USA > Ohio > Fulton County > The County of Fulton: A History of Fulton County, Ohio, from the Earliest Days, with Special Chapters on Various Subjects, Including Each of the Different Townships; Also a Biographical Department. > Part 21
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John S. Templeton, the third son of John Templeton, was born in Wayne county, Ohio, March 22, 1833, and died in Swan Creek township in 1886. He inherited largely the physique and strength of his father, but was one of the most genial and best-natured of men. A considerable portion of his life was spent as a railway conductor, but he always made his home on the old Swan Creek township farm. He enlisted in Company I of the Thirty-eighth Regiment, Ohio Volunteer Infantry, on August 21, 1861, was elected first corporal, and was promoted through all the intermedi- ate offices to a first lieutenancy. He took part in the battles of Stone River, Chickamauga and others, and was mustered out of service, January 4, 1864, on account of deafness.
In 1857, Moses R. Brailey, being then in the prime of a vigorous manhood, came from Huron county, Ohio, and settled in section twenty-two in Swan Creek. Mr. Brailey is given appropriate men- tion in the chapter on Bench and Bar.
Palmer R. Lewis was born in Seneca county, New York, Novem- ber 27, 1821. In 1848 he settled on a farm in this township and there spent the remainder of his life. Previous to removing to Fulton county he lived during several years in Erie county, Ohio,
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and after removing to Swan Creek he was identified with the official affairs of the township as justice of the peace or trustee for twenty years. He was first lieutenant of Company A, One Hund- red and Eighty-fourth regiment, Ohio Volunteer Infantry, in the war of the early sixties.
I Orra Blake was born in Alleghany county, New York, August 25, 1821, and settled in Fulton county in 1852. Besides clearing and improving an excellent farm he built many farm buildings throughout the township and was a prominent and very useful citizen. The same year that Orra Blake settled on his farm, Wes- ley Knight of Middlebury, Vermont, bought and took charge of the old tavern at Centerville. Mr. Knight was born in the Green Mountain State in 1808. For nineteen years he kept the public house of Centerville, but never sold any intoxicating liquors of any kind, taking a wide departure from the example of those who had preceded him there.
Centerville was formerly quite an important gathering place for the people of the township and the old tavern furnished entertain- ment for the traveling public before the days of railroads. There is perhaps nothing in its annals of any great historical importance, other than the fact of its existence; but the mention of the name to some who still survive brings back recollections of by-gone days that are doubtless pleasant to dwell upon in memory. The con- struction of the Lake Shore & Michigan Southern railroad through the northern part of the township changed the mode of travel and transferred the business center to Swanton, a few miles away. All that part of the village of Swanton which lies south of the railroad is in Swan Creek township, and comprises a population of about five hundred. The minor share of the business is on the Swan Creek side, but there are several energetic and enterprising busi- ness establishments in that section of the place. The entire village is included in a special school district, and the schools are graded to a high degree of excellence.
Although it had a poor start, Swan Creek now enjoys the dis- tinction of being one of the best agricultural townships in Fulton county. Its soil is especially adapted to diversified farming, fruit growing and truck-gardening, in which pursuits, combined with stock-raising, the intelligent and industrious farmers have met with phenomenal success. The pleasant homes and thrifty sur- roundings are abundant proof of this, while an occasional handsome mansion, with modern improvements and appliances, affirms the conclusion that even in this favored land, some have been more successful than their worthy rivals. And thus it will ever be. so long as accumulated wealth is the measure of success and Cunning sits upon the throne that Merit should occupy.
One of the religious landmarks of the community is represented by the Methodist Episcopal Church, now located in the village of Swanton, but originally established in the little hamlet of Center- ville. In the northwestern part of the township there is a Union
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church, so called, belonging to no religious denomination and under no ecclesiastical control, but intended and used for united services. where any and all religious bodies of people can meet for worship. It is known as the Viers church. Another church building, erected with the same view, is the Raker Union church in the western part · of the township. It was dedicated in 1881. In October, 1886, the members of the United Brethren church in the neighborhood of what was formerly known as the Union schoolhouse, in section 31, purchased the school building and removed it two and three-fourths miles east, in section 35, upon land owned by William Phare, and dedicated it to the service of their denomination, making four churches or places of religious worship in the township. Methodism, however, is the prevailing church faith, but there are also some Pres- byterians, and a few Catholics and Free Methodists, the last named being an offshoot of the powerful sect founded by John Wesley.
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CHAPTER XVI
AMBOY TOWNSHIP
A MBOY was one of the three townships formed in old Lucas county out of the territory known as the "disputed strip." The date of its organization was June 4, 1837, a few months after that territory passed under the unques- tioned control of the Buckeye State. Amboy is the northeastern corner township of Fulton county, and was originally six miles east and west, by seven north and south; but at the formation of Fulton township, two tiers of sections were taken from the south side, and in 1846, another tier was detached and added to Fulton township, thus reducing the area of Amboy to about twenty- six square miles. The surface of the country is somewhat varied, but the major portion of it is generally level, partaking somewhat of the character of the land in Pike and, Fulton townships. The soil is referable entirely to the drift deposits, and would be classified as drift clays. The township is traversed from the southwest to the northeast, near the center, with a beach ridge of sand and gravel. This clay, with slight deposits of sand and gravel, covers the major portion of the territory, and is deposited with a flat and often a very level surface. This beach ridge, crossing nearly through the center of the township, has, with its branches, but a small area, yet it crosses many farms that would be otherwise destitute of sand, and it affords to the farms and the township a desirable variety. This beach of sand and gravel abruptly terminates about two miles south of Metamora, a small village near the northeast corner.
Amboy was originally covered with heavy timber, mostly of the hard wood varieties, as walnut, butternut, hickory, the various kinds of oak, beech, maple, yellow poplar, whitewood, white ash, elm, etc. These were abundant, while the buckeye, sycamore, wild cherry, iron wood and dog-wood were less generally distributed. The shrubs were the hazel, blackberry, huckleberry, Juneberry, hackberry and spice. Most of the varieties of timber and shrubs are still repre- sented, though the best has long since found its way to the mills and markets, if not the pioneer "log heaps."
The township was noted in early times for its abundance of wild animals, and was a favorite hunting ground for the Indians for many years after the cession of the land to the whites. By general consent, they were permitted to make annual visits, which they seemed to. greatly enjoy. There were bears, panthers, wolves and wild-cats in great numbers, while deer and wild turkeys furnished the principal
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meat foods to the early settlers. The larger wild animals were of course for many years a source of annoyance and danger.
Amboy township was settled nearly as early as any of the town- ships in Fulton county. The first settler was undoubtedly Jared Hoadly, who entered his land in the month of July, 1833, and late in the fall of the same year moved to the township. It is found that in the early part of January, 1834, he built a cabin on his purchase, in section seven, and made his home there for many years, until later in life he removed to Michigan. He was a very prominent man with the first pioneers, and was very influential in all the affairs of the township. He was prosperous in all his business ventures and bore well' the hardships incident to early life in a new country, his home being an asylum for the distressed and unfortunate. His outlet for trade was at Perrysburg, and occasionally at Adrian. Mr. Hoadly was an active man and performed his full share of labor in the devel- oping of the township in its very primitive days, holding the plow to break the first piece of land, and building the first cabin of which there is any record.
Among the other settlers who came to this township in 1833 were Alvah Steadman, Aaron Steadman and David Steadman (the latter being the father of Alvah and Aaron), Frank O'Neil, Charles Blain, William Blain, John Roop, Joseph Roop and Alfred Gilson. The Blains were originally from Lodi, near Syracuse, Onondaga county, New York, and they first made a halt at Toledo, at a very early day, from whence they came on foot across the country westward, and settled in Amboy, then, however, under the jurisdiction of Blissfield township in Michigan. Coming here in the fall of 1833, each of them raised large families, all of whom grew to man and womanhood and have since been respected citizens of Amboy township. Alvah Stead- man is supposed to have been . the second settler in the township, but possibly that honor will have to be divided with John and Joseph Roop, yet Oliver B. Verity is authority for the statement that the best informed of the old pioneers accorded that honor to Alvah Stead- man. Frank O'Neil settled where Metamora is now located and built the first cabin in that part of the township, enjoying with his family alone the full fruits of a pioneer's life and the honor of being ahead of the other settlers.
Following the settlements of 1833, there was a large accession to the population. In 1834, David Duncan from Onondaga county, New York; also John Blain and Jerry Duncan from the same place ;. Lorenzo Abbott, Seneca Corbin from New York; Park White and his son, David White, Jonathan Gilson, Clark Gilson, James Hallett, John Labounty, Samuel Purdy, Joseph Richey, Nathaniel Welch and Harry Welch. Park White was a native of Vermont. In the year 1835 there came Hiram Bartlett, who first emigrated from Cooperstown, Otsego county, New York, in 1826, and settled at Port Lawrence (now Toledo), and resided there nine years before coming to Amboy township. Calvin Skinner, Cyrus Fisher, Horatio Stevens and Caleb Remilie came from Niagara county, New York.
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George Barnett, Chapman, Griswold and Koons, whose given names have not been ascertained, were also among the early settlers. Horatio Stevens settled upon section twenty-nine, afterwards owned by Stephen Haughton. Alfred Gilson settled on section nineteen. Samuel Keeler, father of Simon Keeler, who became a banker in Toledo, was among the settlers of 1835. Joseph Richey was also a settler of this period, and Marmaduke Bunting may also be placed as among this class, he being a very early settler. The Blains and Duncans were all from Lodi, first lock on the canal east of Syracuse, Onon- daga county, New York. Lorenzo Abbott came through from Mau- mee with nothing but a pocket compass for his guide, found the land of his choice, entered the same and lived upon it until he sold it to Sullivan Johnson, in 1843.
The historian, Verity, in his article on the history of Amboy township, relates the following incident in the life of Hiram Bartlett, one of the early settlers there: "It seems that in early life he learned the hatter's trade, and, on arriving at twenty-one years of age (as it was customary to have birthday parties), he had a party to com- memorate the event. . Rum was customary at the sideboard, and was drank freely by all members of society in those days. Having seen the iniquity of so free a use of rum and other strong drinks, he was resolved beforehand to total abstinence. On that day, to make strong the vow, he took a bottle, filled it with rum, corked and sealed the same, and then and there declared, before the company present, that he would never taste any alcoholic drinks during his future exist- ence, unless to save his life, and not then until it was decided by a council of five doctors that it was necessary; if so decided that it was necessary, the bottle was to be opened and the prescription to be made therefrom." Hiram Bartlett died in the fall of 1875, and the bottle remained unopened at his death, and so still remains.
Between 1836 and 1840, Job Duvall came and settled upon section nine, his former residence being in Erie county, New York. He became a highly respected citizen of Amboy township, and died there a number of years ago. Tunis Lewis, John Lewis and Charles Welch are found to be among the settlers of this period. John Richey settled on section seventeen, and William Irwin on section fourteen.
Charles C. Tiney was born in Washington county, New York, April 26, 1809, and settled in Fulton county, in 1838, on section thirty of Amboy township. His father was a sailor, first under John Paul Jones and second under Captain Simpson, serving in both the Revolution and the War of 1812.
Calvin H. Potter settled in Amboy township in 1842, and was one of the pioneers of Fulton county. He cut and bushed six miles of road, four rods wide, through heavy timber, and cleared up his farm of one hundred acres. He was born in Herkimer county, New York, August 2, 1822. Aside from his farming interests he conducted a general store at Metamora and also filled the position of justice of the peace. His father, Morey S. Potter, accompanied Calvin H. to
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Fulton county and lived here to an advanced age. He was a native of Rhode Island.
In 1843 came Sullivan Johnson, who was twice honored with an election to the office of sheriff of Fulton county. He was a very active man in all matters pertaining to the development of the township's resources and was a leader in his political party.
Norman N. Tripp first visited Amboy in 1838. He was then a young man and remained but a short time; but nine years later he returned and became a permanent resident of Amboy township. He was a life-long Democrat and a man of much influence in the town- ship and county. Hezekiah Culver, Caleb Satterly, Thomas Cahoe, and possibly others came prior to 1850.
Metamora is the only village in Amboy township. It is located north and east of the center of the township, and of course is in the northeastern part of the county. Jonathan Saunders was one of the original proprietors of the village. The town is pleasantly located on elevated and comparatively level ground, In 1835, there were but one or two small clearings in the forest, but each year thereafter. new settlers were attracted to it. While Metamora had no phenom- enal growth, its progress was steady and substantial. The population has been nearly stationary for the last twenty years, increase in that direction being retarded to some extent by the advent of railroads in. near-by towns.
Culver, Compton & Company built the first grist mill in the town- ship in 1845, and prior to that date the inhabitants of Amboy were compelled to take their grists in some instances to Tecumseh, Mich- igan, to be ground. Though expensive in construction, this early mill at Metamora relieved the settlers of a vast amount of labor and perplexity. The "pounding stone" and primitive mortar and pestle were relegated to the back yard, while the quality of the prepared material was much improved. That mill is still in existence, and, equipped with modern machinery, turns out an excellent grade of flour. The town boasts of an excellent school, in which the patrons take great interest, taught by excellent instructors.
The experiences of the early settlers were similar, regardless of locality, and, to some extent, without regard to wealth. Necessaries of life, as we of later generations class them, were not to be procured, by reason of the great distance to be traveled, and hazards encoun- tered in reaching the older settlements. The forest supplied the meats, for the most part, as it did, also, the fruits and sugar. Coffee and tea were luxuries seldom used. This is mentioned, to show the simple fare that satisfied the demands of the times. A dinner of corn bread alone, or of meat without bread, was a common repast. Often the corn was pounded on a stone, or in a mortar, and thus prepared for the cooking before the open fire-place, and no doubt there are those living today who remembered the relish with which they devoured grandmother's "pone." . Potatoes were early raised, but had not become a household necessity as now. Maple sugar and syrup were among the oldtime luxuries easily obtained. The cabins
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usually had a "shake" roof, fastened on by weight poles, with a clay or puncheon floor and a door made of boards split from native timber, and fastened together with wooden pins, or, in the absence of this, a blanket hung in the opening; if a window was provided, the aperture was covered with greased paper instead of glass. The dimensions of the cabin were usually limited to the smallest size which would accommodate the family, the walls of rough logs, cracks "chinked" with split sticks or stones, and plastered with clay, with sometimes a little cut straw mixed in the "mortar" to prevent its falling out. The chimney, was usually the most liberal arrangement on the premises, and often filled nearly the entire end of the cabin. It was generally built of split sticks liberally plastered with mud to prevent their taking fire from the heat of the tremendous "log-heap" beneath. In those days, there was no scarcity of fuel, as the timber had to be removed before the land could be cultivated, and the logs which could not be utilized in making rails, or constructing buildings, were rolled together in great heaps and consumed on the ground. With the advent of the saw mills and various other appliances for manufacturing lumber, as devised by the ingenious pioneers, the best of the timber was usually worked into lumber.
A "full-dress" suit in those days consisted of buckskins, over a flax shirt, and moccasins for the feet, the latter sometimes "rein- forced" by a sole of stiff leather fastened on with buckskin thongs. These were all the product of home industry, even to the raising, heckling, scutching, spinning, weaving and making, of the flaxen garments.
The pioneer shoemaker, gunsmith and blacksmith were welcome adjuncts to the early settlements, as were, also, the back-woods school masters and preachers. The first schools were conducted on the subscription plan, and usually embraced only the rudiments of the "three R's." The "master" taught twenty-two days for a month, at a salary of about eight dollars per month, and "boarded around." He was oftener selected because of his muscular development than on account of his scholastic attainments, though both were considered essential to complete success. The unruly boys of pioneer days were prone to mischief, and happy, indeed, was the schoolmaster who es- caped "barring out," for a treat, on holidays. Should the master arrive in the morning before a sufficient number of the belligerents reached the scene of hostilities, they would smoke him out by placing boards over the chimney. The school "furniture" was in keeping with that which adorned the homes of the pupils, entirely home made, and of the variety created for utility rather than beauty. The desks were puncheons, or at best planks, resting on wooden pins driven into auger holes in the logs of the wall. These were bored at an angle of about thirty degrees. Fronting the desks were stationary seats made of slabs of puncheons, with flaring legs of wooden pins, and these were made high enough to accommodate the largest pupils, while the smaller ones sat with their feet dangling in mid-air. Usu- ally there was no floor in the schoolhouse, and globes and outline maps were unknown to the pupils, and a mystery to the masters.
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The "text books" comprised Dabol's arithmetic and Webster's ele- mentary spelling book. These covered the curriculum of reading and spelling, mathematics, language and literature, history and science. The ancient "pot hooks," more difficult to form than any letter in the alphabet, comprised the first lessons in writing, but were never heard of afterward. There was no system by which these characters were made, hence each "master" had a "system" of his own. Sundry boxing of ears and other barbarous punishments often followed the pupil's futile efforts at imitating these useless hieroglyphics. And yet we must credit the pioneer schools with producing a class of plain and neat writers, a feature very noticeable, and often commented upon, in the reading of ancient documents. It is equally true that most of the students of those early days were excellent spellers, according to the rules then in vogue. But the primitive schools of pioneer days have long since been succeeded by the excellent school system so nicely provided for, in part.at least, by the reservation of a portion of the public domain for that purpose.
For many years after the settlement of the township, religious exercises were conducted by the traveling ministers of various denom- inations, usually at private houses or in the schoolhouses of the township. There is one Methodist Episcopal church which was built in 1870, and the class there contains a large membership. There is also one United Brethren church which has a fair list of members. It was built in 1874. Amboy township, aside from these two church organizations in the village of Metamora, has one Cath- olic church, called St. Mary's, built in 1864, upon section twenty-six, and connected therewith is a cemetery especially dedicated for Cath- olic burials. The Methodist Episcopal church, upon the town line between Amboy and Royalton, was built in 1867. It has a small number of worshipers, and has sustained itself under adverse circum- stances. The Reformed Church of Zion was built by the German residents about 1870. This society and the church edifice is due to the labors of Peter Kohl, who for years was their resident minister. The church building was located on section nine.
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Amboy is one of the most wealthy and prosperous townships in Fulton county. Agriculture being the principal industry, and in fact almost the exclusive occupation of the people, it has received careful and thoughtful attention, and the farmers are equipped for the varied branches of agricultural pursuits, including extensive stock raising and fruit growing. Early attention was given to the intro- duction of improved strains of domestic animals, and this has proved a source of pleasure and profit. The well tilled farms, with their substantial residences of modern design, or the old and well built mansions of more ancient days, together with an occasional log house or unpretentious cabin, all evince the varying degrees of pros- perity attained by their owners, and emphasize the fact that "there is no place like home." The inhabitants are a class of intelligent, public-spirited people, who, in several instances, trace their lineage, with just pride, to the founders of the great republic whose perpetuity they are ever ready to defend.
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CHAPTER XVII
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CHESTERFIELD TOWNSHIP
T HE organization of this township occurred on the 4th day of June, 1837, by taking all of town nine south, ranges one and two east, and all of town ten south; ranges one and two east, excepting a strip one mile wide from the west side of towns nine and ten south, range one east, and embracing all the territory described from the "Harris lire" on the north, to the"Fulton line" on the south. The house of Chesterfield Clemons was desig- nated as the polling place of the township.
The boundaries established by this action of the commissioners remained undisturbed until March 6, 1838, when the whole of towns nine and ten south, range one east, was set off and erected into the township of Gorham. Then Chesterfield relinquished her jurisdis- tion to the territory so set off. Again, at a commissioners' session held at the city of Maumee, June 5, 1843, the whole of town ten south, range two east, was taken from Chesterfield, and with other territory south, was organized into the township of Dover. The township of Chesterfield for several years thereafter exercised muni- cipal control over the balance. of the territory. But at some unknown date since the organization of Fulton county, the commissioners thereof struck off and set to Gorham the west half of fractional sec- tion 7, and the west half of section 18, lying west of Bean creek, leaving the present township of Chesterfield as it exists today. It is very nearly in the form of a square, bounded by straight lines, about six miles in length, east and west, and about five miles, north and south. The portion near the Tiffin river is exceedingly rich, and is not surpassed in fertility by any land in the county. The soil of the township is largely "sand openings," excepting a strip along the State line which seems to be of quite stiff clay of the lacustrine order. The Bean creek valley is chiefly "made" land and contains large deposits of soil left by the overflow which has continued for a long period of years. When drained, the land is exceedingly productive. In many places sand spurs from the openings reach down to a beach formation, leaving the creek upon its east side as a general rule. The sand lands of the township are as productive as the more level clays, and much easier to work. In the western part of the township it is, if anything, better than in the eastern part, where the surface is not as often filled with the low depression common to the openings, and called "prairie lands."
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