USA > Ohio > Seneca County > History of Seneca County, from the close of the revolutionary war to July, 1880 > Part 18
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To preserve the time of the sales of these reservations in Seneca county, the proclamation of Gen. Jackson, then President of the United States, is here added, because the fact itself, as well as the time, are both important and historic. And it is also to be remembered, that these sales took place some ten years after the land sales spoken of in a former chapter.
Mr. George W. Gist, a very able surveyor, had located in Tiffin a short time before these Indian lands came into market, and to enable the purchasers of these lands to make the proper selections, published a notice in the Seneca Patriot, the only newspaper then published in the county, (and of which further notice will be taken hereafter) in these words:
LAND PURCHASERS, LOOK HERE!
The subscriber has on hand a quantity of plats, and descriptions of the sections and lines of the Seneca and Big Spring reservations. Persons going on either of the said reserves, will find them of much advantage. They are made from the original field notes of C. W. Christmas, Esq., District Surveyor. GEo. W. GIST, Surveyor.
The President's proclamation ordering these sales, is in the words following, viz:
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PRESIDENT JACKSON'S PROCLAMATION-LAND SALES.
BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES.
In pursuance of law. I Andrew Jackson, President of the United States of America, do hereby declare and make known, that public sales will be held at the Land Office of Piqua and Bucyrus, in the State of Ohio, at the period herein designated, for the disposal of certain lands heretofore reserved for the benefit of certain tribes of Indians in said State, and which have been by them relinquished and surrendered unto the United States, to-wit:
At the Land Office at Piqua, on the fourth Monday in December next, for the sale of the late Shawnee reservation on Hog Creek, situate in townships three and four, south of range six, east, containing twenty-five square miles ; also for the sale of the late Shawnee reservation at Wapochkonuetta, situate in townships four, five and six, south of ranges five, six and seven, east, containing one hundred and twenty square miles; also for the sale of the late Seneca and Shawnee reservation at Lewistown, situate in townships six and seven, south of range seven and eight, east, and in township seven, south, range nine, east, containing sixty-two square miles.
At the Land Office in Bucyrus, on the second Monday in December next, for the sale of the late Wyandot reservation at the Big'Spring, situate in townships one, north, and one, south, of ranges twelve and thirteen, east, containing twenty-five square miles; also for the sale of the late Seneca reservation on the Sandusky River, situate in townships two, three and four, north of ranges fifteen and sixteen, containing forty thousand acres.
The lands reserved by law for the use of schools, or for other purposes, will be excluded from sale.
The sales will be kept open for a period not exceeding two weeks, and no longer than necessary to offer the whole of the lands.
Given under my hand at the City of Washington this thirteenth day of November, A. D. 1832.
ANDREW JACKSON.
By the President.
ELIJAH HAYWARD, Commissioner of the General Land Office.
These sales took place eight years and nine months after the organi- zation of Seneca county.
A. M. Stewart, who published the atlas of Seneca county some six years ago, took Mr. Butterfield's history for data; and speaking of early roads, copies the story of the Bell road. They say that "Gen. Bell, from Wooster, surveyed a road in . 1812, which took his name." There is no trace of any survey of Bell's road to be found anywhere, and all there was of it, is this:
Gen. Bell was ordered by Gen. Harrison to pick out-not survey-a suitable track for a road on the west bank of the Sandusky river, to Lower Sandusky from Upper Sandusky, over which military stores, troops and provisions could be carried. Gen. Bell and his men followed along the left bank of the river on the highest ground, without paying any attention to courses or distances; and this Mr. Meeker they speak of, with his men, cut and carried to one side, underbrush and
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HISTORY OF SENECA COUNTY.
was other obstructions, and blazed the trees as they worked along. This the surveying they did on this road. A similar road was opened along and near the right bank of the river, leading from Delaware to Lower Sandusky. These army roads answered all practical purposes for several years; first for military movements, and then for emigrants and settlers. Nor is it true that Mr. Risdon afterwards surveyed these army roads into state roads; but Mr. Risdon did survey a state road from Upper Sandusky to Lower Sandusky, in 1821, without paying any attention to any army road. His survey ran as nearly straight as possible, and scarcely ever touched the army road.
In 1820, Israel Harrington surveyed the Morrison state road, still known by that name, leading from Croghansville (Fremont) to Delaware. This was the first road surveyed and opened in Seneca county, east of the river, while the road surveyed by Risdon was the first one west of the river-both state roads. The Morrison road was named after one of the commissioners, who located the road.
Colonel James Kilbourn, a pioneer surveyor, already introduced. surveyed a road leading from Portland, (now Sandusky City) to Upper Sandusky, to which he gave his own name, in 1822. It is said that Thomas Baker and Ezra Brown, two distinguished pioneers, both from the state of New York, were the first settlers in Seneca county who came on that road.
A history of the surveying and opening of the principal roads of the county might be made interesting enough to some people, but would not warrant the space it would necessarily require.
The legislature divided this new purchase into fourteen counties, by an act passed on the 12th day of February, 1820. Of these, Seneca county was the ninth in the order named in the act. It was to consist of townships, one, two and three, north of ranges thirteen to seventeen. both inclusive, and to remain a part of Sandusky county, until organized into a county with municipal powers, by a future act of the legislature.
The commissioners of Sandusky county organized four townships in this county, from time to time, outside of the reservations, as follows:
Thompson was organized on the 25th day of April, 1820, with the following boundaries, viz:
Beginning at the northeast corner of the Seneca' reservation, in Sandusky county, running thence north to the (then) present trailed road from Croghansville to Strong's settlement, (not very definite); thence east until it shall intersect the fire-lands; thence south with said line to the base line; thence west along said line until a line due north will strike the place of beginning. This territory comprised the
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ORGANIZATION OF TOWNSHIPS.
present townships of Thompson, Reed, Venice, and two and one-half sections along the east sides of Bloom, Scipio and Adams, and a part of Sandusky county.
On the 8th day of May, 1820, the said commissioners organized Seneca township, which was the second township in the county, and included all the balance of the county not embraced in the boundaries of Thompson; so that two townships contained the whole county.
On the first Monday in June, 1820, the said commissioners organized Clinton township, fixing the boundaries as now established, except that part west of the river, viz:
Commencing where the township line, between two and three, strikes the river on the east bank thereof; running thence with said line to the northeast corner of township two, in range fifteen; thence south with the range line between ranges fifteen and sixteen, to the southeast corner of the aforesaid township; thence west to the township line between townships one and two; thence northerly with the meanders of the river to the place of beginning.
It was named after DeWitt Clinton, Governor of New York.
ยท Eden, the last township organized by the commissioners of Sandusky county, was fixed with its present boundaries in 1821, viz: T. I., N. R. 15, E.
This still left Seneca township embracing all west of the river to the west line of the county.
To preserve a record of what part of the Seneca reservation was within Seneca county, let us commence, for a starting point, on the right bank of the Sandusky river, about one-quarter of a mile south of the south line of section seven, in Clinton township, running due east on a line parallel with the south section lines of sections seven to thirteen, inclusive, in Clinton, and extending the same line to a point a short distance south of the center of section ten, in Scipio; thence running due north through Adams to the north line of Seneca county; thence west on said north line to the right bank of the Sandusky river; thence south along the meanderings of said right bank to the place of beginning.
Under the organization of these townships, elections were held as follows: In Thompson, at the house of Joseph Parmenter, on the 6th day of May, 1820; in Seneca, on the Ist day of June, 1820; in Clinton, on the 15th day of June, 1822, and in Eden, on the 4th day of June, 1820, at the house of John Searles, who lived near Rocky creek, and a short distance south of the Rocky creek meeting house. The successful ticket at this election in Eden, was: David Clark, township clerk: John
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HISTORY OF SENECA COUNTY.
Welch, James Mathers and Henry Craw, trustees; Ira Holmes and John Searles, fence-viewers; John Searles, treasurer; Hugh Welch and Ira Holmes, appraisers; Samuel Knapp and John Welch, supervisors; Thomas Welch, constable. 1
Seneca township, at its first election, elected the following ticket, viz: West Barney, John Lay, David Risdon, trustees; John Keller and David Rice, overseers of the poor; James Montgomery, Erastus Bowe and Joel Chapin, supervisors; P. Wilson, lister; Asa Pike, appraiser; . Thomas Nicholson and Abner Pike, fence-viewers; John Boughton and Joel Lee, constables.
A lister was an officer whose duty it was to report to the trustees, and afterwards to the county auditor, a list of the able-bodied white male inhabitants liable to perform military duty. For this work he was by law entitled to seventy-five cents per day.
At the state election in this year, the whole county polled twenty-six votes, all told.
It will be noticed that in these elections no justice of the peace was elected. Sandusky county exercised judicial power over the whole of Seneca county, until Seneca became established as a county by law.
ORGANIZATION OF SENECA COUNTY.
On the 22d day of January, A. D. 1824, the legislature of Ohio passed the following act for the organization of Seneca county, in the words and figures following, viz:
AN ACT To Organize the County of Seneca.
SECTION 1. Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of Ohio, That the county of Seneca be and the same is hereby organized into a separate and distinct county.
SEC. 2. That all justices of the peace, and other officers residing in the county of Seneca, shall continue to discharge the duties of their respective offices until their successors are chosen and qualified according to law.
SEC. 3. That the qualified electors residing in the county of Seneca, shall meet in their respective townships on the first Monday of April next, and elect their several county officers, who shall hold their respective offices until the next annual election, and until others are chosen and qualified according to law.
SEC. 4. That all suits and actions, whether of civil or criminal nature, which shall have been commenced, shall be prosecuted to final judgment and execution, and all taxes, fines and penalties, which shall have become due, shall be collected in the same manner as if this act had not been passed.
This act to take effect and be in force from and after the first day of April next.
JOSEPH RICHARDSON,
Speaker of the House of Representatives. ALLEN TRIMBLE, Speaker of the Senate.
January 22, 1524.
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ELECTION OF OFFICERS.
In conformity with the foregoing act, notice in writing was posted up in the several (four) townships in the county, for the holding of the election. The only officers to be chosen at this election were a sheriff, three commissioners and a coroner. For sheriff, Agreen Ingraham received one hundred and ninety votes; and for coroner, Leverett Bradley received two hundred and six votes. Both were elected.
At the same time the following named persons were also elected as county commissioners, to serve until the next annual election in October, viz: William Clark, Jesse S. Olmstead, Benjamin Wetmore.
On the 7th day of June, 1824, the board of commissioners organized and held their first session. The first business in order was the hearing of a petition presented by Rollin Moller, praying for the location of a road. The petitions for four other roads were heard at the same session.
The petition of Thomas Boyd and others, viz: the qualified voters of Eden township, "predicated upon the following reasonable ground" -the petition says-to-wit: "laboring under great inconvenience, from the distance, of attending public elections, and having a sufficient number of qualified electors in the township, we pray your honorable board to set off said townships, Nos. 1 and 2, in range 16, and constitute them a legal township, to be known by the name of Bloom."
The board granted the petition, and ordered that townships 1 and 2, in range 16, (Bloom and Scipio) which were organized with Eden town- ship, and townships 1 and 2, in the 17th range, (Venice and Reed) and fractional townships Nos. 1 and 2, in range 18, be set off and declared by the board of commissioners a legal township, to be known by the name of Bloom.
On the same day, June 7th, 1824, the board of commissioners also appointed Milton McNeal treasurer, and David Risdon collector of taxes for Seneca county.
Nathan Whitney was allowed two dollars and twenty-five cents for three days' services in listing Thompson township; Joseph Osborn was allowed three dollars and seventy-five cents for listing Eden; George Park was allowed one dollar and eighty-seven and a half cents for list- ing Clinton; and Joseph Keeler was allowed two dollars and twenty- five cents for listing Ft. Seneca township.
David Smith, for his services as clerk for the commissioners, was allowed three dollars for three days.
At the next session of the board of county commissioners, (who were elected in October previous) on the 7th day of December, 1824, the petition of William Anway was presented to the board for the or-
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HISTORY OF SENECA COUNTY.
ganization of Scipio township. The reason for such organization claimed in the petition is the fact that there were sixteen legal voters residing in the territory composed of Scipio and Reed, and the board granted the petition accordingly.
At the same session, Neal McGaffey presented a petition for the opening of a county road from the public square in Fort Ball to the public square in Tiffin, across the river by the most suitable ground. On the same day the township of Hopewell was organized, including Lou- don, and an election ordered to be held. The trustees to be elected were authorized to take charge of the school lands. Seneca township was then reduced to what now constitutes Seneca and Big Spring.
On the 8th day of December, 1824, the county commissioners cast lots to ascertain how long each was to serve; whereupon it was found that Thomas Boyd was to serve for one year, Benj. Whitmore for two years and Doctor Dunn for three years. Ever since that time Seneca county has elected but one commissioner each year, except when by death or resignation the election of another became a necessity.
The same day the board rented from George Park his north chamber for a county clerk and auditor's office, and agreed to pay him one dollar per month for the use of the same. The chamber was a part of Eli Norris' old tavern. The ground where it stood is now covered by the National Hall block. At the same time Clinton was fixed to its present status, and an election ordered.
William Cornell was appointed keeper of the standard measure, the device of the seal to be a circle with the letters therein, "SEN. CO., OHIO."
On the sixth day of June, 1825, commissioners were appointed to locate a road in Crawford township, T. I, S. R. 13 E., and for that pur- pose met at the house of Jas. Whiticker, on the 6th day of July following.
Wm. Harpster was allowed two dollars for listing Sycamore township; Jesse Gale the same amount for listing Crawfordt township. It would therefore appear from this, that the commissioners of Seneca county exercised jurisdiction over Crawford county until it was organized.
At the same session the commissioners settled with the auditor and treasurer, and found a balance in favor of the latter of $13.46.
Mr. Hedges had built a two story frame house on the lot immediately north of the court house square, on the place now occupied by the east end of the Commercial bank and the office of the Seneca Advertiser. The second story was used as a court room and the lower three rooms for offices. The first court in Seneca county was held in this frame house, and that was the court house of Seneca county until the brick court house was built in 1836.
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ELECTION OF OFFICERS. 167
Judge Ebenezer Lane, of Norwalk, who was the circuit judge of the judicial district of which Seneca county formed a part, held the first court in Seneca county, on the 12th day of April, 1824. Under the old constitution of Ohio, the circuit judges were appointed by the Legis- lature for the term of seven years. There were also appointed by the Legislature three associate judges in each county for the term of seven years. These associate judges were not lawyers, but were selected from the business men of the county, generally from the party that had a majority in the Legislature for the time being. These associate judges, with the presiding or circuit judge, formed the court, a majority of whom was necessary for the transaction of business.
The first associate judges appointed for this county were William Cornell, Jaques Hulburd and Matthew Clark. This court, at its first session, appointed for the clerk of the court, pro tem, Neal McGaffey, and for county surveyor David Risdon.
The court lasted about thirty minutes, and then adjourned for want of other business.
On the 12th day of October, in the same year, the first annual elec- tion was held in the county, when the following officers were elected, viz : sheriff, Agreen Ingraham ; coroner, Christopher Stone; auditor, David Smith; commissioners, Benjamin Whitmore, Thomas Boyd and Doctor Dunn.
The court in this year appointed Rudolphus Dickinson prosecuting attorney, and the county commissioners appointed Milton McNeal county treasurer.
With this small commencement old Seneca started on her proud career to future greatness.
Mr. Dickinson, being the first lawyer who settled in Seneca county, and who took a very active part in the organization of the county and public affairs generally, was appointed by the court the first prosecuting attorney of the county.
He was born at Whateley, Massachusetts, on the 28th day of Decem- ber, 1797, and was a graduate of Williams College in that state. Im- mediately after he left college he came to Columbus, Ohio, where he taught school and read law in the office of Gustavus Swan, in that city. After his admission to the bar he located in Tiffin, Ohio, in the year . 1824, on the Fort Ball side, where he joined the opposition of the few settlers against Mr. Hedges in his efforts to build up Tiffin. Mr. Dick- inson was appointed by the court the first prosecuting attorney of the county. His name is identified with the first cases tried in the early sessions of the courts of Seneca county. He was the attorney for Jesse
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HISTORY OF SENECA COUNTY.
Spencer in the suit against Mr. Hedges about the brush dam, the most celebrated among the early cases tried in the county. In May, 1826, Mr. Dickinson resigned his office of prosecuting attorney, and Abel Rawson was appointed his successor. In the same month Mr. Dickinson removed to Lower Sandusky, and in 1827 he married the daughter of John Beaugrand, one of the oldest settlers of Lower San- dusky and who at an early day was a partner of General John E. Hunt, of Maumee City. Mr. D. took great interest in schemes for starting the public works of the state, in which he occupied a high prominence among his cotemporaries. Among these public enterprises were the Wabash and Erie Canal and the Western Reserve and Maumee Road. He was a member of the Board of Public Works from 1836 to 1845. During this period the state of Ohio suffered great financial embarrass- ment, and her credit ran down to fifty per cent. below par, her bonds selling for fifty cents on the dollar. Mr. Dickinson's influence with the leading men of the state and the Legislature, contributed largely in saving the credit of the state and preventing the entire suspension of public improvements.
Mr. Dickinson was elected to Congress in 1846, and re-elected in 1848. He died soon after the commencement of the second term of his service at the city of Washington in 1849, on the 20th day of March, at the age of fifty-one years, two months and twenty-two days.
On the fourth day of July, 1825, the commissioners of Seneca county held an extra session of the board to receive proposals and bids for the building of a jail in Tiffin. Benjamin Whitmore and Doctor Dunn were present. The bids were opened and the contract awarded to Eli- jah Fargurson, he being the lowest bidder, for the sum of four hundred and fifty dollars, payable when the work was completed. Josiah Hedges was surety on the bond of Mr. Fargurson for the promp compliance with his agreement to perform the same.
The early settlers will remember this, the first public building put up in Seneca county. It stood at the southeast corner of the present court house square, and was made of hewed logs fitted tightly on the top of each other, with hewed logs for the ceiling and heavy oak plank for the floor. The doors were made of double planks with wagon tires bolted across them for hinges, and a large padlock on the door. There were two rooms in this log jail-one on the east side and the other on' the west side. The windows were cross barred with heavy tire iron. To the south end of the jail was attached a frame building as wide as the jail, (about twenty feet), with a narrow stairway to the garret, and two small rooms below. This frame part was intended as a residence
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OI.D LOG JAII ..
for the sheriff, but was never occupied for that purpose. The jailor lived there occasionally; and finally, and until the old log jail was torn down in 1840-41, my old friend, John Fiege occupied this frame part of the jail for a cabinet shop, and Marquis Y. Groff lived immediately across the street from the same, on the south side of Market street.
In the December session of the county commissioners, Christopher Stone was allowed one dollar as appraiser of Clinton towwhship.
At the same time, December 5th, 1825, and upon the application of Agreen Ingraham, the commissioners passed an order by which all that part of Clinton township lying west of the river was attached to Hope- well, for the reason, undoubtedly, that there were no bridges over the river and it was therefore more convenient for the people on the west side to get together and hold their elections, etc,
The log jail being finished and the work done to the satisfaction of the county commissioners, it was accepted on the 31st day of March, 1826. John Mim presented his account for rent of room for the use of the county clerk and auditor for nine months, at fifty cents a month, $4.50, which was allowed on the 5th day of June, 1826. On the same day Josiah Hedges was paid $25.85, expenses incurred by him in the location of the county seat.
Milton McNeal was re-appointed county treasurer, and William Patterson collector of taxes for the ensuing year.
Adams township was organized on the 5th day of December, 1825, but it consisted only of the sections not included in the reserve. The electors were ordered to meet at the house of Samuel Whiteman to hold the election, on the 25th day of December, 1826. To make the township of any reasonable size the commissioners attached to Adams a tier of sections from and along the west side of Thompson.
On the fifth day of December, 1825, Reed township was also organ- ized with its present boundary, and the electors ordered to meet at the house of Seth Reed on the first day of January, 1827, to hold their election. Dec. 5, 1826, the commissioners ordered the auditor "to cut a diamond in the jail door five inches square."
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CHAPTER XI.
JESSE SPENCER-COUNTY ROAD FROM FORT BALL TO TIFFIN-WOLF SCALPS -ORGANIZING TOWNSHIPS IN CRAWFORD COUNTY-BUILDING THE FIRST BRIDGE-FIRST KILN OF BRICKS-DAVID BISHOP-FINAL ORGANIZATION OF ALL THE TOWNSHIPS-HISTORY OF THE BUILDING, THE BURNING AND THE RE-BUILDING OF THE COURT HOUSE-BUILDING THE STONE JAIL-THE NEW JAIL. .
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