Woodville, Ohio

At a special session of the county commissioners held April i, 1840, it was ordered that so much of original surveyed township number six, range thirteen as is within the boundaries of Sandusky county, and all that part of original surveyed township number five, range thirteen north of the centreline, running east and west through the center of sections seven, eight, nine, ten and twelve be organized and constituted a new township by the name of Woodville, and that the first election for township officers be holden at the house of Amos E, Wood in said township on the 14th day of April ne.xt, between the hours required by law.

Passage source: History of Sandusky County, Ohio, published 1882.

There were at that time a great many more electors than were necessary to effect the organization. The earliest township records have not been preserved so that the exact date of the first election cannot be given. However, it is known that during the summer of 1840 the voting for the first officers took place at the old Wood tavern which stood on the land now owned by members of the Price family, just east of the present village of Woodville. This was, perhaps, the first public gathering of the members of the new community, and as the election was merely of local interest with no political signifi- cance, it was very harmonious, and everybody had a good time, such a time as only a pioneer tavern can furnish. The name of the township is in honor of Amos E. Wood, who was one of the leading citizens at the time of its organization. The election resulted as follows: David Dunham, Lester Allen, and Archibald Rice, trustees; Ira Benedict and Jared Plumb, justices of the peace; Ira Benedict, clerk. These men, who were the most substantial citizens of the new township, succeeded in their honest endeavors to further the best interests of the people, and their merit was recognized by frequent re-elections. Any one taking an interest in the local history of Woodville would be amused at some of the old records kept by the clerk, in which are carefully noted indentures, accounts of stray cattle, and the record of the marks by which hogs and sheep were recognized. Sometimes the unfortunate animal was branded, sometimes painted, but the most popular way was the rather sanguinary process of slitting and otherwise mutilating the auricular appendages of the poor animals. Happily, since the days of fences this barbarous custom is unnecessary, and the ears of the head are intact. The elections have always been held at Woodville village. The officers elected in 1881 are as follows: R. Hartman, J. H. Hurralbrink, and Henry Blausey, trustees; George Wehrung, justice of the peace; Dr. Henry Bush, treasurer; George Wehrung, clerk; Jonathan Faler and B. D. Enoch, constables.

Passage source: History of Sandusky County, Ohio, published 1882.

The productive territory of VVoodville township has been redeemed from the famous Black Swamp, elsewhere described in this work. It lacks six sections in the northeast corner of being six miles square. This fractional piece was incorporated into Ottawa county at its organization in 1840. The surface is a monotonous plain, and was at one time covered by the waters of Lake Erie. The Portage River traverses the township in a northeasterly course, dividing it into almost equal parts. The Tousaint Creek in the northeast corner, and Sugar Creek in the southwest, run parallel with the Portage through the township, thus making the gradual slope of the plain toward Sandusky Bay. These streams are separated by almost imperceptible limestone ridges, which are the out-crops of the underlying strata of Niagara stone, whose western boundary is marked by a line running south from section eight, leaving the township and county in section six. Beyond this line, on the west, may be seen the out-croppings of the water-lime stone, which is very valuable for building-stone, and bids fair to rival at no far distant day, the more celebrated building-stone of southern Ohio. The Niagara stone is extensively quarried in the vicinity of Woodville village, a number of lime-kilns being located in section twenty-one, near the cemetery. In the same locality there-are several good sandbanks that were deposited here during the days of geological formation. The land along the line of these stony ridges is unproductive, and m most places is covered with a scant growth of grass, which affords pasturage to the numerous sheep and cattle annually raised in the township. The underlying strata are also apparent in the courses eroded by the streams, and in many places the exposures are many feet in thickness. Between the ridges the soil is the ordinary clay characteristic of the Black Swamp. Where there is much fallen timber and decaying vegetable matter the earth is a black loam, which gives the soil a muckish character. There are considerable areas of swamp land which, however, is being redeemed by a thorough system of drainage. Experience has demonstrated that the farmer makes most by raising mixed crops. Wheat is always good, and its production is encouraged by the ready market afforded at Woodville.

Passage source: History of Sandusky County, Ohio, published 1882.

Machine-read from a century-old scan, so expect the errors a machine makes: misspelled names, dropped words, stray characters.

Read the whole chapter on Woodville Township - it names this place 45 more 45 times.