USA > Ohio > Wayne County > History of Wayne county, Ohio, from the days of the pioneers and the first settlers to the present time > Part 5
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52
HISTORY OF WAYNE COUNTY, OHIO.
Clair, and Lake St. Clair, and Lake Erie, to the mouth of the Cuyahoga river, the place of beginning.
It will be perceived from this original boundary, as proclaimed by Governor St. Clair, that Wayne county embraced a large area of the old North-western Territory. It included about one-third part of the present State of Ohio, one-eighth part of the State of Indiana, the north-east corner of Illinois (including the site of the present city of Chicago), the eastern and about the one-fifth part of the present State of Wisconsin, the whole of the State of Mich- igan, embracing all of Lake Michigan, one-half of the areas of Lakes Superior, Huron, St. Clair, and the north-western part of Lake Erie, including the battle ground on which Perry's victory * was achieved.
The county seat of this vastly extended country, territorially possessing an area of 133,000 square miles, and larger than En- gland, Scotland, Ireland and Wales, was established by the same proclamation which announced its governmental life, at Old Fort Detroit, now the present city of Detroit. ; Thus remained the boundaries and primitive organization of Wayne county for the term of eight years, and until the second year after the State Constitution had been adopted and the government of the State of Ohio had been put in active operation.
The Connecticut Western Reserve, in the north-east part of the State, is bounded on the south by the forty-first parallel of north latitude ; on the west by the present counties of Sandusky and Seneca; on the north by Lake Erie; on the east by the State line between Ohio and Pennsylvania. It had been granted to the Col- ony of Connecticut in 1662, by Charles II., and reserved by the State of Connecticut, after the American Revolution, in its deed of cession to the government of the United States, with a view to
# September 10, 1814, Commodore O. H. Perry, in his flagship, Lawrence, with a fleet of 9 vessels and 54 guns and 2 swivels, encountered Commodore Bar- clay, of the English navy, in his flagship, Detroit, with 6 vessels, 63 guns, 4 how- itzers and 2 swivels, within hearing distance of Cleveland, on Lake Erie, and won a decisive victory.
t Detroit, Michigan, still is in Wayne county, the name being retained.
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ORIGINAL AND PRESENT WAYNE COUNTY.
compensate its Revolutionary soldiers for losses in that war, by granting its warrant to such sufferers for portions of this reserved territory.
In the year 1803, by acts of the State Legislature, the counties of Montgomery, Greene and Franklin were formed. These three counties extended north to the State line. It will be seen that these three counties divided the original Wayne county, separating all the territory east of Franklin-it being the furthest east of the three named counties-south of the Connecticut Western Reserve and north of the old Greenville Treaty line, from the balance of Wayne county, leaving it without county organization, form, or name, and afterwards known as "the New Purchase."
For five years this territory, called the "New Purchase," remained without civilization, other than a part of the unorgan- ized territory of the State of Ohio. By Act of the General Assem- bly of Ohio, February 13, 1808, the boundaries of the county of Wayne were clearly defined in the third section of the Act to es- tablish the county of Stark. We here give the section entire :
BOUNDARIES OF WAYNE COUNTY IN 1808.
"SEC. 3, Be it further enacted, That all that tract of country lying west of the tenth range and east of the sixteenth range in the said New Purchase, and south of the Connecticut Reserve, and north of the United States Military District, shall be a separate and distinct county, by the name of Wayne, but with the county of Stark attached to and made a part of Columbiana county, until the said county of Stark shall be organized (Jan. 1, 1809), and shall thereafter be and remain a part of the county of Stark until otherwise directed by law."*
The first boundary of Wayne county, established by Legisla- tive enactment, may be more specifically defined, as follows : On the east by the present county line between Wayne and Stark; on the south by the old Greenville Treaty line, including a strip of Holmes county, as now organized, about two and a half miles wide at the east end, and about seven miles wide at the west end, which strip of territory compassed all of Washington and Ripley
#See O. L., vol. 6, p. 155.
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HISTORY OF WAYNE COUNTY, OHIO.
townships in that county, nearly all of Prairie, two-thirds of Salt- creek, half of Paint, and fractions of Knox and Monroe town- ships ; on the west by the west line of Lake, Mohican, Perry and Jackson townships, in Ashland county; and on the north by the present county line between Medina and Wayne.
The change in this last description was by Act of the Legisla- ture establishing Holmes county, January 20, 1824, which took from the south side of Wayne county the strip of territory above referred to, lying between the old Greenville Treaty line and the present southern boundary of Wayne county.
FORMATION OF ASHLAND COUNTY.
The formation of Ashland county by Act of the General As- sembly of Ohio, February 24, 1846, took from Wayne to that county its present townships of Jackson, Perry, Mohican and Lake, except one tier of sections on the east side of those townships, which by the same Act became attached to the townships of Con- gress, Chester, Plain and Clinton, in Wayne county, which tier of sections, among the inhabitants of those townships, is commonly recognized as the "mile strip."
No other change in the boundaries of Wayne county has taken place since the erection of Ashland county, and it is believed under the present letter of our State Constitution, none will soon occur.
ORGANIZATION OF WAYNE COUNTY IN 1812.
Wayne county was organized under an Act of the Legislature of the State of Ohio, bearing date January 4, 1812, to take effect on the Ist day of March thereafter. The Act provides, "That the county of Wayne be and the same is hereby organized into a sep- arate county." The same law provided that the people of the county should elect county officers, on the first Monday of April, 1812, to hold their offices until the next annual election. To the year 1810, Wayne county was one entire township, by the name of Killbuck, called after the old Indian chief of that name.
55
ORIGINAL AND PRESENT WAYNE COUNTY.
ORGANIZATION OF TOWNSHIPS.
On the IIth of April, 1812, the county was divided into four townships, to wit: Sugarcreek, Wooster, Mohican and Prairie.
The present territory of Wayne county was surveyed into ranges and townships by the government of the United States, in the year 1807.
The ranges were strips of territory, six miles wide, num- bered from east to west, and extending from the old Greenville Treaty line northward to the south line of the Connecticut West- ern Reserve-a distance averaging over thirty miles.
These ranges were again surveyed into sections of about one mile square, or containing about 640 acres, and numbered from one to thirty-six, beginning at the north-east corner, and each thirty-six sections being designed for a township. These town- ships were again numbered from the south end of each range northwardly.
Range No. I I of the original government survey was the east- ern and first range in the county, and in 1812 contained the origin- ally surveyed townships, numbered 15, 16, 17, 18, and a small fraction of 14.
Range No. 12 contained a small fraction of township 14, and all of townships 15, 16, 17, 18.
Range No. 13 contained a small fraction of 13, and all of town- ships 14, 15, 16, 17.
Range No. 14 contained a fraction of 17, and all of townships 18, 19, 20, 21.
Range No. 15 contained a fraction of 19, and all of townships 20, 21, 22, 23.
The order of the Commissioners of the county, bearing date April 1I, 1812, clearly defined each of the orginal townships as follows :
Mohican township included all of range 15 in the county, and the west half of range 14. For Prairie township, beginning at the center of the 14th range, and at the corner of sections 3, 4, 9, 10, in township 18, of range 14; thence east to the eastern boundary
56
HISTORY OF WAYNE COUNTY, OHIO.
of the county ; thence south to the south-east corner of the county ; thence westwardly on the south boundary of the county (the old Greenville treaty line), to the the center of the 14th range, and thence north to the place of beginning.
Beginning for Wooster township at the center of range 14, at the corners of sections 3, 4, 9 and 10, in township 18; thence north to the northern boundary of the county; thence east to the range line between ranges 12 and 13; thence south on said range line to the corners of sections 1, 6, 12 and 7, in township No. 14, of range 13, and township No. 15, in range 12, and thence west to the place of beginning.
Sugarcreek township contained all of the originally surveyed townships 16, 17 and 18, and the northern tier of sections in township 15, in range II, and all of originally surveyed townships 16, 17 and 18, and the northern tier of sections in township 15, in range 12.
By an order of the County Commissioners, on the 5th of Sep- tember, 1814, East Union and Lake townships were formed, the former embracing originally surveyed townships 16, 17 and 18, and the northern tier of sections in township 15, in the 12th range; the latter embracing the fraction of originally surveyed township 19, and all of township 20, in range 15, and the west half of orig- inally surveyed township 18, and the west half of fractional town- ship 17 in range 14.
On the 14th of September, 1814, four days after Perry's vic- tory on Lake Erie, the County Commissioners entered an order of record, changing the name of Mohican township to that of Perry.
On the 5th of June, 1815, the County Commissioners formed the township of Springfield, as follows: Beginning at the north- east corner of section 24, township 19, (now Plain), range 14; thence west to the north-west corner of section 20; thence on the section lines to the south-west corner of section 20, township 18, (now Clinton) ; thence east to the south-east corner of section 24- the range line-thence north on the range line to the place of beginning.
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ORIGINAL AND PRESENT WAYNE COUNTY.
By order of the County Commissioners of September 4, 1815, Chippewa township was formed, beginning at the south-east cor- ner of section 31, of township 18, of range 11, original survey ; thence north, bearing to the west, to the north-west corner of section 6; thence east to the north-east corner of the county; thence south on the county line to the south-east corner of section 36; thence to the place of beginning .*
On the 5th of March, 1816, the County Commissioners named the originally surveyed township 17, of range II, Baughman township.
At the last above date Saltcreek township was established, its territory including all of the originally surveyed township 15, and fractional township 14, of range 12.
Also, at the last above session of the Commissioners of the county, originally surveyed townships 20 and 21, in range 14, were named Chester township, and an order issued to the inhab- itants to elect their officers.
Also at the last above named session of the County Commis- sioners, Paint township was formed of all of the originally sur- veyed township No. 15, and fractional part of township 14, in range II.
Wayne township was formed, by order of the County Commis- sioners, October 12, 1816, of the following territory: All of the originally surveyed townships, Nos. 16 and 17, of range 13.
Greene township was formed, by order of the County Commis- sioners, February 5, 1817, of all of the 17 and 18 original town- ships of range 12.
Congress township was formed, by order of the County Com- missioners, October 5, 1818, of the originally surveyed township No. 21, of range 14.
Milton township was formed of the originally surveyed town- ship No. 18, of range 12, by order of the County Commissioners, October 5, 1818.
* The old record gives no reason for this peculiar western boundary of this township.
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HISTORY OF WAYNE COUNTY, OHIO.
Jackson township was formed of the originally surveyed town- ship 23, of range 15, by order of the County Commissioners, Feb- ruary 1, 1819.
Canaan township was formed, May 5, 1819, of the originally surveyed township 17, of range 13, by order of the County Com- missioners of that date.
Plain township* was formed as early as 1817, and was com- posed of territory included in the original government surveyed township No. 19, of range 14. Its formation obliterated the north half of Springfield township, formed on the 5th of June, 1815.
Franklin township is composed of part of the originally sur- veyed townships 14 and 15, of range 13. The County Commis- sioners, by their order, dated June 7, 1820, formed the boundary of this township as follows: Beginning at the north-east corner of section 24, in township 15 ; thence south on the range line to the south-east corner of section 13, in township 14; thence west on the south side of sections 13, 14, 15, 16, 17 and 18 to the range line on the west side of range 13; thence north on the range line to the north-west corner of section 6, township 14; thence east to the north-east corner of section 5; thence north to the north-west corner of section 28, township 15; thence east to the north-east corner of section 28; thence north to the north-west corner of sec- tion 22, township 15; thence east to the place of beginning.
On the 7th day of March, 1825, and after the formation of Holmes county, in 1824, by order of the County Commissioners, this township was enlarged by the attachment of the southern tier of sections- 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24 - since which time no change has been made in its boundaries.
Pike township was formed in 1817, and was composed of the exact territory which now constitutes Clinton township, and its formation blotted out the south half and all the balance of Spring- field left after the formation of Plain township. And thus, after a brief existence of two years, Springfield township disappeared from the records and map of Wayne county.
* Precise date of its formation does not appear on record.
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ORIGINAL AND PRESENT WAYNE COUNTY.
On the 7th of June, 1825, Clinton township, the last of the present sixteen townships of Wayne county, was formed, by an order of the Commissioners of that date. Its boundaries then were the same as now, and its formation struck from the map of Wayne county the township of Pike.
Thus it will be seen how the settlement of the county, from time to time, produced the organization of the various townships, and established, as the necessities of the people required, their local governments.
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HISTORY OF WAYNE COUNTY, OHIO.
CHAPTER IV.
WHY CALLED WAYNE COUNTY.
THE county of Wayne derived its name from the daring and impetuous Major General Anthony Wayne, an ambitious officer and ardent patriot of the American Revolution. He was a native of Waynesborough, Chester county, Pa., where he was born Jan- uary 1, 1745. The rolling hills, bleak mountains and rugged scenery which furnished the romance of his boyhood, no doubt, imparted to him that brusque, austere and apparently savage man- ner which achieved for him, from his followers, the sobriquet of "Mad Anthony."
A glance at the ancestry of General Wayne makes the fact prominent that he inherited his soldierly qualities, and that he was but another link in a chain of warriors. His father was at the head of a company of dragoons at the decisive battle of the Boyne, fought July 1, 1690, between William III. and his father-in-law, James II. His son Isaac, and father of Anthony, bore a heroic and conspicuous part in the cruel conflicts with relentless and bar- barous hordes of Indians, who brandished the slaughtering toma- hawk where the genial sun first blessed with grateful light the early home of his infant child.
Unlike Major General Wooster, he had not the opportunity, nor had he availed himself of an academic nor collegiate course, nor do the facts warrant us in believing that he was inhabited with any very serious proclivity for books or study. The whole bent and inclination of his mind seemed to have been in a military di- rection, though we believe he made his debut upon the theater of public action as a surveyor. Bitter and irreconcilable collisions
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WHY CALLED WAYNE COUNTY.
occurring between the Crown and the Colonies, and which ulti- mately precipitated the Revolution and secured our independence, aroused his positive and passionate disposition and ingulfed him in the controversy. His spontaneous and enthusiastic patriotism soon acquired for him "the first wish of his heart"-a military appointment. During the year 1775 he recruited a regiment of volunteers and was made colonel of the same.
In 1776 the Continental Congress placed him in command of a Pennsylvania regiment, when he joined the northern forces, re- ceiving in the battle of Three Rivers a most painful wound. In 1777 he was commissioned a Brigadier General and directed to as- sume command of Ticonderoga, an important fort, situated two miles below the present village of that name, on a point of land at the entrance of the outlet of Lake George into Lake Champlain. The aforesaid fort had been surprised and captured by Ethan Allen on the 9th of May, 1775. About the middle of September, 1777, the battle of Brandywine was fought, upon the result of which suspended the destiny, for the time, of the sedate city of William Penn. Grand, indeed, was the prize for which the American and English armies contended ! Wayne bore the brunt of the fight upon this occasion, but was compelled to endure the keen sting and mortification of defeat; and not that alone, but the deep and intense chagrin of witnessing, on the 26th of September, 1777, the city of Philadelphia fall into the hands of Cornwallis-" the first marquis, the second earl and the sixth baron of that name." His reputation as a forager was sustained co-ordinately with his fame as a soldier. If the country surrounding afforded subsistence and was within the reach of camp, or marquee, he was vigorously inclined to avail himself of it. In this role he distinguished him- self, in the winter of 1777-78, when our army was lying at Val- ley Forge, on the banks of the Schuylkill. His irruption into New Jersey resulted in the capture of herds of cattle and stores of army provender.
A satirical ballad, or rather linked stanzas of slangy, clinking doggerel, supposed to have been distilled from the adroit pen of
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HISTORY OF WAYNE COUNTY, OHIO.
the cultured Major Andre, and who, on the 2d of October, 1780, on the fatal gibbet, expiated his crime, was published and circu- lated, concerning that foraging expedition.
Here is one verse, as a specimen :
" But now I end my lyric strain- I tremble as I show it, Lest this same warrior-drover, Wayne, Should ever catch the poet."
General Greene was president of the court-martial before which Andre was tried, though it is understood Wayne received him after his capture. At Stony Point, at the head of Haverstraw Bay, on the Hudson, he was shot in the knee and fell, but rising to his feet, he exclaimed, "Forward, my brave boys," when a desperate assault wrenched the fort from the British, on the night of July 15, 1779. This presents itself as one of the most brilliant exploits of the war. When in 1781, the Pennsylvania troops revolted on account, as was alleged, of unliquidated arrearages and a dispute respecting the terms of enlistment, General Wayne energetically, but fruitlessly, attempted to restore harmony and suppress discontent. In spite of his interposition, and all the offi- cers, 1,300 men defied their authority, and under arms, marched toward Philadelphia with the pronounced purpose of enforcing acquiescence to their demands. His soldiers loved and respected him, however, and only sought what they imagined a reasonable redress.
His field of operations was then transferred to Virginia, where he campaigned with Washington, and " the good and great Lafay- ette," and here he had the grand satisfaction of beholding the plumed and titled Cornwallis, " the lord of the bed-chamber," on the 19th of October, 1781, surrender his sword to the victorious Washington.
We detect his next important movements on the frontier, inaugurating a campaign against the now boastful and arrogant Indian tribes of the West. To this service he addressed himself with much of that peculiar zeal which was so typical of the man.
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WHY CALLED WAYNE COUNTY.
This time, and for this work, the right man had been chosen. " Knaves, fall back," was the luminous inscription upon his shield. There was no kitey philosophizing about the transaction. It had a blood- meaning against the wampum-belt and its perfidous wearer.
St. Clair's unfortunate defeat on the Miami, where General Butler and Major Ferguson fell, was well understood by the Indi- ans. Unopposed by any forcible check, and unmolested by any military movement since their recent success, true to the fiendish propensity which triumph engenders in their barbaric natures, they became insolent, exacting and imperious. They seriously obstructed the tide of emigration to the West ; looked upon the white man as an intruder, and, emboldened by victory, induced and courted conflict, seeming to prefer the death-revel, rather than the calms of peace. It was evident that the code of force had to receive its most rigid interpretation. Bullet-logic was the only alternative-the proper discipline and just corrective for these ruthless recalcitrants the continent over. Necessary precaution was observed. Military posts were fortified. Every suggestion of prudence and foresight was adopted to prevent a second defeat. An army was collected and the command settled upon the gallant Pennsylvanian. A violent assault was made June 30, 1794, upon Fort Recovery by the Indians, aided by some unhung Canadians, or cut-throat English, which was repulsed. August,
-" rich arrayed In garment, all of gold down to the ground,"
Witnessed the inception of the gory drama. The very heart of Fiend-land was penetrated. The army moved with amazing rapid- ity. Their settlements on the Miami were pillaged. At the junction of the Auglaize with this river Fort Defiance was con- structed. Here General Wayne tendered "the olive branch," the pipe of peace, before he would awake the "slumbering sword of war." They rejected his overtures, though it was apparent there was distrust in their ranks.
One of the chiefs, Little Turtle, appeared to have a prevision
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HISTORY OF WAYNE COUNTY, OHIO.
of their fate, "for," said he, "the Americans are now led by a chief who never sleeps; the night and the day are alike to him." They entertained a sort of inherent dread of Wayne, denominat- ing him "the Black Snake;" but their animosity and pride were too overwhelming to negotiate. So the boards were cleared, the war-cotillion arranged, and the grim dancers put in position. The American camp was posted in the midst of such extensive and highly-cultivated fields as excited the admiration of the invaders. For miles the country presented the appearance of a single village, and rich corn fields spread on either side. The Indians had retreated down the river from their settlement upon the advance of the army, and had taken up a position in the immediate vicin- ity of a British fort, near the Miami rapids. This was one of those posts retained by Great Britain in defiance of former treaties, and constituted, as was generally believed, a depot where the Indians could procure arms and counsel.
Somehow, our border history, all the way through, is black- ened by the dastardly and unwarranted interference of British scamps, red-jacketed bacon-thieves, and post-loungers.
On the 20th of August, 1794, General Wayne made an on- slaught upon their chosen position. The smeared warriors fought with courage. Skilled in the use of fire-arms, and acquainted with the maneuvers of battle, they were more formidable adver- saries than in the covert of the thicket, the deeps of the dense wood, or the sinuous ravine. Better had they accepted the olive branch, than to have allowed the "summer flies" of success to "have blown them full of maggot ostentation." The eagle of the North was too daring and strong. They were destined to defeat and slaughter ; a vigorous and spirited bayonet charge routed the merciless array.
At Fort Greenville, now known as Greenville, and county-seat of Darke county, Ohio, eighty-one miles west by north of Co- lumbus, on the 3d of August, 1795, General Anthony Wayne met the Indians in council, and, then and there, concluded a treaty of peace.
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WHY CALLED WAYNE COUNTY.
His life of terrible daring and terrible activity closed, in 1796, in a cabin at Presque Isle. At his own request, he was buried under the flag-staff of the fort; but, in 1809, his son removed him to Radnor cemetery, in Delaware county, Pennsylvania, where a monument is erected to his honor.
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