USA > Ohio > Auglaize County > History of western Ohio and Auglaize County, with illustrations and biographical sketches of pioneers and prominent public men > Part 65
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Three years after his return from the army he married Miss. Julia A. Brannon. Of this union there were eleven children born: Archibald, David, Charles H., Shadrach J., Elizabeth Ryan, Jane, Isabella Howell, Mary Lintch, Samalah Howell, Susan Spray, and Hannah Spray. After his marriage he moved to Darby in Champaign county, Ohio, where the family resided until they removed to Moulton township in 1830. Mr. Mont- gomery has the distinction of being the first settler of the town- ship. For the first year the Shawnee Indians were his only
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HISTORY OF WESTERN OHIO
neighbors. His son Archibald, then twelve years of age, soon learned to speak the Shawnee language with fluency. Like the other pioneers of that time, the family were compelled to depend largely upon the chase for subsistance. Fortunately for them Mr. Montgomery was a noted hunter. "He claimed to have killed the last deer ever seen in the county. On one occasion he killed two deer at one shot. He saw but one, but after the shot he found a second one had stood in range beyond the one at which he aimed. He also claimed to have killed the last wolf ever seen in the county."
In 1831 he entered land in section twenty-four in Washing- ton township. Within the forty-one years of his residence in the township he held many offices of trust and honor. He assisted in the organization of the township, and at different times held the offices of justice of the peace, clerk, treasurer and trustee. In 1842 he was elected commissioner of Allen county, and was re-elected in 1844. When Auglaize county was organized in 1848, he was again elected county commissioner.
Mr. Montgomery was an enterprising and public spirited citizen, and commanded the respect of the community in which he resided.
He died October 8th, 1871, at the advanced age of eighty- two years.
MOULTON TOWNSHIP.
This township was organized December 25th, 1835. The following record of that date is copied from the journal of the Allen county commissioners :
"Joseph Haskel then presented a petition from the inhab- itants of township five south, range five east, praying to be set off as a separate township and to be designated and known by the name of Moulton. Petition granted. Bonds given and adver- tisements written for an election to be held at the house of Joseph Haskel on the 30th of January, 1836, for the purpose of electing the necessary township officers."
The township at that time was composed of thirty-six sec- tions. When Auglaize county was formed in 1848, nine sections were struck off from the north part of Moulton township and became a part of the new township of Logan, thus leaving the present township six miles in length from east to west, and four
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and one-half miles in width from north to south, and containing twenty-seven square miles.
The township was a dense wilderness at the time of its organ- ization, with the exception of about fifteen acres along the river in sections twenty-five and twenty-six that had been cleared by Peter Cornstalk's tribe of Indians. The eastern half of the town- ship had formerly been a part of the Shawnee Reservation. Blue- jacket resided with Cornstalk's tribe until he and the prophet moved to the territory west of the Mississippi. The site of Blue- jacket's cabin was near the center of section twenty-five, and is occupied at the present time by John Schlenker's brick residence.
The Auglaize river flows through the eastern portion of the township. The first and second bottom lands adjacent to it are noted for their great fertility. Other streams entering the town- ship are Pusheta creek, from the southeast, and Six Mile creek through the western portion. The soil is largely a strong clay; with considerable black loam along the streams.
The Lake Erie and Western railroad passes through the northwestern part, and · the Western Ohio Electric railroad through the southern portion of the township.
Nearly all the public roads at the present time are gravel pikes. The population is principally of Irish and German de- scent, and the community is an agricultural one. During recent years the discovery of oil has yielded a substantial income to the owners of lands that have been developed.
PUBLIC LAND ENTRIES.
The first land entries in Moulton township were made on the day that the land office was opened at Wapakoneta, December 26th, 1832. The following exhibit from the records of the reg- istrar's office is, also, a record of the advent of the pioneers, as most of them took possession of their lands soon after the entries were made :
Jospeh Haskell, Sec. 10.
1832. Henry Stoddard, Sec. 10.
Henry Stoddard, Sec. 11.
Henry Stoddard, Sec. 14.
Henry Stoddard,. Sec. 15.
Henry Stoddard, Sec. 23.
Joseph Haskell, Sec. 23.
Henry Stoddard, Sec. 24.
Joseph Haskell, Sec. 25.
Robert J. Skinner, Sec. 25.
Joseph Haskell, Sec. 25.
John W. Garey, Sec. 25.
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HISTORY OF WESTERN OHIO
David Croft, Sec. 26. Robert J. Skinner, Sec. 36. Thomas Van Horne, Sec. 36.
John Clawson, Sec. 10. Samuel Marshall, Sec. 15.
James Carswell, Sec. 15.
William Evans, Sec. 23. William Beard, Sec. 23.
William Even, Sec. 23. William A. Van Horne, Sec. 25. Robert Kerr, Sec. 25.
Nathaniel Bowsher, Sec. 26.
Farncis Brock, Sec. 36.
William Peters, Sec. 36. Philip Van Horne, Sec. 36. Francis Brock, Sec. 36.
John Waite, Sec. 24. T. J. and Jonathan West, Sec. 35.
William Bodkins, Sec. 11.
James and Thomas Weer, Sec. 32. William West, Sec. 35.
Abraham Wilson, Sec. 10. 'Samuel Walker, Sec. 11. Christian Forney, Sec. 12. Daniel Jacobs, Sec. 13.
Adam Plummer, Sec. 13. William Morehead, Sec. 14.
George Walter, Jr., Sec. 14.
Christopher Bailye, Sec. 18. Jacob Kiser, Sec. 22. Abraham Keller, Sec. 23. William Rue, Sec. 23. Samuel Chamberlain, Sec. 26. Oliver C. Collins, Sec. 26. Hugh Elliott, Sec. 34. William Green, Sec. 34. Grover Ayers, Sec. 35. Charles S. Miller, Sec. 35. Jeremiah Ayers, Sec. 35.
Joseph Hover, Sec. 13. Joseph Hover, Sec. 15. Michael Dumbroff, Sec. 35.
Henry Stoddard, Sec. 26. Francis Brock, Sec. 32.
1833. Samuel Marshall, Sec. 14. Lewis Breese, Sec. 15. Thomas Williams, Sec. 15. John McClellen, Sec. 23. Thomas Jones, Sec. 23. Thomas V. Goddard, Sec. 25. Henry B. Thorn, Sec. 25. John G. Freyman, Sec. 25. Henry Apple, Sec. 26. William A. Van Horne, Sec. 26.
Peter Birhant, Sec. 36. James Elliott, Sec. 36.
1834. .
Joseph Boston, Sec. 24.
1835. Simon Perkins, Sec. 18.
William Crowder, Sec. 35.
1836. Samuel Walker, Sec. 10. Andrew McKee, Sec. 12. John P. Sillin, Sec. 12. Homer M. Campbell, Sec. 13.
Jacob Young, Sec. 14. Jacob Fleming, Sec. 14. William Still, Sec. 14. Samuel Chamberlain, Sec. 22. Cornelius Christy, Sec. 36. Oliver C. Collins, Sec. 23. Joseph Cummins, Sec. 24. Adam Weaver, Sec. 26. Samuel Chamberlain, Sec. 27. Jesse Hardin, Sec. 34. David M. Hart, Sec. 34. Adam Weaver, Sec. 35. Archibald McCahan, Sec. 35. James Elliott, 'Sec. 35.
1837. Henry D. V. Williams, Sec. 14. Philip Herzing, Sec. 35.
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James Elliott, Sec. 27. James Prichard, Sec. 33.
Michael Leatherman, Sec. 23.
John Bigler, Sec. 34.
Lewis C. Blakely, Sec. 32. Samuel Blakely, Sec. 32. James Hunter, Sec. 30.
Hiram Rathbun, Sec. 21. Richard Barrington, Sec. 31.
Samuel Stepheson, Sec. 21, Henry McConnell, Sec. 28.
James L. Cook, Sec. 28.
James L. McFarland, Sec. 30. John F. Handerstat, Sec. 30.
Samuel Kent, Sec. 32. John Philips, Sec. 83.
Harmon Berlinger, Sec. 30.
Neil McLachlin, Sec. 8. John S. Barnet, Sec. 17. John F. Bosche, Sec. 19.
James Howell, Sec. 19. Hiram Justice, Sec. 28. Anthony O. Boyle, Sec. 30.
Adam Chambers, Sec. 7. James McMasters, Sec. 7. James Stoner, Sec. 9. John Philips, Sec. 9. Charles W. Miller, Sec. 17. Otto F. Dicker, Sec. 19. John F. Bosche, Sec. 19. Oran Crow, Sec. 21.
John Noclar, Sec. 21. John E. McFarland, Sec. 30. William Blond, Sec. 31.
1839. John Hawthorne, Sec. 33. James E. McFarland, Sec. 33.
1842.
1847.
Jacob Bigler, Sec. 34.
1848. John Young, Sec. 32. William Young, Sec. 32. George Huffman, Sec. 19.
1849. Jordan Denny, Sec. 30.
1850. Frederick Friesner, Sec. 21. James L. Cook, Sec. 28. Jesse Clark, Sec. 28. Isaac N. Dewitt, Sec. 30. Samuel H. Justice, Sec. 30.
1851. Arnold Garretson, Sec. 33. Alexander Berrington, Sec. 31. James Blank, Sec. 30. James Douglass, Sec. 8. Michael Bub, Sec. 17. Thomas D. Ross, Sec. 19. Levi Harrod, Sec. 28. Calvin T. Cook, Sec. 28. John L. Shipman, Sec. 30.
1852. Samuel Edman, Sec. 7. Abner Daniel, Sec. 7. John Curl, Sec. 9. Oran Crow, Sec. 17.
Joseph Smith, Sec. 17. John A. Wickaler, Sec. 19. Allen Justice, Sec. 19. Michael Frenty, Sec. 21.
John Philips, Sec. 21.
Frank Sullivan, Sec. 31.
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HISTORY OF WESTERN OHIO
1853.
Adam Chambers, Sec. 7.
Jacob Bailey, Sec. 7.
William McMultin, Sec. 9.
Richard Wright, Sec. 17.
Henry McConnell, Sec. 27.
Jacob Vulggarnold, Sec. 7. Joseph Harshbarger, Sec. 9. Joseph Harshbarger, Sec. 15. Michael Peterson, Sec. 17.
TOWNSHIP OFFICERS.
Justices of the Peace.
James E. McFarland.
1847 to 1879.
Samuel Snyder
1879 to 1883.
George Glynn
1883 to 1894.
Cicero Sillin
1883 to 1894.
Robert Montgomery 1894 to 1897.
F. A. Annesser
1897 to 1900.
J. F. Pfaff
1898 to 1901.
J. J. Kenney
1901 to 1903.
Ross Sillin
1903 to 1905.
Clerks.
Cicero Sillin
1873 to 1884.
J. J. Connoughton
1884 to 1886.
J. L. McFarland
1886 to 1888.
Benjamin Shafer
1888 to 1894.
William Sillin 1894 to 1900.
E. M. Blank
1900 to 1903.
Treasurers.
James E. McFarland
1859 to 1875.
F. W. Schroer
1875 to 1878.
David Fritz
1878 to 1886.
A. W. Gerwels
1886 to 1887.
Frank Blank
1887 to 1891.
Peter Glynn
1891 to 1896.
W. R. Blackburn 1896 to 1899.
John D. Fritz
1899 to 1903.
CHURCHES.
There are five churches in the township: The Catholic church near Glynwood; Methodist Episcopal and German Lu- theran at Moulton; Christian church at Oak Grove; and United Brethren on the Auglaize river.
SCHOOLS.
The township is divided into nine sub-district schools. Each of the districts is provided with a commodious brick school house.
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AND AUGLAIZE COUNTY
furnished with all the necessary modern appliances for the proper conduct of the schools.
GLYNWOOD VILLAGE.
This village was laid out in March, 1876, and was named in honor of John Glynn, a native of Ireland, who settled near the site of the village in 1857. It is located at the intersection of the Lake Erie and Western railroad and the west line of section twenty, Moulton township.
The village contains a post office, store, church, shoe shop, blacksmith shop, a sawmill, and one saloon.
MOULTON VILLAGE.
Moulton is situated on what was formerly the old Plank Road, midway between Wapakoneta and St. Marys. It has never assumed very large proportions, and its business has been con- fined to the trade of the immediate neighborhood. Since the construction of the Toledo and Ohio Central railroad and the Western Ohio Electric railroad, there has been a noticeable in- crease in the business of the town.
The village contains one grain elevator, a post-office, two churches, one store, one blacksmith shop, one wagonmaker's shop, and one saloon.
BIOGRAPHICAL.
THOMAS COGAN was born in Sligo county, Ireland, in 1834. His parents, John and Mary (Sheridon) Cogan were also born in Ireland, where they spent their entire lives.
"In 1847, our subject, in company with an elder brother, sought to better his condition by crossing the ocean to America, and after reaching this country the former was engaged for some time in driving teams on the Delaware and Hudson canals. This he continued for about six months, and afterward for about a year was engaged in repairing the canal. This was his first start in business for himself. Although his educational advantages had been limited in youth, he possessed a naturally bright mind and was quick to pick up all new methods and ideas.
"In 1850, he emigrated to Ohio, and with the money he had saved he bought eighty acres of canal land in Moulton township, where he now resides. This land was then wild and uncultivated
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HISTORY OF WESTERN OHIO
and infested with wild animals, but Mr. Cogan went actively to work to improve and cultivate his property. To the original tract he added from time to time, and in after years became the owner of two hundred and sixteen acres, all well improved and well cultivated. In 1891, oil was discovered on Mr. Cogan's farm, and there are now five oil wells and a gas well on the farm. These wells have yielded him a large income up to date, and are still in operation.
"In 1866, Mr. Cogan was wedded to Miss Margaret Glynn, a native of Ireland and the daughter of Owen Glynn, who was also a native of the Emerald Isle. After marriage Mr. Cogan and wife settled on their present farm, in Moulton township, and . here their seven children were born: John F., May E., Owen P., Anna B., Thomas P., Maggie T., and Julia A. Being de- prived of good educational advantages in his own youth, Mr. Cogan greatly desired that his children should be well educated and has given them every opportunity. His eldest son followed teaching for a few years and is now an ordained priest in the Catholic church.
"Mr. Cogan and wife have been members of the Catholic church nearly all their lives, and are active in their support of the same. In his political views, our subject inclines toward the Democratic party, but usually votes for the best man, irrespective of party. His first Presidential vote was cast for James Bu- chanan."
(From Walsh's Biographical Sketches.)
JAMES MCFARLAND was born in Chambersburg, Pennsylva- nia, August 23d, 1814. In 1835, he, with his parents moved to Logan county, Ohio. Five years later he came to this county and settled in Moulton township, on the St. Mary's road, three' and a half miles west of Wapakoneta. He married Miss Nancy Lowhead. Of this marriage two children were born. His wife died in 1840. Two years afterward he married Miss Rosana Walker. Of this union four children were born: John I., S. Wal- ker, Frank J., and Mary. The mother died in August, 1854. He afterward married Susan Ward, with whom he reared two children, Mollie and Celia. Upon the death of this third wife he married Catherine Whetstone, who still survives.
When Mr. McFarland came to the county he purchased one
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hundred and sixty acres of land on which he resided until his death. Soon after his settlement here he was elected to the office of justice, which he held for thirty-one consecutive years ; twenty- six years of this time he held the office of township treasurer. He also served one term as treasurer of the county agricultural society, in addition to many other minor offices. He was one of a family of eight children, and was the third of these to pass away; his next younger brother was Bishop Francis P. McFar- land, Bishop of Hartford (Conn.) Diocese; Dr. Josiah A. Mc- Farland, Cleveland, Ohio; William H. McFarland, Medina, Mis- souri ; Squire James E. McFarland, Auglaize county, Ohio ; Henry J. McFarland and Ignatius McFarland, Chambersburg: Pennsylvania.
The family was well educated, and highly qualified for the professions or positions of trust which the different members assumed.
Mr. McFarland was a communicant of the Catholic church, and gave evidence all through life of the faith that was in him. He died July 21, 1875.
JEROME MCFARLAND, a brother of the preceding, was born in Chambersburg, Pennsylvania, in 1828. After a preparatory course in a parochial school he attended Jefferson University, at Watertown, New York, and graduated from that institution at the age of twenty years. One year after his graduation he re- moved to this county, and on the first of May, 1850, he married Miss Anna Walker. Of this union twelve children were born, eight of whom survive him, as follows: Mrs. B. W. Layton, Washington, D. C .; John F. McFarland, Indianapolis ; Mrs. Rose Cain, Bellefontaine, Ohio; Miss Mary McFarland, Wapakoneta, Ohio; Mrs Aggie McMurray, Bellefontaine ; Jerome McFarland, Glynwood, and W. H. McFarland, Wapakoneta. The mother of this large family died many years ago. Mr. McFarland was a man of great moral worth and business ability, and occupied many positions of honor and trust. He served as county com- missioner from 1865 to 1874, and county auditor from 1877 to 1883. It can be truly said of him that he was one of the most popular and efficient officers that the county has ever had.
Mr. McFarland died at Wapakoneta April 2, 1896, aged sixty-eight years, two months and eight days.
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HISTORY OF WESTERN OHIO
JOHN MUSSER. Among the many enterprising foreigners who at an early day emigrated to the Land of the Free with a view to bettering their condition was the paternal grandfather of our subject, who emigrated from Switzerland and settled in Maryland about 1750. Being progressive and enterprising to a marked degree, he was not satisfied to remain long in Maryland when the yet unexplored West was before him, and he emigrated to Ohio and settled in Fairfield county. Although the land was wild upon which he settled, the soil was rich and productive, and as the work of clearing progressed and the seed was planted, it yielded a rich return. He was the father of seven children. In religion, he was a member of the German Reformed church, and died in that faith in 1822.
Theobald Musser, son of the above and father of our sub- ject, was born in Fredericktown, Maryland, and there passed his boyhood. In that place, he married Miss Christine, daughter of Christopher Binkley, of Hagerstown, Maryland. After marriage this worthy couple settled in Elizabethtown, Pennsylvania, but a few years later removed to Fairfield county, Ohio, and there the father engaged in tilling the soil the remainder of his days. Both were members of the Reformed Lutheran church. He died in 1847, and his wife passed away in 1853. Of the ten children born to them, three are now living: John, David and Daniel.
John Musser, the subject of this sketch, was born in Eliza- bethtown, Pennsylvania, in the year 1799. At the time of his death he was the oldest man in Auglaize county and had the dis- tinction of being the oldest surviving settler. Having passed the greater portion of his life here he was thoroughly identified with its interest in every worthy particular and recognized by all as one of its representative and most highly esteemed citizens. He was brought by his parents to Ohio in 1801, and grew to man- hood in Auglaize county. When Mr. Musser started out in life, he was entirely without means, but possessed a great amount of energy and push, and a strong and willing hand. By his in- dustry and economy he became the owner of one hundred and sixty acres of land.
He served as an officer in the State militia for seven years. and was commissioned, in turn, First Lieutenant, Captain, and Lieutenant Colonel of the Seventh Ohio regiment. In his polit-
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ical views he was a staunch supporter of the principles of the Republican party. In religion, he was a member of the Presby- terian church, in which he served as deacon. He was married in Perry county, Ohio, in 1826, to Mrs. Rachel McCullom, who passed from earth August 20, 1861. She was a woman of noble attributes which endeared her to her acquaintances.
Mr. Musser died August 18, 1895.
(From Biographical Sketches of Auglaize County.)
THOMAS SCHOONOVER was born in Tioga county, New York, March 6th, 1827, and had reached the advanced age of seventy- five years at the time of his death. His parents were of sturdy Holland Dutch extraction, and came originally from the eastern part of the Empire state. In 1837, Thomas, in company with his parents, emigrated to Auglaize county and located at Wapakon- eta. Soon afterward the family moved onto a farm immediately north of the county infirmary. In 1840, his father Benina Schoon- over, having a contract for supplying building material to be used in the construction of the east bank of the St. Mary's res- ervoir, moved his family to St. Marys. After the death of his father, which occurred in an unpretentious cabin in the forest near the reservoir, in the autumn of 1840, Thomas returned to Wapakoneta, where he resided until 1852, when he returned to St. Marys, and as an apprentice, entered the blacksmith shop of Mr. George Craft.
In 1856, he married Miss Mary Ann Rout. Of this mar- riage five children were born, two of whom, Attorney John T. Schoonover, of St. Marys, and Dr. W. E. Schoonover, of Spring- field, Ohio, survive. Two of the family died in infancy, and a daughter, wife of Mr. S. D. Howick, died a few years ago.
After conducting a shop for many years at St. Marys, he retired to his farm near Moulton, in Moulton township, where he resided until five years before his death, when he returned to St. Marys.
No man in Moulton township was better known, or more highly respected than Thomas Schoonover. He died August 29th, 1902.
JOHN YOUNG, a son of Thomas Young, of Kentucky. was born December 28th, 1796. In 1819 the family moved to Harsh-
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HISTORY OF WESTERN OHIO
manville, Montgomery county, Ohio. After a brief residence at that point the family moved a second time, and located at Pon- tiac, in Shelby county, Ohio, where the father purchased a farm. on which he resided until his death.
John Young remained under the parental roof until the com- mencement of the War of 1812. Being only sixteen years of age at that time, the recruiting officers declined to accept his applica- tion for enlistment as a soldier. He, however, obtained employ- ment, and served during the war in the capacity of wagon boy and stock driver. A short time before the surrender of General Hull at Detroit, he accompanied a convoy from Dayton, Ohio, having in charge a drove of cattle and other supplies for the troops stationed at Fort Dearborn. It was the last consignment that reached the fort. The convoy returned to Dayton in safety, about the time of Hull's surrender. When the convoy reached the Kankakee river they passed an encampment of Chippewa In- dians who were in a starving condition. The commandant took pity on them and gave them a large ox. The animal was imme- diately killed, and the entrails removed and prepared for boiling in a large kettle, by ripping them with a knife and giving them a moderate washing in the flowing stream.
Mr. Young's elder brother, William, enlisted in 1812, and served during the war. He died near Kossuth and is buried in that vicinity.
John Young came to Auglaize county in 1846, and purchased a farm on the Auglaize river in Moulton township on which he resided until his death which occurred August 3d, 1877. Uncle Johnny Young as he was familiarly called, used to relate an inci- dent that occurred at Sidney at the time he was a resident of Shelby county. John Bryan, a lad of the town, ran away with a party of Indians who had been carousing around the village for a week or more. The amount of fun that Bryan had with the Indian boys was such that he decided "to become one of them." He accordingly left Sidney for Wapakoneta in company with his dusky associates. An hour or two afterward the father was in- formed of the escapade of his son. He immediately took steps to overtake the wayward youth, by applying to John Young, who was at Sidney at that time, offering him five dollars if he would overtake the party and bring back the boy. Young consented to
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AND AUGLAIZE COUNTY
do so on condition that he should be furnished a horse and two gallons of whiskey to treat the Indians when he should overtake them. The proposition was accepted, and a few minutes after- ward he mounted a swift horse carrying a two gallon jug, filled with "lightning whiskey" in one hand and guiding the horse with the other. The Indians were overtaken near the present site of Botkin's station, where they cheerfully exchanged the boy for whiskey. Mr. Young returned in the evening and received the five dollars for the rescue. The boy grew to manhood and set- tled at Uniopolis, Auglaize county, and in after years prac- ticed medicine.
Mr. Young was a highly respected member of the community in which he resided.
The farm on which he lived for thirty-one years is now in the possession of his son-in-law, Mr. P. M. Reed.
NOBLE TOWNSHIP.
Prior to the organization of Auglaize county the townships of Noble and Salem belonged to Mercer county, and were known as Wayne township. Upon its annexation to Auglaize county it became necessary to change the name, as there was already a Wayne township in the east part of the county. One of the first acts of the new board of county commissioners was the sub-divis- ion of the new township. The north half was called Salem town- ship, and the south half was named Noble township in honor of Elisha Noble, one of the most influential of the early settlers. It borders on what was formerly known as the Black Swamp region. The surface is mostly level and fertile. The soil along the river and in the other low lands consists of a black sandy loam, broken in places by sandy ridges. "It is crossed by the St. Mary's river, which enters about midway on the south line, pursues a serpentine course through the township, and finally crosses the north line about half a mile from the northwest cor- ner. The canal follows the general course of the river from south to north, and both are noted for the irregularity of their courses. The timber is of the indigenous varieties of the coun- try which are elsewhere treated. This township comprises an area of twenty-seven square miles, and is bounded on the north by Salem township, on the east by Logan and Moulton townships,
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