History of Sandusky County, Ohio : with portraits and biographies of prominent citizens and pioneers, Part 111

Author: Everett, Homer, 1813-1887
Publication date: 1882
Publisher: Cleveland, Ohio : H.Z. Williams
Number of Pages: 1040

USA > Ohio > Sandusky County > History of Sandusky County, Ohio : with portraits and biographies of prominent citizens and pioneers > Part 111

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HISTORY OF SANDUSKY COUNTY.

teachers raise the standard of intelligence in every community.

MILLS.

It may seem strange to the young read- er why, in a history of this character, the small and seemingly unimportant mills of an early period should receive attention. but those who have experienced the diffi- culties of pioneer life will look upon the subject in a different light. In a period when people were compelled to travel long distances through marshy forests and across bridgeless streams, with their small grists on the back of a horse, and when at length the end of the journey was reached days were consumed in "waiting their turn," it is not strange the building of a mill in the neighborhood should be hailed as the beginning of a new era, and become an epoch in the history of the community ; Going to mill has become but an evening chore; it once required about one-fourth of one man's time to get the grinding done for a family. Nor did the pioneers enjoy the luxury of flaky flour made by the present patent process. The wheat was then crushed between rude, ill-fitting mill-stones, and then sifted by hand through a bolt of coarse canvas. The bolting was done by the man owning the grist. This was a slow process, and it was no uncommon thing for mills to be four days behind, thus giving the neighboring taverns a good business, while the indus- trious housewife, having scraped clean the flour chest, was feeding her children on the hard crusts of "johnny cake." The manner of going to mill on horseback has already been spoken of. Soft ground and thick woods made packing the only possi- ble method, and frequent streams and marshes prevented heavy burdens. An old pioneer has said that the custom of putting a stone in one end of the bag to balance the grain in the other once pre- vailed in Sandusky county. While we

would not, under any circumstances, be guilty of doubting a statement of a sur- vivor of the days gone by, it must be re- membered that some people confuse the location of events. The practice referred to is one of the traditions of Berks coun- ty, Pennsylvania, where ancient architects left in the basement wall two cat-holes, one for big cats and one for little cats. It is not probable that the old balancing idea was ever carried into practice in this coun- ty. It was hard enough work to get the wheat to mill without the stones.

To Charles Lindsey belongs the honor of building the first mill in the township. It was located on Raccoon Creek, now a stream of no value for water power. While the country was new, marshes and springs kept up an even water supply throughout the year, and although the fall was slight a small buhr was run by an un- dershot wheel. Grinding at this mill was a slow operation, but it supplied the sparsely populated neighborhood. The saw-mill connected with it was scarcely less appre- ciated than the grist-mill. Logs afforded very good material for cabin walls, but puncheon floors and doors were great an- noyances. It was impossible to fit split puncheons closely enough to keep out cold winds in the winter. Besides, doors were heavy and hard to open and shut, while floors were uneven and full of splinters. A saw-mill once started, boards took their place, and the interior of these backwoods homes assumed a new appear- ance.

The Lindsey mill continued in operation until clearings had destroyed the water- power. The framework is still standing.

William and James Beebe built a saw- mill on Pickerel Creek during the im- provement of that part of the county. It is now owned and operated by Levi Cowell.

Jason Gibbs built the first steam saw-

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HISTORY OF SANDUSKY COUNTY.

mill in the township. He removed it about 1870 to its present location at Riley Centre.

There are at present two grist-mills in the township, both on Green Creek. Eli Faust built the first one about 1845. The second was built by Mr. Schock in 1850.

CHURCHES.

· In this township, as in most other pio- neer communities, the first religious ser- vices were held in private houses, and these meetings were very infrequent and informal. Attending church is a part of the regular routine of life in old settle- ments, and the loss to emigrants of the comforting influences of religious minis- tra.ions is the cause of much discontent. It is a fact inherent in the nature of things that the conditions in a new country are not favorable to piety. Most emigrants leave their homes and neighbors in the hope of bettering their condition in a financial sense. Money becomes scarce, and the demands upon their time are heavy, so that there are few people dis- posed to spend sufficient time and money to keep up religious organizations. The few, therefore, who are anxious to hear the gospel expounded must make their own arrangements for it - throw open their own houses and entertain the travelling preachers and missionaries.

The Methodist church may well be proud of its well organized and sensible missionary system. The policy of divid- ing a sparsely populated district into cir- cuits, and giving all the people an oppor- tunity of occasionally hearing preaching, has been the means of making that church the strongest, numerically, in the State, and entitles it to the distinction of being the most useful religious organization in the country. The first sermon preached in Riley township was at the residence of Mrs. Lathrop, on school section number sixteen, by a Methodist circuit preacher

whose name is not remembered. Meetings were very frequently held at this house to accommodate Mrs. Lathrop's mother, Mrs. Bristol, who for sixteen years was both blind and lame. She was a devout Methodist, and was greatly comforted by the preaching and prayers of her brethren. Although the cabin was not large it was amply sufficient to accommodate the small congregations who gathered there. After the erection of the school-house on the corner where the town-house now stands, meetings were held in it.

The first Methodist class, and probably the first religious society of any kind, was organized in Tuttle's school-house in April, 1853, by W. D. Disbro, presiding elder, and Alfred Wheeler, preacher in charge. It was known as Tuttle's class, Clyde mission. The members were Adam Lutz, Elizabeth Lutz, William Lutz, Levi Tuttle, Almira Tuttle, Benjamin Twist, Lavina Twist, Zachariah Franks, Mrs. Franks, and Rhoda Marks. Of these ten first members but three are living-Wil- liam Lutz, Almira Tuttle, and Rhoda Marks. Services were held regularly in the school-house until 1864, when, on ac- count of having no suitable place to meet, the class went down. In 1869 the class- book was renewed by O. Squires. A formal re-organization took place in July, 1871, and it was connected with Sand Ridge circuit under the name of "Riley." There were at this time twelve mem- bers. A revival was held in 1875 during the ministry of Hiram Royce, which in- creased the membership and strengthened the cause. Henry C. Martindale and Samuel Lane of the United Brethren congregation, held a joint revival in 1878, which resulted in many conversions and additions to both organizations. Since 1871 the following ministers have served this class and circuit: Thomas Thompson effected the reorganization and remained

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HISTORY OF SANDUSKY COUNTY

in charge until the conference appoint- ments in the fall of 1872; T. J. Gard served till the fall of 1873; Hiram Royce till 1875; Hugh Wallace till 1876; H. C. Martindale till 1879; E. L. Smith till 1880, when the present pastor, Charles E. Rud- dick, came in charge.

Near the time of the formation of the Methodist society, a class of the United Brethren in Christ was organized by Rev. Mr. Lemmon. No record is extant, but from the recollection of one of the first members we learn that the first members were: Samuel Meek and wife, William Jones and wife, William Van Buskirk, wife and two daughters, Mr. Scouton and wife, and James Walden and wife. Meetings were held in Tuttle's school-house until the board of directors passed a resolution debarring all religious societies. The resolution compelled the class to meet at the houses of members until the new union church was completed in 1868. This house was built by the joint contribution of both churches. Each church has preaching on alternate Sab- baths, thus giving the community one preaching service each Sabbath. The membership has increased to about forty. It is known as the North Riley class, Bay Shore circuit.

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South Riley class United Brethren in Christ had its beginning in a mission which built a log meeting-house in the south part of the township about 1855. The interest gradually increased and the number of communicants grew until, in 1873, a class was formed with sixty mem- bers. In 1877 it was deemed advisable to build a new house of worship, but a difference of opinion created dissension. A portion of the congregation, together with other religious professors, founded a society of the denomination commonly known as Albrights, and built a church half a mile further west. These two

houses were completed the same year. The South Riley class has now about fif- teen members. It is connected with the Bay Shore circuit.

The following heads of families formed the Evangelical or Albright church: Christian Shultz, Daniel Pocock, Jacob Miller, Jacob Stoker, John Gilbert, and Adam Johns. Rev. Mr. Whitting was the minister in charge at the time of organiza- tion. Revs. Evans, McMillan and Monk have been the successive pastors since.

The cemetery in the south part of the township was laid out by the Brethren mission but has since become a public burying ground. The population in the south part of the township is largely Lutheran and Catholic. They worship at Clyde.

MARSH RECLAIMED.

Truth has made common the expres- sion : "The ingenuity of man knows no bour.ds." At one time the whole west end of the county was thought a worthless marsh; but cutting down trees and clear- ing the natural water channels of logs and brush made cultivation possible and profit- able. Several thousand acres bordering the Sandusky Bay have always been con- sidered absolutely worthless except for hunting grounds. The experiment of Dr. Robert H. Rice has, however, demon- strated that much of this marsh land can be reclaimed. The device is not new. The fens of Lincolnshire and Holland flats are kept out of the water by similar methods.

The reclaimed farm land consists of about seven hundred acres, and extends from South Creek into the marshes that border the Sandusky River. Onlyabout one hundred acres of this land is covered with timber, but before last year less than three hundred acres was tillable, the remainder of the underwooded section being covered with water, grown deep and green with

CHRISTIAN SCHULTZ.

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HISTORY OF SANDUSKY COUNTY.

marsh sedge, a good breeding ground for bullfrogs, and a retreat for mud-hens and solitary bittern. Portions not covered throughout the year with water were fre- quently inundated by wind tides from the bay. Dr. Rice had for several years en- tertained the idea of draining the marsh and excluding the wind tides by means of 'dikes. While in Europe, a few years ago, he made a careful examination of the dikes and drains in the low lands of Eng- land and Holland, and on his return home began in earnest to carry into execution his long cherished idea.

In the fall of 1878 he employed ten or twelve Danes living near Port Clinton and at once set to work. For a year they dug in water up to their knees. The ditches were kept partially clear, however, by two large wind-mills. These Danes were familiar with that kind of work and pros- ecuted it with energy in spite of difficul- ties which would have baffled native Am- ericans.

There are two trenches from ten to twenty feet wide and three to five feet deep, extending along the lower part of the tract a distance of two miles. The earth from these excavations is banked up on the outside and forms a dike from four to eight feet high. This embankment of compact earth completely dams out the marsh water on the other side and inter- poses an effectual fortification against the high waves driven by strong northeast winds.

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One trench begins on the high ground near the creek and extends in an easterly direction, then south. The other runs parallel and close to the south bend of the first, forming between their dikes an outlet to a swamp in the woods at the south-then takes an easterly direction. The two trenches are connected by a tunnel. The accumulating water is drained into these trenches, out of which it is

lifted by machinery. An iron wheel six- teen feet in diameter furnished on its cir- cumference with twenty paddles, which act like buckets, is driven by a ten-horse power engine. By means of properly arranged races the water is driven into the marshes beyond the dike. The wheel revolves seven times per minute and each bucket dips up a barrel of water. The water is therefore poured from the trenches at the rate of one hundred and forty bar- rels per minute. In ten hours the trenches can be drained dry. This reclaimed land was first cultivated in 1880. Plows were drawn by four horses the first season, but the rich vegetable soil' once disturbed be- comes a light mold and is easily cultivated. The whole cost was about four thousand dollars.

BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES,

CHRISTIAN SCHULTZ.

Christian Schultz was born May 10, 1820, in Alsace, department of Strasburg, county of Bichweiler, in Oberhoffen, France. When ten years of age he came to the United States with his mother, Mrs. Margaret Schultz, his father having died when Christian was about six months old. He was the only child by the first mar- riage of his mother. She became the wife of Albert Strawhacker, and bore five other children, of whom three daughters and one son are yet living. With this family his mother came to America, where her husband had gone two years previ- ously. They remained near Kenton, in this State, one year, then came to the southern part of Sandusky county, about one mile west of Green Spring, where Mr. Strawhacker had entered land, and where the family continued to reside.

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HISTORY OF SANDUSKY COUNTY.

Christian Schultz engaged in farming until he was about seventeen years of age. Then he entered the mills of Jacob Stem at Green Spring, and continued this em- ployment about twelve years. He com- menced work in the saw-mill, but during the last eight years of this time was en- gaged in running the grist-mill. While at work here, he was united in marriage May 26, 1849, to Anna Longanbach, daughter of George and Anna Longan- bach, of Rice township.

In 1856, in the month of November, having purchased a farm, he removed and settled in Riley township, on the place which is still the home of the family. The farm had a few improvements, but Mr. and Mrs. Schultz found work enough to keep them busy. . There was only a small log cabin upon the place, and no barn or stable. About forty acres of land had been fenced, but it was not all improved. The land was wet, and remained so until it had been drained. Crops were small; little of wheat or other staples could be raised. During the first few years of his residence here Mr. Shultz devoted a large portion of his time to getting out timber for staves, hubs, spokes, etc., which he sold, and supported the family with the proceeds. During the last few years a great change has been wrought in this part of the county. Twenty-five years ago a trip to Fremont and back was an all-day's journey for Mr. Schultz. The school- house was three-fourths of a mile distant, and during a part of the year it was im- possible to get to it with a team, owing to the condition of the roads.

But the log cabins have mostly disap- peared, and in their places stand the neat and tasteful residences of to-day, com- fortably and even elegantly furnished, and barns and outbuildings, with all modern improvements. The beautiful and sub- stantial dwelling now the home of the

Schultz family, was the result of the un- tiring labor, and constant, progressive in- dustry of Mr. Schultz and his worthy wife.

Mr. Schultz was an energetic man. Though not possessed of great physical strength, he could never endure being idle. Through his efforts and economy he prospered, though very likely his life was shortened by too vigorous exertion.

Mr. Schultz was an honest farmer, a good husband, a kind and indulgent par- ent, and a respected citizen. In his business transactions it can safely be as- serted that he never wronged any man. January 16, 1877, he passed peacefully from this life to the other, a victim of the dread disease, consumption. He had been ill for nearly two years, but through the entire period he manifested a cheerful disposition and uttered few complaints. He was a member of the Evangelical As- sociation for twenty years, and bore the reputation of being an upright and sincere Christian. Politically he was a Republi- can, an anti-slavery man and a true lover of his country.

Mrs. Anna Schultz was born in the Province of Wurtemburg, Germany, May 12, 1829. She was the sixth child of a family of thirteen children, eight of whom are living, four sons and four daughters. Her parents came to the United States in 1836, and settled in Seneca county, New York, where they re- mained five and one-half years, removing to Rice township, where Mr. Longanbach died in July, 1861, in his fifty-fourth year. Mrs. Longanbach is still living in San- dusky township, at the home of her oldest son, Martin.

To Mr. and Mrs. Schultz were born nine children, five of whom are living. Amelia Margaret was born October 7, 1850; married C. Frederick Jacobs, Febru- ary 7, 1875; died August 8th, the same year. John Frederick, born December

Jalin Jeiglesia

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HISTORY OF SANDUSKY COUNTY.

18, 1852; died January 15, 1854. Ezra Christian, born October 29, 1854; died April 2, 1856. Lydia Ann, born Decem- ber 23, 1856; died December 23, 1877. Mary Elizabeth, born March 6, 1859. Charles Martin, born May 12, 1861. Jesse Nelson, born February 26, 1863. Ida Elmira, born October 12, 1865. 'Estella Rosine, born June 24, 1869. Mrs. Schultz belongs to the Evangelical Associa- tion. Now situated in a pleasant home with all her surviving children about her, she enjoys the peaceful consciousness that in all things she has striven to do her duty to her family, her neighbors and as- sociates. The Schultz family are well known and respected.

JOHN ZEIGLER.

Among the early pioneer farmers of Sandusky county was Martin Zeigler, a native of Hessen, Germany, born in the town of Grünberg on the 3d of April, 1795. His wife, Catharine E Kruder, was born in the same place on the 23d of November, · 1796. With a family of five children, in June, 1832, they took passage in a sailing vessel from Bremen, and after a stormy voyage of seventy-two days ar- rived at Baltimore, Maryland. Here, Martin Zeigler was taken with the cholera, which was then raging in the city. He escaped with his life, but with feeble health, which for some time prevented him from taking active measures for his family's support, and consequently reducing his capital to a considerable extent. They re- moved to Zanesville, and remained there until 1835, when, having purchased a tract of three hundred and twenty acres of land in Riley township, four miles north- east of Fremont, they settled themselves permanently. A stranger had determined upon the purchase of this land at the same time with Mr. Zeigler. The former,

with that intention, left Zanesville by stage, for the Government land office at Bucyrus, on the same morning that the lat- ter started on foot on the same errand. The foot-traveler beat the stage by several hours, and accomplished his purpose be- fore his disappointed competitor put in an appearance. Martin Zeigler was a man of great energy and perseverance, of sterling honesty and uprightness of character. He was of nervous disposition, showing this strongly in his conversation which he always carried on in a remarkably impres- sive, earnest and most excitable manner. He died at his home July 24, 1867. His wife died in Fremont, February, 3, 1879. They reared a family of eight children, all of whom (with the exception of their oldest son, Henry, who was for twenty-five years one of the leading mer- chants in Fremont), carried on the oc- cupation of farming.

John Zeigler, the subject of the engrav- ing, was born at the residence of his par- ents, Martin and Catharine Zeigler, in Riley township, on the 15th of December, 1841. In 1865 he married Mary Jacobs, and lived up to the date of his death on the homestead left vacant by his father's demise in 1867. His death occurred in a violent manner on the 15th day of August, 1876. While working in the field on the morning of the last-mentioned date, he was kicked in the abdomen by a vicious horse, and died the same evening, at the age of thirty-four years, leaving a wife and four children. He was an exemplary father and husband and a model farmer. Through hard labor and ceaseless industry he had accumulated a small fortune, and had life been granted him, by the time he had reached middle age he would have been one of the wealthy farmers of that district, as he was then a representative man. Honesty, frugality, and industry are unfailing indicators of ultimate success.

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HISTORY OF SANDUSKY COUNTY.

CASPER HIRT.

Casper Hirt, a prominent farmer of Riley township, was born the 3d day of August, 1820, at Stilli, Canton Aargau, Switzerland. His parents were in limited circumstances, and had a large family. Under such conditions Casper Hirt con- cluded, in the year 1848, after the strug- gle of the Helvetic government, in which he was personally engaged, against her re- bellious Cantons (Sonderbund), to emigrate to America, where better prospects are offered a poor man than in his native country. He came to Ohio, but not pleased with his fortune yet, he started about two years after for California. To travel from Ohio to California on foot, over the vast plains and deserts of the un- settled territories was in that time no small undertaking. Having arrived there Mr. Hirt met with fortunate circumstances. Nevertheless he was discontented, and, being fond of travelling, the new reports of very rich gold mines in Australia led him to new adventures. But he was badly disappointed in his hopes. He turned back to California again, but experienced a voyage over the Pacific of great priva- tion and hardship. Gold could not de- liver him from the suffering of homesick- ness. He was longing painfully for his native country. In May, 1854, he reached Switzerland again, and remained at his home until the fall of the same year, and then started, accompanied by a large num-

ber of emigrants, for America. After his arrival at Philadelphia he married Miss Fanny Vogt, born November 24, 1826, in Villigen, Canton Aargau, Switzerland. From Philadelphia he came to Ohio, and settled in Riley township, Sandusky coun- ty, the present residence of his family. In consequence of his industry, economy, and skill as a farmer, he made rapid pro- gress in the accumulation of an estate. In the summer of 1878, he visited his native land for the second time. During his life he crossed the Atlantic Ocean five times, and the Pacific twice. In politics he was a Democrat. His family consisted of eight sons and one daughter-John Henry, born August 16, 1855, died January 21, 1877; Charles, born February 2, 1857; Samuel I., born August 20, 1858; Anna Maria Eliza, born June 10, 1860; Frederick Franklin, born February 18, 1862; Henry Albert, born April 20, 1864; Edward Ursinius, born April 20, 1867; Adolph, born April 24, 1869; Lewis S, born October 26, 1872.

Mr. Hirt was brought up a member of the German Reformed church, and at- tended its services throughout life.

In the long and severe winter of 1881 Mr. Casper Hirt died (February 3d), in consequence of a bad cold, which turned into a lung disease, aged sixty years and six months. By his death his family lost a tender husband and father, the township a good citizen, and his neighbors a true friend.

Casper AFirb

que Grannie Stirb Que

JACKSON.

A T a session of the county commission- ers, held in December, 1829, town- ship four, range fourteen was constituted a separate town, with corporate powers and privileges. The name was conferred in honor of the celebrated general, who was then serving his first year as President of the United States. For several years after settlement began in the county, this township and its western and northern neighbors seemed a blot upon the face of the earth. The black surface earth, by its own robe of dense forest and luxuriant undergrowth of shrubs and grasses, had entirely excluded the light and heat of the sun. Vegetable gases rested upon the surface, undisturbed by a troubled atmos- phere, and year by year the soil was ab- sorbing chemical elements which, under cultivation, have made large houses and fat bank accounts.

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History of Sandusky County, Ohio : with portraits and biographies of prominent citizens and pioneers, Part 111

Author: Everett, Homer, 1813-1887 Publication date: 1882 Publisher: Cleveland, Ohio : H.Z. Williams Number of Pages: 1040

Author: Everett, Homer, 1813-1887
Publication date: 1882
Publisher: Cleveland, Ohio : H.Z. Williams
Number of Pages: 1040