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 25
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Thomas C. Lester was born in Cayuga county, New York, Febru- ary 22, 1819, and settled in Fulton county in 1848. John L. Wise was born in Cumberland county, Pennsylvania, in 1829, and settled in Fulton county with his parents, Hon. J. Wise and wife, in 1848. He was a member of the One Hundred and Eighty-ninth regiment. Ohio Volunteer Infantry in the war of 1861-5. George F. DuBois settled in Fulton county in 1847, having been born in New York, April 28, 1814. George P. Graves was born in Massachusetts, June 23, 1841, and as a child came with his father, Perry Graves, to Fulton county, in 1852.
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Edward Gamble was born in Leicestershire, England, and with a family of three sons migrated to America and settled in Richland county, Ohio, in 1841, coming to Gorham township in 1845, where he died in 1882, at the age of eighty-eight years. At the time of his death he owned 235 acres of land and had proved himself a successful farmer.
Henry T. Caulkins was born in Otsego county, New York, April 15, 1830, and with his father, Charles Caulkins, settled in Fulton county in 1845. He became quite prominent as a stock raiser and farmer, and filled the office of township trustee and school director.
George Gamber was an early settler of Gorham township, and was born in Seneca county, New York, April 22, 1821. He settled in Fulton county in 1854 and purchased a farm of 185 acres. He served as trustee of the township for twenty years and held other local offices.
Henry Punches was one of the early settlers of Fulton county. and was born in Seneca county, New York, in 1821. He settled in Gorham in 1850, and purchased a homestead of eighty acres, which under his management was finely improved. He served as township treasurer for nine years.
William P. Garrison was born in Richland county, Ohio, March 12, 1847, and settled in Fulton county, in 1868.
As before stated, Hiram Farwell was the first settler, and it is supposed that he erected the first cabin in which white people dwelt. The first saw mill was erected near the western limits of Fayette, by Rensselaer S. Humphrey. Henry Boyd of Maumee City, was the first merchant in the township and opened his store at Fayette, in 1852.
The first election of which we have any record occurred at the house of Erastus Cottrell, on the first Monday in April, 1838, but the names of the fortunate ones-who were called from obscurity and compelled to withstand the trying ordeal of having political honors thrust upon them-have not been preserved to posterity.
The town of Fayette, which had a precarious existence for the first years of its life, gradually assumed the proportions of a thrifty town. Prior to the construction of the Canada Southern railroad, it was scarcely a business center, and had a small population, though there were successful business enterprises located in the village. But with the building of the railroad, and the establishment of a station there, the town began to take on life, and soon thereafter was incorporated. It is supported by a rich agricultural district, remote from formidable towns, and is an extensive shipping point on that branch of the Lake Shore railroad. Its business men are a class of progressive and enterprising people, who command ample capital and first-class facilities for the transaction of the large volume of business. Though it has not made rapid strides in growth, its population is mainly of that solid, permanent character which adds financial strength and stability. According to the census of 1900, the population is eight hundred and eighty-six. The town has well-
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built residences and business blocks and good educational advan- tages and church facilities.
Gorham is well supplied with district schools now, in striking con- trast with the log houses and antiquated instruction of former days. Among the early teachers in the township were Oliver B. Verity, Lucinda Rogers, Elizabeth Freeman and Minerva Cottrell-all "sturdy knights of the birch," if it be proper so to designate the ladies.
The soil of Gorham township is generally fertile and well adapted. to the raising of all kinds of grain, grasses and fruits. The valleys of the small streams are rich and productive, and as a whole the soil of the township is of excellent quality. It was originally covered with a fine growth of timber, in which the hardwood varieties pre- dominated.
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CHAPTER XXI
GERMAN TOWNSHIP
T HIS township was organized March 4, 1839. Since its or- ganization the territory has been subdivided once, and has had two material additions, which give to it a terri- tory considerably greater than an exact congressional township. German township was organized by the commissioners of Lucas county from towns seven and eight north, range five east. It will be noticed that this extended the township to the Fulton line on the north, but did not include the two southern nor the two western tiers of sections. The territory bordering on the Fulton line was lost when Franklin township was organized, March I, 1841, and the additions on the west and south were made when Fulton county was organized, in 1850. The present limits of the township extend seven miles north and south, and eight miles east and west, with four sections of land-in the form of a square -- taken out of the southwest corner. This gives to the township fifty- two sections of land and makes it the largest subdivision of Fulton county.
German township was settled, as was Fulton county generally, by people from older portions of Ohio, intermixed with others from Virginia, Pennsylvania and New York, with an occasional immi- grant from the mother country, and a considerable number from the fatherland. Descendants of these early pioneers people the town- ship to considerable extent, but of later years it can be said that the population is becoming more cosmopolitan. But whatever their ancestry or wherever their birthplace, the residents of German township are a class of intelligent and progressive citizens, many of whom are highly cultured and intellectual.
This township has but a small number of running or unfailing streams. The largest of note is Bean Creek, formerly known as Tiffin river. It drains the northwest corner of the township, and in its course is very crooked and sluggish, and passes into Williams county in a southwesterly course to the Maumee river, by which all the waters of the entire township reach Lake Erie. Brush creek .has its rise near the center of Dover township, and is given some prominence from the springs of the sand area near Spring Hill. It runs in a southwesterly course, and receives a few streamlets, mostly upon its south side, made principally by drainage from the farm land, and traverses the township of German south and east of its center, and leaves the township south of Archbold, thence mak- ing its way to Bean Creek, into which it empties near Evansport, in Springfield township, Williams county. In the western part of the
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township there are a few small branches that lead west to Bean Creek, but these are quite insignificant as to a water supply. Since drainage has been going on the declension of water in the wells, and other sources of supply, is alarming in case of extreme drouth. The only permanent supply can be had by deep borings, which, in some places, afford an artesian supply.
Traditional history at best is unreliable, but becomes especially so when transmitted to the third or fourth generation. No written record exists as to the first settler in German township; neither have we all of the names of the first officers of the township. But herewith is presented a list of the earliest settlers, early business men and officials: In August, 1834, the first settlement was made in this township by German or Swiss pioneers. They were Nich- olas King, who afterwards returned to Wayne county, Ohio, on ac- count of an accident that befell him, but he soon came back; Jacob Bender, wife and seven children; Christian Lauber, wife and four children; George Meister, wife and five children; Jacob Grunday, wife and five children, and Moses Kibbler, wife and six children. Accompanying these families from the fatherland were Henry and Jacob Roth, Christian Reigscker and Michael Figy, all young men and unmarried. They were also accompanied by one John Gundy, who stayed but a short time and then returned to Wayne county, from whence he came. This colony was composed of forty-three persons, all told, and most of them were from Millhausen, a small town in Switzerland. Besides these were one or two families from the north of France, but nearly all fresh from the Old World. The first house put up by these colonists was erected by Christian Lau- ber very soon after his arrival, upon section 10. The rest of the heads of families soon selected their land, and cabins were built in quick succession. These were all the persons that came to this township during the year 1834, according to Mr. Verity, to whose work we are indebted for the above statements.
Again, in 1835, it is found that John Reynolds and his family came to the territory from Vermont, and settled on the east bank of Bean Creek, then within the township, now in Franklin. In the present limits the same year it is found that Augustus Hull and wife, Peter Wyse, wife and children; Peter Leithy, Christian Funkhouser, Peter Rupp, W. Greiser and family, Christian Beck and family, George Ditto and family, and perhaps Mr Kanipe, and possibly others whose names cannot be recalled, found homes here.
In 1836 there came Henry Lutes and John Lutes, both doctors and preachers, Roswell Reynolds, son of John Reynolds, and Ira Eaton. The last named came from Seneca county, Ohio, and after- wards laid out the town of Etonburgh, which had for its early be- ginning a few log huts. George and William Johnson came in 1836 from England, and bought a large property on Bean Creek, on which they afterward built what was called Johnson's Mills, a saw and grist-mill. The George Johnson, here mentioned, was the
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father of Hon. Solomon Johnson of Williams, who has represented that county in the legislature two terms.
In the year 1837 one of the most prominent immigrants was Ben- jamin Brown, who settled on section 5 in the spring of that year, and who afterwards located on section 17. He came from Ver- mont. The same year came Jonathan Barnes and Dorsey Barnes, but the latter left soon after and settled in Gorham. They came to the township in 1837, from Virginia, and Jonathan Barnes be- came a very prominent man and a leading citizen of German. In 1837 also came Samuel Burkholder and family, Peter Noffsinger, John Rivnaugh and Benjamin Lee, from England, Samuel Gibbons and family with Joseph Noffsinger, from France.
In 1838 and 1839 another influx of immigrants occurred, for which the township was further indebted for all that was to ad- vance its agricultural and educational interests. Among the set- tlers in that year were Samuel B. Darby, Jacob G. Wilden and family, James F. Rogers and family, Michael Gish, the first hotel proprietor in the township at Eatonburgh, James Smith, Joel Smith, a local preacher of the Methodist Episcopal church, John Reid, Henry Roth, John Wyse, Christian Recknor, Peter Rupp, Jacob Depler, and their families, Joseph Sander, Hugh Fairchild, Augustus Clare and their families, and perhaps many others equally worthy of mention, but whose names are forgotten.
James F. Rogers, a pioneer and early, leading and influential citizen of German township, was born in Putnam county, New York, December 19, 1814, and settled in Seneca county, Ohio, with his parents in 1832. From there, in 1839-after having spent his youth and early manhood, assisting his parents on the farm and working out by the month-he came to German township, Fulton county, and purchased a farm of eighty acres, paying therefor $175. He erected his cabin, and then returned to his Seneca county home. In October, 1842, he came to German township again and lived in his log cabin, not having money enough to provide a better place. But by his perseverance his financial condition changed and he became one of the prosperous farmers of the township.
Jacob Rupp was a native of Switzerland, who came to America and settled in German township in 1840. After living here for sev- eral years he removed to Allen county, Indiana, where he died.
During the decade, 1840 to 1850, when the county of Fulton was organized, the population began to increase with rapidity, which gave strength to the agricultural industry. Among the settlers of those years was Albert S. Fleet, who came with his family in 1840, and thus became a pioneer settler of German township. He was born in Steuben county, New York, in 1817, and purchased his farm in German township in 1839, but did not remove his family here until the year following. He became very active in the interests of agriculture, and was president of the county society for several years. He sold his farm in German township, in 1874, and lived the remainder of his life in Wauseon.
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Other immigrants during the above mentioned decade were Jacob Lipe, Moses Stutesman, George Gasche, Peter Noffsinger, Joel Smucker, Samuel Ames, Christ Kloffenstein, William Mc- Cucheon, Peter Short, George Betts, John L. Betts, Anthony Moine, Peter F. Goll, Joseph Schad, Fred Crouse, Peter Weaver, Jacob Leininger, John Leininger, Jacob Vernier, George Vernier, Peter Kloffenstein, Peter Grimm, J. A. Wolverton, J. P. Flora, Jacques Greiser, Samuel Wait, William H. Dickason and perhaps other families. George Gasche was born in Germany, May 1, 1819, and settled in Fulton county in 1841.
Peter F. Goll was a native of France and emigrated to this coun- try, June 24, 1836, and with his family settled in German township. They came over in the sailing vessel, Albany, and made the pas- sage in thirty-seven days. Mr. Goll purchased his farm of eighty acres on section 24, and added thereto until he owned 600 acres. In early life he learned the wagon maker's business, but after settling here devoted his entire attention to farming. Upon landing in America, Mr. Goll first stopped for a time in Stark county, Ohio, and from there made the trip to German township in November, 1836, ox teams being the mode of conveyance and eighteen days the time consumed.
John Leininger was born in Alsace, in 1821. Jacob Vernier was born in France, January 11, 1838, and with his parents settled in German township, in 1846. George Vernier was born in France in 1811, and settled in Fulton county in 1846.
John A. Wolverton was a native of New Jersey, and came to Fulton county with his family and settled in German township. He enlisted in Company G, of the Sixty-eighth Ohio as a drummer, in 1861, and served three years, being discharged in November, 1864. He afterwards served as trustee of his township and was otherwise locally prominent. He died, May 17, 1882.
Samuel Wait was born in St. Lawrence county, New York, May 22, 1829. He was of Welsh and Scotch descent, his grandfather having been a Revolutionary soldier and his father served in the War of 1812. Mr. Wait came to German township in 1846, and for years was proprietor of a hotel at Archbold. William H. Dickason was born in Ashland county, Ohio, November 10, 1822, and settled in Fulton county in 1846. His business was that of a carpenter and joiner.
Archbold is the principal town in German township; and it also holds third and hopes soon to become a competitor for the second position among the towns of Fulton county. It was laid out in 1855 by Haywood & Ditto. The United States census tells a story of progress in its returns of the population of the village: 1890, seven hundred and eighty ; 1900, nine hundred and fifty-eight. Since the taking of the last census, however, it has had a good growth, but as no enumeration has been taken, the population can only be esti- mated. The present officials of Archbold are as follows: Mayor, John Theobald; clerk, O. W. Hill; treasurer, John W. Winzeler.
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GERMAN TOWNSHIP
Services of the Methodist Episcopal church in German township date back to early times, when the first traveling ministers of that faith in the township were Austin Coleman and McEnder Capp. Lilly Bridge was the first preacher of the United Brethren in Christ. His labor was missionary and occurred in 1838. The first quarterly meeting in the township was held by the Rev. John Jones, an early presiding elder in the Methodist organization The first preaching by the Amish was at the house of Christian Lauber, in the fall of 1835, by Christian Beck, and then a society was organized which is still in existence. The M. E. church at Burlington was the first organized body of that faith in the township; the Catholics built the first church. At present, the following denominations are rep- resented in the township and cach organization receives a good support : The New Baptist, New Mennonite, German Baptist, Methodist Episcopal, Old Lutheran, Amish, the Eckley branch of the old Amish, Episcopal, Catholic, Lutheran, German Reformed, and Episcopal Methodist.
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CHAPTER XXN
FRANKLIN TOWNSHIP
T HE commissioners of Lucas county, on the first day of March, 1841, erected Franklin township, by taking all of town ten south, range one east, excepting one mile off the west end of town ten south, range one east, which had been previously cut off from the township of Gorham, and all of towns eight north, range five east, and one tier of sections off of the north side of town seven north, range five east, from German township, and immediately entered upon its civil jurisdiction as a part of the organization of Lucas county. On February 28, 1850, the legislature of Ohio, in creating the new county of Fulton, ran the west boundary line west of the line of old Wood county, and afterwards Lucas county; and added to the further arca of Frank- lin, from the township of Brady in Williams county, sections I and 2 of town seven north, range four east; and sections 35 and 36, town eight north, range four cast, and the west tier of fractional sections one mile wide off of town ten south, range one east, and two tiers of sections, to wit: One and two and fractional sections II and 12, off the west side of town ten south, range one west, of Millcreek township in Williams county, which thereafter became a part and parcel of Franklin township, which thus embraces in its area six parts of congressional surveys.
Thus it will be seen that Franklin township, as at first organ- ized, obtained its territory in almost equal shares from German and Gorham townships, but later received a considerable addition from Williams county. Speaking approximately, twelve sections of land were taken from German, the same amount from Gorham, and about ten sections from the neighboring county of Williams. Franklin township is quite regular in form, bounded on three sides by straight lines, eight miles in length (east and west), south of the Fulton line, and about nine miles in length north of it, while the extent, north and south, is about four miles. It is bounded on the north by Gorham township, on the east by Dover, while Ger- man lies on the south and Williams county on the west. The "Ful- ton linc," so called, divides the township into two parts that are nearly equal in size.
The surface of Franklin township is unbroken and generally level. The drainage is principally towards the southwest, and the valleys of the small streams, with naturally higher adjoining land, are the only exception to the general application of the term. The terri- tory is well watered, the principal stream being Bean Creek, which rises at Devil's Lake in the State of Michigan, and flows southward
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through the central portion of Franklin and empties its waters and streamlets in the Maumee at Defiance. Mill Creek has its source in Williams county, passes through the southeast corner of Gor- ham township, and entering Franklin on its northern boundary, empties its water into Bean Creek. These streams are not large, but they afforded waterpower for the early mills which were estab- lished along their banks.
Franklin township was originally covered with all kinds of na- tive timber, and the quality was of the best. The principal varie- ties were oak, hickory and maple, while black walnut, butternut. elm, sycamore, buckeye and willow were also quite plentiful.
The soil of this township is a heavy bed of clay overlying a sub- soil of sand and gravel. Occasionally the sand appears upon the surface. The soil is very fertile, and produces heavy crops of all kinds of cereals, and all the land of the township is made to yield profitable returns to the owners. Stock raising and fruit culture receive considerable attention, and these afford good margins of profit.
Joseph Bates was the first permanent settler in Franklin town- ship. This distinction has also been accorded him in relation to Brady township, in Williams county, but the double honor is ac- counted for in the fact that his allegiance was changed by the legis- lature of the state of Ohio, without the necessity of his removal. He came from Hardin county, Ohio, in the spring of 1833, and set- tled on the tract of land afterwards so well known as the John Shilling farm. There he lived for a period of twenty-eight years, seventeen of which was as a citizen of Williams county and the remainder of the time a loyal tax-payer in Fulton. It is not under- stood, however, that Mr. Bates was one of the instigators of the movement which led to the transfer of his allegiance, and he there- fore is relieved of the suspicion of being actuated by motives, such as are ascribed to an old Virginia lady. Some years ago, North Carolina claimed that a re-survey of the boundary line between that state and the Old Dominion would add a strip of territory to her domain that had hitherto been considered a part of Virginia. The old lady in question happened to live on a part of the disputed strip, and was greatly concerned lest the proposed survey would make h'er a resident of the "Tar-heel" State. When asked the rea- son for her fears she replied, "I don't want to live in North Caro- lina, for I've always heard that it is so awfully unhealthy there."
Joseph Bates was born in the state of Vermont in the year 1787, went to Canada and married Miss Harriet Dodge. The fruits of said marriage were four sons and four daughters, who came with him to Williams county, or that part of it which is now Fulton. Mr. Bates moved from Canada to New York, and from there to Ohio, where he settled while yet in early life. After coming here, in a very early day, he ran a hotel, called "J. Bates's Inn," but in 1861 he sold his possessions to William Ayers and moved to Iowa,
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where he died, August 1, 1866, at the advanced age of seventy- nine years.
After a space of nearly two years, John Shaffer and Adam Poor- man entered the Bean Creek valley, near where Samuel B. Darby lived and kept a store, March, 1835. They got to Bean Creek just at dark, John Shaffer settling on section 32, town eight north, range five east, and Adam Poorman on section 5, town seven north, range five cast. When arriving on the banks of the Bean they encamped over night-there being a heavy snow upon the ground. about four inches deep-and each spent the night as best he could and as only pioneers knew how. At daylight next morn- ing they felled two trees across the creek, cut poles and split what they could and made a bridge across the turbid Bean, then swollen, after which they moved over with their goods and families, as their land lay upon the north side of the creek. They encamped on a piece of rising ground the next night after crossing, and the next morning were surrounded with water from one to five feet in depth, the melting snow and rain making quite a flood. When the water went down they put up a cabin for each family. In 1851. John Shaffer sold his farm to Lyman Morrison and moved into Fulton township, and from there, in 1858 or 1859, moved to Mont- calm county, Michigan, where he died many years ago. In 1846, Adam Poorman sold his farm to Daniel Thomas, and then bought land and moved into Dover township; on section six, town ten south, range two cast, and commenced again his pioneer's life upon soil equally liable to overflow with water as where he first settled in Franklin. There he died, many years ago, respected and lamented by his neighbors.
Soon after John Shaffer and Adam Poorman had got their cab- ins up, John Mclaughlin and Samuel Ayers came to the township from Richland county, Ohio, to hunt themselves homes. John McLaughlin was born in Perry county, Pennsylvania, December 22, 1812, and moved to Richland county, Ohio, in early manhood, and from the latter place accompanied Mr. Ayers to what is now Fulton county. They arrived at Bean Creek just at dark and found the bridge which had been built by Shaffer and Poorman. They thought to cross with the team, but Mr. Ayers said he would try it first, and accordingly walked nearly over, when the poles of the bridge floated and he fell through into the water, up to his waist. They then returned their horses to the wagon, and hearing the sound of a cow-bell some eighty or ninety rods north, con- cluded to try and cross the bridge on foot, leaving the team where it was. They found the cabin of John Shaffer, at about eight o'clock and there they stayed over night. The next morning, with the assistance of Mr. Shaffer, they fixed up the bridge and got the team over the creek, and Mclaughlin and Ayers, going on their way further west soon found themselves homes-Mclaughlin on section 1, town 7 north, range 4 east; Ayers on section 2, town seven north, range four east, Ohio survey. Asher E. Bird of Penn-
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