Liberty Township (part 1 of 5)

Liberty Township

Liberty Township

THE first white settler in what is now Liberty township was Collister Haskins, in the spring of 1824. In the following September, with the help of kind Indians and friends from Watcrville, he built a log cabin on the west side of the established route of the Findlay pike and on the south bank of the Portage river, and moved in with his family, who had resided in Waterville.

Let the mind of the reader imagine Wood county one vast unbroken forest of virgin timber, withoui a white inhabitant (exeepl as their cabins now and then dotted the hank of the Maumee river), the stillness of which was only marred by the presence of the red man who built his camp fire unmolested, and where the wolf, deer, hear and other animals roamed in their natural stale; a wilderness impenetrated by a single well defined road; a wilderness containing 390,000 acres, in the center of which is one solitary cabin, with none other nearer on the north than Waterville, thirteen miles distant, and none on the south nearer than Fort Findlay, "twenty miles away," and they have the home of Collister Haskins in 1824. And oft' was the time of an evening, when this solitary white man of the into rior, with his little family, would be gathered about his cabin fire that the Indians would congregate about him and curiously survey his surroundings and as they became more familiar, converse as best they could upon topics of mutual interest. In Mr. Haskins' family besides himself and wife, were three d tughters, Sarah, Wealthy and Cynthia, and one son, Henry. Sarah was the first white child born in Liberty township.

Jacques only remained about three years, for in the spring of 1833 John Sargent moved in from Ross county and entered the land upon which Jacques had located, paid him for his improvements and moved into the cabin he (Jacques) had built. In Mr. Sargent's family were three sons and two daughters.

The next settler in Liberty was Geo. Mercer, the first of the large Mercer settlement in that township, to locate there, who came from New Lisbon, also in the spring of 1833, and entered the land upon which he made his home. He came with two yoke of oxen and a wagon by the way of Woodville, making the trip of 200 miles from New Lisbon in 11 days. From Woodville he came up the Portage river on a road cut. through a few days previous by Adam Phillips, who settled in Portage township, and the next day cut a road from there to Mr. Haskins', making the trip from Woodville in two days. His family stayed at Mr. Haskins' and he immediately set to work with the assistance of Peter Johnson and Adam Phillips of Portage township, and Mr. Haskins, and soon had a pole cabin built on his own land and moved in with his family. The same spring he '"broke up" 15 acres of prairie land belonging to Mr. Haskins and planted it to corn; using five stout yoke of oxen and a big old-fashioned wooden plow to break up the prairie and says he raised about half a crop. He raised a family of nine children.

The advent of new settlers into this community was now not so infrequent and on the first day of April, 1834, there were eight families in Liberty, as follows : Collister Haskins, John Sargent, Thos. Cox, Geo. Mercer, Caleb Mercer, Horace Cady, Henry Groves, John Groves and James Birdsell, and late in the same year came Henry Dubbs, John McMahan, Joseph Mitchell, Wm. Mercer and John Mercer. Wm. Mercer was the head and father of the Mercer family, which settlement in Liberty numbers nearly 200.

A sufficient number of settlers having moved in, a petition was presented to the commissioners on March 20, 1835, for the organization of a township, to be called Liberty. The petition was granted and the first township election held on the first Monday in April, 1835, which resulted in the election of the following officers: Trustees, James Birdsell, Henry Groves and Geo. Ellsworth; clerk. Reuben Strait; treasurer, Hugh Arbuckle; justices of the peace, James Birdsell and John Groves. The poll books of this election contains the names of 22 electors.

The Pioneer

gentleman. He was in the stock business in company with a Messrs Reed & Bishop of Urbana. During the year he was serving the township as treasurer, he sold a quantity of the partnership stock, pocketed the money and "migrated." At the time he left he also took $28.00 of the township funds, fortunately all there was in the treasury at that time. Mr. John McMahan and Henry Dubbs were his bondsmen and jointly made up the same to the township, but not without some pointed remarks about the defaulter. John Sargent was elected his successor the spring following and held the office for twenty years. - C. W. E.

Organization Of Ohio

PURSUANT to a proclamation of the Territorial Governor, members of a constitutional convention assembled at Chiilicothe, November 1, 1802, and during this session of 29 days formed the first constitution of the state of Ohio as the state was named.

The Bill of Rights, which is a part of the constitution, includes, among other things, substantially the provisions of the ordinance of 1787; but to two provisions of this Bill of Rights particular attention is called, viz, to sections 25 and 26.

The first, section 25 provides, "That no law shall be passed to prevent the poor, in the several counties and townships within the state, from an equal participation in the schools, academies, colleges and universities within this state, which are endowed, in whole or in part from the revenue arising from donations made by the United States, for the support of schools and colleges; and the doors of the said schools, academies and universities shall be open for the reception of scholars, students and teachers of every grade, without any distinction or preference whatever, contrary to the intent for which said donations were made."

The second, section 26, provides, "That laws shall be passed by the legislature which shall secure to each and every denomination of religious societies, in each surveyed township, which is now or may hereafter be formed in the state, an equal participation, according to their number of adherents, of the profits arising from the land granted by congress for the support of religion, agreeable to the ordinance or act of congress making the appropriation."

As To Hull'S Trace

Hull's trace in Portage after crossing the stream, turned its course west of north, passing through the village of Portage near the old ashery, M. E. church and Quaintanccs' lime kiln, passing north on the limestone ridge, crossing the east part of the farm owned by Noah Foltz, also the premises of Jas. Taborn (deceased), which was the original Parshall lot. Parshall had a large family, all girls. These young women and their parents had been living in their log cabin near the northwest corner of Portage township. One day, while Sarah was taking a stroll east of their cabin, she walked out on a fallen tree in the top of which she found a load of muskets. The news soon spread that "Sail" Parshall had found 40 muskets. (Quite a prize, over $200 worth if they had not been damaged.) Hull's trail here crossed through the point of timber between the Little Prairie and another that lay in the southwest corner of Center township, passing close to the west of the original John Taborn cabin across the original Thomas Rigly lot, and so on towards the Pernot farm. The loss of the army trail near the llaskins saw mill, and the mistake made by S. B. Abbott and others, was the mistaking our pioneer trail down stream past the "Aborginal Grave Yard" for Hull's trace. The same is true of the pioneer trail or road made by John Gallatin and others across the east end of the Sizer farm, a branch pioneer road into that of Hull's army road.

The Lost Child

AN old pioneer gives, in the Weston Avalanche, the following somewhat sensational account of the search for a lost child in the wilds of Wood county, seventy-five years ago:

The child was that of Frederick Frankfauder, who lived in Bloom township, in this county. In the year 1835, some time in the month of November of that year, on Sunday (as was their custom), Mr. Frankfauder and wife went to their place of worship, and did not return home until late in the evening. During their absence the children were gathering hickory. nuts, under a tree standing in the fence corner close by the woods. There were a number of children on both sides of the fence, and the little girl, five years and six months old, was with them gathering nuts, and probably on the side^ of the fence next to the woods. The children did not miss her until the parents came home at night. You can imagine the feelings of that family when they found thai little Margarel was truly lost, night on hand and very dark. They sent to the nearest neighbors for help in

Then they sent word to Ft. Ball, Tiffin, Findlay and Perrysburg, to the search. They came with their teams, feed and provisions, to assist. The company so engaged, numbered about two hundred and fifty persons. About the third day they found tracks north of Woodbury, crossing Hull's trail, that they knew to be her tracks certainly, as a little dog was with her, and they saw his tracks also.

Then the excitement grew intense; they continued the search west and north of the windfall, and bordering on the prairie, but found no sign of her, till the seventh day, when they found tracks in the windfall south of John McMahan's. There she lost her little dog, she afterwards said, "as I lay by a fire I saw a big dog come and they took Penny and killed him." They were wolves. Then all began to despair but the parents. Some left for home while others continued the search.

Reader, pause and think! How must the parents have felt, when all began to despair; when a fruitless search was kept up for eight or ten days, when all gave up in despair, hut a praying father, who said that his trust was in the Lord; that He would restore the child to his arms in answer to his unceasing prayers. What hope was there? The child gone ten days, in a wilderness like the Black Swamp forty years ago, plenty of Indians, bears, and wolves; and the worst of all. the wild hog.

On the eleventh day they sent a man around by Portage, up the Ellsworth ridge, then to tLutchinson's in Milton, and to Major MeMillen's. Just before lie arrived, Orlando McMillen and Samuel Clark go! home from hunting cattle, and McMillen asked his mother if Indian children had blue eyes; she said, "ISTo, why do you ask?*' lie said that he and Mr. Clark had seen one that had blue eyes, and they gave it a biscuit, and it ate it greedily. The\ thought it an Indian child, as they could not underhand her language. I will just say she was German, and did not understand English,

This report of the lost child explained the whole matter to them. Mr. G. Alberty and Mr. McMillen started at once in pursuit of the child, over to John Dubbs'. There they saw a man by the name of Henderson Can-others, who was chopping in a clearing lor Dubbs; he said that he saw a child playing on a log, on the north side of the clearing, an hour or so ago. Inn thought that it was an Indian child. So they all went to look after the child and in a few minutes they found her in the woods on the north side of the clearing, and they soon saw that she was the long lost child, as she had deep blue eyes.

You can imagine the joy ami rejoicing when they found her; they took her to Mr. Dubbs' and sent word at once to her bereaved parents, who got word in the fore part of the night. You can't imagine how the parents and friends passed that night, as there was joy mixed with doubt. Before daylight Mr. Mahlon Whitaker and Mr. Frankfauder were plunging through the woods to Mr. Dubbs'. They made the distance in double quick time, and found the child all right, but quite wild and strange.

The little one had wandered 14 miles for 11 days amid the terrors of the Black Swamp. That child lived to be a woman, was married and passed away some years ago.

Jim Slater'S Curse

THE following weird, uncanny incident came in the experience of Mr. i . W. Evers, during his term of sheriff in the later sixties, when the county seat was at Perrysburg. The raving agony of Slater, crazed with his losses, his bitterness in being ruined by a crime of which he was undoubtedly innocent, together with the curse he pronounced upon the place and all connected with his downfall - these are the facts. The retribution that followed those connected with Slater's persecution and the calamitous incidents that have attached to the vicinity of Bairdstown, so strikingly described by the facile pen of Mr. Evers, strongly reminds one of Hamlet, when he says:

"Say, my boy," said an ex-sheriff to a reporter some years ago, "do you believe in retribution through Providential agency here on this earth, for sins done by the sons of Adam? If you do, pos-

Sckap-Book

"Well, these Late calamities to the town and the mystery of their origin has set me to thinking of the place when there was no town there; and if one was inclined to be superstitious it would not be very difficult to believe that evil spirits come back from the dominions of the dead and curse the haunts of living men with deeds of vengeance."

Old Jim was not considered very bright, or rather, some of his neighbors doubted at times if his mind - reason - was rightly balanced. He was rough and uncouth in manner, inclined to be irritable and violent, when he imagined he was being imposed upon; but with his family, worked hard, and lived poorly. In this uphill struggle, his wife, who was an estimable woman, far above Slater, sickened and died. Soon after this Slater's misfortunes began. William McMurray, a neighbor, put in a piece of wheat on Slater's land on shares. At harvesting, Slater objected to the grain being hauled off the farm for threshing. A sharp war of words and much feeling grew out of this trivial affair. Slater in his ungovernable anger, swore that the wheat would never do Ids neighbor any good. Possibly he took the case into justice court. I believe he did, and got non-suited or beaten.

Slater, who was not a favorite among In- neighbors, was of course set upon at once among the gossips, as the instigator, if not the direct agent in burning the stacks; all because of the constructive threat made. No other evidences could be found against him except that assertion, made in anger; and on this slender lb read and a good deal of prejudice, he was arrested, and tried before a justice, and I believe bound over to court. David Hays of Fostoria, who made some pretensions to a slight acquaintance with Blackstone, pettifogged Slater's case.

At the next term of common pleas court, Slater was indicted; the late George Strain being the prosecuting attorney. After heavy expense in lawyer fees and other ways, Slater was acquitted. David Hays and Dodge & Tyler defended his case.

Public sentiment was; divided as to Slater's guilt, and strangely too, McMurray, who with Slater was the loser by the fire, did not believe Slater guilty, though at a loss to explain the origin of the fire, which was clearly the work of an incendiary. This prosecution, or persecution as Slater termed it. was (lie cause of Ids ruin. The lawyers got notes, secured by mortgages on his farm, and an old credit or in Tiffin, with a mortgage of four or five hundred dollars, got uneasy and began proceedings of foreclosure. This scared small creditors and they began a crusade in justice court against the unfortunate man. probably on the old rule, "kick a man when he's down."' Slater Mini in li-ht them off. He was combative and Hays, bis lawyer, was a ready servant to help him, but alas ! in deeper, in nearly every instance. At last and not long either, the evil day came and the sheriff with an order of sale in which were marshaled all the liens, mine with appraisers to value the property. 1 can see Slater yet as be sat on a log near his cabin, sullen and dispirited while the appraisers near by were trying to fix upon a value. He scarcely spoke during the time we were there. He asked if he could take off the growing crops. He said he had not slept nights because of this trouble and the only hope he had was that none of the neighbors would bid on the farm when it was offered.

A day or so after the sale, as I sat at the office table writing (this was while the court house was in Perry sburg) I heard a shuffling step at the door, at my back. I turned my head and said "Good morning, Mr. Slater!'' for it was he. He said nothing, but silently took a chair near the table. After a little he said, "Sheriff, did my place sell?" "Yes." -Who bought it?" I told him. He said, "I heard so, and came clear here to see if it was true." He dropped his head on his arm on the table and trembled as though suffering agonizing bodily pain. He did not speak for many minutes. I felt so much moved by his distress that I could scarcely go on with my work. I had from the first believed him innocent of the crime which brought this trouble on him. I had had little experience in detecting criminals, but from the first I felt that Slater was the unfortunate victim of circumstances which almost completely screened the real perpetrator of the crime, whoever it might be.

After his agitation had subsided a little, I told him there was yet time to save his place - that he should not give it up so - tbat he could probably borrow money to cancel the judgment liens and secure the lender by a mortgage on the land as soon as the liens were off. That if these liens wore paid before the first day of court, the judge would not confirm the sale.

1 have no friends. All are down on me. No one has a good word for me; even my lawyer is against me; I am robbed of my place and driven from my home. There is no law, divine or human, that will justify this robbery. If there is a just God, he will curse the place to the last end of eternity as a warning. That farm will never do John Baird any good. He has been against me. He wanted my place; he has got it, and the curse of a wronged man goes with the place and all who have had a hand in robbing me."

I do not pretend to give Slater's exact words, nor could I possibly give even a faint expression of his intense agitation, bitterness and despair. Words of encouragement or kindness were alike useless. The fires of hope and ambition were quenched - drowned forever in his breast.

On his old farm is Bairdstown. When the B. & 0. railroad located its line through there, John Baird with the enterprise characteristic of himself, laid out a town and beside giving it his name, promoted the growth with all his energy. He built a fine flouring mill, hotel, etc., and the town grew rapidly."

About this time misfortunes, one after another began to stop at Baird's door. His downward career, as did Slater's and as do most men's, commenced in litigation. Law suit after law suit harrassed him. Creditors pressed him from every side. Judgments and executions disturbed his sleep until he did not know which way to turn. One or two of his sons became unsteady in habits, being a hindrance instead of a help to the father in his troubles. Next in the line of bad luck his fine mill burned, attributed at the time to incendiarism, the first I believe in that line of calamities which later on have so frequently been visited upon the ill-fated town. Finally as if in sheer desperation at the bootless fight he was making against fate, Baird gathered up what little he could from the wreck, and taking his estimable wife and daughter, went to Arkansas and engaged in hotel keeping. But fate still had misfortunes in store for him. His daughter sickened and died and later on the final blow, the loss of his beloved but heartbroken wife. Stripped of family and property, broken in spirit and bowed with age. Baird returned to Ohio, where with relatives, in the southern part of the state, if living, he makes his home.

David I lavs. Slater's lawyer, fell, too, into hard lines. He was at one time the owner of much property, but fortune, ever fickle in her ways, turned against him and, like Baird, for a time he felt like "calling upon the rocks to cover him" from the clutch of remorseless creditors.

But at the last, by a lucky turn in the tide - a sudden advance in some city property he owned - he reached shore with something saved from the wreck, though, in the meantime, he had the sad misfortune to lose his wife - a most worthy woman - who died bereft of her reason, her death having been preceded only a short time by that of their only daughter.

died, afterwards in an insane asylum. What has been the fate of the jurors who indicted the unfortunate man, I have not inquired. In fact, I have not cared to pursue the unpleasant subject further, lest the truth might reveal a like sad state of affairs clear through.

It is a little singular, too, that, with rare exceptions, nearly every enterprise, nearly every business man, no matter how worthy, starting in Bairdstown, has met with disaster or ill-success, sooner or later.

The recent fires, from whatever mysterious cause, are, to all appearances, but the greater culmination of misfortunes, of which previous ones have been as but muttering warning of the slumbering volcano beneath.

It is but proper to state here upon the authority of Frank W. Dunn, who related the fact to me only a day or so since, that a woman now living in Kansas, but who lived near Slater at the time of the stack burning, wrote a full account of the burning and theft, to William McMurray before his death. Her statement corroborated as it was by circumstances, was doubtless true and was the first positive testimony as to Slater's innocence of the crime. But it came too late. The woman as is well shown in her letter, had good reasons for not daring to reveal her story at the time.

A Ten Years' Struggle

IT has ever been the experience that in every instance involving the removal of a county seat from one locality to another, strife and opposition have been county seat from Perrysburg to Bowling Green was no exception to this fact. Probably no removal was ever productive of more intense feeling or more bitter denunciation on both sides in that memorable contest. Ananias held full sway, and to such an extent that enmities were provoked and friendships estranged. For the time the prosperity of the county was measurably checked, and the turmoil tended to weaken the popu-

The Pioneer

Fifty years have passed away since that time and many of our older citizens still remember that prolonged struggle. It began in 1865, and was uoi definitely and permanently sett Led until in the fall of 1875. The first election was held in 1860, and resulted in favor of the removal from Perrysburg to Bowling Green. The citizens of Bowling Green entered into a bond to build as good a court house and jail at Bowling Green as those at Perrysburg were a1 the time they were built, on condition that the material of the old buildings at Perrysburg and the Lots on which they stood be given t" the removal interest. If the conditions wore fulfilled the county was not to be taxed for court house and jail.

But the people were taxed, and under the following circumstances: The commissioners stepped in and demanded to be beard as the guardians of the county's interests. They changed the location from the one chosen where the foundation could he Laid on the solid rock; the size of the court house, under their direction, was also enlarged. They demanded thai the county required better and more commodious buildings than those' at Perrysburg. The removal interest adopted the suggestions and demands of the county commissioners and built accordingly. The commissioners also demanded manv o h >r improvements and proposed to pay for the same out of the county treasury. They took into account the increasing business of a large, rich and rapidly developing county, and their action was taken after a conference with a number of the best and most judicious men of the county. None of these improvements were contemplated by the signers of the bond. For those improvements the | | ile were taxed $3,006.

complete arrangements to carry the old material from Perrysburg to Bowling Green, but were then prevented by the court, invoked by the anti-removal interest, and they never received one cent from the sale of the property of the county at Perrysburg. Thus this condition on which the bond hinged was not available.

The auditor was then directed to advertise for bids under the authority of the commissioners, and an entire new jail was built for the contract price of $14,596, which was $494 less than the Bowling Green bond, and much less than the estimate made of the county buildings at Perrysburg. Thus there was no bad faith whatever on the part of the removal interest as was charged in the heat of that contest.

Judge Phelps, probate judge, removed his office from Perrysburg as soon as the court house at Bowling Green was ready, transacting business there a year or more lie To re the other offices were removed in 1870.

The year following the court 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 Perrysburg interest 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 ballot box, when opened, revealed the number of ballots cast in favor of removal - 3, 316 !

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, "Would 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 Republican executive committee in Toledo, Pev. Robert McCune, that Dodd had struck out for Bowling Green. Accordingly the writer with George S. Canfield, was dispatched to Bowling Green, leaving Toledo al 1 1

The vote of Perry sburg was thrown out without much ceremony, and the vote against removal proved to be a large, unmistakable majority. Thus ended that memorable struggle, and the present prosperity of Wood county strongly affirms the wisdom of that decision by 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 Mr. 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. (J. 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 grave 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 struggles through which the early settlers of this now fertile and prosperous section of the 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 February, 1800, at or near Buffalo, and the writer of this has often heard him speak of the - ,; i: - in the village of Buffalo during the war of 1812. At an early age he went upon the lake as a sailor, and in 1815 he sailed up 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 twenty-five tons burden. At that time, where Perrysburg now stands, nothing but a wild fores! was to be seen. This little schooner as we learn from a memorandum furnished by (apt. 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 Kobb, 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 s< hooner on her return trip.

From the Commercial. - The deceased was in his I Ith 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 sev- <e.ra:l passengers, who landed at Perrysburg, and most of them became settlers i'I 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 1811 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 Ins 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 hay. 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 Xearing 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 fire between a large stump and the butt of a whitewood log that was hollow as a shell. He was somewhat frightened, and for greater security he crawled into the log to keep clear of the wolves. Finally the log itself caught fire 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.

Next my brother, L. W. Keed 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.

but 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 Keed. He found out, and his curiosity was fully satisfied.

Now, I undertook the work of carrying the mail. I made my first trip during the last week in February of 1832, and carried the mail until the last of 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 that 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 unsellish 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 is;;.") he removed In 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 were howling for their prey. I quickly arose, tied my horse mure firmly, and, feeling about in the darkness, found a stout limb, which I cut for a cudgel and prepared for an encounter with the

"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 through 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 hash 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 en iim' 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 in await the coming of another night in which to continue their search for food."

Strange Incident

ON the right hand, or east side of the Ha skins 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 of its existence exceed that of any other cabin in Plain township. It was for many 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, Robys, Spaffords, Drs. Dustin, Peck Burritt and Conant, Collister Haskins. \Y. V. Way, Count Coffinberry, Ralph Keeler, all the leading men of that day, had sought shelter 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 thai it was the only dry place the benighted traveler, with his weary In use. could find. Stay he must, and some nights there were almost as many sleepers snoring away as there were split puncheons in the rude floor, on which the guests had to lay, for bedsteads were scarce in those days.

Scrap-Book

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 the 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 body as lie desired to cu1 the man

Rice, it seems, had suspicions that the two men's lives had been cut short by something they 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 throat 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 abrasion.

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 the cabin and buried.

Three days after their burial, Mr. Ralston was in Portage, and learned that Dr. Rice was lying in a critical condition, lie 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 operating on Harris's body, had become intensely inflamed, mortification followed, and the flesh came from the arm in chunks and flakes while the doctors were performing (he 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 off 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 tbe living, neither then nor since were able to satisfactorily answer the question, what caused their sudden death? - G. W. E.

Cygnet'S Calamity

OJS 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 Imsiness portion of the town comprises only one street which is intersected iitiout middle by the T., C. & C. railroad. Wesl of i lie railroad on the north side of the street, a disastrous fire occurred this morning, destroying $50,000 worth of property and ushering three human beings into eternity.

The lire originated in the millinery store of Mis. 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 the 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 erisp.

Mr. Maloney was 30 years old and was a boiler maker by trade. Mrs. Maloney kept a millinery store on the first floor of the 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 smoldering 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.

Sceap-Book 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 thai 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 witli 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 SALSBURY 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, Salsbury found ;i field in which he was peculiarly a .success, lie fitted up an enormous plow thai was gauged and guided by wheels and capable of cutting and turning a I'm row 32 inches wide, and so constructed as to require nobody to ""hold the plow," in fact the plow had no handles. To this hreaking machine six pairs of oxen and one span of horses were hitched, and when under full headway no ordinary root, sapling or grub would disturb its progress. The cutter and shear were kept filed sharp and it was not necessary to grub land for this sort of a plow.

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

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 plan'. His team grazed on the prairie near by, and be lore 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 easl of here years ago, he contracted with Salsbury to plow a half section of land (320 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 was 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, lie was always 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 bis large landed 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 which 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 conversing with him he was reticent on this subject, but we will tell it briefly, and let the story not be lost on those who hear it.

Jonathan Salsbury was induced to invest in a lottery. He was uneducated and credulous and avaricious. Like twothirds of the sons of Adam, be was ready to invest in any speculation or game which promised a good deal for nothing or, next to it, a small investment. Dr. Koback of Cincinnati, is the man to whom Salsbury attributes his misfortune. First $100, then $500, $1,003, $1,500, until over $3,000 was gone. The trick was baited and the old man drew a lucky licket 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 eoursG drew blanks. All was gone now, and he as a last resori caused Roback^s arresl on a criminal charge, and the sheriff brought the prisoner to Perrysburg, accompanied by his lawyer, the late

Impregnable

NO greater victory, none of more transcending import is recorded in our nation's history than thai of the sieges of Fort Meigs. It was the purpose of Gen. Harrison, the commander-in-chief, to retake Detroit which had been so ingloriously surrendered by Gen. Hull. Harrison had been appointed Governor of the Northwestern territory, including Indiana, Illinois. Michigan and Wisconsin - having done much civil and military 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 Tecumseb), 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 were in almost entire possession of the whole territory, but war with England being imminent, they refused a peace.

War with England was declared June 12, 1812. Gen. Hull was sent with his army to Detroit to conquer western Canada. In August following he surrendered his entire army, Detroil and the Northwestern territory to Gen. Brock, of the British army. This surrender filled the whole country with surprise, alarm and indignation, and he was everywhere denounced as a traitor, in spite of his patriotic 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 Maumee 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. Lewis, 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 bis 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 al a farmhouse a mile distant from Col. Wells' regiment.

fort, and were repulsed with greal 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 Lewis, who surrendered under promise of the protection of civilized warfare. The generals. Colonels and men were saved as stipulated, hut all the wounded were massacred in Frenchtown. There was no guard left, and two houses full of 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. R. d. 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 assistanee 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 Raisin 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 were pouring hot shot into the fort. Batteries had been erected just across the river, and the tiring was something terrible. Only the strong earthworks saved the Americans from death and dest ruction. Round and round, the Indians skirmished, picking oil' the American soldiers whenever they had a chance, while the British kept up an untiring cannonade.

(Jen. Harrison had dispatched a messenger, Major Oliver, to Gen. Clay, who was at Fort Deiiance, and on the night i)\' 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 were 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."

ders, on May 5, 1813, with 1,200 men, Green Clay, defeated the immortal Teeumseh and the British forces, 3,003 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, January 12, 1812.

After the British batteries opposite Fort Meigs were dismantled, 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 hack 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 destruction. 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.

lighting 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 batteries, 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. The 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 planned, and so skilfully was the fraud managed that it deceived tin" 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 resolve, 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, 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 answers and awaited the return of daylight.

The next day he followed the lines indicated by the trees he had marked until they intersected each other, and not 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 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 the 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 davs 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. 20, 1871, and presented by Leonard Rush, and the stub in the clerk's office is signed by Geo. Weddel, clerk. - 0. 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 hay for his cattle and make preparations 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 Bellefontaine 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 Indian 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 off, with weight poles in good shape. Some of the men had got pretty hilarious by this time, not just because of the 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.

honey, he would lead them to it. A vote was taken, and carried in favor of the sweel 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 which 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, after 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 f< w household articles, and made the new cabin their home. - From Evers' Log ( 'abin 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. The Mission 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 bar. Hedges bought his claim Prom the Indians.

EDSON 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. Goi1 was born in Oswego county, New York, in 1808. While he was yet an infant his lather 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 by the time he was 20 years old he taught 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 family 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 the breakfast table one morning, he told them that it was to be his last meal with them 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 lie 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. If. 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. Royce, 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 pulpit during the funeral services. Somewhere near three years before she had a dream in which it was foretold her that she would be taken sick on the 27th 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 limes 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

AMONG the early oddities, says Hezekiah 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 land 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 Hollister's ingenious argument 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 became 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 Napoleon to St. Helena?" The audience had assembled and President Wheeler called upon Lord, who, fully prepared, commenced his argument. 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 upon 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 office 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 meantime pondering over the

"Sheffield, you know you are a young man, just setting out in life, and have not had as much experience in the world as I have. 1 know these fellows pretty 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.

Now, 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 before.

Rev. Rolla H. Chubb

FEW men in the Maumee Valley were better known in Northwestern Ohio than Rev. Rolla H. Chubb. Born in Poultney, Vt., Sept. 18, 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 which he accompanied his brother to Michigan. 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 embarrassments 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. Rolla 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 became eminent as a public speaker.

His sermon 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 Pi, 1841. She died July 14, 1863, at Ashland, 0., leaving four children, three daughters, Mrs. Emily Peacock, residing a1 Gallatin, Tennessee; Mrs. Maria Bristol, of Fremont, Ohio; Mrs. W. S. Eberly, and one son, Henry, of Perrysburg, Ohio. On October 1, 1865, lie married Miss

Mary C. Hamer, of Ottawa, 0., and moved back to Perrysburg. His last regular appointment was Freeport, in 1868. Pie 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 bis remains Avere brought to Perrysburg and interred in Ft. Meigs cemetery. - Wood County He publican.

IN October, 1907, Grand Rapids celebrated the fiftieth anniversary of its Masonic Lodge organization. Grand Rapids Lodge had its origin in Wood County Lodge ^\'o. 112. Among the exercises was an address by George A. Pell, 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 Army 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. 10, at Maninee. This lodge was active until 1828. A new charter, however, was granted in 1845, and the lodge was allowed to retain its old number.

"From 1828 to 1812, 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 ih' Black Swamp of Wood county.

"In October, lSI.'I. 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 Given Encampment trails, the Perrysburg people could take the one which left the river at Miltonville, and the Gilead (Grand Rapids} 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 live brethren last above mentioned, together with Emelius Wood, Everett R. Wood and Daniel Barton, also of Wood County Lodge, A. J. Gardner, of Youngstown, Selah A. Bacon, a past master of New England, No. 1, of Worthington, Ohio, and Samuel Blythe, from Steubenville Lodge, No. 45, petitioned and received a dispensation for a lodge, to be known as Grand Rapids Lodge, and to be located at Gilead (Grand Rapids), Wood County. The dispensation arrived July 31, nam-

"The charter was received November 4, 1856, bearing date of October 3, and naming S. A. Bacon, A. J. Gardner, Alvin Gillett, Emelius Wood, E. B. 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 1862, 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 Granby, 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. 25, 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. B., 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 north, 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 12,000 members."

It is not an exaggerated belief that had Hull's army, 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. Hull'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 lield of 1'allen 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 when he casts his eyes to the opposite shore, the scene of his country's triumphs over the same foe, be influenced by any <it her 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 presumption to compare himself with that hero, he boasts of being that hero's pupil. To your posts then fellow citizens and remember the eyes of your country are upon you."

Two Lost Girls

In 1836, the old Kevolutionary soldier and Missionary, Rev. 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 vacant 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 June,

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 bad enough; they took my advice.