USA > Ohio > Seneca County > History of Seneca County, Ohio; a narrative account of its historical progress, its people, and its principal interests, Vo. I > Part 36
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The Norton family in the long. ago were natives of the north of England. Dr. Rufus Norton came from Utica, New York, to Seneca county in 1835, and had an extensive medical practice for more than thirty years. He was the father of the Hon. James A. . Norton, who is a physician, a lawyer and a politician of favorable and wide repute.
Samuel B. Sneath was born in Seneca county in 1828. His father was a native of Connecticut and his mother of Pennsyl- vania and they came to Seneca county in 1827. Mr. S. B. Sneath has applied his ability to the furtherance of the commercial inter- ests of the county. in which he is a prominent character. He is a supporter of measures tending to the city's growth and develop- ment, and has contributed in no small degree to its social and industrial institutions.
John Fiege came to Seneca county from Germany in 1834, a cabinet maker by trade. He was a good mechanic, and a man who was strictly honest in his dealings. He was drowned in a mill race in 1869, leaving a family.
Edward Cooley was one of the early settlers of Bloom town- ship, but the exact date of his coming is not known. He erected the first house on the present site of Bloomville.
Charles Kelly. who, in 1821. assisted in building Drennon's cabin on the site of Tiffin, was born in Pennsylvania in 1798. His daughter married Dr. Samuel W. Bricker, of Tiffin.
Henry C. Brish came to Seneca county in 1828 and succeeded James Montgomery as Indian agent, and was the last agent of the Senecas in Ohio. His home near Tiffin was called "Rosewood," and there he died in February, 1866. Mr. Brish was a man of medium size and weighed about 165 pounds. He was of fair
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complexion, had regular, manly features, was well proportioned and good looking, more so in citizen's clothes than in uniform. He had deeply set. large hazel eyes. He shaved smooth, except small side whiskers. lle had a well balanced nature, a high forehead. and turned bald at middle age. General Brish was a polished gentleman and his home was the gathering place for many of the elite in the then rustic society. He had a kind word for every- body, and soon became popular with all classes of people. The Senecas made Rosewood a stopping place whenever they came up the river. Dr. Cary was a brother to Mrs. Brish. He and Dr. Dresbach made the general's house their home. Whenever they could not be found about town, you would almost be sure to find them at Brish's ITis relation with the business of the county has been mentioned so often that it is only necessary to say that he was one of the associate judges of the court of common pleas here, and was elected a member of the house of representatives, besides filling many other local offices. -
When. on the 28th day of February, 1831. at the treaty of Washington, the Senecas sold their reservation to the United States. General Brish, who had taken care of the chief to Wash. ington and back to Seneca, was kindly remembered by them. At their own request a section was put into the treaty giving to General Brish a quarter section of land in the reservation.
Mr. Montgomery, the first agent of the Senecas, was about five feet six inches high, strong and compactly built, without being corpulent. His carriage was straight and erect. He had black hair and eyebrows, dark eyes, prominent nose, smooth forehead, rather heavy lower jaw, clenched lips. a frank and open counten- ance, which together, would mark him. not only as a man of great decision, but also as a leader in any capacity. He had a clear strong voice, fine control of language. and was altogether practical in his orthodoxy. His conversation was cheerful, humorous and instructive. He was the kind neighbor. affectionate husband and father, an honest officer, and a blessing to all around him. Shortly after his removal to Fort Seneca. he was ordained by Bishop Asbury, as a Methodist minister.
Colonel Ball. after whom the fort and Spencer's town were named, was present at the great Whig celebration, at Fort Meigs, in 1840, where he was seen for the last time. He was six feet high, well proportioned; his hair was gray and bushy; he had a florid complexion and wore side whiskers: he had gray eyes, thin lips, heavy jaw, a loud, clear voice, talked scholarly and lived with his family in Richland county at that time. He was a powerful man and walked very erect. Before his hair turned gray it was of auburn color. His entire make-up exhibited great force of character and energy.
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Hugh Welch was the first postmaster in Eden township, and he held the office at his opening, which was afterwards known as the Olmstead and Richardson place. This was the first postoffice in Seneca county east of the river. Mr. Welch was appointed by President Jackson. John McLean was postmaster general at that time and signed the commission as such. It is dated August 4. 1825. Mr. Welch sold the Olensted farm and the Richardson place and moved into Wyandot county, where he was appointed one of the associate judges of Crawford county. Wyandot was then a part of Crawford. This commission is dated September 22, 1834, and is signed by Robert Lucas, governor, and M. H. Kirby, secretary of state. He was re-elected associate judge, and his second commission bears date of February 4, 1842, and is signed by Thomas Corwin, governor, and Samuel Galloway, secretary of state. The Judge sold his Wyandot farm and again moved into Seneca county. Hle laid out the town of Mexico soon after he moved into Wyandot: helped to build the Methodist Episcopal church there; donated the lot upon which it was built, and for a long time and until he sold his property near Mexico, was one of its most influential members.
Among the noted women of Seneca county, Mrs. Samuel B. Sneath, of Tiffin, deserves a prominent place. She takes a com- mendable interest in the civic betterment of Tiffin and Seneca coun- ty, and is foremost in projects and efforts for a higher standard of civilization and culture. She is chairman of the committee on conservation, of the Ohio Federation of Women's Clubs, and was also a delegate from the Ohio Federation to the National Conserva- tion Congress held at St. Paul in September. She is prominent in the work of the Daughters of the American Revolution and is a member of Dolly Todd Madison Chapter; of Tiffin. She was also the designer of the landscape adornments of beautiful Meadow- brook park.
Mrs. Sneath has a charming personality and the rare gift of being gracious and entertaining, and although she is prominent in church, club and other literary and religious work, she finds time for an ideal home life.
In the field of literature no one, in Seneca county at the pre- sent time, occupies so prominent a place as Mrs. Sneath. One of the most interesting, instructive and practical meetings of the 1890 Club was that held recently at the club rooms in the Auditorium, when the subject of "Conservation" was under consideration. The club feels doubly honored in that she, as one of its members, has been so highly honored by being put forward as a leader in the great reform of conserving the natural resources.
It is to Mrs. Sneath that the club was indebted for a most delightful afternoon. She gave a very comprehensive report of
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the congress which, as she stated, brought together in the Minne- sota capital-the president and ex-president of the United States, the secretary of agriculture, the veteran secretary of the interior in Harrison's cabinet, senators, representatives, governors, ex- governors and other officials of state and nation ; scientific experts, representing the leading technical and scientific institutions of the country, politicians and representatives of special interest. and corporations.
Many of the above named were among the speakers from whom Mrs. Sneath quoted and whom she described as having "well thought out messages which were good to hear." In suming up, Mrs. Sneath said :
"Conservation has taken hold of the nation, or perhaps more exactly, the nation has taken hold of conservation. The people understand more clearly than ever before both the object sought and the measures by which they can best be accomplished. It is not likely that the enemies of the movement will again be able to cloud the issue which has been placed so clearly before the country. or to fool more than some of the people part of the time. * Further- more, the congress marked the transition to the third stage of the movement by laying down practical lines along which future action should proceed."
At the close of the report, Mrs. Sneath dwelt at length upon the natural resources of our own state. That we have no moun- tain ranges, practically, no arid or unwatered lands. no swamps nor everglades. that we stand unique in having the greatest per cent. of tillable acres of any state in the Union ; but what was once a vast forest area has been denuded, and as forests are necessary for soil and waterways-a treeless country is but little better than a desert.
The water-way problems within our own state were next pre- sented. Mrs. Sneath pointed out the need of our state in giving attention to its smaller streams and canals, and cited as example the energy of the State of Illinois which has taxed itself fifty millions for widening and deepening its canals in order to have an unimpeded transportation from the lakes to the gulf.
The three most important conservation problems in Ohio re- late to Forestry. Waterways and Minerals, and Mrs. Sneath, with her state committee, is laboring to the end that Ohio may have a Conservation and Waterways Commission that will take up these problems and help solve them scientifically.
At the conclusion of this most interesting talk, the club dis- cussed the water-way problem in our own city-not its use for navi- gation, however .- but with respect to the public health of citizens living on its banks. We are hourly contaminating the waters of the Sandusky, thus threatening health and life. The state com-
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mittee recommends the establishment of reduction plants and gar- bage crematories with a view of protecting rivers and streams from pollution.
The following resolutions relative to the Advancement of Forestry Interests in Ohio, were presented by the Conservation committee, to the Ohio Federation of Women's Clubs and were adopted by that body :
"Recognizing the importance of the forests to the welfare and prosperity of a state. we must insist that this resource shall be de- veloped, used and conserved in ways consistent both with the cur- rent welfare and with the perpetuity of the people.
"We approve of the work being done by the Agricultural Experiment station to promote the growth of the forestry interests in the state, and we urge that the annual appropriation for forestry work be increased so as to be adequate in meeting the growing demands made upon the service.
"Recognizing the need of forest experimentation and demon stration, and the preservation of stream flow and natural scenery, we earnestly recommend to the General Assembly. convening in January, 1911, that the Experiment Station be authorized to ac- quire lands for reservation purposes.
"We believe forest reserves established in certain sections of Ohio could be done with small outlay for land and would be of untold value as an example. and would encourage many land owners to undertake forestry operations.
"We recommend that the General Assembly convening in January, 1911, enact legislation permitting towns and cities to ac- quire lands for forest parks; the planning and management of which are to be in co-operation with the State Forestry Department.
"We urge that provision he made for more adequate and effi- cient protection against forest fires in certain portions of the state.
"We believe that in order to secure more beautiful, uniform and long-lived trees along our city streets. that street trees should be under municipal, instead of private control of parties against whose property the trees may abut.
"We favor the passing of more efficient shade tree laws."
Besides Mrs. Sneath, we also take pleasure in making compli- mentary mention of Mrs. Watson, Mrs. William Harmon, Mrs. G. P. Williard and others as prominent members and workers in the Dolly Todd Madison Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution at Tiffin.
Of the prominent women of Seneca county, Miss Florence Cronise, an attorney-at-law should be mentioned. The Cronise sisters-Florence and Nettie-graduated from Heidelberg, read law and were admitted to the bar-probably the first ladies to enter the legal profession in Ohio.
Vol. 1-22
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George E. Seney was a distinguished citizen of Tiffin, was a Union soldier in the War of the Rebellion, was in the front rank of the Seneca county bar, represented his district in the congress of the United States, was a judge of the court of Seneca county. and was also noted in the literary field, especially as the author of "Seney's Ohio Code," a work that is highly valued by the legal profession.
In writing of the literature and art of Seneca county, the historical paintings of Coroner Edward Lepper deserves prominent mention in the line of art. The seven pictures hanging upon the walls of the commissioners' room from Mr. Lepper's brush attest his natural artistic ability.
The largest of these paintings and the one which would no doubt otherwise attract the most attention, is the burning of Colonel Crawford at the stake by the Indians, an account of which is given in another chapter of this work. The size of the picture is six and one-half by five feet. It portrays, perhaps as fully as canvas can, the extreme torture of Colonel Crawford and the inhuman joy of the savages as they dance around their burning captive.
To the left of this painting is one smaller in size, of the execu- tion of Seneca John, an account of which is also given elsewhere. To the right of the large picture, is one of Seneca's second court house, erected in 1843.
Upon the south side of the room, to the left as you enter from the auditor's office, are the pictures of Fort Seneca and Fort Ball. but as a description of each of these forts is given in another part of the work, further mention is not necessary here, save to say that they correctly represent the old forts, and are deserving of proper mention in history.
Another is a picture of the first house built in Tiffin, Novem- ber 18, 1817, by Erastus Bowe. It was a log cabin and stocd within the limits of the Camp (Fort Ball). Later Mr. Bowe built a double log cabin near the present Washington St. bridge, and in which he kept the first tavern in the place.
And last, but not least. in local interest is a drawing of the flood of 1882, when the water rose twenty-five inches higher than in the flood of 1847. The loss of property caused by this last flood was estimated at $50,000. Ten bridges in the county were damaged or destroyed by the high waters.
These pictures are handsomely framed in gilt molding and are of great historical value.
Andrew Coffinberry was a pioneer lawyer and poet of Ohio and was a resident of Tiffin for many years. Mr. Coffinberry was familiarly called "Count"' Coffinberry. He shaved smooth and his face carried a smile mixed with sarcasm. He was learned and witty, a good historian and exceedingly entertaining in con-
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versation. He was clerk of Richland county from 1813 to 1815, and practiced law in Seneca county in the twenties. He was a born poet and published one of his poems called "The Forest Rangers" in book form.
The following condensation of the story of "The Forest Rangers" with extracts from the same, is taken from the writings of the author's friend, the IIon. N. B. C. Love, the historian of the Maumee Valley. The older practitioners of the Tiffin bar yet pleasantly recall "Count" Coffinberry.
Mr. Coffinberry was born in Martinsburg, Berkeley county, Virginia, August 20, 1788. His parents were German. They moved to Chillicothe. Ohio, in 1806. and to Lancaster, Ohio, in 1807, where he studied law, and to Perrysburg in 1836, when he acted as the legal advisor of Governor Lucas in the "Michigan and Ohio Boundary War." Here, this year he was associated with Leonard B. Gurley, the pioneer poet preacher, who was the pre- siding elder of the Maumee district, Michigan conference.
As a lawyer Mr. Coffinberry ranked with his coadjutors such as Thos. Ewing. C. J. Sherman, William and Henry Stanbery, G. B. Way, John C. Spink, S. H. Commager, M. R. Waite, and others. He had a grace and stateliness in court that secured to him the title of "Count." Judge James M. Coffinberry, Cleve- land, Ohio, was his son, sometime deceased.
"FOREST RANGERS, " BY JUDGE COFFINBERRY.
But it is not the purpose here to write a memoir. nor give incidents of his pioneer life in the practice of law in northern and western Ohio, but to review his pioneer poem. "The Forest Rangers." In some parts it has real merit; but is quaint in its plot and arrangement. Incidents. too. are introduced that clog, instead of beautifying the poem.
When it was written in 1842. northwestern Ohio was largely a wilderness. The Wyandotte Indians were yet in their Sandusky reservation in Seneca county, and the various Indian tribes along the Maumee had emigrated only four or five years before.
The poem is flavored with the aroma of the rivers, forests, the wild, the free, life of the early northwest, rather than with the halls of learning and the environment of the culture of an older civilization. It is divided into seven cantoes : The Capture, The Narration, The March, The Hazard, The Rescue, The Preparation, The Conclusion.
In the Prelude, the primeval forests are described, and a prayer offered to
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"The sweet genius of the forest shade, Where nature's treasures bloom, And Flora decorates the glade."
Deign thy enchantment to impart, To fan the latent flame That swells and animates his heart, A Bard without a name, Who fain would sign of wildwood fare The redman's vast retreat, And paint its ills and terrors where Its varied evils meet.
The first scene is on the Auglaize River, where the "Woodland warblers woke their lays, Till the extended forest sun With joyous notes of Sylvan song."
Here we are introduced to a lone white man : "A wildered stranger in the land, All drenched with dewdrops reached her strand."
"He cautious trod the brushwood o'er, Until he reached the river's shore. Then bended low, his brows to lave Beneath her cool and limpid wave, Ta soothe and calm his fevered blood; Then slaked his thirst upon her pure flood- Arising then, erect he stood, And seemed the genius of the wood."
And as the poet scans him he exclaims : "The man was six feet high in stature ; Genius and beauty marked each feature, And whomsoever glanced on him, Discerned Herculean strength of limb."
His age seemed to be twenty four years; he was dressed in dark green homespun, soiled with traces of blood. He seemed intent on some important mission :
"The stranger here surveyed each pass- Each inlet, copse and soft morass, Observant still of every sound That woke the solitude around; And every impress of the sand His restless eyes with caution scanned."
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He then unpacked his sack and ate a hasty meal of hardened meat, then passed northward along the river's bank. There is no mistaking here the ranger of the northwest territory of a hun- dred years ago. And this stranger figures in the poem to the end. Caution was necessary, for the Indians were on the alert, and were congregating to meet Mad Anthony Wayne. At the mouth of the Auglaize were :
"Mustering strong the Kaskaskies,
Wyandots and Miamies,
Also the Potawatames, The Delaware and the Chippewas.
The Kickapoos and Ottawas, Shawnoes and many strays
From almost every Indian nation.''
These . and other Indians had almost full occupancy of the northwest, and even after St. Clair's defeat up to the victory of Wayne. Many backwoodsmen and forest rangers, captives had been burned at the stake, or butchered in the presence of wife and children.
"And thus the ruthless savage legion,
All the trackless western region,
Save when the Band of gallant Wayne.
Lay further westward in campaign"
had full control. General Wayne's army at this time, May, 1794, was being augmented at Fort Wayne, where the City of Fort Wayne now stands. At evening time the "Stranger" found him- self in the vicinity of an Indian village, Ockenoxy. It was after- ward known as Sharloe, and was the old "seat of Justice" for Paulding county, Ohio.
A hungry panther followed the stranger as night drew on. He was in a dilemma: A fire would protect him from wild beasts but would expose him to Indians. Just then looking up a deep ravine,
"A hunter's fire he discried, Then peering through with doubt and care, He saw the hunter on his lair Of broken bough all fresh and green, Just wrenched from an adjacent linn."
The American "panther's eye behind glared" and before him the camp fire blazed. Then he resolved "To rush on the human foe, And life or death the truth to know."
And rushing up,
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"By the night's fire flickering light He saw the hunter's skin was white."
They were glad to meet each other and this second person, the hunter said, in the backwoodmen's vernacular:
"Stranger you're welcome to my fire, __ Unloose your pack and set up nigher, I tuek you for some Ingin welp 'A sneaking round to get my skelp, But then I thought it curious quite.
That my dog, Tray, should show no fight ;
Well now set down and dry your feet
While I get suthin' good to eat."
A conversation between the two followed, and the story in smoothly flowing rhyme is given. The hunter's story was in brief :
"I used to live on the Kenewas Till burnt out by the devilish 'Tawas,'
They killed my wife. the poor, dear critter,
I never, never can forgit her."
His wife was killed and burned in his cabin as he supposed, but was in captivity.
The supper prepared by the "hunter" for the "stranger" friend was :
"Wild turkey reeking from the coals, And venison dried on the slender poles,
Wild honeycomb as clear as air,
And water from the brook as fair,
Now furnished him a simple feast,
Most grateful to his hungering taste."
These together agreed to range the forest and hunt "Injins." They found an open small prairie, and hid in some bushes that they might see any one passing near.
They concluded however, that it was better to find and join the army of Wayne, for
"Watch as you may that sooner or late,
You will fall a victim to their hate."
The stranger tells his friend his story : "I go to seek a captive maid And trust in heaven to give her aid With belief that General Wayne In this dire straight. may lend some train I now persue this toilsome route To range the wood and find him out.
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"The maid and I were seized together,
As thoughtlessly we trod the heather,
Between the River and the Bayou, Along the margin of the Ohio."
He tells how he killed his captors and escaped, all of which is sensational, yet no doubt true to life. He had thought himself lost in the great forest, and was happy to know nearly where he was.
The hunter's sympathy was aroused, and he said to the stranger :
"And so I will go with you through,
And help you hunt for General Wayne,
And if so be he gives you men,
To hunt your gal the wildwood through,
Then, stranger, I'll hunt with you too."
This hunter's name was Thomas Gibbs. As the two men and Tray slowly crawled through the tangled woods, the dog silently indicated the nearness of Indians. The hunter put his ear hard on the ground, and said he heard three men walking, and peering closely he saw the three about a hundred yards distant. Picking their men, with two balls, they did their work, and two Indians fell. The third escaped.
Rushing up they found one dead, but the other only stunned. He proved to be a white man in Indian costume, and was noto- rious Simon Girty. They were happy and continued toward Wayne's army, but were waylaid, and in turn were taken prisoners and Girty taunted them with the horrid execution they would receive.
The poet leaves the rangers in captivity and takes the reader to Girty's point or island, six miles above Napoleon, Ohio. When the writer visited this historic scene thirty years ago, the place belonged to Elijah Gunn. The island then was clothed in great luxuriance of native timber, such as walnut, elm, poplar, sycamore and linn, also a smaller growth of willows and ironwood. I have heard the early pioneers tell many interesting stories of this loca- tion in the pioneer days, which I will not repeat here.
At this place in 1794, was Girty's headquarters and to this point was "Julia" brought, "a maiden of seventeen years," and the married woman known as "Nancy." This woman was evident- ly of Scotch-Irish origin and was a fair specimen of the uncul- tured pioneer young wife, loval, brave and kind.
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