USA > Ohio > Hancock County > History of Hancock County, Ohio. Biographical and Statistical > Part 2
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).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28
In accordance with the provisions of this act, the voters of Hancock county met in Findlay and proceeded to hold an election. There were 74 votes cast, and the following officers were elected :
Don Alonzo Hamlin, sheriff.
Thomas Slight, coroner.
Matthew Reighly, auditor.
Joshua Hedges, treasurer.
William Hackney, assessor.
Godfrey Wolford, John Long, John P. Hamilton, commissioners.
There is no record of where the first offices were located, but tradition has it that the county treasurer carried his tax duplicate in his hat, and the other officers probably carried their records in the same way, as they were not very numerous or bulky.
Before we commence the narrative of formation of townships, it might be convenient to some of our readers to know what is meant by townships, ranges and sections. In order to make correct surveys and locate lands prior to the settlenient of the state or of the formation of counties or townships, or the sub- divisions of townships into sections, the general government found it necessary to have a certain and fixed point from which townships and ranges might be counted. The Ohio survey to which we belong, was made in 1819 and 1820, after the fixing by the government of the first principal meridian (as it was called), which meridian commences at the mouth of the Great Miami river, and running thence north on the line between the states of Ohio and Indiana to the Michigan line. A line was also established running east and west on the 4Ist parallel of latitude, and called the base line. This base line runs directly through the center of Hancock county, three miles south of Sandusky street. dividing it into two parts, north and south. Townships are numbered north and south from the base line : those bordering on the line are called townships number one, north and south-number two coming next, and so on. The ranges, which
21
ORGANIZATION AND FORMATION OF COUNTY.
include an original township in width, or six miles, are numbered from the princi- pal meridian, east, beginning with number one, at the Indiana line, and numbering east. Hancock county is in ranges nine, ten, eleven and twelve.
A search of the records does not reveal the date or definite boundaries of the sub division of Hancock county prior to 1829; however, the various entries on the commissioners' journal establish the fact that the county was divided into three townships, soon after the independent organization, viz .: Findlay, Amanda and Welfare; and by diligent search of the commissioners' records it is fair to pre- sume that the following map shows the sub-divisions of our county as it appeared in 1828:
FINDLAY
AMANDA
WELFARE
June 1, 1829, agreeable to the petition of sundry citizens of Welfare town- ship, the name of Welfare was changed to Delaware.
December 7, 1829, the original surveyed townships number one (1) south in range eleven (II) east, was set off into a body politic and corporate and called Jackson, in honor of Andrew Jackson, thus causing the map of our county to appear as shown in the following cut :
22
HISTORY OF HANCOCK COUNTY.
FINDLAY
AMANDA
JACKSON
DELAWARE
December 6. 1830, the county commissioners deemed it necessary that the township of Findlay should be divided in the following manner : Beginning at the southwest corner of section thirty-one (31), in township one (1) north, in range twelve (12); thence north to the northwest corner of section six (6), in . township two (2), in range twelve (12) ; thence west to the northwest corner of section four (4) in range eleven (II) ; thence south to the southwest corner of section thirty-three (33) in township one (1) north, in range eleven (II) ; thence east to the place of beginning ; which bounds shall be a separate town- ship and shall be known and designated by the name of Marion. And in the next place, commencing at the southeast corner of section thirty-two (32),
township one (1) north, range eleven (II) east; thence north to the
northeast corner of section five (5), in township two (2) north, in range eleven (II) ; thence west to the northwest corner of section two (2), in range ten (10) ; then south to the southwest corner of section thirty-five (35), in town- ship two (2) south ; thence east to the southeast corner of section thirty-six (36), in range ten (10). thence north to the southeast corner of section thirty-six (36), in township one (1) north; thence east to the place of beginning : which shall be a body corporate and politic, and retain the name of "Findlay."
And in the next place, commencing at the southeast corner of section thirty- four (34), in township two (2) south, in range ten (10); thence north to the
23
ORGANIZATION AND FORMATION OF COUNTY.
northeast corner of section three (3), township two (2) north; thence west to the northwest corner of section six (6), in range nine (9) ; thence south to the southwest corner of section thirty-one (31), in township two (2) south; thence east to the place of beginning ; in which bounds shall be made a separate township and be known and designated by the name of "Liberty," thus causing the map of our county to appear as shown in the following cut :
MARION
FINDLAY
AMANDA
LIBERTY
JACKSON
DELAWARE
24
HISTORY OF HANCOCK COUNTY.
March 7. 1831, agreeable to a petition of sundry inhabitants of Hancock county, the original surveyed townships numbers one (I) and two (2) south, in range ten (10) east. was set off to be known and designated as Van Buren township.
And on the same date the county commissioners ordered that hereafter the township of Amanda shall consist of the original township one (I) south, in range twelve (12) east, and sections 34 and 35 in the original surveyed town- ship one (1) north, range twelve (12) east; also, that the original surveyed township one (1) north, in range twelve (12) east, except sections 34 and 35. shall hereafter be known and organized by the name of Biglick ; also the original surveyed township one (1) north, in range nine (9) east, shall be known and or- ganized by the name of Blanchard, which caused the map of our county to appear thus :
PART
PART
AMANDA
LIBERTY
FINDLAY
MARION
BIGLICK
BLANCHARD
JACKSON
AMANDA
PART
VAN BUREN
LIBERTY
DELAWARE
ORGANIZATION AND FORMATION OF COUNTY.
25
March 5, 1832, the county commissioners set off the original surveyed town- ship number two (2) north, in range twelve (12) east, into a body corporate and politic, and named the same Washington township.
June 4. 1832, the county commissioners set off the original surveyed town- ship number one (I) south, in range nine (9) east, into a body corporate and politic, and named the same Union township.
December 3. 1832, the county commissioners set off the original surveyed township number one (1) south, in range ten (10) east, into a body corporate and politic, and named the same Eagle township.
Which above divisions caused the map of our county to appear as shown in the following cut :
PART LIBERTY
WASHINGTON
FINDLAY
MARION
BLANCHARD
BIGLICK
UNION
EAGLE
JACKSON
AMANDA
PART LIBERTY
VAN BUREN
DELAWARE
26
HISTORY OF HANCOCK COUNTY.
March 4, 1833, the county commissioners set off the original surveyed town- ship number two (2) north, range eleven (II) east, into a body corporate and politic and to be known by the name of Cass. It was also ordered on the same date that the original surveyed township number two (2) north, range ten (10) east, be set off into a separate township and named Portage.
June 3rd, 1833, the county commissioners ordered that Biglick township shall include all of the original surveyed township number one (1) north, range twelve (12) east, which changes caused the map of our county to appear as shown in the following cut :
PART LIBERTY
PORTAGE
CASS
WASHINGTON
BLANCHARD
PART LIBERTY
FINDLAY
MARION
BIGLICK
UNION
EAGLE
JACKSON
AMANDA
PART LIBERTY
VAN BUREN
DELAWARE
27
ORGANIZATION AND FORMATION OF COUNTY.
March 2nd, 1835, the county commissioners ordered that the original sur- veyed township number two (2) north in range nine (9) east be set off into a separate and distinct township and called Pleasant.
Also that the original surveyed township number two (2) south, range twelve (12) east, be set off into a separate and distinct township and called Richland, which changes caused the map of our county to appear as shown in the follow- ing cut :
PLEASANT
PORTAGE
CASS
WASHINGTON
BLANCHARD
PART LIBERTY.
FINDLAY
MARION
BIGLICK
UNION
EAGLE
JACKSON
AMANDA
PART LIBERTY
VAN BUREN
DELAWARE
RICHLAND
28
HISTORY OF HANCOCK COUNTY.
December 5th, 1836, the county commissioners ordered that the original sur- veyed township number two (2) south, range nine (9) east, be set off into a sep- arate and distinct township and called Orange, which caused the map of our county to appear as follows :
PLEASANT
PORTAGE
CASS
WASHINGTON
BLANCHARD
LIBERTY
FINDLAY
MARION
BIGLICK
UNION
EAGLE
JACKSON
AMANDA
ORANGE
VAN BUREN
DELAWARE
RICHLAND
29
ORGANIZATION AND FORMATION OF COUNTY.
June 5, 1838, the county commissioners ordered, on the petition of Andrew Thompson and others, that sections 25. 26. 27, 28, 29. 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35 and 36, Biglick township, and sections I, 2, 3, 4. 5. 6, 11, 12, 13 and 14. Amanda town- ship, be and the same is hereby set off into a separate township, politic and cor- porate, and named Ridge, causing the map of our county to appear thus :
PLEASANT
PORTAGE
CASS
WASHINGTON
BIGLICK
BLANCHARD
LIBERTY
FINDLAY
MARION
RIDGE
UNION
EAGLE
JACKSON
AMANDA
ORANGE
VAN BUREN
DELAWARE
·RICHLAND
30
HISTORY OF HANCOCK COUNTY.
June 1, 1840. the county commissioners ordered that sections 5, 6, 7, 8, 17, 18, 19, 20, 29, 30, 31 and 32, in township number two (2) south, range eleven (II) east, and sections numbered 1, 2, 11, 12, 13, 14, 23, 24, 25, 26, 35 and 36, in town- ship number two (2) south, range ten (10) east, be set off and created as a new township called "Madison," which causes the map of our county at this time to appear as shown in the following cut :
PLEASANT
PORTAGE
CASS
WASHINGTON
BIGLICK
BLANCHARD
LIBERTY
FINDLAY
MARION
RIDGE
UNION
EAGLE
JACKSON
AMANDA
ORANGE
· VAN BUREN
MADISON
DELAWARE
RICHLAND
31
ORGANIZATION AND FORMATION OF COUNTY.
February 3, 1845. the legislature of Ohio passed an act organizing the county of Wyandot, and sections I, 2, II, 12, 13, 14, 22, 23, 24, 25. 26, 27. 34. 35 and 36, in township one (1) south, range twelve (12) east, and sections 1, 2, 3, 4. 5. 8, 9, IO II, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 32, 33, 34, 35 and 36, in township two (2) south, range twelve (12) east, were taken from Hancock county and formed a portion of Wyandot county, causing the map of our county to appear as follows :
PLEASANT
PORTAGE
CASS
WASHINGTON
BIGLICK
BLANCHARD
LIBERTY
FINDLAY
MARION
RIDGE
AMANDA
UNION
EAGLE
JACKSON
WYANDOTTE CO.
ORANGE
VAN BUREN
,MADISON
DELAWARE
RICHLAND
March 5, 1845, the county commissioners ordered that sections 6, 7, 18, 19. 30 and 31, in township two (2) south, range twelve (12) east, be attached to Dela- ware township; also that sections 25, 26, 27, 28, 29. 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35 and 36, in township one (1) north, range twelve (12) east, be attached to Biglick town- ship ; also that sections 3, 4, 5 and 6, in township one (1) south, range twelve (12) east, and sections 1, 12, 13, 24, 25 and 36, in township one (I) south, range eleven ( II) east, be attached to Amanda township.
32
HISTORY OF HANCOCK COUNTY.
June 3. 1850. the county commissioners ordered that a new township be erected out of the following territory and called "Allen township," said township of Allen to be comprised of sections 5, 6, 7, 8, 17, 18. 19, 20, 29, 30. 31 and 32, of township number two (2) north, range eleven ( II) east, and sections 1, 2, 11, 12, 13, 14. 23, 24, 25. 26. 35 and 36, of township number two (2) north, range ten (10) east ; thus forming our county as it appears at the present day and as shown in the following cut :
HANCOCK COUNTY.
RANGE 9 EAST
RANGE IDEAST
RANGE II EAST
RANDE 12 EAST. FOSTORIA
r
* Montura
-
PLEASANT
PORTAGE
EN
CASO
WASHINGTON
ontour
Mccomb
arcudiu.
Tw 2 NORTH
BLANCHARD
LIBERTY
MARION
BIGLICK
WP I NORTH
A ICE
15+
UNION
JACKSON
AMANDA
BECKER
ORANGE
VAN BUREN MADISON
DELAWARE
++++ 2 SOUTH
RANDE 9 EAST
HANDI 1DAY
MANGE VIEAS
8.12 E
CHAPTER II.
THE MOUND BUILDERS.
It is now generally believed that a very numerous race of people occupied a large portion of this continent, long anterior to the coming of the North American Indians, but there is no authentic history regarding them further than can be gleaned from the numerous and at the same time massive works stretching from the Great Lakes to the Gulf of Mexico. These works all bear the same general characteristics, and are either mounds, effigies, or defensive enclosures, some of which are of a very marked and extraordinary character.
This long forgotten race, called Mound Builders, in lieu of a more accurate designation, evidently possessed a distinctive civilization, and from the peculiar hier- oglyphics sometimes found upon their stone implements, it has been thought prob- able they may have had a written language. But beyond their almost imperishable monuments, the archæologist seeks in vain for a further solution of the grand problem of the coming, subsequent life and disappearance of this prehistoric race. On opening a mound he finds only mouldering skeletons, scattered remnants of earthenware, rude weapons of warfare, axes of stone, flint drills, spearheads, badges, and many other specimens of stone ornaments, cut and polished from material rarely indigenous to the place where found, showing their owners to have been a migratory people or a conquering nation.
Whence came these people ; who and what were they, and whither did they go? Some writers have discovered evidences, convincing, apparently, to them- selves, that this prehistoric race came from the other side of the globe, and that their advent was made at different times and from different points of a general hive in the supposed cradle of humanity-central Asia. Regardless, however, of the origin, progress and destiny of this curious people, the fact of their having been here is certain ; therefore the best that can be done by the archæologist is to examine their works and draw from them the conclusion that seems the most probable.
All of the tumuli in this part of the state were each about five feet high and thirty feet in diameter, and on being opened exhibited the same evidences of con- struction as previously mentioned. Three of these mounds were located northeast of Cannonsburg, in Union township; two on section II, and one on section 13, Orange township; one on section 21. Liberty township, and one on section II, Delaware township. This list has been heretofore published in papers and his- tories, but in addition to this list, there is a very distinct mound still in existence on section 18, Allen township; and taking the AArchæological Society as authority (vol. 5, p. 272). there are two mounds in Blanchard township and one in Pleasant.
34
HISTORY OF HANCOCK COUNTY.
Those in Orange and Union townships were opened by William M. Mckinley and Fayette Ballard, who found human remains in each mound, also flint arrow heads and other implements of stone, some of which are still in possession of the Mc- · Kinleys. No doubt many more small mounds once existed in other townships of Hancock county, which the plow has long since obliterated. Numerous evidences of this strange people cannot be looked for here, but that they once inhabited the valley of the Blanchard is beyond all reasonable doubt.
There is no reason to believe that the fate of the Indians has in any way compared with the fate of the Mound Builders. Judging from the warfare waged by the Indians with the white race, it is to be presumed that if there was any hesitancy of the Mound Builders for the purpose of protecting and holding his own, he was most forcibly assisted in passing. If the cruelties practiced centuries later were not the barbarities of a degenerate race, the Mound Builders probably knew what it was to stick out the tongue, have it clutched with a piece of flannel and cut off, and to be further tortured with all the cruelties which a revengeful and barbarous nature was capable of inventing. It was probable, too, the fate of an inoffensive people and just as probable, too, the deserts of a people which went down before a superior nation. It is not beyond belief that the site of the pleasant, peaceful farms of Hancock county may have been a battle ground for the conflict of the two races, although the mounds here have not the characteristics of those erected for defense.
In the swales which abounded they found the highlands, and in turn gave them up to their conquerors. It is all speculation, but an interesting situation to develop.
CHAPTER III.
THE INDIANS IN HANCOCK COUNTY.
The earliest date of any authenticity of the Indians in this section is 1650, when the Eries held full sway of the northern portion of what is now Ohio. They lived along the southern border of the lake which bears their name, but when they were invaded by the Iroquois five years later, most of them fell before the over- powering foe, while the remainder became incorporated with other tribes, and drifted farther southward.
In the early part of the seventeenth century the Shawnees were living along the Ohio valley, but they were dispersed by the Iroquois, and dispossessed of their happy hunting grounds.
For years before and after the year 1700 this entire wilderness was inhabited by the remnants of defeated tribes, who were permitted to remain through the leniency of their conquerors. In 1750, however, we find something like permanent occupation in northwestern and various other portions of what is now Ohio; the Wyandots, Delawares, Shawnees, Miamis, Munsees, Ottawas and Mingoes.
The Wyandots then inhabited the valley of the Sandusky river and its trib- utaries, and dwelt around Sandusky bay, and also streams flowing into the lake. The Delawares and Munsees occupied the Muskingum valley. The Shawnees lived along the Scioto, from the Ohio to the Scioto marsh, and also had a few scattering towns along the Miami and Mad rivers. The Miamis occupied the territory drained by the headwaters of the Maumee, Wabash and Great Miami rivers, from the Loramie portage across to Fort Wayne and down the Maumee valley. The Ottawas were scattered along the lower Blanchard, Auglaize and Maumee rivers, and around the western end of Lake Erie, while the Mingoes were settled in the eastern and northeastern portions of the state.
By various treaties made with the Indians from 1795 on down the period of time we pass by until we reach the one in which Hancock county becomes directly interested. On the 29th of September, 1817, a treaty was made at the foot of the Maumee Rapids, with the Wyandots, Ottawas, Shawnees, Delawares, Senecas, Pottawotomies and Chippewas, and all lands in this state then remaining in possession of the Indians were ceded to the United States. Certain reservations were set aside by this treaty for the uses of the several Indian tribes, to which large additions were made by a treaty concluded at St. Mary's Ohio, with the Wyandots, Senecas, Shawnees and Ottawas, September 17, 1818.
The Wyandot reservations embraced a tract of twelve miles square around Upper Sandusky, Ohio; one mile square on Broken Sword creek; 55.680 acres lying on the north and east of the Upper Sandusky Reserve. and 16,000 acres
36
HISTORY OF HANCOCK COUNTY.
surrounding the big spring at the end of the marsh (in what is now the south- west corner of Seneca county and the line into Biglick township, Hancock county), (see last map of Hancock county), the last mentioned tract being "for the use of the Wyandots residing at Solomon's Town and on the Blanchards Fork."
In 1831 the reservations located in Logan, Auglaize, Seneca, Hancock and Sandusky counties were purchased from the Indians. In March, 1842, the Wyandots ceded their lands to the government. The territory embraced in Han- cock county lay between the Indian towns in what is now Wyandot and Seneca counties, and those located on the Blanchard, Auglaize and Maumee rivers. It was a portion of the hunting grounds of the Wyandots and Ottawas, who within the period of American history roamed at will through its unbroken forests. The Wyandots had a small village on the site of Findlay, and cultivated corn along the river within the present limits of the city. Howe, in his "Historical Collec- tions," speaking of the settlement of Wilson Vance at Fort Findlay, in 1821, says : "There were then some ten or fifteen Wyandot families in the place, who had made improvements. They were a temperate, fine-looking people, and friendly to the first settlers." However, some histories and authorities have since refuted this state- ment, I will not on my own responsibility but from the testimony of numerous citizens who, as late as 1840, have at various times seen Indians in this county. It is true that as a tribe they were all practically gone in 1818, but for years after, scattering remnants were still located in Hancock county.
I further and with more forcible endeavor confirm this statement by the fol- lowing extract from the "Ohio Hunter." who was none other than Samuel Edwards, an old settler, pioneer and hunter of this county :
"By the help of some friends in loaning me money, I hired a yoke of cattle and one horse, and commenced hauling flour and meal from Urbana, to supply the people with bread, and prevent their starving. Most of the way the road at that time consisted simply of a track cut through the woods, and most of the time this was so wet and muddy as to be hardly traversable. Not unfrequently would my team become stalled .in the mud, and the entire load have to be removed, item by item and carried for some distance on my shoulder, and the team with the empty wagon helped out of some mire hole. At such times, I was often obliged to wade to my waist in mud and water. There were very few houses along the entire road. I would some- times travel a whole day without seeing the habitation of human beings. There was no friendly inn along that dreary road, where the weary traveler might find rest, and comfortable stalls inviting his jaded team to pleasant repose ; but instead of this, the pioneer of the Maumee valley reposed upon the bosom of the earth, and turned loose his way-worn team to feed on herbage and flowers, while he himself dressed some unfortunate deer that had been so unwise as to cross his pathway, and made his supper on corn bread and broiled venison, and then lay down by his watch fire and slept in quietude. .
"In this manner. I performed seven trips during the summer, and saved many an unhappy family from starvation.
37
THE INDIANS IN HANCOCK COUNTY.
"When making my third trip, I was attacked by a band of Indians. A severe contest ensued. In going up the Blanchard river, through what was then called the twelve-mile woods, there was a deer lick where I always watered my team. While there, I saw four Indians come out of the thicket. One of them, leading a horse, approached the spot where I was standing. I soon discovered that they were in a state of intoxication, and my fears were accordingly increased, for to meet so many Indians alone in the woods, and particularly at that time, when the white man's encroachments were looked upon by no means favorably, was not very desirable ; and liquor does not affect the Indian much more favorably than the white man. They wanted to know how I would trade horses. The reader, will, perhaps, remember there was a law against trading with the Indians, and I accordingly told them I did not wish to trade. This did not satisfy them, and they still insisted that I should make them an offer. But having watered my team. I mounted the wagon to proceed on my journey. This they would not permit ; but detained me by catching the bridle rein of my horse, and still bantering for a trade. I at last told them I would trade for ten dollars. This so enraged the Indians that one of them drew a club and struck me upon the nose, making it bleed badly. Before this, I had been very much frightened, but now all fear forsook me and I replied to his civility with a blow from my fist just over his eye. which laid him senseless at my feet. Another came furiously toward me and attempted to catch my legs. I caught him by the neck, and giving him an under- hand lick, soon silenced him. There is a rule among the Indians, when a number of them wish to take a spree, that one of the number must keep sober. I noticed that there was one of them that did not appear intoxicated, and I looked to him for protection. But an Indian will always resent an injury done to a comrade. So when they saw the other two lying senseless before them, they were so en- raged, one grabbed a club and the other drew a butcher knife from under his 'wamus.' When I saw the knife, I gave him the length of a club that happened to be near, against the side of the head, and brought him to the ground. The knife flew out of his hand, and I ran for it, but the other Indian reached it first, and upon gaining the valuable weapon, he ran again into the thicket. On finding myself alone, I sprung for the team and started. I heard one of them say he would go for his gun and shoot me. They started for their wigwams, which were about twenty rods distant. When they reached the wigwams, I heard them quarreling among themselves. Their squaws would not let them have their guns, because they were drunk. So I went on as fast as possible, hoping soon to be out of their reach."
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.