Wyandot County, Ohio - Jackson Township, 1884

Jackson Township

Okganization - Boundauies - Physical Features and Products - Streams - Roads and Railroads - First Settlements - Schools - Churches - Cemeteries - Owners of Real and Personal Estate in 1845 - Township Officials - First Things - Kirby "Village - Statistics - Biographical Sketches.

JACKSON TOWNSHIP, which comprises Townships 3 and 4 south, Range 12 east, received its name in honor of Andrew Jackson, seventh President of the United States. It lies in the southwest part of Wyandot County and was at one time a component part of Hardin County, being a portion of the township lying west of it in said county, and organized bome time before its annexation to Wyandot, on the erection of the latter in 1845, in which year it was detached from Hardin.

Jackson is bounded on the north by Richland Township, on the east by Mifflin Township, on the south by Marseilles Township and part of Hardin County, and on the west by Hardin County.

Like other townships in this county, Jackson presented to the first settlers many stubborn obstacles, owing to the heavy timber covering it and the level character of its surface. The settlement of the township was, consequently, comparatively slow, but time and the indomitable perseverance and industry of the prudent husbandman have converted the forest into a fine agricultural garden, studded with thriving and well- fenced farms, on which are erected substantial and comfortable dwellings, barns, etc., and the nature of the well-cultivated soil asserts its claim to unbounded fertility in the production of wheat, corn and other ordinary cereals, as well as affording ample encouragement for stock-raising and the development of the dairy industry. Indeed, when the drainage is completed, Jackson will become second to none as a farming township,

Several small tributaries of the Sandusky River have their sources in this township. Three running eastward take birth - the most northerly one in Section 10 on Samuel Baker's farm; the next southward, in Section 23, on S. F. Walker's farm, and the most southerly, also in Section 23, on the farm of D. S. Nye. The two first mentioned unite on the farm of John F. Zimmerman, Section 13, and the stream shortly afterward leaves Jackson, on the farm of John Callahan, Section 13, for Mifflin Township; the third stream leaves Jackson for Mifflin on the farm of James Holmes, Section 13, and the two meeting in the latter township form what is known as Oak Run. Three streams running southeast have their sources - the most northerly about the farm of John Flower, Sections 28 and 33, flowing southeast till it crosses the northwest corner of Marseilles Township (where it adjoins Section 34), then entering Jackson Township again, on the farm of H. Young, courses southward and unites on the farm of John Wilkins, Section 3 south, with the next southerly run, which rises in Hardin County, enters Jackson by the farm of William T. Baker, Section 4 south, flows east and southeast, and, before bidding adieu to Jackson Township, the third and most southerly stream, which also rises in Hardin County, flowing northeast and east, adds its quota to the two first streams on the farm of John Wilkins, in the southeast corner of Section 8 south, at which point the trio, now unified, enters Marseilles Township when it babbles onward to its goal under the euphonious title "Little Tymochtee Creek." There are a few smaller runs in the extreme northern part of the township, but they are comparatively insignificant. They all ultimately, however, serve to swell the Sandusky River, each modest little stream being quite as industrious and honest on its journey to its final destination as its more pretentious andnoisy neighbor. It will thus be seen that for the most part this township is well watered. Good, substantial roads intersect the township from all points of the compass, the first cut and first regularly laid out being the Findlay & Marion road. The Pittsburgh, Fort Wayne & Chicago Railroad passes through the northern division, entering at Kirby Village (where there is a station), in the northeast corner of Section 1, and leaving at the southwest angle of Section 4, it enters Hardin County a short distance from Forest, where the Cincinnati, Sandusky & Cleveland Railroad crosses it.

First Settlements

The first white settler in Jackson Township was old Mr. Hooey. Thomas C. Beaven and his son, Henry, came in 1826. Heniy S. Bowers, born in Chester County, Penn., in 1805, came to this township in 1832, traveling a distance of 350 miles with his family in a covered wagon. He entered 350 acres of land, and was the second settler in Jackson Township. J. D. Bowers, born in New York State in 1834, came to this township with his father, Henry S. Bowers, in 1832, and is still living. He is a leading farmer of the county, residing on Section 36.

John Abbott, a married man with a family of six children, born in New York State, came in 1833, settling on Section 3. Samuel M. Burnett, born February 19, 1820, in New York State, came to Wyandot County, with his parents, Elisha and Polly (Howe) Burnett, in 1834, and settled in this township, where he now resides on Section 3.

John Vanorsdall came in 1834; John Flower and Jacob Derringer in 1835; Abraham Dean, born August 10, 1808, in Cayuga County, N. Y. , came with his family to this county and settled in this township in 1836; he died October 20, 1873; his son, Hamilton Dean, now resides on a farm in Jackson Township. William Fitch came in 1837. Walter Sanford, another of the pioneers, was born in New York in 1832, and came to this township not many years after; his farm is on Sections 13 and 24. Other settlers of that period were Thomas Shank, James McDaniels, Isaac Yorringer. Christian Roof, John Fink and Elisha Burnett, who died in 1872, at the patriarchal age of ninety-eight years. At a later day came John Sturm, an Albright preacher, Richard Bainbridge, a local Methodist Episcopal preacher. Dr. Cope, Thomas Scott, Abraham Tilberry, Joseph Barns, Isaac Lane, A. H. Vanorsdall, Walter Simmonson and others. If, here, any names have inadvertently been omitted, we trust no one may be disappointed, though, in the words of Byron:

First Things

The first election for any purpose held in Jackson Township was at the house of Isaac Yarian, on which occasion were present twelve voters. The first death recoi'ded was that of Elijah Warner. Early settlers had for a long time, when in quest of groceries or dry goods, etc., to go to Marseilles Village, in the township of that name, about two miles south of the township line, or to Patterson, in Hardin County, a short distance from the county line, where a store was kept years ago by one John Hare. The first saw mill in the township is said to have been owned by William Stamp as late as 1864.

" Necessity is the mother of invention" is a time-worn proverb, and understood in its application by none better than the pioneer settlers of Wyandot County. Man is naturally an inventive creature, and whilst many blessings the thousands of modern discoveries have created were totally unknown to or undreampt of by the first settler in his isolated cabin, his innate instinct soon would come to his rescue and discover to him that invention is indeed the natural offspring of necessity. An apt and graphic illustration is given us by Mr. S. M. Burnett, one of " The Old Guard of the Woods," of Jackson Township: "When we had any milling to be done, we had to go a distance of twenty miles through mud and slush to buy a bushel or so of corn, which we had to carry to a horse-mill to get ground, and then, perchance, have to wait twenty-four hours before the ponderous task could be accomplished. Then, again, instead of taking the corn a day's journey to be ground, our ingenuity would suggest some such alternative as making a grater out of a piece of tin by punching holes in it, and then rubbing the corn on it to produce meal; or else we would dig in the bowels of the earth for nigger-head stones, wherewith to make millstones. Then, after a hard day's work, we would lay our wearied frames down and be lulled to balmy sleep by the frightful and incessant bowlings of ferocious wild beasts."'

The first school was held in Section 15, and the first schoolhouse was on the lands of James McDaniels, built in 1840; the first teacher was Henrietta Henderson. There are now eight school buildings in this township.

Kirby Village

This village is situated in the northeast corner of the township, and was surveyed by Dr. J. H. Williams for M. H. Kirby. The Pittsburgh. Fort Wayne & Chicago Railroad passes through the village. It has become quite a prosperous place, and is surrounded by a fine agricultural and stockraising district. It was laid out in 1854, and the first store was kept by Philip and Frederick Hineman. Population in 1880, 294.

As was customary in all early settlements, preachings in the primitive times of Jackson Township for the most part were held in some convenient schoolhouse, or, more frequently, in the cabins of the pioneers. In this section the earliest expovinders of the Gospel were John Sturm, an Albright preacher of some merit as an orator, and Richard Bainbridge, an adherent of the Methodist Episcopal Church. The first regular place of worship attended was " Shiloh," of the Christian Union denomination, located on Section 3.

The Church of God, sometimes called " Kirby Bethel," stands within the precinct of Kirby Village, and was organized in 1855 by Moses Coates, missionary of the Church of God in Ohio, at the residence of James Warren, located on the present site of C. E. Sherman's brick business room. The first membership numbered seven souls, viz. : John Mann, Susanna Mann, James Warren, Mary VV^arren, Matilda Warren. Mary Barker and Jefferson Johnson. The initiative meeting was held in 1855, in the back room of James Culberson's unoccupied grocery, those present being Mose& Coates, A. J. Wan-en and Charles Coates. The church building of this society was erected in 1868 in Mifflin Township, Section 6, Lot 7 (Isaac Mann's; since added to the village of Kirby). The building is of frame work, 40x50 feet, and was erected at a cost of $1,400. The pastors have been as follows: From 1855 to 1863, inclusive, Moses Coates, NorrisCoates, A. J. Warren, J. W. Ankennan, J. W. Senseny, Levi Keller, David Sherner and Lyman Ensminger. From 1864 to 1867 the church was without any pastor. In the latter year, it was re-organized by J. W. Senseny, General Missionary of the Church of God in Western Ohio. In 1867-68, the pastors were J. W. Senseny and John Yenner; in 1869, J. W. Senseny; in 1870, Lyman Ensminger; in 1871, T. H. Deshiri; in 1872, Joseph Neil; in 1873, W. H. Oliver; in 1874-76, J. V. Updike; in 1877, J. S. McKee; in 1878, G. W. Wilson; 1879-80, J. H. Koogle; in 1881-82, M. C. Mowen; in 1888, J. E. Hopard, and the pastor at present (1884) is J. H. McNutt, with a flock of forty-six members. The church officers are: W. H. Mann, Asa Quail, - Buting, Elders; John Fernbaugh, George Drews, Deacons; W. H. Mann, Clerk; J. H. Hazendobler, William Stambaugh, VV. H. Mann, Trustees; W. H. Mann, Secretary; William Stambaugh, Treasurer.

As. unfortunately, no record of the tirst organization has been kept, the number of members enrolled during the nine years from 1855 to 1863 (both inclusive) cannot be accurately given, but there must have been, at least, fifty, so avers Mr. W. H. Mann, Clerk of the church, whose authority on all matters pertaining to this society cannot well be other than conformable to facts, as his intimacy with its history was very close, the h(>use of his father, in the earliest days of the church and for many years afterward, having been on most occasions the dulce domum and headquarters of the pastors. Since 1869, 173 members have been enrolled, and of these fifty-three have moved to other parts, and others have drifted away by withdrawals, demission, disfellowship or in the unfortunate role of backsliders.

This church has always been a very spiritual and liberal, as well as enterprising society. It has one Sunday school and one missionary society. The mode of baptism has uniformly been immersion, and members are taken into full fellowship without any probation, and retained as such until unworthy of church fellowship.

The "silent cities of the dead" in this township number five at least, one being in each of Sections 4, 14, 23, 36 and 9 south. There are, no doubt, in addition to these, several private burial places, where rest in peace the ashes of honest-hearted, primitive sons and daughters of the soil, and full many a weather-worn tablet marks the spot where

Statistics

Jackson Township has an area of twenty-seven square miles. Population in 1880 (not inclusive of Kirby Village), 1,037. The State election returns for 1879-80 show the vote in Jackson Township as follows: For Governor (1879), Charles Foster, 45; Thomas Ewing, 118; Gideon T. Stewart, none; A. Saunders Piatt, none; total vote, 163. For Secretary of State (1880), Charles Townsend, 64; William Lang, 127; Charles A. Lloyd, none; William H. Doan, none; total votes, 191. For President (1880), James A. Garfield, 64; Winfield S. Hancock, 130; James B. Weaver, none;. Neal Dow, none; total votes, 194. In Kirby Precinct, for Governor (1879), Charles Foster, 53; Thomas Ewing, 191; Gideon T. Stewart, none; A. Sanders Piatt, none; total votes, 244. For Secretary of State (1880), Charles Townsend, 61; William Lang, 192; Charles A. Lloyd, none; William H. Doane, none; total vote, 253. For President (1880), James A. Garfield, 67; Winfield S. Hancock, 210; total vote, 279.