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 72

Author: Leeson, M. A. (Michael A.)
Publication date: 1886
Publisher: Chicago : Warner, Beers & Co.
Number of Pages: 1088

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 72

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Frederick, Jr., and Hannah (Sheidler) Sellers, former born in Germany in 1817, latter in Stark County, Ohio, in 1816, parents of Reuben Sellers, who was born in this township in 1856, were early settlers. Frederick Sellers, Sr., father of Frederick, Jr., still resides in Pleasant Township, where he came in 1833 .... George and Mary (Lautzenheiser) Shannon, parents of Frank M. and William (Shannon), settled in this county in 1847 and still reside here .... Henry and Mary E. (Myers) Shedenhelm, natives of Maryland and Virginia. respectively, parents of Charles D. Shedenhelm (who was born in this township in 1855), came to this county in an early day. Mr. Sheden- helm died in 1882: his widow resides at Green Spring. .. . Bartholomew Shaull

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is a son of John and Elizabeth (Benner) Shaull, who were among the earliest settlers of Pleasant Township .... Abram D. Shidler came in 1846 .... Green- berry and Marsella (Sheets) Sheets, natives of Maryland, parents of Mrs. Philip King, came to this county in 1831. Mr. Sheets was born in 1811: died in 1854. Mrs. Sheets was born in 1803; died in 1877. ... George Shu- maker, born in Pennsylvania in 1822, settled here in 1838 .... Simon Shuman, who settled here in 1844, died in 1880. His widow, Mrs. Mary (Beck) Shu- man, resides in Liberty Township .... William Siberal, a soldier of 1812, set- tled in Pleasant Township in 1828; died here and was buried in the Ridge Cemetery .... John Siberal came from Kentucky in 1824. ... William Sneath. reference to whom is made in the history of Clinton Township, moved here in 1846 .... Mrs. Margaret (Kuhn) Staub, who came with her husband, Philip Staub, died in 1874. ... Philip Staub, a Revolutionary soldier, settled in Pleas- ant Township in 1834; died in January. 1876, and was buried in St. Joseph's Cemetery, Tiffin .... Joshua Stackhouse was drowned near the Pleasant Town- ship bridge in 1848 .... Joseph and Anna M. (Walt) Stoner, parents of Henry Stoner (who was born in Pennsylvania in 1817), came with their family in 1847. ... Lewis and Julia A. (Steinbergen) Switser, natives of Germany and Pennsylvania, respectively, parents of Mrs. William Shannon, came to this county in an early day.

Curtis Titus and family, natives of Connecticut. settled in the county in 1833, where Mr. Titus, Sr., died two years later. R. R. Titus is a son of this old settler; Mrs. Lucinda (Wilerman) Titus, his widow, died in 1846. ... Ras- selus R. Titus, a native of Connecticut, born in 1819, came with his parents to this county in 1833, and in 1841 settled in Pleasant Township .... Benja- min Tomb, father of Benjamin F. Tomb (who was born here in 1844), came to Pleasant Township in 1842 and here died in 1SS5. His widow resides in Tiffin.

Samuel Waggoner, an old settler of Pleasant Township, is referred to in the history of Tiffin as well as in the histories of Hopewell and London Town- ships .... Jesse B. Wagner, born in Pennsylvania in 1829, came to this county in 1848; his parents. George and Margaret (Carpenter) Wagner, natives of Pennsylvania came in 1849. ... Margaret Watchier was born in Lutzenberg, Germany, December 23, 1843, and when but three years old came to America with her parents, four brothers and four sisters. and settled near Fort Seneca. in Pleasant Township. In 1863 she was united in marriage with John S. Harrison. moved to Tiffin, and was burned to death in that city April 30. 1885. ... James S. and Mary (Tennis nee Saltsman) Watson, parents of Mrs. Frank M. Shannon and George W. Watson, were early settlers of this town- ship; Mr. Watson died in 1869. his widow still resides here .... William and Jane (McMeen) Watson, natives of Ireland and Pennsylvania respectively, par- ents of Thomas W. Watson (who was born in Pennsylvania in 1819). came to Seneca County in 1836; Mr. Watson was born in 1772 and died in 1856. Mrs. Watson was born in 1784 and died in 1846 .... Pirmin and Ursula (Housel) Weltin, parents of Frederick Weltin (who was born in Germany in 1837), set- tled in Pleasant Township in 1854; Mrs. Weltin died in 1862; Mr. Weltin lives with his son Frederick. ... John S. White came from New York State in 1849 .... James T. Worthington, United States surveyor, may be included among the pioneers of the county. In 1820 he surveyed several townships, making his headquarters at Fort Seneca .... John Wright of the old firm of Wright & Bissell, opened the first distillery in the township, and it is thought in the county.

Nelson Yeaky, is classed among the pioneers, but farther than this nothing certain has been learned regarding him.

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HISTORY OF SENECA COUNTY.

Spicer, the Indian captive was here forty years before the Barneys or Rices looked in upon his retreat, and would. under ordinary circumstances, claim the honor of being the first white settler of the county. A chain of ex- traordinary circumstances brought him here, and that peculiarity in the nature of some whites which fits them to be barbarians of barbarians, belonged to Spicer and kept him here. He was an Indian of the Indians, without their natural accomplishments or spirit. rich in the acquisitions of forty years, and withal as ugly and dirty-looking an Indian as it is possible to describe. Much has been said relating to him in the Indian history, as well as in other chapters of this work, and from a history published in 1874 we glean the following re- garding him: "Spicer was captured in Pennsylvania, and to the day of his death was, as to his habits, manners, and language, a perfect Indian. When the country was first settled by the whites, he had resided upon the Sandusky forty years. Of his history but little is known. He was taken by the Wyandots to the banks of the Ohio River, and used by them as a decoy to bring boatmen to the shore that chanced to be passing upon the stream. Tying him to a tree. near the water's edge, they would compel him to utter the most plaintive cries to be relieved from his unfortunate and perishing condition, while the savages lay in ambush, ready to fall upon the unsuspecting victims of Indian cunning and duplicity. Many thus fell a prey to savage cruelty, though it is to be pre- sumed that Spicer was compelled to act as he did." The true pioneers of this division of the county find mention in the foregoing pages of this chapter. With the the exception of Mrs. Ingham and Mrs. Stanley (both residing at Tif- fin), all who settled here prior to 1821 are resting forever after their pioneer toils and troubles.

Churches .-- The establishment of the Christian Church in this county dates back to 1819. when James Montgomery came here as sub-agent of the Seneca Indians. In appointing him the Government had a two-fold object in view- to provide for the office a man who would administer its affairs honestly, and one who at the same time would teach the savages the Gospel. In the first case the Government and agent were eminently successful; but in the second, failure waited on their good Christian intentions. as the old dwellers in the wilds were willing enough to receive good things from the reverend agent's larder, but none from his store-house of Christian knowledge. Mr. Mont- gomery was ordained a preacher of the Methodist Church at Lebanon. Ohio, a short time after he received his appointment as sub-agent, and devoted the greater part of his time and ability to the establishment of Methodist missions throughout this and adjoining counties up to his death in 1830.

The first Methodist Protestant Church was organized in March, 1829, by Seneca Agent Montgomery, at Fort Seneca. In July, 1837, the first regular house of worship was erected at Tiffin. Rev. Alvin Coe preached Mr. Mont- gomery's funeral sermon in May. 1830.

The Methodist Episcopal Church here was attended by Elijah Fields, Elam Day and other circuit preachers named in the history of the Tiffin and Betts- ville Churches; Fort Seneca forming a part of Bettsville until 1852. In August, 1852, the name of the mission was changed to Fort Seneca, and J. Brakefield appointed preacher. Subsequently the circuit was reorganized by adding new territory, and thereby increasing the membership to forty. The fourteenth session of the Northwestern Ohio Conference (1853-54) enlarged Fort Seneca Mission, established Findlay District, changed Tiffin District to Sandusky District, added Fort Seneca to the new district, with Leonard Hill and Henry Kerigan, preachers. The first quarterly meeting of Fort Seneca Mission, as now enlarged, was held in Wesley Chapel; D. B. King, A. Bowlus,

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J. C. Thompson, George Snider, E. O. Cody and A. P. Gassard were the stewards. In August, 1854. James Milligan was appointed preacher with B. F. Royce, assistant preacher. Treat, a pioneer, died in 1854, and was suc- ceeded as steward by M. Smith. In September. 1856, W. C. Pierce was ap- pointed presiding elder of Sandusky District. and R. Lawrence preacher at Fort Seneca. In May. 1856, the Northwestern Ohio Conference was divided and Fort Seneca attached to the Delaware Conference. The first session of the Delaware Conference held in the fall of 1856, at Lima, appointed Francis Plumb, preacher. In September, 1857, N. B. C. Love was appointed pastor at Fort Seneca, and in 1858 Bascom was annexed to the mission of Fort Seneca, Love reappointed preacher, with T. W. Cozier, assistant. At this time there were only four Sunday-schools organized in the whole of Fort Seneca Circuit (called a circuit in 1859) up to the beginning of J. T. Caple's term as presiding elder. in 1859, when H. L. Nickerson was appointed preacher at Fort Seneca. In 1860 the Central Ohio Conference was formed, and the same year H. L. Nickerson and John T. Bowers were appointed to the Fort Seneca Mission. In 1861 Josiah Adams and Israel Smith were preachers. In 1862 H. S. Bradley was appointed presiding elder of Findlay District, with David Dicken local preacher at Fort Seneca.

The members of the second conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church, Sandusky Circuit, of the Muskingum District. organized under the act of Jan- uary 26, 1865. at Pleasant Grove Church June 19, 1873, when John Slosser. J. B. Rosenberger and M. E. Kemp were elected trustees. In June, 1875, the storm which swept away houses and bridges also demolished the Meth- odist Church building. A new church now holds the place of the old storm- struck one.

A Baptist society was established in old Mr. Dumond's log-cabin about 1825. The Reformed Church of Fort Seneca was founded in 1857, by Rev. M. Keiffer, and a building erected on land donated by John Zeigler. In April, 1861. Rev. S. Shaw succeeded the organizing pastor.

The First German Reformed Church of Fort Seneca was reorganized under State law, with John Zeigler, Barney Zimmerman and Henry Stoner, trustees; Rev. Moses Keiffer, president, and August Hoke, clerk.

The Reformed Church of Fort Seneca was established in 1855.

St. Paul's Evangelical German Reformed Church of Fort Seneca was organized by Rev. J. H. Good. June 30. 1861. Felix Beck, S. Shuman, Jacob Omwake and Barney Zimmerman were elected first elders; Jacob Zeis, John Troxell, Henry Stoner and D. Riechart, deacons. This society formerly belonged to the English German Reformed Church. but at this time separated. paying half the cost of church building and using it alternately.

Glade Union Reformed Church was organized December 17, 1871, by Rev. G. W. Williard, with William. Clara and Francesca Steckel, Jacob and Susan Bowersox, William. Ann M. and Eliza Shriver. Sophia McMean, Lester M. Koons, Susan Smith, A. L. and Rachel Shaffer and Oliver Watson. The church was erected in 1871, on a lot donated by Jacob Bowersox, at a cost of $1,000.

Schools and School Statistics. - There are no early records dealing with the schools of this township. Mrs. Sally Ingham believes that George Van Dorn was the first school teacher here. In 1825 Miss Narcissa Topping took charge of the school, and about this time Jacques Hulburt opened a grammar school, the first in the county. In 1829 Miss Sally Montgomery. after studying under Hulburt, attended Edson B. Goit's school at Lower Sandusky. and returning in 1829 opened her school on the Sandusky road, two and three-quarter miles north of Tiffin, presiding there until her marriage with Milton Frary in 1832.

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HISTORY OF SENECA COUNTY.

Among Mrs. Ingham's scholars in 1829, while she taught in an Indian cabin two and three-quarter miles down the river from Washington Street bridge, were Hamilton, Henry and Rebecca Crum, David, Sophia, Elizabeth and an- other of the Martin family, two Craun boys and Frank and Henry Abbott.

The condition of the schools of Pleasant Township in August, 1884, is shown by the following statistics: Local tax. $3,315.29; total revenue, $7,088.83; ex- penditures, $4,181; number of schoolhouses, 12; value of property, $4,050; number of teachers, 22; average pay. $40 and $29; male pupils, 220, female pupils, 156; total enrollment, 376.

Cemeteries .- Pleasant Ridge Cemetery, in Pleasant Township, was surveyed in August, 1865, for the cemetery association, east of Portland State road, northeast of the Ridge Church.

Pleasant Ridge Cemetery Association was organized April 24. 1877, with the following named members: George Strickling, G. Shumaker, W. Hyter, J. W. Sonder, E. Sherman, A. S. Bonnell, G. Holtz, C. D. Holtz, G. L. Park and A. J. Miller. The object was to acquire and hold grounds adjoining the old Pleasant Ridge Cemetery for cemetery purposes.

Ridge Cemetery. Uriah Egbert donated the land known as Ridge Ceme- tery, and here one soldier of the Revolution and ten of the war of 1812 lie buried. Mr. Egbert's brother-in-law, Col. Williams (Jeremiah Williams, one of Marion's men in the Maryland Continental Regulars), is buried, however, in one of the cemeteries of Adams Township.

There are other cemeteries in the township, each well filled with the remains of pioneers and old settlers. William Harris, a Revolutionary soldier, who died in 1834, is buried in this township.

Villages of the Township .- Fort Seneca, on the northeast corner of the north- east quarter of Section 19. was surveyed and recorded January 14, 1836, for Erastus Bowe and Vincent Bell. The name as applied to this particular loca- tion is a solecism, as there never was a fort here; the military post of 1813 being down the river. Swope's addition to Fort Seneca was surveyed by David Risdon, in March, 1847, for Samuel R. Swope. John Zeigler's addition was . surveyed by G. H. Heming in October, 1850, along the continuation of Sandusky Street in the old town. Vincent Bell's addition was made August 25. 1851, opposite Zeigler's lands.

Prior to 1836 the location was known as "McNutt's," and subsequently as "Swope's Corners." Prior to 1830 Benajah Park kept a tavern here, the same in which he was wounded by Peter Pork, and in which he died in January, 1830. The place is now a pretty village, in the midst of a beautiful country. aud commands a good view of the Sandusky Valley.

Town of Sulphur Springs was laid out, but the date of platting the original town cannot be ascertained. In October, 1834, Solomon Krider filed a petition for partition against Josiah Hedges, of the west half of the sontheast quarter of Section 12, the northeast fractional quarter of fractional Section 32, the east half of the southeast quarter of Section 12, the west half of the northeast quarter of Section 12, the east half of the northeast quarter of Section 12, Town 3 north, Range 15 east, except in Lot 40 in the town of Sulphur Springs. Whatever prospects existed, in 1834, for the establishment of a village at this point, were destroyed during the period of depression which followed in 1837. In 1838 the Hedges Flouring-mill was built on Beaver Creek below the Pleasant Town- ship spring, and must be considered the first of that class of mills in all this district, although the township claimed small grist-mills and even a distillery before the Hedges mill was erected.

Old Fort (or New Fort) Seneca, on the line of the "Nickel Plate" Railroad.

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was platted in June, 1882, by County Surveyor Nighswander for R. R. Titus, and a record of the plat was made October 1. 1882. The location is at the crossing of the old Seneca road, upon the farm of R. R. Titus, about two and a half miles north of Fort Seneca, and upon the site of the old earthworks of that name. The site is a beautiful one, and but for the inaccessibility by wagon road might in time become a prosperous hamlet. The location and postoffice are known as Old Fort: W. N. Jones is postmaster.

Shedenhelm's Station. Grafton Shedenhelm established a saw-mill here about thirty-five years ago, which he has carried on up to the present time. The capacity is about 5,000 feet per day. Fox & Staley's stave factory, at this point, was established in 1884.

Bridges. - Up to 1854 there was not a bridge across the Sandusky River within this township. In 1848 the want of a safe means of communication between the two parts into which the river divides the township became very apparent; for, on April 3. 1848, two men, Figgins and Stackhouse, were drowned while crossing the river in a boat, while their companions, Shannon and Watson, had a very close call, barely saving themselves. Six years after the bridge on Section 9 was constructed and called . Clark's Bridge." owing to the fact that Calvin Clark, then commissioner, cast his whole influence with his northern neighbors, against a majority who desired the location to be at or near Pool's Mill.

In 1870 the " Watson Bridge" was constructed across the river on Section 21, against the wish of a majority of the persons interested, and was used up to June, 1875, when a heavy storm carried it off and sent it floating down the river.

In 1876 the bridge at Pool's Mill. so long desired, was constructed, and as this was done in opposition to the friends of the Watson Bridge. petition after petition was presented to the commissioners asking for the erection of a bridge on the old Watson Bridge abutments. Perseverance conquered, and through the liberality of D. V. Flumerfelt, a $3. 200 bridge was given to the county for $2,500.

General Statistics. - The assessment roll of Pleasant Township for 1841 gives 22,168 acres valued at $63,567: value of town lots, $483; horses, 224, valned at $8, 960; cattle, 506, valued at $4.048; mercantile capital and moneys at interest, $2,325; one pleasure carriage, valued at $35; total value, $79,418; total tax, $1,131.70; delinquencies from 1840, $95.14.

The valuation and taxation in 1884-85 are as follows: 22,425 acres of land, $884,750; personal property. $296.280: total valuation, $1,181,030 or $833.40 per capita (population of 1880, 1,417). Total tax, $13.883, and dog tax, $126.

The statistics for 1884 are: 4,592 acres of wheat: 745 acres of oats; 2,806 acres of corn; 861 acres of meadow, 1,170 tons of hay; 786 acres of clover, 785 tons of hay, 655 bushels of seed: 120 acres of potatoes, product. 11,640 bushels: 30,414 pounds of butter: 114 hives, 2,635 pounds of honey; 10,062 dozens of eggs; orchards, 323 acres, apples, 6,042 bushels, pears, 45 bushels; lands owned and cultivated, 13,652 acres; pasture, 191; woodland, 4,944; total acreage, 18,787: wool shorn in 1883. 18,577 pounds; milch cows, 439; dogs, 130; sheep killed and injured by dogs, 85; domestic animals died from disease, 24 hogs, 13 sheep, 13 cattle and 15 horses.

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HISTORY OF SENECA COUNTY.

CHAPTER XXIV.

REED TOWNSHIP.

THIS division of the county was surveyed into one-fourth sections by Price J. Kellogg in 1820, and recorded by him as Town 2 north, Range 17 east. and 35x17 chains of the gore separating the township from the Western Reserve. This gore resulted from the fact that when Surveyor Sylvanus Bourne began his survey of ceded lands in Ohio west of the Western Reserve, he adopted the system of six square miles for his townships and ranges; so that when he staked the east line of Range 17 on the line of latitude north 41°, he found himself exactly fifty-two chains and seven links distant from the west line of the reserve. This he called "the Gore," being the given distance on latitude north 41 and zero, eighteen miles north of that, where the extreme northeastern corner line of Thompson Township strikes the west line of the Western Reserve or the "Connecticut Reserve," or the "Fire Lands," as the tract was variously termed.

The township was known generally under its survey number; but old set- tlers in Seneca and Huron knew it as "Seneca Town," as there the chief, Seneca John. had a cabin and resided at intervals. The historian who wrote for Stewart's publication in 1874, says:

"During the early period of the settlement of the township the Indians were very numerous, and, as a general thing, lived amicably with the few whites who were there at an early day. Somewhere about the year when the first settlement was made an accident of a fatal character happened to an Indian maiden, a daughter of the renowned chief and warrior Seneca John. The Indians made frequent visits to the neighborhood of the present village of Reedtown each winter, for the purposes of hunting and trapping. On one of these occasions a party was encamped here, and was preparing an evening meal. A large kettle full of boiling water was hanging, suspended by a pole, over the fire, and the unfortunate girl was lying in front of it, when the pole burned through, letting the kettle fall, spilling its heated contents upon the body of the girl. Some of those present immediately enveloped her in a blanket and conducted her to a house near by, where she was attended by Dr. Williams, who did everything in his power to alleviate her terrible sufferings. On removing the blanket, the flesh literally clung to it, leaving her almost a living skeleton. Soon, however, death put an end to her sufferings. After her death William Williams made a handsled, and a number of the Indian boys, followed by a mournful cortege, conveyed the remains to the burying- ground of the Wyandot nation, located a little above Tiffin. Seneca John, who was a Wyandot, was subsequently assassinated, on an accusation of witch- craft." (Vide Indian History.)

When Read and Raymond made the first settlements in 1823, the name " Read Town" came into use; and on the organization of the township in 1826, the name was confirmed in an Americanized form-"Reed Township." Four years after organization and seven years after the first pioneers arrived, the population was 264; in 1840 it was 1,214; in 1850, 1,494; in 1860, 1,631, decreased in 1870 to 1,334, increased in 1880 to 1,527, at which figures the

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population may be said to rest. The exodus to Kansas and the movement toward the cities tend to keep the number of inhabitants at about 1.500. The surface of the township presents a large area of rolling land. with occasional broken patches. The slope is from the south trending east and west.

Rock Creek, which flows into the Sandusky River at Tiffin, has its head waters in Sections 16, 29, 30 and 33 in the township, the fork on 33 rising south of the railroad, and receiving its main supply from two small lakes in Sections 33 and 28 on the Lapham farm. On the southwest quarter of Sec- tion 18, the stream enters Beeghley Lake and flows through that pond to the west line of the township. Some of the bed-streams of the Huron River find a supply in the marsh near Attica Station and on Sections 1, 15 and 26, flowing east and northeast from the base of the ridge or highland in the south and center of the township. Ponds are common throughout the western sec- tions, and these ponds are sometimes connected by native streams.

The only line of railway passing through Reed Township is the Baltimore & Ohio, which enters at the southeast corner of Section 36, takes a west by north direction through the township, passing en route through Attica Station Village, and leaves at the southwest quarter of Section 30.

Organic and Official. - A reference to the chapter on the organization of the counties and transactions of the commissioner's board will convey very fully the early attachments of this township, prior to its organization within the limits of the original survey and fractional part of the "Gore." On Decem- ber 5. 1826, the township was set off, and its organization followed on January 1, 1827. All the first settlers, Seth Read, George Raymond, Samuel, John and Edward Cassety, Tunis Conkrite, Isaac and Tom Bennett. Samuel Scot- horn, and, it is thought, John Wise, were the first township officers. Thomas Bennett and Samuel Scothorn, justices. and Nathan Chapman, clerk .* The records from 1827 to 1833 are not to be found. The town books, however. from 1834 to 1885 are in existence, and from them the following list of town- ship officials is made up, the last named in each case being the clerk, the others the trustees:

1834. - John Brown, Matthew Clark, Jonathan F. Rogers; John B. Case. 1835 .- Jacob Cole, John B. Case, Samuel Scothorn; John B. Case.

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Author: Leeson, M. A. (Michael A.) Publication date: 1886 Publisher: Chicago : Warner, Beers & Co. Number of Pages: 1088

Author: Leeson, M. A. (Michael A.)
Publication date: 1886
Publisher: Chicago : Warner, Beers & Co.
Number of Pages: 1088