St. John Catholic Church

Mr. Harrison, in his paper on the settlement of Delphos, states that: ''About the year 1834, William Scott and William Brady opened the first road from the Auglaize Biver through the present site of Delphos to the Tillage of Van Wert It is stated that this road passed through what was then known as the ' ten-mile woods,' and that not a single cabin was seen in all that distance. It was a dreary and sickly region at that time. The great experiment of the introduction of slackwator navigation had been tried under the administration of Gh>v. De Witt Clinton in the Stat« of New York, and was gradually increasing its advocates in Ohio. As early as 1828 the United States gave to the State of Ohio certain lands, on the condition that the State would build a canal from Dayton to Defiance, on the Auglaize Biyer. These conditions were that the State should have all the even-numbered sections on the aboTe mentioned route for the construction of said canal. Some three routes were surveyed under the direction of Samuel Forrer, and immediately di^culty was experienced in ^fixing the precise location of the canaL Speculation was entered into, and the price of lands was greatly enhanced. Finally the present site was agreed upon, and in due time the work was commenced and -completed. These routes were surveyed in 1880, and the canal was completed about 1845. As soon as the location of the canal had been fully determined, there was quite a rush for lands. A number of Germans, who had settled in the neighborhood of old Fort .Jennings as early as 1834, at once discerned the rising of real estate in ^ what is now Marion Township. Ferdinand Bredeick immediately purchased a tract of land for himself and also another parcel of land for his brother, who was then in Germany. In this northwest part of Marion Township the following old settlers located : Ferdinand Bredeick, Theodore Wrocklage, Bernard Esch, John Bredeick, Conrad Loudeck, Oasper Oeise, Mathias Shroder, George Wilte, Conrad Wellman, Henry Lause, Henry Shroeder, Casper Mesker, Casper Luesmann, C. D. Geise M. Hemker, F. Beinemeyer, John Grothaus, D. Kariman, H. Linderman,and Mrs. Osenbach." In the foregoing record of land buyers, again in the history of Delphos, and lastly in the assessment roll for 1834, the names of the pioneers of this township are all given.

Passage source: History of Allen County, Ohio. Containing a History of the County, Its Townships, Towns, Villages, Schools, Churches, Industries, Etc; Portraits of Early Settlers and Prominent Men; Biographies; History of the Northwest Territory; History of Ohio; Statistical and Miscellaneous Matter, Etc., Etc, published 1885.

During the fall of 18^7 a school building was erected on Section 18, Washington Township, Van Wert Co., which was opened in the fall of that year with Miss Clarissa Gleason in charge. The following statistics for 1884 point out the advances made by the Marion Township Schools : The revenue for 1884 was $7,010. 19 ; expenditure, $6,733.81. There are thirteen school buildings, valued at $12,600; seventeen teachers are employed. The number of pupils enrolled ib 611. Just west of the county line, in Washington Township, Van Wert Co., is the Delphos Union School building. The building was erected in 1869, at a cost of oyer $30,000. In the following historical sketch of Delphos, a great deal relating to the settlement and progress of this township is to be found.

Passage source: History of Allen County, Ohio. Containing a History of the County, Its Townships, Towns, Villages, Schools, Churches, Industries, Etc; Portraits of Early Settlers and Prominent Men; Biographies; History of the Northwest Territory; History of Ohio; Statistical and Miscellaneous Matter, Etc., Etc, published 1885.

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 Marion Township - 31,041 words on its settlement, mills, schools and churches.