USA > Ohio > Wyandot County > Past and present of Wyandot County, Ohio; a record of settlement, organization, progress and achievemen, Vol. I > Part 16
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The first state grange, that of Minnesota, was organized the 22d day of February, 1869. The new order made slow prog- ress up to 1872, only 275 granges having been organized and the order had an existence in twenty-two states.
The first meeting of the National Grange as a delegate body, was held at Georgetown, D. C., the 8th day of January, 1873, with six of the founders of the order and seventeen delegates present, representing eleven states; six of the delegates were masters of state granges, and the remainder were deputies in the order. In addition to these, four women were present, viz .: Miss Carrie A. Hall, Mrs. O. H. Kelley, Mrs. D. W. Adams, and Mrs. J. C. Abbott. The total number of granges organized previous to this meeting was 1,362. Nearly 30,000 charters have been issued to the present time, and the organi- zation is increasing in membership and influence faster than at any previous time in its history.
What is the grange ? The grange is a fraternal organiza- tion of farmers, to secure educational, social, financial and legislative benefits ; national in scope, non-partisan in politics, but truly patriotic, seeking to develop the highest standards of citizenship; non-sectarian in religion, but having its high- est ideas of morality, founded on the teachings of the Bible; including in its membership not only the farmer but his fam- ily ; seeking to restore agriculture to the place assigned it by the Father of this Country as, "the most healthful, the most useful and the noblest calling of man."
That such an organization was needed was amply proven by the wonderful growth it made during the early history of the order. After its purpose became understood, farmers in all parts of the country joined by thousands, until in a very short time it became a national power. Today granges can be found in more than thirty states, with a membership ap- proaching a million.
The grange is so closely linked with all that has pertained to rural development since its organization, that it will be im- possible to measure in words all the benefits it has conferred upon the farming class, but there has been more agricultural progress since the grange came into existence than in the cen- turies preceding.
The founders of this order in their wisdom, made not wealth or power or material things fundamental, but builded upon the solid rock of education, seeking to "educate and elevate"
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the American farmer, so the great glory of the grange is not measured in dollars, or legislative achievements, but in the improved character and ability of the men and women on the farm. The high ideals set forth and constant opportunities for mental improvement offered have had a far-reaching in- fluence for the good upon the million people who have been connected with the order, and the millions more with whom they have been associated.
The grange has encouraged schools and agricultural edu- cation by all means within its power, and will exert an even greater influence in this direction in years to come. Libraries are established, where valuable books of reference in agricul- ture and other lines can be obtained. In this practical school for the farmer and his family, the young learn to use their knowledge and with the old, to gain new information and all, what is more important, the power to express their thoughts in a creditable manner.
The advent of the range and its attendant blessings have broken up the isolation of the farm life. Thousands of farm homes have been made happier and better, and the members of farmers' families have been reaping the highest enjoy- ments of life through the mental and social opportunities of- fered to all Patrons of Husbandry.
J. W. Darrow writes that "when we look back over the work of the grange in the last forty years, we have great rea- son to be thankful for its inception, its institution, its noble work and the results. Like the sun's light, it warms, cheers and blesses wherever its beams extend. Encouraged by the past sowing the seeds of brighter hopes and nobler influences all over the country, let us go forward caring not if we be officers or humble members, knowing there is a wide place for each one and much work waiting for willing hands to perform."
FORMATION AND ORGANIZATION OF WYANDOT COUNTY
February 3, 1845, by the provisions of an act of the State Legislature, entitled "an act to erect the new county of Wyan- dot, and alter the boundaries of the county of Crawford," Wyandot was formed from parts of Crawford, Marion, Har- din and Hancock counties. Before the organization of Wyan-
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dot county, and the adoption of a county seat, the name of this county had been written and printed in various ways as Wy- andot, Wyandott and Wyandotte. Soon after the organiza- tion, the question of adopting a uniform style of spelling the county's title was considered by the county officials, and the form of authography still in use-Wyandot-was approved and so entered upon the records.
The sections of the act which have an especial reference to Wyandot county read as follows :
Section 1. Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of Ohio, That such parts of the counties of Crawford, Marion, Hardin and Hancock, as are embraced within the boundaries hereinafter described, be, and the same are hereby erected into a separate and distinct county, which shall be known by the name of Wyandott, and the seat of justice within and for said county shall be and is hereby fixed and established at, or in the immediate vicinity of Upper Sandusky to wit: Beginning at the southeast corner of section 10, in township 4 south, in range 15, of the public survey of lands, in Marion county, and running thence north on the sectional lines, through Crawford county, to the north line thereof, between sections 2 and 3, in township 1 south, in range 15, aforesaid; which line shall form the east boundary of said county of Wyandott, and the west line of Crawford county ; thence west on the base line to the northwest corner of section 2, in town- ship 1 south, of range 12, in Hancock county ; thence south on the sectional line to the northeast corner of section 22, in the township and range last aforesaid; thence west on the sec- tional line to the northwest corner of said section 22; thence south on the sectional line to the south line of said township as originally surveyed, between sections 33 and 34; thence west on said township line to the northwest corner of section 5 in town- ship 2 south, of the range last aforesaid; thence south on the sectional line through said township 2, to the south line thereof, at the northwest corner of section 5, in township 3 south, of the range last aforesaid, in the county of Hardin; thence east to the northeast corner of said section 5; thence south on the sectional line to the southwest corner of section 9, in township 4 south, in the range last aforesaid; thence east, to the north- west corner of section 13, in the township and range last afore- said; thence south to the southwest corner of said section 13; thence east on the sectional line to the southeast corner of sec- tion 13, in township 4 south of range 13; thence north to the
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northeast corner of said last-mentioned section 13; thence east, on the sectional line to the place of beginning; Provided, That the passage of this act shall not prevent the Mad River & Lake Erie Railroad Company from extending an arm from the main track of said railroad to the town of Findlay, in the county of Hancock, as was secured to said company in the original act of incorporation. *
Sec. 4. That all justices of the peace, within those parts of the counties of Crawford, Marion, Hardin and Hancock, which by this act are erected into the county of Wyandott, and also within those parts of the counties of Richland and Marion, which by this act, are attached to the county of Crawford, shall continue to exercise the functions and discharge the duties of their respective offices, until their time of service shall expire, and their successors be elected and qualified, in the same man- ner as if they had been commissioned for the counties of Wy- andott and Crawford respectively. *
Sec. 5. That the legal voters residing within the limits of the county of Wyandott, shall on the 1st Monday in April, in the year 1845, assemble in their respective townships at the usual place of holding elections (where the usual places of holding elections are within the limits of the county of Wyan- dott, and in cases of fractional townships, where the usual places of holding elections are not included within the limits of the county aforesaid, the voters residing in each of such fractional townships, shall assemble in the township immedi- ately adjoining such fractional township, and lying toward the center .of said county), and proceed to elect the different county officers in the manner prescribed in the act to regulate elections, who shall hold their offices until the next annual election, and until their successors are chosen and qualified.
Sec. 6. It shall be the duty of the commissioners of Wyan- dott county when elected and qualified, to make the most fav- orable contract or contracts with the Government of the United States, or with any person or persons for donations of land, town lots, moneys, or other property, for the erection of county buildings, either in the town of Upper Sandusky, or on land adjoining the same, as they may think most advantageous to the county of Wyandott; Provided, that the county build- ings of Wyandott county shall not be erected at a greater distance than one-fourth of a mile from the state road leading
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from Columbus through Delaware, Marion and Upper San- dusky to Lower Sandusky. * * * * *
Sec. 8. The commissioners of the respective counties from which territory is hereby taken, shall have power immediately upon the passage of this act, to attach fractional townships to other townships in their respective counties, or to organize such fractional townships into separate townships, as they may deem expedient, which power shall extend to the counties of Crawford and Wyandott, for the purpose of disposing of frac- tions coming within the limits of said counties made by this act.
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On Monday, April 7, 1845, the first election was held in the county, which resulted as follows: William Griffith, Stephen Fowler and Ethan Terry, county commissioners; Abner Jurey, treasurer ; Samuel M. Worth, auditor; Lorin A. Pease, sher- iff; John A. Morrison, recorder; Albert Bixby, coroner; Azariah Root, surveyor, and Chester R. Mott, prosecuting attorney.
On the 16th day of April, 1845, the commissioners elect of Wyandot county, having taken the oath of office, met for the transaction of business, and the following resolutions were the first considered and approved :
Resolved, That the proposition of Moses H. Kirby to trans- fer his possessory right to the Indian council house at Upper Sandusky to the county of Wyandot be accepted, and the au- ditor authorized to issue an order in favor of Colonel Kirby for $30 in full payment of his interest in said house.
Resolved, That the different officers of Wyandot county be authorized to obtain the necessary cheap furniture for the use of their respective offices, and present their bill to the board of commissioners at the June session.
Resolved, That the auditor of Wyandot county is hereby authorized to procure the necessary abstracts from the tax duplicates of Crawford, Marion, Hardin and Hancock coun- ties, and that he procure, if need be, the services of the audi- tors of the said counties respectively to assist him in obtaining the same.
Resolved, That the auditor cause such repairs to be made upon the upper part of the council house as will be required for the accommodation of the county officers.
At a meeting of the county commissioners on Saturday, July 26, 1845, the following orders, etc., were made a matter of record :
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Ordered, that the lots vested in their hands by the act of congress, approved February 26, 1845, be exposed at public sale on the 20th, 21st and 22d days of August, 1845.
Ordered, That 200 copies of sale bills be printed, and that the same be published in the Ohio Statesman, Ohio State Jour- nal and Wyandot Telegraph.
Ordered, That the auditor procure a sufficient number of blank title bonds for such sale.
Ordered, That the lots be sold for one-fourth of the pur- chase money in hand, one-fourth in one year, one-fourth in two years, and the remaining one-fourth in three years; the payments to be secured with notes bearing interest.
Ordered, That inlot No. 147 be reserved from sale, and that lots No. 145 and 146 be procured for the use of the county to erect public buildings upon.
Ordered, That Mr. Joseph Mccutchen be authorized to engage the services of Mr. Bishop, of Seneca county, as crier on the days of sale.
Ordered, That Peter B. Beidler be employed to copy from the records of the counties from which Wyandot county was taken, such records, surveys and field notes as may be strictly necessary to have in this county, also to make a plat of the county of Wyandot.
The following is a copy of the "sale bill" above mentioned :
PUBLIC SALE OF TOWN LOTS AT UPPER SANDUSKY
The commissioners of Wyandot county will offer the fol- lowing valuable town property for sale at Upper Sandusky, Ohio, upon the 20th, 21st and 22d days of August next, to-wit : The in and out lots in the town of Upper Sandusky vested in the said commissioners by act of congress approved February 26, 1845, being every third of the in and out lots selected by al- ternate and progressive numbers, amounting to 126 inlots and seventy-two outlots.
Upper Sandusky, a town laid out by the general govern- ment, is delightfully situated on the Sandusky river, near the center of the Wyandot reserve, and the seat of justice of the new county of Wyandot has been permanently fixed at said town.
Terms of Sale : One-fourth of the purchase money required in hand, the balance in three equal annual installments, se- cured by notes bearing interest.
A Quiet Spot for the Fisherman
A Picturesque Bend in the River RIVER SCENES NEAR UPPER SANDUSKY
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The commissioners then adjourned to the 11th of August following, for the purpose of appraising the lots. At the time designated, August 11, 1845, the members composing the board of commissioners met, and made an appraisement of the value of each lot, varying from $25 for the lowest, to $500 for the highest. They again met on the 19th day of August, 1845, and agreed upon the following terms of sale for the lots advertised to be sold :
One-fourth of the purchase money to be paid in hand, the residue in three equal annual payments, with interest, to be secured by promissory notes.
The terms of sale to be complied with on the day thereof. A title bond to be given, conditioned for the making of a deed to the purchaser upon the payment of the notes. Delinquent bidders to be held subject to the liabilities and restrictions usual in such cases.
Commissioners further order that Wyandot county orders and current bank papers of the Ohio banks be receivable in payment of the first installment.
That the crops growing upon the outlots be reserved to the occupants putting them in, who are required to remove them by the 10th day of October next.
Chester R. Mott, Esq., was employed as assistant clerk during the sales, and David Bishop, of Seneca county, as crier. The sale commenced at 10:30 o'clock A. M., on the 20th day of August, 1845, and continued three days.
LOCATION OF WYANDOT COUNTY
Wyandot county lies in the northwest quarter of the state, nearly equidistant from Lake Erie on the north and the In- diana state line on the west. The counties bordering upon it are Seneca on the north; Crawford on the east; Marion and Hardin on the south; Hardin and Hancock on the west. Wy- andot county has thirteen subdivisions known as Antrim, Crane, Crawford, Eden, Jackson, Marseilles, Miffin, Pitt, Richland, Ridge, Salem, Sycamore and Tymochtee townships.
STREAMS IN WYANDOT COUNTY
Wyandot county lies near the watershed of the state, just on its northern slope, but contains no large streams. Tymoch-
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tee creek with its tributaries, and the head waters of the San- dusky river, comprising the Little Sandusky and the Broken Sword creeks, and the small streams known as Sycamore creek, Tyler's run, Sugar run, Negro run and Rock run, are the drainage system of the county. Their general course is due north, except that the eastern tributaries of the San- dusky have a direction westerly or southwesterly, until they descend upon the area of the water-line, and are well within the drainage valley of the Sandusky. The Tymochtee creek, throughout the most of its course in Wyandot county, is a slow stream and has a clay bottom. Its valley is as wide and its banks as high as those of the Sandusky itself, although less water actually passes down its channel. The Sandusky, on the contrary, more frequently runs on a rock bottom, and its current is more rapid. It affords occasional waterpower priv- ileges. The same is true of the small creeks entering it from the east.
The topography of the county is quite simple. The west- ern half is gently undulating or flat. The excavated valley of the Tymochtee creek, which is usually about a hundred rods wide, and rarely exceeds two hundred rods, presents, in its abrupt descents, the most noticeable changes of level. There are several extensive prairie-like tracts, which have a black soil and were never clothed with forest. They are in the higher levels, and give rise to some of the tributaries of Tymochtee creek. One is north and west of Carey, extending largely into Seneca and Hancock counties, known as Big Spring Prairie. Another covers much of the township of Richland, known as Potatoe Swamp, and a third occupies the southeastern part of Mifflin and the southwestern part of Pitt townships, extending also into Marion county. The Cranberry Marsh, in Jackson township, also extends largely into Hancock county. That tract known as Cranberry Marsh, in Crane township, and the marshy tract in the center of Tymochtee township, are of less extent but in every way analogous to the rest. These marshes were probably once the sites of lakes, which have become filled by the slow accumulation of vegetable matter, and the wash- ing in from the adjoining land of the finer materials of the drift. This is particularly noticeable about the ridges and knolls which inclose Big Spring Prairie. Besides these marshes, most of the territory lying between the Tymochtee creek and the Sandusky river, has a black, loamy soil, and was
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once, probably, subject to inundation by those streams, al- though now it is generally laid out in fine farms.
East of the Sandusky river the surface is more broken, and there is a noticeable ascent from the area of the water-line to that of the corniferous. There is a tract of elevated land, like a fragment of a glacial moraine, along the west side of Broken Sword creek, extending from Eden township to the Little Sandusky in Pitt township. Besides these undulations in the original surface of the drift, that part of the county east of the Sandusky is subject to erosions by frequent small streams, which have worn channels in the drift and sometimes in the rock itself. .
Where the streams of the county run through level tracts, they present the usual terrace and flood-plain. The former is the old drift surface, and rises from twenty to forty feet above the level of the water. The latter, which is constantly changing its position and its contents, is, of course, dependent on the greatest freshet rise of the stream. Along the Ty- mochtee creek it is sometimes twelve feet or more above the summer stage of the stream.
The prevailing feature of the soil is clay. This, however, is variously modified. In the higher parts of the county, it is gravelly, and often contains stones and boulders. It is com- pact, and is almost entirely without stones or even gravel in the level tracts, especially where there has been a gradual fill- ing up. The soil of the prairies is black. Drainage has done much toward transforming the marshes into fertile soil.
EARLY SETTLEMENTS IN WYANDOT COUNTY
The Indians at the treaty held at the foot of the rapids of the Miami of the Lake in 1817, ceded to the United States government all the lands remaining in possession in the State of Ohio, except various small reservations then and there designated. Hence when it was agreed that the principal reservation of the Wyandots should have Fort Ferree at Up- per Sandusky for its center, the central and greater portion of the present county of Wyandot were reserved to the In- dians. The small Wyandot reserve at the Big Spring, and the Delaware reserve lying southeast of the reservation first mentioned, also encroached upon the limits of the county as now formed, therefore, all of the white settlements began
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upon the outskirts-to the north, east, south and west of the chief Wyandot reservation-and in either direction, distant seven to ten miles from Fort Ferree. The fort was located in what is now the eastern part of Upper Sandusky.
In 1819, Deputy United States Surveyors Sylvester Burns and Thomas Worthington ran out the townships and subdivision lines of the county, and the following year the lands not reserved to the Indians were offered for sale at the usual Government price per acre. Prior to the sales of any of these lands, however, quite a number of "squatters" had settled near the reservation lines, chiefly for the purpose of trading with the Indians. From the date last mentioned un- til 1842, the whites within the present limits of the county in- creased but slowly in numbers, yet, on the northern border --- in the townships of Crawford, Tymochtee and Sycamore- quite populous communities were to be found, long before the removal of the Wyandots. But after the purchase of the reservations and the disposal of the same to individual owners, the population increased rapidly.
Wyandot was peopled by the whites under unusual condi- tions. A few "squatters" settled in the county, outside of the Indian reservations, about the year 1817, but the first ac- tual settlers did not come until 1820, outside of the reserva- tions, and the first white settlements were not made within the reservations until after the year 1842, and very few settlements were made within the reservation until about 1845.
The first settlers of the county were chiefly of English and German origin. At first perhaps the English predomi- nated, but later the German.
The pioneers who settled in Wyandot county came usu- ally over Indian trails over the route traveled by Crawford's army. They came on horseback and brought little with them, but they had brave hearts and strong arms and were possessed with a determination to make homes for them- selves which in time would become abodes of peace and hap- piness. Sometimes the men came on without their families to make a beginning, but more often all came together. The first thing to be done after a rude temporary shelter was pro- vided, was to prepare a little spot of ground for the growth of some kind of crop. This was done by girdling the trees, clearing away the underbrush, and sweeping the surface
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with fire. The ground was then broken as thoroughly as possible with the few rude implements which the pioneers possessed.
After their pressing needs were supplied, they began to plan to make life more comfortable, and their work more profitable. They did not come to the new country simply to make their present living, but they wanted to make money, to accumulate more land, to better conditions and make pros- perity possible.
When Wyandot county was settled to any considerable extent the dangers of Indian depredations were largely passed, but yet a vaguely defined apprehension existed in the minds of many of the settlers that they were not entirely safe in their forest homes. Wild animals were a source of dread and annoyance, and it was difficult at first to raise stock, but with the clearing of the forest the beasts of prey disappeared. The first settlers were subject to attacks of fever and ague, and also milk sickness, but after the draining of the marshes these gradually abated.
These conditions passed away with the pioneer period. Since then the county has increased in wealth, and its citi- zens in intelligence and prosperity, and good roads enable them to reach markets, schools, churches and railroads with ease.
The soil of Wyandot county is well adapted to the grow- ing of corn, wheat, clover, etc. The old theory that only a limited supply of soil fertility was stored in the earth and would soon become exhausted does not hold good in Wyan- dot, for its richness seems inexhaustible. There are differ- ent elements of soil fertility in different kinds of soil. Some are richer in one element and may lack some of the other ele- ments. They vary in different farms. What is lacking in the soil can be supplied artificially. Thorough tillage will increase fertility. But Wyandot county being near the edge of what was once known as the Black Swamp has a deep soil and exhaustless fertility.
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