USA > Ohio > Henry County > History of Henry and Fulton counties, Ohio : with illustrations and biographical sketches of some of its prominent men and pioneers > Part 25
USA > Ohio > Fulton County > History of Henry and Fulton counties, Ohio : with illustrations and biographical sketches of some of its prominent men and pioneers > Part 25
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The township is situated in the northern part of Henry county. Is bounded on the north by Fulton county, on the east by Liberty township, on the south by Napoleon township and on the west by Ridgeville township. The topog- raphy is that in common with the balance of the county, level, and the soil ex- ceedingly good and fertile. The township is devoid of waterways, with the exception of three small creeks, the largest being Napoleon Creek and Ober- haus Creek. These traverse nearly the whole width of the township. Through the southwest corner of the township runs the bed of the defunct Coldwater and Mansfield Railroad.
The early settlers of this section were few; not more than a score lived in the township prior to 1860; among those who did live in this part of the county, from 1838 to 1850, may be mentioned Daniel Shinaman, John Miller, Samuel and Lewis Eckhart, John Sorrick, John Knapp, Harmon Kline, junior and senior, Conrad Clay, George Struble, John Harmon and Benjamin Holler.
The first-school house ever erected in this township was one of unhewed logs, a very primitive and small building. It stood in what is now section twenty-eight. Daniel Shinaman, John Harmon, Benjamin Holler and Har- mon Kline were the builders.
The first church was a United Brethren. It was built in 1852, or there-
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abouts, and also stood in section twenty-eight. Here the settlers from far and near would congregate on Sabbath day and listen to the Word of God inter- preted by George Struble.
The township is, as far as is possible to learn, devoid of many of those stir- ring incidents which make the life of the settler exciting, and for this reason facts of record can only be dealt with, "pleasing incidents of frontier life" will be conspicuous by their absence. And we will proceed to what the town- ship was after the year 1860; not that it was civilized by this time, but because the facts are within our grasp.
From 1860 up to the present time there has been an influx of Germans to this county, and especially to Freedom township. To this frugal people may be given a great deal of the credit of converting a wilderness into a garden, for the reason that they were not choice as to the kind of land Uncle Sam gave them, and whether a swamp or ridge it was the same to them and they went to work. Now Freedom township is a model of well-kept farms; now there are six fine school-houses, a couple of churches and scores of brick dwellings. The first one was built by Harmon Kline and the others followed thick and fast, and now as one rides through the county, a palatial brick residence, well kept grounds-a sure sign of thrift and wealth - is an ordinary sight.
Although this township is not a locality for pioneer reminiscences it has a history which entitles it to the name of the "dark and bloody ground of Henry county," three persons having been murdered by the pretended friends of the victims, for the sole purpose of gain.
The Murder of W. W. Treadwell .- On July 14, 1864, Math. Bowen while walking through the woods near what was known as the little Red School-house, suddenly came upon the body of a man. The body had evi- dently lain for some time as the birds of prey, and decomposition, had so dis- figured the remains that identification was well-nigh impossible. Two bullet- holes were found in the skull, the bullet evidently entering just back of the right ear, and coming out above the right eye. The right side of the head was also beaten with a club, which was found near by. On his person was found a number of trifles, together with an upper set of false teeth, on a heavy gold plate; seven dollars in bills and some eatables. Some weeks later a re- port came from Adrian, Mich., saying that two men had escaped from the jail there. The description of one of the men tallied with that of the murdered man. Investigation was at once begun, and it was learned that the name of the murdered man was W. W. Treadwell, formerly a banker of Hudson, Mich., who had been confined in the Adrian jail for operations not exactly legitimate. The man with whom he escaped was incarcerated for horse stealing. His name was John Crowell, and he was subsequently arrested in Sandusky, tried and bound over, and on the Ioth of May, 1865, his trial begun with Hon. A. S. Latty on the bench. The facts disclosed were as follows: Treadwell having
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secured large loans from other banks, absconded, was arrested in Mansfield, O., taken back, tried, convicted, and remanded in jail to await sentence. Crow- ell was arrested in Erie county, this State, for stealing horses in Michigan, tried and convicted at the same term of court as Treadwell was, and also remanded. In jail they were put together, and at five o'clock on the Ist of July escaped. Identification of the two men now became an easy matter; they traveled through the northern part of the county inquiring for lost cattle. The club now became an important factor, and every witness pointed it out as being car- ried by Crowell. The chain of evidence was quickly woven around him. The identification of Treadwell was established beyond a doubt. The object of the crime was $900 in the possession of Treadwell. The sum having been given to him by his wife shortly before his escape. It was all in $100 bills, and the most of them upon the bank of Rochester. One of these Rochester bills was found upon Crowell.
On Monday, May 15, 1865, the case was given to the jury ; an hour later, came the verdict of " guilty." A motion for a new trial was made but denied. Judge Latty then sentenced Crowell to be hanged on Friday, the 11th of July, 1865.
The execution was under the direction and charge of O. E. Barnes, who was then sheriff. While making preparations for the execution, and even upon the scaffold, the prisoner was the most collected of all present. Upon the scaf- fold the sheriff asked him if he had anything to say before the sentence of the court was executed, and he replied, "No sir, I am guilty." The sheriff asked him if he wished it understood that he was guilty of the crime for which he stood condemned. Crowell replied slowly and distinctly, " Yes sir, my punish- ment is just." He then knelt with his spiritual adviser, Father Carroll, after which the pinioning, placing of the cap, etc., was proceeded with, and all the time Crowell showed the least emotion of any present. At sixteen minutes before I P. M., the trap was sprung, and John Crowell had expiated his crime.
The Murder of George Williams and Wife. The second murder was the one of George Williams and wife, by Wesley Johnson, on October 23, 1883, the details of which are as horrible as any instance of the kind in the State.
On the evening of October 25, 1883, Addison Crew, a farmer living near the farm of George Williams, had occasion to go to Williams's place. On first going to the barn his eye met a ghastly sight. There, upon the floor he saw the lifeless body of George Williams, with head split open, and throat cut from ear to ear. He raised a cry and with several others went to the house, where, upon the floor of their sleeping room, lay the body of George Williams's wife, terri- bly mutilated. Upon the bed was a nearly famished infant. From the state of the bodies it was supposed that they had lain in this state for several days. Suspicion immediately fell upon Wesley Johnson, a young man in the employ of John Williams, because of his behavior, and the hour he retired two or three
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nights previously. He was arrested but stoutly maintained his innocence. But proof was not lacking, and at the preliminary examination, there was proof enough to bind him over. His trial began in January, 1884, and long will it be remembered as the most exciting trial ever witnessed in the county, and during the whole trial, Johnson's demeanor was that of a statue, showing no emotion or feeling. When, on the evening of February 12, 1884, the jury brought in a verdict of "guilty," there was a general "amen."
The case was conducted for the State by prosecuting attorney R. W. Cahill and J. M. Haag ; for the defense Messrs. Martin Knupp and William H. Hub- bard. Judge J. J. Moore presided. He was sentenced on the 16th of Febru- ary, to be hanged on the 29th of May, 1884.
The execution was conducted by Frederick Aller, then sheriff, and took place in the jail. With the same nerve that marked Crowell, Johnson dis- played, he ascending the scaffold with the same fearless step. When the sheriff asked if his punishment was just, he answered "yes." At 10 A. M. the trap was sprung, and Johnson's soul was dangling in the balance, and his body be- tween heaven and earth.
CHAPTER XXI.
HISTORY OF HARRISON TOWNSHIP.
T HIS township, named in honor of the hero of Tippecanoe and Fort Meigs, and the ninth president of the United States, when first organized, early in the forties, embraced townships three, four and five of range seven. Number three is now the township of Marion ; four was, in 1850, organized into Mon- roe. On the north of the Maumee River, which is now the northern boundary of the township, sections one, two, three, four, five, six, most of seven and parts of eight, nine, ten, eleven and twelve were, previous to 1850, attached to Liberty township as a convenience for voting purposes. The township lies immediately west of Damascus, and all that has been said of the latter town- ship, of the general character of the soil, drainage, roads, early settlement, present degree of improvement, and population may be applied to Harrison.
Among the earliest settlers of the county may be named Hazael Strong. He came to the county as early as 1833, and lived in what is now Harrison township for several years before coming to Napoleon to take charge of the auditor's office. The Sheats family came in 1834; Alonzo Packard in 1843 ; Americus M. Spafford, 1845; Harper Centre, 1847; Isaac Ingle, 1849; Noah Jackson, 1852; John C. Lighthiser, 1853; Michael Kryder, 1853;
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the Ritter family, as also that of the Reiter, the Spangler and the Palmer families were among the early settlers, as were also Campbell Wilford and Gideon G. Creger.
In 1847, according to the oldest preserved duplicate we have, there were, on the seventy-two sections of land which then constituted the township, only forty-nine persons who paid personal tax, and the value of all this land,- 69, 120 acres,-was $22, 168; and the personal property was valued at $5,217. The total tax collected was $2,071.61. The duplicate for 1887 shows that at present this township, with less than twenty-eight sections remaining to it, has a real estate value, for taxable purposes, of $323,905, and personal property, listed for the same purpose, amounting to $59,340.
This township was tardy in settlement and slow to improve. There were good reasons for this. The construction of the canal and especially the Wa- bash Railroad, on the south of the river, affording convenient shipments to market. The construction of the dam at Providence had made the river un- fordable between that point and the rapids at Florida ; on the south side were not only no railroads, but no roads of any kind, and, in order to reach a mar- ket of any sort, it became necessary to ferry the river, which in seasons was difficult. Lands being equally cheap on the north the early settlers naturally secured homes there.
True, there were men hardy and courageous enough to enter these dense forests, and, braving all the difficulties and encountering all the inconveniences, made homes in the wilderness. Along the river bank, in section ten, was Sam- uel Bowers ; in nine Hazael Strong had settled ; in section eight the Rugg farm farther up the river and nearly opposite Napoleon, in section eighteen, Charles and Reuben Reiter had made large clearings; on section fifteen road were the Palmers, John D. Thorn and a few others ; John Sheats was in sec- tion twenty-two; and on Turkey Foot road were John C. Lighthiser, Levi Spangler and others. There were also a few settlers along the banks of Tur- key Foot Creek. G. G. Creager was on section twenty-four, and Campbell Wilford on section twenty-five. It was not, however, until after the construc- tion of the bridge across the Maumee at Napoleon, in 1860, that settlement can be said to have really begun in earnest in Harrison township. After that roads were cut out and improved and a system of drainage commenced. This led to heavy taxation and assessments, compelling non-resident land owners to dispose of the lands they had purchased for speculative purposes, and these passed into the hands of persons who became actual settlers and made farms from the forest. To assist in this, and in many cases to pay for the land itself, the giant oaks, walnut and poplar were sold to the ship-timber and other tim- ber merchants, who brought great gangs of men from Canada, and soon made room for the sunshine to dry the swamps. Then came the saw-mill and the stave-factory, so that to-day Harrison township has no more timber than is
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necessary for her fences and family fuel ; fully four-fifths of hersoil being under cultivation and all highly productive.
The township is well drained, naturally, by Turkey Foot Creek which runs through the south and southeastern part; Randall Creek through northeast, and Bowers' Creek with its branches runs through the center, all emptying into the Maumee ; and by artificial surface and underground ditches. Good roads are established and kept in repair in almost every section line. The township is divided into eight school districts, with a good building on each, most of them brick. There are six churches, all Protestant, in the township. The dwellings and farm buildings are new, large, convenient and well appointed.
The township is without railroads and without villages. The Mansfield, Coldwater and Lake Michigan Railroad bed was graded through the township and the "Clover Leaf " route passed close to the southeast corner where Har- rison, Damascus, Richfield and Monroe come together, and here is laid out the
THE HAMLET OF GRELLETON.
The original plat of this hamlet was laid out in the southeast corner of sec- tion thirty-six in Harrison, by William Mead, and was recorded August 14, 1880. It consisted of fifteen lots, Main street on the east, Monroe street on the south, Fourth street on the west, Emery street on the north, and three alleys. The subsequent additions to the hamlet were in the adjoining township, mainly in Monroe, and will be treated of in the history of that township.
THE HENRY COUNTY FAIR GROUNDS
Are located on section fifteen in this township. A short sketch of the or- ganization and management of this institution may not be uninteresting :
In the summer of 1883 the Patrons of Husbandry decided to hold a one day fair at the hall of Harrison Grange, each member of the order to bring some of their best stock and farm products for display, and to invite their fel- low farmers outside the order to assist. The object was to get farmers together to discuss the best methods of growing the various kinds of crops adapted to the climate and soil of Henry county, also as to the most profitable kind of stock to raise, etc .; the Grange Hall being used as a floral and vegetable hall. An admission fee of ten cents was charged and about five hundred tickets were sold. The unexpected success of this the first attempt to hold a fair encouraged the Grange to organize, for the following year, what was known as the Henry County Grange Fair. The constitution provided that the officers of the County Grange should be the officers of the fair, including a board of ten directors chosen from among its members. Under these provisions John Garster was made president ; E. M. Hollipeter, secretary, and John Sheets, treasurer. Under this organization the ground was leased and buildings erected, four miles east of Napoleon in Harrison township, on the farm of
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Mr. Henry Blythe, and a very successful fair was held. The following year there was a change made in the provision of the constitution for the elec- tion of officers and the name was changed and called the Henry County Farmers' Association, and the following officers elected : E. M. Hollipeter, president ; John Ervin, vice-president; Eli Culbertson, secretary ; John Gar- ster, treasurer. There was but one change made in the election of officers for 1886, the year following, Rufus Spangler being elected president. In 1887 it was reorganized under a constitution according to the provision of the laws of Ohio regulating agricultural fairs, and is now known as the Henry County Agricultural Fair.
Each year the fair has proven a grand success in the display of the best stock and farm products of Henry and from adjoining counties.
List of officers of the Henry County Fair : Rufus Spangler, president ; Jo- seph Leatherman, vice-president ; John C. McClain, treasurer ; C. E. Weaks, secretary. Directors : Isaiah Foor, D. D. Myers, Joseph Leatherman, Peter Deitric, Eli Culbertson, C. E. Weaks, John Shelt, S. L. Snyder, Rufus Spang- ler, Francis Ginsel, John Garster, J. C. McClain.
It may not be out of place in this connection to give a few facts pertaining to the origin and history of agricultural associations.
The number of societies in England holding fairs relating to agriculture, live stock, etc., is officially stated at one hundred and ten. Among those are the Bath and West of England Society, organized in 1777, the first farmers' club in England. The Royal Agricultural Society, which has exerted so wide an influence upon improved processes and cultivation in soil and animal farm- ing of the world, was founded in 1838. Its motto was "Practice with Science." In 1810 England had organized a board of agriculture, of which Sir John Sin- clair was president, and Arthur Young secretary. There were in this year eighty-one agricultural societies in regular working order, and of one of these the Badenach and Strathspey Society, the celebrated Duchess of Gordon was president.
The first agricultural society formed in America was The Philadelphia (Pa.) Society for Promoting Agriculture. Among the awards of this society in 1790, was a gold medal to Mr. Matheson for the best sample and greatest quantity of cheese.
The first agricultural society ever incorporated in America was the Soci- ety for the Promotion of Agriculture, of South Carolina, established in 1795. Its objects included, among others, the institution of a farm for experiments, and the importation and distribution of products suited to the climate of that State.
In New York, a Society for the Advancement of Agriculture was incor- porated in 1791, but it died at the age of ten years.
The Society for the Promotion of Useful Arts, in which agriculture was 30
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HISTORY OF HENRY AND FULTON COUNTIES.
first named, established in 1804, published seven volumes of transactions pre- vious to 1815. The New York State Agricultural Society held its first regular fair in 1840, the admission being twelve and one-half cents.
In Massachusetts, in 1803, the trustees of the Massachusetts Society for Promoting Agriculture offered, among others, a premium of one hundred dol- lars, or the society's gold medal for a cheap and effectual method of destroy- ing the canker worm. From the beginnings thus noted, agriculture, horticul- ture, pomology, forestry and floriculture have gradually increased. Agricul- tural societies offering premiums are found in every State and most of the Ter- ritories. Popular interest is especially active in agricultural societies in the West and is constantly increasing in the South. It is safe to say the agricultu- ral societies of the United States have exercised a greater influence for the ad- vancement of agriculture than any other means.
Harrison township has furnished her full quota of both military and civil officers. W'm. A. Choate was not only prosecuting attorney of the county, but also colonel of the Thirty-eighth Regiment, O. V. I .; L. G. Randall was quartermaster of the Sixty-eighth O. V. I., and was also postmaster at Napo- leon; Arthur Crockett was major of the Sixty-eighth O. V. I .; Benjamin F. Pindar was captain of Company B, Thirty-eighth O. V. I. Levi Spangler was a county commissioner, Reuben Rieter both clerk and sheriff, his brother Reu- ben a commissioner, Benjamin F. Stout, auditor; William M. Becknam, was, by the appointment of the governor, probate judge to fill a vacancy, and Thomas Castel was infirmary director.
Booming may do for Kansas and other western States, for the mining, the gas and the oil regions, but he who is content to lead a quiet, honest life in the quiet luxuries and enjoyments of a home, need not go beyond the boun- daries of Henry county. Here can be had a cheap, comfortable and produc- tive home, where the investment is certain, sure and cannot diminish in value, but must increase; here is education and culture, refinement and the highest civilization; here, right at hand, are not only the necessaries and comforts, but the luxuries of life. Many of our people who were induced to "go west " by the glittering promises of speculators and jobbers, have been glad to return, and many more are sorry that they have not means left to do so. Harrison township furnishes one notable example. We refer to the Crockett family, and know that we will be pardoned for doing so. Being among the early settlers, they had made and owned a good and valuable farm in the township. Se- duced by the brilliant pictures of the West, they sold out and followed the westward star. They met with disappointment; sickness and death overtook them, and but a year ago, the mother, aged and impoverished, save for a grate- ful government which rewarded her for the patriotism of her sons, returned to Henry county and purchased the old Rugg farm in her old township, where she now lives, happy, comfortable and contented with her only remaining son, Edward.
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The growth of this township, in common with all in the county, has been rapid. In 1860 it contained a population of 781; in 1870 it was 1295 and in 1880 it had grown to 1382, and by the next census it may be safely predicted will amount to 2,000.
CHAPTER XXII.
HISTORY OF LIBERTY TOWNSHIP.
T HIS is one of the best, one of the earliest settled and first improved town- ships in the county. It possesses more intrinsic historic interest than any of the thirteen. In the government survey it is known as township six, north of range seven, east. This territory was reduced by the detachment of the two northern tiers of sections in the formation of Fulton county. It was, however, increased by the annexation of sections one, two, three, four, five and six, and the most of seven and half of eight, nine and twelve, and a small slice off the northern part of ten and eleven of township five in the same range (Harrison) at the time the Maumee River was made the dividing line between the town- ships.
The part of section twelve taken from Harrison, and section seven of Wash- ington (originally Damascus) constituted what was known to the pioneers as Prairie du Masque, having been so named by the early French adventurers, traders, or religious enthusiasts, who were attracted to the valley of the Mau- mee, ambitious of conquest, for greed of gain, or desire for religious pros- elytism. This was a camping ground for the army of General Wayne on his march to the battle field of Fallen Timbers.
Upon this division of land, thus designated as Prairie du Masque, and long before the division of the northwestern territory into counties, much less town- ships, the white man had dared to penetrate. He invaded the wilderness which then enshrouded the county of Henry and the outposts of which were guarded by the most savage of the Indian tribes, and settled there. The names of the representatives of the white man as can now be ascertained, were John Butler, David and Jacob Delong, Charles Gunn, George Chilson, David Buck- lin and Samuel Vance. These brave men located on the prairie in 1814, and Elisha and Edwin Scribner came in 1818. These early settlers are, alas, all dead. The ashes of some of them rest in obscurely marked and almost for- gotten graves along the banks of the Maumee. The last survivor of these pio- neers was Edwin Scribner, who died during the present (1887) year, at the residence of his son-in-law in Napoleon.
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HISTORY OF HENRY AND FULTON COUNTIES.
At a date so early that its date cannot now be determined with certainty, but surely no later than 1820, Samuel Vance, already mentioned, erected on section twelve, a double log house, called it a tavern and suspended a sign an- nouncing "accommodation for man and beast." The cellar of this primitive tavern still remains on the banks of the Maumee, close to the " old orchard "- the first planted in the connty-near the town of Damascus. The brick for this cellar were boated from Toledo (so at present named) on pirogues. At that time this was the only house between Defiance and the Rapids, where Peter Manor then lived. A short time afterwards Joseph Cowdrick, whose sons are now residents of Napoleon, built a small house on the river below Vance's, but subsequently removed further up the river about half way between Da- mascus and Napoleon, where Joseph Rogers now lives.
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