USA > Ohio > Hancock County > History of Hancock County, Ohio : containing a history of the county, its townships, towns portraits of early settlers and prominent men, biographies, history of the Northwest Territory, history of Ohio, statistical and miscellaneous matter, etc > Part 50
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Asher Wickham, a brother of John C. Wickham the pioneer school
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teacher, was the second settler of the township. He "squatted" on the south bank of the Blanchard, in the southwest corner of Section 16, the property now owned by Thomas J. Burns. Wickham leased that corner of the school section, and in the fall of 1827 put up a little log-cabin upon it. He, too, was a voter in April, 1828, and one of the thirteen electors who organized Marion Township. He raised a family of several children; George, William and Amos being the sons. Wickham lived on several different pieces of land, and after a residence in the township of about twenty-five years, he and his wife removed to Wood County and there died.
Othniel Wells, an uncle of Joseph A. Sargent, came in 1828 and located on the west half of the northeast quarter of Section 15. He intended entering this land but could never raise the money, and upon its entry by Rezin Ricketts, in October, 1830, he made up his mind to quit the county. He remained, however, through the following winter, and after assisting in organizing the township in April, 1831, removed to the Tymochtee.
Joshua Powell and his wife and son, Eli, and nephew Nutter Powell, came to Findlay in the summer of 1828, erected a house, and planted a small patch of corn where the residence of E. P. Jones now stands. The season was very dry, and the crop proved a failure. In the meantime Mr. Powell pur- chased a part of the northwest quarter of Section 22, Marion Township; there built a cabin, and in the spring of 1829 removed into it. In Decem- ber, 1829, John Trout and family, on their way to the settlement on the site of Van Buren, staid over night "at the house of a Mr. Powell, about three miles above Findlay." This was Joshua Powell's cabin. He was one of the thirteen electors who cast their votes at the first township election in April, 1831. After a brief residence here Mr. Powell sold out and with his family removed to Putnam County.
Willis Ward and family came from Gallia County, Ohio, in the spring of 1829, and "squatted" north of the Blanchard on Section 16. When Allen Wiseley came to the township in the fall of 1830, Ward had a clearing of several acres around his cabin. He was a noted hunter, and spent most of his time slaughtering the wild denizens of the forest, principally for the bounty then paid by the county for the scalps of the more dangerous animals. His father, Stephen, and brother, Charles, joined him in 1830, but settled on Section 15. In April, 1832, Willis was elected justice of the peace, being the second in the township, but died soon after, and was buried on his father's farm, now the homestead of George W. Wiseley. His family went back to Gallia County, whither Charles and his wife also returned, the parents going to Wood County.
In the spring of 1830 Major Bright, his wife, Deborah, and family came into the township, and settled on Section 24, the farm now occupied by his son, Levi. Mr. Bright was a native of Maryland, born April 11, 1777, and his children were as follows: Susan, Mary, Amelia, Lurany, Nimrod, John, Amos and Levy, of whom Nimrod and Levi are the only survivors. Soon after settling in the township Mr. Bright began entering land for his chil- dren and ultimately became the largest land owner of this portion of the county. He took part in the organization of the township in April, 1831, was the first justice elected therein, and in 1835 was appointed associate judge vice John W. Baldwin, resigned, but served only till the meeting of the General Assembly, in 1836. Major Bright died March 2, 1843, his widow surviving him more than thirty years, dying November 4, 1874, in the
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HISTORY OF HANCOCK COUNTY.
ninety-third year of her age. They sleep side by side in the handsome little public cemetery, located on the old homestead. Of their two living chil- dren Nimrod married Harriet Wiseley, sister of Allen Wiseley, of Marion Township, and settled first in Big Lick, whence he removed to Amanda, and is now residing in Vanlue. Levi has always lived upon the old home- stead, where the parents died. Many of Major Bright's descendants are living in this county, and his two sons are among its wealthiest farmers.
Edward Bright, a nephew of Major Bright, also came in the spring of 1830, and voted at the first township election. He took up land, and for a time ran a tannery in Findlay. He never married, and died at the home of Allen Wiseley, with whom he lived much of his time.
Adam Beard and Justin Smith came in from Amanda Township in 1829-30, and took a contract to clear a piece of land in Section 25 for Da- vid Egbert. Beard's parents settled in Amanda Township late in 1827, as some of the family voted at the first county election in April. 1828, and Adam a couple of years afterward came to this township, where he has ever since resided. He was born in 1808, and is now old and feeble. Justin Smith lived only a short time in this township, then removed to one of the southern townships. Both he and Beard were voters at the first township election in April, 1831.
Jacob Baker, a native of Virginia, was married in Fairfield County, Ohio, to Miss Susannah, daughter of Major Bright, and thence removed to Seneca County. He was a son of John Baker, who settled in the north part of Findlay Township. In 1830 he located on Section 24, close to his father-in-law, and the following spring assisted in organizing the township. About 1837-38 he took part in the organization of a class of the Methodist Episcopal denomination, and subsequently gave the land upon which the society erected a church. His wife died, and he married the widow of Leonard Baumgartner. The family removed to Wood County prior to the Rebellion.
Allen Wiseley was born in Fairfield County, Ohio, February 20, 1809, there grew to manhood, and in October, 1830, left his father's home, and in a few days drew up his horse at the cabin of Major Bright, in the forest of Marion Township. He had known the Brights in Fairfield County, and the friendship begun there between young Wiseley and Amelia Bright, soon ripened into a warmer affection, and on the 2d of November, 1830. they were married by Aquilla Gilbert. then a justice of Jackson Township. He at once settled north of the Blanchard, in the southeast quarter of Section 14. It is a coincidence worthy of mention that Mrs. Wiseley was born in Fairfield County, on the same date as her husband. She reared a family of seven children, five of whom are living, and all settled in the county. After a happy married life of more than forty-eight years, Mrs. Wiseley passed away, her death occurring December 9, 1868. She was a member of the United Brethren Church from early womanhood, to which Mr. Wiseley has also adhered since the same period. In April, 1831, Mr. Wiseley assisted in organizing Marion Township, and has served five terms as justice of the peace. During his official life he was very popular, and made scores of . young couples happy by tying the marriage knot. On the 18th of July, 1882, he married Mrs. Mary Clinchie, nee Cahill, who has borne him one daughter. Mr. Wiseley operated a tannery in Findlay in 1831-32, and has been very successful in the accumulation of real estate. He has given each
Daniel Heller
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of his children a good farm, reserving the old homestead for his own resi- dence during his declining years.
Edwin S. Jones located in Findlay in the fall of 1827, and in April, 1828, was clerk of the polls and voted at the first county election. At the general election October 14, 1828, he was elected treasurer of Hancock County, serving two years, during which time he also carried on a tanyard. In 1831 he sold his tannery to Edward Bright, and settled on Section 15, Marion Town- ship. After a residence here of a few years he removed to Chillicothe, Ill.
Michael Myers, of Pickaway County, Ohio, settled in the southwest quarter of Section 28, in the spring of 1831, and resided there till his death.
About the same time that Myers effected a settlement, Barnabas De Witt, of Gallia County, Ohio, located in the south part of the east part of the northeast quarter of Section 21, which he purchased of William Hackney in February, 1831. The following May he bought Joseph A. Sargent's land in the same section, and immediately removed to Sargent's cabin. He was one of the thirteen voters of April, 1831, and died in August, 1832, from a malignant type of fever then raging through the settlement. His wife, Nancy, and three children, subsequently went back to their old home on the Ohio River.
Joseph Johnson, long a citizen of this township, was born in Virginia April 4, 1801, and in 1811 removed with his parents to Scioto County, Ohio, settling at Portsmouth. In the spring of 1827 his father, Isaac, came with his family to Findlay, and both he and Joseph voted at the first county elec- tion the following April. Late in 1830 or early in 1831, he built a cabin on Section 15, Marion Township, and took part in the organization of this subdivision. In 1832 he married Susan George, daughter of Henry George, of Amanda Township, and settled permanently on his new farm. He was the third sheriff of the county, and in 1836 assisted in erecting the first schoolhouse in the township of Marion. Mrs. Johnson died in 1850, and he married Jane Dudgeon, who passed away in 1879. He is the father of fourteen children, of whom twelve survive, living in this county, Indiana and Michigan. He resided in Marion till 1853, thence removed to Portage Township, where he has since principally lived. In 1863 he was appointed postmaster of Portage Center, and held the office sixteen years. He united with the Methodist Episcopal Church in 1870, and now in feeble, old age, patiently awaits the Master's call, for, having long since passed the allotted time of man, he feels that his days on earth are short.
Charles Thomas located on Section 10 in the fall of 1831. He was a native of Virginia, and came with his wife, Mary (Ripley) Thomas, and ten children, to this county. Mr. Thomas was one of the earliest justices of the township, in which capacity he served one term. The parents died here, and of the ten children but three survive, and only two, Lewis and William, are residents of Marion Township.
David and Mary Egbert, natives of New Jersey, removed to the Susque- hanna River, and in 1812 came from Pennsylvania to Fairfield County, Ohio. In 1822 the family settled in Seneca County, and in 1829 took up land in Amanda and Marion Townships, settling in the former subdivision the same year. In the spring of 1831 the parents removed into Marion, and the following year David was elected justice of the peace. He was the father of ten children, six of whom are now living. After several years' residence in this township David and his wife removed to Wood County.
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HISTORY OF HANCOCK COUNTY.
John Aultman, a native of Pennsylvania, with his wife, Delilah, settled in the southwest part of the township in 1832. They reared a family of nine children -- seven sons and two daughters-eight of whom survive, and seven are residents of Hancock County, where the parents resided till their death.
Adam and Hannah Altman, parents of Daniel Altman of Marion Town- ship, came to this township in 1833, and here entered 480 acres of land from the government, on which they remained until their death; Adam died in 1863 in his eighty-fifth year, and his wife in 1848.
William Davis was born in Maryland in 1808, there grew to manhood, and in 1830 married Mary Lafferty, who bore him seven sons and five daughters. Three years after marriage he immigrated to this county, and in the spring of 1834 settled on Section 11, Marion Township, where he resided till his death at Bowling Green, Ky., in January, 1863. He served four consecutive terms as justice of the peace, and one term as commissioner of Hancock County. By rigid industry, untiring energy and shrewd busi- ness tact he accumulated a large estate, upon a part of which his descend- ants now reside. For many years he was one of the leading stock-dealers of this portion of the State, few of Hancock's pioneers attaining such a marked success in that line.
Two other settlers of this period were Jacob Iler and Ambrose Jaqua. The former and his wife, Catherine, emigrated from Germany, and took up their abode in Pickaway County, Ohio, whence in 1833 they removed to Section 28, Marion Township, where they passed the balance of their lives. They were the parents of five children, two of whom are living, Jacob, Jr., being the only one residing in Hancock. He and his wife, Mary, came with his parents, and both have lived in the township since the fall of 1833. Mr. Jaqua is still a resident of the township; he was born in Lower Canada, in 1813, his father, Richard, being a Frenchman, and his mother, Elizabeth, a Canadian. The family came to Seneca County, Ohio, in 1820, and in 1833 Ambrose became a resident of this township. In March, 1836, he married Leticia Egbert, daughter of David Egbert, and settled permanently on a piece of land in Section 25, entered in October, 1835, where he has ever since resided. Of their nine children, seven are yet living.
Rezin Ricketts though entering land in October, 1830, did not locate in the township till 1835. He was born in Fairfield County, Ohio, of Penn- sylvania parentage; in 1836 he married Mary Hess, of which union three children survive. He served as justice of the peace for eighteen consecutive years, and after a residence in Marion Township of about thirty years, he removed to Amanda, where his wife died. Mr. Ricketts is now residing with his son Jasper, in Amanda Township.
William Marvin is another pioneer of 1835, settling in the township in June of that year. He was born in Pennsylvania, in July, 1798; married Mabel Roberts in 1818; removed to Wayne County, Ohio, in 1823, and to Hancock in October, 1834. With him came his brother, Matthias, and fam- ily, and both families, seventeen in all, passed the winter of 1834-35, in a small log-cabin. The following June, William, who was a carpenter, pur- chased and settled upon a small piece of land north of the Blanchard, in Section 22, where he soon afterward erected a grist and saw-mill, the first mill in the township. This he subsequently sold to Mr. Swabb, and erected a steam-mill farther up the river. His wife died in 1852; she was the mother
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of sixteen children, fourteen of whom are living. In 1879 Mr. Marvin re- moved to Findlay, where he died the following year at a ripe old age. He was a very useful citizen, and during his residence in Marion Township served two terms as justice of the peace.
John Burns was born in Westmoreland County, Penn., in 1764, whence he emigrated to Richland County, Ohio, where he was twice married. By his first wife one daughter survives, residing in Richland County, His second wife, was Mrs. Rosannah Reznor, a widow, whom he married in 1824. She was a native of Maryland, and left two sons by this marriage, George W. and Thomas J., both of whom are living upon the old homestead in Marion Township, where the family settled in 1835 or 1836. The parents died here, the father December 31, 1843, and the mother in 1864. This land was the first piece settled in the township, Joseph A. Sargent and Asher Wickham locating upon it in 1827.
Henry Snyder (deceased), father of Henry Snyder, the well-known pro- ducer and dealer in thorough-bred Poland-China hogs, was a noted pioneer of the township.
Daniel Opp and Benjamin Wise, natives of Pennsylvania, settled on the Blanchard about 1836-37. The former erected a frame tavern in the south- east corner of Section 15, which he kept till his death, which occurred two or three years after settlement. Wise had eleven children, nine of whom are yet living, some of them residents of the township. By this time log- cabins dotted nearly every portion of Marion, and the feeling of isolation which haunted the first settlers no longer existed. Many families came in from 1835 to 1840, who had to make for themselves homes in the unbroken forest, but the brunt of the struggle was past, borne by those who settled here prior to 1836. Some of the later comers purchased the improvements, -consisting of a cabin and a small clearing-of the real pioneers, who came when the forest was unbroken, and inhabited only by roving bands of Indians and wild beasts.
Early Election and Electors .- The first election for justice of the peace of Marion Township was held at the house of Edwin S. Jones, June 11, 1831. Joshua Powell, Jacob Baker and David Egbert were the judges, and Edwin S. Jones and Barnabas DeWitt, clerks. The following list of voters indicates who the pioneers were, though a few of the first settlers did not vote at this election: Justin Smith, Joshua Powell, Jacob Baker, Stephen Smith, Joseph Johnson, Asher Wickham, Allen Wiseley, William Wiseley, Edward Bright, Major Bright, Edwin S. Jones, Barnabas De Witt and David Egbert. Major Bright received 7 votes, Asher Wickham 5 votes, and Willis Ward 1 vote; total, 13. Major Bright was therefore declared elected.
Justices of the Peace .- Major Bright, Willis Ward, David Egbert, Charles Thomas, Allen Wiseley, Albert Ramsey, Rezin Ricketts, William Marvin, William Davis, Daniel Alspach, Benjamin J. McRill, Isaac Davis, Michael Glauner, Amasa Buckingham, James Wilson, Andrew Bish, Charles S. Johnston and William B. Miller; the last mentioned and James Wilson are the present incumbents.
Schools .- The first schoolhouse, a small log building, was erected in 1836, on the farm of William Marvin, in the north part of Section 22. The school was taught by Adam Robinson and was attended by the Wick- hams, Brights, Wiseleys, Johnsons, Thomases, Egberts, Bakers and Plum- mers. The second schoolhouse, also a log structure, was put up in the
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HISTORY OF HANCOCK COUNTY.
south part of Section 26. It was called the "Woodward schoolhouse," and was erected two or three years after that built on Section 22. As the town- ship settled up more thickly, other buildings made their appearance. All of the first schoolhouses were built of logs, which in time gave place to the neater frame structures. These have been replaced by substantial brick buildings, six of which now supply good educational facilities to the school youth of the township.
Churches .- The Baptist Church organized the first society in the town- ship, and a log building was subsequently erected on the farm of William Davis, in Section 11, which served the little congregation for many years. This was replaced by a Union building called the " Union Bethel," wherein any orthodox denomination may hold services. The Baptists have now no organization in this township, though they occasionally hold services at the Union Bethel.
Soon after the Baptist class was organized a society of the United Breth- ren denomination came into existence. It had its inception about 1838, at the first log schoolhouse erected on the Blanchard in Section 22. Major Bright and wife, John Bright, Allen Wiseley and wife, Nimrod Bright and wife, Samuel Essex, Elizabeth Mains and Charity Essex, were its principal organizers. They met in private houses or in the old log school buildings till the erection of a frame church in Section 24, on land donated by John Bright. This building is yet standing, but in 1884 a handsome brick struct- ure was erected immediately east of it, which was opened in the spring of 1885. This denomination has three societies in Marion Township, but only two buildings. One of the organizations hold meetings at the Union Bethel.
A class of the Methodist Episcopal denomination was organized by Rev. Thomas Thompson at the cabin of Leonard Baumgartner, on Section 29, Big Lick Township, as early as 1837-38. Jacob Baker and wife, of Marion, and the Robertses and Baumgartners, of Big Lick, belonged to this society. They built a frame church near the east line of Section 24, Marion Town- ship, on the land of Jacob Baker, but after some years the society dwindled away, and the building was sold to Mr. Corbin, who removed it to his farm. The Methodists subsequently organized another society in the western part of the township, and put up a frame building in the southwest corner of Section 15. This church is still in active operation.
Crow Postoffice .- Daniel Opp erected a frame tavern on the southeast corner of Section 15 in 1836-37, which he carried on for the convenience of the traveling public. Soon after its completion a petition for a postoffice to be called "Crow" was forwarded to Washington. The request was granted and the office established, with Mr. Opp as postmaster, but upon his death, some two or three years afterward, the office was discontinued. This was the only postoffice Marion has ever possessed within her limits. Its site is now the home of George W. Wiseley.
Mills .- The first grist and saw mill in this township was built on the north bank of the Blanchard, in Section 22, by William Marvin, in 1835- 36. After a few years he sold these mills to Mr. Swabb, who in turn dis- posed of the property to William Gillespie. The latter failed to make them pay, and stopped running them. The power was furnished by a race from the Blanchard, but the buildings were torn down many years ago. Some time after selling these mills, Mr. Marvin erected a steam grist and saw mill
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farther up the Blanchard, but these, too, have long ago disappeared. A small grist-mill was also in operation at an early day on the Blanchard near the south line of the township, but it ran only a short period. Of course saw-mills have been operated in different parts of the township which were of great benefit to their respective neighborhoods and fully served the purposes for which they were intended.
CHAPTER XXI.
ORANGE TOWNSHIP.
FORMATION, CHOOSING A NAME, AND FIRST ELECTION OF TOWNSHIP OFFICERS -AREA, BOUNDARIES, AND POPULATION BY DECADES-TOPOGRAPHY AND SOIL-STREAMS-PIONEERS-FIRST BIRTH, DEATH, AND MARRIAGE IN THE TOWNSHIP-RELIGIOUS SOCIETIES- EARLY SCHOOLS-JUSTICES - HASSAN AND CORDELIA POSTOFFICES-AN EMBRYO VILLAGE-RAILROAD FACILI- TIES.
N the 4th of March, 1834, Township 2 south, Range 9, was, for judi- cial purposes, attached to Van Buren Township, and so remained until December 5, 1836, when it was set off as a new political subdivision, and named Orange. Some contention arose over the naming of the township, Henry L. Dally, its first settler, being ambitious to have it named after himself. This, however, was opposed by a majority of its pioneers, and the question was finally settled by William Bryan suggesting "Orange" as an appropriate name, which was at once accepted. The act of erection ordered an election for township officers to be held on the third Tuesday of December, 1836, at which time John McKinley and William Morrison were elected justices, Henry L. Dally, clerk, and David Thompson, William Agin and Edward S. Crawford, trustees.
Orange has always been a full congressional township, with a territorial area of thirty-six square miles, or 23,040 acres. It lies in the southwest corner of the county, and is bounded on the south and west, respectively, by Hardin and Allen Counties, on the north by Union Township, and on the east by Van Buren Township. In 1840 it contained a population of 314; 1850, 704; 1860, 987; 1870, 1,167, and 1880, 1,451, showing a steady growth from its organization up to the present.
The surface of Orange is a great deal more rolling than the territory north and east of it, though along the northwest portion of the township there is a narrow strip of low, flat land, known as "Cranberry Marsh," most of which, however. lies in Union. A small piece of this marsh was wet prairie, but the greater portion was originally thickly covered with wil- lows, and nearly impassable. Here wild game found a pretty safe retreat, though the indomitable hunter soon tracked them to their lairs. All the balance of the township bore up the usual kinds of forest trees natural to northwestern Ohio, and the first settlers had no easy task in clearing up its lands. The soil is a variation of loam, clay and sand, and in places is a combination of all three, for while the higher lands are usually clay, the
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HISTORY OF HANCOCK COUNTY.
valleys and more level tracts are a sandy loam. This, however, does not apply to the marsh lands, where the soil is a composition of decayed vege- tation and silt. These lands have been so ditched and drained that it may be said they are now all under cultivation, and among the richest in the county.
This portion of the county is naturally well drained and fairly watered. Riley Creek rises in Van Buren Township, and flows across Orange in a northwest direction, entering the township on the southeast quarter of Sec- tion 24, and leaving it on the northwest quarter of Section 18; thence pass- ing northwestward through the northeast corner of Allen County into Put- nam, strikes the Blanchard River about two miles southeast of Ottawa. In passing through Orange, Riley Creek receives two small runs from the south, which drain the southern portion of the township. The marsh outlet be- gins in Union Township, and runs across the northwest corner of Orange into Riley Creek. The west fork of Ottawa Creek comes in from Van Buren Township in Section 13, thence winds northward and unites with the east fork about one-half mile east of Cannonsburg, in Union Township. Along these creeks are numerous springs which supply water for stock dur- ing the dryest seasons.
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