USA > Ohio > Seneca County > History of Seneca County, Ohio, containing a history of the county, its townships, towns, villages, school, churches, industries, etc., portraits of early settlers and prominent men; biographies; history of the Northwest territory; history of Ohio; statistical and miscellaneous matter, etc., etc > Part 52
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466
HISTORY OF SENECA COUNTY.
. Mrs. John M. (Stoner) Shaul, formerly wife of John Staub, died August 9, 1885, aged sixty-four years. Her former husband and herself conducted the American Hotel, which stood where the National Hall block now is, at Tiffin .... George Shaver, who resided on the northwest quarter of Section 21, Town 2, Range 15, died in 1827, leaving his property to his wife, Mary, and his son, George J. Shaver. In the fall of 1830 John Kish, Arthur Morrison and Charles W. Foster were appointed appraisers of the property and valued the land at $3.372 cents per acre .... Joseph and Susan (Kain) Shafer, former a native of Virginia, latter of Pennsylvania, parents of Alfred L. Shafer, of Pleasant Township (who was born in Clinton Township in 1840), settled in this township about 1836. Mr. Shafer died in 1849, his widow in 1881. . . . . Henry and Nancy Sheats, came to Seneca County, in 1839, and here Henry Sheats died. His widow afterward moved to Henry County, Ohio, where she died .... Edmond Shelt, an old settler, died March 25, 1884, in his sixtieth year. He joined the first volunteer fire organization of Tiffin in 1849, old Hand Engine Company No. 1. Gen. W. H. Gibson, foreman. Since then he has been an active fireman .... Howland and Huldah Sherman, former a native of New York State, born in 1814, latter of Connecticut, born in 1823, parents of Eldridge Sherman, were married in 1842, and then settled in this county, where Howland Sherman died in 1865. His widow resides with her son Eldridge .... Mrs. Margaret Schock. born in Frederick County, Md., December 10, 1804, settled at Tiffin, in 1833 .... Frederick W. and Catharine Shriver, natives of Pennsylvania, parents of Mrs. Lewis Keller, came, in 1833, from Columbiana County. Ohio, to Clinton Township, where they died, the former September 2, 1840 .... Capt. William D. Sherwood resided north of Tiffin, about a mile from the Crum settlement .... George Shroyer died Febru- ary 25, 1875, after years of residence here .... Peter Shultz, a native of Belgium, born in 1821, came direct to Tiffin in 1843, where he worked at his trade (shoe-maker) until 1846. He made shoes for the Wyandot Indians, who
were here when he came. In 1846 he went to the Mexican war, and in 1849 to California, but in 1859 returned to Seneca County, and settled in Hopewell Township .... Lewis and Esther Shubert, natives of Pennsylvania, came to Tiffin in 1847, where they afterward resided. ... John Six died March 9, 1873, aged eighty-three years .... William Alfred Six, father of James V. Six, of Tiffin, was born in Maryland, and in 1843 came to Tiffin, where he eventually took important part in the building of the place for many years .... Fred. Singer, one of the old residents, is a citizen of Tiffin .... Elisha Smith was one of the early settlers of Fort Ball; was also one of its first tavern keepers; died about 1836 .... David Smith was the violinist of the Fort Ball settlement, and the first cabinet-maker there .... John Smith died September 25, 1839, aged fifty-four years .... Richard and Catharine (Baugher) Sneath, parents of Samuel B. Sneath, of Tiffin, who was born in that city in 1828, former a native of Connecticut, latter of Pennsylvania, settled in Tiffin in 1827. It is stated,
however, that the Sneath family, accompanied by Jacob Huss and H. Zimmer- man, arrived at Tiffin June 10, 1826. ... Albert G. Sneath was one of the old pioneer business men, who worked hard to build up Tiffin a few years ago. His death took place at Kansas City, March 25, 1884, in his sixty-ninth year. .... James B. Sneath, an old resident of Tiffin, born in 1804, died November 5, 1878 .... Lewis E. Sneath was murdered at Humboldt, W. T., October 27, 1861 .... Mrs. Elizabeth (Barton) Sneath, widow of Robert Sneath (former born in Pennsylvania in 1780), and mother of William Sneath, of Pleasant Township (who was born in Maryland in 1817), came with her children to Bel- mont County, Ohio, in 1828, and to Clinton Township, this county, in 1834.
467
CLINTON TOWNSHIP.
where she died in 1840. William Sneath operated the home farm several years, then moved, in 1846, into Pleasant Township .... John W. and Barbara (Hammon) Snyder, natives of Baden, and parents of Calvin Snyder, of Tiffin. settled at Tiffin in 1832. ... Christopher Snyder, a native of Germany, settled at Tiffin in 1832, died March 22, 1857. ... Michael Snyder died in June. 1879. aged seventy-nine years .... Philip Snyder, born August 17, 1782, died July 28. 1863 .... Philip Snyder, a native of Lancaster County, Penn., settled at Tiffin in 1847; died in September, 1882, aged sixty-five years. .. . David Souder, born in 1770, in Pennsylvania, died August 29, 1862 .... Rev. John Souder, came to Seneca. June 17, 1826, with his family, and is still a resident of Tiffin. He was born in Lancaster County, Penn., November 26, 1799 ..... Jacob Souder died December 30, 1854, aged sixty-three years. He settled at
Tiffin in 1848 .... Francis Sanders died in the county June 1, 1849. ... John Sohn, who died in July, 1859, aged eighty-two, came from Pennsylvania about 1834 .... James A. Sohn, born in Pennsylvania, November 19, 1832, was brought to Tiffin about eighteen months later by his parents. .. . Rev. Henry G. Spayth, born September 13, 1788, died September 9, 1873 .... Jesse Spencer (see history of Fort Ball) .... David Spielman, father of Mrs. Montgomery
Noble, of Jackson Township, an early settler here, died in January, 1857 . Henry C. Spindler, one of the pioneers, died at Tiffin. April 2. 1885, in his sixty-first year .... Ruth Spurrier, wife of John H. Clay, was born in Frederick County, Md .. January 19, 1798, and died in Seneca County. Ohio, June 9, 1879, aged eighty-one years, four months and twenty-one days. She
was married in the State of Maryland, August 30, 1828, and moved to'Seneca County, Ohio, April 27. 1833. " Mother " Clay was a church member for a period of fifty-three years .... Isaac Startsman died in 1872 in his seventy- second year . ... John J. Steiner was a lawyer and provost-marshal during the war. Mrs. O. B. Tunison is his daughter .... Joel Stone died June 2, 1846. . .. Jesse Strong died in March, 1876, aged seventy-five years .... John Strong settled here prior to 1830. ... John Stoner and George Stoner settled on Section 18.
Clinton Township, in 1822. The former wounded himself while hunting in the fall of 1826, and died in January, 1827. ... Rev. Mr. Stanch was at Tiffin in 1830. .. John Staub and "Brewery-man" Sting were also old residents. . . Henry St. John, born in Washington County, Vt., July 16, 1783, served all through the war of 1812. was at the burning of Buffalo, moved to Wooster, Ohio, in 1815, and there married Miss Jane Elder, December 2, 1817. In 1828 he removed to Crawford County, and in 1837 settled in Seneca County, seven miles from Tiffin, on the river, where he had a farm, a mill and a store. He served in Congress during the twenty-eighth and twenty-ninth sessions, then moved to Tiffin. where he died suddenly of heart disease, in May, 1869 .... William Sullivan, who, with his brothers Edward and Michael, settled at Tiffin in 1848. died in April, 1873. He was one of the leading hardware merchants of the county. . . . Mrs. Honor Sullivan, widow of William Sullivan, died April 5. 1885. in her sixty-fifth year. She was born in Ireland in 1825, and, immi- grating to this country in 1847, settled in Cleveland, where she resided for eight years, and where, in 184S, she was married to her late husband, William Sullivan, and with him came to Tiffin in 1855.
of Tiffin: Dr. Emmet W., of Cleveland, and Gerald E., who resides in Des
Her sons are Charles J. M.,
Moines, Iowa .... Edward Schwander settled in Clinton Township in 1840 .. John Schwander settled in Clinton Township in 1841, died June 15, 1859, aged eighty-three years .... Thomas Swander died January 4, 1879, aged seventy- three years .... James Swander died in 1849, aged forty-five years . ... Mary (Brobst) Swander, of Swander Station, is a member of the long-lived Brobst
468
HISTORY OF SENECA COUNTY.
family. of Easton, Penn., and is now about eighty years of age .... M. G. A. Swigart died in July, 1850.
Thomas Teare, who settled on land in Adams Township about forty years ago, resided in Tiffin, where he died. His brother Cæsar, who came to the county in 1870, resides in Adams Township .... Lance Todd, who settled at Fort Ball in August, 1828, and moved to Scipio Township, was born in Frederick County, Md., January 7, 1806. ... Thomas Todd came to Fort Ball in 1828, and to Scipio Township in 1829. ... William Toll, born October 11, 1801, in Augusta County, Va., an early official of the county, lieutenant-colonel of militia, jailer, deputy sheriff and many other things in the early history of Seneca County, died March 19, 1871, aged seventy years. His son served in the war for the Union, returned home and died .... Benjamin Tomb, an old resident, died January 17, 1883, aged ninety years. He was identified in banking, years ago, in this city, and first went into the business in 1852 with Sylvanus Arnold. Arnold sold out in about two years to John T. Huss, and the bank was then known as Tomb, Huss & Co. Under the above name the bank existed until 1865, when the company organized the "First National Bank of Tiffin." For eleven years the institution did a good business, until wrecked by the cashier, John T. Huss, who took his own life rather than face his shame. This closed up the affairs of the bank, and the depositors were paid 60 cents on the dollar. .... Francis Trexler died May 15, 1870 .... Valentine Trumpler died April 26, 1876. aged seventy years .... L. Trumpler died a few years ago .... Benjamin Turner settled just west of Fort Ball in 1829, moved to Liberty Township in 1834. In 1829 he paid $100 for nineteen acres of land to Elisha Smith.
Aaron Umsted died September 18, 1844, aged fifty-three and one-fourth years. and Eli Umsted died May 25, 1881, aged eighty-one years. Both were old settlers of Tiffin, locating in Clinton Township in 1828.
Philip VonBlon settled at Tiffin in 1836, and died October 13, 1870, aged eighty-one years. . . .. Louis T. Volmer, whose parents were pioneers of Tiffin, was born here February 29, 1852: died June 7, 1883. .... Thomas and Isabella (Beard) Vannette (both deceased), parents of Mrs. William Sneath, of Pleasant Township, came from New Jersey to Clinton Township in 1825.
Anton Wagner, an old settler of Seneca County, who started the first mar- ket garden near Tiffin, in 1846, died September 1, 1883. Martin Wagner, of Tiffin. and F. H. Wagner, residing on the South Greenfield road, are his sons. .... Joseph Walker. one of the pioneers of Tiffin, died January 15, 1861, in his fifty-eighth year. For years he held a foremost place in the commercial circle of Tiffin, and was one of the city's most estimable old settlers. He mar- ried Miss Rebecca Hedges, daughter of Josiah Hedges. This lady died Janu- ary 16, 1861 .... Mrs. Elizabeth Walker, a resident of Tiffin for over half a century, died April 30. 1885, aged eighty-two years. She was a member of the Methodist Protestant Church for over forty years .... Cooper K. Watson is referred to in the chapter on the courts and bar (page 302) .... Dominick Wel- ter, born in Germany, January 27, 1839, settled in Tiffin with his parents in 1850; moved to Chicago in 1853; served with the Fourth Ohio Cavalry during the war; returned to Chicago, and in November, 1882. was appointed secretary and inspector of the Chicago Police Department. He died July 8, 1885, and was buried by the Forresters, Catholic Benevolent Association, First Illinois Cavalry and Police Department .... Jacob and Rebecca (De Laughter) Wilcox came from Maryland and settled at Tiffin in 1830. Jacob was a soldier of the war of 1812, and resided in Seneca County until his death, June 5, 1875 .... Joel W. Wilson, an old settler of Tiffin. died September 8, 1856, aged forty- two years. Thadeus Wilson was also an old resident .... John Williams, a
469
CLINTON TOWNSHIP.
pioneer of 1821, was born in Fairfield County, Ohio, April 21, 1818; moved with parents to Fort Ball in 1821 .... Reuben Williams, who built the first bridge at Tiffin, was a carpenter and worked at his trade until his death some years before the war. In 1824 he built a saw-mill on the Coe farm, assisted by James Wolf. Mrs. Hospelhorn, now of Tiffin, is a daughter of his .... Eli Williams was a preacher who resided in Clinton Township, but was found guilty of an unnatural crime and sent to prison for life .... Richard Williams, one of the early law- yers, died September 12, 1852. ... Christian Witz was a contemporary of Dren- non in the first settlement of the town of Tiffin in 1821. ... Andrew Wooff died in March, 1872, aged seventy-one years. It is supposed that he came here prior to 1830. ... James Wolf was here in 1824. ... Henry and Susanna (Heis- tand, nee Bretz) Wolf, former of whom, born in 1787, was suffocated in a well in 1825, and latter died in 1872, in her seventy-ninth year (they were parents of Mrs. John Free, born in 1822 (came to this county in 1823, and settled near Tiffin.
William N. Yerk was drowned, while M. Stem, of Tiffin, and Shoemaker, of Republic, barely escaped, during the wreck of the "Chesapeake," off Con- neant, in June, 1847. ... Tobias Yengst died August 2, 1855, aged fifty-four years .... John Young came to Tiffin at an early date.
George W. Zook, father of Mrs. Thomas Galen Brosius, was one of the early pioneers of this township. He died in Henry County, Ohio, in 1865 .... Victor J. Zahm was born in Tolford, Ohio, March 7, 1837, and came to Tiffin with his parents in 1846. At the age of fifteen he engaged in the printing business, remaining at it until 1875, when he entered the auditor's office as deputy, and in the fall of 1876 was elected auditor, filling that place for two terms, and retiring in 1882. He died August 28, 1885. ... Henry Zimmerman arrived at Tiffin, June 10, 1826. with the Smiths .... John Zeigler died January 26, 1883 .... Jacob Zimmer died January 20, 1861 .... Gerhart Zimmer, who entered the lands at Cromer's Station in 1832, was a centenarian.
William Childs settled at Tiffin in 1821 (coming from Auburn, N. Y., that year), and erected a cabin on Sandusky Street, in which he died the same year. His wife died immediately after, leaving a baby, born just before her death.
Official History .- To describe the condition of the records of this old town- ship would be a task similar to that of describing something struck by a cy- clone, of which the slightest traces alone remain. There is nothing left of the old records; a few of the men who had them in charge reside here to-day, but their memories cannot take the place of those ordinary-looking old books of the past, and thus the loss of a few modest, humble old volumes is irreparable. * The township records, which came into possession of Mr. Dore, the present clerk, date back only to 1878, and from them the following list of township officers, elected annually, is taken:
1878 .- Edward Swander, Henry L. Best and Jacob Young, trustees; Will- iam O. Dildine, clerk; Albert Beilharz, treasurer; Martin Woodside, assessor; Anthony H. Arnold and John Knott, constables; Daniel Dildine, Jesse H. Leidy, justices of the peace.
1879. - Henry L. Best, Jacob Young and Peter Miller, trustees; William O. Dildine, clerk; Albert Beilharz, treasurer; Martin Woodside, assessor; Virgil D. Lamberson and John Knott, constables; Daniel Dildine, P. H. Jayne, jus- tices of the peace.
1880 .- William Kline, Peter Miller and Henry L. Best, trustees; William O. Dildine, clerk ; Sylvester J. Kintz, treasurer ; John C. Leidy, assessor;
*In 1843 Jephtha Lamberson was justice of the peace, and David E. Owen, clerk. Henry Ebbert succeeded Owen in 1844.
470
HISTORY OF SENECA COUNTY.
Virgil D. Lamberson and John Knott, constables; Daniel Dildine, P. H. Jayne, justices of the peace.
1SS1 .- William Kline, Peter Miller and Henry L. Best, trustees; Hiram C. Keppel, clerk; Sylvester J. Kintz, treasurer; Ezra Bowser, assessor; Anthony H. Arnold and Virgil D. Lamberson, constables; Daniel Dildine and P. H. Jayne, justices of the peace.
1882 .- William Kline, Peter Miller and Samuel Horn, trustees ; H. C. Keppel, clerk; A. Beilharz, treasurer; James M. Bowser, assessor; Porter H. Jayne and Daniel Dildine, justices of the peace; A. H. Arnold and V. D. Lamberson. constables.
1853 .- Jeremiah Rex, John C. Lydey and Peter Miller, trustees; Louis Wagner, clerk; Albert Beilharz, treasurer; James M. Brown, assessor; John Silvers and A. Brickford, constables; Porter H. Jayne and Daniel Dildine, justices of the peace.
1884 .- Jeremiah Rex, John C. Lydey and Peter Miller, trustees; William H. Dore, clerk; Albert Beilharz, treasurer; James Bowser, assessor; John Gravel- dinger and John Silvers, constables; Porter H. Jayne and Daniel Dildine, jus- tices of the peace.
The elections of 1885 for township officers were carried out on party prin- ciples. The highest number of votes polled in the township was 162, and the highest number in the township and city was 1,077, so that the vote of the township is still as small as it was in pioneer days.
TRUSTEES.
CLERK.
Miller+
1066
Dore 1070
Rex. .
986
Lott . 656
Lydey
1077
JUSTICE.
Egbert
667
Jayne 1038
Gray.
678
Rex. 951
Rickenbaugh
671
Sohn.
770
TREASURER.
ASSESSOR.
Beilharz.
1070
Letcher 1070
Harley.
651
Norris 701
CONSTABLES.
Silvers.
1077
Graveldinger
892
Bickford.
,88
VILLAGES OF THE TOWNSHIP.
Swander, or Morris Postoffice, five miles east of Tiffin, is a station on the North- western Ohio Railroad; B. J. Bright is railroad agent, grocer and postmaster; James Harshman, blacksmith, and C. C. Crosby, shoe-maker. Mr. Bright was re-appointed to charge of the postoffice in September, 1885. The present name of the village was given in honor of J. S. Morris, superintendent of the North- western Ohio Railroad and owner of the Shawhan House, Tiffin. The only society organized there up to January, 1885, is the Literary and Debating Club, of which the following named are the officers : President, M. V. Kaga; vice-president, T. J. Collins; treasurer, H. R. Miley; secretary, B. W. Knepple.
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, and, like all such towns, is one of great expectations. Here also a Literary and Debating Club has been organized, with the following named
+Democrats in Roman letters, Republicans in Italics.
471
CLINTON TOWNSHIP.
officers: President, N. R. Heaton; vice-president, W. F. Wenner; secretary, B. W. Knepple; treasurer, H. R. Miley; historian, N. W. Miller.
The old villages of Oakley, Fort Ball and Pan Yan are grouped in the his- tory of Tiffin.
GENERAL STATISTICS.
The assessment roll of Clinton Township for 1841 shows following statis- tics: 22,937 acres of land, valued at $104,810; town lots valued at $53,316; horses, 425, valued at $17,000; cattle, 701, valued at $5,608; mercantile capital and moneys at interest, $33, 150; pleasure carriages, 25, valued at $1,545; total, $215,433. Total tax, $3,069.92; delinquences since 1840, $331.95.
The valuation and taxation for 1884-85 are shown by the following statistics: Acres of land, 20,639, value $1,012,420; chattels, $363, 780; total, $1,376,200, or if equally divided among the 1,702 inhabitants, credited by census of 1880, would give to each $808.50. The total tax for 1884-85 is $16,517. 14, together with $155 dog tax.
The general statistics for 1884 are given as follows: Acres of wheat, 3,975; of rye, 16; of buckwheat, 2; of oats, 1,027; of corn, 2,488, producing 73, 254 bushels; of meadow, 1,265, yielding 1,483 tons of hay; of clover, 1,214 acres, giving 1,327 tons of hay, 899 bushels of seed, and 92 acres plowed under; potatoes, 136 acres, yielding 16,616 bushels; milk sold for family use, 12,195 gallons ; home-made butter, 61,035 pounds; 1 acre sorghum, 122 gallons; gallons of maple syrup, 235; 213 hives, 3,595 pounds of honey; 18,310 dozens of eggs; 1 acre vines, 1,270 pounds; 1 acre sweet potatoes, 50 bushels; 496 acres of apple trees, 6,482 bushels; 225 bushels of pears and 10 of cherries; lands cultivated, 14,289 acres; pasture lands, 1,227; wood land, 3,431; waste land, 107; total acreage, 19,054; wool, 20,626 pounds; milch cows, in 1863, 563; dogs, 159; sheep killed and injured by dogs, 9; animals died of disease, 96 hogs, 81 sheep, 25 cattle and 13 horses.
The condition of the schools of Clinton Township in August, 1884, is set forth as follows: Local tax, $1, 706.31; receipts, $4,689; expenditures, $3,644. - 36; schoolhouses, 8; value of property, $1,600; teachers employed, 15; average salaries, $38 and $24; male pupils, 140; female, 130.
In the foregoing pages the pioneers of Fort Ball and Tiffin are grouped with those of Clinton Township, because for years, in fact up to the close of the pioneer period, there were no social or geographical lines drawn between the country sections and the settlements of Fort Ball and Tiffin. In the history of Tiffin City all names identified with its business, social, religious and municipal interests, find mention in direct connection with the history of the city's begin- nings and progress, thus rendering the story of the township and city as re- plete in detail as it is possible to make it.
TIFFIN CITY.
Tiffin is situate on Sections 18, 19, 20, 29 and 30, Town 2 north, Range 15 east, Clinton Township and Section 24, Hopewell Township, in latitude north 41° 7', and longitude west from Washington 6° 8'. The Sandusky River flows through the city in a general northeastern course, coursing almost due east ftom Washington Street bridge to the railroad bridges, and dividing the city at this point into the North and South sides. Washington Street, running north and south, divides the city into the East and West sides. Rock Creek flows northwest in a tortuous course through the northeastern parts of the city, and enters the river east of Washington Street bridge. The white population
472
HISTORY OF SENECA COUNTY.
in 1817 was 3; in 1822, 30; in 1830, 600; increased to 7,879 in 1880, and to about 10,000 in 1885.
The distinctive features of the city are its magnificent location, looking over the Sandusky, its natural terraces, variety of landscape and wildwood drives, all retained, by some magic power, amid the ruin of old time forests, and change in everything.
Here, at the beginning of the second decade of this century, the troops of 1812 encamped and revelled in the natural beauty of the place, and here a few years later the first white settler built his home and dedicated the locality to civilization for all time. A few years more and the pioneer of progress came, crossed the river, and, adopting the name of the first governor of Ohio for a town, bestowed it upon a tract of wildwood where Tiffin now stands. Another year, and there stood the twin settlements, lovely and romantic, quiet and un- pretentious. There the pioneer settlers or travelers passed their happy leisure hours, listening to the murmurs of the rippling waters of the creek, the roar of the river, or watched the mist as it curtained the groves and cabins. Ah! then it claimed but plain imagination to picture the happiness of the warriors and beauties of the ancient tribes, when they looked upon their villages, and found plenty in the woods and in the rivers. A little thought, too, encircled the place with a romance, all its own, when the white man brought forth in fancy what his predecessors had lost, and what he had won. Then, for a time, admiration gave place to awe, and over the scene spread a gloom, born of conscience and natural superstition, which prompted the question: Oh, God! how long shall we enjoy the home of the red men? In after years, amid the din and toil of progress, the thought was forgotten, and the mind once more returned to revel in the beauty and magnificence of the place, to enjoy what the Caucasian had built up on the ruin of the Indian.
It was not until the land was opened up for entry, or purchased, that immigration became active, or the country began to fill up. Then the necessity of established villages became obvious. Notwithstanding the advantages of locality and accessibility, the east bank of the river was not thought of as the site of a city for almost four years after the first settlers came in, and for two years after the first village was platted on the west bank of the Sandusky at this point. Josiah Hedges first realized the importance of the spot, and decided to.establish himself east of what even then was considered the frontier-the Sandusky River. Others came, and all decided to carve for themselves a home in the beautiful wilderness, and fashion out a city among the trees, that should one day be regarded as the goal to which enterprising men would direct their footsteps, where scholars would find a home, and religion 10,000 followers.
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