USA > Ohio > Erie County > History of Erie County Ohio, with illustrations and biographical sketches of some of its prominent men and pioneers > Part 59
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The first events were not such as nations immortalize, but were of vital in- terest to the little community. They are summed up in births, marriages, deaths, and organization of different societies.
The first house in the township was erected in 1808, by William Hoddy. It was of logs and stood on the lake shore, near the mouth of the river. The first frame house was built by Peter Cuddeback in 1818. The first stone house was built by Captain Austin. John Ruggles was first postmaster, and the mails were carried on foot. The first orchard was planted in 1812, by Peter Cuddeback. The first public house was opened by William Austin, near the mouth of the river. The first store was located in the village, and C. P. Jud- son put in the first stock of goods.
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The first church was organized in the township in 1818. There had been a meeting held in 1810 by Rev. Joseph Badger, one of the earliest missionaries in Northeastern Ohio, and identified for twenty-five years with the churches The first meeting-house was built near the center of the township in 1828, and on the 22d day of May, the same year, the first pastor, Rev. Harvey Lyon, was installed. This was a Congregational Church, and was followed by the formation of a Methodist Episcopal class in the fall of 1831. The members were John Myers and wife, and Miss Zuba Jackson ; and later, Mrs. Davis and Mrs. Julia Summers. John Myers was the leader of the class. Rev. Henry O. Sheldon and Edward Thompson were the first ministers.
There have since been added four German churches, and in 1887 a new Congregational church was built and dedicated. The increase of the German population has tended toward the material growth and prosperity of the town. ship. The churches and Sunday-schools depend largely on the descendants of the early settlers, and to a large proportion of the inhabitants for their sup- port. It is a noticeable fact that those who just settled in these new countries were men of sterling character, unflinching integrity, and fathers of large families. There are few families at the present time numbering ten and twelve children, and with the loss in numbers there seems to be also a decrease in those plucky characteristics which enabled their parents to endure privation and hardship for the sake of securing a home. Surely, civilization has no: been an improvement in genuine quality, and the luxurious tastes of the pres- ent generation compare unfavorably with the plain but generous habits of their ancestors. Beside the five churches in the village there are four in the town- ship.
The first school-house was built on the lake shore in the spring of 1814. In all these townships of the Fire-lands, almost immediately upon the settle- ment of the pioneers, school-houses were erected and educational matters at- tended to. Miss Susan Williams taught a term of school, the first in the town - ship, and among her scholars were J. J. Cuddeback, Joseph Brooks, and Jacob Sherarts.
The village school district was made a special district at the March meeting of the Board of Education in 1851. It was reorganized in 1873, when it was decided to build. Work was begun as soon as practicable and the building finished in 1874. It was a fine brick structure, with modern furniture, and grounds beautifully laid out. It cost eighteen thousand dollars. It is a graded school of three grades, and employs four teachers.
The town hall is a fine brick building, erected in 1883, at a cost of $21,000. The citizens justly regard this with pride, and there seems ample ground for their belief in a more flourishing future than their neighbors. If location is the basis of this hope, there is no reason why it cannot be realized.
In 1868 the charter of the Ely Lodge, No. 424, Free and Accepted Masons, was issued. The building in which they met was burned in 1870, and with
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it the charter, records, jewels, and furniture. The same year a new charter was obtained and had a membership of eight names.
Koenig Lodge No. 543, Independent Order of Odd Fellows, was instituted November 25, 1872, with fifteen members.
Several temperance societies have been organized in this township, but have never been able to keep alive any length of time. Why this is so, re- mains to be determined by those who come later, but the culture of grapes and manufacture of wine has doubtless much to do with it.
The first saw-mill was erected by Job Smith, on La Chapelle Creek, in 1819. In 1830 Messrs. Ford, Sandford & Tracy formed an iron company, and there seemed no reason why this should not be of the most enduring and flourshing industries in the country. It continued a quarter of a century, but of late years there has been no iron interests carried on here. This was suc- ceeded by the Vermillion furnace, owned by Philo Tilden. Fifty thousand dollars were invested in the business, and sixty men were afforded a livelihood by it until in 1865, when this, too, was abandoned.
Two cheese factories have been started in this township, and one still exists at Well's Corners, three and a half miles from Vermillion, and owned by Chris- topher Bauman. It began in 1877, and has a patronage of one hundred cows.
Edson & Nichols is the only firm engaged in the fish trade. They do a business amounting to $12,000 or $15,000 per annum in fresh, salt, and frozen fish.
There was a time when shipping stone was a large industry, but that day has gone by and it is now entirely abandoned.
A planing-mill is in operation at the present time, owned by J. C. Gilchrist.
During the last decade there has been little evidence of new life in the township, and few buildings have been added to those already built. No business enterprises have been started except those mentioned, and the Ver- million of 1888 is to all intents and purposes very similar to that of 1877. The outlying population of the township is a flourishing farming community, that have added acre to acre, and put all in a most excellent state of cultiva- tion, until the entire township is like a garden or agricultural paradise.
Incidents in the lives of the pioneers were abundant and interesting, and no history would be complete without them. For these and many other facts we are indebted to those who have gone before in arranging and sifting out the wheat from the chaff and saving us a record upon which we can rely. One of the earliest settlers was Captain Austin, who located half a mile west of the mouth of the river. He was in many ways a remarkable man, and his life reads with all the interest of a romance. Not only was he a bold naviga- tor, but he was skilled in the more practical scienee of building boats, and one of the first boats ever launched by him from these shores was during the war of 1812. His rule aboard was to have everything in its place, and any devia-
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tion from this rule found a certain punishment. This arbitrary rule over his inferiors made him slightly despotic in his home, but no man was more genial and social than he. He made nineteen consecutive voyages to the banks of Newfoundland, thence to Spain, and home again to New London, Conn. From this place he came to Ohio. His word was never doubted; he would tolerate no flatteries, and once, when a man tried to secure a favor from him by flattering him that he was clever, he replied, " Clever! CLEVER! so is the devil, when you please him," and the man lost his favor. His belief in pre- monitions was remarkable, and he affirmed that he had never met any unusual danger without being warned in time of its approach. His warnings always came in the shape of a raving white horse and usually in a dream. When he was returning to this continent once, and everything was favorable, he went to take an after-dinner nap when the white horse came, with mouth wide open, in great fury at him. He bounded from his bunk, sprang on deck and shouted, " About ship, in an instant !" The order was obeyed, and as the ship bore round, the fog lifted and the breakers of Labrador were seen eighty rods ahead. " Ten minutes more in our course, and we should never have been heard of," were his words. Another story is told of his peculiarity in this respect. It was late in the autumn of 1814, one of the most delightful Indian Summer days that have ever been seen, and with several merchants as passengers, he was on his way from Sandusky to Detroit. On his way to the islands the old white horse paid him another visit, and at noon he tied up in Put-in-Bay. It was a lovely day, with a fine breeze, and the passengers were impatient to go on. But the captain was immovable as. a rock, and they could not help them- selves. In the early evening a furious gale and snowstorm came up, and in the morning the wind was blowing a hurricane, and the snow lay a foot deep on the deck of the vessel. The next day, under a fair sky, he landed his grateful passengers in Detroit. This brave but singular man boasted that he had held Commodore Perry on his knees when a babe.
Peter Cuddeback came of good Dutch stock in the Mohawk Valley, and brought the Holland thrift to the new settlement, where he and his wife set- tled on the west side of the river. Although they had a large family, their hospitality was unbounded, and he was honored by the confidence of his neighbors, who bestowed upon him several offices. His house was the place where all the town meetings were held, and he was cobbler, carpenter, and general dependence on all lines; and every night, after working all the even- ing, he made the round of his farm to see that all was in order, and at mid- night retired.
One of the most prominent men of that time was Hon. Almon Ruggles, surveyor of the Fire-lands. He was the first recorder in Huron county, in 1809, and was appointed by the Legislature associate judge of Huron county in 1815. In 1816 he was elected State senator, and re-elected in 1818. He
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was honored by all who knew him, was a genial man among his neighbers, and an excellent conversationalist. He never lost his simple tastes, and had a rare faculty of adapting himself to his companions. He built a mill on Ver- million River, near Florence, in 1809. This was destroyed and swept away by a freshet. In 1811-12 he built a mill, long known as Ruggles's mill, on the Chapelle Creek, which was a great benefit to the settlers for miles around. His family was composed of four sorts of children, yet no neighbor could tell which belonged to his first wife or his second. All were equally well educated, all came to maturity, and what is still more strange, the two branches inter- married.
Vermillion village is situated at the mouth of Vermillion River, and was. incorporated by a special act of the Legislature in 1837, and the first record of an election bears date April 6, 1839.
It was many years before any steps were taken to improve the harbor at the mouth of the Vermillion River. The early settlers were occupied in mak- ing life endurable, and had not the government taken action on the subject in 1841, and sent Major Boms to dredge the channel and build a pier, doubtless many years would have passed before anything had been done. Several years later a lighthouse was constructed, and further dredging performed, giving fourteen feet of water in the channel. After the harbor was improved, ship building was extensively prosecuted. Alva Brady, of Cleveland, constructed many sail and steam crafts, and was the largest builder in the place. The first boat of any kind was named Friendship, and was of thirty tons capacity. This was in 1815.
CHAPTER XXX.
HISTORY OF PERKINS TOWNSHIP.
P ERKINS is bounded on the north by Sandusky, on the east by Huron township, on the south by Oxford township, and on the west by Marga- retta township. The township is generally level, but in some parts undulating and marked by several elevated ridges, which consist mostly of yellow sand. The principal one of these extends across the township in a southwesterly direction, ending at Bloomingville. The soil is very fertile and of great variety. The sandy ridges are adapted to all kinds of crops. South of the ridges are the prairies, composed of black alluvial earth, on which is grown mostly grain. In sections two and three, limestone soil abounds, and in some particular localities good clay for brick and tile is found. The ridge mentioned divides the prairie from the timber land. Part of sections one and four is prairie,
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stretching to the west with intervening groves of hickory and black oak. In the northern portion of the township was a dense growth of black and white walnut, maple, whitewood, black and white oak, linn, and several other kinds of trees. There are no marshes or waste land in the township, and it is con- sidered one of the most productive in the Fire-lands. The township is watered by no very large streams. Mills Creek crosses section three and empties into the bay west of Sandusky. Pipe Creek, so called from a soft stone found in its bed from which the Indians made pipes, passes through sections four, three and two, and flows into the bay east of Sandusky. Another small stream, called Plum Brook, heads on the prairie, passes near Bogart, through section two, and finds its way into the cove. A large proportion of the land is thor- oughly underdrained, and because of the high state of cultivation, being located near Sandusky, the value of the land is increased.
The original owners of the township were the Indians, whose title deed was their bow and arrow, and who had occupied it, lived, hunted, and trapped upon its grounds many generations before the white settler trod its soil. Among the different tribes who inhabited the Fire-lands may be mentioned the Delawares and Ottawas, which belonged to the Algonquin family, and the Wyandots or Hurons, and the Senecas, which belonged to the Huron-Iroquois family. As late as 1818 the township was dotted over with Indian wigwams. Near Bogart's Corners was on unusually large encampment living on the farm now owned by A. N. Baker. At this date there still remained near the east line of the township twelve or fifteen buildings, composed of poles and bark, and in the northeast corner of section two the ruins of an old fort were seen. The walls, which were built of earth, measured about three feet in height. through which was an opening or gateway leading to a spring, the path of which had been worn to the depth of one foot. These remains have long since been leveled by the early pioneer. In different parts of the township relics of these tribes are found, consisting of the flint arrow-head, the charm, the battle-axe and scalping-knife ; and in some instances skeletons have been exhumed. These were invariably burried in a sitting posture, their faces turned westward. In 1887 some workmen, employed on the farm of Mr A. A. Storrs, in making an excavation came upon six skeletons of Indians. some of which are well preserved. Near the south line and north of Bloom- ingville, on the farm now owned and occupied by Solomon Jarrett, there was recently unearthed an Indian grave, which had been covered by two large slabs of stone three feet long, the upper ends of which resting together and the lower ends apart. Between these there were ashes and charcoal, and on them lay a claw hammer, worn and battered. This, in all probability, had been either bought or stolen at the fort at Venice, which was occupied by the French or Indians two centuries ago. Of the descendants of the various tribes of Indians who inhabited this region, there is one living in the township, who
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is a daughter of one Muston, a chief of the Ottawa tribe. She is now the wife of Henry Bonnett, a blacksmith, of Bogart's Corners. Her birthplace was Port Clinton, O., and her age is fifty-five years. Ogontz, the Ottawa chief, was well-known in the region of Sandusky, which was his favorite hunting and fishing resort, and the early settlers of Perkins were frequently honored by his visits when on his hunting expeditions through the township.
The township derives its name from Hon. Elias Perkins, a resident of New London, Conn. Almon Ruggles made the first survey in 1808. Huron county was created in 1809, and Perkins became one of its townships. Pre- vious to the year 1810 no actual settlement had been made. It is true that one or two settlers were living within the limits, but they were transient and only remained a year or two. In the year mentioned above, Rev. John Beatty, then a resident of Connecticut, purchased of the Fire-lands company nearly all the land in Perkins township. After the purchase was completed, he in com- pany with Thomas James, who wished to purchase land, started immediately for the " Great West." They traveled through the State of Pennsylvania, where they were joined by James Forsyth, Mr. Beatty's brother-in-law. Their line of travel carried them through Pittsburgh and Cleveland, which were only small villages. Travel at this early day was necessarily slow, as ox teams were the means of conveyance. After a long, tiresome trip, and many hair- breadth escapes, the company arrived at Perkins. Soon after their arrival Mr. James bought land of Mr. Beatty in the south part of section four, and imme- diately built a log-cabin, thus becoming the first actual settler. The next set- tlers were Christian Winters and John Freese, who arrived from Canada in 1812, and settled in the northeast corner of the township, and lived there many years. At the close of the War of 1812, Mr. Beatty, who had looked well over the township, selected Perkins as his future home. He accordingly re- moved his family to the township, accompanied by the following persons : Julius House, Jesse Taylor, Holly Akins, Roswell Hubbard, Harvey Covell, Eleazer Bell, Joseph Taylor, Plinney Johnson, Richard Christopher, William R. Beebe, and Joseph Taylor, jr. These all purchased land of Mr. Beatty, and erected log-cabins on the ridge road leading to Bloomingville, and better known as " Yankee Settlement." Descendants of these settlers are still living on the same farms, many of whom are quite wealthy. After the colony be- came settled, a church society was organized, beginning with a class of fifteen members, which has continued to prosper for more than seventy years. Other settlers continued to arrive, and before a decade had passed, the township was well settled. The following are some of those who located: Fox, Tucker, Irvine, Rogers, Wickham, Allen.
In the fall of 1811 Rev. William Gurley and family arrived on the Fire lands, and settled in Huron county, on the edge of the prairie, in a log-cabin near the south line of Perkins township. There was a peculiar freshness and
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novelty in a frontier life, as all who have been pioneers acknowledge. At thi, time there was no minister of the Gospel within fifty miles. Great was the joy of the settlers of the surrounding townships when they heard that a preacher had arrived. The announcement was made that Mr. Gurley woul i preach in the school-house at Bloomingville on the following Sunday. The people living within ten or twelve miles assembled at the appointed time, and among them were several Indians, who came from curiosity. Mr. Guriey or- ganized a class of ten members at the close, and this was the first sermon and society on the Fire-lands. The surrender of General Hull at Detroit caused a stampede among the settlers, many of whom did not return till the close ot the war. After the war a wide field of labor opened to Mr. Gurley, which extended nearly over the county. As there was much sickness and many deaths, he was called upon to attend nearly all the funerals. He often re- marked, "What a multitude I have buried, and nearly all younger than myself." He continued his labors for twenty-five years, preaching his last sermon at the age of eighty-nine.
The first marriage recorded in the township occurred iu the year 1871. The contracting parties were William Beebe to Minerva Bell, now the wife of General W. D. Lindsley, of Sandusky, and Joseph Taylor to a daughter of David Cummings, who had previously settled in Huron township. The first birth was Sydney, son of Plinney Johnson, and the second was Anna, daugh- ter of Harvey Covell, and late wife of Dwight Buck, of Toledo. After Mr. Beatty became settled, he had the land surveyed where Bogart now stands, and laid out in town lots, some of which were sold, but after a few years re- verted again to their original owner.
In the spring of 1819 he commenced building a stone residence at Bogart, which is still one of the landmarks of the township, and was known for many years as the "half-way house." It was occupied for many years as a tav- ern, and was well-known in all parts of the country. Teamsters, in hauling grain to Sandusky from Mansfield and vicinity, used to stop there, and as many as forty teams have been seen in the yards in one night. The stage, in making its regular trips from Milan to Sandusky for twenty-five years, also stopped there. In 1820 Beatty built the first lime and brick kiln, and the same year he erected the first saw-mill on Pipe Creek, on section two, on the farm now occupied by the Erie County Infirmary. In 1817 he received his appointment as postmaster, this being the first in the township. He had one room in the stone house fitted as an office, and the boxes and desk still re- main as they were when he distributed the mail to the pioneers. He also kept in the same building a small stock of dry goods. The first blacksmith- shop was erected by Mr. Johnson on the ground now occupied by F. Siegel. Bogart, even at this early day, aspired to become something higher than a mere cross-roads. Rev. William Gurley kept a shop in which he devoted
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himself to the silversmith business. Mr. Kellogg was the proprietor of a cooper-shop. John Brodhead was the only carpenter. A tavern was kept by Holly Akins, where J. D. Parker's store now stands. James Gurley em- ployed himself in the cabinet business.
The second post-office was established in 1861, by Addison Mixter, and called Prairieville ; but after one year it was discontinued. After this the people continued to receive their mails at Sandusky until 1882, when J. D. Parker was appointed postmaster and still holds the office. Mail is now re- ceived regularly Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday each week. A public tel- ephone also connects the office with Sandusky. Mr. Bell, father of Stewart Bell, of Sandusky, died at an early day. He was a ship carpenter, and in the year 1817 he built a small vessel near the lake. It required forty yoke of oxen and a number of men to move it to the shore, which was accomplished after much labor, and launched a short distance west of the village of Huron. Dr. Christopher, a graduate of Yale College and possessed of a fine education, was without doubt the first practicing physician in the township, his office being located at Bogart. Before the year 1818 log barns were numerous, but in this year Julius House erected a frame barn on the ridge mentioned, which is still in good repair. As the pioneers manufactured most of their wearing apparel, looms and spinning-wheels were in good demand. These were made to order by Mr. Hubbard, a wheelwright. One of these looms, which he manufactured for weaving carpets, is in the possession of Mrs. Simeon Gallo- way, who weaves upon it yearly many yards of carpets.
The dwellings of the early settlers were necessarily rude, only one story high, built of logs, very often without being hewn. A few of these structures still remain as the handiwork of the pioneer, but the builder has long since passed to his reward. What a change in three-fourths of a century! From the simple cabin built of logs, often containing but one room, with the open fireplace extending 'the entire width of the house, with its slab door and floor, windows of greased paper, and not a nail about the whole structure, to the spacious and handsome farm house of modern times, luxuriously furnished, and with all its conveniences for heating and lighting, is a transformation which has been witnessed by few who still remain, but whose numbers are becoming fewer as the years glide away.
In a small log school-house, which had been built on the farm now owned by Dennis Taylor, the first township election was held in the spring of 1818, which resulted in the election of the following officers : John Beatty, township clerk ; Eleizur Lockwood, John Freese, Julius House, trustees ; William Beebe and Roswell Hubbard, constables ; John Dillingham and Harvey Covell, fence viewers.
Soon after the arrival of John Beatty and his colony of settlers from Con- necticut in the fall of 1815, he, with others, proceeded to organize a Metho-
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dist society, which has before been alluded to, and which was the first in the township. Julius House was chosen class-leader, a position he occupied for fifty years. Services were held at the log school-house or dwellings until about the year 1830, when a large frame building was erected opposite where the brick church now stands. After the society was formed, no regular preach- ing was held till February, 1818, although occasional sermons were preached by John Beatty.
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