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 7
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 7
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CHAPTER X.
GEOLOGY OF HENRY COUNTY.
B EFORE speaking of the geology of Henry county, it will be well to give a short sketch of the general geological conditions of the Maumee Valley. Maumee Valley .- The latest open sea that covered the valley of the Mau- mee was that of the Devonian age, and the highest grade of fossils that were found in its rocks are those of fishes. The Carboniferous age being above the Devonian, it is then useless to look for coal in the valley.
After the Devonian age came the Glacial epoch with its mighty glaciers, that extended from the pole to Southern Ohio, covering Northwestern Ohio many hundreds of feet deep in ice, which was not in a state of rest, but went plowing with resistless force across the country, scooping out the beds of the great lakes, grinding off the surface of the rocks, reducing them to powder and scattering the debris over the bare rocks, covering them up, and thus laying the foundation of soil upon which vegetation could grow, and air- breathing animals could live. The marks upon the rocks show that the general course of the glacial flow was up the valley in a general southwestern direction. There is a continuous ridge along the eastern banks of the St. Jo- 9
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seph and St. Mary's rivers, which marks the point at which a change of climate took place. The glacial stream was arrested and a deposit of boulders, sand and gravel was made. During the melting of this large body of ice there were great floods of water, which could not be discharged in the direction of Lake Erie, as the space was covered with ice many hundreds of feet in thickness. This water was, therefore, discharged through what is now known as the Wabash Valley, into the Mississippi and the Gulf. This great flow of water dug out the present bed of the Wabash River, which is now an unimportant stream, yet the width and depth of the valley shows that it was once the bed of a mighty river.
After the melting of the ice the Maumee Valley was covered with an im- mense lake, having its western shore at the ridge just mentioned. This lake remained for ages a quiet sea of fresh water, and with its deposits of fine clay covered up the scars left by the ice, and left a smooth plain covered with a material in itself rich in plant food, which, owing to its tenacity formed the best possible basis for the remarkably fertile soil which now covers it.
After a long period of time another ridge was formed near to and parallel with the first ridge, which had a height of 220 feet above the present surface of the lake. This second ridge had an elevation of 195 feet. Again after a long lapse of time, the third ridge was formed, parallel with the two others, at an elevation above the lake of 170 feet. This ridge is known as the Belmore Ridge, and enters Henry county at Freedom Mills post-office, passing through Ridgeville Corners, and crossing the Maumee River at Independence, in De- fiance county. This ridge, after crossing the river, passes through Pleasant township, and also Marion township, in Henry county, near the villages of New Bavaria and Richland. This is a low sandy ridge, generally but a few rods wide, and only four or five feet high. The fourth beach is marked by a sandy territory reaching from Sylvania, in Lucas county, to a point a few miles below Napoleon, and lies north of the Maumee River. This tract, though not re- markable for its fertility, contains a mine of wealth, inasmuch as it furnishes an inexhaustible supply of the best quality of glass sand. It is now being shipped in immense quantities from Sylvania and Monclova, in Lucas county, for that purpose. The shipping of the sand has received a great impetus since the dis- covery of natural gas. Large glass manufactories will soon be established on this beach and will be supplied with gas by piping, and the shipping of the sand saved.
This beach has an elevation of from sixty to ninety feet. The fifth beach constitutes the present shore of the lake.
If present conditions continue, it is only a question of time when Lake Erie will disappear, and in its valley there will flow an immense river, which will carry the waters of the Great Lakes, that now flow through and constitute Lake
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Erie. Niagara Falls has already worn its way from Lewiston to its present location. This wearing away of the barrier will continue until Lake Erie is tapped at or near Buffalo, when Lake Erie will be a thing of the past, and the space now occupied by its shallow waters, will be a fertile plain, supporting an immense population.
At no distant date northwestern Ohio (of which the Maumee Valley consti- tutes the greater portion), owing to its late discoveries of gas and oil, will be called upon to support a denser population than any other portion of the con- tinent of equal area. The great agricultural resources of this region will enable it to comply with this demand of the future.
Drainage .- The drainage of the Maumee Valley is towards the Maumee River and Lake Erie ; that on the north side of the river is southeast, while that on the south side is towards the northeast. A peculiar feature of the drainage of the valley is that the St. Joseph River, which, uniting with the Au Glaize at Defiance, forms the Maumee River, receives all its important tributaries from its right bank. This is also true of Bean Creek, the waters from the left bank flowing away from these streams. This is reversed on the south side of the Maumee, the Au Glaize receiving all its important tributaries from the left bank. The Wabash takes its rise near the edge of the Maumee Valley, and receives its tributaries from its left bank, the water from near the right bank flowing into the Au Glaize.
Henry County .- Henry county lies very near the center of the famous Black Swamp. The Maumee River divides it very nearly in the center. Its area aggregates two hundred and sixty-two thousand one hundred and six acres of land. The average assessed value of this land in 1880 was $12.78. An assessment made at this time (1887) would place it at from sixteen to twenty dollars per acre.
The general character of the drainage of the county is that of the Maumee Valley. Several small streams empty into the Maumee from its northern side, while but one of importance, the South Fork of Turkey Foot, flows into it from its southern side. The southeastern portion of the county is drained by the Portage River and Beaver Creek, which unite and empty into Lake Erie at Port Clinton, in Ottawa county, Ohio.
The county is an even prairie, having few undulations, except those made by the washing of the streams. The amount of fall is from four to six feet to the mile, giving all the fall needed for effectual drainage, if done with a reason- able amount of engineering skill.
The rock exposures of the county are confined to the bed and banks of the Maumee. Near Florida, in Flat Rock township, there are exposures of the Huron shales and the Hamilton Group. In the lower portion of the for- mer there is a strata of black limestone, which is very hard, and makes a good
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HISTORY OF HENRY AND FULTON COUNTIES.
quality of water-lime. In the effort to find gas, a well was bored in 1886 in Napoleon. The following strata were passed through by the drill, viz .: Forty feet of clay, under which there was found eight feet of sand and gravel, which furnished an abundant supply of pure water, making forty-eight feet of drift. Then followed Huron shale, a portion of which was hard black limestone, sixty-five feet. Then followed the Upper Helderberg limestone, one hundred feet deep. Beneath this was six hundred feet of the Lower Helderberg lime- stones; Niagara limestone, two hundred and twelve feet; Clinton limestone, ninety-five feet ; Medina and Hudson River shales, three hundred and sixty feet ; Utica shales, three hundred feet. Underneath this there lies an un- known depth of Trenton limestones. No strata of sandstone was found in the well.
At a depth of seventy-five feet a strong stream of sulphur water was found, which rises to within a few feet of the top. Several other streams were found, the last at a depth of one thousand feet. The surface of the ground at the well is six hundred and sixty-seven feet above the level of the sea.
Another well is being bored one-half mile north of well No. I, which be- gins at six hundred and fifty-four feet above tide. The present depth (Sep- tember 3, 1887) is one thousand, five hundred and eighty-two feet. The strata passed through are very similar to No. I, meeting the different strata at somewhat less depth. In well No. 2 a very strong stream of sulphur water was found at a depth of two hundred and fifty feet, which flows with a powerful stream from the top of the well. Another well was bored in Napoleon some years ago, and also one in the village of Texas, about ten miles below, on the river. No record of the geology of these wells was kept. All of these wells furnish an abundant supply of valuable water for medicinal purposes, and are thronged with persons seeking their curative properties.
Drainage .- The character of the drift in Henry county makes thorough and deep drainage an absolute necessity-without it, the best results in the production of crops cannot possibly be attained.
The surface being very level, and the underlying clay very retentive of moisture, the natural condition of the soil in a wet season is wet and cold, producing poor crops. In a dry season the ground is hard and dry, so that the roots of crops cannot penetrate deeply enough to reach moisture, and again a short crop results. But this difficulty can be overcome through tile drain- age to the average depth of four feet. The soil is warmed and pulverized to the depth of the tile, and is prepared for planting at least ten days earlier in the spring, and the soil is kept warm and free from frost, at least ten days longer in the fall, thus adding about three weeks to the growing season. This gives abundant time for any crop to mature that is suitable to this latitude.
Deep drainage is at once a safeguard against too great an amount of rain,
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and also against too little. This may appear strange, yet it is true. Air is admitted to the depth of the tile, and forms a constant circulation through the ground. If the tile is placed at the depth of four feet, it insures the cooling of the air below the dew point. The result of this is, that the moisture that it always in the air, even in the driest time, will be deposited in the soil that sur- rounds the tile. If you dig down to the tile, you will find the soil and tile moist and cool, and you will find that the roots of the clover, timothy, wheat or corn, have reached down to the moist earth, and their growth shows clearly that they have not suffered from drouth, while on undrained land the surface soil is entirely exhausted of moisture, and the underlying clay is baked so hard that the roots cannot penetrate it. A failure of the crop results. Suppose the tile is laid at a depth of thirty inches-this will insure a crop in a wet season. Let us see how it will work in a dry one. The air enters the tile just as freely when thirty inches deep as when four feet deep; but in the former case the earth is warmed to a depth of thirty inches or more, and the air is not cooled below the dew-point, and consequently does not deposit its moisture, therefore no benefit results; on the other hand it may be a damage, as the warm air in passing through the soil will carry along with it what little moisture there is in the soil. This is not mere theory, but has long been a demonstrated fact, and is thoroughly consistent with scientific principles. The difference then between a deeply drained soil and a shallow drained or an entirely undrained soil, is the exact difference between success and failure in a series of years.
The latitude of Napoleon, the county seat, is N. 41º 22'. The longitude is W. 84° 7'.
Areas of low barometer are mostly formed west of the Mississippi River ; are somewhat elliptical in shape and pass across the country in a direction some- what north of east, passing out of the country, a majority of them, along the line of the St. Lawrence River. The centers of these low areas usually pass north of Toledo, but a small per cent. of them passing south of that point. Now it is a well established law of tornadoes, that they almost invariably occur in the southeastern quadrant of the storm or low areas. This accounts for the fact that we so seldom suffer from these terrible visitations, as we are too far north for this storm area; while tornadoes are common, and very destructive to life and property, in Central and Southern Ohio, we are seldom seriously affected.
The annual temperature of this county is between 50 and 52 degrees Fah- renheit, and the rainfall from thirty-six to thirty-eight inches, giving all the climatic conditions needed for the best results in agriculture. The extremes of temperature are about 100° in summer, and 20° below zero in winter.
The advantages of Henry county, are a remarkably fertile soil, a favorable climate, and freedom from epidemic diseases. Therefore, nothing but ignorance and want of enterprise can hinder her from taking her place as one of the most prosperous counties of the State.
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HISTORY OF HENRY AND FULTON COUNTIES.
Gas. - Up to this date (Sept. 5, 1887) no high pressure gas has been found in the county. The Huron shale is the surface rock in the northwestern por- tion of the county ; this disappears a short distance south of the Maumee River. When digging a well on the fair ground in the southern part of the corporate limits of Napoleon, low pressure gas was found near the surface of the Huron shale, sufficient in quantity to heat and light a large dwelling. In many places gas been found when searching for water ; sometimes in consid- erable quantities.
In the northwestern part of the county, low pressure gas could be found in a great many places in sufficient quantities to warm and light one or more dwellings, and possibly furnish power for some light machinery. All that is required is a small amount of money, and some enterprise. If some enterprising farmer sets the example, others will soon follow. Owing to the fact that the gas is found in the surface rock, high pressure gas need not be looked for in that strata. In order to have high pressure gas, a solid cover of rock must overlie the stratum that contains the gas, to prevent its easy escape. Gas springs are very common in this part of the county. It is, therefore, believed by many that gas may be found at such places, by deep boring. This reasoning is fal- lacious. The gas from the gas springs escapes from the surface rock, because it has nothing to confine it. Gas is always found near the surface of the rock that contains it, and is no indication that deeper lying rocks also contain it.
CHAPTER XI.
The Titles to Lands of Ohio -- Original Claimants -- Extinguishment of Indian Titles -- Sur- veys in this Region.
T 'HE territory that now constitutes the State of Ohio was first of all in the full possession of the race of Mound-builders; afterwards, but still in the pre-historic age, its sole occupants and owners for some centuries were un- questionably those Indian tribes who are found already mentioned in this vol- ume. They, as well as the Mound-builders, held titles acquired by priority of discovery, by conquest, by occupancy or possession.
Various historians of accredited veracity and research state that the adven- turous La Salle, in 1670, accompanied by a few heroic followers, passed from Lake Erie south, over the Portage into the Allegheny River, perhaps by way of one of its numerous tributaries, and from thence down into the Ohio, which they descended as far as the falls on that river (at Louisville), and that they were therefore the first of European birth to enter upon the soil of Ohio.
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In 1679 the intrepid La Salle, with a party of some thirty or more French- men sailed along the entire length of the southern shore of Lake Erie in the Griffin, a small vessel of about sixty tons burthen. Again, three years later, 1682, the same voyager descended the Illinois and Mississippi Rivers, the latter to its mouth ; and in 1684 he sailed along the Gulf of Mexico, past the mouth of the Mississippi, to a point in Texas, and landing there became its discoverer. These facts are noted for the reason that upon these voyages of discovery, re- inforced with the provisions of some European treaties, that France laid her claim of title to the whole territory north-west of the Ohio River.
France not only asserted ownership and held possession of the territory that now constitutes Ohio, from the time of the treaty of Utrecht, in 1713, until the treaty of Paris, in 1763, by which peace was established between France and England, but she also exercised authority and maintained control over it by military force, and this, too, in defiance of titles set up by Great Britain, one of which was based upon the treaties made with the Iroquois or Six Na- tion Indians, who claimed title to the whole country by conquest and subjuga- tion.
By conquest and treaty provisions, Great Britain came into possession in 1763, which possession she maintained substantially, until the close of the Revolution, when, by the treaty at Paris, in 1783, and ratified in the Ameri- can Congress in January, 1784, ownership was vested in the United States. The latter, in October of the same year, extinguished the title of the Six Na- tions to the Ohio Valley. By the treaties at Forts McIntosh and Finney, held respectively in 1785 and 1786, all Indian titles to Ohio territory were extin- guished, except that portion situate chiefly between the Cuyahoga and Mau- mee Rivers.
By the terms of the treaty at Fort Stanwix, concluded with the Iroquois, or Six Nations, in October, 1784, the indefinite claim of the confederacy to the greater part of the Valley of the Ohio River was extinguished. The commis- sioners of Congress acting upon this occasion were Oliver Wolcott, Richard Butler and Arthur Lee. The chiefs Cornplanter and Red Jacket represented the Indians.
The treaty at Fort McIntosh, in January, 1785, extinguished the title of the resident Indians to the Ohio Valley, and established the western boundary line of the lands confirmed to the United States at the Cuyahoga River and along the main branch of the Tuscarawas to its forks, near Fort Lawrence ; then westerly to the Portage between the headwaters of the Great Miami and the Maumee or Miami of the lakes; thence down the river to the lake (Erie) and along the lake to the mouth of Cuyahoga. This treaty relinquished the rights of the Delawares, Wyandots, Ottawas and Chippewas. The subsequent treaty of Fort Finney, in January, 1786, extinguished the rights of the Shaw- nese in the territory bounded above.
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HISTORY OF HENRY AND FULTON COUNTIES.
The treaty made in January, 1795, and known as the treaty of Fort Har- mer, was, in the main, confirmatory of treaties already made. So, also, was that made by Gen. Wayne at Greenville, in October of the same year.
The lands to the northern and western boundaries of the State were ac- quired by purchase on the part of the State in the year 1818. The last pos- session of the Delawares was purchased in 1829.
Virginia acquired title to the great northwest by its several charters, granted by James I., bearing dates respectively, April 10, 1606; May 23, 1609, and March 12, 1611. The Colony of Virginia first attempted to exercise au- thority in, or jurisdiction over that portion of its extensive domain that was organized by the ordinance of '87 into "the territory northwest of the Ohio River," when in 1769, the House of Burgesses of said colony passed an act es- tablishing the county of Botetourt, with the Mississippi River as its western boundary. It was provided by the act that, "whereas, the people situated on the Mississippi, in the said county of Botetourt, will be very remote from the court-house, and must necessarily become a separate county as soon as their numbers are sufficient, which probably will happen in a short time; be it there- fore enacted by the authority aforesaid, that the inhabitants of that part of the said county of Botetourt which lies on the said waters shall be exempted from the payment of any levies to be laid by the said county court for the purpose of building a court-house and prison for said county."
Civil government, however, between the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers was more in name than reality until 1778, after the conquest of the country by General George Rogers Clark, when the Virginia Legislature organized the county of Illinois, embracing within its limits all the territory owned by Vir- ginia west of the Ohio River. Under an appointment from the governor of Virginia, Colonel John Tod served as civil commandant and lieutenant of the county, until his death at the battle of Blue Licks, in 1782, less than two years before Virginia ceded the country in the United States. In the year 1783, however, the General Assembly of Virginia passed an act authorizing the con- veyance of the great northwest to the general government. Having thus se- cured the absolute right of possession of this vast domain, the United States at once took measures for its civil conduct and government, the outcome of which was the act entitled, "An ordinance for the government of the territory of the United States northwest of the river Ohio.". This has generally and more popularly been known as "The Ordinance of '87," and otherwise as " The Or- dinance of Freedom." This also was the fundamental law upon which has been based all the statutory enactments and subsequent laws for the govern- ment of this State.
The Ohio Land Company was an organization formed in the State of Massachusetts, having for its object, the purchase and settlement of a large tract of land in the new territory. The purchase was effected October 27,
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1787, and embraced a tract of something like a million and a half of acres without the present counties of Washington, Athens, Meigs and Gallia, subject to certain reservations. This was the second purchase and survey.
The first survey of the public lands in Ohio was the seven ranges of Con- gress lands, and was made pursuant to an act of Congress, of May 20, 1785. The present counties of Jefferson, Columbiana, Carroll, Tuscarora, Harrison, Gurnsey, Bellmont, Noble, Monroe and Washington, are, in whole or in part, within this survey of seven ranges.
The next survey was the "Symmes purchase," under a contract of pur- chase made with Judge Symmes in October, 1787, but subsequently, May, 1792, modified by an act of Congress. The Symmes purchase embraced the entire Ohio River front between the Big Miami and the Little Miami Rivers, a distance of twenty-seven miles, and reaching sufficiently northward to include an area of one million acres; but by the modification, the area was reduced only three hundred and eleven thousand six hundred and eighty-two acres, exclusive of certain reservations held by the government.
The lands between the Little Miami and Sciota Rivers, known as the " Vir- ginia military lands," was never regularly surveyed into townships, but pat- ents were issued by the president to such persons, residents of Virginia, as had rendered service on the continental establishment of the army of the United States (hence the name), and in the quantities to which they were entitled un- der the act of Congress of August 10, 1790. These military lands embraced a body of some six thousand five hundred and seventy square miles, or four mill- ion two hundred and four thousand eight hundred acres of land.
The Connecticut claim was ceded to the United States, excepting the west- ern reserve, by deeds of cession, bearing date of September 14, 1786.
When Ohio was admitted into the Federal Union as an independent State, one of the terms of admission was, that the fee-simple to all the lands within its limits, excepting those previously granted or sold, should vest in the United States. Different portions of them, were, at different times, granted or sold to individuals, companies, and bodies politic. The following are the names by which the principal bodies of the land are designated, on account of these dif- ferent forms of transfer, viz .: I, Congress Lands; 2, United States Military ; 3, Virginia Military ; 4, Western Reserve ; 5, Fin Lands ; 6, Ohio Company's Purchase ; 7, Donation Tract; 8, Symmes Purchase ; 9, Refugee Tract ; 10, French Grant; II, Dohrman's Purchase; 12, Zane's Purchase ; 13, Canal Lands; 14, Turnpike; 15, Maumee Road Lands ; 16, School Lands ; 17, Col- lege lands ; 18, Ministerial lands ; 19, Moravian Lands; 20, Salt Sections.
It is thought that this will furnish a sufficient record of the various grants, without giving a detailed description of the tracts themselves.
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