Wood County, Ohio - The whole text, 1910 (part 5 of 8)

The year following the cotirt house was destroyed by fire, but after considerable litigation an enabling act was secured to give the people another opportunity to vote on the removal question, this time to take the county offices back to Perrysburg-. The Perrvsbur"- intert'st had rebuilt their court house more substantial and in better condition than ever, and the vote on removal was again taken on the 12th of October, 1875.

It resulted in a large vote throughout the county - it may be said an extraordinarily large vote - but the vote in Perrysburg capped the climax. Out of a vote that would be a large one at 1,000, the l)allot box, when opened, revealed the number of ballots cast in favor of removal - 3,016 !

The vote on governor at that election was very close, and when Ezra S. Dodd, of Toledo, heard of Perrysburg's vote, he at once sent a telegram to John G.

Thompson, chairman of the Democratic state executive committee asking, "Wouki 1,000 from Wood be of any good ?" That has now passed into quite a familiar phrase. Mr. Dodd left Toledo as soon as he sent the telegram, and it was surmised by the chairman of the Eepublican executive committee in Toledo, Eev. Eobert McCune, that Dodd had struck out for Bowling Green. Accordingl}' the writer with George S. Canfield, was dispatched to Bowling Green, leavino- Toledo at 11

The vote of Perrysburg was thrown out without much ceremony, and the vote against removal proved to be a large, un]nistaka[)le majority. Thus on. led that memorable struggle, and the present prosperity of Wood county strongly affirms the wisdom of that decision hy the people.

Capt. David Wilkinson

The relatives and a very large circle of friends were called upon to mourn the loss of another pioneer of the Maumee valley. A few days before ]\Ir. Wilkinson was visited with a stroke of paralysis which affected his left side and rendered him helpless and almost insensible, in which condition he remained until death had relieved him from his suffering. His wife and five children were all present during his last moments.

The funeral services took place from his late residence on Front street, and were conducted by the members of Phoenix Lodge No. 123, Free and Accepted Masons, of which lodge he was a charter member. The Rev. G. A. Adams officiated as chaplain. The remains were followed to the cemetery by a very large concourse of relatives and friends, and were deposited in the gnnc with the accustomed Masonic honors.

From the Blade. - One by one the pioneers of the Maumee valley are passing away, and today there are few left to relate the incidents and struggk'S through which the early settlers of this now fertile and prosperous SL'ction of tlie state, were called to pass. Yesterday (Monday) closed the life of another one of those who lived to see their hopes respecting the Maumee valley more than realized. Captain David Wilkinson of Perrysburg, is no more. The captain was born in Februarv, 1800, at or near Buffalo, and the writer of this has often heard him speak of th^' ir \- n s in the village of Buffalo ditring the war of 1812. At an early age he went upon the lake as a sailor, and in 1815 he sailed lip the Maumee river on the schooner Black Snake, commanded by his uncle, Jacob Wilkinson. This was a small craft to venture upon the lake, being of but twentj'-five tons burden. At that time, where Perrysburg now stands, nothing but a wild forest was to be seen. This little schooner as we learn from a memorandum furnished by Capt. Wilkinson to H. S. Knapp, Esq., for his history of the Maumee valley, brought up as passengers the family of Mulhollen, who kept the noted tavern at Vienna some years later, also a Mr. Hunter and family, Scott Robb, and a Mr. Hopkins, who settled on land above the present village of Perrysburg. At that time, Fort Meigs contained about forty soldiers, who were taken to Detroit by the schooner on her return trip.

From the Commercial. - The deceased was in his 74th year, having been born in the year 1800. His first advent to the Maumee valley was in 1815, as a hand on board the schooner Black Snake, a craft of about 25 tons, commanded by Jacob Wilkinson, an uncle, which brought several passengers, who landed at Perrysburg, and most of them became settlers of the town and vicinity. This was during the year in which the war with England closed, and Fort Meigs, above Perrysburg, was still garrisoned by United States troops. The chief industrial interest at that time was fishing. In 1817 the young navigator, though but 17 years old, was promoted to the command of the Black Snake. In 1818 he took command of the schooner Pilot, which plied between the river and Buffalo, and continued to sail different vessels until 1835. Among these crafts was the Eagle, a schooner built in 1828 at Port Lawrence (now Toledo). In 1835 he became the commander of the steamer Commodore Perry, which he sailed for ten years, when he took charge of the Superior, in which he remained until 1852, when he left the lakes. Since that

Deceased was a man of great kindness of heart and geniality in disposition, whereby he won his way to the esteem of all acquaintances; while by his integrity and honorable dealing he commanded the confidence of his fellow men in an eminent degree. His independence of character ever prompted him to self-reliance and unremitting effort. After a residence in the Valley of 58 years, he passed away amid a state of things in extraordinary contrast with the scene which presented itself to his youthful eyes. He leaves five children - two sons and three daughters - to mourn the departure of one who never failed in his duty to them, and whose advantages in life have been mainly due to his unceasing care. Few, indeed, of his earliest contemporaries now remain, and the last of them will soon follow him. Be it the care of those who have or shall come after them not to forget the debt due to their early enterprise and sacrifices.

Capt. Wilkinson is said to have made the first chart of the Maumee river and ba}^, which was adopted by the government, and was in general use until a more accurate one was made many years later.

Mail Carrying

'"Black Hawk war" - in the first week of that year, Hiram Wade made his first trip as a mail carrier under Guy bearing who had the mail contract. The route was from Perrysburg to Lima. His first trip was a pleasant one. On his second trip he got through to Lima all right, but on his return to Perrysburg he encamped on a sand ridge near the center of Wood county, and during the night the wolves in large numbers flocked so closely about him that he was compelled to build a tire between a large stump and the butt of a whitewood log that was hollow as a shell. lie was somewhat frightened, and for greater security he crawled into the log to keep clear of the wolves. Finally the log itself caught tire and he was obliged to desert his quarters. However, Wade did not get out of that log unscathed. His face and hands were badly burned, the mail bag scorched, and two large holes were burned through his blanket. That was his last trip.

jSText my brother, L. W. Eeed carried the mail two trips, which resulted in a lameness of his horse. He met with a mishap in which he nearly drowned both himself and horse, and lost the mail bag, which was recovered a few days later full of water. On his second trip there was no mail to collect on his way to Lima and on his return he had but two letters ^one for Gilead and one for Perrysburg. That was his last trip.

Ijut he had no bad luck. Following him was a man, whose name I have forgotten. He came very near being drowned and his horse crippled in the Blanchard river. He left the horse and hung the saddle on a tree. This man simply undertook the job of carrying the mail out of curiosity, to see whether it was as difficult as had been reported by Wade and Reed. He found out, and his curiosity was fully satisfied.

ISTow, I undertook the work of carrying the mail. I made my first trip during the last week in February of 1833, and carried the mail until the last of November of that year without any injury to my horse. However, quite frequently I was compelled to break the ice for myself and horse, and had great difficulty in crossing the Blanchard. On one occasion I was utterly unable to cross that stream on account of the extraordinary high water, and could not make the trip. For this the government kept back $50 of my hard earnings in lliat perilous trip.

Rev. Joseph Badger

THIS gentleman, so well known and identified with the early history of Wood county, had his home in Gustavus, Trumbull county, where he began his unselfish labors as early as 1804. A highly educated man, a graduate of one of the great Eastern colleges, he yet chose to tread the thorny path of a pioneer missionary, enduring the hardships and facing the dangers of the western forest that he might do good unto his fellowmen. In 1835 lie removed to Wood

"I had started to come through from Ashtabula, but there being no path I got ahead but slowly, and I can not say how far I had come when darkness came upon me. As I could make no headway through a pathless wood I tied my horse so that it could feed about some, and then lay down on the grass to rest. Ere long I was aroused by the cry of a wolf. This cry was answered, and soon it seemed that a hundred ravenous wolves wore howling for their prey. I quickly arose, tied nij horse more firmly, and, feeling about in the darkness, found a stout limb, which I cut for a cudgel and prepared for an encounter with the enemy.

^'The wolves formed a circle about me. I drew near to my horse and walked around him constantly. The wolves came so near that I could hear the snapping of their jaws. All night long I kept up this walk, beating the trees with my stick and shouting to keep the hungry animals at bay. My horse trembled, but trusting to my protection did not try to get away.

"In the first gray light of morning the wolves began to creep slowly away. Their cries grew fainter and fainter in the distance and I found that they had left me. Blessing God for the countless manifestations of his goodness in preserving me through this and similar perils I was again proceeding on my way when once more the barking of wolves resounded througli the forest. There was little opportunity for me to hasten, as fallen trees, brush and bushes were in the way. The pursuers were coming quite near and their howling rent the air, when suddenly there was a crashing near me and like a flash of light a fine, full grown deer leaped out, bubbles of white foam falling from his mouth, and panting for breath. He thrust his head alongside my faithful horse and so came beside me until we reached a clearing probably four miles from the place where I had spent the night. The hungry wolves were again baffled and retired to await the coming of another night in which to continue their search for food."

Strange Incident

ON" the right hand, or cast side of the .Haskins road, about two and a fourth miles from Bowling Green, the passerby may have noticed on the crown of the sand ridge, just inside the field, a little old dilapidated, deserted log cabin. It has stood there for years and years, like a faithful sentry noting the progress of surrounding events, and the days oi its existence exceed that of any other cabin in Plain toAvnship. It was for man}' years previous to the drainage of the country adjacent, a sort of Mt. Ararat to the unfortunate travelers on the "old"' Miltonville road. Many a weary man has sought rest in that little homely cabin. It was long known as the Wilson place, and was built by a man named Wilson, and was for a time made to do extensive hotel duty. All classes per force patronized it - emigrants from afar as well as local dignitaries, sought friendly shelter in its narrow limits.

The Spinks, Hollisters, Eobys, Spaffords, Drs. Dustin, Peck Burritt and Conant, CoUister Haskins, W. Y. Way, Count Coffinberry, Ealph Keelcr, all the leading men of that day, had sought slu'lter under the roof of that diminutive cabin on the sand ridge. True it was but one story high and nearly all of one end was taken up by a great fire place, but for all that it was the only dry ])lace the benighted traveler, with his weary horse, could find. Stay he mtist, and some nights there were almost as many sleepers snoring away as there were split puncheons in the rude floor, on which the gatests had to lay, for bedsteads were scarce in those days.

Gen. Harrison was elected President, that the two Harris brothers, Seth and James, moved into the cabin, which had been abandoned by its former occupants. James Harris was a bachelor and lived in his brother's family, and the brothers worked together. They had a short time previous lived in Liberty township, either on the premises or not far from where the late James Bloom lived. Bloom and the Harris' had become involved in a law suit, which suit had been taken up and was pending trial in the county court at Perrysburg. Court was in session, and both parties, plaintiff and defendants were there ready for trial.

Before the case was called up, however, the parties to the suit had effected a settlement, though considerable bad feeling had been worked up in the mean time. It was the current talk at the time, that all the parties met at the tavern and took a drink, after which tfee Harris' started home. On the road home, Seth Harris was

And as soon as they reached the cabin James Harris went for a doctor Rice, who lived where Portageville now is. Before he arrived at the cabin with the doctor, James Harris also was taken very sick with similar symptoms to those of his brother Seth. All the efforts and skill of the doctor could, nor did not relieve them, and Seth died in great agony, and twelve hours after, his brother James was laid on the bed beside him a corpse.

Mr. Ralston, who was about the nearest neighbor, except Eli Martindale, on the present Clinton Fay farm, was alone in the cabin, washing the body of James Harris and was in the act of putting a clean shirt on him, when Dr. Rice arrived, bringing with him another physician named Thomas and a half gallon jug of whisky. Rice told Ralston not to dress the bodv as he desired to cut the man

Rice, it seems, had suspicions that the two men's lives had been cut short by something tlioy had drank or eaten. He got a butcher knife and sharpened it, but before he was ready to operate. Dr. Thomas was taken with a shake of the ague and had to lay down. Rice ripped open the stomach of the dead man and could discover nothing wrong as he said, though his frequent drafts on the half gallon jug, did not improve his sense of vision any.

He then turned and cut open the breast and tliroat clear to the chin, Ralston holding the chest open while the heart, liver and lungs were examined. During the savage operation with the butcher knife, Rice scratched one of his fingers on the jagged breast bone of the dead man, but paid no further attention to it than to clap his finger to his mouth and suck the oozing blood from the skin al)rasion.

The lungs of the man were discolored and showed an unnatural condition, but Rice pronounced that he could find no trace of poison, and soon after he and Thomas left. Mr. Ralston took the carved body of Harris and washed, arranged and wrapped it as well as he could, and the bodies of the two men were taken from tlie cabin and buried.

Three days after their burial, Mr. Ralston was in Portage, and learned that Dr. Rice was lying in a critical condition. He called in to see him and the doctors were just in the act of amputating the frantic man"s arm, which, from the small finger wound received while oporating on Harris's liody, had become intensely inflamed, mortification followed, and the flesh came from the arm in chunks and flakes while the doctors were performing the amputation, which was effected near the shoulder, to arrest if possible the further progress of the poison; but it was too late. The poison had taken possession of his whole system, blood, brain and muscle. Rice was a doomed man and survived the cutting ofE of his arm only a short time, when he too, died in great agony, helped and hurried off, no doubt, by the hard usage

Thus three strong, healthy men were suddenly snatched from the sparsely settled neighborhood - from life to death, and the living, neither then nor since were able to satisfactorily answer the question, what caused their sudden death ? - C. W. E.

Cygnet'S Calamity

ON the morning of the 30th of January, 1891, Cygnet was visited by a most disastrous conflagration. The Wood County Democrat chronicled the fact that three lives had been snuffed out and $50,000 worth of property destroyed. Here follows The Democrat's account:

All the buildings in the town were hastily and poorly constructed affairs, and many of them were more or less saturated with the oil that not only permeates the earth, but also the very atmosphere, and deadens and discolors the genial current waters.

Buildings of that variety are easy prey to the fire-fiend, and most woefully did he perform his deplorable mission today. The business portion of the town comprises only one street which is intersected about middle by the T., C. & C. railroad. West of the railroad on the north side of the street, a disastrous fire occurred this morning, destroying $50,000 worth of properly and ushering three human beings into eternity.

The fire originated in the millinery store of Mrs. Malonev and was not discovered until it had gained an impetus that was irresistible. It was 5 :30 when the flames asserted their presence in the bed room of Mrs. Maloney, who was occupying a bed on the first floor with her domestic, Mattie Stackhouse. The fire caused an explosion of gas which awakened her to the danger of her situation. She immediately awakened Miss Stackhouse and her five-year-old son and the two hastily donned their dresses and fled tc the rear of the building, taking the boy with them. When they got out of doors tlie two women looked back into the burning building, and saw Francis Slattery, a brother of Mrs. Maloney, crawling about on the second floor covered with flames. They called to him to come out of a certain door, but he was probably unconscious. Slattery was sleeping on the second floor with Mr. Maloney and Mr. Maloney's 15-monthsold child, and the three were burned to a crisp.

Mr. Maloney was 30 years old and was a boiler maker by trade. Mrs. Maloney kept a millinery store on the first floor of Hie ill-fated building.

The flames spread before the influence of a western wind towards the east, and in an hour had destroyed several of the principal buildings of the town. In less than an hour, the whole block was a i-inoldering ruin.

The baby was burned up completely, nothing but its skull being found in the debris. The town is full of people come to see the great conflagration.

A False Alarm

THE "Blackhawk War"' in 1832, was no war at all. All it amounted to was a senseless rumor that thoroughly alarmed the settlers for a short time. In his pioneer recollections, Noah Keed gives the following version of the incident:

"In the summer of 1832, as some of the Pottawatomies were out hunting they ran across some of our young Ottawa Indians. They conveyed to them the alarming intelligence that the bloodthirsty Blackhawk of Illinois, was on his way to this point, and his purpose was to kill every Indian woman and child. This intelligence so frightened the Ottawa Indians that they scattered in every direction in their canoes or by other methods of escape. Many of them slept in their canoes. The Ottawas spread the rumor far and near, and were so positive of the truth of the report that the white settlers were thrown into a state of anxiety and dread. Some of them were so alarmed that they buried and hid their property, and then went to hearing's Mill as a place of safety. Some fled to Beaver Creek for greater safety, and placed guards on duty so that they might be duly warned of the approach of the savage chief and his warriors.

"Uncle Guy Nearing learning of the consternation that prevailed among the settlers, and regarding the rumor as nothing more than an idle report, without even the semblance of truth, determined to have some sport with those who had barricaded themselves within the mill at Damascus. One night at 10 o'clock he came riding like Jehu of old, splashing the water and singing in the Indian style until he came up to the guard. 'Who comes there?' was the prompt query of the guard. 'Nowash,' answered Uncle Guy, giving his Indian name. This act on the part of Uncle Guy convinced the guard that the rumor of Blackhawk coming was a silly hoax, and those who were huddled in the mill began to regard the matter in a different light, and in some embarrassment they concluded to return to their homes, confident that all their fright was needless. And this was the sum and substance of the so-called 'Blackhawk War' on Beaver Creek."

Jonathan Salsbury

JONATHAN SALSBUEY and the Salsbury farm in Liberty township, will long be remembered by the old settlers. Old man Salsbury, as he was familiarly called many years ago, was rather a remarkable man and had endured hard work and man-killing hardships enough to have killed four or five ordinary men.

In the spring of 1831 he bought 880 acres of timber land in Liberty township, then a wilderness, the patents for which were signed by Andrew Jackson. He immediately set to work to clear and improve the tract and after staying on it about 30 years had improved over 300 acres. Aside from the work on his farm, wherever there were extensive contracts for work such as teams could be used on with advantage, Jonathan Salsbury was a competitor. When the people began to open artificial water courses in Wood county, and the prairie or swamp lands were to be brought under cultiva- lion, Salsbui'}- Jouiid a field in wliicli lie was peculiarly a success. He fitted up an enormous plow that was gauged and guided by wheels and capable of cutting and turning a furrow 33 inches wide, and so constructed as to require nobody to "hold the plow,'* in fact the plow had no handles. To this breaking machine six pairs of oxen and one span of horses were hitched, and MJien under full headway no ordinary root, sapling or grub would disturb its i)rogress. The cutter and shear were kept filed sharp and it was not necessary to grul) land for this ."ort of a plow.

When Salsbury started on a job it mattered not to him about the weather. Eain, snow, mud or water never deterred him from pushing the work from break of day in the morning until after dark at night.

We remember on one occasion when he broke 100 acres of land for Dr. Cass on the Keeler prairie, to have passed across the prairie after night and seen the old man camped under his wagon with scarcely bedding to keep him off the wet ground. A cheerless fire flickered up a little light occasionally, and but for the barking of his dog, his only companion, no one would have supposed a human being to have been within two miles of the I)lace. His team grazed on the prairie near by, and before other people had taken their breakfast in the morning, Salsbury had made one "bout" with his big plow and a full half acre of prairie had been turned upside down.

When George Williams began on the prairie east of here years ago, he contracted with Salsbury to plow a half section of land (330 acres). The old man came with his big plow and team the 17th day of March, and never left even to go home, until the work w^as completed on the 4th day of July. His feet were wet a great portion of the time, and yet he never was sick.

Salsbury was not one of your men that worked hard for a season and then idled away months of time. He was ahvays on the move. Scarcely an hour of the night in the working season on the farm that he was- not up and out looking after stock, crops or fences - fact, those who knew him best wondered when he slept or how he existed, leading such a hard, grudging, toiling dog's life. Yet when he was nearing his ninetieth year he seemed as smart and active as ever.

With his kirge lauded estate at the start, and his working habits, dogged perseverance, he had a good start, it will be inferred, to make a fortune, and to wliich his industry and slavish services undoubtedly entitled him, if, indeed, worldly pelf can be called a compensation for such a life. Yes, he made a fortune, but it went from him in an unfortunate hour, else he had been the richest man in the county, and yet, after a long life of drudgery, he has but little of this world's goods to show for it, hardly a sure reliance for his old age. While convi'rsing with him he was reticent on this subject, but we will tell it briefly, and let the story not be lost on those who liear it,

Jonathan Salsbury was induced to invest in a lottery. He was uneducated and credulous and avaricious. Like twothirds of the sons of Adam, he was ready to invest in any speculation or game which promised a good deal for nothing or, next to it, a small investment. Dr. Eoback of Cincinnati, is the man to whom Salsbury attributes his misfortune. First $100, then $500, $1,000, $1,500, until over $3,000 was gone. The trick was baited and the old man drew a lucky ticket or so. Then he lost. Then the man who was leading him on pretended by some power of necromancy or legerdemain to be able to forecast the lucky numbers. These Salsbury reached for to recover what he had already lost, and of and he as a last resort cansed Roback's was so hedged about, that the law or tesarrest on a eriniinal charge, and the timony could not reach him and he went

Impregnable

NO greater victory, none of more transcending import is recorded in our nation's history than that of the sieges of Fort Meigs. It was the purpose of Gen. Harrison, the commander-in-chief, to retake Detroit which had been so ingloriousl}' surrendered by Gen. Hull. Harrison had been appointed Governor of the Northwestern territory, including Indiana, Illinois, Michigan and Wisconsin - having done much civil and militai-y service, well known to history.

On the 5th of November, 1811, Governor Harrison marched with some regulars and militia, 800 strong, upon the Prophet's town (the brother of Tecumseh), on the Tippecanoe river, in Indiana, where he was entrenched. The Indians were defeated and dispersed, their leader, the Prophet, being killed. This overawed the Indians, who Avere in almost entire possession of the whole territory, but war with England being imminent, tlii'y refused a peace.

War with England was declared .Tune 12, 1812. Gen. Hull was sent Avith his army to Detroit to conquer western Canada. In August following he surrendered his entire army, Detroit and the Northwestern ten-itory to Gen. Brock, of the British annv. This surrender filled the \\hole country with surprise, alarm and indignation, and he was everywhere denounced as a traitor, in spite of liis ])atriotic services during the Revolution. He was courtmartialed on two charges, treason and cowardice. He was condemned to be shot but was afterwards reprieved.

In an address of Cassius M. Clay, in 1891, he said that on the first day of January, 1813, the Northwest army under Brig.- Gen. Harrison rested, with the left wing, commanded by Gen. Winchester at Fort Defiance, on the ^laiiuKv river, and the right wing under the com* mander-in-chief at Upper Sandusky. Detroit being the objective point of attack, Winchester was ordered to march with his brigade of Kentuckians and regulars, commanded on the left by Col. Lewas, to reach the rapids and await Harrison's arrival. But Winchester on the 14th, hearing of the weak garrison of Frenchtown, on the river Raisin, in Michigan, detached Col. Lewis to capture it, which was done on the 18th of January, 1813.

Winchester, hearing of the capture, marched to the support of Lewis, refused to enter liis pickets, and camped his regiment on the plains outside, because he would not take post on the left of Lewis - military etiquette ordering - and he slept at a farmhouse a mile distant from Col. Wells' regiment.

fort, and were repulsed with great slaughter. They then turned on Wells' regiment and cut it to pieces, taking many prisoners, among them Col. Wells himself. The whole British force, with six field pieces, was turned upon Ijewis, who surrendered under promise of the protection of civilized warfare. The generals, colonels and men were saved as stipulated, but all the wounded were massacred in Frenchtown. There was no guard left, and two houses full ot the wounded were burned. .

Defeat after defeat seemed to be the lot of the American forces, and after the battle and massacre at Frenchtown, Gen. Harrison was compelled to abandon the recapture of Detroit and to stand on the defensive. During the spring of 1813, he pushed forward to completion the work on Fort Meigs, so-called in honor of Gov. E. J. Meigs, of Ohio. This was a work of no small magnitude and moment. For no sooner had the ice commenced to move in the river and lake than the British general, Proctor, formed his plans for the invasion of the Maumee Valley. By threats, by entreaties, by cunning schemes and false promises. Proctor secured the assistance and fired the zeal of Tecumseh, promising to turn over to the Indians Fort Meigs, its garrison and immense stores, and the savages, fresh from the bloody scenes of Eaisin Valley and Frenchtown, were only too ready to join in the crusade for plunder.

Gen. Proctor embarked from Detroit with 2,000 regulars and Indians, in the last week of April, 1813, and occupied Fort Miami, when the savages indulged in their favorite pastime of skirmishing, pillaging and scalping in the vicinity.

Meanwhile, on the 1st, 2d and 3d of May, the British and their allies Avere pouring hot shot into the fort. Batteries had been erected just across the river, and the firing was something terrible. Only the strong earthworks saved the Americans from death and destruction, Kound and round, the Indians skirmished, picking off the American soldiers whenever they had a chance, while the British kept up an untiring cannonade.

Gen. Harrison had dispatched a messenger. Major Oliver, to Gen. Clay, who was at Fort Defiance, and on the night of May 4, came the cheering news that Clay was above Fort Meigs with 1,200 men. The historian Collins in his Kentucky History says:

"Gen. Harrison, with the rapid resolution of military genius, dispatched by Capt. Hamilton an order to Clay, to land 800 men upon the northern shore, opposite the fort, to carry the British batteries there placed; to spike the cannons and destroy the carriages, after which they Avere immediately to regain their boats and cross over to the fort. Hamilton, ascending the river in a canoe, delivered the orders to Clay. But he, with that sagacity which distinguished his life, sent Hamilton to deliver Harrison's order to Col. William Dudley himself. Dudley captured the batteries and filled his orders literally - all but the important one. Led off by the artifices of Indian warfare, he was killed with all his force, save about 150 men. Clay landed his 1,200 men."

"On the day of the action, Maj. David Trimble accompanied me to cover the retreat of the remnant of Col. Dudley's regiment, and behaved with great coolness and gallantry. * * * Here the Kentuckians drove Tecumseh, where the hottest battle was fought, and then he crossed the river, and with their whole force overthrew Col. Dudley."

dors, on May 5, 1813, with 1,200 men, Green Clay, defeated the immortal Teciimseh and the British forces, 3,000 men, in open daylight, drove them over the river, and saved 150 Kentucky soldiers, the remnant of his brigade, from death. This was the first real victory, within the lines of this address, since the declaration of war, Janiiary 12, 1812.

After the British batteries opposite Fort Meigs were d"ismantled, the guns spiked and the flags pulled down, in obedience to orders, a writer in the Toledo Blade gives this account of Dudley's disaster :

^'Capt. Coombs and 30 riflemen were in advance of the main body when the Indians in ambush turned on Coombs. Dudley saw the danger and ordered his men to their assistance. The Indians were driven back and Coombs was saved.

"But it was only for a moment. The Indians re-enforced turned. Dudley and his men were scattered through the woods. They were surrounded. Fighting desperately some of the command were pushed back towards the boats. All along the river they were driven backward and forward, fighting, struggling bravely and contesting every inch of the ground. But Dudley fell a victim to the savages while 630 out of 800 who landed with him, were either killed, wounded or taken prisoners.

''Gen. Harrison, with indescribable anguish, saw this advance movement from Fort Meigs and saw what must be the inevitable result. He tried to signal Dudley's command back, but in vain, and all the orders sent were not received. Col. Dudley had sacrificed almost all his army to save Coombs and his riflemen from destiiiction. When too late he tried to call his men back, but the Kentuckians. confident of success, only pushed on deeper into the forest, and to their own ruin.

fighting the Indians single-handed in the swamp. He died surrounded by the savages whom he had killed. But they had their revenge. His body was slashed and in many places large pieces were cut out - pieces which it is thought the savages in their drunken madness cooked and ate."

But the sorties from Ft. Meigs were successful. The British were driven from their ])atteries, and forced to beat a hasty retreat by the remainder of the Kentuckians commanded by Col. Boswell, MaJ. Johnson and Maj. Alexander. The siege was raised. The fort was saved.

Gen. Green Clay was in command of Fort Meigs during the second siege, Gen. Harrison was at Lower Sandusky. On the 20th of July the British again ascended the Maumee river. I^he united forces of Proctor and Tecumseh amounted to more than 5,000, while the Americans at the fort amounted to but a few hundred. Gen. Harrison having withdrawn the American forces to other forts in Ohio.

When Gen. Harrison heard of the movements of the British, he sent Capt. McCune to the assistance of the garrison. His knowledge of the plans of the enemy prevented a wholesale slaughter of the soldiers at the fort.

Tecumseh had planned a cunning strategem which almost proved successful. The British infantry were secreted in a ravine near the fort, the cavalry in the woods, and the Indians in the forest back from the fort. The British and their allies commenced a sham battle among themselves. So cunningly was the scheme i^lanned, and so skilfully was the fraud managed that it deceived the garrison, but not their commander. The men demanded permission to go out and assist in the battle, and were indignant when this permission was denied. Had not a shower put a stop to the sham battle, the men would probably have been led into an ambush and the fort taken.

But the soldiers in Ft. Meigs would never have fallen into the hands of the enemy alive. Preparations were made to fire the magazine in case the allies succeeded in storming the fort and thus all would have perished together. It is more than probable that Proctor learned of their resolvC;, for he must have guessed that after the terrible scenes at the Eiver Raisin and Maumee the garrison would never fall into his hands alive. On July 28, Proctor discontinued the siege, and discouraged and disheartened, retreated down the river in his boats.

Wolf Hunting

JOHN CARTER became famous in the forties in southern Wood county as a leader among all those engaged in the dangerous sport of hunting wolves. One of his many exploits will serve to show his style and craft in this, his chosen avocation.

It was in the early summer of 1839, John Carter called at the cabin of John Johnston, who had just settled on the bank of the middle branch of the Portage river, about three miles east of the village of that name, and desired to make his headquarters there while he scoured the swamps further up the river in search of wolves.

He would remain at the house all day until at dark, and often not until the family had retired would he strike for the woods; and the wilder the location the better. He threaded his way through that swamp where the old corduroy road was afterward constructed - on further, in a southwesterly direction until he reached a point in that region of fat mosquitoes, indicated on our old maps of Wood county as a lake and called "Inundated." Here in this inaccessible region, in the weird stillness of darkness and desolation. Carter began howling in imitation of a wolf which he could imitate with such accuracy as to defy detection of almost any man, and easily deceived the unsuspecting wolves. He had not howled long before he was answered. Now mark his cunning. He blazed several trees as nearly as was possible in the darkness, in the direction of the sound and laid by for the next night. Soon as the woods were still and night had shrouded the trees with their thick green foliage, in darkness almost tangible, I Carter again took his station at a point at right angles with the line of blazes made the first night, and again began to howl. Again he was answered and - blazed his trees in the direction of his I answers and awaited the return of daylight.

The next day he followed the lines indicated by the trees he had marked j until they intersected each other, and not fj a rod from that point in a great hollow log, he found the old she wolf and four - cubs. From the glare of the fire of the 11 eyes of the old wolf he was able to plant a ball in her skull, and then crawling in on his hands and knees he finished the cubs with his tomahawk.

Mr. Carter continued hunting until 1847, when he closed his hunting in Wood county, as the following last affidavit of his, taken from the records of tlio clerk's office, will show: The State of Ohio, Wood County, ss. : that the six scalps of wolves taken within the county of Wood by you within twenty days last past, and you verily believe under the age of six months, and that you have not spared the life of any she wolf within your power to kill, with the design to increase the breed ; and have received an order for $15.00,

The last wolf scalp redeemed in Wood county was Dec. 30, 1871, and presented by Leonard Rush, and the stub in the clerk's office is signed by Geo. Weddel, clerk. - C. W. E.

Traffic In 1833

MAHLON MEEKER who came from Butler county in 1833, left his family and brought with him only a few head of cattle, remaining on the river most of the summer, working for Guy Nearing. Elias Hedges and others. Toward fall he went out to the prairies to cut liay for his cattle and make preparatious to build a cabin, after which he and a man named Howard, took a wagon load of white bass which they bought of John Hollister at Perrysburg, to Belief on taine and West Liberty by way of Fremont 'and Fort Ball. With this they bought twelve barrels of flour and ten gallons of whisky and started back. When near Bellefontaine, Howard proposed that he could drive the three yoke of oxen home and Meeker could go down to Butler and see his family and arrange for their coming out to the Maumee, which was accordingly done and Meeker started southward.

After making a short visit Mr. Meeker soon found himself again on the prairies in Wood county. Howard had got back and disposed of all the flour excepting sixty pounds; this, with a keg of whisky, being all Mr. Meeker got out of the load. He was now ready to raise his cabin, a work which among the early settlers was attended with no little difficulty on account of living so far apart. Meeker had to get all his help from the river, some of the men coming from Perrysburg, and even then they would not consent to come, so busy were they, unless h would raise on Sunday, which of course he had to do. So on Saturday afternoon he made a shelter of poles and prairie grass, and with a supply of bread and meat and some blankets for the raisers and a dozen or so bunches of pea-vine grass, which he had mowed and placed about against small saplings for the horses, preparation for his help was made ; early in the evening they began to arrive by the Lidian trail in ones, twos and fours until sixteen had arrived. By the first light next morning they were at work, and now as this was the first systematic house raising in Plain township, we subjoin the names of the party as near as Mr. Meeker can recollect.

By two o'clock the cabin was up, the roof (of shakes) on, and all cobbed oflP, with weight poles in good shape. Some of the men had got pretty hilarious by this time, not just because of tlie good work they had done, but because of frequent visits to the ten gallon keg, which in those days was an indispensable aid on occasions of this kind.

JioiieVj lie would lead them to it. A vote w^as taken, and carried in favor of the sweet undertaking. The honey proved to be of the finest kind. One man made a paddle, and as fast as the honey was put in a pail, stirred it up well, after whieh the pail was filled with whisky. Then a commissary was chosen, with instructions to administer to each man present, a tin cup full, no more, no less, alter which they mounted their horses, and started home, on the Indian trail with such whoops and shouts as would have startled a native denizen of the forest. Shortly afterward Mrs. Meeker arrived with their five children, and a i\\v household articles, and made the new cabin their home. - From Evers Log ( (ibiii Sketches.

Mission Station

NOAH REED hauled the brick for the Station chimneys from Daniel HubbelFs brick yard at Port Miami, there being seven loads, for which he received pay mostly in second-hand clothing and stockings for the Nearing family.

This clothing had been sent by the Home Mission for the heathen - probably white heathen. Mr. Reed thinks this Mission was of no great benefit to the Indians. 'l iie ^lission Board through their agent, got into litigation with David Hedges and others. The island, about which they went to law with Hedges, was returned to the Government Survey as a sand Ijar. Hedges liought his claim rroia the Indians.

ED80X GOIT was a man of strong physical constitution, tireless energy, vast will power and of great industry and endurance. Combined with these he had honor and integrity of the highest order, and his impulses toward his fellow men were generous and noble.

Mr. Goit was born 'in Oswego county, New York, in 1808. While he was yet an infant his father died and during his boyhood he had but little time or opportunity to improve his mind by the aid of books; but such chance as he had, he improved to the best possible advantage and hy the time he was 20 years old he iniiulit a district school, and before he

He worked at odd jobs, taught school in both Tiffin and Fremont, then unpretentious villages, and in the meantime read law with Abel T. Rawson. In due course of time he was admitted to the bar to practice law and opened an office at Findlay. He made his home in the fi'.mily of the late L. Q. Rawson. After six months of studious days and anxious nights - six months of patient waiting for a client, none came. Six months were gone - nearly all his scanty means were gone - his clothes were well worn and only a single dollar had he earned. After he had sat down with the family at tJie breakfast table one morning, he told them that it was to be his last meal with tliem as he had decided to leave the place.

boarded at the house. The stranger was from the east and he had come on to collect a claim against a man who was teaching school not far away, and who owned 40 acres of land near the town. The case was somewhat complicated and papers had to be taken out. Goit prepared the papers through the day and a constable was quietly sent for so as to give no alarm or warning to the man of the birch-tree government. Everything being all ready they pounced down on him at night, and the result was that the stranger got the 40 acres of land, the teacher skipped out for some reason and Goit got as fee ten dollars and an ax. Then the district had no teacher and who could be a more proper man to fill out the term than Goit, which he did to the satisfaction of all concerned.

In 1833 he married Miss Jane Patterson and from this time on he was prosperous. By the year 1840 he had accumulated quite a competence, owning at that time nearly 2,000 acres of the best land in and about Findlay, and having in ready cash over $10,000.

His future, however, was wrecked in mercantile business and indorsing for others. The rascality of a partner brought him to Bowling Green, where he secured a portion of that due him.

Through all his misfortunes Mr. Goit left in his later days a comfortable competence for himself and remaining family and as he himself said a short time before his death, "after so many ups and downs in my life I am glad to know that if I do not get well I shall at least die square with the world." - G. M\ E.

Not All A Dream

ON the morning of the 3d of December, 1877, the citizens of Bowling Green were startled by the sudden death of the wife of Albert E. Eoyce, a prominent business man. She was sick but a few days, and her ailment was not considered serious as she was in possession of all her faculties of mind up to the very last, and was up on her feet only a short time previous to her death.

She was known, respected and liked by every one. Her kindly presence and cheerful aid, said the Sentinel, was always ready where she could be of use or do good in the community, and few could be taken from our midst who would be more sadly missed. As she lay in the burial casket, apparently in the fullness of health, it seemed impossible

A strange coincidence in connection with her death was related by her husband and -friends, and given from the pidpit during the funeral services. Somewhere near three years before she liad a dream in which it was foretold her that she would be taken sick on the 37th of November, 1877, and- that she would die on the 3d of December following. This dream she related to her husband who made light of it as did her parents and immediate friends when she told them the story; but with her it was not so. The matter appeared to weigh upon her mind, and several times during that time she spoke to her husband about it, reminding him that the time was drawing near. Very naturally he , laughed the matter off, and even when on the 27th ult. she was taken suddenly ill and again referred to the dream, her friends could not be persuaded that there was anything in it. But when the morning of December 3d had arrived, and at about 10 o'clock she quietly passed away, and her gentle spirit took its flight, then only, were the sorrow-stricken relatives forced

An Odd Genius

AMOXG the early oddities, says Hezekiali L! Hosmer, which a thirst for adventure or a spirit of enterprise brought to Perrysburg, was one Frederick Lord, better known to old residents as Judge Lord. He came from Maine, from one of whose universities he was a graduate, walking all the way with a pack on his back. He arrived in Perrysburg destitute, money gone and clothing tattered. Failing to obtain a situation as a student in a law office, he took a small piece of laud and cultivated it to onions. These, eked out by an occasional loaf, constituted his principal diet.

The neighbors regarded him as the very genius of famine, for he never forsook an undrained coffee-pot or left the cat her portion. After a while he applied to the trustees for the district school. Judge HoUister's ingenious argununit that '-'every man is good for something," prevailed, and he obtained the position, which he filled acceptably, until his admission to the bar. Meantime, however, he l^ecame unconsciously, the butt of local waggery and ridicule, and the inglorious hero of many laughable occurrences.

On one occasion he was appointed leading affirmative disputant in the debating club, to open that much mooted question, ''Was the English Government justifiable in banishing Xapoleon to St. Helena?'' The audience had assembled and President Whcvler called upon Lord, who, fully prepared, commenced his argmnent. When fairly under way, one of the members suddenly sprang a question of order, and others in the secret joined in discussing it, until the evening was spent and its further consideration adjourned till the next meeting. Other preliminary questions were introduced in succession, each one so timed as to break in upon and arrest the argument which Lord was almost bursting to deliver. He bore with these delays and annoyances through three or four meetings of the club; but finally Lord's patience was exhausted. Waiving the interruption, and with his arm extended towards his tormentors, in a voice hoarse with passion, he shouted:

"Mr. President : There is a point beyond which human nature will not pass, and I give these gentlemen due and timely notice that we are now " tipon the very v-e-rge of that point."

The violent gesture and bodily contortion with which this menace was emphasized, rendered the scene intensely ludicrous, and elicited from the audience a perfect yell of applause. The speaker, however, delivered his argument without further hindrance.

Soon after his admission. Judge Lord opened a law oftice at Napoleon. Here he fell naturally into drinking habits, in which he indulged at the expense of his associate. When William Sheffield put out his legal shingle, Lord called on him, and after a brief interview, told him he had an important confidential communication to make to him. They walked some distance into the forest skirting the town- in perfect silence, Sheffield menniimo pondering over the

"Sheffield, you know you are a young man, just setting out in life, and have not had as mucli experience in the world as I have. 1 know these fellows })retty well, and don't want to see you taken in, and I thought I might do you great favor by telling you on the start what you ought to do. Just as fast as you make acquaintances here you will be asked to drink with them. It is their social custom, and they will expect you to treat them in return, and it's pretty expensive.

A'ow, my advice is, that you buy your liquor by the gallon, take the jug to your office, and whenever you feel obliged to treat your friends, just take them to the office and treat them there. It won't cost a quarter as much as to pay for drinks at a grocery. As a matter of economy you'll find it a very judicious arrangement."

Lord soon left Napoleon and settled in one of the new counties in Michigan. He was elected county treasurer, and at last accounts had become a man of more wealth and influence than many of those who laughed at his oddities many years Ijefore.

Rev. Rolla H. Chubb

FEW men in the Maumee Valley were better known in JSTorthwestern Ohio than Kev. KoUa H. Chubb. Born in Poultney, Vt., Sept. IS, 1812, he came west with his father at an early age, who had charge of an Indian station on Lake Superior, where he remained about five years, after wliich he accompanied his l)rother to jMichigan. When quite young he had followed the footsteps of his father, joining the M. E. church, was admitted to conference, and from that time on until about 1867, he was actively engaged in the ministry, when he retired from active work and was enrolled among the superannuated ministers of the conference. From 1838 to 1855 Mr. Chubb was prominent among the itinerant ministers of the M. E. church in the Maumee Valley, and traveled Wood county on a four or six weeks' circuit, when he encountered all the perplexing embarrnssments incident to those early pioneer days, and his life and adventures as a minister of these swamps, would make a volume quite as interesting, and in many instances as pathetic or thrilling as a romance. There may now be living some who remember Rev. RoUa H. Chubb when he was young and in his full strength of manhood, and all can attest the wonderful pulpit oratory with which he was endowed. With clear conceptions, strong convictions, a retentive memory, and a mind to grasp the contents of libraries, and that power of language always at his command, he l)eeame eminent as a public speaker.

His sonnon preached at Greenwich, Huron county, 0., during the war, was characteristic of the man, and was widely copied in the public journals. He was in attendance at the Ft. Meigs celebration in 1840, and about that time became acquainted with Olive Ewing (sister of Judge Ewing), whom he married March 16, 1841. She died July 14, 1863, at Ashland, 0., leaving four children, three daugliters, ^Mrs. Emily Peacock, residing at Gallatin, Tennessee; Mrs. Maria Bristol, of Fremont, Ohio; Mrs. W. S. Eberly, and one son, Henry, of Perrysburg, Ohio. On October 4, 1865, he married Miss

Mary C. Hamer, of Ottawa, 0., and moved back to Perrysburg. His last regular appointment was Freeport, in 1868. He moved to Delaware, 0., in 1883, to give his children an opportunity of attending the college there. He died Friday night, Nov. 7, 1884, after a short illness, and his remains were brought to Perrysburg and interred in Ft. Meigs (.-einctcfv. - Wood Counfi/ Republican.

IN October, 1907, Grand Eapids celebrated the fiftieth anniversary of its Masonic Lodge organization. Grand Eapids Lodge had its origin in Wood County Lodge No. 112. Among the exercises was an address by George A. Bell, in which he gave the following interesting history concerning Freemasonry in northwestern Ohio :

"It is quite probable that the history of Freemasonry in northwestern Ohio began when xVrmy Lodge, No. 23, spread its charter at Fort Meigs, in 1813,' and worked there until the fort was abandoned. Next, in 1818, the grand lodge of Ohio chartered Northern Light, No. 40, at Maumee. This lodge was active until 1838. A new charter, however, was granted in 1845, and the lodge was allowed to retain its old number.

"From 1828 to 1842, there was not a single Masonic body in 22 counties of northwestern Ohio, and strange to relate, the first lodge sprang up in the midst of tht' Bhiek Swamp of Wood county.

"In October, 1843, the grand lodge chartered Wood County Lodge, No. 112, naming Martin Warner, Emelius Wood, Morris Brown, Morrison McMillen, James Curtis, Leonard Perrin, David Maginnis and Sylvester Hatch as charter members.

which stood - and still stands - upon the bank - of Tontogany creek a short distance north of the present village of Tontogany. It was an ideal location; first because it was comparatively central, and, second, you could, as a. rule, get there from three different directions without swimming your horse. Being at the confluence of the two GrL^en Encampment trails, the Perrysburg people could take the one which left the river at Miltonville, and the Gilead (Grand Eapidss) people could take that which left the river a short distance east from South Otsego; then, when the five trails joined at Wood's, the combined trail went on into Plain township.

"For six years Wood County Lodge worked in the loft of Wood's dwelling, and then removed to Eaton's Corners- - later known as Selkirk's Corners, now a part of the city of Bowling Green.

"Of the Gilead people who took the degrees in Wood County Lodge, the first was Alvin Gillett, father of Jay L. Gillett, of Toledo, Emanuel Arnold, John Edgar and Omar C. Carr and S. H. Steedman.

"In July, 1856, the five brethren last above mentioned, together with Emelius Wood, Everett E. Wood and Daniel Barton, also of Wood County Lodge, A. J, Gardner, of Youngstown, Selah A. Bacon, a past master of New England, No. 4, of Worthington, Ohio, and Samuel Blythe, from Steubenville Lodge, No. 45, petitioned and received a dispensation for a lodge, to be known as Grand Eapids Lodge, and to be located at Gilead (Grand Eapids), Wood County. The dispensation arrived July 31, nam-

"The charter was received jSTovember 4, 1856, bearing date of October 3, and naming S. A. Bacon, A. J. Gardner, Alvin Gillett, Emelius Wood, E. E. Wood, John P. Nye and Samuel Blythe charter members. The three stationed officers were named as in the dispensation, and the minor officers also held over. The officers were installed by E. W. Bro. Hez. L. Hosmer, of Toledo. He was a prime mover in the organization of Phoenix Lodge No. 123, of Perrysbarg, of Fort Meigs chapter, and of all the Toledo bodies up to 1863, when he was appointed chief justice for Montana territory, and it is of record that he gathered together the Masons of that vast territory and instituted lodge, chapter and council at Virginia City.

"Speaking of individual Masons, the two pastmasters, who were prime movers in the organization of Grand Eapids Lodge, S. A. Bacon and Emelius Wood, had a remarkable Masonic career. Mr. Bacon was born at Granb}^, Conn., in 1797, and received the Master's degree there in 1818; removing to Franklin county, Ohio, he affiliated with New England Lodge No. 4, and was for several years its master; removing to Henry county, half a mile west of this village, he assisted, as shown, in the organization of this lodge and was for four years its master. Mr. Bacon's death occurred in March, 1883, he being 86 years of age, and for 65 years a Master Mason. Emelius Wood was born in 1797, and is said to have been the third white child born in the old fort at Marietta. He was educated at Athens and received the degrees in Paramuthia No. 35, in 1818; later he went to Somerset, the then county seat of the new county of Perry, where he served as county surveyor for some twelve years. His wife dying in 1833, he removed in 1834, with his two sons, A.. J. and E. E., to Wood county, and settled on the bank of Tontogany creek, as we have mentioned. Here he married a Miss North, and a number of children were born, the eldest being the well known surveyor, William H. Wood, of Bowling Green. Brother Wood was a principal mover in the organization of Wood County Lodge, was its master in 1847, 1848 and 1855. He was the first justice and the first school examiner of Washington township. He died in 1875, aged 78, having been a Master Mason for 57 years.

"Fifty years to those who are past the meridian of life seems but a brief period, and yet, looking backward, many things may happen in fifty years. In 1856 the territory of Grand Eapids Lodge extended from Fulton Lodge, Delta, on the nortli, to Kalida, Putnam county, on the south, and east and west from Bowling Green to Napoleon. Up to date it has given of its territory to Deshler, Holgate, Liberty Center, Waterville, Tontogany and Weston. That shows some change, but let us contemplate Wood County Lodge again for a moment; it is just 13 years older than Grand Eapids lodge. When Wood county was constituted, its territory comprised more than ten thousand square miles, figuring from door to door of nearest lodges, but to-day that territory contains 110 lodges and more than 13,000 members."

It is not an exaggerated belief that had Hull's arinv, which passed through the site of Bowling Green, almost a century ago, been led by a man of the nerve of Anthony Wayne, that a portion of Canada would to-day be a part of the United States. Hidl's disastrous failure compelled the few settlers at the Maumee Eapids to leave and the whole northwest was opened to the merciless raids of savages. It was indeed a national calamity.

Hon. Thos. W. Powell

DECEMBER 12, 1882, says the Cleveland Herald, Hon, Thomas W. Powell died at his residence in Delaware, at the advanced age of eighty-five years. For several years he had been almost blind. His name stands foremost as one of the greatest thinkers of the State. The following history was given by Hon. James R. Hubble:

Hon. Thomas W. Powell was born in South Wales in 1797. In 1801 he came with his parents to America and settled in Utica, N". Y., in the Mohawk Valley. During the war with Great Britain, although a mere youth, he drove his father's team with the baggage of a regiment, to Sacketts Harbor, and in the spring of 1813 entered the place at the close of the battle. In 1814 he was appointed by the military authorities to carrv dispatches to Plattsburg, and at the close of that battle entered the town with dispatches to Gen. McCombs.

In the year 1819 he came to Ohio and studied law in the office of Hon. James W. Lathrop, at Canton, and in 1820 was admitted to the bar. He removed to Perrysburg, on the Maumee, where he filled successively the offices of Prosecuting Attorney and County Auditor of Wood county.

In the discharge of his official duties, he was noted for his probity and industry as well as his abilities. In 1830 he removed to Delaware, where he resided until his death.

Indian Justice

ONEQUIT, a chief of a tribe of Indians that occupied Station Island above Waterville, proved to be Judge and executioner, as the following incident will show, as related by an early settler: for trial. The cause was duly heard with Indian solemnity, after which Onequit retired, smokng over his deliberations. The result of this deliberation was that the chief took down his rifle and shot and killed the convicted red man.

Onequit himself was then brought before a magistrate near Miltonville to answer for the crime of murder. The chief admitted the killing of the Indian, but claimed that he had acted only within the laws of his tribe. On this showing he was acquitted and released.

GEN. CLAY and his Kentuckians were at Ft. Defiance in April, 1813, having followed in Gen. Winchester's footsteps, and when he closed a ringing denunciation of the British treachery at the River Raisin, his men were ready for action. Said their general: "Kentuckians stand high in the estimation of our common country. Our brothers in arms who have gone before us to the scene of action have acquired a fame which should never be forgotten by you, a fame worthy of your emulation. Should we encounter the enemy, remember the fate

Gen. Wm. H. Harrison

Standing in sight of the battle field of Fallen Timber and under the severe cannonade from the British batteries across the river, Gen. Harrison thus addressed his men, some of whom had fallen wounded, and others who were fainting and tired of the conflict:

"Can the citizens of a free country, who have taken up arms to defend its rights, think of submitting to an army composed of mercenary soldiers, reluctant Canadians, goaded to the field by the bayonet, and of wretched, naked savages? Can the breast of an American soldier wlieu he casts his eyes to the opposite sliore, the scene of his country's triumplis over the same foe, be influenced by any other feeling than the hope of glory ? Is not this army composed of the same materials with that which fought and conquered under the immortal Wayne? Yes, fellow soldiers, your general sees your faces beam with the same fire that he witnessed on that occasion; and although it would be the height of ])resumption to compare himself with that hero, he boasts of being that hero's pupil. 1c your posts then fellow citizens and remember the eyes of your country are upon you."

Two Lost Girls

In 1836, the old Eevolutionary soldier and Missionary, Eev. Joseph Badger built a cabin and settled on a ridge at the west end of the Wadsworth prairie, overlooking the great marsh, stretching out miles to the eastward. When, a few years after his health failed and he moved his family away, the Aacant cabin became a sort of rendezvous for counterfeiters, and other law-breakers. They were finally broken up and driven away.

In 1851, Nathaniel Badger, nephew of the old missionary, came 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 .Tune,

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 them to follow the old Indian trail straight across to the Badger cabin. L 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 l)ad enough ; they took my advice.

That evening my brothers, Lewis and John, W. E. Carothers and myself were chatting around a mosquito smoke at my father's, when, about 9 o'clock we lieard some one hallooing in the distance. I told the boys of the incident of the morning - that two girls had rode over to Badger's, wiiich 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.

indistinctly, away to the east of us; we shouted so lustily that we made ourselves heard 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 somewliat 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, almost providential, in this case, the dogs in some unexplained, or 1 should say unexplainable way, had understood what we wanted them 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. I need not relate our difficulties in getting the poor girl out for she was perfectly helpless to walk for sometime, 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 and the dogs found the horses, grazing in a place where the water was shallow, and got them out to the woods.

Stella then 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, before our drainage system went into effect, can form any true conception of its condition, nor picture to himself the 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, Avere 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 trod on and torn off at the waist and were in danger themselves of being tramped into the mire by the floundering animals.

By tliis 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 her brother's cabin; but how could a woman, wading in water to her knees, in coarse rank grass higher than her head, blinded by mos- (|uitoes and fog, take a course without a single landmark to guide her ? She could not even see 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 threefourths of a mile from our house, where she was wandering about when her screams attracted our attention as previously mentioned. After we all got together on dry ground, the girls, whose deplorable plight was mercifully shielded by the darkness, pleaded with us to be taken to the Badger cabin, but we persuaded them to go to our house nearer by, where they were taken in hand by

One of those girls of nearly half a century ago, Stella, married Dr. Stephen Olney, brother of Professor p]dward Olney, of Michigan university, and at this time, 1894, is living in widowhood in one of the thriving cities of New Jersey. Her rosy cheeks of yore are faded; her dark hair long since has turned gray ; the voice tliat was strong enough to carry its pitiful appeal through the Cimmerian darkness for help nearly a mile awa}', is feeble now; memory too fails, Init not the remembrance of that dreadful night experience in the "Black Swamp" of Wood county.

In thus imperfectly giving the details of this and other incidents, I have sought to also convey to the younger generation a dim, outline picture of the country as the pioneers first found it; also some of the inconveniences and hardships met with. Each passing day and year in our lives has its sore trials, mingled with its sunshine and joy. Each country has its drawbacks, but I think now, in looking l^ack over my three score years' experience, and that of my old neighbors here, that Wood county's early settlers had more than their full share of trials. The county was too, from causes only slightly alluded to in this narration, in very bad repute. This bad name followed it hurtfully for years after, and kept improvements back until many fell, weary and discouraged in the conflict. But all honor to the old pioneers, and the new ones too; it is different now. Wood county is, at last, the first; and the miry swamp, Avhere we found the lost girls, groans each recurring autumn under its load of golden grain; and the successors of those first pioneers would hesitate to swap situations with the most favored husbandmen in the land.

The Old Exchange Bell

ACOKKESPOXDENT of tlie Elmore Independent says that in the year iSo'^ or 1833, Mr. Jarvis Spaiford built a hotel in Perrysburg, and it was a very line hotel - even a model one in those days, ill order to make it complete he had to have a l)ell on top of the house. Then' hapiieiied to be a man by the name of S. Davis who had a bell foundry in Detroit, Micb., then Michigan Territory. ^Ir. Spatford went to Detroit, saw Mr. l)avis and made a contract to cast him a bell. For want of material to make a bell the desired size, Mr. Spafford l)ut in 36 Spanish dollars, which were melted and run into the bell. In the y;'ar 1834 the bell was cast; the name of

S. Davis, Detroit, ilichigan Territory, and the year, in large, bold letters, appear on the bell. After due time Mr. Spafford got the bell home, and it was a great curiosity there in the wilderness, the whole country abounding with Indians and wild animals. However, Mr. Spafford had the bell hung up in a tree in front of his house, to ring when it was time for meals.

The Indians used to gather around the tree to see and hear the bell ring; they would even climb up on the tree to get hold of it to ring it themselves, to the great annoyance of Mr. Spafford and his customers, as they supposed meals were ready when the bell rang. This annoyed I\lr. Spafford so much that he was compelled to dri\'r the Indians away by force, but the}', not being easily scared, came one night and stole the bell and carried n off to Upper Sandusky, which was the headquarters for all the Indians in this section of the country in those days. When Mr. Spafford missed the bell he was much worried, and offered a big reward for the thief and return of his property.

As the bell cost him $75, he felt the loss of his investment, as well as the enjoyment and convenience of it, but he was not long in finding the trail of the bell from friendly Indians. He secured the services of a half-breed, by the name of Sam Brady, an old scout, who had killed a- many Indians and some white men, as any other man in those days. Mr. Frank Hollister, the first white man who settled at Perrysburg, and bought furs from the Indians, knew about all of them, and had slept in almost every Indian wigwam on the Maumee river. The three started in search of the bell, and were three days making the trip from Perrysburg to the plains of Upper Sandusky, camping out every night, with Sam Brady to pilot them through. On the morning of the fourth day, to their great surprise, they heard the sound of the bell, and leaving their camp with their scanty breakfast half cooked, they struck out fully determined to get the bell. After half an hour's traveling through the deep grass and thick underbrush, with rifle in hand to shoot the first Indian they met, they came to the missing bell. To their great amazement they found it tied around an Indian pony's neck, which was considered the leading pony of the plains. Mr. Spafford says that it did not take Mr. Brady long to bring down the pony with his rifle, cut the sinew that the bell was fastened to, and soon shouldered it and started back to camp, to finish their breakfast of jerked venison and whisky.

After finishing the meal, they started back for home, a happy trio. In the meantime they kept a sharp lookout on their retreat, but met with no interruption, and arrived home safe and whole, but worn out by fatigue and hunger, still full of glee and "good whisky,^^

Mr. Spafford, in order to keep the Indians from stealing the bell again, went to Detroit to a blacksmith, and got a heavy iron bar, one inch square, made in a half circle, with a cross-bar, and hung the bell in the circle, spiked it on top of his tavern, and the bell hung there until the death of Jarvis Spafford, and for several years after. The property then fell into the hands of Willis Norton, sheriff of Wood county, and for a number of years he kept the house and bell. Finally the hotel business died out and Mr. Norton had a good deal of sickness and reverses and left Perrysburg, went west of Ft. Wayne, on a small farm, taking the bell with him, with the full intention of keeping it as long as he lived, but his health failed him, necessaries of life were hard to get, and getting an offer for the old bell from the oldest landlord in northern Ohio, who knew the bell ever since it was hung upon the old Exchange, he concluded to sell it to his old friend, D. M. Day, of Elmore, Ottawa county, 0., whore it can be seen and heard three times a day, on top of the Elmore House.

George Hopper

country from England, and reached Perrysburg in the year 1836, engaging in the service of the firm of Smith & Hollister in their large warehouse. He remained with them three years, at the end of which time he took 160 acres of land in Troy township for his pay, on which he made his home until his death.

the people of that date in Wood county, had to put up with hardships and inconveniences, which to this generation of people would seem unbearable. Mr. and Mrs. Hojjper related as a fact that during their first settlement in the woods and for years after, they seldom passed a night without being disturbed by the unwelcome and dismal howl of wolves. Sometimes these ravenous brutes would come into their door yard and make the night a hideous pandemonium. On one occasion Mr. Hopper had been to Perrysburg to get some provisions and was belated and came home unconscious that he was pursued until lie entered his cabin door, wiioii he heard the brutes jumping the fence, and no sooner had he closed the door behind him than they opened in an unearthly chorus, startling enough to make a dead man's hair stand on end. This sort of solitary life was continued until 18-17, when Sanmel Shreiner moved in. he being their first neighbor nearer tlian the Gorrills. In all his obligations of citizenship Mr. Hopper was a model nuin, upright and honest, and commanded the respect and esteem of his neighbors and all who knew him. - Wood County Sentinel.

A Shaking Scourge

NO'J' the least of tlie ills encountered by the early settlers in the Black Swamp, was the scourge of sickness, chiefly fever and ague, which widely prevailed. These ills were caused by the malaria of that day.

It took from three to five years to get acclimated : every year from about the first of July until frost and cold made its appearance, the people had the ague, and they looked for it just as much, and it came with the same regularity, as summer and fall came. An old pioneer says: It took hold of a person and literally shook him up. I have seen fellows go to bed with the ague, and when the shake came on the very bed and floor would rattle. So violent was the disease that at times their teeth would rattle.

Many times whole families would be down at one time, so that one could not give another a drink of water. The ague usually came on every other day, and when there were not people enough they had to have it every day, for sometimes there appeared to be about two agues for one man; and oftentimes they had to have it twice in one day. The well day as we used to call the day we missed it, men would be able to do some light work, and it may seem strange, but the day the chill was to come on you could look out from 10 a. m. until 3 p. m., and you could see the boys come in to take their shake, as much so as to take their dinners. We were not troubled much in those days from any disease of a malignant form. Aside from the ague, we had some bilious, intermittent and remittent fevers. We had no need of a doctor to bleed the patient, for the pesky moscjuitocs did all the bleeding that was necessary.

Dr. H. Burritt was the physician ; he then lived at Gilead (now Grand liapids), and he also kept the postoffice. Oh, how he used to swear when he had to make his way through the woods and water, ten, twelve or fifteen miles to see his patients.

The Maumee Valley Historical Association was organized in 1885 for the purpose of perpetuating flic memory and preserving the historical places in the Maumee Valley. Hon. Morrison E. Waite was its first president.

What Might Have Been

In 1835 was fought the great ^'Toledo War." Gen. Bell, Gen. Brown, Col. Van Fleet and many others in and out of command of the forces of the state of Ohio, and the territory of Michigan, marched and counter marched their respective commands, and performed feats of valor and strategy which entitle them to a more extended notice than in the limits of this history can be accorded them. The net purport and upshot of the matter was, that the Harris, or present line, between the state of Ohio and the territory of Michigan, was adopted. This left Toledo in the state of Ohio, and

With Toledo in Michigan, Ohio would have been interested in building up Perry sburg, and it is probable at least, that some elfort would have been made to remove the obstructions to navigation, known to exist between Toledo and Perrysburg, and that the fostering care of the stat-e of Ohio would have accomplished for Perrysburg what the state of Michigan afterward accomplished for Detroit, under similar difficulties. It is probably vain to theorize over this matter now, but it certainly does not seem improbable that if the Fulton or southern line, between Ohio and Michigan had been finally adopted, that Perrysburg would have been now a compactly built city, from East Toledo to West Boundary street, with miles of wharves and docks, acres of elevators and depots, and tens of millions instead of tens of thousands of dollars of personal property.

Bloody Wolf Fight

AN^ issue of the Wood County Sentinel in August, 1877, relates an incident of a black wolf killed a few days prior to that by three dogs near Mr. Willison's house in Jackson Prairie. A steer had died not far from Willison's place a day or so previous, and late in the evening mentioned, Mr. W. heard dogs fighting as he supposed, until finally he became satisfied from the continued barking and fierce growls that the dogs, his own among tbe number, had some animal at bay. He did not go out however, that nifi^ht. Next morning Jake Wall's dog was found to be so badly chewed up that he died that day. The other dogs were found to be pretty badly used up also. Not far from the carcass of the steer, the dead l)ody of a wolf was found, a murderous looking brute, and near him were ])U'nty of evidences of a terrible tight l)etween the black monster and the dogs. It is supposed that Wall's dog, which was a gamy, powerful creature, after getting terribly punished by the wolf, had finally got hold of its throat and never let go till he had choked it to death. This is the first wolf killed in this county for several years, and the second instance of the destruction of a black wolf, and tlie only instance we ever heard of dogs in open battle attacking and killing a full grown wolf. It is supposed there were two wolves, but that the other got away. They usually travel in pairs.

"During tlie year 1813 or "1 1 a period when the BUiek Swamp was yet a 'howling wildiTiU'ss." well covered by water and oecnpiml l)y Indians, wolves, bears, raccoons and wildcats, there was a low, wet swampy bog, extending from a portion of Wood connty where the Fenton P. 0., now is, to a point in Middleton, lately known as the Devil's Hole Prairie - it being a portion of country exceedingly difficult to penetrate owing to the depth of water and massive growth of timber, through which were numerous windfalls that served to render the progress of tlie ]iedestrian very difficult and quite uncertain.

"At the time mentioned Gen. Harrison came plunging through the wilds of Sandusky and Wood counties on his march to Fort Meigs, and while passing through the portion of Wood county near where this swamp was located, a scout, whose name the writer is not in possession of, while on ilie alert for the terror of the forest - the nol)l(' I'ed man - became entangled in this man-trap, and oidy after a day's persistent effort did he succeed in finding the trail of his brave commander, after wliicli li" soon cuiii'iit up with the c(mimand. Upon being interrogated as to where he had been, he replied that he had got lost in the "Devil's Hole," asserting that he had truly discovered the home of Satan, and in this trifling manner (although undoubtedly appreciated at the time) originated tlie name so long attached to what is now one of the most prosperous and prolifie portions of this countv; a localitv tliat has

Buried in the heart of the tlense woods some miles to the northeast of this place, known as the "Devil's Hole," two men recently discovered a small, low built shanty, covered with bark and entirely obscure from the vision of man or beast by the dense undergrowth, at no greater distance than ten paces. It is off from any road and there is a single path leading to and from it. Just behind it a hole has been dug for water, and near it are troughs cut in a log as if for the purpose of feeding horses. Some hay inside indicates that men have slept there, and there has also been a fire kept in it. Everything about it denotes that the utmost precautions of secrecy have been tctken. From its location and other circumstances, persons living nearest the locality are suspicious that it is a rendezvous or stopping place for horse-thieves. C'ertainlv there seems some coloring for such a supposition.

It has hti'ii well said that Thomas Jefferson was more than the author of our Declaration of lndi'))en(lence in 177(); he. more than any American, laid down the basis of popular liberty.

There is r.ot a city in i\t'ntucl<y, there is not a ])lace in all Ohio that diil not hasten to the aid of Ft. Meigs nearly a century ago. And all these cities and towns have an atjiding intt'rest in these historic grounds.

Tom Long

Among the names of those mentioned by telegraph in Thursday evening's Blade, as having died of cholera in the penitentiary at Columbus, was that of Thomas Long, sent from Wood county. Long was a noted horsethief, and was serving out his fourth term in the penitentiary, although but just in the prime of life. Perhaps no man in the country was more familiar with the "runways" of horsethieves than he. His range was very extensive, reaching from Central Ohio through Indiana, Illinois and Iowa. It is said that he would start from his home in Wyandot county, and make a through trip to Council Bluffs, stealing horses and selling them as fast as possil)le. The last horse which he stole was taken from a man by the name of Wilson, living near Portage, Wood county, when he also stole a buggy from a Mr. Eoller, living in Portage. This occurred in 1865. He was accompanied on this trip by his brother. The latter was first captured and taken to jail. Tom, who had escaped arrest, although hotly pursued by Sheriff Evers, learning that his brother was in jail, wrote him a letter from some point out west, stating that he would visit the imprisoned brother. This letter fell into the hands of the sheriff, and he was on the alert.

Finall}^, after the sheriff had about abandoned all hope of securing Tom, two men, one of them a well known citizen of Wood county, called at the jail and expressed a desire to see a prisoner. The present sheriff', Mr. C. C. Baird, was then jailor, and he at once sent for the sheriff. On the arrival of Sheriff Evers, he readily identified the stranger as Tom Long, arrested him and locked him up with his brother. Both were convicted and Tom was sentenced to the penitentiary for twelve years, while his brother got off with ten 3'ears. He had, therefore, served out but two-thirds of his time when he died.

Tom Long was a cool, sharp and cunning horsethief. He was quiet, inoffensive to all appearances, and was highly esteemed l)y those acquaintances who knew nothing of his secret history. With criminal law he was quite familiar and studied it even after his conviction, evidently not for a moment thinking of changing his habits on emerging from the penitentiary. With his arrest and conviction, a large gang of horsethieves was broken up, some of them escaping to Canada, and now believed to be engaged in running stolen horses across the upper end of the lake.

Porter-Richardson Murder

TVIK death of so notorious a man as Ivichardson., and the sudden and violent manner of his taking off while sitting in the midst of his family, startled and shocked the dwellers by the Maumee.

Porter, who made no concealment of what he had done, from the first announcement of the murder, seems to have been connected with the deed in the i minds of the settlers in the immediate | neighborhood who knew of the previous unfortunate st^te of business with Eichardson. But f^s the effect of the Avhisky (lied out and reflection and reason re- turned^ lie began to realize what ho had done; the instinct of fear took possession of him and he fled, he hardly knew whither nor from whom nor what. He wandered about in the forests like a restless wild beast.

Great search was made for him but without success until the third day when he came out and delivered himself up to Sherifi' Webb not far from the river ford below Miltonville. He told Mr. Webb that it seemed the happiest moment of his life when he had delivered himself up and no longer felt that he was pursued. He made no denial of the murder. He said it was the only thing left for him to do to redress his grievances, and admitted that he ought to 2)ay the penalty with his life.

He was confined in the old log jail at Perrysburg for trial. The supreme court was in session with Peter Hitchcock and Judge Brash on the bench.

The prisoner had a right to trial in the common pleas court if he preferred, which would have deferred his trial some months, but he seemed indifferent whether any defense was made at all. He became penitent and zealously religious.

The following are the names of the grand jurors impanelled, there being 16 in all instead of 15 as now, and not one of whom to our knowledge is living today, the late Eber Wilson, who was foreman, being the last survivor:

Thomas W. Pow^ell, now of Delaware, Ohio, was the prosecuting attorney, and Orish Parish and David Higgins (afterward Judge Higgins) were assigned to the defense of the prisoner. The counsel for the state had of course no difficulty in proving the murder and tbat George Porter was the murderer, but the counsel for the prisoner set up the plea of insanity and urged it with much vigor, adducing as the strongest evidence the conduct of the prisoner to and after the murder and his behavior in jail and indifference as to his fate. In rebuttal of this position of the defense, the state adopted the theory - (We give J\:well's own laitguage) :