History of the city of Toledo and Lucas County, Ohio, Part 169

Author: Waggoner, Clark, 1820-1903
Publication date: 1888
Publisher: New York and Toledo : Munsell & Company
Number of Pages: 1408

USA > Ohio > Lucas County > Toledo > History of the city of Toledo and Lucas County, Ohio > Part 169

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846

HISTORY OF TOLEDO AND LUCAS COUNTY.

Section No. 36, T. 9, S. of R. 6 E .; Sections numbers 1, 2 and 12; the East half of Sections numbers 11, 14 and 23 and fractional Sections 13 and 24, all in Town 2 1T. S. R .; fractional Section No. 19, Town 3, U. S. R .; all that portion of Private Grants numbers 575, 578, 579, 580 and 581 which was formerly in Spring- field Township; also all that territory which was formerly in Waynesfield Township, lying Northeast of Private Grant No. 581 extending to the centre of the Maumee River; thence down the River, to the Southwest corner of the City of Toledo, be estab- lished as the Township of Carey ; and that the first meeting for the election of officers for said new Town- ship be held at the house of Henry Driver on Decem- ber 22, 1856.

Accordingly the first Township meeting was held and the following officers elected: Trus- tees-Peter H. Shaw, Darius Mills, J. P. Hill. Clerk -G. W. Norton. Treasurer - Elisha Mulford.

Mr. Mulford served as Treasurer two years. The following have served as Treasurer since:

William Larkin, 1858; Walter Woodward, 1859- 62; Warren H. Howe, 1862; S. S. Kingsley 1863 ; Hiram W. Haughton, 1864-73; M. M. Goulden, 1873- 75; G. W. Norton, 1875-79; John Halpin, 1879; Squire Johnson, 1879-82; David Byrne, 1882-87.

Clerks-G. W. Norton, 1856-62 ; Alonzo Lane, 1862-64; S. D. Wilcox, 1864 ; Alonzo Lane, 1865-72; Samuel W. Cass, 1872; Edward L. Jones, 1873; Oliver C. Wilson, 1874; Henry Woodward, 1875; David Byrne, 1876; Orlando Lane, 1877-79; C. R. Bowen, 1879-84; H. Miller, 1884-86 ; Lewis Dennis, 1887.

Justices of the Peace-B. F. Cunningham, Walter Woodward, 1857-63 ; Charles F. Bates, Jeremiah Reynolds, 1863-69 ; Harvey Kellogg. A. D. Jones, 1869-72; James B. Robinson, Wesley C. Palmer, 1872-78; Wesley C. Palmer, C. R. Bowen, 1878-81; Harvey Kellogg, Silas M. Johnson, 1881-84 ; Harvey Kellogg, Charles W. Cass, 1884-87; Charles R. Bowen, Henry V. Hawkins, 1887.

The citizens of Adams Township were active in raising Volunteers and relief for the Soldiers and Soldiers' families during the War. A Soldiers' Aid Society was maintained, and many festivals held. On January 7, 1865, a branch of the United States Christian Commis- sion was organized, with Capt. G. W. Norton as President, Harvey Kellogg as Secretary, and S. D. Wilcox as Treasurer. Besides various supplies, there was raised in cash during the few months before the close of the War, $121.81. The Township furnished more than its quota, sending in all into the service 89 men out of a population (in 1860) of 750 inhabitants. Some 40 or more persons who lived at the time or had previously lived in Adams Township, eulisted in Battery H, First Regiment, Ohio Volunteer Artillery, and served during the War in the Army of the Potomac, and on their return home in June, 1865, met with a warm reception from the citizens.

October 8, 1867, the Trustees of Adams Township, Peter Y. Mersereau, S. D. Wilcox and John Shull, purchased of D. F. Cook four acres of land for a Cemetery. The price paid for the ground was $500.

The population of the Township in 1860, was 750; in 1880, 1,519. The Township bas nine School Districts with the same number of substantial brick School-houses.

UNION CHURCHI.

There is but one Church edifice in Adams Township, and it is of quite recent construc- tion. When the Township was set off many of the religious people residing within its limits had their Church relations in Toledo, Sylvania, Springfield and Maumee, and the need for a local Church was not so much felt. ILence, for a long time, although services were held occa- sionally in School-houses and in the Town Hall, there was neither meeting-house nor resident minister within the Township. The following incident may be worth relating in this connec- tion : One of the pioneers ( Mr. Harvey Kellogg) being a delegate from Adams Township to a Sunday School Convention at Maumee soon after the Township was organized, on being called upon for a reportfrom his Township, remarked : " We have no Church nor Minister nor Lawyer in Adams Township, but a Doctor has lately moved in, and the Trustees have laid out ground for a Cemetery." The mention of the need for a burying-ground in such connection, provoked considerable merriment and got reported in the papers at the time as an "excellent hit by a member from the rural districts."

In 1882 the women, without regard to de- nominational proclivities, made a movement to have a Church on Dorr Street, at its junction with Miami and Sylvania Free Turnpike.

On May 12, 1882, a meeting was held at the residence of Harvey Kellogg, and the Woman's Christian Association of Adams Township was formed. It was incorporated June 20, 1882, and the following officers were elected : Presi- dent, Mrs. H. Kellogg; Secretary, Mrs. Alice Thompson ; Treasurer, Mrs. A. Lape. Trus- tees, HI. Kellogg, H. V. Hawkins, L. E. Rowe.

The Association proceeded to erect a Church on a lot donated for the purpose by H. P. and V. Glenn, on the corner above named, which was finished and dedicated as a Non-sectarian or Union Church in the Fall of 1883. The cost of the building was $2,000. It is divided into audience room and room for the meetings of the Association, and the pulpit is supplied from the Detroit Avenne M. E. Church.

The Township has a good substantial Town IIall, which is open for preaching, but is not at present regularly supplied

The Township has always had a number of earnest Sunday School workers, and has been usually represented in the County Sunday School Union.

Washingtonian and Good Templar Societies were some of the means for promoting temper- ance in the Township before and during the War. A strong organization of the Sons and

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MONCLOVA TOWNSHIP.

Danghters of Temperance was kept up for several years. The organization embraced a large number of the young ladies of the Town- ship, and among the active members were such heads of families as G. W. Norton, J. P. Robi- son, Harvey Kellogg, Alonzo Lane, Samuel

C'ass, George Naugle, A T. Jones, Henry Driver and other.

S. M. Johnson and others, of late years, have been strong advocates of Prohibition, but the party vote in the Township has never been over 11.

MONCLOVA TOWNSHIP.

The Township of Monclova lies partly upon the Maumee River at the head of the Rapids, and is included in the oldest settled sections of the Manmee Valley. According to tradition, the French built a Stockade and established a Trading-post with the Indians at the Rapids of the Maumee as early as 1680. However that may be, it is quite probable that French traders and adventurers from Raisin or Detroit occu- pied the site of the Rapids before the British built Fort Miami, In Knapp's History of the Maumee Valley we find the following :

Soon after the victory of General Wayne and the evacuation of Fort Miami by the British, many French and Americans settled at the foot of the Rajds. In October, 1807, James Carlin (Government Blacksmith) and family removed from the River Raisin to Manmee City ; and his son, Squire Carlin, now a resident of llancock County, states that when his father and family reached the place now known as Maumee City, the following were residents of the neighborhood : Three families of Ewing (the Chris- tian names of two being William, but the first name of the third not by him recollected), William and Andrew Race and a Mr. Carter-making a total of six American families.

Mrs. Maria Reed, now residing at Monclova, who settled there in 1818, having lived three years previous at Perrysburg, has been able to give the writer the name of the third Ewing not remembered by Mr. Carlin. She says it was Samuel Ewing, and that he built the first mill on Swan Creek within the present Village of Monclova, sometime before the War of 1812. It was destroyed during the War, among many other depredations committed by the British and Indians in this section ; but was rebuilt by her father, Ephraim H. Leaming, and his brother, Thomas, in 1817. In the Spring of 1818, Mr. Leaming removed his family Irom Perrysburg to Monclova, and settled on lands which he had purchased from the Government when the Reserve lands were offered for sale in 1817. The only settler who had preceded them to the immediate neighborhood was Daniel Murray, who, with his family, lived in a log cabin where John Black now lives, on the bank of Dry Creek. Mr. Murray moved out of the Township (or what is now the Township), in 1824. None of his descendants are now liv- ing in Monclova.

That there were settlers within the bounda- ries of the present Township previous to the War of 1812-15, seems evident. Knapp says-

quoting, probably, from reminiscences of H. L. Hosmer :

The intelligence that War was declared in t812 was first communicated to the white settlers at the foot of the Rapids and at Monclova (these places then being the only white settlements between Lower San- dusky and Frenchtown or Monroe) by Peter Manor, of Providence.

The War probably scattered the first settlers from the Township, and few, if any of them ever returned. Among those who were settlers before the War (of 1812), and probably as early as 1807, as stated by Mr. Carfin, undoubtedly Samuel Ewing was one, for Mrs. Reed's recol- lection is that Anthony, son of Samuel Ewing, is reputed to have been the first white child born in the Township (in 1808).

Ephraim H. Leaming (father of Mrs. Reed above referred to) was born in New York State and came from Livingston County to Perrys- burg in 1815. He and his brother, Thomas, who was early associated with him in business, were Carpenters and Mill-Wrights. After they had relmilt the old Ewing mill at Monclova, they furnished much of the lumber for the resi- dences of General Hunt and Major Forsyth at Maumee-the finest residence at that time in the country. Thomas Leaming was the builder of one or both of these mansions. The lumber was drawn by the Leamings from their mill with ox teams. Swan Creek was then a fine mill-stream, and probably the first mill ever erected upon its banks was that which stood before the War of 1812-15, a few rods above the bridge at Main Street in Monclova.

Ephraim H. Leaming brought with him from Livingston County, New York, his wife Mary, and three children-Maria, Ephraim and Thomas H. Ephraim was drowned in the Maumee at Perrysburg in 1817. Thomas H. Leaming, the other son, was born in the State of New York, January 27, 1814, and died at his residence in Monclova (part of the old paternal homestead), June 21, 1855. As the oldest male settler of the Township, and of a considerable larger section as well, he was President of the Pioneer Association for several years before his death. He was married with Huldah, daughter of Charles Merrill, a native of Maine and an old settler in Amboy Township, Fulton County. Their son, W. G. Leaming, is the present Clerk of Monclova Township.

Maria Leaming (widow of Anson Reed, de-

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HISTORY OF TOLEDO AND LUCAS COUNTY.

ceased), was born in Livingston County, New York, July 17, 1809, and came to Perrysburg with her parents in 1815. Since the Spring of 1818 she has resided on the homestead in Mon- clova, is now in the 78th year of her age, with mind remarkably bright and clear, and is the oldest living settler in the Township. She was married with Mr. Reed January 1, 1834, and has one daughter, Mary ( Mrs. Jacob Brown), residing in Swanton.

Hezekiah Hubbell, father of the present Postmaster at Monclova, was one of the carly settlers. He bought of the Government in 1831, the East half of the Northwest quarter of Section tive, Town one, United States Reserve, on which he settled the year of his purchase. In 1833 he entered the West half of the North- west quarter of section 32. Mr. Hubbell was a substantial and enterprising farmer. He was married with Anna Steel, and had five children, two of whom live in the Township, viz .: C. L. Hubbell, the Postmaster, referred to above, and Clarinda, widow of the late William Wilson. Mr. Hezekiah Hubbell died in 1846. The Wil- liam Wilson above mentioned, was a son of Judge Wilson who platted the Town of Sylva- nia in 1836. C. L. Hubbell, in 1836, built the store and residence where he now lives in the Village. Besides his mercantile business and the Post Office, he keeps the only hotel in the place.

Aaron Trapp, son of John Trapp, one of the leading men of the Township, also keeps a store in the Village, and has been Postmaster, Justice of the Peace, Township Trustee, and filled other official stations.

Another early settler who should be men- tioned in this connection is Mr. Conrad Coder, who came into the Township in 1834. The farm on which he has resided for over half a eentury is situated near the Village, while his son, W. W. Coder, lives upon the adjoining estate on the bank of Swan Creek. Both are beautiful and well-improved farms. Six chil- dren, of Mr. Coder's large family of 15, are liv- ing. The following are residents of the Town- ship : W. W. Coder, above referred to, Jeremiah, John and Elizabeth (the latter Mrs. Peter S. Strayer). Mr. Conrad Coder has attained the age of 77 years. His wife died in 1872. W. W. Coder has taken an active partin Township and local affairs, being a trustworthy as well as a well-informed and competent business man. His Towns-people have kept him, by successive elections, 24 years in the office of Justice of the Peace. He has served also many years as Township Clerk, and as member of the Board of Education, of which he is President. Mr. Coder was married in 1863 with Harriet Jane Merritt. Of their two sons, Frank and Edgar, the former is a law student in Toledo, and the other at home on the farm.

John Barton resides on the East half of the Southeast quarter of Section 13, land which he

entered in 1841. He has about 300 acres and is a wealthy farmer.

Peter P. Bateman (deceased) was an early and prosperous settler. Hle entered the East half of the Northwest quarter of Section 24, but sold out and bought in the River traek. Ilis sons, William A. and Frederick Bateman, are heirs to his large estate, on which they reside.

George Allen died at Monclova in 1878, aged 70 years. He bought his land from the Gov- ernment in 1834, and settled where his widow and family now resides in 1841. He was born in County Tyrone, Ireland, in 1808; married, first, Elizabeth Oswalt, by whom he had six children ; his second wife, now surviving, was Elizabeth Jones, they being married in 1854. Their two children are Mary E. Myers and John W. Allen. Mr. Allen was highly esteemed by his fellow-citizens as a man of integrity of eharaeter.

Few citizens have taken a more active inter- est in Township affairs than Warren B. Gunn, who was the first Township Clerk in 1853, and served in that and other offices many years. He came to the County in September, 1820. He is still living and ranks among the most worthy of the old settlers, and by virtue of priority of residence, is President of the Mau- mee Valley Historical Society.

The following is a partial list of the oldest settlers now remaining: Maria Reed, John Strayer, Warren B. Gunn, Conrad Coder, Adam Black, Conrad Noble, William Weible, Henry Heffelbower.

It is recorded as a fact applicable to the pioneers of Monclova, as of the Manmee Valley generally, that of the many families who lived on the Reservation of 12 miles square at the foot of the Rapids, previous to the War of 1812- 15, and returned afterwards, not one was ad- dicted to the habit of intemperance or practical dishonesty in dealing ; but all were estcemed as good citizens.

JOHN STRAYER was born July 4, 1811, in Fayette County, Pennsylvania. His father, Peter Strayer, was a native of York County, same State, the family being of German de- scent. When the son was abont four years old, they removed to Stark County, Ohio, where be remained until 21 years of age (1832). He then came to the Maumee Valley, and pur- chased the Southeast quarter of Section 33, Towu Two, United States Reserve (now in Monclova Township, Lueas County, and at once began life in the wilderness. He built a log-house on the East half of his purchase in the Spring of 1833, and in the Autumn follow- ing was joined in marriage with Susan Schwartz, a native of Harrison County, born November 8, 1813. The young couple at once came to their forest bome, where they have since lived to see the wilderness give place to improved farms and prosperous Towns and

FILMOGRAPHIE

John Strayer.

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MONCLOVA TOWNSHIP.

Cities, and the Indian withdraw to make room for the intruding white man. At the first, a part of Mr. Strayer's land was occupied as an Indian camping-ground; but their relations with the white comers were always peaceful and pleasant. The obstacles, hardships and joys incident to pioneer life, were their experi- enee during the long years of toil which Mr. and Mrs. Strayer were called to meet. Ten children were born to them-six sons and four daughters. Two of the former (Daniel and Jolin), were volunteers in the great loyal Army which made successful defense of the Nation's life against Rebellion The latter named offered up his life for the Union, having con- tracted disease while in the service and died at Ringgold, Georgia, April 11, 1864. Both were in Company 1, Fourteenth Ohio Infantry. Daniel, with five other living children, are new comfortably situated on farms in the vicinity of the old homestead, which has been held now for over 54 years. Politically, Mr. Strayer acted with the Whig party until it was disbanded and sueceeded by the Republican party. His first vote for President was cast for General Wm. H. Harrison, in 1840. He was at Fort Meigs in June, 1840, when General Harrison attended the memorable celebration of the British siege of that fortress. He was in sentiment strongly Anti-Slavery, and for many years before the removal of that great wrong, the prayer statedly ascended at his family devotion for the deliverance of those "in bonds." In religious faith their views were those of the Church known as the United Brethren in Christ, with which they actively co operate and in support of which their means were freely bestowed. They have long been strongly opposed in sentiment to secrecy in associations of every description, believing such connection to be inconsistent with the Christian profession. Among the carlier inci- dents of their life in the Woods, was the cele- brated meteoric shower of the night of Novem- ber 5, 1833, which occurred very soon after their forest home had been established. The aged couple were permitted on the 27th of August, 1883, to celebrate the 50th anniversary of their marriage, with a large gathering of children, grand-children and great-grand- children and friends and neighbors. They have been singularly happy in their family, both in the number and the pervading sympa thy of the members. Few domestic circles have been as happy in their relations-a state of things largely due to the uniform religious sentiment which pervaded their home.

ORGANIZATION OF THIE TOWNSHIP.

The citizens of Monclova petitioned the Board of County Commissioners March 7, 1853, to set them off as a separate Township, to be

known as Monclova, Lucas County. The peti- tion was received and laid upon the table. March 9th it was taken up, the petitioners and remonstrants heard, for and against the propo- sition, and action upon it made a special order for the adjourned meeting March 11, 1853. At this meeting the Township of Waynestield was divided, the new boundaries of Springfield Township established, and Monclova consti- luted.

The first meeting for the election of Town- ship officers was appointed to be held on the first Monday in April, 1853. The record con- taining the elections and official proceedings to the Township for about 25 years are lost, and all that can be done is to give such partial data as may be gleaned from other sources,

In April, 1853, the Board of Education met at the house of B. T. Barnes and organized by electing J. O. Allen Chairman. W. B. Gunn, Clerk of the Township, acted as clerk. Reso- lutions were adopted for the government of the Schools in the Township, and J. O. Allen was appointed acting manager. The Board in 1855 consisted of Peter Blystone, Peter Bomgardner, H. L. Crossett, John Weible, Jesse Kerr, and Warren B. Gunn-the latter as Clerk. There were then six Districts in the Township.

The first School-house was a frame building, erected in the Village on ground given by llez- ekiah Hubbell in 1838. It stood on the prem- ises now occupied by Aaron Trapp, near his residence, and was superseded by the frame School-house which stands in the rear of the present School building, and which a few years ago was repaired by the Disciples Church for their religious meetings. The present School- house in the Village is a substantial brick structure, the upper story of which is fitted up for a Township Hall. The School employstwo Teachers in Winter and one in Summer. There are now seven Districts in the Township, with substantial brick School-houses. The number of persons of School age is 185 males, 168 fe- males, total 353. Number of votes cast, 245.

The following named persons have been Treasurers of Monclova Township since its or- ganization : Adam Black, Solomon Salisbury, John Trapp, John Strayer, Lewis Metzger (14 years -- 1866-80), Aaron Trapp (1880-86), Joseph Hain (1886), Lewis Metzger (1887).

Clerks since 1880-W. W. Coder, to 1887: W. G. Leaming, 1887.

Trustees since 1880-Jeremiah Coder, J. A. Nachtrab, John Ward, 1880; William Blay- stone, Jeremiah Coder, William Lose, 1881 ; J. O. Holloway, William Braystone, Daniel Stray. er, 1882 ; C. L. Hubbell, C. H. Roberts, Joseph Hain, 1883; Jacob Weckesley, William Lose, J. E. Farmer, 1884; Jacob Weckesly, William Lose, J. E. Farmer, 1885 ; Laban Lowry, Chas. Decker, Wilson Davis, 1886; Charles Decker, Andrew Baker, Daniel Keener, 1887.

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HISTORY OF TOLEDO AND LUCAS COUNTY.

JOHN WEIBLE was born in Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania, December 21, 1815. He is the oldest son of William N. and Hannah (Lose) Weible, of German descent. His father was born at Sea, June 15, 1788, during the voy- age of his grand-parents from Germany to America ; he died in MonclovaTownshipin 1857, aged 69, his wife having died in August, 1851. William and Hannah Weible had a family of eleven children-five sons and six daughters; tive are yet living, John Weible, the subject of this sketch, being the only of the family residing in Monclova Township. Mr. Weible was brought up in his native Town in Pennsylva- nia; received such an education as the common Schools of that day and his opportunities af- forded; learned the carpenter's trade, and followed that occupation during the early part of his life. Being at the same time a diligent reader and close observer, he acquired much information, which he has been able to turn to good account, not only financially, but in the rreditable manner in which be has deported himself in his various relations. Few men in his station are better informed on most practi- cal subjects, or have more prompt and accurate habits of business, that has Mr. Weible. He was married in Pennsylvania, December 21, 1837, with Miss Rebecca Rhodes. In 1853 he removed to Lucas County and settled on land purchased of Martin Walter, adjoining the farm on which he now resides. He has here a well-kept and comfortable farm and residence, on a rise of ground overlooking the Swan Creek Valley. Mr. and Mrs. Weible have had no children of their own, but they have brought up two orphans, whom they have parentally cared for and assisted in settlement.

Mr. Weible early embraced the faith and worship of the United Brethren, in the fellow- ship of which Church he has spent most of his life. He has been since his profession of reli- gion an active worker in the cause of Missions and Sunday Schools. For six years he has held the office of Justice of the Peace in his Town- ship, and for the same length of time has been a Director of the County Infirmary. In 1870 he, with other citizens, got up a subscription for a Soldiers' Monument, which was placed in the Cemetery to commemorate the deeds of those who served their country in the late War. In many ways he has been an active promoter of the welfare of the Soldiers and manifested his patriotism during the Rebellion.

MONCLOVA VILLAGE

Was laid out and recorded by O. H. Beatty and Hezekiah Hubbell, May 27, 1836. Main Street, running North 87 degrees East, is the principal Street. The other Streets (at right angles) are Farmers, Mechanics, Spring, Wood, Raisin, Market, etc. The Village is situated centrally in the Township, and since the organization

has been the place of the Township business. It contains two stores (those of C. L. Hubbell and Aaron Trapp), Post Office, two Churches, a Wagon Shop, Blacksmith Shop, Hotel, School- house, Township Hall, etc.

There is a Railroad Station at the Village on the Wabash Railroad, established in 1864, and another on the Toledo, St. Louis and Kansas City Road, at Presque Isle Ilill.

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History of the city of Toledo and Lucas County, Ohio, Part 169

Author: Waggoner, Clark, 1820-1903 Publication date: 1888 Publisher: New York and Toledo : Munsell & Company Number of Pages: 1408

Author: Waggoner, Clark, 1820-1903
Publication date: 1888
Publisher: New York and Toledo : Munsell & Company
Number of Pages: 1408