USA > Ohio > Auglaize County > History of western Ohio and Auglaize County, with illustrations and biographical sketches of pioneers and prominent public men > Part 49
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· The chief was somewhat club-footed, and the word has reference,. I think to that circumstance, although its full import I never could discover."
Henry Harvey, the Quaker missionary at Wapakoneta, in his. History of the Shawnee Indians, says: "This village, I have-
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learned, derived its name from an ancient and distinguished woman. of that name, and that it is a Shawnee word."
The curiosity of some young gentlemen, a few years ago, led them to open the grave of Wapakoneta. In it they found beads of porcelain and glass of French manufacture, stone pendants, and other fragments of ornaments customarily worn by Indian women. The discoveries seem to indicate that the statements of Harvey are correct.
From 1795 to 1812, adventurous traders and Government. agents were the only white men who visited Wapakoneta. In 1812 the Shawnee Indians and other professedly friendly tribes of north- ern Ohio were required by Government authority to assemble around the Indian agency at Piqua, to the number of six thousand, where they were boarded at the expense of the General Govern- ment until the close of the war. After the treaty of peace with England in 1814, the tribes returned to their former locations.
In 1816, George C. Johnston, a licensed trader, built a trad- ing house on the present site of the Wapakoneta Wheel Factory. Later, other traders appeared to barter with the Indians.
In 1819 the Quakers of Philadelphia established a mission here. Isaac and Henry Harvey, the missionaries, accompanied by mill-wrights and other necessary help, erected a grist-mill and a saw-mill, for the benefit of the Indians and the few white people. A number of young men also accompanied the missionaries, who were employed for several years in building cabins for the Indians, and in teaching them the art of agriculture and instructing them in the use of tools. The mills were erected on the rear end of the lots on which the large provision store of H. W. Taeusch and sons is located. A race eight hundred feet long, extending along the south bank of the river to a dam, furnished the necessary power for the mills. The frame of the saw-mill is still in position.
Capt. John Elliott, a veteran in the war of 1812, was appointed government blacksmith for the Shawnee Indians at Wapakoneta in 1819, and moved to the village in 1820. His duties were of a miscellaneous character - repairing firearms, making hoes, axes. plow-irons, chains, nails, hinges, etc. A part of his residence is still standing on the James Wilson lot No. 19.
Peter Hammel, of French and Indian descent, came here from Canada about 1815, and erected a log building on lot No. 12, in which he kept a store. He sold intoxicating liquors, groceries, dry
.
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goods, and hardware. His account book, now before us, shows that in after years the pioneers of Duchouquet and adjoining town- ships patronized his store. In 1816, he married Francis Duchou- quet's daughter. Of this union four children were born - Pa- melia, Theresa, Jane and Joseph. Pamelia became the wife of Joseph Neff in 1839, and Theresa the wife of William Craft in 1842. The third daughter and son died before they reached a marriageable age. Hammel, after his marriage, resided with his father-in-law until 1831, when Duchouquet died. By his death Hammel's wife inherited three hundred and twenty acres of land, in the central part of section 29.
Immediately following the departure of the Indians in 1832, land buyers in considerable numbers appeared in the township, and to accommodate them, the land office, located at Piqua, was moved to Wapakoneta. As soon as it was opened on the 26th of December, over sixteen hundred acres of land were entered in and around Wapakoneta. The principal buyers on that day were Henry Stoddard, James B. Gardner, Joseph Barnett, Peter Augh- enbaugh, Jonathan K. Wiles, Robert J. Skinner, Wm. A. Vanhorn, Thomas Vincent Gordon, John Tam, and Jeremiah Ayers.
The record of land entries shows that James B. Gardner, Joseph Barnett, Peter Aughenbaugh and Jonathan K. Wiles, jointly, entered seven hundred and ten acres ; and Robert J. Skin- ner and Wm. A. Vanhorn six hundred and thirty-six acres. -
In 1833, John Jackson, surveyor of Allen county, surveyed and platted the site of Wapakoneta for James B. Gardner, Peter Aughenbaugh, Jonathan K. Wiles and Joseph Barnett. The plat shows that sixty-two lots were staked off at that time.
In 1831, Jeremiah Ayers built a cabin on lot No. 8, now occu- pied by the Happ building. In the spring of 1832, he moved his cabin to the rear end of his lot and in its stead erected a two-story frame hotel, having an upper and lower porch fronting on Auglaize street. White laborers were so scarce that Indians were. employed to raise the building. The hotel, known as the Wapakoneta House, was a commodious buildng, and was the principal public house in the village until 1866, when it was destroyed by fire. In December, 1832, he entered several tracts of land, in and around Wapa- koneta, amounting in the aggregate to two hundred acres. In the fall of the same year he also purchased the mission mills. In 1834, he erected a distillery on the site of the electric power house. This
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distillery produced nearly all the whiskey consumed in the county from 1834 to 1860.
For nearly thirty years, Ayers was the most enterprising citi- zen of the village. He died in 1868.
It will be proper here to state that the only cleared ground in Wapakoneta in 1834, consisted of a strip of land about three hun- dred feet in width, extending from Court street along Auglaize street to the C., H. & D. railroad.
In addition to the buildings already located along the street, others were situated as follows: The Quaker mission build- ing stood on the northwest corner of lot No. 278. It was a two- story frame building and was occupied by the missionaries, Isaac and Henry Harvey, from 1819 to 1825. In the latter year the missionaries became exasperated to such a degree over the insinu- ations of unscrupulous white men among the Indians, as to their motives in assisting the tribes, that they purchased "a consider- able tract of land from the government, at the expense of the Society of Friends of Philadelphia, on which they opened a farm and established a school. A full account of this school is given elsewhere in this work. After the building was abandoned by the missionaries it was occupied for a time by Capt. John Elliott, and later by his son, James Elliott.
On the north side of the street on lot No. 92, there was a small cabin owned by Wm. Paten, a carpenter. Soon after the purchase of the property he erected a two-story frame house, a portion of which was occupied as sleeping apartments by the fam- ily, before the building was completed. It is reported that the neighborhood was aroused one morning in the early part of June by the screams of Isabel and Rose Paten in the new house. When the nearest neighbors arrived they were horrified to learn that the girls in making the bed in which they had slept during the night. had discovered a huge black snake under one of the pillows. The' reptile was dispatched by one of the men and removed from the building. A searching investigation was then made of the room and other portions of the building, before any member of the family could be induced to enter it. Such incidents were not of common occurrence, but a single one was sufficient to impress a feeling of dread in the minds of timid people.
After Capt. John Elliott moved into the mission house his
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former residence was occupied by Robert J. Skinner during the time that he served as receiver in the land office.
A small frame building stood on the northeast corner of lot No. 16, that was occupied by different persons for a number of years. In the rear of this building there was an Indian cabin - in the parlance of the time, called a smoke house. Tradition says it was the residence of the silver-tongued Wayweleapy.
A double log cabin stood on lot No. 94, now owned by Mr. Charles Wintzer, in which Isaac Nichols, a veteran of the war of 1812, lived for a number of years.
Jonathan Fore, a carpenter, lived in a little frame house on the lot that in after years was owned by John Shawber.
The village jail, built in 1834, was a frame building, eighteen feet square, and stood on the present site of Henry Nagel's har- ness shop. Criminals confined in it were handcuffed and chained as a precaution to prevent escape. It was the only prison in the county until the county jail was built.
A small brick buildng on the lot adjoining the Timmer- meister block on the west, was occupied by the receiver of funds accruing from the sale of public lands.
Jacob Thatcher, a ltunter, lived in a small cabin in the rear ·of Hunter's drug store.
A cabin and a small brick building occupied by W. A. Van- horn, the register of public lands, stood on the ground now occu- pied by the Kahn dry goods store.
The first house east of the Wapakoneta House stood on the northwest corner of lot No. 6, on the ground now occupied by the Dicker and Davis building. It was a frame structure in which Isaac Nichols kept a general store for several years.
In 1834, H. B. Thorn erected a hotel on the lot, now known as the Rensch property.
The Indian council house, erected in 1783, stood on the ground now occupied by J. H. Doering's hardware store. It was a one-story round log building, thirty feet in width by forty feet in length. During the time that it was in the possession of the Indians it was covered with bark - later, when occupied by W. A. Van- horn, it was re-roofed with clapboards. In 1832 it was renovated, and converted into a residence for W. A. Vanhorn. Later a small brick house was erected on the east side for the better accommoda- tion of the family.
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A frame house stood on lot No. I, in which Henry Vorhees, one of the early pioneers, lived.
A log stable opposite the Vorhees property stood in the corner of a field on the ground now occupied by the Kreitzer block. The field had a rail fence on the west side, and was inclosed on the other sides by a brush fence. In this partially cleared field Vanhorn fed his ponies when they came in from the range. There was quite a rivalry between James Elliott and Vanhorn in appropriating the ponies left ranging in the forest by the Indians when they moved to Kansas. As soon as a pony was captured it was branded with V or E, the initial letter representing the party who had captured it. The ponies had to be trained before they were of much value to their owners. When "broken to work" they per- formed good service in the country where beasts of burden were scarce.
The old Indian cemetery occupied the ground between the Vorhees and Vanhorn properties, and extended from the north line of Auglaize street south on Park to Main street. Before leaving for Kansas the Indians leveled all the burial mounds in this cemetery, as they did in all their other cemeteries in the county. Indian bodies have been found' in every sewer that has been excavated through the cemetery. The workmen, engaged in excavating the sewer along Auglaize street, in the year 1900, discovered two Indian graves at the junction of Park and Auglaize streets. The first body found had been buried in a sitting posi- tion. The only bones of this skeleton found in a perfect condition were the skull, a radius, ulna, humerus, astralgus, and a few of the tarsal bones. The second body, situated a few feet west of the first one, lay in a horizontal positon, and had been incased in a coffin. The walnut casket had been made of puncheons nailed together with wrought iron hand-made nails. The burial of this body must have taken place after 1819. It was probably interred in a coffin at the request of the Quaker missionary, who insisted on Christian burials during the time of his ministration among them.
This Wapakoneta cemetery was probably the largest one in the county. As a rule each clan had its own burial ground. The lot on which the George Fisher residence stands was a burial mound. A third cemetery was located on the George Hale prop- erty in the western part of town. It may be designated as the
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Logan cemetry, as the cabin of the Indian scout stood near there. A fourth burial ground was situated on the hill west of Pusheta creek, on the north side of the St. Marys road.
During the war of 1812, Wapakoneta was situated at the intersection of two of the princpal roads traversed by the armies ; namely, the road leading from Cincnnati through Dayton, Piqua, and Wapakoneta to Defiance, and the other from Franklinton through Ft. McArthur and Wapakoneta to St. Marys.
On the morning of April 28th, 1813, General Green Clay, of Kentucky, passed through Wapakoneta, on a forced march with twelve hundred men to relieve Ft. Meigs, at that time besieged by the British and Indians. He reached Fort Amanda some time in the afternoon, where he embarked on seventy-five boats that had been constructed at that place, and floated down the Auglaize and Maumee rivers to the besiged fort.
All troops from Franklinton, assigned to service in the Mau- mee country moved by way of Fort McArthur and Wapakoneta to St. Marys. What is now Green-Lawn Cemetery was a common camping ground for marching and counter-marching troops dur- ing the war. A good spring located between the camping ground and the present location of the county fair grounds furnished the troops with an abundance of fresh water. In the spring of 1813, a log cabin was erected adjoining the camping ground that was used as a storage house and for officers' quarters. General Har- rison frequently lodged in this building on his horseback journeys from Defiance to Cincinnati, and from Franklinton to St. Marys.
Early in the war of 1812, a military station was established on the hill west of Pusheta creek and north of the St. Marys road. Barracks were erected, and different companies stationed there during the war. It was the duty of the company to watch the movements of the Shawnees, and to intercept British emissaries, and renegade Indians from the savage tribes of the north and west. It was, also, one of the depositories of goods and pro- visions for the armies on the Maumee.
Fort Auglaize, located a half mile north of Wapakoneta, on the west bank of the Auglaize river, was built by French traders in 1748. The so-called fort consisted of a stockade inclosing about. an acre of ground, on which the traders erected a number of cabins. The occupants of this stockade received their goods by boat from Detroit and other French posts on the lake border, by way of the
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Maumee and Auglaize rivers. This port, located at the head of navigation, carried on an extensive trade with the Indians in the interior of the state. The post was abandoned after the Battle of the Fallen Timbers. Some of the pickets of the stockade remained standing as late as 1836.
From 1820 to 1833, Wapakoneta contained but few people who had been accustomed to mingle in the circles of polite society. The adventurers who came here to barter with the Indians were destitute of character, and indulged in all the vices of corrupt society. Drinking and gambling were inseparably connected with business and amusements of all kinds. Nearly every trader dealt in whiskey. The order from the War Department, prohibiting the sale of intoxicating liquors to the Indians, was not observed. The Van Blaricomes and others made money enough by secretly selling whiskey to the Indians to enter farms for themselves.
During the dry periods of summer and fall, wagon trains bearing goods destined to points in the Maumee valley, were of every day occurrence. Gaston Garde, an enterprising dealer in flour and salt, shipped large consignments to Wapakoneta, where they were loaded on pirogues and scows, manned by Indians, and floated down the Auglaize river to Defiance. If the boats grounded on sand-bars or other obstructions, the Indians were required to jump into the river and buoy them over.
Wapakoneta remained a hamlet from 1832 until March 2, 1849, when it was incorporated under the following act :
AN ACT
To Incorporate the Town of Wapakoneta, in the County of Auglaize.
Sect. I. Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of Ohio, That the territory included within the original town plat of the town of Wapakoneta, in the county of Auglaize, and the additions that have been or may hereafter be made thereto, and so much of the territory as is embraced within the south half of section twenty-nine and the north half of section thirty-two, of township number five south, of range number six east, shall be and the same is hereby declared a town corporate with perpetual succession, and as such shall be entitled to all the privileges, and subject to all limitations of "An Act for the regulation of Incor-
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porated Towns," passed February 16, 1839, and the acts amenda- tory thereto.
Sect. II. That the costs and jail fees of all persons com- mitted by the mayor of said town, or arrested and brought before hearing or trial for any violation of the laws of Ohio, shall be paid in the same manner as such costs are paid in cases of the justices of the peace.
Sect. III. That the town council of the town of Wapakoneta be and is hereby fully authorized to assume the payment of the remaining installments due the commissioners of Auglaize county, for public building purposes, as provided for in the act organizing " said county, passed on the 14th of February, 1848.
Sect. IV. That for the payment of said installments, the said "town council is hereby authorized to issue the bonds of said cor- poration under the corporate seal thereof, in sums not less than one hundred dollars each, payable at such time and places, and with such rate of interest not exceeding seven per centum per annum, as to said council may seem proper.
Sect. V. Whenever any bonds shall be issued under the pro- visions of this act, it shall be the duty of said town council to levy a tax sufficient to pay the interest thereon, and for the punctual payment of such principal and interest the whole of the revenues of said town shall stand irrevocably pledged, such tax shall be assessed and collected in the manner provided by law for the assessment and collection of corporation taxes, and the said town council may also for the final redemption of the obligations con- tracted by reason of the powers granted by that act, levy a tax in addition to that provided for by law, to be collected in the same .manner.
JOHN C. BRESLIN, Speaker of House Reps. BREWSTER RANDALL, Pres. of the Senate.
The village records from 1849 to 1852 have been lost. The following list exhibits the mayors and clerks since that time :
MAYORS.
J. S. Williams. . . ... . .. .1853. A. H. Trimble. 1857.
I. F. Coples (Resigned) . . 1854-55.
W. V. M. Layton 1858-59. C. B. (Appointed) 1855.
H. B. Kelly. 1860-61. (G. W. Andrews. 1856.
B. F. Devore. 1862.
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S. B. Ayers. 1863.
Levi Hamaker 1880.
Edward Meyer 1864.
Samuel Bitler 1881-83.
B. F. Devore. .1865.
A. M. Kuhn. 1884-85.
H. B. Kelly. . 1866-67. John Hasenaur 1886-87.
J. D. Marshall. 1868.
C. A. Stueve. 1888-90.
W. V. M. Layton. 1869-71. T. J. Cartmell. 1891-93.
H. B. Kelly (Resigned) .1872-74.
J. G. Wisener 1894-95.
Wm. Miles 1874.
R. M. McMurray. 1875-77.
J. G. Heinrich 1898-99.
H. Moser 1878-79. C. W. Freyman. 1900.
PHYSICIANS.
The early physicians of Wapakoneta, like the other pioneers, experienced many hardships. Many of them were men of refine- ment and culture. Their arrival in the community was hailed with joy. From 1833 to 1870 there was much sickness in Wapa- koneta and the surrounding country. During that long period the town and country were subject, at certain seasons of the year, to milk sickness, remittent and intermittent fevers, caused doubtless, by stagnant ponds and marshes of considerable extent near the town, which diffused a miasma. As the forests were cleared away, and the ponds and marshes were drained, endemic diseases gradually abated, and finally disappeared.
The services of the physicians in those periods of distress and suffering are held in grateful remembrance.
Very few of the pioneer physicians of Wapakoneta now remain. New men, new methods, and new cause for medical aid have supplanted the old practitioner.
The following roll contains the names of the medical prac- titioners of Wapakoneta :
Arthur, F. D. Anthony, F. B. Berlin, Cicero. Berlin, Charles. Brundage, S. P. Bryan, Alonzo. Bryan, L. D. Campbell, T. A. Freeman, E. R. Faulger, H. B. Gibbs, William. George, -
Greenslade, J. M. Gottefrey. - Holbrook, G. W. Hunter, F. C. Hemisfar, - -.
Hunter, Roy. Littlefield, D. W. Myers, Edward. Malus, Minich, H. W.
Mann, H. L. Meely, C. W.
J. J. Connoughton. 1896-97.
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Mueller, L. K.
Sigmond,
Nichols, Thomas.
Stuckey, W. S.
Nichols, John, Sr.
Stone, Michael. Trumbull, G. W.
Nichols, John, Jr.
Nichols, Grant.
Underwood, John.
Phelps, Charles.
Remarque, -
Vickers, George. Woods Horatio.
SCHOOLS.
(From the Centennial History of the Wapakoneta Public Schools, Published in 1876.)
Through the enterprise of R. J. Skinner, T. B. Van Horn and James Elliott a one-story brick building was erected on the bank of the Auglaize river, between where Stenger's mill and the C., H. & D. depot now stand. The building material was of such inferior quality that it rapidly went to decay, and a few years later fell down. It is reported that the brick were so soft that the boys cut holes through the walls, which afforded opportunities, when the master's back was turned, of "gliding out to go a fishing." While it stood, it served the purposes of school house, church, and town- hall: it being the only public building in the place. The first teacher who taught in this building was a Mr. Smith, who taught in the winter of 1834-5 and the winter following. He is said to have been a good teacher. The text-books in use were the English Reader and Introduction, Kirkham's Grammar, and Pike's Arith- metic. All schools taught here from 1834 to 1838 were supported by subscription. The teacher "boarded round," and the fuel was supplied by the patrons of the school; each patron furnishing an amount of wood proportionate to the number of pupils he sent to school. Benches without backs, and a few rude tables constituted the school furniture of that day.
Mr. Smith was followed by Lemuel H. Ide, who taught the winter of 1836-7, and the year following. He is mentioned in commendable terms by those who attended school at that time.
Samuel Harvey taught a term in the winter of 1838-9, and was succeeded by Z. B. Rooker, who taught the next winter term. Mr. Rooker was the first teacher who received money from the tuition fund raised under the school law of 1838.
In the winter of 1841-2, Dr. D. W. Littlefield, a graduate of Jefferson Medical College, taught a four months' school. In the same year Dominicus Flaitz taught a private German school. He afterwards served as county surveyor.
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In the winter of 1843-4, J. A. McFarland taught a four months' school. He went from here to Cleveland, Ohio, where, in after years, he became a distinguished physician. McFarland was succeeded by Samuel Brady, who taught in Hammel's old trading house. Isaiah Dawson taught in the same building from 1845 to 1847. The next term of school was taught in the old Methodist church by Burwell Good. He had charge of the schools during one term and was followed by George H. Stephenson and James I. Elliott, who taught in the years 1848-9.
Miss Sarah E. Whitney taught in the summer of 1849, and Andrew Poe in the winter of 1849-50.
Miss Jane Aldrich taught a summer term in 1850, and Mr. Westby, of Lima, the winter term of 1850-51. Westby was suc- ceeded by Geo. M. Espich, who taught six months at a salary of $150, of which $105 were paid from the public tuition fund, and the remainder by subscription. He taught a second term at a sal- lary of $210. Espich was succeeded by John S. Williams, who taught a four months' term in the winter of 1853-4. He after- ward served the public as probate judge, recorder, surveyor, and justice of the peace.
Mr. A. B. Norris taught a short term in the winter of 1854-5, and was succeeded by Calvin Crowe, who taught in the winter of 1855-6. Isaac Scoles and wife, Miss Mary Elliott and Mr. Much- ler all taught in that year.
In the summer of 1856 a brick school building was erected on the site of the present Third Ward school building at a cost of $2,517. It contained three school rooms, a recitation room, and a janitor's room.
The first teachers who taught in the new building were Syl- vester Mihill and his wife. They taught from 1856 to 1858. Mr. Mihill was succeeded by George H. Richardson. He commenced in the fall of 1858 and continued three years. Miss Mary Bar- rington had charge of the grammar school, and Miss Q. L. Lytle of the primary department.
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