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 47
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"N. Hadley was admitted to be the boss hunter and trapper on Honey creek. Mr. Hadley, at a single hunt, brought down seven.
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deer, six of them by torchlight, and the seventh by sunlight in the morning. So fond was Hadley of hunting, that, game getting scarce, he had J. C. Hampton to haul his family and goods (mostly steel traps) to the head of canoe navigation on the Scioto, in Hardin county. Here he dug out two large walnut canoes, lashed them side by side, and started for Cairo, on the Mississippi. With one boat wrecked on the raging Scioto, he nevertheless reached Ports- mouth with the other, his family walking most of the way. At this point a captain of a steamer bound for Iowa, whither Hadley was going, struck with admiration for a man who would venture his all in a canoe on the Ohio, offered to carry him without charge to his destination. Thus the boss pioneer hunter of Bloom township left Ohio for game in the far west. .
"An encounter of a Wyandot Indian with a pack of hungry wolves in South Bloom is worth recording. He had tracked a wounded deer some distance in the snow, when suddenly he came upon it surrounded by a pack of wolves, making of it a hasty meal. intent upon having some of the meat himself, he tried to drive the wolves by shooting one of them. This enraged the rest, and they rushed upon him. Backing against a tree, he kept them at bay with his tomahawk, till hunger overcoming rage, they returned to finish their meal upon the deer. . The Indian, convinced that 'dis- cretion was the better part of valor,' was glad to escape. The pioneer who succeeded best in making a comfortable living, did not make a business of hunting, but chopping and logging and burning was the chief work. Much timber, which today would be valuable in market, was burned on the ground. No where could finer poplar, walnut, blue ash and butternut trees be found than in Bloom township.
"The first saw mill was built by Roswell Munsel and the Donalds, on Honey creek, near the present Kaler mill. Soon after John Davis built another mill, a mile further down, where my first lumber was made. A few years later Abraham Kagy put up a saw mill, and the Steeles a saw and grist mill on Silver creek. It may be well to remind the reader that in those days our water courses furnished power much more steadily and for a greater part of the year. Through the clearing away of fallen timber and general drainage, our ereeks gave short lived spurts of water, and then Steel's grist mill could be heard day and night for more than half a year. My first grinding was done at Hedges' mill. just below Tiffin. When we began to have wheat to sell our nearest public market was at Venice or Portland (Sandusky City). This was so until the pioneer railroad in Ohio made us a market at Republic.
"In those days neighbors were neighbors indeed. Was a cabin to be 'raised,' logs to be 'rolled,' or assistance of any kind needed,
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a simple notice was enough. A 'neighber' could be found at a much greater distance than now. The whisky of those days was not charged with 'killing at forty rods' as now, but the 'brown jug' or the barrel was found in nearly every home. and it was esteemed an indispensable 'mechanical power' at 'raisings' and 'loggings,' etc., etc.
"Our public schools were held at first in cabins like our dwell- ings, with a huge fire place on one side, with a 'stick and mud' chimney on the outside. Religious meetings were held in these 'school houses,' or in the cabins of the settlers. The Presbyterians, Baptists and Methodists were the first to organize societies or churches in Bloom. James Robinson. a Presbyterian clergyman, organized the first church of that name. about the year 1830.
"On the 27th of May, 1827, the Baptist church. named Honey Creek, was organized. The council was composed of Elders Thomas Snelson, of Highland county, and Benjamin Caves, of Pickaway, and Deacon John Hite. of Fairfield. In 1830 the under- signed was chosen pastor of this church and has sustained this relation ever since. As will be noticed ministers in those early days traveled a great way in the pursuit of their calling. But not as now, cosily and swiftly in a railway coach, but invariably on horseback, equipped with saddle-bags. with Bible, hymn book, a few dickeys (a sort of shirt front with collar attached), and some provisions, perhaps. The messenger of 'peace and good will,' through the Cross of Christ, traveled in all kinds of weather. over all sorts of roads (or no roads through the wilderness). Perhaps such experiences, if presented to many of our clerical brethren today, as a part of their labors, would lead to some more congenial calling. But it must be remembered that the privations and trials of pioneer life were shared by all classes, and hence borne the more cheerfully. While we nay freely admit that this generation is enjoying much that is good and desirable as the fruit of the labors and purposes of their pioneer fathers and mothers, it is a matter of profound regret that the rugged virtues and beautiful friendships could not have been transmitted with the improved culture, con- veniences, comforts and luxuries enjoyed by our children. They
are enjoying the material blessings for which their fathers and mothers toiled and dared and suffered. Modern improvements have obviated the necessity for much of the personal effort and deprivation of pioneer life, but when we cease to practice their manly and womanly virtues, all our boasted progress cannot save us from the penalties of violated moral law."
Clinton township was established in December, 1824, and named for DeWitt Clinton, then governor of New York state.
The Sandusky river enters the township in section 30, just at
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the southwest corner of what is known as Springdale addition to Tiffin, flows northeast, and thence northwest to the great bend where it turns east, and thence flows north by east through the city and township, leaving Clinton in the northwest quarter of section 5. The terrace is high above the water level, generally lying some distance back on each side, giving a large strip of valley or bottom lands, and presenting a hundred beautiful scenes well worth the labor of a painter.
Honey creek. that old stream sweetened by pioneer memories, looks into the township in its extreme southwestern corner, while Rock creek and its tributaries, the ancient mill-drivers, water the central southern sections, and, flowing in a tortuous course north- west, enters the Sandusky just east of Washington Street bridge. The name given to it is well deserved. During a great part of the year there are more rocks than water visible; but when water does appear it comes in torrents, as the history of many an old time bridge can tell.
There are two other large streams flowing east through the center of the township, which enter the river in section 17, just below Tiffin. The northeastern sections are watered by a nameless creek, while a number of short spring creeks are found meandering almost everywhere throughout the thirty-six sections. In the center of the northeast quarter of section 33 is a spring lake, an- other near the river on section 5, and another on section 8.
In the neighborhood of the river and creeks the land is much broken, and throughout the township "rolling heavily." It is as fertile as land may be, and shows the result of years of labor in the number of fine farms, orchards and gardens. The first direct reference made to that part of Ohio known as Clinton township was in 1812. Long years before that, however, the district was known to the trappers, hunters and traders of the Sandusky.
Fire clay is found even within the boundaries of the city, and brick yards have been carried on from the close of the third decade of this century. Tile works and the now much prized terra-cotta find a place in the economical geology of this township.
REV. JOHN SOUDER'S PIONEER INCIDENTS.
Pioneer incidents as told by the Rev. John Souder: "In the fall of 1824 my father-in-law, John Walker, and I. left Frederick county, Maryland. on horseback, for the purpose of exploring the west in our own way. We took the national pike to Wheeling. which at that time was the national highway as far as it was made. We crossed the Ohio river at Wheeling and reached Cincinnati by way of Zanesville and Circleville, a distance of over 500 miles from
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our home. The settlements through Ohio were sparse and quite new, deadened timber standing everywhere.
"There was no market for anything, scarcely. Wheat was worth only thirty-two cents, and corn twelve and one-half cents. other provisions in proportion, but there was no money in circula- tion. Everything was trade and exchange. We arrived at home in safety, and in spite of the gloomy outlook in Ohio, I resolved to emigrate there, and in May, 1826, I sold out and started for Ohio with a large wagon and four horses. My family then consisted of a wife and one child, about one year old. two single sisters and my brother-in-law, John Walker, who was then yet unmarried. Rich- ard Sneath and his family came with us. That family consisted of Mr. and Mrs. Sneath, two or three small children, Jacob Huss and Henry Zimmerman, who were single men. They also had a large wagon and three horses. Taking us altogether, we were a jolly set for such an excursion.
"Nothing occurred worth remembering until we reached a place in the Alleghany mountains called 'the Shades of Death.' It was a pinery through which our road passed, seven miles across, without a single human habitation. There was a tavern and a blacksmith shop just east of the dense forest. One of my horses lost a shoe just before sundown. He could not travel on the hard pike without being shod. It was about time to put up for the night, but the bad reputation of the tavern made us conclude to press on. While my horse was being shod, Sneath, with his family and the young men, passed on, leaving me with the women and the child behind. This compelled me to travel these seven miles through the dark alone. It was very inconsiderate in Sneath and the others to leave us thus. One or two armed men could have had us. at their mercy, for all I had in the world I had with me. Under a kind Providence we passed through in safety. No acci- dent occurred until we crossed the river at Wheeling. Here we were in Ohio. A road leads up a high hill nearly two miles from the river before it reaches the uplands. The national pike here was just in process of construction, and we were often compelled to take side roads that were dangerous at places. My wife became so disgusted with the country that she exclaimed at one time, 'Any man that will bring his wife and child to such a country as this, ought to be shot.'
"The greatest impediment. to the prosperity of Ohio was a general want of market. The canal connecting the Ohio river with the lake was laid out, but not constructed. Our first idea was to locate somewhere near its line. At Granville, in Licking county, we found a vacant house, which we rented for the time being, in order that we might explore the country round about. We were not pleased here, and resolved to strike for Tiffin, and see how that
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country would please us. Mr. Sneath and I came out here on horseback, leaving our families at Granville. We inquired for Fort Ball and found it. We saw a gentleman standing in the road there, and Mr. Sneath, who was given to be mischevious at times, inquired of the man how far it was to Fort Ball. The man said : 'You are right in the midst of it.' The stranger was Mr. McNeal, the merchant.
"George and John Stoner used to be old neighbors of ours in Maryland. We 'inquired for them and found them. Here we put up for the night. The Sandusky country pleased us better than anything we had seen in Ohio, being a rich, level, limestone country, such as we had been accustomed to. We really did not know how new it was until we moved into it. Tiffin and Fort Ball were then very small beginnings. Mr. Sneath found a large frame building in an unfinished condition (Bradley's Central Hotel afterwards, Remele's butcher shop now). This was offered for sale, and Mr. Sneath bought it for $400, I think. Somebody showed me the land of Mr. Sherwood. I had almost made up my mind to buy it, but did not at that time, but I liked the country very much.
"We returned to Granville to bring our families here, re-loaded our wagons and set sail for Seneca county. We were used to traveling by this time, and we pursued our journey with cheer, especially so since we knew the point of destination. In the night before we reached Upper Sandusky it rained. In the morning the travel was heavy, and I had a bigger load than Mr. Sneath. He and the young men put on ahead and left me behind, just as they did once before. They got clear out of sight. A little beyond Marion the horses, endeavoring to avoid going through a mud hole, crowded a wheel onto a stump, which nearly upset my wagon; both wheels were at least a foot from the ground, but all the horses rushed forward with speed through the mud hole, and the wagon righted up again. My wife and child were alone in the wagon at the time, and an upset there and then might have been a very serious affair.
"It was long after night before we reached Upper Sandusky. and there found our friends nicely tucked away in bed at Walker's Hotel. We had not seen them all day. We had another fearful time before we reached Upper Sandusky. My wife and my sisters had never seen an Indian before, and all they ever heard of them was savage cruelty. As night came on the Indians rode after us on their ponies, yelping and hooping. This frightened the women very much. I was on my saddle horse, and they kept calling to me ' in an undertone, 'drive on, drive on.' I had seen them before and remained quiet. We kept together after leaving Upper Sandusky. "When we reached Love's hill, near Tiffin, the joke turned the
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other way. Sneath's horses got very smooth, and Love's hill was steep and slippery. Sneath was on his saddle horse and attempted to ascend the hill, but failed, and his saddle horse fell down, the wagon ran back close to the bank of the river, and came very near upsetting into it, but all went on safely, and we kept together to the town. The best part of the joke came in when Mr. Sneath jumped up after his horse fell and exclaimed that he might have got his leg broken, regardless of the danger of losing the lives of his entire family.
"Mr. Sneath moved into his house, and I found an empty cabin in Fort Ball, belonging to Mr. McGaffey. Mr. Spencer was the proprietor of Fort Ball, Mr. MeNeal had a small store, Elisha Smith kept tavern, Levi Reasey was a blacksmith, David Smith was a cabinet maker, a justice of the peace and a fiddler. He lived
near the river. Dr. Dresbach, lawyers Rawson and Dickinson were here; all single men and the three occupied the same small office together. It was about twelve by fourteen feet and is still standing on Sandusky street.
"Dr. Dresbach's motto was, 'Root, hog, or die.' Mr. McGaffey was clerk of the court at that time. One time in conversation he predicted that within fifteen years we would have a railroad through the country. When I left Maryland the Baltimore and Ohio Com- pany had only thirteen miles of road out of Baltimore.
I bought the Sherwood place containing nearly 440 acres. mostly in section 7, for $1,900, and got possession on the 1st of July, 1826. We arrived in Fort Ball on the 10th of June that year. Mr. Sherwood was not a very successful man in business. He kept a barrel of whisky in his house. Whisky and business never run well together.
"Mr. Bowe had a few acres cleared alongside of the Stoner farm. Win. Montgomery kept a tavern in a small way on a six- acre lot taken off of a corner of the land I bought. These were all the improvements in that neighborhood. My neighbors were Mr. Bowe and George and John Stoner, who came in the fall of 1822.
"John Stoner lost his life by a simple accident. In the fall of 1826 he shot a squirrel and tried to finish it with the butt of his gun. He slipped and fell on the muzzle of his gun, which injured him internally to such an extent that he died after great suffering, in January, 1827. Ile was the first person buried in the Stoner graveyard.
"John, Jacob and Abraham Crum, three brothers; E. Rogers. John Crum and old Mr. Abbott were also neighbors. The Rosen- bergers, Shaulls, Klines and others were Virginians and had a little settlement west of Wolf creek. George Puffenberger lived in a cabin some distance west, and John Flack in (now) Liberty, lived the farthest westward of any man I could hear of. I was in com-
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pany with others in view of a new road and we stopped at Flack's. It seemed very lonesome to live so entirely alone in the forest as Flack did. Mr. Cornelius Flummerfelt and the Parker brothers came about the time I did.
"The Indians were troublesome at times. The Wyandots made their annual trips to Malden to receive presents from the British government for services rendered in the war against the United States. On their way out they bought whisky at Fort Ball and elsewhere, and generally camped in front of our house, where they all got drunk and rested a whole day to sober up. They generally had their whole families with them. They used to come into the house and wanted everything we had, especially bread. Sometimes they took all the bread we had and my wife had to bake again. They paid for what they bought. One time a drunken Indian got angry at my wife and drew his knife on her. He would have
used it had it not been for a sober Indian close by. The sober Indians often stayed all night at our house, sleeping by the fire in the same room we slept. We often bought venison and cranberries from them. A camp of drunken Indians and squaws is a most disgusting sight; the papooses strapped on a board sitting against the trees, and the men and women reeling around, the squaws squealing like wild cats. But with all their general degradation. we had some interesting interviews with those who had been chris- tianized at camp and other meetings.
"Mr. Moler, a very early settler, took up the land where Mr. Maule lived. John Doran, another pioneer, was at the raising of Mr. Hedges' mill on the river, and became crippled for life by the falling of a tree in a storm while raising the mill."
The little village of Swander is five miles southeast of Tiffin, on the Pennsylvania railroad. It is sometimes called Morris Postoffice.
Viona, on the east half of the northeast quarter of section 35, was surveyed for John H. Foulk in October, 1874. It is the center of a rich agricultural district, but it has no place on the map.
Eden township was surveyed into sections and quarter sections in 1820, was organized into a separate and distinct township in 1821, and received its name from the quality of its soil, which is remarkably fertile. especially that which borders on Honey creek. The first township election was held on the 4th of June, 1821, in the house of John Searles.
Eden settled rapidly. The great fertility of the soil attracted emigrants from various parts of the east, and at the time of the organization of the township, its population exceeded that of either of the other townships.
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In 1824, a town was surveyed in this township, where the Kilbourn road crosses Honey creek and to it was given the name of Melmore.
What was known in the early history of Eden township as the Van Meter reservation, is yet frequently referred to as such, or as the Van Meter section.
John Van Meter, a white man. was captured when he was five years old by the Wyandot Indians. They captured him near West Liberty, Virginia, in March. 1778. The people in the neighbor- hood in which he was captured having been frequently alarmed by Indian aggressions, had assembled for the purpose of building a fort to protect themselves from savage cruelty. It was a beauti- ful day and two of the elder boys of the family were directed to go to a "chopping" and arrange some brands. John accompanied them and the father proceeded to the fort. The boys had but just commenced their work, when they were suddenly beset by a party of Indians. The elder boys made good their escape, but John was easily captured. The Indians then went to the home of Van Meter, set it on fire, murdered the wife and daughter and then fled to the wilderness, taking the captive boy with them. He afterwards lived with the Indians, completely forgetting his native tongue, but he learned it again ere he died. HIe was induced to make his relatives and friends a visit, but he refused to remain with them, saying he preferred the wild life of the Indian to civil- ized society. Van Meter was a man of more than ordinary decis- ion of character, and he was benevolent and friendly to the white settlers.
On the 29th of April. 1817. a treaty was held at the foot of the rapids of the Miami of Lake Erie, near Perrysburg, Wood county. Ohio, between Lewis Cass and Duncan MeArthur, commissioners of the United States, of the one part, and the sachems, chiefs and warriors of what was then called the Wyandot. Seneca, Delaware, Shawnees, Potawatomie, Ottawa and Chippawa tribes of Indians, when all their lands within the limits of Ohio were ceded to the United States forever.
At this treaty there was reserved by the United States: "To John Van Meter, who was taken prisoner by the Wyandots, and who has ever since lived amongst them, and has married a Seneca woman, and to his wife and three brothers, Senecas, who now reside on Honey creek. one thousand acres of land, to begin north 45 degrees west, 140 poles, thence and from the beginning, east for quantity."
This John Van Meter was Johnny, the captive boy, and this Seneca woman whom he had married was the last female, and these her three brothers, Senecas, were the last males of that great family of Brandt, the ruler of the Mohawk nation of Indians. The names
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of these three brothers was Thomas, Isaac and Paulus Brandt. Thomas was the chief of the tribe.
The tribe continued to reside upon the above reservation until 1829, when they joined other Indians and left the country. It is noted on the map as "Van Meter Reserve."
At the time the Mohawk tribe left here, as above mentioned, it didn't exceed probably twenty-five families.
John Van Meter lived. died and was buried on the reserve. His death occurred some years before his tribe moved west. He died, leaving his son John, above spoken of, his only heir .. A suit was afterwards commenced by some of the "Van Matres" against this son John, Jr., to recover his father's share. one-quarter of the above reserve. This suit was predicated upon the ground that the son John, Jr., was not the heir at law of John Van Meter, for the reason that the latter and his wife, Susan, were never married ac- cording to law, and that consequently the plaintiffs were the true heirs.
The son John, Jr., proved, however, that his father and mother were married; that his father went out and killed some venison, and brought it in. and his mother brought in some corn; that she then dressed and cooked the venison and corn, and the two parties then ate it together, in the presence of witnesses. and that that was the marriage ceremony among the Mohawk Indians.
The court held the marriage good and valid, and John, Jr., the lawful heir.
John, Jr., and his three uncles, the Brandts, sold out the Van Meter reservation, in 1828, to Mr. Lloyd Norris. In 1829 the Mohawk tribe moved west of the Mississippi river. John, Jr., went with them.
The above reservation is upon Honey creek. within two and a half or three miles of Tiffin, and is as good land as there is in the state. * There are some very fine springs upon it. Van Meter creek empties into Honey creek in this reserve.
Recollections of the early settlement of Eden township by the Rev. Joseph Bever : "I am a son of Peter Bever, one of a family of thirteen children ; was born in Virginia in 1815. My father moved from Virginia to this county in the fall of 1823, and settled on the banks of Honey creek. The prospects of opening a farm and mak- ing a living here in this forest. for so large a family, were not very flattering, for Seneca county at that time was nearly an unbroken wilderness. It had neither roads, bridges, markets, or any other advantage. Persons who never saw this country as it looked fifty-seven years ago, cannot imagine how dense the forest was, and the underbrush that met the eye on every side. If you can imagine a little spot of about an aere. cleared off, and a log cabin standing in the middle, and all around you an unbroken forest, with under-
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