. Stough; overseers of the poor, Robert Foster and Isaac Markley ; fence viewers, Samuel Cover, Hanry Charlton and Frederick Williams.

The duties pertaining to the office of over- seer of the poor were sometimes of a disagree- able nature and the office was not coveted by any of the citizens, but was filled only from a sense of public duty. It was the business of such officials not only to inquire into cases of destitution and render assistance to deserving unfortunates, but also to warn away by legal notice any idle, roving or otherwise worthless characters that might come into the township and threaten to become a public charge. One of these notices issued in 1832, read as fol- lows :

The State of Ohio, Crawford County, S.S. To Isaac Slater, Constable of Liberty Town- ship, greeting :

Whereas, information hath been given to us, Mathias Markley and Robert Foster, Over- seers of the Poor for said township, that Thomas Alsoph has come within the limits of the township to be sick, who will be likely to become a township charge; you are hereby commanded forthwith to warn said Thomas Alsoph to depart the said township and of this writ make legal service, and duly return it, according to laws given under our hands this 12th day of March, A. D., 1852.

MATHIAS MARKLEY, ROBERT FOSTER, Overseers of the Poor.

There was, perhaps, little call for this notice, as Alsoph was an Englishman, at times childish in his mind, and his wealthy relatives had gotten rid of him by shipping him to America about 1824, sending money quarterly for his support. His home was generally Holmes township, and his money usually gone in a spree within a week after its recep- tion, except that some of his unscrupulous keepers frequently kept the entire remittance. He had periods of sobriety, in which he took

an active hand in politics, being very impar- tial as to what principles he advocated, his main desire being to make speeches, and he was a fairly fluent talker. In 1860 John Hopley, another Englishman, became the at- torney to whom the remittances were for- warded, and he found Alsoph almost uncared for, his constitution and mind both weakened by his years of excesses. By 'degrees he was straightened up and returned to his family in England.

This old law was sometimes used as a prac- tical joke, and the warning notice was served on some responsible person, who was in no danger of ever becoming a public charge. Sometimes this led to trouble, but they were generally ignored. The Liberty township records are full of these warnings. John B. Morrison- received two of these notices order- ing him to leave, one in 1833, followed by the second in 1836. He did not go, as in April, 1837, the Common Pleas Court at Bucyrus ap- pointed him one of the school examiners for Liberty township, a position for which the Court selected none but the best men.

Another law allowed poor or shiftless par- ents to bind out their children to others for a term of years, or until they became of age, and there are records of a number of cases of this kind in Liberty township. One Moses Co- berly thus bound out three of his children within the space of thirty days. The first of these-and the first of which there is any record in the township-is between Moses Coberly, who binds his son Robert to Corne- lius Dorland for a term of seven years, during which time Dorland is to "teach the young man arithmetic to the rule of three and keep him in wearing apparel." At the end of the seven years Robert is to receive from Dorland "one horse, saddle and bridle worth $75, also one suit of broadcloth clothes and one suit of home made or common wearing apparel." This agreement is dated December 31, 1834. In 1843 the trustees bound Lucy Wilhelgriner, an orphan, to Frederick and Elizabeth Wil- liams for a term of five years and four months. This young lady was to be taught "the art, mystery and occupation of common labor" and they were to train her in "habits of obedi- ence, industry and morality." During her

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term of service she was to be allowed "meat, drink and wearing apparel both for summer and winter," and at the end of the time she was to receive "two suits of common wearing apparel and a new Bible." Miss Wilhelgriner, it seems, had to be satisfied with common or ordinary apparel after all her years of serv- ice, in this respect being less fortunate than the young man Robert, above mentioned, who got at least one suit of broadcloth to wear on state occasions. As for Robert, if he were bound out today, instead of a horse he would demand an automobile.

On Dec. 31, 1837, there was filed in the Re- corder's office at Bucyrus the plat of a pro- posed town to be called Deckertown, on the southwest part of section 25, Liberty town- ship. It was about three-quarters of a mile west of Luke's tavern which stood on the southwest corner of the road known as the "Old River Road," the Sandusky being just across the road from the tavern, the north and south road which passed Luke's tavern being the boundary line between Liberty and San- dusky townships. At that time the old river road was very much traveled, being the route from Bucyrus to West Liberty, the latter vil- lage being a very important business center. The town was laid out on both sides of the road, thirteen lots on each side, and in the town limits the road was called Main street. There was one north and south street named Mill, so called from the fact that it led to the Decker saw mill which was about a quarter of a mile north of the town on the bank of the Sandusky. Deckertown was also a victim of the great panic of 1837, and the project was abandoned before any lots were sold. It de- rived its name from the projector and proprietor, James Decker, on whose land it was situated and who owned the saw mill.

About three-quarters of a mile east of the station of Brandywine on the Columbus and Sandusky Division of the Pennsylvania Rail- way, and about four and a half miles north- east of Bucyrus in Liberty township many years ago five or six families located at and near to the crossing of two county roads at that point. At a very early day Samuel Parcher had a saw mill near the southwest corner of the crossing. He sold it to Jonas Heckert, who after several years sold it to the

Hildebrands, who still operate it. Solomon Benson had a saw mill a few rods from the crossing that ran successfully for many years. Charles Keplinger had a brickyard a few rods west of the crossing, he also had a cider press. Scott Shell had a blacksimth shop on the northwest corner. Later it was run by Louis Ritenhauer for several years. Four or five dwelling houses were erected for those em- ployed in the different industries, and the cor- ners was a fairly busy center, and had the ap- pearance of a thriving little village. In 1888 William E. Keplinger opened a store on the northwest corner. A postoffice was estab- lished and was called Brandywine, after the little stream that passed the town. William E. Keplinger was appointed postmaster March 2, 1888, and had the office in his store. When the railroad was completed and opened for business in 1893, a station called Brandy- wine was opened for the convenience of the people in that section, and it was not long be- fore the store and postoffice were removed half a mile west to the station. The place had been known as Puckertown for more than sixty years. David Shealey, one of the pio- neers of that section, gives the origin of the name. He says that in the early days it was customary to have literary exercises at the school house, and among other features at each meeting was a newspaper giving the news of the neighborhood, and humorous hits at the follies and foibles of the members and friends. Of course it was in manuscript, dif- ferent ones of the brighter pupils taking a turn as editor and publisher. It was necessary to have a name for the paper and some one now forgotten gave it the name of the Pucker- town News, and this gave the name to the locality. Keplinger, continued as postmaster until the appointment of the present incum- bent, C. E. Hildebrand, on March 28, 1910.

Three miles north of Brandywine in the northwestern section of Liberty township, there was a station on the Columbus and San- dusky Short Line at which the trains stopped on signal. Here a store was started and a petition presented for a post office, and on Sept. 18, 1894, a post office was established called Ridgeton and George B. Quaintance was appointed postmaster. He held the office until it was discontinued on Feb. 14, 1906, the

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people after that being supplied by rural route from Bucyrus.

Along in 1867 and 1868 the citizens of Sul- phur Springs were actively interested in a proposed railroad from Toledo to Crestline, via Tiffin, Melmore, Lykins and Sulphur Springs. The citizens of the latter village and Liberty township were very anxious to have the railroad built and subscribed $35,000, or rather they guaranteed to take that amount of the stock of the company. The preliminary surveys were made, the line passing through the northeastern part of Sulphur Springs.

George W. Teel, one of the leading pro- moters of the railroad had a plot of town lots laid out on his farm, about half a mile east of Sulphur Springs, at the point where the depot was to be located, and seven or eight dwelling houses were erected and occupied. It never attained any standing as a commercial or in- dustrial point, as no stores or shops were ever located there, but otherwise it had the appear- ance of a country village. By common con- sent of the people in the neighborhood it was called Teel Town, and today is generally spoken of by that name. It might be added the ideas of the Sulphur Springs promoters were very expansive, and the sanguine ones believed that if the road was secured it would eventually lead to the removal of the county seat to Crawford county on account of the central location of Sulphur Springs. The Crestline people failed to give the financial aid to the proposed road that was necessary and it was abandoned. But later New Washing- ton parties got Mansfield and Toledo people interested and built the Mansfield and Cold- water road, now known as the Toledo Divi- sion of the Pennsylvania system. Sulphur Springs and Teel Town were completely ig- nored and New Washington was placed on the railroad map and the village of Tiro came into existence.

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History of Crawford County, Ohio, and representative citizens, Part 42

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