History of Crawford County, Ohio, and representative citizens, Part 51

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 51

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Oceola was laid out in May, 1837, by a land company, composed of Bucyrus, Columbus and Marion capitalists, and named Osceola, after the most noted Indian chief of the Seminoles. With the passing of time, probably through carelessness, the letter "s" has been dropped and the name has long since been mispelled -located there. He thought great possibilities

Oceola. The land where Oceola was situated had just been purchased from the Indians, and the town was laid out on the north and west banks of the Brokensword, on a site which was almost the exact center of the county, and the idea prevailed that if a thriving village could be built up there, the time would arrive when it would become the county seat. The new town was laid out accordingly on a rather large scale. In the center was a public square. Main street which was the road from Bucyrus to Upper Sandusky was ninety feet wide. South of it was Water street and north of it High street, each seventy feet wide. Com- mencing on the west the streets were named First, Second, and Third, then came Broken- sword avenue, which crossed the public square, then came Fourth, Fifth and Sixth streets, and the river was reached on the road to Bucyrus. All these streets were 70 feet wide. In all there were 164 lots, and the village progressed from the start, but before it attained sufficient headway to take definite measures to secure the county seat, the legislature erected the new county of Wyandot, and Oceola just succeeded in being in Crawford county, and as it was now on the extreme western border, all hopes of county seat honors were a thing of the past.

There was a large crowd present at the lot sale, and the lots brought good prices, and many were sold; prices ranged from $25 up, some of the corner lots bringing $100, the pro- jectors of the town had so impressed the peo- ple that it would eventually be a county seat that the speculation was rife. One man had some swamp land in Illinois along the lake; this he traded for Oceola property. The Il- linois land is now a part of Chicago, worth far more today than the valuation real and per- sonal of the entire village of Oceola.

The first cabins were erected in the town site in 1838. Daniel Tuttle, familiarly known as "Bishop" Tuttle, moved to Oceola in 1840 and became the first merchant and manufac- turer of the place. He had prior to that time for some 13 years been a traveling representa- tive of a clock manufacturer, his territory ex- tending from Maine to Louisiana, and was a man of wide experience and observation. While at Bucyrus his attention was attracted to the proposed county seat of Oceola and he

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lay in the manufacture of lime, as Bucyrus was at the time hauling in the commodity from a distance of forty miles at an excessive cost. He started a rude kiln in 1841, employing Ly- man King to do the burning. He had in 1840 built a water mill, which was run steadily for a few years when power was available. As travel over the Perrysburg Road from Bucyrus to the northwest became more general it be- came apparent a tavern was needed at Oceola, and Mr. Tuttle soon supplied the need. He built an addition to his house, and as his busi- ness justified, later converted it into a two- story tavern. In 1842 he embarked in the fur trade and otherwise dealt with the Indians. He was the first postmaster of Oceola, serving from 1840 to 1845. In fact he was the moving spirit of the village. John Turner conducted a store here until the Mexican War broke out, then enlisted in the army. Jacob Yost, who built the first frame house in the village, con- tinued trading with the Indians for many years. G. Leonard conducted a hat store; in 1850, he was advertising to manufacture corn brooms on shares and also to thresh corn with a ma- chine. In 1851 R. G. Perry & Co. conducted a store and in 1858 he started the manufacture of carbonated pearl ash. In 1854 a water -- power grist-mill was built by David Neeley, but the dam was destroyed in 1860. He sold out in 1862 to A. N. Stonebreaker, and later the property passed into the hands of Judd and Deck, by whom it was sold to Garret Ziegler in 1867. It was on an island near the west bank of the Brokensword just below the bridge. While originally it was run by water power, later steam was introduced, and it was known as the Limestone Island Mills. It finally came into the possession of A. N. Phil- lips about 1873, a large three-story frame building. After Lemert secured a railroad this large structure was placed on rollers, and moved to its present site at Lemert a distance of over three miles, the trip taking weeks. The lime industry was probably the most pros- perous business in the village. Originally started by Daniel Tuttle, others who went into the business were William Miller, and David, Joseph and Moses Snavely, and more than half a century ago there were about 200 kilns in operation, but the lack of transportation facili- ties, gradually made the lime industry less and

less profitable, and by degrees it was aban- doned.

Samuel Swineford started a chair manufac- tory in 1841, which he conducted for about three years. G. W. J. Willoughby established a factory for the manufacture of wooden bowls, and built up an extensive business. In 1847 Amos Souders started a tannery, and contin- ued the business for a dozen years when it was discontinued. William Sigler commenced the manufacture of potash in 1841, continuing in the business ten or twelve years. He also bought the Tuttle mill, and put in steam power. He had a saw-mill in connection, and manu- factured shoe lasts, butter bowls and other wooden articles, including tables and chairs. He also put in a carding machine, but this branch was soon discontinued.

Dr. J. N. Richie settled in the village as a physician in 1847; he took an active hand in township affairs, and became one of the best known physicians in the county, and after fol- lowing his profession in Oceola for nearly half a century, he died on Dec. 17, 1895.

Later day business men of the village were Rodney Poole, J. Grubb, Richard T. Garrigues, Samuel Teetrich, and William T. Kelly, who established the first drug store and also carried a line of groceries. In 1861, Oceola erected a town hall, the dimensions being 30 by 40 feet.

The citizens of Oceola met November 25, 1850, to take action toward inducing the pro- jected Ohio & Indiana Railroad to pass through the village. G. W. J. Willoughby was chairman of the meeting and J. M. Rickey, secretary. Mr. Willoughby, James Clingan and J. C. Steen were appointed a committee to wait upon the directors of the road. Their efforts availed them nothing however, and the little village was doomed to its second great disappointment in a matter of vital importance to its welfare.

Losing the railroad, the citizens took an active hand in securing a plank road from Oceola to Bucyrus. The road was built, and proved a great convenience to the people and the business of the village, but a constant loss to the stockholders, and it was finally aban- doned. It had two toll gates, one at the out- skirts of Oceola, and the other just west of Bucyrus. It was the only plank road ever built in the county.

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A post office was established at Oceola April I, 1840, with Daniel Tuttle as postmaster. He continued until he left the village and it was discontinued July 8, 1845, but just a year later it was re-established on July 8, 1846, with Wil- liam H. Sigler as postmaster. He was fol- lowed by James C. Steen March 7, 1848; Jo- siah Morrison, May 18, 1850; Samuel Pike, July 29, 1853; John N. Richey, Oct. 16, 1854; Joseph Hildreth, Dec. 13, 1860; D. D. Martin, Feb. 14, 1861 ; R. T. Garrigues, April 12, 1866; Alfred Owen, Aug. 6, 1885; S. M. Wilson, June 19, 1889; W. B. Forrest, June 30, 1893; J. C. Frost, Sept. 18, 1897; P. H. Heater, March 12, 1902. Although Oceola is not on a railroad, the importance of the village is such that a post office is still continued at that place.

When the Toledo and Ohio Central Road was built a station was established in the northern part of the township, and a town was laid out called Lemert, after Col. W. C. Lemert one of the men active in securing the road. The Limestone Mills were removed overland from Oceola to a new site along the track of the road. Two stores were started in the vil- lage, and one or two small shops. A post of- fice was established there on Feb. 8, 1881, with Gust Leonhart as postmaster; he was suc- ceeded by F. T. Smith, Sept. 13, 1882 ; William Evans, Nov. 23, 1897; E. L. Mansfield, April 25, 1905.

All over the county, in the larger cemeteries and in the little country graveyards are hun- direds of monuments that mark the last resting place of those who fought in the War of the rebellion. But just north of Oceola is a little monument that marks the spot where is buried one of the dumb heroes a horse who carried his soldier rider over several of the southern states. The horse was drawn by Abe Conger of the Twelfth Ohio Cavalry, at Louisville Ky., and in one of Stoneman's raids the men were 87 days in the saddle, covering seven states and nearly two thousand miles of riding. At the close of the war Conger had become at- tached to the horse and brought him home; as years passed the horse became a pet; he was taken to reunions where he appeared to recog- nize the flag and pricked up his ears at the mar- tial music. Finally on Sept. 4, 1886, the old war horse, Frank, died, being then about 26 years of age. The veterans the next day took

him to the woods of Capt. John Harter, just north of Oceola, where he was buried, and a little monument erected to mark the site of the old war horse.

The first schoolhouse was built on the banks of the Brokensword, southwest of the village, in 1839, and the first teacher was Jane Snavely, who received ten dollars a month, but when winter came her brother taught the school, re- ceiving $15 per month. When the village of Oceola was started, the arrival of settlers made a schoolhouse necessary, and an old Indian cabin was fitted up as well as possible where the children were taught, but the new village contained a schoolhouse site, and on this the trees were chopped down and a log building erected in 1841; this was replaced in 1845 by a' frame building, which did duty for ten years, and in 1855 it was purchased by the Methodists and removed to their lot to be used for church purposes, and a two story frame erected, the growth of the town necessitating more than one room to accommodate the pupils. This frame was later replaced by the present brick structure.

The township has five schoolhouses. District No. I is at Lemert. No. 2 is between Lemert and Oceola, on the northwest quarter of sec- tion 24, the Mary E. Doty farm. No. 3 is in the village of Oceola, north of the public square. No. 4 is nearly two miles south of Oceola, the northeast quarter of section 2, the farm of Daniel Songer. No. 5 is two miles south of this in the southeast quarter of section II, the farm of A. M. Kinsey. These build- ings are all on the north and south road which runs through the center of the township. And this road can well be called the schoolhouse road of the county. From the Seneca county line to Marion county, a distance of twenty miles, it has twelve schoolhouses, four in Texas township, five in Tod and three in Dal- las, and all modern. No other road in the county comes anywhere near this record.

The township of Tod, owing to its smallness and to the manner in which it is scattered out, has been somewhat backward in the matter of building churches. That does not mean the citizens were lax in their religious duties. Far from it, for they held services in their cabins soon after the township was organized. As early as 1838, largely through the efforts of

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Z. P. Lea and his family, a Methodist Episco- pal congregation was organized in the northern part of the township, which subsequently built the first Methodist Episcopal church in Benton. The people were so varied in their faiths and creeds, no single congregation gained strength enough to build a church of its own outside of the village of Oceola. For nearly ten years the Methodists, Campbellites, United Brethrens, Presbyterians, Lutherans and Universalists, and sometimes the Quakers, held meetings in the village schoolhouse, and a great part of the time these were union meet- ings, sometimes two denominations used the building on Sunday, the one in the morning and the other in the afternoon. It was also used of evenings, by some denomination, and there was scarcely a day or a night when the building was not in use. The first outside as- sistance in religious devotion came from Rev. George Reid and J. B. Robinson, of Bucyrus, who established a Bible society in 1840. Rev. William Matthews the Presbyterian minister at Bucyrus was the first to receive a salary, he holding services Sunday afternoons in 1845 and 1846. The Methodist Episcopal denomi- nation became organized as a distinct body about the same time, with Rev. B. F. Royce as pastor, it coming within the Melmore Circuit, North Ohio Conference. The United Breth- ren congregation soon followed in its organi- zation. The Campbellites, who were numeri- cally strong prior to the Civil War, lost so many in that struggle they did not reorganize after the war. Under the leadership of Capt.

John Wert, a Union Sunday School was started in 1846 and conducted in the school- house until 1854, then in the United Brethren church, all denominations uniting and making it a union Sunday school. As churches became stronger they organized Sunday Schools of their own, the Methodists being first.

In the graveyard south of the village is buried Benjamin Maskey, who was in the War of 1812, enlisting in the Pennsylvania Militia ; he was born Nov. 2, 1789, and died Jan. 21, 1867. Here also is buried James C. Steen, who was first lieutenant in Capt. Caldwell's inde- pendent company in the Mexican War, and died June 20, 1885; also Cyrus Peck, of the same company, who died June 18, 1870. The oldest stone in this yard is that of Samuel Staley, who died Jan. 15, 1848, but there were burials here prior to this. In the Oceola graveyard is buried James Forrest, born May 17, 1799, and died May 10, 1880. He was with Commodore Perry at the battle of Lake Erie in the War of 1812. When the war broke out he was living in Huntingdon county, Pa., and his uncle was drafted, but having a large family it was difficult for him to go, so his nephew, James, volunteered to go in his place. He was but 13 years of age, but so large that he was easily accepted. In 1854 he came to Crawford county where he had a farm north of Oceola on which he lived until his death. The oldest stone here is a child of John W. Bates, who died April 12, 1846, but there were a number of burials prior to this.

CHAPTER XXII

VERNON TOWNSHIP

The Township Created-At First a Wilderness-Its Swampy Character in Early Days-Wild Game-Boundaries-Geologic Formation-Drainage-Indian Occupation-First Settlers- First Deaths-Early Mills-West Liberty-A Temperance Crusade in 1838-Postmasters -DeKalb-The DeKalb Seminary-A Row Over Postmaster- Decline of DeKalb -- The Underground Railroad-Oil Speculation-Schools and Churches-Justices of the Peace.

And the heavy wains creak to the barns large and gray, Where the treasure securely we hold, Housed safe from the tempest, dry-sheltered away, Our blessing more precious than gold! And long for this manna that springs from the sod Shall we gratefully give him the praise,

The source of all bounty, our Father and God, Who sent us from heaven the maize. -WILLIAM W. FOSDICK.

Vernon township was surveyed by Maxfield Ludlow in 1807, and when the county of Rich- land was erected by the Legislature it was a part of Madison township, Richland county. After Richland county was organized the com- missioners of that county in 1816 erected the township of Bloominggrove, from Madison, and in 1818 divided this township creating the township of Sandusky, six miles wide and twelve deep, and finally in 1825, created the township of Vernon from the northern half of Sandusky township. In 1845 it became a part of Crawford county, and the commissioners carried it under its original name, which had been given it after the home of Washington, Mount Vernon. When it was surveyed by Maxfield Ludlow in 1807 it was an almost im- passable wilderness, the congenial home of nearly every species of wild game common to this part of the world, including such fierce and predatory beasts as the wolf, bear, panther and catamount, and crossed only by a few Indian trails. In the southeastern part extensive swamps afforded an almost secure retreat for the wild animals from the Indian or pioneer hunter, who with difficulty and danger fol-

lowed them into the treacherous bogs and tangled thickets and into an atmosphere im- pregnated with malarial vapors.

The township is bounded on the north by Auburn, on the east by Richland county and a part of Jackson, on the south by Jefferson and Jackson, and on the west by Sandusky township. Its geologic foundation consists of the Waverly group of rocks, which is overlaid by drift deposits of a depth of from ten to 50 feet. In the northwest corner, in the channel of Bear Marsh, where the drift deposits have been washed away, a slate or shale is exposed, which apparently forms a part of the Huron shale. West of De Kalb and in a few other places, the Berea grit outcrops and along the Bear Marsh run quarrying was done on the farms now owned by Ira O. Hilborn and J. B. Carrothers just west of De Kalb. The south and east portions of the township are flat, and the southern part was very wet and marshy in the early days, but modern drainage and the clearing away of the forests have brought the land into a condition to richly repay the labor of cultivation. In the southern part the soil is deep, rich and black, while in the northern and western parts it consists of a light sandy loam, mixed with clay.

Lying on the northern slope of the Ohio watershed, the township is drained by streams which flow into Lake Erie. The principal one of these is known as Loss Creek, the name be- ing a corruption of Lost Creek, it being thus denominated because of the difficulty in dis-

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covering its source among the many marshes. It originates, however, in the extensive flat lands in the southern part of the township, and after winding first in a northwesterly direction till it reaches the center of the township, it then turns toward the southwest and joins the Sandusky river. The northwestern corner is drained by Brokensword creek, while Honey Creek, a branch of the Huron river, drains the northeastern part.

An Indian trail passed through the township from the northeast to Wingenund's village on the Sandusky river, near Leesville. There was an Indian camp southwest the present site of Vernon Junction for many years after the War of 1812. It is stated that about a dozen Indians, under the lead of Johnnycake, main- tained a camp there until 1828. Civilization lias blotted out all external evidences of In- dian occupation, but here and there Indian relics are often plowed up. Many of these relics may be of a pre-historical instead of an Indian period.

In 1816 Andrew Dickson and David Cum- mins purchased land in the northern part of Vernon township. Cummins was born in Rockingham county, Va., Feb. 28, 1788, and was a soldier in the War of 1812. When they first came to look over this section they assisted William Green in erecting the first log house ever erected by a pioneer in this county, in the southeast part of what is now Auburn town- ship. William Cummins located on his pur- chase in 1818, and it is probable his companion, Andrew Dickson, came at the same time. The records show that on April 26, 1822, he bought of James Given a quarter section northwest of what is now West Liberty, and another quarter section near the same day. His nearest neigh- bor was Charles Morrow, whose heirs prob- ably hold the oldest known deed of a transfer of property in the county. It was given by William Pettijohn, the hunter and trapper who roamed over Auburn and Vernon as early as 1814. The deed bears date of. Aug. 25, 1819, and is for the northwest quarter of section 34, township 22, range 20 west; section 34 is the southeast section of Auburn. Another resi- dent of this section was Jedediah Moorehead, a trapper and hunter, who like Pettijohn made his living by securing furs and game.

A settler named George Byers was occupy-

ing a log cabin in section 17, (the section in which West Liberty now is) as early as 1820, and may have come there a year or two pre- viously, as he had already several acres cleared. It is not unlikely, however, that he may have bought the land from some previous settler, as he was a man much fonder of roaming the forest in search of game and adventures than of performing hard manual labor. He was a most skilful hunter and trapper and is said to have caught more than a hundred mink in one winter, together with quite a number of racoon, beaver, otter and other animals. At that time a mink skin was worth $4, beaver $5, otter sometimes as high as $8, while a fox skin sold at from 75 cents to $3. It can be seen, there- fore, that Mr. Byers was able to earn a pretty good income for those days. He resided in the township for many years and finally died and was buried there.

In 1821 James Richards, a blacksmith, came to Vernon, and after erecting his cabin, built a small round-log shop. He was kept em- ployed much of the time in repairing the wagons of the constantly arriving pioneers, which were seldom in good condition after making the long journey to the West. In ad- dition to this he made cow bells, tempered axes, made iron points for the wooden plows and did considerable other work in keeping the settlers' tools in good condition. Two roads, if such they might be called, had already been cut through the township. One, running north and south, was the Columbus and Sandusky, road, known as the Portland road, and at this time was simply a blazed way through the forest, from which the fallen logs and under- brush had been removed. It connected the cen- tral part of the State with the cities on Lake Erie, and soon became one of the principal highways in the state. The other was the Bucyrus and De Kalb road, which had been started in 1821. These, as well as most of the other principal roads in the state, were at first only Indian trails through the forest, which had been adopted by the pioneer settlers as the most desirable routes, and afterwards im- proved until they became passable for the teams, farmers' wagons, and droves of cattle on their way to market, evidences of a rapidly increasing and enterprising population. They are in full use at this day, though the old Con-

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estoga wagon of the pioneer settler has been replaced by the swiftly-gliding automobile of the pleasure seeking tourist, and the cattle, in- stead of being driven lazily to market, are now drawn there over a steel highway at a rate of 20 to 30 miles an hour, behind a puffing loco- motive-to witness which things would con- siderably surprise the pioneer settler, could he come back to earth and visit the wilderness where he first settled.

In 1822 George Dickson, a young unmarried man, arrived in the township and entered land. After clearing a few acres, he went back to Pennsylvania, married, and then brought his wife to their new home in the wilderness. He became one of Vernon's most prominent citi- zens and resided here many years, and died Aug. 23, 1880, and was buried in the grave- yard at De Kalb. Conrad Walters, a cooper, came in 1824 and began work at his trade. He was an intelligent and well educated man, and his manners were superior to those of the ordinary pioneer. He was moreover of a manly and courageous disposition and became a skillful hunter and trapper, learning much from his associations with Byers and the In- dians. On one occasion while out hunting, he was nearly killed by a wounded buck, which he had shot in a swamp in the southern part of the township. Thinking it dying, he was about to cut its throat, when the animal started up in a desperate struggle for existence. Mr. Wal- ters seized it by the antlers to prevent it from goring him and clung to it until he was almost exhausted. He finally succeeded in forcing its head into the mud and water and held it there until it suffocated. His body was covered with wounds and bruises and his clothing was torn to shreds by the sharp horns and hoofs of the dying animal. He learned from this ex- perience, however, to always avoid a hand-to- hand struggle with a wounded deer.

Besides those mentioned, other early settlers were Jonathan Dickson in 1825; David Hol- stein and Samuel Tarr in 1828; Levi Arnold, Thomas Gill, James Dickson, and Charles Warner in 1829; David Anderson, Barnett Cole, Samuel Dean, Dennis Orton, Rev. Thompson and William Brown in 1830. These settlers were in the northern part of the township, and through their exertions the forests in this section began to disappear and

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History of Crawford County, Ohio, and representative citizens, Part 51

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