History of Sandusky County Ohio with Illustrations 1882, Part 86

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William D. Stine, the second child of Philip and Sarah Stine, was born in Penn- sylvania in 1827. He married, in Pickaway county, Ohio, in 1852, Rebecca Stout, a native of that county, and removed to this county the following year. Three children are living: Sarah C. (Crowell), Isaac Franklin, and Lavina E. Mr. Stine followed the carpenter and joiner trade for ten years.

John Shook, a native of Jefferson county, Pennsylvania, came to Ohio and settled in Pickaway county about 1812. In 1825 he removed to the present territory of Ottawa county, where he died in 1863. His wife, whose maiden name was Susannah Hum, died in 1856, leaving seven children. Daniel, the sixth child, was born in Pickaway county in 1822. He married, in 1850, Rosanna Bowlus and in 1854 settled in Sandusky township. In 1880 he removed to his present residence in Washington. The family con- sists of three children, two of them living, viz: Franklin P., William D. (deceased), and James D. Mrs. Shook is a daughter of David Bowlus, of Sandusky township.

W. L. Greene was among the later set-

tlers of this township. He was born in Pennsylvania, in 1832, and came to this county in 1855. In 1859 he married Abigail Ramsel, daughter of Jacob Ramsel, of Ottawa county. They had two children, one of whom is living, James L .; Cora J. is dead. Mrs. Greene died in 1873. In 1876 he married for his second wife Malinda Bowlus. He was in mercantile business eight years. By her first husband Mrs. Greene had four children: Orville, Rolla, Ada, and Charles. Mr. Greene's father resided in this county until the time of his death in 1875. He was a soldier in the War of 1812. John Stayer, Mrs. Greene's father, was also a soldier in the War of 1812, and is yet living (1881).

Jacob J. Seibert was born in Pennsylvania in 1820. He married Mary A. Walborn in 1843, and in 1856 they came to this county. Four of their six children are living: Monroe, Fremont, Emma (Loose), Michigan; Henry, and William. Mr. Seibert has been an elder in the Reformed church about fifteen years.

Eben Root was born in Erie county, in 1843. In 1868 he married Jemima Fell, and settled in this county. Three children are living-Isabella, Carrie, and Walter. The youngest child, David P., died at the age of thirteen months. Mr. Root has a fine farm of two hundred and thirty acres.

SHOOTING ON BARK CREEK.

The small stream which winds through Ballville and Sandusky townships; almost parallel with the river, derives its name from the methods employed by the early hunters for shooting deer along its course. The stream flows through a flat country, and at places spreads out into little ponds of considerable area and depth. In these deer were accustomed to gather in large groups or herds, to avoid .flies and Other

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annoyances. The professional hunters of the day had canoes in which they embarked for game. In one end they placed a candle or torch, surrounded, except in front, by a piece of bark stripped from an elm tree. Behind this dark lantern he could sit in entire obscurity, while in front the water and shores were well lighted. Deer seem to be charmed with a torch in the night. They would stand up to their bodies in the water and watch the approach of the destroyer with evident pleasure, little suspecting that a charge of buckshot was being aimed at them by a man concealed in the dark end of the boat. When the boat had reached a sure shooting distance the hunter fired, bringing down sometimes two victims at one shot. An old hunter informs the writer that he has brought in as many as twelve deer as the fruit of one night's hunting.

RELIGIOUS.

The religious history of Sandusky town- ship is so intimately connected with the church history of Fremont that little re-mains to be said here. Within this territory Rev. Joseph Badger, with his assist-ants, established their missionary post while laboring among the Wyandot Indians. There are in the township at present two churches.

METHODIST PROTESTANT CHURCH.

The only congregation of this denom- ination in the county, worship in a com- modious frame house on the Rollersville road, near Muskellunge Creek. The Methodist Protestants established their form of worship in this county in 1840. Dr. William Reeves, accompanied by his wife, Hannah Reeves, held a meeting in

Fremont in 1840, which resulted in gathering together a small class, which a split in the United Brethren class, a couple of months later, strengthened. The meeting conducted by Hannah Reeves was very satisfactory in its good results, but the church never prospered in town. A class was organized the following summer in the country, composed of Alexander Paden and wife, William Rice and wife, William Remsburg and wife, Sophia Flick, Mary Remsberg, and Polly Remsberg.

Two years after the class was formed, a meeting house was built on Henry Bowlus' farm, where services were held until 1873 when the present house was built. The present membership of this class is about fifty. Ministers worthy of special mention have been William Turner, William Ross, Robert Andrews, Alexander Brown, and Robert Rice. William Hastings is the present pastor in charge.

OTHER CHURCHES.

Lutheran service has been held in the township since 1843, very closely connect- ed, however, with the church at Fremont. The meeting-house at the four-mile stone on the pike was built in 1845, or about that time. The congregation is composed largely of Germans or people of German descent.

The Methodist Episcopal church organized a class during the early settlement of the township, and about 1845 built a house of worship on the pike at Muskellunge. The maintenance of service at this point was, however, entirely unnecessary, and when the building yielded to the dilapidations of time, it was abandoned and most of the members transferred their connection to the church at Fremont.

RICE.

R ICE is territorially the smallest town- ship in the county, and its boundaries the most irregular. The fertile farms of the eastern end are cut by numerous dead water courses; the central part is marshy; the western sections will compare favorably for agricultural purposes with any part of the county. In going the length of this territory from east to west, along the Ottawa county line, the traveler is given a glimpse of pioneer times. Although few of the outward appendages of the historic log cabin days are there to be seen, enough points are visible to enable the imagination to fill up the picture. Here are the corduroy roads passing through a forest of massive elms, growing from a marshy surface made invisible by decaying trees and thick underbrush. Flies, mosquitoes, and other tortursome enemies of human happiness give the mischance traveler painful consciousness of their half-starved condition. Occasionally we come to a log cabin, resembling in most respects the ideal residence of the olden time.

The water courses in the lower part of the township are currentless, rising and falling with the tides in the bay. Further up the current is perceptible but not rapid. The only valley is that of Mud Creek, which affords excellent drainage to the country on both sides. Near its mouth the name river would be more appropriate than creek; it is navigable for a distance of two miles from the mouth, and at places spreads out into little lakes. Fishing Creek courses the center of the township, Little Mud Creek being the principal tributary.

The Sandusky River skirts the southeastern border.

The head of the bay was, years ago, a favorite nesting place for ducks and geese. An old settler says that, fifty years ago, while riding north of Mud Creek, the geese were so plenty that he was able to kill dozens of them, striking with his whip from the back of the horse. Fur-bearing animals were also plenty about the mouth of the creek. Otters were the trapper's pride, while muskrats, and, further back from the bay, minks, were so plenty that, although cheap, they were the source of much needed ready cash in the pioneer days of poverty.

Sluggish streams with shallow channels have left Rice entirely without water-power. Until a recent period there was neither grist- nor saw-mill. There has never been a grist- mill, but two steam saw-mills have been operated. The first was moved from Ottawa county, and was owned by Mr. Crosby; the other was built in 1871 by Guilson & Seigroff, near the centre of the township.

The soil is of vegetable composition, and if surface declination permitted draining, would be very productive. Corn and wheat are raised with profit as it is. Cultivation becomes easier as clearing progresses. There was a time when farmers, in dry springs, might be seen using axes in place of hoes for planting corn. A deep gash was cut in the gummy muck; in which corn was dropped and imperfectly covered. A good crop was generally harvested, even in spite of such unpromising planting. In

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the western part of the township the drain- age system is more perfect, and the soil in consequence much looser and more easily worked.

Before the days of bridging Mud Creek was a serious obstruction to travel. People living north of this stream especially were inconvenienced in going to and coming from market and mill at Lower Sandusky. Mr. Boggs, an old settler in the south part of Ottawa county, says:

One time Mud Creek was very high. and I wished to cross with seven bags of corn. Trees had been cut across and large poles laid on them to walk on. I knew that my corn would be wet, if I drove through the stream with it in the wagon; so I took one bag at a time and carried it on my shoulders thirty or forty rods through the bottom. I then swam my horses through the main part of the creek, sitting waist-deep in my wagon. This was only one case of a great many similar experiences.

FRENCH OCCUPATION.

After peace had been restored in 1815, this township became the home of many of the French families of the colony, which left the Maumee and came to Lower Sandusky three years earlier. The original settlement of these people, after coming to America, was at Monroe, Michigan. They afterwards established themselves on the Maumee, where they settled down to habits of industry. But the opening of the British and Indian hostilities, in 1812, compelled another removal and doomed them to four years of migration and unsettled life.

In January, 1813, by direction of the Government, about twenty families packed their possessions and started for Lower Sandusky. It was a fortunate circumstance that heavy ice well covered with snow gave them an easy course of travel and at the same time made it possible to avoid the savage enemies of the forest. All being in readiness, a French train was formed. This consisted of a procession of one horse sleighs, the runners of which were made of boards. The train was placed under

direction of a Frenchman named Peter Maltosh, who had been an Indian trader. He knew the country thoroughly and proved himself a faithful and valuable guide.

The journey to Locust Point was made over the ice with ease, in one day. On the following day Port Clinton or Portage,* as it was then called, was reached. This day's travel was hard on the horses, as the snow was very deep. The train was held close together and the order of the sleighs frequently changed, so that the horses having become weary, breaking the way, were rested in the beaten track in the rear. Upon arrival at Portage the horses were almost exhausted. Maltosh, the guide, anticipated the failure of the horses from exhaustion and on the following morning directed the train to follow his tracks. He assured them that he would be at Lower Sandusky far in advance of the train and would have, at the mouth of Muskellunge, teams to assist them to the end of the journey. The horses stiffened by two days' travel through the deep snow, entered upon the third day's trial of endurance with reluctance. With frequent changes in the order of travel, the train moved slowly across the head of the bay, and entered the river. The delight of our band of weary travelers, on reaching the mouth of Muskellunge Creek, can be imagined, There a number of fresh teams were in waiting. The effect of finding the welcoming hand of friendship thus extended far out to them, can only be appreciated, when we remember that these people were strangers in a strange country. They or their ancestors had left European homes made miserable by feudal despotism and unsafe by revolution and invasion. They found habitations in America even

*This place was given the name Portage, because it was a custom to land canoes and lift craft there and thence transport them overland a distance of a mile and a half to Sandusky bay.

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less secure, and were now fleeing from a savage foe under command and direction of the hereditary enemy of their mother country. With what delight, therefore, did these discouraged and exhausted refugees receive this token of friendship and promise of protection.

These teams from the fort took most of the load and broke the way. Lower Sandusky was easily reached.

The colony was given quarters in Government barracks during the remainder of the winter. In the spring cabins about the fort were occupied, but the forest was full of hostile Indians, and at a signal all were ready to flee into the enclosure. On the 1st of August, 1813, the French families, by order of the Government, were removed to Upper Sandusky. While on the way the sound of Proctor's cannon was heard at Fort Stephenson. The families remained at Upper Sandusky until the conclusion of the war, and were then moved back to Lower Sandusky in Government wagons. During these four years this company of refugees remained together and became warmly attached. They had been wards of the Government during the war, and the able- bodied among them bore their part bravely in the lines of soldiery. The war having closed, it now became necessary for them to seek homes and earn their own livelihood. We can give further information of but a few individuals and families of the company.

Joseph Cavalier and wife both died at Fort Stephenson before the removal of the company to Upper Sandusky. Their son Albert, who is yet living, and one of the few survivors of the company, was left in charge of his aunt, Mrs. Jaco. Gabriel O'Dett de Le Point and Thomas De Mars made squatter improvements on the river bank eight miles below Fremont, on the tract since known as the Tucker farm. Mrs. Taco married Le Point, and Mr.

Cavalier was received by Mr. De Mars. Mr. Jaco had died during the progress of the war. Le Point served as a soldier during the war. The sales of 1821. caused serious contusion among all these French squatters. Few of them were prepared to purchase land, and those who had the means did not understand how to profit by the opportunities offered. The land on which Le Point and De Mars had located was purchased by Samuel Cochran and the inhabitants compelled to seek other homes. De Mars purchased a tract on Mud Creek. Three of his sons are living-George in Bay township, Joseph in Rice, and Thomas in Hardin county.

The Bisnette family permanently settled on the farm at the bend of the river, now owned by Mr. Enoch. This farm was the death and burial place of the parents. The Catholic cemetery is located near the site of their cabin.

Three brothers, Joseph, John, and Peter Mominne, made squatter improvements on the river bank. Peter finally settled in Bay township. Joseph purchased land in Sandusky township, and John, after living within the present limits of Rice for a time, sold his property and removed to Canada.

A member of the company named Minor squatted on Negro Point, and remained there about two years. He returned to the Maumee.

Charles Fountaine, after remaining at Fremont for a time, located on Peach Island.

Christopher Columbo was a migrating carpenter. His services were not in great demand, as not only houses, but furniture, were constructed in the simplest possible way, mostly of puncheons.

The Devoir family, consisting of five brothers-Peter, Robert, Francis, Jacob, and Alexander-returned to the Maumee. They had been raised among the Indians

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and were thoroughly familiar with their habits. Peter and Alexander have several times visited their friends about the bay.

Thomas De Mars had been associated with the Indians all his life, and was, therefore, able to interpret their conduct. He was brave, active and trusty, qualities which made him a valuable man for the times. During the war he was selected to carry the mails between Upper Sandusky and Fort Findlay-a dangerous route. He has related rather a stirring incident of one of his trips, which gives an idea of his character. He says:

I saw an Indian crossing the trail some distance in front of me, who seemed to have discovered me about the same time I saw him. I was in doubt whether it was one of our few friends among the savages or a "British Indian," as those friendly to England were called. After some sly maneuvering on part of both of us, I saw the Indian had lost my whereabouts, while I knew where he was all the time. At length I saw him carefully examine the trail for my tracks, with his eyes close to the ground, as I supposed, to determine whether I had gone past. After watching these movements I became convinced that he was not to be trusted. Being armed with a good rifle and reliable side arms, I knelt low behind a large tree. and having taken careful aim fired. The Indian fell. When I passed him he was dying. If I ever ran in my life it was then, for I feared other Indians had heard the gun. Finally settling down to a rapid walk Upper Sandusky was reached in good time. A detachment of horsemen brought the dead body to the fort. Our friendly Indians identified him as a "bad Britisher," and were delighted at what I had done.

The French settlers of Rice were. all Catholics, but it was several years after the close of the war before their wild settlement was visited by a priest.

The first mass was held by a Detroit priest named Gabriel Re Shoir. He bore on his face the marks of two heavy blows received in France during the revolution, at the hands of a mob maddened by the cry of "down with the clergy." The reverend father, after administering absolution, promised that a member of the clergy should visit their settlement at least once a year. This arrangement was

not effected until a few years later. A regular congregation was not formed until about the year 1830.

The French settlement did not establish any schools. Their children, however, attended the English schools, one of which was taught by Mr. Forgerson in Sandusky township.

GERMAN POPULATION.

German is an important element in the population of Rice. During the period of early settlement the inhabitants were, with a few exceptions, all French. About 1835 the first German families moved into the woods in the western portion, and by that untiring industry which is characteristic of their race, soon had fertile fields in a state of profitable cultivation. Here a large tract of "wild land" offered an opening to the emigrants who were seeking Western homes. From 1840 to 1850 the work of clearing and improving was pushed with the greatest rapidity. We have space to mention only a few of the more prominent of these German families.

John Smith, one of the earliest German settlers of this township, came to America and settled here in 1833. He was born in Germany in 1783, and married there Catharine Ernst, also a native of Baden. They reared a family of seven children, viz .: Catharine, Mary, Elizabeth, John, Christina, Frederick, and Rosannah. Both of the parents died in 1870. Frederick was born in Baden in 1829. In 1852 he married Elizabeth Kiser, a native of France, and in 1877 settled in Sandusky township, where he has a family of eight children-Christina (deceased), Frederick, Caroline, Elizabeth, William, Clara, Amelia, and Edward.

Christian Kline, who was born in Germany in 1790, emigrated to America with his wife in 1837, and settled in this county. After remaining eight months they removed to Lucas county and lived there

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about three years, after which they returned to this county, and made permanent settlement in Rice. Mr. Kline died in 1855, having survived his wife ten years. Four of their eight children are yet living - Christian lives in Washington township; Louis lives in Monroe county, Michigan; Susan (Mullencup), Lucas county; Andrew, the third son, was born in 1824, and lives in Rice. He married Sarah Ann Kreilick, in 1848. She was born, in Northumberland county, Pennsylvania, in 1832. The fruit of this union was thirteen children, nine of whom are living. Mr. Kline served both in the Mexican war and the war of the Rebellion. His children are, Christina (Cillias), Rice town-ship; Louisa (Wolf), Michigan; Susan (Smith), Rice township; Adam, Michigan; John, Rice township; Sarah E. (Greasman), Rice township; Macida C., Mary M., and Andrew W., Rice township.

Henry and Catharine Swint, natives of Germany, had a family of eleven children, three of whom came to this country. Henry, their fourth child, was born in 1814. He married, in 1848, Rosena Reinick, who was born in 183 r, in Baden, Germany. Fifteen children have blessed this union, viz: Anthony, Sandusky township; John, Ballville township; Catharine, wife of Frank Zimmer, Fremont; Jacob, Fremont; Joseph, Fremont; Ambrose, Rice township; Mary, wife of Frank Freek, Fremont; Edward, Lizzie, Sarah, Ella, Josephine, Henry, Anna, and Rosa, in Rice township. Mr. Swint is a weaver, and worked at the trade in Germany. He served twelve years in the German army. He came to America and settled in Riley township in 1845, but at the opening of the war with Mexico he joined the army and continued in the service until July, 1848, when he returned to this county, married, and settled down to farming in Rice.

William Seigenthraller was one of the first German settlers of the township. He accumulated a large tract of land.

Gotlieb and Margaret Gnepper had a family of eight children, two of whom, Francis and Ernst, came to this country. Ernst was born in Germany in 1824. In 1853 he married Mary Friar, whose father, Frederick Friar, emigrated from Germany and settled in Woodville township in 1836. Their family consists of five children, viz: Henry, Angeline, Frances, Freddie, and John, all of whom are at home, except Angeline, who is the wife of Philip Seigenthraller, of Washington township. Mr. Gnepper has served in various local offices.

PENNSYLVANIANS.

A portion of the population in the western part of the township belongs to what is commonly known as "Pennsylvania Dutch." Peter Hettrick settled near the present location of the Lutheran church in 1832. He had a family of eight sons, whose labors have been considerable in reducing the forest. The previous emigrants from Pennsylvania settled further south, but an opening once made, fine farms were soon cleared up. We can mention but a few families.

Michael Smith, a native of France, came to America and settled in Pennsylvania in 1826, at the age of twenty years. After remaining several years he married Margaret Powell, who was also a native of France, having been born there in 1815. They came to Sandusky county and made permanent settlement in Rice. Fifteen children blessed this union, seven of whom are living, viz .: Elizabeth (Kesser), San-dusky township; Jacob, Rice township; Mary (Seigenthraller), Sandusky town-ship; Michael, Rice township; John, Margaret (Wagner), and Kate Gahn, Rice township. John, the fifth child, was born in 1852. In 1875 he married Susan Kline,

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by whom he has three children-David A., Michael I., and Sarah A.

Hugh B. Hineline was born in Easton, Pennsylvania, in 1802, where he married, in 1825, Rebecca Lettig, who was born in 1808. They emigrated to Ohio in 1854, and settled in Rice, where he died in 1871. The family consisted of fourteen children, two of whom lost their lives in the war of the Rebellion. Ten are living, viz .: Anna (Ruth), Ballville; Cyrus M., Freeport, Illinois; Elizabeth (Richards), Fremont; Sarah (Cole), Sandusky township; William H., Rice; Alinda (Furry), Woodville; Hugh E., Rice; Thaddeus, Michigan; R. Emma- (Speller), Ballville; and John Franklin, Freeport, Illinois. Abel T. was killed at Kenesaw Mountain in 1864. Simon P., who was in the naval service, fell from a ship mast off the coast of North Carolina in 1861. Jacob died in 1870, at the age of thirty-nine years. Frances died in childhood. William H. and Hugh E. reside on the homestead. William H. served three years in the army, during which time he was confined six months in Libby prison.

OTHER SETTLERS.

Peleg Cooley was one of the earliest pi- oneers of the county. He emigrated with his wife, Martha Bassett, from New York to Canada in 1807. In 1815 they came to Fremont, Ohio. Their family consisted of eight children, but one of whom is living- Edmond O .- who was one of the earliest settlers of Rice. In 1835 he married Catherine Ash, who was born in Pennsylvania in 1815. She died in Rice in 1880. Four of their eight children are living: James W., in Kansas; Maggie, in Rice; Rebecca (Irwin), in Ottawa county; and Jeremiah in Rice. Isaac B., Anna, Isaiah, and Frances J. are dead. Mr. Cooley was one of the first members of the Fremont Methodist church.

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History of Sandusky County Ohio with Illustrations 1882, Part 86

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