Wood County, Ohio - Chapter 35: Liberty Township, 1897

Chapter 35: Liberty Township

Survey - Early Settlers - Population - Topography - Pioneers - Hull's Stockade - Men of 1889 - Fever and Ague - The Horse Thieves - Early Land Buyers - Oganization - Electors and Officers - Records - Township Officials - Miscellaneous - An Adventure on the Prairie - Schools - Churches - Hamlets - Conclusion.

THF. survey of the exterior lines of Liberty township was made in 1 8 1 9, for the U nited States, by Samuel and Alexander Holmes, and of the section lines, in 1821, by I. T. Worthington. There is no record to show a permanent settlement, by white men, within its boundaries, down to that time, and only a rude stockade, to show that the soldiers of Hull, in

In 1825, the Haskins family settled near the eastern line, and its members may be said to | have been the only residents for almost four ! years. The Census enumerator found a popula- ] tionof2i5, in June, 1840. During the ensuing ! decade only twenty-one souls were added to the

The township is rated among the first agricultural districts of Ohio. Land reclaimed from the swamps presents an inexhaustible soil, while the uplands and even the sand ridges are remarkably fertile. Its wealth of mineral oil, discovered within the last decade, has contributed to enrich the people.

Pioneers. - Tradition credits Collister Haskins with being the first actual settler, in 1824, going even farther, to show that he purchased land in Section 12, in the spring of that year, and built his cabin some time in September, 1824. The records of land entries do not agree with tradition, and, for this reason, his land purchase must be dated August 9, 1825, while the date of cabin building may be written September, 1825. The location was on the south bank of Portage creek, where, in later years, stood the dwelling of Shellis Patterson. His white assistants, in building, came from Waterville, twelve miles away, but with them were a few Indians who resided or were camped in the vicinity of the Haskins purchase. In 1829 or thereabouts, John B. McKnight, J. M. Jaques, the Cox and Decker families appeared in the neighborhood, and the pioneer felt that henceforth he would have neighbors. Shortly after the men named appeared in the wilderness, Haskins constructed a dam across the stream, and built a sawmill, thus becoming the first manufacturer in the south part of Wood county. John DeWitt was his sawyer at that time, and, later, his son-in-law. In 1833, Haskins erected a cabin, in the northern part of the present village of Portage, for his hired man, English, and that cabin, was used for school purposes in 1835-36, and, indeed, down to about 1842, as related in the history of Portage village, and under the heading " Schools," in this chapter.

Hull' s Stockade. - In those early days, there was a stockade standing on the bank of the West Branch, on what is known as the Knagg's farm. No one then residing in the county could give its history, nor was anything definite learned of it until April 18, 1891, when D. W. H. Howard wrote to the Sentinel on the subject. From that letter, the following paragraph is taken:

I have passed many times when a hoy, and camped near its walls, and always thought it an old French traders' fort: yet it was near one of the trails used by Hull's army, but I cannot vouch for the truth of this, but this a matter of history. The swamps and streams were always full, and goods and furs were taken by canoes up or down the Portage and the Beaver, and carried across from the head waters of one stream to the other. The "old trail " across was a well beaten track: the two streams furnished early communication (nearly all the way by water) from the villages on the bay at the mouth of the Portage river, to tne large and im-

Eortant Ottawa village of the chief Gem-jo-i-no, on the left ank of the Maumee, opposite the mouth of Beaver creek (O-mick-ce-pe). This route, although much farther than via the Maumee, on account of the almost continuous rapids for eighteen miles, was more convenient. Hull may have built the block-house, as I have often heard the story from the older Indians, that the " White Chief " (Hull) had left some of his sick and foot-sore soldiers in a small stockade in the swamp, who returned south over the trail after they had sufficiently recruited, and this may have been the place.

We can imagine how that stockade aroused the curious spirit of the first settlers. In their partial isolation, small things amused and interested them, but that rude stockade was a thing of more than passing interest, which formed a subject for conversation round the hearthstones of the settlements, night after night. Progress, rather than Time, removed the last vestige of it years ago.

Men of 1839. - In less than four years after the organization of the township, the assessor reported forty-seven male inhabitants, each twenty-one years old or over, and from his list the following names are taken: John Astling,

Benjamin Abbott, Conrad Albright, Sacket Brown, Franklin Brown, James Bloom, Horace Cady, George Cook, Jesse Carter, Henry Dubbs, Henry Ellsworth, John Edgar, John Ellsworth, William Edgar, George Ellsworth, John Elder, Henry Groves, William Groves, John Groves (now living in Missouri), Collister Haskins, Henry Hoff, Seth Harris, Isaiah Harris, Richard Kilbury, William Lathrop, Joseph Mitchel, Joseph Mitchel, Jr., John McMahan, William Mercer, George Mercer, Squire J. McConnel, Calvin Rice, Leonard Smith, Ephraim Simmons, Jonathan Salsbury, Charles Sheward, John Sheward, John Sargent, Eli Salsbury, Eli Thurstin, Richard Trowel, S. Wrinklekee, Jacob Wickham, John Wonder, John Wonder, Jr., William Underhill and Daniel Ellsworth. When Henry Dubbs located on Sec. 19, in April, 1831. James Birdsall's was the only family west of him in the township. Win. Lathrop built a cabin, a few weeks later, between the Dubbs and Birdsall cabins, and later in that year the Hutchinsons, Morrison McMilien and Samuel Barton appeared as neighbors to the west.

Fever and Ague. - The vicissitudes and hardships of the first settlers of this part of Wood county can never be realized or understood by the present inhabitants, although a period of only a little over sixty years has elapsed. They were subject to all kinds of deprivations. The most distressing of all the rest was their being subject to epidemics that swept through the country every summer and fall in the shape of malarial fevers of every grade from the real oldfashioned fotfr-hours' shaking and twenty-hours' fever every day, down to the third-day chills, and this all to be borne without medicine or medical assistance. In the spring of 1834 the Good Spirit, thinking He had punished His people enough, sent Dr. Eli Manville, who soon distributed a few pounds of calomel and a few hundred bottles of quinine in a radius of some twenty miles.

The Horse Thieves. - The years of speculation and what was known as " wild-cat money " times in 1837 and 1838, brought quite a number of new settlers to Liberty and adjoining townships, which in a year or two after had the bad effect of seriously disturbing and breaking up the social and confiding friendship of the first settlers. There proved to be a regularly organized band of counterfeiters, burglars and horse thieves who had chosen this part of the country for their depredations. They established their headquarters, and constituted, as their leader and captain, one who then lived and owned the farm later known as the J. Z. Smith farm. Their accomplices seemed to be established in a direct line from Huron county, running west through Sandusky, Wood, Henry and Williams counties, and thence extending into the State of Indiana.

About the year 1837 their depredations became so bold and lawless, that the honest class of men of Liberty and the adjoining townships, united to stop law-breaking; among these were Collister Haskins, John McMahan, Henry Dubbs, W. C. Lathrop, John Groves, James Bloom, the Mercer brothers, John Sargent, Samuel McCrory, and a number of other leading men in Liberty; in Portage township were found Judge Carothers, Jacob Eberly, and the Cox family of brothers. In Center, H. Lundy, H. Shively, Lee Moore, David Hixon. In Plain the Tracys, Edgertons, Jos. A. Sargent, John Evers, and the Huffs. In Milton, were McMillen, the Bartons and Taylors, and a great number of other influential men of the country, who resolved to to bring the depredators to justice. They proceeded to the work by pledging themselves one to another collectively and nndividedly to clean out the organization or be fairly whipped. They called to their assistance Willard V. Way, of Perrysburg, who was then the prosecuting attorney. They organized a court of examination at the house of James Bloom, which j is now owned by N. W. Stafford. The examin- j ing court consisted of C. Mercer, J. P. , of Lib- , erty, Morrison McMillen, J. P. , of Milton, and F. Carothers, J. P. , of Portage township. There were some ten or twelve of the outlaws arrested, and brought before the court by Constables Rex Tracy, G. Cook and J. H. Carothers, who acquitted themselves fearlessly and creditably. The examination, continued from day to day for fifteen days, Sundays not excepted, and resulted in committing to jail the leader, and four of his accomplices.

Following close after the foregoing was the arrest of three of the same band for the murder, in Henry county, of the Chief Sumundewat, his daughter and son-in-law, of the Wyandotte tribe of Indians, then living on the reservation at Upper Sandusky Reserve. It was not until 1844 that the last known members of the organization were driven out.

Early Land Buyers. - The earliest land purchases were made in Liberty township from 1825 to 1835. Among the buyers were the following well-known pioneers:

Organization. - Liberty township was established March 2, 1835, and the first meeting for the choice of officers was ordered to be held at Henry Groves' house, on the first Monday of April, following. The territory of the original municipal township embraced Congressional Townships 3 and 4 N., in Range 12 E.

E.lcctois and Officers. - The names of the electors at that time were John Sargent, Collister Haskins, Thomas Robinson, Horace Cady, Henry Groves, John Groves, Jonathan Salsbury, David

Dewitt, Ephraim Simmons, John Dunham, George Ellsworth, Hugh Arbuckle, Joshua Wright, Henry Dubbs, John McMahan, George Mercer, Lyman Macumber, Samuel Silsby, James Birdsall, Reuben Strait, William C. Lathrop and James Robinson. The result of the election was, for trustees, James Birdsall, Henry Groves, George Ellsworth; for clerk, Reuben Strait; for treasurer, Hugh Arbuckle; for justice of the peace, James Birdsall and Jacob Wickham . ' ' Their choice for treasurer, Arbuckle, proved to be an injudicious one. He was a native of Scotland, a fine scholar and apparently a gentleman, who was in the stock business in connection with Reed & Bishop, of Urbana. During the year that he was serving the township as treasurer, he sold a quantity of the partnership stock, pocketed the money and emigrated. At the time he left, he also had $28 of the township funds on hand. That also went down in his pocket. John McMahan and Henry Dubbs, who were his bail, paid the sum to the township, but not without some very pointed epithets and firm resolves to never bail another man, which resolves they both very soon forgot. " At the next election John Sargent was elected treasurer, which office he held until his death, a period of over twenty years.

In the record of the October election of 1835, Hugh Arbuckle, John McMahan and George Mercer are not named ; but the name of Henry Dubbs appears among the eighteen voters present.

Records. - The first statement, giving names j of electors and first officials, is taken from the ! Sentinel of April 19, 18 77, otherwise it could not have been made, for the minute books of the trustees, from April, 1835, to April, 1880, save one in possession of E. W. Norris, are gone. In the county auditor's office, and township treasurer's office, however, the documents offered a last resort to the searcher, and from them the names of justices of the peace back to 1835, trustees back to 1842, and clerks and treasurers to a corresponding date are taken.

Trustees. - The trustees of the township, so far as can be found in the township treasurer's books and county auditor's documents, are named as follows:

| 1892, Daniel B. Pugh; 1893, W. G. Conkey; 1894, Horace Mercer; and 1895, Daniel B. Pugh. In 1896 Ashel Sanglier was elected to succeed William G. Conkey.

Treasurers. - The story of the first treasurer has been told. John Sargent, elected in 1836, appears to have held the office until 1857, when Abraham Mercer qualified. Caleb Mercer was elected in 1858, Abraham Mercer followed in 1859, then Caleb was re-elected, serving until April, 1862, when A. Abbott was chosen. H. H. Wadsworth appears to have been treasurer from April, 1864, to 1871, when Samuel Mercer succeeded him. On the removal of the latter to Bowling' Green, in 1891, the present treasurer, Matt. Schondelmyer, was elected.

Assessors. - In giving a list of assessors, it must be considered that, owing to the want of township records, only a few of the number can be named with certainty. George Cook served in 1842-43; Caleb Mercer, in 1844; George Alberti, in 1845; Johp Elder, in 1847 to i860 ( with the exception of John McMafian's term, in 1853-54); Caleb Mercer, 1868; J. H. Whitehead, 1870; Geo. W. McMahan, in 1871; Elisha P. Turner, 1874; M. S. Winton, elected in 1876, served to 1877; L. F. Dubbs, 1877; M. S. Winton, 1879; Hiram E. Leedy, 1884; William Campbell, 1885; and J. H. McMahan from 1887 to 1896, re-elected.

Miscellaneous

Hall. - In June. 1 889, the bid of E. E. Householder for building a town hall, at a cost of $433.10, was accepted, and in March. 1890, the house was rented to Frank Haskins and others for Grange meetings, the provision being made that such meetings svould not interfere with those of the trustees or school board. In 1895, the tax levy was fixed at 1.9 mill.

The Perry share; and Findlay Road, referred to in the chapter on Highways, Railroads and Navigation, was authorized February 26, 1820, by the Legislature; but the first county road in the township was cut through in March, 1S25, from the N. E. corner of Section 1, to the S. W. corner of Section 18. Lee Moore, John Sargent and Morrison McMillen being the viewers, and Neptune Nearing, the surveyor. The last-named traveled sixteen miles in the five days passed in surveying, and made a plat of the road for the round sum of $7.50.

W. S. Ferguson. It asked for the construction of a great drain from Section 13, Jackson townj ship, along the course of the Portage, to the conj tluence of the branches at Pemberville - a distance of thirty-five miles. The petition was granted, and the ditch made at a cost of $50,000. It drained 8,000 acres of the prairie basin in ; Liberty, with large areas in Milton and Jackson j and the eastern townships, and must be considered the first great ditch excavated in this county.

An Adventure on the Prairie. - The following story was related by J. F. Dubbs, with the dual object of preserving an incident of early days, and of showing the physical character of a part of the township before the era of drainage was introduced :

1 In 1851 (says Mr. Dubbs), Nathaniel Badger, nephew of the old missionary, tame and fixed up the cabin, got married and lived there a year or so. Nathaniel had a sister, Stella, a teacher, who lived in Plain township. One bright morning in June Stella and a lady cousin from " York State, " ; nicely mounted on horseback, rode up to our cabin, on the north side of the prairie, to inquire if it would be possible for j them to follow the old Indian trail straight across to the Badger cabin. I was a young man at that time, and far too much interested in the two nicely dressed young ladies to see them try to pass over that dangerous, miry trail, and at once advised them to go around by the usual wagon trail, which ! was of itself bad enough; they took my advice. That evening my brothers, Lewis and John, W. R. Carothers and myself, were chatting around a mosquito smoke at my father's, when, about U o'clock, we heard some one hallooing in the 1 distance. I told the boys of the incident of the morning - ; that two girls had rode over to Badgers, which 1 had neglected to say was about two miles from our place. Carothers at once said, " that is surely a woman's voice;" we started at once for the prairie, taking with us our two well-trained dogs. When we got through the woods to the prairie we could hear the cries, but very indistinctly, away to the west of 11s; we shouted so lustily that we made ourselves heard 1 plainly by the lost wanderer, who at once turned back toward us. Soon the dogs were barking away, out in the gloomy waste, in a somewhat different direction. When Lewis and Carothers got to them they found the intelligent brutes had done their part well and faithfully. As if guided by some instinct the dogs had understood what we wanted tfiem to do, and had done it, thereby saving a human life. There, in a grassless spot, in the oozy mire and water, her head barely above the slimy surface, speechless and exhausted, was one of the girls -the one from New York. She probably could not have survived an hour longer. 1 need not relate our difficulties in getting the poor girl out, for she was perfectly helpless to walk for some time, even if she had been on good ground. Soon after Stella, whose shouts had first warned us of their danger, was found, and not long after brother John and I anil the dogs found the horses, grazing in a place where the water was shallow, and got them out to the woods. It was fortunate for the feelings of the poor girls at that particular time that it was dark, for they were in a sorrv plight, indeed. Stella told us how it all happened: They had prolonged their stay at Badger's until quite late, and then to gain time had attempted to make a short cut by the Indian trail to our house. The trail crossed a neck of prairie about half a mile wide; it was here they lost their course and went too far east. The prairie, at that time of the year, was wet in those days: no one who has not seen the Wadsworth, or Liberty, prairie, as we sometimes called it, in its natural state,

I before our drainage system went into effect, can form any true conception of its condition, nor picture to himself the i magnitude of the change since. The water was from one to three feet deep, the grass from three to eight feet high; a great part of the prairie was swampy. It was infested with all sorts of beasts, birds and reptiles common to this country at that time. Wolves, snakes, turtles, frogs, cranes, pumpers, deer flies, and last, but worst in early summer, were the endless swarms of ravenous mosquitoes. Then the heavy fogs which curtained this gloomy wilderness made the aspect so dismal and forbidding that the strongest man might well recoil from its treacherous borders.

Not long after the horses left the trail they began to swamp down, and the riders were unseated from their saddles with no possibility of mounting, even if it had been desirable to do so. In attempting to lead the horses the girls had their skirts trixl on and torn off at the waist and were in danger themselves of being tramped into the mire by the floundering animals. By this time they had worked so far east as to be in about the worst part of the swamp, probably not far west of the notorious " Stoga Hole." Here the New York girl gave up to die. Stella left her friend and the horses, and started as she supposed in the direction of j her brother's cabin; but how could a woman, wading in j water to her knees, in coarse rank grass higher than her 1 head, blinded by mosquitoes and fog, take a course without j a single landmark to guide her? She could not even see j the woods that bordered the swamp. Fortunately she ; steered to the woods on the north side, but in a direction almost opposite from what she had intended, and came out about three-quarters of a mile from our house, where she i was wandering about when her screams attracted our attention, as previously mentioned.

The first log school house is referred to in the history of Portage village. In the fall of 1833, it is said it offered a shelter to Lee Moore and his family. It stood where is now the Drain dwelling, but was not used for school purposes until 1835, when William North organized a class. William Mercer succeeded him in 1836, and A. E. McCotnber in 1837. Among the pupils were David, Mary Ann and Isabel, children of George Mercer; Abraham and Charles, children of William Mercer; Wealthy, Henry, Sarah, Cynthia and Charles, children of Collister Haskins; Peter Johnson's children - Fidelia and Lydia; Jacob Eberly's children - John, Joe, Mary and Martha; John Sargent's children - - Snowden, Nancy and Sarah; Thomas Well's children - Robert, Lydia and Hannah; David Lyon's children - Mary, Barbara and Jane; John Anderson, who was living with David Anderson; Thomas Cox's children - John and Elizabeth; Francis Carothers' children - William, Samuel, Mariah, Nancy, Mary and Neeley; Ephraim Simmons' daughter - Lucinda - and John M. Jaquis' child - - Mary Jane. A second house was erected in 1847, which was opened by Mrs. Lavinia Sargent, as teacher. Eight years later, the board of education comprised John McMahan, Thomas Fearnside George Mercer, John Welton and Cervantez Cook. That board voted $600 for a school building, and ordered a levy of two mills on the dollar to be made. In the "sixties," J. G. Smith and Levi Adams were active members

The board of education in April, 1873, included John Johnson (No. 1), J. H. Whitehead (No. 2), (No. 3 unorganized), L. F. Dubbs (No. 4), George W. McMahan (No. 5), William Wallace (No. 6), F. Griffin (No. 7), Thomas Mc- Mahan (No. 8), and John Edgar (No. 9). In April, 1874, N. W. Stafford represented District No. 2; Henry Mercer, No. 3; John Bradshaw, No. 5; James McCrory, No. 7;G. D. Insley, No. 8, and Cyrus Fuller, No. 9. In September, 1874, contractor S. L. Sargent was paid $500 for a new house in District No. 1. In 1875 the building in District No. 6 was completed. Abraham Mercer, Enos Fellers, Robert Place and George Dipert were among the directors in 1876. John Johnson was chairman of the board in 1877; George W. Robinson, Richard Crocker, Matthew McKee and J. J. Brand, in 1879. In 1881, there were five Mercers on the board of education.. That year the authority to build a brick : house in District No. 5, or the Bradshaw school j house, was given, and $800 appropriated out of the contingent fund. About this time the introduction of modern school furniture and apparatus was noticed. The names of Frank Haskins, Daniel Pugh, John Anderson. W. R. Carothers, C. A. Mercer, William Kinney, D. L. Whitacre, James E. Kummel and Josiah Smith.

I The modern board holds but few of the old-time | members who did so much to develop the school I system in this township. Younger men have taken their places; but the building of school houses, and organization and reorganization of districts go forward as if nothing had hitherto been done. C. A. Mercer has been a director for almost a quarter of a century.

Very early in the history of Liberty township a United Brethren preacher came to the dwelling of Collister Haskins and preached his doctrine to the settlers. Some time after the first school house, or rather dwelling, was erected. Rev. Abner C. Cracraft, a Methodist preacher, called the settlers to listen to him.

Caleb Mercer, Henry Groves, Elias Cheney, Jonas Henline, J. H. McMahan and their wives, E. Groves, Louisa Osborn, Matilda Mercer and old Mr. Cheney and his wife. Messrs. Foster, J. F. Seiler and P. W. Tussing have served this Church in the order given. Prior to 1875, the district school house, in the neighborhood of Cass' Corners, was used for worship; but in the year named the present building was erected at a cost of $2,205. There are seventy-seven members belonging to the society.

The Bethel Church may be said to date back to 1 840, when George Lucy, a Disciple preacher, came to visit his sister - Mrs. Martha Whitacre - and with the Whitacres visited the Mercer settlement, where he preached the first sermon of that denomination at William Mercer's house. [He organized a class at the Whitacre school house, near the north line of Bloom.] Caleb and Abraham Mercer and Mrs. Groves were induced to accept his teachings at that time. In 1842, Benjamin Alton preached here, and, shortly after, John and William Mercer joined in a call to their friends to assemble for worship. After a few years had passed over, Mahlon Whitacre heard of Moses Bonham's preaching in Putnam county, and walked to the principal settlement of that county to meet him. He brought Bonham home with him, and, during the services which ensued, Daniel Mercer, John and James McCrory, Dr. Hutchins and George Mercer, Sr., were immersed. Bonh&m was then hired to preach one year, for which Whitacre agreed to give and did give him forty acres in the S. E. J of Sec. 31, Portage. Mahlon Whitacre and John Mercer were chosen elders with Edward Whitacre, and William Mercer, deacons. Meetings were held in the Mercer school house. John Whitacre a preacher from Columbiana county, came a year or two later, held services in a school house northwest of Mermill, and received many into the society, among the number being Charles Mercer, Jane Mercer, Mary Ann McCrory, Harriet Mercer, Ellisa, and Elizabeth and David Mercer. William Wilson, a preacher, came in 1850, followed by Joseph Wade, Thomas Holmes and Zophar Green, of the Christian Bible Society. In 1853, John Harrison moved into Portage; and, in 1858, a Methodist peacher, Mr. Shirk, preached for the Disciples, assisted by Nelson Piper, a Disciple, and Silas Foster, a United Brethren preacher. At that time, thirty persons were baptized, and on April 1 1 , 1858, the society was organized - John and Daniel Mercer, elders, Abraham Mercer and James McCrory, deacons, and twenty-seven others forming the first society; the Whitacres and others holding the Whitacre class. Others united with the United Brethren Society; but Mr. Piper continued to preach, receiving pay at the rate of one dollar for each sermon.

continued here until July 23, 1861, many members being added during his ministration. Orange Higgins, Michael Riddle, William Dowling and Jackson Dowling preached here in the meantime, or until the society was reorganized in March, 1863, with twenty male and thirty-five female members. William Dowling was en- ! gaged as pastor for one year, the salary being $75 per annum, and after the expiration of his J term remained as pastor for five years. In 1865, the first church house was erected at a cost of $1,200 - John, Daniel, Abraham, and Charles Mercer, giving $550; Robert' Miller, $80; A. Van- Blarcum, $75; and John Mercer, Jr., $50, to- J ward the building fund. In 1868, Mr. Dowling retired, and Dana Call preached here in 1869. Several preachers were here prior to November, 1872, when Mr. Dowling returned at a salary of $420. In 1880, after many preachers filled the pulpit, J. V. Updike agreed to give quarter time to this church, and was the pastor until 1886, when the plan of having preachers fill the pulpit for short periods was adopted. The society was incorporated in 1 888, and Daniel Mercer, Robert Miller, Joseph Horn and William Kinney were chosen trustees, with Andrew Welton, clerk. In 1889, William Dowling resumed his pastoral position, and in 1890, G. W. Cline, whose salary was placed at $200 per annum, became pastor. From 1858 to 1890, no less than 597 were recorded as members, and of the total there were 160 members at the close of 1890. [This sketch is based on the records of the Church in possession of H. J. Rudolph - records which can be truly called the only complete ones in the whole township.]

Stockwell post office was established in June, 1888, with John F. Carmody, master. The Laney oil well, in the vicinity, was then in i charge of Mr. Carmody. The office was discon- | tinued when Wingston was established.

Ducat was surveyed by D. D. Ames in February, 1890, for Exea Ducat, Thomas J. Ducat and Quincy A. Mercer. John Bash is the present postmaster at that place.

Ross Creek , about a quarter mile northwest of the present village of Mermill, was the site of Robert Mackey's store, of 1836. The little building was burned in 1837, and the owner moved a%vay. Reason Whitacre remembers ; Mackey as a tall, gaunt man, who carried a fair stock of general merchandise, and knew the value of a coon skin or a bushel of corn.

forTheophilus P. Brown, trustee. M. L. Devore is now postmaster. Miss Lucy Cook was the first mistress; Arthur Cook succeeded her; Orrin Dills was the next, preceding M. L. Devore.

Da mtown was established at the tim^of the building of the Coldwater railroad, when R. W. McMahan established a general store, and J. D. Haley (who established a store at Mermill) opened a drug and grocery house.

Mercers (now called Rudolph) was surveyed by W. H. Wood, May 13, 1890, for Daniel Mercer, on the S. E. corner of Section 14. A few days after, J. D. Mercer's addition was surveyed, and in 1893 Place's addition was recorded. H. J. Rudolph is the principal merchant of the village.

Old Mini gen. established at the time the Coldwater railroad was constructed to the S. E. corner of Liberty township, boasted of the stores of R. W. McMahan, in the Reed building, the houses of T. Ireland and John Mercer, and the Grange Hall, all built late in 1875, or in January, 1 876. A. Welton was master of the Grange; James McCrory, overseer; E. Gorton, lecturer; and P. McCrory, secretary. Almost a decade after, Rev. J. V. Updike organized the Disciples Church, and erected the present church building. Among the first members were the McCrorys, Thomas T. and Dr. Knight, John and Samuel Knight, the Whitacres and Groves, and a few of the Mercers. In July, 1895, there were 200 ! members.

Town Line was surveyed in November, 1892, by W. H. Wood, for the Dewey Stave Co., on the S. E. I of Sec. 30, T. 4, R. 10. The removal of the Dewey industry may be said to have left the village where it was in 1891.

Conclusion

There are but few of the pioneers left to relate the stories of early days. Local records, dealing with the township from 1835 to 1870, are equally scarce, but a determined effort has been made, by both the historical and biographical workers, to bring forth the story of the old settlers. When the vanguard of the pioneers located here, Findlay, to the south, and Waterville, to the northwest, were the nearest signals of civilization. Liberty township was truly a wilderness.

The Indian came to the Portage to hunt or to scan the faces of the whites, who were gradually spreading over their former territory. Sometimes they would camp within sight of the pioneer's cabin, as they did when Haskins located here in 1825; generally they would appear suddenly, spend a few days in conviviality and disappear as suddenly. The remnants of once powerful tribes, bowed down under inherited and acquired vices, felt that there was no place for them here, and in a few years were transported westward, never to return. Their successors, as claimants to the land, suffered many bitter trials and hardships; but came out of the ordeal stronger and better people to enjoy a beautiful land, which their labor reclaimed from the swamp and forest.