Crawford County, Ohio - Chapter 10: Chatfield Township, 1912

The Erection of Chatiield Township - Topography and Drainage - The Cranberry Industry Pioneers and Early Settlers - German Immigfation - Early Industries - Rearing Silkworms Taverns - The McKinley Graves - Justices - North Liberty and Its Founder -

March 6, 1828, Chatfield township was erected by the Commissioners of Crawford county. Prior to that time it had been a part of Cranberry township, but the building of the pike road from Bucyrus to Sandusky, the large amount of travel over that road, and the tendency of settlers to enter land along the most traveled routes, had made the western part of Cranberry as populous as the eastern, so the citizens in the western portion presented a petition to the commissioners for a division of the township and the request was granted. Cranberry at that time was six miles deep and eight and a half wide, and the four western miles were taken off and the new township was named Chatfield, after Silas and Oliver Chatfield. The division left Cranberry the same as it is at present. At the same time Lykins was erected six miles square - the present Lykins and the western mile of the present Chatfield. When Wyandot county was created by the Legislature in 1845, it necessitated a rearrangement of the western townships of the county, and the eastern mile of Lykins was attached to Chatfield, making both townships five miles square, as they exist today.

those extensive glacial ridges which extend from east to west in the northern part of the state, it has the advantage of long and gradual slopes which give it excellent drainage. The soil is chiefly alluvial in the eastern part, while the western portion contains more clay. Its principal drainage is Sycamore creek which, with several branches, covers almost the entire township. In the northern part Silver creek passes to the west entering Seneca county on its way to the Sandusky, while in the southern section of the township are small branches that find their way to the Brokensword.

Many of the Wyandot Indians roamed over Chatfield township as late as 1830, as they came every autumn and camped near the cranberry marshes in the southeastern part of the township. They often remained all winter, the squaws gathering the berries, while the men engaged in the manlier occupations of hunting and trapping. The cranberries and skins were taken by them on their ponies to Sandusky or Bucyrus, and here exchanged for a few necessaries, more trinkets, and still more "Sandusky water," the latter an inferior whisky which was a bad investment for poor "Lo." The white settlers were not long in discovering that the cranberry industry was a profitable one, and the same rule prevailed in Chatfield, as elsewhere, of the survival of the fittest, and the Indians were gradually driven from the region. The influx of settlers, with the clearing of the land, no longer left that section a hunting ground, and in 1843 the few of the Wyandots who occasionally drifted into the township joined with their tribe and turned their faces toward the setting sun, typical of the departed glories of their race, and found a new home in the reservation allotted to them in far away Kansas.

The first settler in Chatfield township was Jacob Whetstone, who as early as 1820 roamed through the woods hunting and trapping. He built for himself a cabin about a mile and a half northwest of the present village of Chatfield on the bank of the Sycamore. He had a wife and family and cleared about an acre of land. But his principle support was the rifle, and the products of his skill, carried to Sandusky or Bucyrus on foot, furnished the necessaries of life the forest failed to supply. Later George Stuckman "squatted" near him, another hunter, but owning no land, supporting his family by his rifle. As the first settlers came these hunters were employed by them to secure the game while the real pioneers put in their time clearing away the forest. They assisted the settlers in erecting their first cabins, and at times in the work of the forest and field. But manual labor was irksome to them, and both moved with their families to the west where the game was still plentiful.

Another early settler was John Henry, who devoted his entire time to hunting and trapping. He was an expert shot, careful and provident, and from the sale of his furs secured sufficient money to purchase a farm in section 19, and as the country became more settled and game became scarcer, he devoted less attention to hunting and more to farming.

As early as 1824 the road, which later became the Columbus and Sandusky Pike, was in existence from Columbus through Bucyrus to Sandusky and there was already much travel along this route. Settlers began locating along this road, among the first being Silas and Oliver Chatfield, James and John Robinson, William Spanable, William Champion and David Clute, the Chatfields entering land near . the present village of that name and Champion and Spanable north of Chatfield.

who came about 1828; John Armitage, Luther C. Flint, David Kimball, John Mitchell, Daniel Shaffstall, in 1829; Lloyd Ady, Jacob Bibble, Richard Davidson, Samuel Foote, Sidney Holt, William McPherson, Truman Wilkinson, Jonas Yingling, in 1830; and Nathan Anthony, Jacob Bunce, John, Benjamin and Ephraim Clements, Richard Frisbie, Adam Fauser, in 1831.

These settlers were mostly of English descent, and came to Chatfield from the eastern counties of the state, having previously emigrated from New England. They entered land along the Columbus and Sandusky turnpike, which being an outlet both north and south soon became lined with the log cabins of these and other settlers. Many of them became early prominent in township affairs. In 183 1 Ichabod Smith was elected justice of the peace, Richard Davidson in 1834, and Daniel Shaff stall in 1837; Richard Davidson was also township clerk in 1833, and David Clute and John Mitchell were trustees the same year; Luther C. Flint was appointed the first postmaster in 1834 by Andrew Jackson.

As early as 1832 was an influx of Germans, coming direct from the mother country. In later years their friends were sent for and eventually Chatfield and surrounding townships were so strongly settled by this nationality that public and private business was best conducted in the German language, and at the national and state elections, the tickets were printed in both English and German. These German settlers were steady and industrious, temperate and frugal; they labored early and late, cleared the forests and reclaimed the marshes, and half a century later, in times of monetary depression, when the business men of Bucyrus had need of cash to meet some pressing emergency they took a hurried drive to Chatfield township and never came back empty-handed.

As their names indicate some of these settlers were of English or Scotch-Irish origin. David McKinley above mentioned being no less a personage than the great grandfather of the late President McKinley, and James Mc- Kinley his grandfather. These settlers located in different parts of the township, and their log cabins and clearings soon began to encroach on the primeval forest, their settlements being the germ of that advanced civilization, and well cultivated farms and comfortable homesteads that meet the eye on every hand today. The substantial and well furnished residences which the farmer of today regards as necessary to his comfort and respectability would doubtless have been regarded by them as palatial, and they would no doubt have looked on such modern furnishings as brussels carpets, cane-seated or plush furniture, pianos and all the various nicknacks in which the modern housewife takes such pride, as scandalous superfluities.

They experienced the same inconvenience of those in other portions of the county. Money was scarce, and besides clearing their land, and making their own crude furniture they obtained needed cash by working on the turnpike then being constructed, or leaving the farm during the summer to the care of their wives and children, went on foot to the western part of the state, where they obtained employment on the Miami canal, then building between the Maumee river and Dayton, and the cash obtained for their labor they promptly invested in additional land.

saved $50, when he came to Chatfield township with his wife and entered forty acres of land in section 3. He btiilt his log cabin, and it was pointed out for several years as the best house in that neighborhood. His land was all forest, and the first year he cleared three acres, which he planted in wheat. Shaffer was one of those who walked over sixty miles to Paulding county to obtain needed money by working on the canal.

George Leonhart came to America in 1833, and liaving $600, invested it in land in Stark county, which he later sold at an advance of $200, and came to Chatfield where he started with 160 acres, adding to his land as the years passed until his holdings were nearly 1,000 acres.

Gottleib Lutz came to Chatfield in 1833, and his brother Michael about the same time. Gottleib started with forty acres in the woods where he built his cabin. He was married in Germany to Eva Kibler, and his wife accompanied him to their new home. Like the others they were much annoyed by the wolves whose dei>redations on stock left the sheeppens and pig-styes tenantless.

William Kalb came to Crawford county in 1833, settling first in Holmes township where he remained three years clearing the land, and in February, 1836, removing to Chatfield township where he had purchased no acres of land in section 19, the price being $400, less than four dollars an acre. Three acres of this land was already cleared. He planted his crops among the stumps, and in some l^laces harvested them with a butcher-knife.

Christian Hipp came from Germany with William Kalb in 1833, and settled in Chatfield township that same year. Accompanying him was his 11 -year old son Frederick Hipp, who when he became of age learned the trade of a wagon maker in Bucyrus, went into business at Chatfield, was one of the early postmasters of the village, justice of the peace for twenty-one years, only resigning in 1882, on account of his removal to Bucyrus, having been elected probate judge of the county.

Johannes Burgbacher settled in the northwestern part of Chatfield in 1835, purchasing eighty acres of land in section 7. Here he died in 1842, and on his eighteen year old son John devolved the support of his family. The day before the Fourth of July in 1849 John married Susanna M. Koenig, a daughter of one of the pioneers, and later he became active in the affairs of the township. He was first elected justice of the peace in 1856, and reelected in 1859 and 1862. Retired from the office long enough to serve as county commissioner for two terms, and at the expiration of his services as commissioner, in 1872, he was again elected justice, and re-elected every three years until his last election in 1899, making thirty-six years as justice of the peace, the banner record of the county.

One of the first industries of the county was a cooper shop started by William Koenig, who arrived from Germany in 1833. David or Daniel Shaffstall built a sawmill on Sycamore creek as early as 1834, this being one of the first industries in the township. It was located where there was quite a slope of land toward the mill on the opposite side from the stream, and often in winter, when this slope was covered by snow or ice, the logs were rolled down it to the mill. After being operated for nearly twenty years by Mr. Shaff.stall, it passed into other hands for ten years and was again disposed of and finally abandoned.

As early as 1832 there were two taverns on the turnpike about a mile north of Richville, one kept by Richard Frisbie and the other by Nathan Anthony. They were located on opposite sides of the pike, were two-story frame iDuildings, and both were well patronized, as this turnpike was largely used by settlers from the central part of the state, who passed along to the northern markets on Lake Erie, with large droves of hogs or cattle, or with grainloaded wagons, and these drovers being a thirsty and hungry tribe, they seldom passed a tavern without stopping a few moments to refresh the inner man.

Another tavern was opened in 1833 near the southern boundary of the township by Garton Frislen, and still another was built about this time in the extreme northern part, which, however, bore a somewhat bad reputation, as a resort of carousers or even worse characters, though nothing more serious seems to have been proved against it except excessive drinking and some gambling on the part of its frequenters. It was at one time, however, suspected of being a resort of counterfeiters, and the suspicion may have been well founded, as at a later period some implements such as counterfeiters use, were discovered in an old shed near the tavern. With this tavern was also connected a distillery having two copper stills, having a united capacity of about thirty gallons. After this place had been conducted for about ten years the landlord was forced by popular opinion to sell out, and he moved to another locality, and a public nuisance was ended.

The Richard Frisbie tavern and the Senate House kept by Nathan Anthony were at the crossing about a mile north of the present village of Chatfield, where the pike is crossed by the road running from Plymouth to Sycamore and McCutchenville, which was a much traveled east and west road in the early days. Other taverns along the pike prior to 1840 were kept by Luther C. Flint, Jacob Bunn, Samuel Webber and Harris Garton, the Shade House kept by a brother of Samuel Shade, who ran a tavern in the northern part of the township, also the tavern of Nathan Plummer. Later Martin Wirt had a tavern south of Chatfield which he advertised as a "temperance inn," and near him Phillip Moffitt had a tavern. L. D. Johnson fitted up grounds at considerable expense south of Chatfield, and established a sort of summer resort hotel, which was known as the "Everglade Retreat." It was a great place for picnic parties and dances, but proving unprofitable was discontinued, and Johnson moved to Bucyrus, and purchased the McCoy House, now the Deal.

In 1837 Jacob Reidel built an ashery near Richville, which was conducted for about ten years. The majority of asheries in those days were run in connection with stores, as owing to the scarcity of money, business was largely conducted on a system of barter and exchange. Goods were exchanged for the ashes, which were subsequently manufactured into potash.

In 1840 John Lucas, with his widowed daughter, Mrs. Sarah Breston, started a silk manufacturing industry in Chatfield township. They reared the silkworms from eggs obtained in Eastern cities, feeding them on the leaves of the few mulberry trees found growing in the woods. The attempt was only partially successful, owing chiefly to the difficulty of oh- taining a sufficient supply of mulberry plants. Some good silk was made, however, and found a ready market in Bucyrus or Sandusky city and the enterprise was carried on for some twelve years, when it was finally abandoned. No cloth was manufactured, although neckties and ribbons were woven by Mrs. Breston. The buildings were located in the northeastern part of the township, and were visited by many people from all over the county and elsewhere. Mr. Lucas and his daughter were of English descent and were educated and refined people; their business, if not wholly successful, was an object lesson in intelligent enterprise and as such was probably not without its fruits.

Among the prominent early settlers in the northern part of Chatfield was the Scott family, whose members were industrious and intelligent citizens, having a large share in the building up and improvement of the township. A member of this family, John H. Scott, a son of the original settler, was one of the contractors on the turnpike and in addition to money, had received an extensive tract of land adjoining the turnpike as part payment for his services. After residing in Chatfield for many years, the Scotts sold out and moved farther west.

About 1838 a wool-carding factory was erected in the northern part of Chatfield by Martin & Hilliar, the building being a two story frame. The business was carried on for some eight or ten years, when it was abandoned, the proprietors taking up farming, as a more profitable industry.

James McKinley has been mentioned as one of the early settlers of Chatfield township. He was the grandfather of President Wm. McKinley. He settled on the pike, south of Chatfield, near where German Lutheran church now stands, and near the site where his cabin stood is now the brick school house of that district. When he came to Crawford county he was accompanied by his brother Ephraim who settled in Bucyrus, and married Hannah McCreary, a sister of the late Thomas Mc- Creary of Bucyrus. Both the brothers were carpenters, and a number of buildings in Bucyrus, Holmes, Lykins and Chatfield townships were built by them. When James moved to his farm in Chatfield all his sons accompanied him, excepting William, the father of the president. There was also with him his father, David McKinley, and his mother-inlaw, Hannah C. Rose, both great-grandparents of President McKinley. David McKinley was a soldier in the Revolutionary war, and was born in 1755, and died in August, 1840, and was buried on the farm of his son James. A week later the mother-in-law of James McKinley died and she was buried beside David McKinley. The land was owned by David McKinley, and in 1844 it was .sold by James McKinley and he moved to Lykins township, a little over a mile west of Lykins. At this new home on August 14, 1846, there was a double wedding, one daughter, Hannah, marrying T. J. Tilford, and another daughter, Ellen, marrying James Winters. On Christmas day, 1853, another daughter, Martha, was married to Stephen Waller. The parents had moved to South Bend, Indiana, where both died on the same day on the fortieth anniversary of their marriage in 1847, and were buried in the same grave. James McKinley, the grandfather of the president, was a soldier of the war of 1812, and passed through this section during the war, arid was so favorably impressed with the country that it eventually led to his location in the county. In disposing of the farm the David McKinley heirs still retained control of the burial site, and on the death of James it passed to his son William, the father of President McKinley. More than a half a century passed, and the stones that once marked the last resting place of the ancestors of a president of the United States had long since mouldered into decay, the graves alone remained, grass grown and briar covered, when the name of McKinley became known through the length and breadth of the land, and the old settlers recalled the fact that the grandfather of one of the nation's greatest men had- once made his home among them. The coming president, then governor of the state, visited the site, and at his request the little churchyard was extended to include the McKinley burial plot, and in the extreme southeastern comer of the yard can be seen the two stones, erected by the president of the United States, and bearing the simple inscriptions:

In 1830 one of the pioneers was Richard Davidson. His father, George Davidson was a soldier in the Revolutionary war, and was a cousin of the ill fated Colonel Crawford. Richard was born in Virginia on May 28, 1799, on land which was granted to his father by the government for services in the Revolution, but the title was never perfected and the land passed into other hands. George Davidson went to Knox county, Ohio, and in 1830 his son Richard came to Crawford, settling on land just southeast of Chatfield, and in 1834 was one of the first justices of the county, serving for three terms.

The first town laid out in Chatfield township was by John Henry who came to the township in 1824 as a hunter. From the profits of his markmanship he bought land in section 19 a mile south of the present village of Chatfield, but he was not cut out for a farmer. In those early days stock was allowed to run at large, and the hogs soon grew wild. As a protection settlers marked their stock so that even the hogs when wild could be identified. These marks were made a matter of township record, as the following from a township clerk's book in the possession of Frederick Hipp shows :

If the ears of the hogs held out it is probable that each settler had his distinguishing brand. There were many wild hogs in the early days, and also many not marked, but when a settler shot a hog it was the almost invariable custom to return the dead animal to its owner. John Henry was an expert shot with the rifle; he disliked farming, and it was generally reported by his neighbors that many of their hogs found their way into his larder. At any rate he salted down large quantities of pork, and realized considerable money by selling this pork to his neighbors. One day he sold a barrel of this pork to Richard Davidson, who lived about a mile from him, and after Henry left, Davidson humorously remarked to his wife: "'Well, we are only buying back our own pork."

John Henry concluded to lay out a town along the pike, so in the summer of 1834, he sent for the surveyor of the county, Thomas C. Sweney, and a town of forty-one lots was platted along both sides of the pike. The plat was filed in the recorder's office at Bucyrus on June 9, 1834, and showed the location as being on "the north half of the southeast quarter of section No. 19 Chatfield township." It was nearly a mile south of the present village of Chatfield. The town was called North Liberty, the Pike was the principal, street and was called Bucyrus street; west of this was a street running north and south called Poplar and east of Bucyrus street was Sycamore. There was but one east and west street, which was called Cranberry, but for lack of east and west streets it had an alley on each side. There were sixteen lots on Bucyrus street, eight on each side, seventeen on Poplar and eight on Sycamore. The prospects of the town were good, with a daily line of stages passing along the road, with Bucyrus nine miles to the south and Caroline eight to the north. The Bucyrus Journal, of June 1834, thus mentions the enterprise :

July loth. The town is nine miles north of Bucyrus, on the Columbus and Sandusky pike, on which there is a daily line of mail stages, the county road from Cranberry to Sycamore crosses the turnpike at the town."

When the town was originally laid out John Henry had his house on the land and near was a small frame which had been erected by Demetry Winterhalter. The two first settlers in the new town were Jacob Bibble and John Winterhalter, who built houses into which they moved with their families, two other families coming soon after. The place never advanced to the dignity of having a store or a tavern. There were taverns north and south of the village, and half a mile south, in 1839 Jacob Kronenbach started a store with about $300 worth of goods, which he had purchased in Bucyrus; this store was continued until about 185 1 when the proprietor died and the store was discontinued. The only industry ever in the village was the ashery of Jacob Reidel. The serious drawback to the town was the proprietor himself. He was openly accused by his neighbors of shooting their hogs. On one occasion several settlers while hunting near the cranberry marsh heard the crack of a rifle, and creeping through the brush saw Henry in the act of cutting up a hog he had just slain. One of them indignantly fired, bringing Henry down with a shot in the leg. However, after shooting him they carried him home on a stretcher, and ever after he was called "Hog Henry." He made no complaint of the shooting, rather gloried in the name, and as soon as he was able to be about again his supply of pork was kept up as before. His town was known all over as "Hog Town," and without a store or a tavern or a friend it died a natural death. Henry eventually removing to the west.

In May, 1840, the village of Richville was laid out and platted by William Fitzimmons, the county surveyor, on the land of Nathan Rich, the promoter of the new town and the sole proprietor, and the plat was filed in the recorder's office May 4, 1840. It was laid out on the southeast quarter of section 18, and consisted of nineteen lots. The Pike road was the main street, and was called Harrison street ; east of it was a north and south street called Sycamore. One street ran east and west called Washington. Nathan Rich was of English descent, and about 1837 had erected a story and a half frame on the present site of the village. The second house was built by John Robbins and the third by John Pugh, both locating there immediately after the laying out of the town. Pugh engaged in the manufacture of shingles and siding, which business he continued for a number of years, finally moving west. His charges were from 25 to 50 cents per hundred for the shingles. He made his siding by splitting out the rough clapboards, and afterward shaving them down to the required thickness, the shingles being prepared in much the same manner. He had a son who was constitutionally and resolutely opposed to manual labor, which no amount of punishment could make him perform, but who was a particularly bright scholar. This son subsequently became a member of congress from the western district to which the family had moved. His conduct, however, with respect to shirking physical labor cannot be held up as an example to youths of the present day, as not all boys who are thus idle become congressmen, the rule applying rather in the opposite direction.

Mr. Rich, who founded the village, also opened the first store, beginning with about $75 worth of notions, which he kept chiefly to exchange ^f or ashes, as he owned one of the largest asheries in the county, manufacturing as high as twenty-five tons of pearlash per annum. He paid from three to five cents per bushel for the ashes, or gave notions, at the same rate, in exchange. The pearlash was sold in Bucyrus or Sandusky city at a handsome profit.

In the same year in which he founded the town Mr. Rich also built a saw and grist-mill. It was a large two-story frame building, furnished with one set of "niggerhead" stones and with a large "up and down" saw. The only grain ground was corn, and that only to a limited extent, but the saw-mill did a good business. These industries, including the ashery, attracted settlers to the village, which before long began to assume an air of prosperity. New houses were erected and stores and other business enterprises were opened. The first real store in town was kept by John Robbins, who began in 1840 with a general assort-

His successor was, singularly enough, a man of the same name, John Robbins, who for ten years kept a large general stock and did a fair business, after which he also sold out and removed to some other locality.

The first saloon in town was kept by John Quaintance, who also sold groceries. The whiskey, the stock of which at the start scarcely ever exceeded a jugful, was sold at three cents per drink. Mr. Quaintance's stock of groceries, which included coffee, was also very small. He had as an assistant a briglft youth of sixteen summers - or winters - who on a certain occasion, as narrated by a former historian, evinced a singular inaptitude for business. It seems that while Mr. Quaintance was out buying paper rags or engaged in some other outside business, a citizen came in with about fifteen pounds weight of rags, which he wished to exchange for coffee. The youth, after weighing the rags, weighed out the same number of pounds of coffee, which he handed over as an even exchange, and was much hurt subsequently to find his business abilities seriously questioned by his employer. After conducting his store for a number of years Mr. Quaintance finally closed out his stock and retired. Another saloon was opened not long afterward by a man named Kaler who, however, did not remain long in the business.

In 1839 Lorenzo Bartimess, a practical distiller, erected buildings on a somewhat large scale for the manufacture of whiskey and brandy. They were furnished with two copper stills, one containing about eight barrels and the other four and both together turned out from ten to thirty gallons per day, the liquor being of fair quality. This distillery commanded an extensive patronage and was the most profitable enterprise in the township. Late in the seventies the distillery was discontinued owing to the intervention of the United States ofiicials.

A store building was erected in the town in 1864 by Hipp & Robinson and furnished with $6,000 worth of goods. The business proved profitable for a short time only, being unfavorably affected by the general decline in prices on the conclusion of the war. The partners continued for five years, however, at the end of which time they sold out for $3,000, having sustained large losses. Markley & Durr, who bought the store conducted it for several years, but they also found it unprofitable and finally gave it up. Previous to Hipp & Robinson's vmdertaking a man named George Maltz had opened a store a little south of the village, in 1854, with a stock of goods valued at $2,500. He continued in business for about ten years, luckily or wisely closing out just before war prices began to decline. Michael Hall succeeded Maltz, and was in business about four years, but the investment was not a profitable one and he closed up his stock. Other merchants in Richville were Hiram Lyons, in 1859; Frederick and William Achbaugh, and Jacob Buckman, who carried stock to the amount of $2,000 to $3,000, Mohroff & Lutz, J. M. Durr. August Muth kept the principal store of the village for many years, being succeeded by his son-in-law, Joseph Mollencop. The first physician in the village was Dr. A. B. Fairbanks, locating there soon after the town was started.

In 1830 Chatfield township had a population of ninety people, and this was increased by the census of 1840 to six hundred and eighty. After ,1830 the settlement of the township was rapid, the completion of the Columbus and Sandusky Pike making land along that road desirable. On March 8, 1834, a postoffice was established in the township, called Chatfield, named after the township. It was located north of the present village at the cross roads where the Frisbie tavern was situated. The first postmaster was L. C. Flint. One of the early postmasters was Harris Garton, who came to Bucyrus in 1822, married Louisa Norton, and moved to Chatfield. When John Henry laid out his town of North Liberty attempts were made to have the post office removed to that place, but the lack of a store or tavern there and the feeling of the people against the town and its owner prevented its removal. In 1848 the post office was removed to Richville, that place having become a business center, Dr. A. B. Fairbanks being the first postmaster. The name, however, remained Chatfield, and eventually the little village dropped the name of Richville, and is now known by all as Chatfield. Among the postmasters at Chatfield were Wilson Stewart, who was elected county commissioner and removed to Bucyrus; Frederick Hipp, who followed Wilson Stewart in 1856, twenty-five years later removed to Bucyrus, having been elected probate judge. His sonin-law, James H. Robinson, was postmaster from 1867 to 1870, and came to Bucyrus as county surveyor, and later was auditor of the county for two terms; it was under the administration of Mr. Robinson that Chatfield first secured a daily mail service. Today it has several mails a day, and there are two rural routes on which carriers start daily to deliver the mail at the homes of all the farmers in that section.

Prior to the removal of the postoffice to Chatfield, the postmasters were tavern keepers, the taverns in the early days being the most frequented place, in the. various sections. The county records show tavern licenses granted to Luther C. Strong, Samuel Webber and Harris Carton during the years they were postmasters. The following are the different postmasters at Chatfield with the date of their appointment :

The people in the southern part of the township in 1863 petitioned the government for a postoffice. The request was granted and a postoffice established about seven miles north of Bucyrus in the Hopple-Klink neighborhood. The postoffice was called Grove Hill, and Frederick Rapp was appointed postmaster March 30, 1863; he was succeeded by Philip J. Moffitt October 5, 1868, and he by Isaac Anderson June II, 1873, and sixteen days later, on June 27, the office was discontinued.

The advancement of any community is usually in proportion to its educational facilities. In this respect Chatfield township has kept up with the times. The educational movement was inaugurated in the summer of 1834 by Mrs. Elizabeth Thompson, who opened a school in her own dwelling at North Liberty. She was a lady of refinement and education, though little is known of her previous history. She taught several terms of school of three months each, charging her pupils - of whom she had some twelve or fifteen - one dollar each for the term. After her removal from the neighborhood, school was kept in a frame building erected in 1836 on the turnpike near Richville. John Rissell was one of the first teachers here. A few years later two more school-houses were erected - one about a mile northwest of the village and the other about a mile and a half south on the turnpike. An early teacher in the school in the northern part was Mrs. Sarah Breston, previously mentioned in this chapter as having been engaged in rearing silkworms with her father, John Lucas. Several teachers, however, had preceded her, whose names are now forgotten. After the division of the township into school districts, each had a frame schoolhouse, and the old log schoolhouse fell into disuse. Several of the township schools were taught in the German language, owing to the large proportion of settlers of that nationality. John H. Davidson was in former years a potent factor in the educational work of the township, and was the first teacher in the first brick schoolhouse. Some of the most efficient teachers in adjacent townships were educated in Chatfield.

The first division of the township into school districts was on November 11, 1833, when the trustees held a meeting and divided the township into three school districts. The township was then four miles wide and six deep, and the northern two miles, extending across the township was district No. i, the central two miles district No. 2, and the south- ern two miles district No. 3. The township now has eight school districts, with a brick school house in each one, the first township in the county to have all its schoolhouses of brick.

The spiritual needs of Chatfield township were early looked after by ministers who came from Bucyrus and other parts of the county, some of whom organized churches or religious societies. The German Lutheran and the German Reformed churches were organized soon after the large influx of German settlers in or about 1832. Meetings in the cabins of the settlers, which, in fact, was the general custom until 1837, at which time the German societies fitted up a large log cabin exclusively for church purposes, and it was thus used for many years the building subsequently becoming a^ schoolhouse. The log cabin above mentioned was succeeded by a large, almost square structure, having four windows and a door and constructed of black walnut lumber. Here also a Sabbath school was organized. An early revival increased the membership of the church to such an extent that even this building was scarcely large enough to hold the usual congregation. In the late seventies or thereabouts, the congregation divided, the Lutherans retaining the old building and the Reformers erecting a new and more imposing one a short distance east on the turnpike.

In 1844 the Baptists erected a church on the turnpike in the southern part of the township, which building is still standing. Not far away is a quiet little cemetery, where repose the remains of some of Chatfield's best known and most beloved citizens of former days.

About 1846 the Dunkards built a church just across the line in Seneca county, near the northwest corner of Chatfield, which drew many members from the latter county. Many years afterward it was moved across the line into Chatfield, and the old building was finally replaced by a new and more commodious structure.

As early as 1832 the Methodists held services in the cabins of the settlers, being supplied with occasional preachers by the minister from Bucyrus and traveling missionaries. Later, as the membership grew they erected a frame church which did service for many years and was succeeded by the structure now erected in Chatfield.

Chatfield is today a solid, substantial little village, with a population by the census of 1910 of two hundred and seventy. It has two railroads, and one large mill, the Chatfield Milling Company, which being the center of a rich grain-growing region does a large business. It has several stores and shops, a town hall, and graded schools.