Sandusky Township (part 1 of 57)

Town Send

The school land, section sixteen, township four, range seventeen, Townsend township, was sold, chiefly in 1847, for five dollars per acre. One lot was sold to Nelson Taylor in January, 1849. The lot contained eighty acres, and was sold for three dollars and fifty cents per acre.

THIS township originally included all that part of the county west of the Sandusky River, together with parts of Seneca and Ottawa counties. Its organization as a township of Huron county in 1815 has already been given in connection with the history of Fremont, which, until recently, was included within its limits. The territory was reduced to its present boundaries in 1878, when Fremont township was established.

The sand ridges along the Sandusky River, and extending through the central part of the township, were the chosen locations of the first settlers, although the soil on these sand-bars is mferior to the vegetable mould on Muskallonge or on Little Mud Creek. During the early period of settlement, the western part being a continuous swamp, the first pioneers had no choice in the matter of location. Besides, numerous small Indian clearings along the river prepared the way for white occupation. The narrative of the two first white families - the Whittaker and Williams families - is fully given in connection with the Indian history and discussion of land titles.

Along Muskallonge a road was opened out and clearings commenced about 1827, and the first improvement on Little Mud Creek, so far as can be learned, was made about 1829.

earthworks. One of the mounds on the river bank was excavated some years ago and a skeleton found between plates of mica. These sepulchres of the distinguished dead of a civilized and probably aesthetic race, which has perished, not only from the earth, but from history, furnish interesting data for speculation. The chain of enclosures has almost been obliterated by the gradual change of the river channel. Here we have an illustration of the effect of progressive civilization. The Mound Builders, as is shown by the location of these earth-works, and the Indians who followed them, chose the dry sand-bars for places of rtsidence. The early white settlers followed the example of the races which had vacated. But times have changed; axes, plows, and tiles have converted the marshy forest, worthless years ago, into fields far more productive than the sand acres along the river ridges.

Sandusky township is bounded on the north by Rice, on the east by Riley, on the south by Ballville and Fremont, and on the west by Washington.

The principal streams on the west side of the river are Muskallonge and Little Mud 'Creek, and on the east side. Bark Creek, none of which afford available water-power for mills. This, however, was no great inconvenience, as the mills on the Sandusky River at Ballville and Fremont were easily reached. The celebrated

Settlement

The settlement of Sandusky township was not as rapid as its location would lead us to expect. Ballville was improved before Sandusky, and the east part of the county was filling up rapidly before anything more than scattering settlements were made in this township. Why this was the case is an easy problem when the miasmatic, sickly state of the country west of the river is taken into account. Muskallonge was dammed up by fallen timber, and in consequence a wide tract of country was wet and uninviting. No roads were opened up in the western part. On the whole there was little encouragement to settle.

Except the Whittaker and Williams families, Reuben Patterson was the first settler of Sandusky township who remained to make a permanent improvement and home. There were more squatters down along the river than perhaps any other place in the county, but most of them, being unable to enter land, deserted their squatter openings and pushed on farther west. Mr. Patterson's family consisted of a wife and si.v children - Alvord, Eveline, Danforth, Julius, Harriet, and Caroline. The family left New York in a wagon in the fall of 1816, and came to Huron, then the stopping-place of so many Western emigrants. At the opening of the following spring they removed to the peninsula, but sickness so afflicted them that the new home with its improvements was deserted. Mr. Patterson made a trip to the Maumee in search of a* home and there made the acquaintance of Captain Rumery, who persuaded him to come to Lower Sandusky. When the family arrived from the peninsula no room in which to put their goods could be found, except a log house in the fort, which had been used during the war by the officers. Esquire Morrison occupied one end and Mr. Baker the other; the Patterson family were crowded into the middle room, the floor of which was made of clay. A bedstead was placed in a corner, and on this, during the day, all the clothing w-as piled, and at night beds were made on the ground. One of the gates thrown down before the fire-place furnished one small piece of floor, which contributed to the comfort of this large family in a small room in wet weather. Mr. Patterson and his sons set to work and cleared a piece of land on the west side of the river, near the forks of the road, and in the spring of 1819 the family moved into an unfinished cabin on this place. The cracks were filled afterwards with mortar made of clay and straw, and a chimney made of logs heavily interlaid with clay mortar was erected on the outside of the house. The location of the cabin was on the Whittaker Reserve, a part of which Mr. Patterson rented. When the Government sale of lands was advertised at Delaware, Mrs. Patterson took her little bag of silver coin, mounted her horse, and in company with Lysander C. Ball and James Whittaker, went to Delaware. She purchased what was for years known as the Patterson farm, on the east side of the river. Here Mr. Patterson lived until his death in 1 84 1, having survived his wife one year. The living representatives of the family are: Eveline, widow of L. C. Ball; Julius, and Harriet, widow of James Moore.

L. C. Ball was a settler in Sandusky township in 1823. He left his home in New York in 1818, with a view to locating in the West, Detroit being his objective point. Being without means, he employed the natural method of travelling. High water intercepted his progress at Lower Sandusky, where he found ern- ployment at general work. He soon engaged at the then profitable trade of blacksmithing in James Kirk's shop, and afterwards built a shop of his own. In 1823 Mr. Ball married Eveline Patterson, and settled on a farm just below the corporation, where he lived, raised a family, and died. Mrs. Ball remains on the homestead. The children are: Eveline, Alvira, Thaddeus, Oscar, Lysander C, and Sarah (Emerson). -

George Shannon, a son-in-law of James Whittaker, is mentioned in connection with Indian events of the War of 18 12, in the general history, but that event gives us an interest in the personal history of the family. Mr. Shannon was a native of Schenectady, Schoharie county, New York, and was born in 1787. He came to Lower Sandusky in 1809, and married Mary, a daughter of James and Elizabeth Whittaker, by whom he had eight children, three of whom are living - -James, residing in Oregon; John, in this township: and William, inAVood county. Mr. Shannon lived in a cabin on the Whittaker Reserve when James, the oldest son, was born. In 1812, when the Indian troubles began, he sought safety for his family on the Scioto, having refused to accompany the Whittakers in Fort Stephenson, believing that that post would eventually be captured. His return to harvest the corn crop, and adventure with the savages while thus engaged, is narrated elsewhere. When the war had closed, Mr. Shannon returned from the Scioto, and settled on a piece of land given him by Mrs. Whittaker. He built a cabin near the river, in which he moved the entire family, now consisting of several children. Posterity must forgive us for stating that, on account of an old prejudice, Mr. Shannon frequently incurred the wrath of his mother-in-law, and the relation between the two families was not always lovely. The Indians usually camped on the river bank near the Shannon cabin. Mrs. Shannon's "life in the woods" had familiarized her with their language and habits, and enabled her to detect signs of danger. One day, while her husband was at work, an Indian yell startled the family. She called to Mr. Shannon, who did not hear at first, and, before she could repeat the warning, an angry savage had almost approached the house. There was no time for evading. Shannon was now facing the Indian, who drew forth a concealed tomahawk, and, with a double oath, said, in good English: "Now I going to kill you!" Shannon sprang forward, caught the handle of the drawn tomahawk in one hand and the strong arm of his savage antagonist in the other. A vigorous but brief struggle followed, in which the redskin was prostrated. Shannon was now master of the situation. He wrenched the hatchet from his antagonist's hand, raised the weapon, and was already directing a deadly blow, when the savage cried: "Friendship." By a quick movement. Shannon changed his fatal aim, and the tomahawk, just clearing his enemy's head, was buried in the ground. Again seizing the weapon. Shannon ordered the Indian into the house, and then gave him a chair. Shannon also sat down, laying the tomahawk on the table at his side. He then asked the Indian why he came to kill him.

and was brought to Sandusky, with his parents, after the close of the war. In 1840 he married Eveline Patterson, dau^h ter of Alvord and Julia Patterson, who removed from New York to Ohio in 1833. The fruit of this union was nine children, four of whom are Hving. Mr. Shannon has always had a fondness for the woods, and had a reputation, in early times, as an expert and successful hunter. Even inhis old age he mourns the loss of hunting grounds.

Casper Remsburg was a native of Maryland, who came to the county in 1822, and settled on the Muskallonge, where he lived as a farmer until 1849, when he died in the sixty-third year of his age. He married Mary Bowlus, also of Maryland, who is still living, being now in her eightyninth year. She is the mother of ten children, nine of whom arrived at maturity. Four sons and two daughters are yet living. The names of the children in the order of their ages were: Matilda, deceased; Hezekiah, attorney at law, Fremont; William, a Protestant Methodist preacher, residing in Des Moines, Iowa : Mary Ann, the wife of James Rosen barger, Sandusky township; Susan, mar ried and residing in Rock Island county, Illinois; Rebecca, deceased, was the wife of Adam Crowell, of Sandusky township; Perry F., farmer, Bureau county, Illinois; John, died in Sandusky townshii), in 1849; Lewis E., farmer. Bureau county,. Illinois. Mr. Remsburg was a member of the Protestant Methodist church, to which his widow still belongs.

The first settlement in that part of the township lying west of the Muskallonge and north of the Perrysburg road, was made by three families from Pennsylvania, in 1S17. They were the families of George Overmyer, Michael Overmyer, and Daniel Hensel.

Daniel Hensel was born in Northumberland county, Pennsylvania, m 1797. He married, in Northumberland county, Christina Reed, and in 1819 removed to Perry county, Ohio. In 1827 the fertile farms then being o[;cned ui this part of the State attracted his attention, and having made an entry he removed his family to the Black Swamp. It has been said that many of the pionesrs have become wealthy as an incidental result of the developing force of progressive civilization. That is true of those who purchased extensive tracts and then depended upon the labor of self sacrificing neighbors to develop the country around their estates. But those whose memory it is our desire to perpetuate, those whose busy hands built homes and reduced the fertile soil to a state of cultivation, have been indeed poorly paid for leaving well organized and cultured communities and submitting to the conditions of life in the woods. Daniel Hensel actually cut his way to the one hundred and sixty acres of swampy forest he had purchased, and by the time of his death, in 1S42, had cleared and brought under cultivation filty acres. He also carried on an extensive carpentering business. His family consisted of six children, all of whom are living. Adam resides in Sandusky township; Sarah, wife of N. Kessler, in I'r.nv nt; Eva, wife of J. Waitman, in Sandusky tow-nship; Daniel, in Sandusky township; Christina, wife of y. Binkly; and George, in Sandusky township. Adam, the oldest son, was born in Perry county, Ohio, in 1825. He married in 1847, Mary J. Benner, whose father Matthias Benner, removed to the county, from Union county, Ohio, in 1840. Their family consisted of six children - James D., Ellen (deceased), Sarah, Harriet (Stinewalt), Alice (Waters), and Emma, all residing in this township, except Sarah. James D., the oldest son, was born in 1849, and in 1873 married Villa M. Wolf, by whom he has two children - Nora O. and Mabel M. Daniel, jr., second son and fourth child of Daniel Hensel, was born in 1835. He married, in 1862, Sarah Hetrich, daughter of George and Catharine Hettrich. His family consists of five children, four of whom are living, William W., Charles H., Hatlie D., and Emma M.

George Reed was born in Northumberland county, Pennsylvania, in the year 1806. In the year 1829 the family, consisting of the mother, three boys and four gills, started -for the one hundred acres lying in the northwest part ot this township, which George had entered previously. Three days were occupied in the trip from Fremont to the farm, a distance of seven miles. Their slow progress indicates the condition of the road, or rather the trail through the woods, for the State road at that time was no more. Mr. Reed in a memorandum says : "We came out as far as Moses Wilson's. There we staid all night. Next day we came down to where David Engler lived. Daniel Hensel was our nearest neighbor, and John Wagoner lived on Little Mud Creek. The country was then nothing but a wilderness, and the pike a mud-hole. It was almost impossible to get along with the empty wagon part of the time." Mr. Reed adds in the spirit of the good old days gone by: "And it seems people enjoyed themselves better then than now. They were not so selfish; had their logrollings, and corn-huskings, and old-fashioned country dance, and all hands engaged in it."

connection with religious organizations at Fremont is fully noticed in that connection. His son, Jacob Bowlus, was for nearly sixty years a staid and honored citizen, and a staunch Methodist. He once stated that he never went further than Muskallonge after his f:\ther's settlement in Lower Sandusky.

Samuel Crowell, an early settler of this township and an early school-teacher, was born in Pennsylvania in 1793. In 1815 he married Mary Link, of Virginia, and about 1S26 came to this county. He entered a farm on the Muskallonge, in this townshio, and was a school-teacher of prominence and more than ordinary severity. He was elected sheriff in 1829 and held the office two terms. He had five sons and three daughters. One of the sons is living - Alexander - in Peru, Indiana. Samuel A., who resides in this township, was born in Jefferson county, Virginia, and came to Ohio with his father. He was married three times and had a family of twelve children, viz: George W., Samuel, Mary C, Clarissa, Eugene B., Moses H., Sardis S., Reuben A., Martha L., William E., John W., and Sarah R. Mr. Crowell died October 10, 1 88 1, aged sixty-three years. Eugene Crowell was born in 185 1. He married, in 1873, Sarah Stine, daughter of William Stine, and has four children, Clara, William, Ella, and Ida. The old Crowell improvement was on Muskallonge.

Henry Bowlus settled in this township in 1828. He came from Maryland with a family of eight children, four of whom are living. He died in 1832; his wife survived him nine years.

Aaron Forgerson wms one of the first settlers of Fremont, having emigrated from New York in 181 6. The family consisted of eight children, six boys and two girls. Sidney, the seventh child, was one of the early settlers of this township.

' Basil Coe, a native of Maryland, married Rachel Burgoon, and settled in this county in 1833. He died soon afterwards leaving a family of eight children, the oldest of whom, Jessie Coe, was born in Perry county, Ohio, in 1815. He married Mary Bazar, a daughter of Henry Bazar, a native of Pennsylvania, in 1832. Mr. Coe died in 1867, leaving ten children living : Rebecca L., Richard A., Martha J., Francis M., Sarah L, Cliarles J., Josephine A., James M., Ellen A., and William S. Mrs. Basil Coe died in 1881. Mrs. Jessie Coe is still living. . Seven of her children survive. Richard A. Coe was born in 1 844, and has always resided in the county. He was married, in 1870, to Harriet B. Shank, born in Cincinnati in 1 84 1. Four children are living - William Edward, Carrie A., John F., and James W. Lloyd N. is dead.

George Michael was born in France in 1816. He came to America, and settled in New York in 1831. In 1834 he removed to Sandusky township, where he has lived ever since. The family consists of eight children, all of whom are living, viz: Caroline (Parker), Sandusky township; Philip, Henry county; George, John H., and Christian, Wood county; Mary (Swartz), EHzabeth Thompson and Charles reside m this county. Mr. Michael followed coopering for forty years. He has also improved an excellent farm.

George Engler, a native of Germany, settled in this township in 1835, and lived here until his death in i860. The family consisted of twelve children, all of whom are living. Henry, the sixth child, was born in Germany in 1831; he married Christina Will, a native of Germany, by whom he had a family of eight children, seven of whom are living, viz: Caroline,

John Kuns (spelled Koons by some representatives of the family), a native of Pennsylvania, came to this county in 1836, from Perry county, Ohio. He married Catharine Overmyer, by whom he had five children: Siloma and Catharine, deceased, and Samuel, John and Elizabeth, living. Mr. Kuns died October 25, 1845, ^S^^ fifty-two years. He had been an invalid for many years, and was so afflicted with rheumatism that he was helpless during the last fifteen years of his life. Mrs. Kuns died November 5, 1874, aged seventy-five years and six months. Samuel, the oldest son, is living on the old homestead, where his grandfather, John Overmyer, settled four years before John Kuns, sr., came to the place. Samuel Kuns was born in Perry county in 1823. He married Mary M. Swarm in 1845. They had five children: John, Riley township; Catharine (Shively), Sandusky township; Mary E. (Scibert), Samuel, Sandusky township, and Emma A. (Reed), Ottawa county. Mrs. Kuns died March 16, 1866, aged thirtynine. Mr. Kuns was again married February 4, 1879, to Mrs. Rosanna Bruner, daughter of Christian Auxter, of Washington township. They have one child, Orphie R. John, brother to Samuel, was born in Perry county in 1827. He married in 1850, Hannah M. Sebring, and has four children living: Maria E., John E., Clara E., and Wilbur C. Mr. Kuns was in the grocery business in Fremont for several years.

Charles Lay and his parents, John and Sarah La\', came to Sandusky township about 1840. Charles Lay married in this county, Anna Unsbauch, a native of Perry county. Three of their children are liv-

Jacob Hufford, a native of Frederick county, Maryland, was born in 1773. He married Catharine Creager, and emigrated first to Kentucky, and from there to Greene county, Ohio. In 1836 they came to this county and settled on the farm where she died in 1842 and he in 1851. Mr. Hufford was a blacksmith by trade, but after coming to this county gave his exclusive attention to farming and improving his land. James, the third child of Jacob Hufford, was born in Greene county, in i8i2. He married, in 1838, Susan Arnold, who died in 1847, leaving three children, viz : George W., died of disease contracted in the army, at Memphis, Tennessee; Harriet A., wife of William Slates, lives in this township; and Joseph N., deceased. Mr. Hufford married, in 1849, for his second wife, Elizabeth Fisher, by whom one child was born, William T., a resident of this township. He was born in 1851, and married, in 1873, Sarah, daughter of William Rhidout, of Ballville township. They have two children, Eugene L. and James F. Mr. Hufford has been a teacher in the public schools.

Michael Wolfe crossed the mountains in 1837, for the first time, coming and going on foot. He had been married at the age of twenty-two to Margaret Engleman, and, in 184 1, with his family, he came to Ohio and settled in this township, where he lived until his death, in 1879. He was one of the first settlers in the Muskallonge bottom, where he lived until 1865, when he removed to the pike. It is said of Mr. Wolfe that he never had an enemy. Of a family of twelve children seven are still living, viz: Levi, Sandusky township; Solomon, Seneca county; Josiah and A. J., Sandusky township; Ella J. (Hook), Tiffin; Anna C. (Baker), Fremont; and Savilla (Hensel), Sandusky township. Levi, the oldest son, was born in Union county, Pennsylvania, in 1836. In 1857 he married Christina Lantz. Nine children are living - Robert A., Dilla C, Emma R., Ellen H., James H., Chester E., Michael J., Margaret E., and AddieC. A. J., the fourth child of Michael Wolfe, was born in 1842, and married, in 1865, Jemima Stultz. They have two children - William E. and Nannie A. Mr. Wolfe purchased the Alexander Paden farm, which was one of the first improved in the township.

1846. He married, in 1850, Christina Wegstein, also a native of Germany. Her parents came to America in 1840. Four children blessed this union, viz: Sarah E., William, Emma, and George. Mr. Faller served in the Mexican war. He has engaged in the manufacture of chairs, and also in the grocery business, but for nine years he has been farming.

William Webster, son of Joseph and Sarah Webster, was born in Derbyshire, England, in 1820, and came to America and settled in Sandusky township in 185 1. He lived in this township nine years, and then moved to Washington township, his present residence. He married, first, in

1847, Salina Wood, who died in 1858, having borne two children, George, and John Joseph, both deceased. He married again in 1859, Mary A. Newcomer, whose father, Jacob Newcomer, settled in Sandusky county in 1830. Mary J. and Joseph W. are the children by this marriage. Only Mary is living. Mr. Webster followed butchering in Fremont during his residence there.

Peter Gilbert was another of the industrious Germans who settled in this township, and have contributed so much to its wealth. He was born in Germany in

1804. He married Margaret E. Tickel, and emigrated to America in 1852. He died in 1859, on the farm wliere he settled. Mrs. Gilbert survived him three years. The family consisted of three boys and three girls: Henry, Louis, Adam, Julia, Catharine and Mary. Henry, the oldest child, was born in 1823, and came to this country with his father in 1852. The following year he married Catharine Graft, daughter of George Tickel, who came to America in 1S44. Two of their four children are living - Louisa, the wife of William H. Greene, and Ellen H., wife of Lewis Conicom, both residents of Sandusky township. Mr. Gilbert is a mason by trade. He has served as township trustee, clerk, assessor, etc.

William D. Stine, the second child of Philip and Sarah Stinc, was born in Pennsylvania in 1827. He married, in Pickaway county, Ohio, in 1852, Rebecca Stout, a native of that county, and removed to this county the following year. Three children are living: Sarah C. (Crowell), Isaac Franklin, and Lavina E. Mr. Stine followed the carpenter and joiner trade for ten years.

John Shook, a native of Jefferson county, Pennsylvania, came to Ohio and settled in Pickaway county about 181 2. In 1825 he removed to the present territory of Ottawa county, where he died in 1863. Flis wife, whose maiden name was Susannah Hum, died in 1856, leaving seven children. Daniel, the sixth child, was born in Pickaway county in 1822. He married, in 1850, Rosanna Bowlus and in 1854 settled in Sandusky township. In 1880 he removed to his present residence in Washington. The family consists of three children, two of them living, viz: Franklin P., William D. (deceased), and James D. Mrs. Shook is a daughter of David Bowlus, of Sandusky township.

W. L. Greene was among the later settlers of this township. He was born in Pennsylvania, in 1832, and came to this county in 1855. In 1859 he married Abigail Ramsel, daughter of Jacob Ramsel, of Ottawa county. They had two children, one of whom is living, James L.; Cora J. is dead. Mrs. Greene died in 1873. I" iS-j6 he married for his second wife Malinda Bowlus. He was in mercantile business eight years. By her first husband Mrs. Greene had four children: Orville, Rolla, Ada, and Charles. Mr, Greene's father resided in this county until the time of his death in 1875. He was a soldier in the War of 1812. John Stayer, Mrs. Greene's fiither, was also a soldier in the War of 1812, and is yet living (1S81).

Jacob J. Seibert was born in Pennsylvania in 1820. He married Mary A. Walborn in 1843, and in 1856 they came to this county. Four of their six children are living: Monroe, Fremont, Emma (Loose), Michigan; Henry, and William. Mr. Seibert has been an elder in the Reformed church about fifteen years.

Eben Root was born in Erie county, in 1843. !-'' 1868 he married Jemima Fell, and settled in this county. Three children are living - Isabella, Carrie, and Walter. The youngest child, David P., died at the age of thirteen months. Mr. Root has a fine farm of two hundred and thirty acres.

Shooting On Bark Creek

The small stream which winds through Baliville and Sandusky townships, almost parallel witii the river, derives its name from the methods employed by the early hunters for shooting deer along its course. The stream flows through a fiat country, and at places spreads out into little jjonds of considerable area and depth. In these deer were accustomed to gather in large groups or herds, to avoid flies and other annoyances. The professional hunters of the day had canoes in which they embarked for game. In one end they placed a candle or torch, surrounded, except in front, by a piece of bark stripped from an elm tree. Behind this dark lantern he could sit in entire obscurity, while in front the water and shores were well lighted. Deer seem to be charmed with a torch in the night. They would stand up to their bodies in the water and watch the approach of the destroyer with evident pleasure, little suspecting that a charge of buckshot was being aimed at them by a man concealed in the dark end of the boat. When the boat had reached a sure shooting distance the hunter fired, bringing down sometimes two victims at one shot. An old hunter informs the writer that he has brought in as many as twelve deer as the fruit of one night's hunting.

Religious

The religious history of Sandusky township is so intimately connected with the church history of Fremont that little remains to be said here. Within this territory Rev. Joseph Badger, with his assistants, established their missionary post while laboring among the Wyandot Indians. There are in the township at present two churches.

Methodist Protestant Church

The only congregation of this denomination in the county, worship in a commodious frame house on the Rollersville road, near Muskallonge Creek. The Methodist Protestants established their form of worship in this county in 1840. Dr. William Reeves, accompanied by his wife, Hannah Reeves, held a meeting in

Fremont in 1840, which resulted in gathering together a small class, which a split in the United Brethren class, a couple of months later, strengthened. The meeting conducted by Hannah Reeves was very satisfactory in its good results, but the church never prospered in town. A class was organized the following summer in the country, composed of Alexander Paden and wife, William Rice and wife, William Remsburg and wife, Sophia Flick, Mary Remsberg, and Polly Remsberg.

Two years after the class was formed, a meetinghouse was built on Henry Bowlus' farm, where services were held until 1873 when the present house was built. The present membership of this class is about fifty. Ministers worthy of special mention have been William Turner, William Ross, Robert Andrews, Alexander Brown, and Robert Rice. William Hastings is the present pastor in charge.

Other Churches

Lutheran service has been held in the township since 1843, very closely connected, however, with the church at Fremont. The meetinghouse at the four-mile stone on the pike was built in 1845, or about that time. The congregation is composed largely of Germans or people of German descent.

The Methodist Episcopal church organized a class during the early settlement of the township, and about 1845 built a house of worship on the pike at Muskallonge. The maintenance of service at this point was, however, entirely unnecessary, and when the building yielded to the dilapidations of time, it was abandoned and most of the members transferred their connection to the church at Fremont.

Source changes here: from History of Sandusky County, Ohio : with Portraits and Biographies of Prominent Citizens and Pioneers, by Everett, Homer, published 1882; 5,041 words in this source stream.

Sandusky Township

THIS township originally included all that part of the county west of the Sandusky River, together with parts of Seneca and Ottawa counties. Its organization as a township of Huron county in 1815 has already been given in connection with the history of Fremont, which, until recently, was included within its limits. The territory was reduced to its present boundaries in 1878, when Fremont township was established.

The sand ridges along the Sandusky River, and extending through the central part of the township, were the chosen locations of the first settlers, although the soil on these sand-bars is inferior to the vegetable mould on Muskallonge or on Little Mud Creek. During the early period of settlement, the western part being a continuous swamp, the first pioneers had no choice in the matter of location. Besides, numerous small Indian clearings along the river prepared the way for white occupation. The narrative of the two first white families - the Whittaker and Williams families - is fully given in connection with the Indian history and discussion of land titles.

Along Muskallonge a road was opened out and clearings commenced about 1827, and the first improvement on Little Mud Creek, so far as can be learned, was made about 1829.

earthworks. One of the mounds on the river bank was excavated some years ago and a skeleton found between plates of mica. These sepulchres of the distinguished dead of a civilized and probably aesthetic race, which has perished, not only from the earth, but from history, furnish interesting data for speculation. The chain of enclosures has almost been obliterated by the gradual change of the river channel. Here we have an illustration of the effect of progressive civilization. The Mound Builders, as is shown by the location of these earth-works, and the Indians who followed them, chose the dry sand-bars for places of residence. The early white settlers followed the example of the races which had vacated. But times have changed; axes, plows, and tiles have converted the marshy forest, worthless years ago, into fields far more productive than the sand acres along the river ridges.

Sandusky township is bounded on the north by Rice, on the east by Riley, on the south by Ballville and Fremont, and on the west by Washington.

The principal streams on the west side of the river are Muskallonge and Little Mud Creek, and on the east side, Bark Creek, none of which afford available water-power for mills. This, however, was no great inconvenience, as the mills on the Sandusky River at Ballville and Fremont were easily reached. The celebrated

Settlement

The settlement of Sandusky township was not as rapid as its location would lead us to expect. Ballville was improved before Sandusky, and the east part of the county was filling up rapidly before anything more than scattering settlements were made in this township. Why this was the case is an easy problem when the miasmatic, sickly state of the country west of the river is taken into account. Muskallonge was dammed up by fallen timber, and in consequence a wide tract of country was wet and uninviting. No roads were opened up in the western part. On the whole there was little encouragement to settle.

Except the Whittaker and Williams families, Reuben Patterson was the first settler of Sandusky township who remained to make a permanent improvement and home. There were more squatters down along the river than perhaps any other place in the county, but most of them, being unable to enter land, deserted their squatter openings and pushed on farther west. Mr. Patterson's family consisted of a wife and six children - Alvord, Eveline, Danforth, Julius, Harriet, and Caroline. The family left New York in a wagon in the fall of 1816, and came to Huron, then the stopping-place of so many Western emigrants. At the opening of the following spring they removed to the peninsula, but sickness so afflicted them that the new home with its improvements was deserted. Mr. Patterson made a trip to the Maumee in search of a home and there made the acquaintance of Captain Rumery, who persuaded him to come to Lower Sandusky. When the family arrived from the peninsula no room in which to put their goods could be found, except a log house in the fort, which had been used during the war by the officers. Esquire Morrison occupied one end and Mr. Baker the other'; the Patterson family were crowded into the middle room, the floor of which was made of clay. A bedstead was placed in a corner, and on this, during the day, all the clothing was piled, and at night beds were made on the ground. One of the gates thrown down before the fire-place furnished one small piece of floor, which contributed to the comfort of this large family in a small room in wet weather. Mr. Patterson and his sons set to work and cleared a piece of land on the west side of the river, near the forks of the road, and in the spring of 1819 the family moved into an unfinished cabin on this place. The cracks were filled afterwards with mortar made of clay and straw, and a chimney made of logs heavily interlaid with clay mortar was erected on the outside of the house. The location of the cabin was on the Whittaker Reserve, a part of which Mr. Patterson rented. When the Government sale of lands was advertised at Delaware, Mrs. Patterson took her little bag of silver coin, mounted her horse, and in company with Lysander C. Ball and James Whittaker, went to Delaware. She purchased what was for years known as the Patterson farm, on the east side of the river. Here Mr. Patterson lived until his death in 1841, having survived his wife one year. The living representatives of the family are: Eveline, widow of L. C. Ball; Julius, and Harriet, widow of James Moore.

L. C. Ball was a settler in Sandusky township in 1823. He left his home in New York in 1818, with a view to locating in the West, Detroit being his objective point. Being without means, he employed the natural method of travelling. High water intercepted his progress at Lower Sandusky, where he found em- ployment at general work. He soon engaged at the then profitable trade of blacksmithing in James Kirk's shop, and afterwards built a shop of his own. In 1823 Mr. Ball married Eveline Patterson, and settled on a farm just below the corporation, where he lived, raised a family, and died. Mrs. Ball remains on the homestead. The children are: Eveline, Alvira, Thaddeus, Oscar, Lysander C., and Sarah (Emerson).

George Shannon, a son-in-law of James j Whittaker, is mentioned in connection ! with Indian events of the War of 1812, in | the general history, but that event gives | us an interest in the personal history of the family. Mr. Shannon was a native of j Schenectady, Schoharie county, New York, and was born in 1787. He came to Lower Sandusky in 1809, and married Mary, a daughter of James and Elizabeth i Whittaker, by whom he had eight chil- j dren, three of whom are living - James, residing in Oregon; John, in this township; and William, in Wood county. Mr. Shannon lived in a cabin on the Whittaker Reserve when James, the oldest son, was born. In 1812, when the Indian troubles j began, he sought safety for his family on j the Scioto, having refused to accompany i the Whittakers in Fort Stephenson, believing that that post would eventually be captured. His return to harvest the corn crop, and adventure with the savages while thus engaged, is narrated elsewhere. When the war had closed, Mr. Shannon returned from the Scioto, and settled on a piece of land given him by Mrs. Whitta- j ker. He built a cabin near the river, in which he moved the entire family, now consisting of several children. Posterity must forgive us for stating that, on account of an old prejudice, Mr. Shannon frequently incurred the wrath of his mother-in-law, and the relation between the two | families was not always lovely. The Ind- 1 ians usually camped on the river bank near the Shannon cabin. Mrs. Shannon's "life in the woods" had familiarized her with their language and habits, and enabled her to detect signs of danger. One day, while her husband was at work, an Indian yell startled the family. She called to Mr. Shannon, who did not hear at first, and, before she could repeat the warning, an angry savage had. almost approached the house. There was no time for evading. Shannon was now facing the Indian, who drew forth a concealed tomahawk, and, with a double oath, said, in good English: "Now I going to kill you!" Shannon sprang forward, caught the handle of the drawn tomahawk in one hand and the strong arm of his savage antagonist in the other. A vigorous but brief struggle followed, in which the redskin was prostrated. Shannon was now master of the situation. He wrenched the hatchet from his antagonist's hand, raised the weapon, and was already directing a deadly blow, when the savage cried: "Friendship." By a quick movement, Shannon changed his fatal aim, and the tomahawk, just clearing his enemy's head, was buried in the ground. Again seizing the weapon, Shannon ordered the Indian into the house, and then gave him a chair. Shannon also sat down, laying the tomahawk on the table at his side. He then asked the Indian why he came to kill him.

and was brought to Sandusky, with his parents, after the close of the war. In 1840 he married Eveline Patterson, daugh ter of Alvord and Julia Patterson, who removed from New York to Ohio in 1833. The fruit of this union was nine children, four of whom are living. Mr. Shannon has always had a fondness for the woods, and had a reputation, in early times, as an

Casper Remsburg was a native of Mary- i land, who came to the county in 1822, and settled on the Muskallonge, where he lived as a farmer until 1849, when he died j in the sixty-third year of his age. He ; married Mary Bowlus, also of Maryland, ! who is still living, being now in her eighty- I ninth year. She is the mother of ten children, nine of whom arrived at ma- ; turity. Four sons and two daughters are j yet living. The names of the children j in the order of their ages were: Matilda, 1 deceased; Hezekiah, attorney at law, Fre- 5 mont; William, a Protestant Methodist | preacher, residing in Des Moines, Iowa : Mary Ann, the wife of James Rosenbarger, Sandusky township; Susan, married and residing in Rock Island county. Illinois ; Rebecca, deceased, was the wife of Adam Crowell, of Sandusky township: Perry F., farmer, Bureau county, Illinois; John, died in Sandusky township, in 1849; Lewis E., farmer, Bureau county, Illinois. Mr. Remsburg was a member of the Protestant Methodist church, to which his widow still belongs.

The first settlement in that part of the township lying west of the Muskallonge ' and north of the Perrvsburg road, was | made by three families from Pennsyl- j vania, in 1S17. They were the families j of George Overmyer, Michael Overmyer, and Daniel Hensel.

berland county, Pennsylvania, in 1797. He married, in Northumberland county, Christina Reed, and in 1819 removed to Perry county, Ohio. In 1827 the fertile farms then being opened in this part of the State attracted his attention, and having made an entry he removed his family to the Black Swamp. It has been said that many of the pioneers have become wealthy as an incidental result of the developing force of progressive civilization. That is true of those who purchased extensive tracts and then depended upon the labor of self sacrificing neighbors to develop the country around their estates. But those whose memory it is our desire to perpetuate, those whose busy hands built homes and reduced the fertile soil to a state of cultivation, have been indeed poorly paid for leaving well organized and cultured communities and submitting to the conditions of life in the woods. Daniel Hensel actually cut his way to the one hundred and sixty acres of swampy forest he had purchased, and by the time of his death, in 1842, had cleared and brought under cultivation fifty acres. He also carried on an extensive carpentering business. His family consisted of six children, all of whom are living. Adam resides in Sandusky township; Sarah, wife of N. Kessler, in Fr- nvnt; Eva, wife of J. Waitman, in Sandusky township; Daniel, in Sandusky township; Christina, wife of J. Binkly; and George, in Sandusky township. Adam, the oldest son, was born in Perry county, Ohio, in 1825. He married in 1847, Mary J. Benner, whose father Matthias Benner, removed to the county, from Union county, Ohio, in 1840. Their family consisted of six children - James D., Ellen (deceased), Sarah, Harriet (Stinewalt), Alice (Waters), and Emma, all residing in this township, except Sarah. James D., the oldest son, was born in 1849, and in 1873 married Villa M. Wolf, by whom he has two children - Nora O. and Mabel M. Daniel, jr., second son and fourth child of Daniel Hensel, was born in 1835. He married, in 1862, Sarah Hetrich, daughter of George and Catharine Hettrich. His family consists of five children, four of whom are living, William W., Charles H., Hattie D., and .Emma M.

George Reed was born in Northumberland county, Pennsylvania, in the year 1806. In thG year 1829 the family, consisting of the mother, three boys and four girls, started for the one hundred acres lying in the northwest part of this township, which George had entered previously. Three days were occupied in the trip from Fremont to the farm, a distance of seven miles. Their slow progress indicates the condition of the road, or rather the trail through the woods, for the State road at that time was no more. Mr. Reed in a memorandum says : "We came out as far as Moses Wilson's. There we staid all night. Next day we came down to where David Engler lived. Daniel Hensel was our nearest neighbor, and John Wagoner lived on Little Mud Creek. The country was then nothing but a wilderness, and the pike a mud-hole. It was almost impossible to get along with the empty - wagon part of the time." Mr. Reed adds in the spirit of the good old days gone by: "And it seems people enjoyed themselves better then than now. They were not so selfish ; had their logrollings, and corn-huskings, and old-fashioned country dance, and all hands engaged in it." connection with religious organizations at Fremont is fully noticed in that connection. His son, Jacob Bowlus, was for nearly sixty years a staid and honored citizen, and a staunch Methodist. He once stated that he never went further than Muskailonge after his father's settlement in Lower Sandusky.

Samuel Crowell, an early settler of this ! township and an early school-teacher, was born in Pennsylvania in 1793. In 1815 he married Mary Link, of Virginia, and about 1826 came to this county. He entered a farm on the Muskailonge, in this I township, and was a school-teacher of prominence and more than ordinary severity. He was elected sheriff in 1829 and held the office two terms. He had five sons and three daughters. One of the sons is living - Alexander - in Peru, Indiana. Samuel A., who resides in this township, was born in Jefferson county, Virginia, and came to Ohio with his father. He was married three times and had a family of twelve children, viz: George | W., Samuel, Mary C., Clarissa, Eugene | B., Moses H., Sardis S., Reuben A., Martha L., William E., John W., and Sarah R. Mr. Crowell died October 10, 1881, aged sixty-three years. Eugene Crowell was born in 1851. He married, in 1873, Sarah Stine, daughter of William Stine, and has four children, Clara, William, Ella, and Ida. The old Crowell ! improvement was on Muskailonge.

Henry Bowlus settled in this township in 1828. He came from Maryland with a family of eight children, four of whom are living. He died in 1832; his wife surj vived him nine years.

Aaron Forgerson was one of the first j settlers of Fremont, having emigrated | from New York in 1816. The family j consisted of eight children, six boys and two girls. Sidney, the seventh child, was i one of the early settlers of this township.

Basil Coe, a native of Maryland, married Rachel Burgoon, and settled in this county in 1833. He died soon afterwards leaving a family of eight children, the oldest of whom, Jessie Coe, was born in Perry county, Ohio, in 1815. He married Mary Bazar, a daughter of Henry Bazar, a native of Pennsylvania, in 1832. Mr. Coe died in 1867, leaving ten children living : Rebecca L., Richard A., Martha J., Francis M., Sarah I., Charles J., Josephine A., James M., Ellen A., and William S. Mrs. Basil Coe died in 1881. Mrs. Jessie Coe is still living. Seven of her children survive. Richard A. Coe was born in 1 844, and has always resided in the county. He was married, in 1870, to Harriet B. Shank, born in Cincinnati in 1841. Four children are living - William Edward, Carrie A., John F., and James W. Lloyd N. is dead.

George Michael was born in France in 1816. He came to America, and settled in New York in 1831. In 1834 he removed to Sandusky township, where he has lived ever since. The family consists of eight children, all of whom are living, viz: Caroline (Parker), Sandusky township; Philip, Henry county; George, John H., and Christian, Wood county; Mary (Swartz), Elizabeth Thompson and Charles reside in this county. Mr. Michael followed coopering for forty years. He has also improved an excellent farm.

George Engler, a native of Germany, settled in this township in 1835, and lived here until his death in i860. The family consisted of twelve children, all of whom are living. Henry, the sixth child, was born in Germany in 1831; he married Christina Will, a native of Germany, by whom he had a family of eight children, seven of whom are living, viz: Caroline,

; and Samuel, John and Elizabeth, living. Mr. Kuns died October 25, 1845, aged fifty-two years. He had been an invalid for many years, and was so afflicted with rheumatism that he was helpless during the last fifteen years of his life. Mis. Kuns died November 5, 1874, aged seventy-five years and six months. Samuel, j the oldest son, is living on the old home- | stead, where his grandfather, John Overmyer, settled four years before John Kuns,

! sr., came to the place. Samuel Kuns was born in Perry county in 1823. He married i Mary M. Swarm in 1845. They had five j children: John, Riley township; Catharine | (Shively), Sandusky township; Mary E. (Seibert), Samuel, Sandusky township, and Emma A. (Reed), Ottawa county. Mrs. Kuns died March 16, 1866, aged thirtynine. Mr. Kuns was again married Feb- | ruarv 4, 1879, to Mrs. Rosanna Bruner, daughter of Christian Auxter, of Washington township. They have one child, Orphie R. John, brotner to Samuel, was born in Perry county in 1827. He married in 1850, Hannah M. Sebring, and has four j children living: Maria E., John E., Clara . E., and Wilbur C. Mr. Kuns was in the j grocery business in Fremont for several j years.

Charles Lay and his parents, John and Sarah Lay, came to Sandusky township about 1840. Charles Lay married in this county, Anna Unsbauch, a native of Perry county. Three of their children are liv-

Jacob Hufford, a native of Frederick county, Maryland, was born in 1773. He married Catharine Creager, and emigrated first to Kentucky, and from there to Greene county, Ohio. In 1836 they came to this county and settled on the farm where she died in 1842 and he in 1851. Mr. Hufford was a blacksmith by trade, but after coming to this county gave his exclusive attention to farming and improving his land. James, the third child of Jacob Hufford, was born in Greene county, in 1812. He married, in 1838, Susan Arnold, who died in 1847, leaving three children, viz : George W., died of disease contracted in the army, at Memphis, Tennessee; Harriet A., wife of William Slates, lives in this township; and Joseph N., deceased. Mr. Hufford married, in 1849, for his second wife, Elizabeth Fisher, by whom one child was born, William T., a resident of this township. He was born in 1851, and married, in 1873, Sarah, daughter of William Rhidout, of Ballville township. They have two children, Eugene L. and James F. Mr. Hufford has been a teacher in the public schools.

Michael Wolfe crossed the mountains in 1837, for the first time, coming and going on foot. He had been married at the age of twenty-two to Margaret Engleman, and, in 1841, with his family, he came to Ohio and settled in this township, where he lived until his death, in 1879. He was one of the first settlers in the Muskallonge bottom, where he lived until 1865, when he removed to the pike. It is said of Mr. Wolfe that he never had an enemy. Of a family of twelve children seven are still living, viz: Levi, Sandusky township; Solomon, Seneca county; Josiah and A. J., Sandusky township ; Ella J. (Hook), Tiffin; Anna C. (Baker), Fremont; and Savilla (Hensel), Sandusky township. Levi, the oldest son, was born in Union count)', Pennsylvania, in 1836. In 1857 he married Christina Lantz. Nine children are living - Robert A., Dilla C., Emma R., Ellen H., James H., Chester E., Michael J., Margaret E., and AddieC. A. J., the fourth child of Michael Wolfe, was born in 1842, and married,' in' 1865, Jemima Stultz. They have two children - William E. and Nannie A. Mr. Wolfe purchased the Alexander Paden farm, which was one of the first improved in the township.

1846. He married, in 1850, Christina Wegstein, also a native of Germany. Her parents came to America in 1840. Four children blessed this union, viz: Sarah E., William, Emma, and George. Mr. Faller served in the Mexican war. He has engaged in the manufacture of chairs, and also in the grocery business, but for nine years he has been farming.

William Webster, son of Joseph and Sarah Webster, was born in Derbyshire, England, in 1820, and came to America and settled in Sandusky township in 1851. He lived in this township nine years, and then moved to Washington township, his present residence. He married, first, in

1847, Salina Wood, who died in 1858, having borne two children, George, and John Joseph, both deceased. He married again in 1859, Mary A. Newcomer, whose father, Jacob Newcomer, settled in Sandusky county in 1830. Mary J. and Joseph W. are the children by this marriage. Only Mary is living. Mr. Webster followed butchering in Fremont during his residence there.

Peter Gilbert was another of the industrious Germans who settled in this township, and have contributed so much to its wealth. He was born in Germany in

1804. He married Margaret E. Tickel, and emigrated to America in 1852. He died in 1859, on the farm where he settled. Mrs. Gilbert survived him three years. The family consisted of three boys and three girls: Henry, Louis, Adam, Julia, Catharine and Mary. Henry, the oldest child, was born in 1823, and came to this country with his father in 1852. The following year he married Catharine Graft, daughter of George Tickel, who came to America in 1844. Two of their four children are living - Louisa, the wife of William H. Greene, and Ellen H., wife of Lewis Conicom, both residents of Sandusky township. Mr. Gilbert is a mason by trade. He has served as township trustee, clerk, assessor, etc.

William D. Stine, the second child of Philip and Sarah Stine, was born in Pennsylvania in 1827. He married, in Pickaway county, Ohio, in 1852, Rebecca Stout, a native of that county, and removed to this county the following year. Three children are living: Sarah C. (Crowell), Isaac Franklin, and Lavina E. Mr. Stine followed the carpenter and joiner trade for ten years.

John Shook, a native of Jefferson county, Pennsylvania, came to Ohio and settled in Pickaway county about 1812. In 1825 he removed to the present territory of Ottawa county, where he died in 1863. Plis wile, whose maiden name was Susannah Hum, died in 1856, leaving seven children. Daniel, the sixth child, was born in Pickaway county in 1822. He married, in 1850, Rosanna Bowlus and in 1854 settled in Sandusky township. In 1880 he removed to his present residence in Washington. The family consists of three children, two of them living, viz: Franklin P., William D. (deceased), and James D. Mrs. Shook is a daughter of David Bowlus, of Sandusky township.

W. L. Greene was among the later settlers of this township. He was born in Pennsylvania, in 1832, and came to this county in 1855. In 1859 he married Abigail Ramsel, daughter of Jacob Ramsel, of Ottawa county. They had two chil dren, one of whom is living, James L.; Cora J. is dead. Mrs. Greene died in 1873. In 1876 he njarried for his second wife Malinda Bowlus. He was in mercantile business eight years. By her first husband Mrs. Greene had four children: Orville, Rolla, Ada, and Charles. Mr. Greene's father resided in this county until the time of his death in 1875. He was a soldier in the War of 1812. John Stayer, Mrs. Greene's father, was also a soldier in the War of 1812, and is yet living (1881).

Jacob J. Seibert was born in Pennsylvania in 1820. He married Mary A. Walborn in 1843, and in 1856 they came to this county. Four of their six children are living: Monroe, Fremont, Emma (Loose), Michigan; Henry, and William. Mr. Seibert has been an elder in the Reformed church about fifteen years.

Eben Root was born in Erie county, in 1843. In 1868 he married Jemima Fell, and settled in this county. Three children are living - Isabella, Carrie, and Walter. The youngest child, David P., died at the age of thirteen months. Mr. Root has a fine farm of two hundred and thirty acres.

Shooting On Bark Creek

The small stream which winds through Ball ville and Sandusky townships, almost parallel with the river, derives its name from the methods employed by the early hunters for shooting deer along its course. The stream flows through a flat country, and at places spreads out into little ponds of considerable area and depth. In these deer were accustomed to gather in large groups or herds, to avoid flies and other annoyances. The professional hunters of the day had canoes in which they embarked for game. In one end they placed a candle or torch, surrounded, except in front, by a piece of bark stripped from an elm tree. Behind this dark lantern he could sit in entire obscurity, while in front the water and shores were well lighted. Deer seem to be charmed with a torch in the night. They would stand up to their bodies in the water and watch the approach of the destroyer with evident pleasure, little suspecting that a charge of buckshot was being aimed at them by a man concealed in the dark end of the boat. When the boat had reached a sure shooting distance the hunter fired, bringing down sometimes two victims at one shot. An old hunter informs the writer that he has brought in as many as twelve deer as the fruit of one night's hunting.

Religious

The religious history of Sandusky township is so intimately connected with the church history of Fremont that little remains to be said here. Within this territory Rev. Joseph Badger, with his assistants, established their missionary post while laboring among the Wyandot Indians. There are in the township at present two churches.

Methodist Protestant Church

The only congregation of this denomination in the county, worship in a commodious frame house on the Rollersville road, near Muskallonge Creek. The Methodist Protestants established their form of worship in this county in 1840. Dr. William Reeves, accompanied by his wife, Hannah Reeves, held a meeting in

Fremont in 1840, which resulted in gathering together a small class, which a split in the United Brethren class, a couple of months later, strengthened. The meeting conducted by Hannah Reeves was very satisfactory in its good results, but the church never prospered in town. A class was organized the following summer in the j country, composed of Alexander Paden and wife, William Rice and wife, William Remsburg and wife, Sophia Flick, Mary Remsberg, and Polly Remsberg.

Two years after the class was formed, a meeting house was built on Henry Bowlus' farm, where services were held until 1873 when the present house was built. The present membership of this class is about fifty. Ministers worthy of special mention have been William Turner, William Ross, Robert Andrews, Alexander Brown, and Robert Rice. William Hastings is the present pastor in charge.

Other Churches

Lutheran service has been held in the township since 1843, very closely connect- | ed, however, with the church at Fremont. The meeting-house at the four-mile stone on the pike was built in 1845, or about that time. The congregation is composed ; largely of Germans or people of German 1 descent.

The Methodist Episcopal church organized a class during the early settlement I of the township, and about 1845 built a house of worship on the pike at Muskallonge. The maintenance of service at this point was, however, entirely unnecessary, and when the building yielded to the dilapidations of time, it was abandoned ! and most of the members transferred their j connection to the church at Fremont.

Source changes here: from Yearbook of the Sandusky County Pioneer and Historical Association A.d. 1914, by I.h. Burgoon, published 1914; 49,529 words in this source stream.

Year Book Of The

Contains the Proceedings of the Forty-second Annual and Reunion Meetings, August 2 and 29, 1914, to which is appended the account of the founding of the Association in 1874; names of founders; list of names of early settlers in Sandusky County; proceedings of the Annual meetings and picnics with talks and addresses , up to the year 1881, inclusive; obituary notices of deceased pioneers.

Fremont, Ohio

There is no record of the reunion and picnic of 1876 further than one was held and addressed by Gen. Buckland, L. Q. Rawson, Judge J. L. Green, Moses: Bosesandy JUuaee VCAlM Well 5 sera pe no. oeerels cla ol shone de rae 42

AnmHal business niceting, IST hac. ee sic oe «tee eres sere abe deneeeneaans 42 There is no record of the reunion and picnic for the year 1877 further than one was held and mention, that Rev. Dr. Bushnell delivered an

Short letters by D. L. Day, Dr. Rawson, Judge Caldwell and C. B. Tyler ... 54 "Reminiscences of Lower Sandusky,' a poetic address by Dr. Thomas

The Forty-second annual meeting of the Sandusky County Pioneer and Historical Association was held at Birchard Library, Fremont, Ohio, Saturday, August 1, 1914, at 10 o'clock in the forenoon, instead of on August 2nd, as August 2nd falls on Sunday this year.

the president and the minutes of the previous meetings were read by the secretary and approved. _ The election of officers for the ensuing year being in order and being duly held resulted as follows: Isadore H. Burgoon, president; J. L. Parks, vice president; Basil Meek, secretary; James D. Hensel, treasurer; Rev. W. A. Bowman, chaplain; M. L. Shackelford, chorister.

Trustees were thereupon elected as follows: For three years, expiring in 1917, I. H. Burgoon, Basil Meek, J. L. Loose and J. D. Hensel. For two years, expiring in 1916, J. A. Gilmore, to fill the unexpired term of N. R. Tucker, deceased.

The time and place for holding the next annual reunion and picnic was fixed for Saturday, August 29, 1914, at the Auditorium of the High School building in Fremont.

The treasurer was authorized to purchase 500 post cards to be used in sending out invitations, and the secretary was directed to cause them to be printed for use and to distribute them among the invitation committees.

Basil Meek, Jacob Rimelspach and J. D. Hensel were appointed a committee to prepare for reading at the annual reunion suitable expressions of the association's appreciation of the generous bequest by the late Frank Heim in his last will and testament, to this association, a copy of which to be presented to the widow of Mr. Heim.

It was decided to dispense with a formal address at the annual meeting, and the president was authorized to conduct the exercises in such order as to him may appear appropriate; with the suggestion that no lengthy speeches be made, but that instead of such, he endeavor to induce brief remarks from pioneers and others present.

The president presented for consideration historical data arranged in form for publication in forth coming Yearbooks of the association which are regarded of much value, and which the meeting authorized to be placed by him in safe keeping for use by the association in its publications as occasion may arise.

The Forty-second Annual Reunion and Picnic of the Sandusky County Pioneer and Historical Association was held at the Fremont High School Auditorium, August 29, 1914.

Our Chaplain is not able to be with us this morning. He is out of the city and Rev. Harshbarger has_ kindly consented to take his place, and I will now turn over the devotional part of the services to him."

If there is a people upon the earth today that have reason for praising God it is this people, our people, the people of the United States of America. One cannot turn the pages of history without being greatly impressed with God's providence, his fatherly care, his tender mercies, his loving kindnesses.

grandsons and granddaughters remained. One man present who is nearing his 90th year is only the grandson of one of the early pioneers of this country, and I imagine as this man nears his 90th year and looks back, he can hardly comprehend the changes that have been wrought in the history of your county. There are so many things that bring wonder and surprise. No doubt he can remember when the ox-cart was very prominent, and the ox-team upon the farm. He can remember when the habit of going to mill on horse-back was not an uncommon thing. He can remember when these people met together in the homes and worshipped, and later in the log church; he can remember when the children went to school in the log school-houses; he can remember when this country was largely a wilderness, and how different it is now. The ox-cart has given place to the automobile, the old stagecoach has been displaced by the palace car and the interurban; the old manner of getting word to our friends across the country by the slow process of messengers on horseback or afoot now has given way long since, and we have the telegraph and the telephone and all of this. Instead of the old house in which this man was born formed of logs and the logs chinked with mortar we have now the beautiful frame houses or the brick or the stone with all modern improvements, lit up with electricity, our meals cooked with natural gas, our floors carpeted with costly rugs, the walls ornamented with beautiful hangings, libraries of the choicest sort, our children playing the latest and best music. What a wonder. What marvels have _ been wrought in a single lifetime. I wonder what the next fifty years will bring to our land and to our world. Be this as it may, we can safely trust the Providence, the Almighty Father to take care of us in the future as he has in the past. We are living in strange times; marvelous' times; times when the world is disturbed nationally, politically, commercially, socially and in a way, spiritually.

I do not now mean to say that there is less faith in God or less worship, devout and true to the Christ of whom we have just sung; on the other hand I think there is more faith in God than ever before. I think there are more devout worshippers than ever before, but there is a restlessness as to the manners and as regards the present creed, perhaps. We are living in strange times: when we remember this, that all Europe almost is engaged in a death struggle; when we remember nearly all these nations that are so engaged, with perhaps one exception, are Christian nations, we are made to think and we wonder what: there is for us in the future, but we must not forget that Almighty God is unon the throne, and He who can make the wrath of men to praise Him, can overrule this awful carnage in Europe and the far East to his glory and to the good of the people: of the earth, and I am sure it will be so. I don't know how it will be brought about, what the great changes are to be, but who knows but out of this awful struggle, this sacrifice, this waste of money, of property, of lives, who knows but this is the end of monarchy and the beginning of universal republic, and all nations shall be 'For the people, by the people and of the people.' "

"Mr. Chairman: We have papers with reference to some of our pioneers who have died since our last meeting, and who were actively engaged in the promotion of the association for many years. While we do not wish to make what might be termed a distinction with regard to these things,

Since our last meeting, Dr. Peter Beaugrand of this city his died. He would be one hundred years old if he were alive today; he died in his one hundredth year, and Mrs. Sarah Ludwig, who was always active and present at our meetings when she could be, died in her one hundredth year. She would be now one hundred years old if she were alive today. And Nelson R. Tucker, who was trustee of our association and was avery active member of it and attended every meeting of the association since its organization in 1874 save two, died since our last meeting. He was here on the 30th of August last year, enjoying the occasion, and on September 5th, five days later he passed away.

Then Mr. Frank Heim, who was a friend of our association, in his last will and testament generously left a bequest to this association of a couple of hundred dollars, and we wish to make some expression of appreciation of that.

Mrs. Rachel Ludwig, Sandusky county's oldest woman and beloved pioneer, died shortly before eleven o'clock Thursday morning at the home of her daughter, Mrs. George Moore, Sr., in Ballville village, and with her death came the termination of a life that was exceptional in mnany particulars.

Mrs. Ludwig had often expressed the hope that she could be spared and permitted to enjoy life on this earth until she had rounded out her centennial, and only a few months ago reached the last milestone but one in the one hundred years. Until that time she had been enjoying health and spirits that were of the - best. Some weeks ago she was taken ill but recovered. Later she suffered anae

Her heart was the source of the final trouble and this vital organ which had performed its functions so satisfactorily and so capably for so long a period failed her, and in spite of heroic measures failed to respond and finally ceased beating, and this venerable pioneer's life thus quietly and peacefully ebbed away.

The funeral services were held at the Moore residence in Ballville, Saturday afternoon, at two o'clock, conducted by Rev. J. F. Harshbarger, pastor of the Methodist church, and the remains were interred in Oakwood cemetery.

Rachel Elizabeth Miller was born near Harrisburg, Pa., on the banks of the Susquehanna river and the unusual span of years which marked her long life has been contemporary with the advancing history of the country. She could refer to the time of the flat boat, the ox-team and the spinning wheel, and her years also carried her forward to the modes of travel of recent times and other conveniences which are rarely different.

The daughter of a typical man of early times, who was a farmer, miller and physician, the little girl was reared on the border that was then the frontier, and the reminiscences of her early life are as romantic as a bit of fiction. She always enjoyed most to tell about rowing persons across the Susquehanna in a skiff; of the time she caught a weasel, an animal which is hard enough to entrap while asleep and which she squeezed to death when it was about to carry off a chicken from her father's. place. She also remembered when there were wild animals along the mountains and related an exciting experience with a panther while gathering wild huckleberries.

As the daughter of a physician she was first aid to the injured when her father was not at home, and many a fractured bone or ugly bruise was cared for successfully by her. Mrs. Ludwig during her long and active life was not much interested in suffrage, but as a girl and woman she exemplified the type of true American

Mrs. Ludwig was one of the oldest of nine children, all of whom lived to an unusual age. She always attributed her long and healthy life to slow and careful eating with plenty of exercise for both mind and body. She came to Sandusky county when a bride nineteen years of age and spent her entire married life on a farm on the Greensburg pike. Mr. Ludwig died about eighteen years ago, but Mrs. Ludwig continued to live at the old homestead until about three years ago when she took up her residence with her daughter, Mrs. Geo. Moore, Sr., of Ballville, at whose home she died.

In the attractive old home on the Greensburg pike nine children were born and reared and Mrs. Ludwig lived to enjoy her great-great-grandchildren. Of her sons and daughters, the following are still living: Mrs. Elizabeth Bruner, of Rockridge, II1.; Mrs. Geo. Moore. Sr.; Mrs. Genevieve Miller, of Rockridge, Ill.; Samuel Ludwig. of Washington; Michael Ludwig, of Texas, and Tom Ludwig, of Sandusky.

On October 27, last, the 99th natal anniversary of the pioneer was celebrated with a family dinner at the home of Mr. and Mrs. George Moore and joining in the festivities of the. day were members of the family. In the afternoon numerous friends called and before the huge fireplace in the old Moore homestead this beloved woman received many congratulations and best wishes of her guests, all hoping she would be spared to round out the century.

Mrs. Ludwig was at all times cheerful and happy and at her best when conversing with friends. Most of her time in late years she busily spent in quilting, hemstitching and making carpet rags.

Her remarkable long life was a most useful and interesting career and her always bright and cheery disposition and her sterling character and womanhood will cause her memory to live in the minds of all who knew her for many years to come.

Until her last illnesses, Mrs. Ludwig was as active as one half as old and physically well preserved. Her eyesight was of the best and she found much time to devote to the study of her Bible and read several chapters every day. She was a woman well posted on all current events of the times. During the past summer she completed two handsome quilts, an evidence of her perfect eyes and at the same time nimble fingers. The death of Mrs. Ludwig is therefore the termination of a most wonderful life.

As my wife has passed away and gone I hope to the better world and as she was one of the pioneers of Sandusky county and at one time a member of the Pioneer Association of Sandusky County, I thought it my duty to let you know so that her name could be placed on the death list of 1914.

Her maiden name was Ann Avilla Cochrane. She was born in Rice township, Sandusky county, July 12, 1830, and died April 5, 1914, making her age 83 years, 8 months and 24 days. JI wish I could be there to the meeting this fall but space forbids. Now please answer this that I may know that you received it and let me know if Nelson and Henry Tucker are alive and well.

Mr. Frank J. Heim, deceased, a friend and member of the Sandusky County Pioneer and Historical Association, having in his last will and testament bequeathed to the association the sum of two hundred dollars to aid it in its work, the association through the following committee appointed at its annual meeting, August 1, 1914, hereby expresses its grateful appreciation of the generous provision of Mr. Heim thus made and that this recognition of his kind act be entered in honor of his memory in the record of the association, and a copy thereof be furnished by the secretary to Mrs. Frank J. Heim, widow of the deceased. Respectfully submitted,

The afternoon session was called to order by the President as follows: "It is generally understood that this is your meeting this afternoon. Mr. . Meek and I got together some time ago in connection with the balance of the trustees and decided that we would have no long speech today but would leave it with the people and let the people do the talking. Our chorister is not present and we will be obliged to dispense with the music, and I will ask Mr. Meek to present some papers he has relative to the death of some of the older members."

Mr. Meek: "As I said this forenoon we haven't got a record of the deaths of all of the pioneers of the county who died since the last meeting, but some who have died have been more prominent and more active, and we mention among them, Solomon Overmyer, of Lindsey, 87 years of age, has died, and David Burgoon, aged about 80, and others ~ whose names we would love to record, and shall endeavor to get and keep up the records, and perpetuate their names.

My predecessor, Mr. Burgner, was an expert in regard to that matter. He had the faculty of getting together in a way, briefly and compactly and in an intelligent manner, the obituaries of the people who died in the county that was remarkable, and since his death we haven't had these names as we had before. Major Burgoon is endeavoring to collect some of them and so am I, and we will try to get them together and publish them in the yearbooks as far as we can and try to perpetuate their memory and hand down their good old names to those coming after them.

Nelson R. Tucker was, as I said this morning, an active member of the association, and he attended the meetings of this association whenever he could from the time of the organization of this association in 1874 down to last year and was present last year and five days from that time passed over to the other side, leaving a fine record behind him.

Nelson R. Tucker was born in Jefferson county, N. Y., April 16, 1823, and departed this life in Sandusky county, Ohio, September 4, 1913, aged 90 years, 4 months and 19 days. His parents were Nathaniel B. and Mary A. (Ballard) Tucker, of Lawrence county, N. Y. In 1839 they, with their children, including Nelson, then 16 years old, moved to Sandusky county, Ohio, settling in what is now Rice township. Here his father died in 1884 in the 88th year of his age, and his mother in 1892 in her 92nd year.

Nelson R. Tucker married (first) Miranda Burgoon, March 6, 1843, who was a daughter of Peter Burgoon, a prominent pioneer citizen of Sandusky county. She was born in 1829 in Maryland, where her parents then lived. She died at her home in Sandusky county, February 3, 1895. To them were born the following named children: Martha, Rachel E., Julia J., Lillie V., Charles G. and John P. Mr. Tucker's school education was obtained in a log school-house in the neighborhood of his parents' home in Lawrence county, N. Y. The year following his parents' settlement in Rice township, then a _ wilderness, then being only, seventeen years old, he helped cut and hew the logs for the construction of the first schoolhouse built in that township and which was on land donated by his father for that purpose. He finally became the owner of 240 acres of land in Sandusky township of which he cleared and stumped 200 acres, subsequently selling 100 acres of the same. In addition to clearing his own land he did much pioneer work for others in helping to develop the surrounding new country by road making, bridge building and other necessary improvements. He was particularly interested in road making and served as supervisor of roads many years. Through his interest and activity the road known as the Oak Harbor Pike was built, being one af the best roads in the county. He early identified himself with the Sandusky County Pioneer and Historical

N. R. Tucker

Association and was active in promoting interest in the same, and was present at every annual reunion after its organization in 1874 excepting only two, being present at the last previous to his death. He was from the time of the incorporation of the association a member of the board of trustees. In politics, Mr. Tucker was a Democrat of the "old school"

Jeffersonian type, a great admirer of William Jennings Bryan, and did more than any other man in the county in procuring subscriptions for and promoting the circulation of Mr. Bryan's newspaper, the ''Commoner." He was not an office seeker, but he accepted the office of Coroner of the county and served four years rendering service notably of the best character and at the least expense in fees and cost possible to the public, as the records of his administration of the office will show.

On September 7, 1898, Mr. Tucker was married (second) to Mrs. Lydia P. Benedict, a daughter of William and Olive Patrick, and widow of Charles M. Benedict. She was born in. Wyoming county, Pa., June 30, 1834, and is now living. She is also interested in this association and cooperated with Mr. Tucker in forwarding its work and has prepared and read interesting papers at its meetings.

He was a good citizen, a man of the highest type of moral character, progressive in sentiment and act for the material and. moral advancement and prosperity of his fellow citizens. In honor of his memory his portrait adorns the badge of the association for the year 1914.

"We will hear from Mrs. Long relative to the death of Mrs. Welsh who was a prominent member of our association, and was always very active."

Thoughts of the loss of the companionship of our friends make us sad, and the days seem lonely and full of heartache, but even aS we mourn, we are deeply impressed with the loving kindness of Him who lives to heal the broken heart and to bring us into closer relationship with Himself.

I have been asked to pay a tribute to one who was with us in our annual gathering last year and for many previous meetings always ready with word of cheer and pleasing reminiscences to remind us_ that whatever clouds may obscure the bright sunlight of our lives there is always a silver lining, if we but look for the bright side.

Lovina Hitt was born and spent almost her entire life on the beautiful farm purchased by her father more than three-quarters of a century ago.

Here she spent her girlhood years. She obtained a good education, having attended for a number of terms, the old academy at Milan, and was among the successful pioneer teachers of Huron county, until, at the age of 22 years, she married Charles H. Welch, a soldier of the civil war (then just recently ended), having served in the 55th Regiment Ohio Volunteer Infantry and who passed seven years ago into the Great Beyond.

Mrs. Welch was an earnest Christian whose experience was of the bright and happy sort and her life was a constant inspiration to all who knew her. She was a member of the Woman's Relief Corps and was among the foremost in the charitable and patriotic work of the local organization at Bellevue, of which she was an active member.

Mrs. Welch was also a member of the order of the Eastern Star and always took a deep interest in everything pertaining to the betterment of the community, she was a woman of great energy and a tireless worker. She passed to the higher life almost without any warning, on the morning of February 13, 1914, just at the beginning of the most severe storm of the winter. She has laid down the burdens of life and her memory will long be cherished by all who knew her. "In the shadow of his wing there is rest, sweet rest." Respectfully submitted, Zoe A. Long, Com. After the reading of this obituary, Mrs. Long was called upon by the ~President to say something relative to the life and death of Dr. Peter Beaugrand, who passed away in his one hundredth year.

Mrs. Long spoke as follows: "I want to say to the members of the Pioneer Association that my uncle, Dr. Beaugrand, was very anxious to reach his one hundredth birthday, which would have Wednesday of this week, the 26th of August. On the 26th day of March he asked me what day of the month it was. I told him it was the 26th; he counted on his fingers, "April, May, June, July, August." "In five months J will be 100 years old, and I think I will reach it, don't you?" I told him he might if he was a very good boy and behaved pretty well, and he took it as a joke and said he was going to try to reach it, but on the night of the 7th of April he seemed to begin to go down just little by little, and on the evening of the 11th of April 1914 he passed away after having been in bed only three days, and this is what the Fremont News at that time said of him:

"Dr. Peter Beaugrand, oldest resident of Fremont and Sandusky county, died Saturday night at 10 o'clock at his late residence on Union Place and his oft repeated desire that he be spared to round out the century of his life was not fulfilled. Numerous friends of this esteemed and venerable pioneer of Northwestern Ohio had been planning to appropriately commemorate his centennial the coming August but now all these plans must be abandoned and instead, his large circle of acquaintances will gather at St. Paul's Episcopal church Tuesday and pay final tribute to the man who came to Fremont and located long before many of the present day citizens were born.

The end of this pioneer came quietly and peacefully. It was like the stopping of the machinery of an engine. The physical machinery, active sO many years, ceased to operate further and the patient slept into the unknown, conscious to the very last.

Dr. Beaugrand, although his health had not been of the best since the flood a year ago when he was compelled to leave his residence on Kast State street, his home for. so many years, had not been confined to his bed until Wednesday night last. Then his grit and determined spirit left' him, but he did not regard his illness as serious. Thursday his condition seemed much weaker and he gradually failed until the end came. Saturday night shortly before his death, his niece, Mrs. Zoe Long, who for years had tenderly cared for and carefully and faithfully ministered to her uncle, went to his room and made inquiries whether or not Dr. Beaugrand wanted some stimulant. His reply was that he did not need it at that time. Mrs. Long made preparations to retire for the night, another nurse being there to relieve her and-when she later returned to the doctor's room she quickly discovered that the soul had taken flight.

The funeral services will be held at St. Paul's church Tuesday afternoon at two o'clock and Rev. Thomas Jenkins of St. Paul's Episcopal church will officiate. The remains will be interred in Oakwood cemetery.

The deceased is the last member of his family, five sons and four daughters, to pass away and he has but few living relatives, they being nieces and grand-nieces. Mrs. Long is one of the nearest of these, she being a niece. Mrs. O. C. Burt and Miss Martha Dickinson are _ also nieces and Mrs. O. H. Thomas and Mrs. M. O. Phillips are grand-nieces. There are also a number of other distant relatives.

At the funeral Tuesday the Rawson post G. A. R. will conduct their burial services at the grave, Dr. Beaugrand having for many years been a member of the post.

Fremont, was brought to this place, then Lower Sandusky, by his parents in 1828. He was born Mich., August 26, 1814, his parents being John B. and Margaret Chabert Beaugrand. In 1760 the Beaugrand family was founded in Canada by the grandfather of the subject of this sketch, James Baptiste Beaugrande, an Indian trader and merchant who came from Bordeaux, France. In 1768 he lived at Three Rivers, Canada, at which place in that year occurred the birth of his son, John B. Beaugrand, who also became a merchant and trader. Prior to the war of 1812 he located in Detroit and later moved to Maumee and during the invasion of that city his place was destroyed by fire. He continued his mercantile pursuits in Detroit until 1822 when he came to Ohio and after one year here sent for his family. Dr. Beaugrand often recalled that journey which was one of danger and hardship. It was the first week in January, 1823, and a sleigh was the conveyance used, the proposed trip being on the ice covering Lake Erie which was not an unusual mode for travel and for many months each year was regarded as perfectly safe. This trip however was an exception and although the travelers. kept close to shore, the ice gave way and horses and sleigh broke: through and the members of the party were saved from drowning only by very prompt and active work. Dr. Beaugrand very often pointed out to those interested the very spot where the family landed and where they built a great fire and became dry and warm enough to enable them to complete the trip by land. Dr. Beaugrand often recalled the courage and resourcefulness of his mother who on that occasion and many others was the leading spirit in all that concerned the safety and comforts of the party. The mother, Margaret Chabert, was born February, 1781, and died May 12, 1859, and was one of the finest types of women of her day. Her memory is recalled and her beautiful life commemorated by a large oil painting of herself which is to be found in the Birchard library. Her

Of the nine children born to John B. and Margaret Beaugrand, Dr. Peter Beaugrand was the last one to die. James A., the youngest of the family, died in 1906. One sister was the wife of Rudolphus Dickinson, a pioneer of Fremont and who served in congress.

Coming to Lower Sandusky when a. lad nine years of age, Dr. Beaugrand attended the schools of the day here and when eighteen years of age enjoyed one term at the Wells academy in Detroit. By 1833 he had decided upon his life's career and entered the office of Dr. B. and Dr. LaQ. Rawson in Findlay and during the winter of 1835-6 he attended medical lectures at the College of Physicians and Surgeons in New York and later the Ohio Medical College at Cincinnati, graduating from the latter: school in 1845. As early as 1834 he had commenced the practice 'of medicine in Lower Sandusky and the _ success. that crowned his efforts from the beginning proved an encouragement as he continued. In 1864 he was appointed surgeon for the 169th O. V. I. and served with that regiment until the close of the war. With that exception his absences from Fremont were not of long duration, consisting mainly of attendances at some medical gathering or as a consulting physician in some important case. During the seventy years or more he practiced his profession in Fremont, Dr. Beaugrand numbered among his patients many of the older families and first residents of the place, then their children and their grandchildren. His long life spanned the most important period in his country's history and in all her progress, civilization and development he always took a deep interest. He was a great reader and deep student.

Many interesting anecdotes might be told and printed about events and incidents in the wonderfully long life of this man. Asked by the News a year or two ago, to what he attributed his long and active career, and the secret of his longevity, Dr. Beaugrand said, "Eat regularly, sleep reg-

"Tf I were to epitomize my secret of long life and exceptional health, I would advise every one to have a regular hour for retiring at night and arising in the morning. I would emphasize the necessity of eating with the utmost precision as to time and be careful about over-eating. I believe the great majority of people eat three times as much as is necessary. I retire at 8 in the evening and arise at 5 in the morning. I have appointed hours for my meals and observe them with strict regularity. I eat but little - just enough to sustain life. J exercise a certain amount each day. A few years ago I attended to the mowing of my lawn. Three years ago I was able to walk over -town, but now my declining years and slight infirmity confine my perambulations to my yard and this immediate vicinity.

"T have aged much in the past year and yet with the exception of my weakness and slightly impaired hearing I have no reason to complain. I spend my time in the reading of daily newspapers and current magazines, which afford me a happy pastime. I also enjoy a round of cards with my friends occasionally."

His reference to cards in the above talk, recalls the fact that Dr. Beaugrand was an expert whist player. He was always willing to play any friend but always insisted that he keep the score. Another feature of his life was that he never missed an election and had probably voted more times than any other person in this county, for he enjoyed the distinction of having lived here longer than any other man or woman. For more than 70 years he never neglected the opportunity to cast his vote. He was an ardent admirer of Woodrow Wilson and supported him at the polls. His many reminiscences of the early days hereabouts, his description of the growth and prosperity of the city and his comparison of the old Fremont with the new were always interesting and at times almost beyond credence.

Once he said to the News: "Modern medical theories are all right but before the fathers of these bright young doctors were born we cured patients just the same. Nobody knew anything about germs then or antiseptic surgery or pasteurizing or a lot of new things and appendicitis was unheard of, but we got along just about as well. We kept things clean and used a lot of hot water, old > fashioned physics and lotions."

He would point out that present day doctors think it hard work to get up at midnight and drive several miles in the snow or wind in an enclosed automobile. "Many a time I have ridden on horseback 50 miles at a stretch over rough trails or in deep woods and through the Black Swamp where one mile an hour was fast time. Twice I was frozen in the saddle and had to be cut loose. 'The present day hardships of doctors are jokes."