Hancock County, Ohio - Chapter 4: General Description of the Countv. Its Soil and Products, 1881

HANCOCK County was named in honor of John Hancock of Revolutionary fame. It originally contained 308,640 acres of land, hut upon the formation of Wyandotte County in 1845, 28,800 acres were struck off of Hancock and became a part of the new county.

This county is in the north-west part of Ohio, and in what is known as the Maumee Valley. It is bounded on the north by Wood County, on the east by Seneca and Wyandotte, on the south by Hardin, and on the west by Putnam. The soil is varied, mostly black loam, mixed with sand on a limestone base. There is scarcely a foot of soil in the county, but is susceptible of cultivation, and adapted to the production of almost any crop known in the temperate zone. The soil is not of that character which is adapted to and produces but one kind of cereal, but is just as productive of wheat as of corn, of grass as of vegetables. In most parts of the county the soil is deep and lasting, and does not require much assistance from fertilizers. The river and creek bottoms, though subject to occasional overflows, are especially productive, whilst the high lands yield scarce less bountiful crops.

The county is well watered, (in fact at times too wellwatered). The Blanchard fork of the Auglaize River passes through it. Having its source in Hardin County, it enters this county in the south-eastern part, at nearly the center of the south line of Delaware township, nmiiing nearly north through that and Jackson and Amanda, and to near the center of Marion, when from that point it runs in a westerly course through Marion, Findley, Liberty and Blanchard townships, to the Putnam County line. The most northern cui-ve of the river is in section seven, Liberty township.

The Shawnee name of this river was Sho-po-(|uo-to-kepe, or Tailor river. It was so called from the fact that Blanchard, after wliom it was named, was by occupation a tailor.

This river formerly furnished sufficient water power for running mills, almost the entire year, l)ut as the country has improved, lands became drained, creeks cleared of fallen timber and other obstructions, the supply of water is only sufficient for such })urposes for a few months in the year.

The early settlers were enabled to supply themselves, from the river, with an abundance of choice lish, but now by reason of the many obstructions placed in the river in the shai»e of mill-dams, ]»ut lew lish are caught, and they only of an inferior quality. Wild game was also very al)undant, but since the settlement of the county it has almost entirely disappeared. The wild honey bee, that advance courier of civilization, led the settlements of the wdiite man, and the pioneers were well supplied with its sweet labor.

There are but few springs of v\ater in the county, but water of a good quality may be easily obtained, in most places, by sinking wells from six feet to thirty feet in depth. The water, in consequence of the almost universal presence of limestone, is highly impregnated with lime, and is what is called "hard water." The river and creeks furnish an abundance of good limestone, used only, however, for making lime, of which article a very fine quality is pro-

The timber consists of the different varieties of the oak, and ash, walnut, poplar, beech, elm, maple - both hard and soft - buckeye, linn, hackberry, honey locust, wild cherry and mulberry. There was - a very great quantity of walnut, ash and poplar, which woods are now most valuable, but which at the early settlement were of little or no value except for making rails for fencing, and aside from that they were regarded as a very nuisance. Now no timber grows but is of some value and in great demand, and at this day the tiniber on any ordinarily wooded tract of land is of more value than the land is after the timber is removed. 851327

At the time of the first settlement of the county, it was an unbroken wilderness, densely covered with rank vegetation. A part of what is now Big Lick township was a wet prairie, covered with a luxuriant growth of grass, but the ground was so wet and soft that it was almost impassable.

The face of the country is generally level, and much of it is appropriately called "flat land." The borders of the river and creeks are in many places broken, but in no place can they be said to be hilly. Enough declination towards the water courses to make drainage easy and cheap. Xo hills, no swamps, no lakes, no deserts, but the entire county is adapted to agricultural purposes.

In the north part of the county there is a tract of laud ranging from one mile to two miles in width, and about ten miles in length from east to west, known as "the wild-cat thicket." It has its beginning in the western part of Portage township, and crosses Allen and Cass, terminating in the western part of Washington township. Prior to the settlement of that pai't of the county this ti-act of land was covered with a dense undergrowth, the larger timber having all been blown down by a hurricane, it is supposed, which passed over it, no one knows when. Indeed, from its then appearance, the entire Ixxly of timber, both large and small, must have been j^rostrated by the violence of no ordinary st-um, and the present growth of timber dates since that jieriod. Many of the older inhabitants well remember the look of desolation which was here presented - trunks of foiest trees, decayed and decaying, an almost impenetrable thicket of bushes and wild vines, all believed to be, and possiljly was inhabited by wild cats, and other dangerous animals. Hence, the name of "Wild Cat Thicket."

The course of the storm nuist have been from west to east, as the trunks of the fallen trees lay in that direction, with their tops to the east. The land in this thicket, in its wild state, is low and wet, but when i-eclaimed by proj)er drainage is very productive.

In the south-westei'n part of the county, in Orange township, there was quite an extensive cranberry marsh, which for years after the settlement of the county, was considered valueless almost, and certainly entirely so for farming purposes. But as the country became settled, and farms wei-e opened up on the borders of this marsh, making gradual encroachments upon it, the attention of the land owners in the vicinity was called to it, and now by a system of drainage under the supervision of the county officials, it has all been reclaimed, and is rich beyond measure. Thus demonstrating, as before observed, that all parts and all portions of the county are susceptible of remunerative cultivation.

The pi'oductious of tlie county are varied, not confined to any one product, but adapted to all. The principal crops are wheat - and in this cereal we are numbered the fourth county in the State. Indian corn is produced in all parts of the county and has always been regarded as a standard crop. Oats of a good quality are produced in great quantities. Barley and rye are cultivated to some extent, but not being so readily marketed as wheat, not much attention is paid to their raising. Flax has l^ecome an article of great demand, and much attention is being j^aid to its cultivation, both for the value of the fiber as well as of the seed, there being both a flax mill and linseed oil mill in the county. Buckwheat of course commands some attention from the farmer, as people could not very well do without their "Buckwheat cakes" for breakfast. Irish and sweet \)0- tatoes are easily cultivated, and yield most abundantly. Indeed all kinds of vegetables yield a most bountiful harvest. Fruits of almost all kinds can be found in all parts of the county. Apples are the surest crop. Peaches, although a never failing croj:) in the early days of the county, may now be considered an almost entire failure. Small fruits are usually a good crop, but occasionally complete failures happen.

In some parts of the county farmers meet with difficulty in tilling the soil, in consequence of the cropping out of the limestone formation. But the perfect adaptation of such lauds to wheat raising, and the enormous crops produced fully compensate for the extra trouble.

Tables of Agricultural Statistics found elsewhere in this work, Avill exhi]:)it the wealth and pi'osperity of the county, as a farming and stock raising locality.