USA > Ohio > Seneca County > History of Seneca County, from the close of the revolutionary war to July, 1880 > Part 51
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JAMES R. WILSON, ESQ.,
Is the only lawyer in the place. Happy town ! He was born in Green county, Pennsylvania, May 19th, 1825. In the fall of 1826, his
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father moved with the family to Ohio. He was a native of Ireland, and at the time he came to Ohio was a traveling preacher of the M. E. church. He died on his circuit while holding a protracted meeting. The family moved to Bloom township in April, 1834, and settled in the southeast part of the township. when there were but two families in that part, south, and but one house east for three miles. Mr. Wilson had one brother older than he, and also an older sister The sister taught school in the neighborhood when only twelve years old. Mr. Wilson helped to clear up his father's farm, and after his death he opened up a farm for himself. In 1856 he moved to Bloomville. In 1857 he was elected justice of the peace and re-elected. In 1866 he was admitted to practice law, and has ever since been a member of the Tiffin bar.
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CHAPTER XXXII. CLINTON TOWNSHIP.
T. 2, N. R. 15 E.
T' HE early scenes described in these narratives, and the incidents attending the dawn of Seneca as a county, having clustered around places that are now covered by Tiffin, and involved the names of so many of the early settlers, whose biographies are already record- ed, there is scarcely anything further left to say about Clinton town- ship. This chapter will, therefore, necessarily be short It is proper, however, to preserve names of the early pioneers and describe some of those not already talked about.
The location of the land offices in Tiffin tended greatly to give Tiffin a start. It brought many people here from abroad and introduced to them not only our citizens but also the many advantages this county promised for the future. No other county in Ohio, west of the San- dusky river, settled up as fast as Seneca county.
When congress, on the 4th day of May, 1828, granted to Ohio 500 - ooo acres of land to build the Miami canal, it next became the duty of the legislature to provide for the sale of the land. By an act of Febru - ary 12, 1829. two land offices were established for the sale of these half million of acres, one of which was located at Tiffin. The land office for the sale of the land in the Delaware land district was located here in April, 1828. Small as Tiffin then was, and far removed from the canal lands to be sold, it should nevertheless be remembered that there was, at that time, no other town between Tiffin and Fort Wayne, in Indiana. The reader will see, therefore, that Tiffin was the principal frontier town in northwestern Ohio at that time and for some time, thereafter, notwithstanding the organization of Sandusky county prior to Seneca.
These land offices here, I say, helped very much to bring Tiffin into notice and gave it an air of stability and business enterprise. For several years the hotels were frequented by strangers, who bought land
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or prospected for locations. The old army road was a sort of thorough- fare for emigrants, many of whom stopped here-in fact, there was no other road in Ohio, west of the Sandusky river. By remembering these things we are enabled to see how this vast northwest must have looked at that time.
Clinton township being so closely identified with Tiffin, and every- thing that is said of Tiffin and her people meaning Clinton township at the same time, may be the reason why neither Mr. Butterfield, in his history, nor Mr. Stewart, in his " Atlas," had anything to say about Clinton township and her pioneers. But there were some old settlers here, and men, too, of no ordinary grade, who should and shall be mentioned, for many of their names are too dear and valuable to be lost so soon. These pages will preserve them for awhile.
JOHN KELLER,
The father of Levi, Lewis and Joel Keller (the sons are all still living), was an early settler and a man of wonderful industry and persever- ance. He took a very active part in all public affairs and became inti- mately acquainted with the business of the public offices. He filled the office of county commissioner several years, and after he got his mill on the river in running order, there was scarcely a farmer in Seneca county but was acquainted with Uncle Johnny Keller. He was very talkative when he had time, and always ready to give information when required. With his knowledge of farming he combined much mechani - cal skill, and he was in his place on the farm or in the mill. His practical good sense, his friendly nature and honesty of purpose made Uncle Keller a very popular citizen.
He was born September 17, 1785, in York county, Pennsylvania, near Little York. He was married to Elizabeth Mitsell, in 1804, and soon after moved to Fairfield county, Ohio. At the land sales in Del- aware he bought the land the old Keller mill was on, in 1821, and moved on to it in 1828. In 1824 he let out a job of clearing four acres. In the fall of that year he came up with a team and a lot of apple trees, with which he planted an orchard on the four acres. When he came back the following spring, his apple trees were all gone. Somebody had stolen them. This was probably the first orchard planted in the county.
Mrs. Keller died in September, 1857. John Keller died October 9, 1859.
HENRY C. BRISH
Was a man of medium size and weighed about 165 pounds. He was
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of fair complexion, had regular, manly features, was well proportioned and good looking, more so in citizen's clothes than in uniform. He had deeply set, large hazel eyes. He shaved smooth, except small side whiskers. He had a well balanced nature. a high forehead, and turned bald at middle age. General Brish was a polished gentleman and his home was the gathering place for many of the elite in the then rustic society. He had a kind word for everybody, and soon became popu- lar with all classes of people. The Senecas were his pets and they made Rosewood a stopping place whenever they came up the river. Dr. Cary was a brother to Mrs. Brish. He and Dr. Dresbach made the General's house their home. Whenever they could not be found about town, you would almost be sure to find them at Brish's. Some people thought the General was very high-strung and quick tempered, but they were only those who did not know him intimately, and judged him only from the several knock-downs he was blamed with. The facts are, the General would bear almost any opposition in business or politics as long as his opponent would abstain from reflecting on his honor and calling him names. He struck very quick when that rule was violated, and the size of the opponent or his standing in society made no differ- ence. His relation with the business of the county has been mentioned so often that it is only necessary to say that he was one of the associate judges of the court of common pleas here, and was elected a member of the house of representatives, besides filling many other local offices.
When, on the 28th day of February, 1831, at the treaty of Washing- ton, the Senecas sold their reservation to the United States, as already stated in chapter vint. (and see also chapter xxIx.), General Brish, who had taken care of the chief to Washington and back to Seneca, was kindly remembered by them. At their own request a section was put into the treaty giving to General Brish a quarter section of land in the reservation. The section reads as follows:
See. 11. The chiefs of the Senecas being impressed with gratitude towards Henry C. Brish, then sub-agent, for his private advances of money and pro- visions and numerous other acts of kindness towards them, as well as extra services in coming with them to Washington, and having expressed a wish that a quarter section of a hundred and sixty acres of land ceded by them should be granted to him in consideration thereof, the same is hereby grant- ed tohim and his heirs, to be located under the direction of the president of the United States. (See vol. 7 Laws U. S., p. 350.)
The General selected his section and sold it. He then bought the southwest half of section eighteen in Clinton. General Brish cleared up a part and moved onto it. He called it Rosewood, because Mrs.
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Brish raised rose bushes all around the house. Here the General spent the rest of his days.
Henry Colgate Brish was born in Frederick county, Maryland. November 22, 1799. At the age of ten years he became clerk in the register's office of that county, under Captain Steiner, where he re- mained until he was married, and where he received all the education he had. He was married to Miss Eleanor S. Carey on the 7th Decem- ber, 1824, by Bishop Jones, of the . Episcopal Protestant church.
Mrs. Brish was born July 27, 1805. They left Frederick for Seneca county, and landed here on the 6th of July, 1828, Sunday afternoon. They made the whole distance in a little covered carriage, perhaps one of the first that came to Seneca. The General died at Rosewood in February, 1866.
Mrs. Brish, who is still living says:
I brought my old piano with me, and have it yet. When we came here, we moved into a cabin that Agreen Ingraham had built. It had a puncheon floor, which I covered with carpet that I brought along, and I had some nice china, also, all of which, I think, were the first of the kind in Tiffin, perhaps in the county. Our cabins were all clustered around MeNeal's store, and there was the "hub of fashion." David and Elisha Smith, Lovi Cresey. Mr. Custar, Mrs. Mounts, Mrs. Kessler, Abel Rawson and Samuel Hoag- land all lived between MeNeal's and the campbell-back bridge over the rail- roads. One time we made a ball for the young people from Maryland and they called it the ". Maryland ball." The river was high and the girls from the Tiffin side could not get over on the first day, but they came on the second day. We bad young folks from Lower Sandusky and from np the river, some sixty in all. We danced two days and three nights. It was the first big ball in the county. David Smith was the fiddler. Mr. Cronise had a cornfield where the public square is in Fort Ball. One-night Drs. Carey and Dresbach stole a lot of roasting ears there and brought them to our house to have them cooked. We made a big feast of them.
. John Stoner lived immediately north of Rosewood. He was also from Maryland, and raised a number of sons, who became wealthy. I remember George. Christian and Dennis. Dennis is the youngest of them and is still living here. My efforts to procure a better descrip- tion of this pioneer family and that of the Neikirks, who are now scat- tered through Scipio, Adams and Clinton, have failed also.
JOHN BEARD
Settled on the northwest quarter of section thirty-four. Leveret Beadley lived near by him on the west. North of the road lived Wm. McEwen, with his wife and twenty-one children. He was the first blacksmith in this neighborhood. Thomas Vanatta came in 1825, and settled on the
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southwest quarter of section thirty-four, where some of the family still reside. Vanatta bought out a man by the name of Stripe, who moved to Lower Sandusky, where he dealt in fish. He died of cholera in 1834. Joseph Richards came in 1827 or 1829, David E Owen came in 1829, and lived on the Huber farm. The Frees and Herin folks came in 1828. Reuben Williams entered the Coe farm and built the saw mill, ยท which is still in running order, in 1824. Daniel Dildine came in the same year. He built a cabin and planted the apple trees that are still to be seen just north of the new cemetery. Daniel Lamberson entered the southeast quarter of section thirty-four. James Myers came in 1833 or '34. James Wolf used to work for Reuben Williams, and when he had earned $100, Williams bought for him the eighty acres in the southwest corner of section twenty-six, where he afterwards lived and died.
Mr. Beard was born in Northampton county, Pennsylvania, on the 14th of April, 1794. He was married to Hannah Doan in 1817. They had eight children, of whom six are still living. He was about five feet, ten inches high; walked very erect; had black hair and whiskers and blue eyes; he was very talkative and full of jokes and was a good neighbor and strictly honest. He died in 1832, and was buried in the old cemetery in Tiffin.
(I am indebted to his son, Joseph, for the above narrative.)
DANIEL LAMBERSON
Was born December 13, 1783, near Belvedere, New Jersey, and died December 5, 1852. He came and located here in the fall of 1824.
JOHN CRUM.
Mr. Hamilton F. Crum furnished the writer with the following state- ment concerning this veteran pioneer:
On the 20th of February, 1792, my father. John Crum, was born in Fred- erick county, in the state of Virginia, and in 1813 he married Barbara Crum (no blood relation). In 1821 he moved to Ohio and settled in Columbus. In 1822 he bought 160 acres of land in Seneca county, three miles north of Tiffin on the Fremont road, and in 1824 he moved upon his land. We lived in a cabin for a while, not far from our land, until we could build a house. Our house had the first shingle roof between Tiffin and Lower Sandusky. We experienced many of the hardships common to new settlements. Father was sick nearly all the first winter. We lived in the woods: our neighbors were scattered, none nearer than a mile,' but they were very friendly and social. Our first neighbors were Moses Abbott. Eliphalet Rogers and Cap- tain Sherwood, but others soon came in.
My father was a hard-working man and did all his clearing. I was the
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oldest boy, but only eight years old when we came, and of course could not help much, but was always with him. Mother died when I was fifteen years old. Sometime afterwards father was married to Margaret Evans, with whom he lived about twenty years, when she died. Afterwards father mar- ried Naney Booth. Father died in Tiffin on the 28th day of February. 1873. His widow died July 8, 1874. HAMILTON F. CRUM.
Mr. Crum was an excellent citizen and took a very active part in public affairs He was county commissioner sometime (see last chap- ter) and while he was not a fast talker, he was a strong thinker. His judgment was clear and well matured. The writer knew him well.
REV. JOHN SOUDER.
As you go north on the Fremont road and pass through the Stoner farm, the next place to the left was formerly the home of Captain Sherwood mentioned several times already; and here lived the subject of this sketch when the writer first knew him. The old veteran has lived here so long, and his quiet, pure, christian life has exercised so much of moral influence upon this community for more than half a century, that it is really a pleasure to speak of him.
He was born in Lancaster county, Pennsylvania, on the 26th of November, 1799. His father moved to Frederick county, Maryland, in 1810, where he died in August, 1820.
Mr. Souder was married to Elizabeth A., daughter of John Walker, on the 15th of May, 1823. He became a member of the M. E. church in October, 1815, and entered the cause of reform in the Fort Seneca organization, at the Rev. Montgomery's, in 1829 He was ordained to preach in 1845, having been licensed in 1842. Mrs. Souder died on the 11th of November, 1861. On the 5th of November, 1862, he was married to Mrs. Frees. He sold his farm in 1860, and retired to private life in Tiffin, where now, over four score years, he is still in the enjoy- ment of good health. He furnished the writer with the following state- ment, which speaks for itself:
INCIDENTS AND EXPERIENCES WITHIN THE KNOWLEDGE AND OBSERV ATION OF 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 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 thir- ty-one cents, and corn twelve and one-half cents, other provisions in propor-
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tion, but there was no money in cirenlation. 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 ont and started for Ohio with a large wagon and four horses. My family then con- sisted of a wife and one child. abont one year old, two single sisters and my brother-in-law, John Walker, who was then yet mmarried. Richard 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 ns' 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 throngh which onr road passed. seven miles across, without a single human habita- tion. There was a tavern and a blacksmith shop just east of the dense for- est. 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 concluide 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 ns thus. One or two armed men could have had us at their merey. 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 nplands. The national pike here was just in process of con- struction, and we were often compelled to take side roads that were danger- ons at places. My wife became so disgusted with the country that she ex- claimed 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 ahont. We were not pleased here, and resolved to strike for Tiffin, and see how that 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 mischievious at times, inquired of the man how far it was to Fort Ball. The man said : " You are right in the midstof it." The stranger was Mr. MeNeal, 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 acenstomed 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,
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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. Sher- wood. 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 connty. 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 serions affair.
It was long after night before we reached Upper Sandusky, and there found our friends nicely tucked away m 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 Tiflin, the joke turned the 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. Sheath 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 conrt at that time. One time in conversation he predicted that with- in fifteen years we would have a railroad through the country. When I left Maryland the Baltimore and Ohio company had only thirteen miles of road out of Baltimore.
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[ bought the Sher wood place containing nearly 440 acres, mostly in section seven, for $1,900, an I got possession on the 1st of July, 1826. We arrived in Fort Bill on the 10th of June that year. Mr. Sherwood was not a very suc- cessful min in business. He kept a barrel of whisky in his house. Whisky an I business never run well together.
Mr. Bowe hul 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 mzzle of his gun, which injured him internally to such an extent that he died after great suffering, in January, 1827. He 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 Rosenbergers, Shanlls. Klines and others were Virginiaus 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 company 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. Cornelins Flummerfelt and the Parker brothers came about the time I did.
The Indians were troublesome at times, but never dangerons, except when intoxicated. 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 everthing we had, especially bread. Sometimes they took all the bread we ha l and my wife had to bake again. They always paid for what they bought, often paying twenty-five cents for a loaf of bread. 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 reel- ing around. the squaws squealing like wild cats. But with all their general degradation, we had some interesting interview with those who had been christianized at camp and other meetings.
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