USA > Ohio > Erie County > History of the Fire lands, comprising Huron and Erie Counties, Ohio, with illustrations and biographical sketches of some of the prominent men and pioneers > Part 108
USA > Ohio > Huron County > History of the Fire lands, comprising Huron and Erie Counties, Ohio, with illustrations and biographical sketches of some of the prominent men and pioneers > Part 108
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A very valuable work has been accomplished by the old institute, and many have cause to look back to it lovingly and thankfully, as the Alma Mater which well prepared them for the world. At the time it was established it was the only school on the Reserve, west of Hudson, where young men could be prepared for college.
THE UNION SCHOOLS
were established in 1849, under the law passed in that year, and the following board of education was elected: Daniel Hamilton, James H. Kennedy, George Barney, Hiram McMillan, S. F. Taylor, Harry Chase. The first superintendent was C. F. Royce. The main school building, still in nse. was erected in 1850, and the "old yellow school house," built before that time, was moved to its present location and remodeled.
ROADS.
The first wagon road was cut out and cleared by Ebenezer Hayes and F. W. Fowler in the winter of 1810-11, from the mouth of the Huron river on the east side, up the river to the Abbott farm, and thence southerly, past the farms of Ebenezer and Hosmer Merry and Gundin Perrin, to the north and south section line of Norwalk.
463
HISTORY OF HURON AND ERIE COUNTIES, OHIO.
The Columbia road was opened the same winter, from the east side of the month of the river to the east line of the Fire-lands, where it joined a road from Columbia township, Lorain county.
In the spring of 1811, another road was laid out in the western part of the township by Jabez Wright, Jared Ward and Charles Barnum. It lead from the lake shore, west of the mouth of the river, southerly past the farms of Wright and Ward, to the residence of Charles Parker, in the fourth section of Milan, and thence up the river to Monroeville, and from that point sontherly to New Haven, on nearly the same line that is traveled to-day.
MILAN VILLAGE.
In 1816, say several accounts, (but in 1817 as shown by the records in the court house), Ebenezer Merry, who came into the township in 1814, laid out the town of Milan, originally known as Beatty after the first owner of the land. He also began the same year, or perhaps the previous year, in company with Isaac Tupper and Job C. Smith, the erection of the first grist mill in the township, upon the site of the pres- ent mill. Before the mill was completed he pur- chased his partners' interests and thus became sole owner. Previons to the building of this mill, people had to go a great distance for their grist, or grind it by some rude method at home. The mill brought people to this locality from all directions and was really the nucleus around which grew the village. The location of the village, too, was a pleasant one, and people being quick to appreciate this fact, and to expect a fast growth, the lots were soon sold off. By the year 1819 quite a number of houses had been built. The first stock of goods was brought in the same year by James Williams, P. R. Hopkins and David W. Hinman. A large distillery was built by William B. Mason and Moodey Mears. F. W. Fowler began keeping a public house-the first one built-in 1821. Joseph M. Choate set in operation a carding machine and fulling works. Needham Standart, af- terwards of the firm of Standart & Hamilton, opened a store in which he did a large business for years. Ralph and George Lockwood, who were doing busi- ness in Norwalk township (Gibbs' Corners), opened a store in a large double dwelling house. Mr. Ralph Lockwood became postmaster of Merry's Mills, as the place was then called, and remained seventeen years in that office. Henry Lockwood began the hatting business in 1824. The Lockwood block, afterward burned, was built as early as 1827. In 1833 there were ten stores in the place. The Eagle tavern, which occupied the present site of the town hall, was opened in 1824.
These facts afford something of an idea of what Milan was during the first few years of its existence, but there are others, relating to the vessel building, to the great grain trade, and in her commerce, that make a still more favorable showing of her importance.
COMMERCE-THE MILAN CANAL.
A meeting of the citizens of Milan, and the town- ship adjoining, was held at the house of F. W. Fowler, as early as 1823, to take into consideration the project of building a harbor at the mouth of the Huron, for the safe entrance of all lake craft. As a committee to examine into the feasibility of this plan, the fol- lowing men were appointed: George W. Choate, Philo Adams, N. P. Mason, Schuyler Van Rensselaer, David Gibbs, Frederick Forsyth, N. M. Standart, James Williams and Ralph Lockwood. A meeting was subsequently held, at which this committee made a report favoring the project, and a company was regularly organized to prosecute the work. Five directors were elected, as follows: Jabez Wright, Philo Adams, H. N. Jenkins, N. M. Standart, B. N. Adams. The work was begun in 1824, under the superintendence of Charles Wheaton, of Milan, and when he died, the following fall, Zebulon Stevens, of Huron, was elected to his place. The work was carried on until the company's money was exhausted, and shortly after the national government took it up and completed it.
We have been thus particular to speak of this enterprise, because, though not strictly belonging to Milan township, it, nevertheless, was a project in which, as shown above, Milan people were interested, and one which did much to develop the town and bring about other improvements.
Vessel building was commenced in Milan in 1821. In that year Benjamin N. Abbott built the schooner Mary Abbott, and in 1829 loaded her with produce, which he took to New York city. by the way of the lake to Buffalo, and thence by the New York and Erie canal. He returned with a cargo of merchandise. This was the first vessel to make the trip, and the only one. About the same time H. N. Jenkins built the schooner, Lonisa Jenkins, at Lockwood's landing, and upon her maiden trip took a load of wheat to Buffalo.
The legislature at its session of 1828 granted a charter for the formation of a company to build a ship canal from Merry's mill pond to the navigable waters of the Huron, and a tow path on the bank of the river to its mouth; the commissioners, named in the charter, for receiving subscriptions being Jabez Wright, Ebenezer Merry. Ralph Lockwood, George Lockwood and Timothy Baker. In the summer of 1831, books were opened at Milan for subseiptions to the Milan Canal Company's stock, and a sufficient amount was immediately secured to warrant the per- fection of the organization. At a meeting held at F. W. Fowler's house Angust 27, 1831, the following five directors were elected: Ebenezer Merry, Ebenezer Andrews, George Lockwood, Daniel Hamilton and F. W. Fowler. The work was commenced in 1832, but, for want of means, was not completed until 1839. The Fourth of July of that year was a gala day for Milan, for it was so realized by the passage of the first boat through the canal. Early in the morning
464
HISTORY OF HURON AND ERIE COUNTIES, OHIO.
the schooner Kewanne, Captain Moran, arrived in the canal basin, and was moored at the dock. She was saluted with the firing of cannon. Later the people of the village assembled in front of the Presbyterian Church, and forming in a column, with a band of music at the head, marched through the village and down the hill to the canal wharf where the Kewanne lay. Captam Moran was saluted in behalf of the ladies of Milan, by Miss Maria Butman, and presented with a national flag for his vessel. The citizens then went aboard the Kewanne and her lighter, the Water Witch and the two boats with flying colors, bands playing, and cannon firing, sailed down the canal to the river. Upon their return a procession was again formed, and all went to the Eagle tavern, then kept by Jennings & Kline, where they partook of a dinner, and drank toasts to the future prosperity of Milan. and the canal.
The completion of this canal caused Milan to become a great point for vessel building, and made it the market for all the wheat and other products that the country did not need for home con- sumption. A great impetus was given to all in- dustries. In the autumn, farmers thronged all of the roads leading to Milan, bringing in their grain. Many came from a distance of seventy or eighty miles south. The roadway down to the warehouse was often blockaded with teams, and the square packed. Some of the wagons had in them loads of a hundred bushels of grain, and were drawn by four or six horses. Six or seven hundred wagons have arrived in one day. As many as twenty sail vessels have been loaded in a single day, and as much as thirty-five thousand bushels of grain put on board. The total re- ceipts from canal tolls were one hundred and two thou- sand dollars, and the dividend to stockholders, was twenty thousand dollars. The value of exports in 1844, was eight hundred and twenty-five thousand dollars, mostly in wheat and flour. The value of imports, for the same time, was six hundred and thirty thousand dollars. In 1853, there were three thousand seven hundred barrels of salt imported. In 1855, stoves were shipped to the number of eight hundred and seventy-eight thousand. In 1856, four hundred and ten thousand bushels of grain were shipped, and the aggregate of grain shipped in eleven years, from 1853, was nearly five million bushels.
Railroads began to draw away the business of Milan in 1850, and in 1854 the C. & T. (now the L. S. & M. S. R. R.), tapped all of the thoroughfares leading in from the south. Thus, was Milan practi- cally ruined, as a business town, though still, from its loveliness of location, neatness of keeping, and good character of people and institutions, left a desirable place of residence. Its growth was greatest between the the years 1840 and 1850, when it rose from a vil- lage of five hundred inhabitants to one of over thirteen hundred. Fifty or sixty houses were built in 1849 and the following year.
INCORPORATION.
The village came into being as a municipal corpo- ration, in 1833, the act of the legislature being passed February 23d, and the first election held April 6th. George Lockwood and John S. Butman were judges, and William S. Hyde, clerk. The following is a transcript from the poll book:
' The said election was held open until three o'clock. on said 6th day of April, when the votes were counted and it was found that John Smith, (tanner), had received a plurality of all the votes for mayor, and that the other officers elected had been as follows: Trustees, Ebenezer Merrry, Henry Lockwood, Giles Chapin, John Smith, (carpenter), Phi- lander Wilber; Recorder, Nathan Jenkins."
The first ordinance passed was for the assistance of the Milan Canal Company, and it was voted that twenty bonds, each for one thousand dollars, be issued for this purpose.
THE FAMILIES OF EBENEZER AND HOSMER MERRY.
The Merry families, of Milan, were among the most prominent of the early settlers and most con- spicuously identified with the growth of the township. Ebenezer Merry. the elder of the brothers who came to Milan, was born in East Hartford, Connecticut, July 21, 1723, and his family removed soon after to Kinderhook, New York. In 1:92, he went to the "Genesee country," and five years later made another advancement into the wilderness, stopping in Mentor, (now in Lake county), where he began clearing land. In 1800, he returned to western New York, and there married Charlotte, daughter of Aaron and Sarah Adams. She was born in Tinmouth, Vermont, on the 17th of August, 1:80, and had removed to York State at the age of fourteen years. The young couple immediately set out for their western home, accom- panied by Hosmer Merry, a brother of Ebenezer, and made the wedding trip in twelve days, following the Indian trail and sleeping in Indian wigwams, upon the ground; or, if they were fortunate enough to find them, in the cabins of the white settlers. They arrived in Mentor, May 26th. Of the three families then in that place, two, those of Jared Ward and Charles Parker, afterward removed to Milan. After a residence of fourteen years, Mr. Merry moved to this township, then called Avery, and located upon the Huron river, about two miles below the present village of Milan. This village, as related already, was platted by Mr. Merry, and its rapid and substan- tial improvement was attributable almost entirely to his energy and judicious management of affairs. Himself and wife here led a happy, busy life. Mrs. Merry was, in all that the term can possibly imply, a true help-meet to her husband. She never failed, on her part, but met every duty and every danger bravely, and through all the vicissitudes of a pioneer's life was the true wife, the loving mother and the kind friend. Whether in the rude log cabin, upon the farm, or in the more commodious quarters at the village, whither they moved in 1819, she was equally at home, equally active, efficient and cheerful. Nine children were the
465
HISTORY OF HURON AND ERIE COUNTIES, OHIO.
fruit of this union, viz: Sarah (Mrs. Merrill), now in Milan; Mary (Mrs. Jacob Stevens), also in Mi- lan; Julia (Mrs. Ruggles), died October 11, 1874; Martin, in Iowa; Samuel, in Milan: Lucy (Mrs. J. B. Pier), in Texas; Elizabeth, in Milan; Ebenezer, auditor of Erie county, and Charlotte, who died, August 1, 1825.
Mr. Merry died in 1846, at the age of seventy-three years. Clark Waggoner, of the Toledo Commercial, speaking of him in the article which appeared in Feb- ruary, 1879, in regard to his widow's death, said in- cidentally: "It is due to Mr. Merry, to say that his remarkable capacity as a business man, was always pervaded and directed by a clear conscientiousness and recognition of the rights and interests of others, fully justifying Rev. Everton Judson, pastor of the Presbyterian church, in the choice of his text, for a fu- neral discourse, to wit: Proverbs xxii. 1: 'A good name is rather to be chosen than great riches, and loving favor rather than silver or gold.' His repeated elec- tions to a seat in the Ohio legislature and two elections as associate judge (which latter he declined), indi- cate his standing with his fellow citizens."
Mrs. Charlotte Merry attained the great age of ninety-eight years, five months and twenty-two days. She died on the morning of February 8, 1879, and her funeral took place upon the 11th. The sermon was preached, on this occasion, by the Rev. J. H. Walter, and from the same text which, thirty-three years before, had formed the subject for the funeral discourse over her husband.
Hosmer Merry, a younger brother of Ebenezer, though not so widely known and not taking as active a part in public affairs, was a man of sterling worth of character. He was born at Kinderhook, New York, in 1793. He came, as heretofore stated, to
Mentor, with his brother. He was then seventeen years of age. He returned to Genesee county when twenty-one, and there married Miss Sarah Frost, who was born in Watertown. Connecticut, October 28, 1787. He came to Milan in 1810, and removed his family there in the following year. He located upon a farm one and a half miles below the village, and here remained most of the time during the war, and was engaged, among others of the township, in the army, for a considerable time, most commonly acting as teamster and transporting goods. He was one of the first to visit the American vessels after Commo- dore Perry's victory. He used to relate that, on arriving near the fleet, and being uncertain whether the battle had terminated favorably to the American or British vessels, they ceased rowing, and upon being assured that Commodore Perry had won the fight, an old revolutionary hero, by the name of Harvey, sprang to his feet and, swinging his hat, shouted, "Row, boys, for God's sake row."
Mr. Merry moved to Oxford township in 1833. His first wife died in August, 1825, leaving six chil- dren, viz: Ebenezer O., now in Bellevue; Henry F., now deceased; Fanny, in Indiana; George, in Michi- gan; William, in Indiana, and Betsey, now deceased.
Mr. Merry married, in 1826, Sarah Reed, who, upon his death, married Hon. F. W. Fowler, of Milan. By her he had two children: Mary Ann, now in Find- ley, and Stephen, deceased.
Mr. Merry died in Oxford, August 23, 1835, at the age of fifty-two years. He was a man well liked, and one who did much for the settlement and improve- ment of the localities in which he lived. He was justice of the pcace in Oxford township at the time of his death. His son, E. O. Merry, is at present a justice of the peace for Lyme township.
59
OXFORD .*
TOWNSHIP number five, in range twenty-three, is bounded on the north by Perkins township, on the south by Ridgefield, east by Milan and west by the township of Groton. The surface of the township is level, except along the course of the streams. The soil for the greater part is a black loam, which is tich and productive. In the east and northern portions a sandy soil predominates.
STREAMS.
The only stream of importance touching this town- ship is the Huron river. This flows through the southeast corner of the township from the west. Two other small streams are found in Oxford: Pipe creek, which flows through the northern and western part of tha township, and Crab Apple creek. The course of this stream is through the southeast part of the town- ship, emptying into Huron river.
ORIGINAL OWNERS.
For explanation of the following table, the reader er is referred to the Lyme history:
OXFORD-TOWN NUMBER FIVE, RANGE TWENTY- THREE.
CLASSIFICATION No. 1, SECTION 1.
Original Grantees
Am't Loss.
Classified by. Am't Classed.
€
S.
d.
€
S. d.
Tltus Hurlburt
196 3
0
Goddard, David
James McEver's h'rs 600 0
0
{ Ward, Mary Jewit
| and Purdon J.
M. Dumont
263
10 8
Hezekiah Ripley 129 15
Footing of Classification No. 1, £1,344
CLASSIFICATION NO. 2, SECTION 2.
Original Grantees.
Am't Loss.
Classified by.
Am't Classed.
Stephen Holt
229
5
Stephen Holt
229
5
Richard Deshon
266
19
R'h'd Deshon's h'rs 266
19
David Mumford
318
5
9
D. Mumford's heirs 318
5
9
James Rogers
455
16
5
James Rogers
455
16
5
Daniel Holt
32
2
6
32
6
Eldridge Chester
6
11
C
Elisha Chester
6
11
0
Daniel Chester
19
15
6
19
15
6
Thomas Chester
45
2
2
James Mitchell
4
10
216
Samuel Walworth
10
11
6
..
10
5
416
Footing of Classification No. 2, £1,344
9
CLASSIFICATION NO. 3, SECTION 3.
Original Grantees.
Am't Loss.
Classified by.
Am't Classed.
Abigail Potter
573
4
11
George Potter
573
4
11
David Manwaring
51
3
0
His heirs
51
3
0
Samuel Belden
1771
15
Samuel Belden
10
15
8
M. Dumont
263
18
Hezekiah Ripley
133
15
3
Elisha Jlorgan
13
0
John Morgan
13
0
Charles Chester
6
19
0 Charles Chester
6
19
0
Jonathan Haven
11
9
0
Elisha Chester
11
9
0
Samuel Walworth
10
11
6
James Mitchell
..
6
116
John Gordon 1
16
3 George Potter
12
412
Footing of Classification No. 3, £1,344
0
* Complled from the "Memoirs " by F. D. Drake, Esq.
CLASSIFICATION NO. 4, SECTION 4.
Original Grantees. Am't Loss. Classified by. Am't classed
Samuel Belden 1771 - Samuel Belden 1344 0
£
S d.
Footing of Classification No. 4, £1,344 7 0
SETTLEMENT.
The township was first colonized in the month of February, 1810, by six families from Conneaut, Erie county, Pennsylvania. They were: Jonathan Sprague, Sr., a man far advanced in years, who had been a lientenant in the army of the Revolution, and origi- nally from the State of Vermont. He erected a cabin on the east bank of Pipe creek, about one fourth of a mile west of Bloomingville. A son, Jonathan, Jr., and three families of Dunham's, settled between Mr. Sprague's and the present Bloomingville. Linas En- sign settled on the east bank of Pipe creek, about one mile southwest of Bloomingville, on the farm after- wards occupied by John Paxton.
In the month of July of the same year, Thomas James, from New London, Connecticut, and James Forsyth, from Northumberland county, Pennsylvania, moved into the township. James settled on a tract of land he had previously purchased, some half a mile northeast of Bloomingville. James Forsyth settled about one half mile southwest of Bloomingville, and one fourth of a mile west of Pipe creek. During the fall of the same year, Nathan, Standish and Ruel 0 Wood located about half a mile east of Bloomingville. The next year Thomas Hamilton, Dr. Waitsell Has- 6 tings and John Dillingham settled at Bloomingville, . and Samuel McGill about one mile southwest of them. ? 0
During the summer and fall of this year, Jabez Wright and Almon Ruggles surveyed the township. Benjamin Drake was in the county at the time, and assisted as chain bearer, and, while so employed, pur- chased the farm now occupied by his son, F. D. Drake (lot fifteen, section four). There were large acces- sions to the colony this year, and many from Con- neant, Pennsylvania, located in Groton township.
The next year, the war with Great Britain checked emigration, and the cowardly surrender of the traitor, Hull, at Detroit, shortly afterward exposed the thinly scattered settlements of northwestern Ohio to the depredations of the Indians. The inhabitants were greatly alarmed, and many of them fled to the older settlements for safety. The larger number of those who fled from this section went to Mansfield, convey- ing their provisions and household goods on pack- horses and in wagons, driving their stock. Benjamin Drake was with this company; the roads were bad and progress slow and tedious. The women and chil- dren suffered much, during this march, from exposure,
(466)
8.
d
8.
d.
James Miller
93
6
93
8
6
Winth'p Saltonstall 1181 16
15
5
44
15
5
William Latham
3
S
d.
€
S
d.
Ebenezer & Lydia 980 11 6
| Hurlburt
234 0
Winth'p Saltonstall 361
467
HISTORY OF HURON AND ERIE COUNTIES, OHIO.
and that annual pest of the new settlements of the west, fever and agne. This exodus was conducted with military precision, and the cavalcade duly arrived at Mansfield.
A small proportion of the inhabitants remained in Oxford, and in connection with some from Cold Creek and adjacent settlements erected, in the fall of this year (1812), a block honse in Bloomingville. This, like other structures of its class erected during this period at the west, although generally occupied by a few persons, was not calculated to be permanently garrisoned, but was merely a place of refuge to which the inhabitants of the neighboring settlements fled in case of sudden alarm. Immediately after the battle on the peninsula (fall of 1812), the settlers became so much alarmed that they erected an additional block house at Bloomingville, and enclosed both with pick- ets, and because of its greater security it became a place of resort for transient persons and the settlers of the surrounding country.
From the time of " Hnll's infamy" until the close of the war but small additions were made to the per- manent settlers in Oxford. Soon after the battle of the peninsula, Jasper Wood (father of Bourdett Wood, of Bellevue), and Worthington Wood, now of Michi- gan, moved into the township, and bought out old Na- than Wood, who had previously settled a short distance east of Bloomingville. Greene Parker, a local Meth -. odist preacher, settled about one half mile east of the present village of Enterprise, on a point of land formed by the junction of Slate run with Huron river. He was the first settler in this portion of the township.
The family of Benjamin Drake were: Caleb, who married Widow Buel (did not locate in Ohio); Charles F., who married Maria Livingston and died on Ca- tawba Island; Benjamin, who deceased single; Joshua, who married Charlotte Gibbs, and lives in Livingston county, Missouri; Frederick D., who married Eliza Smeath, resides on the old homestead, and is the only one of the family residing in the township; James, who married Catharine Smeath, and lives in Missouri; Sarah, who married Dr. Amos Amsden, is dead; Nancy, who married Dr. Daniel Tilden, is dead, and Deborah, who married Shepard Patrick. Benjamin Drake died December 22, 1844, aged seventy-nine years. Mrs. Drake died July 21, 1844.
BLOOMINGVILLE
is situated in the northwest corner of the township, and about one-fourth of a mile east of Pipe creek, on the line of an Indian trail, that seems to have been a favorite camping ground, long previous to the settle- ment of the country, for Indians and traders, in their journeyings between the mouth of Huron river and Lower Sandusky, the ground being high and dry, and an abundance of wood, water and feed in the vicinity.
The village dates from 1811, but was not laid out or named until as late as 1817. This was done by
Abiathar Shirley and Abner Youngs. At one time its future was very promising.
FIRST EVENTS.
The first store in the township was opened by Nathan Wood, at Bloomingville, in 1811, and after- ward, successively by Peter Vanness, and Faley & Johnson. In 1818, Samuel B. Caldwell and a young man, named Owens, brought on a large stock of goods. Owens soon returned east, and Charles F. Drake became associated with Caldwell, and the busi- ness was conducted by this firm for many years.
The first post office was established at Blooming- ville as early as 1810. Aaron Bigsby was, doubtless, the first postmaster.
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