Springfield Township

Springfield Township

THIS is the only full-sized one, territorially, of the eastern tier of townships in Williams county. It occupies the southeast corner and touches adjacent territory in both Defiance and Fulton counties. The surface is generally level, with just sufficient undulation to afford good drainage. Like all the surrounding country, it is well watered and admirably adapted to all classes of diversified agriculture. The principal stream is Bean Creek, an affluent of the Maumee, which flows through it from north to south. Numerous smaller streams traverse the land as tributaries and contribute to the facilities for grazing, an industry which is well represented in connection with general farming and fruit growing.

The township, of course, is an exact quadrangle in shape - six miles square - bounded on the north by Brady township and on the west by Pulaski. Defiance county forms the entire southern boundary, while Fulton county joins it on the east and provides a boundary for two sections on the north. Like all the other territory which was not surveyed until after the adoption of the admirable Congressional plan, the system of surveys is regular, descriptions being sections, quarter sections, etc. The territory was originally covered with an abundant growth of excellent timber, and ihese desirable features early attracted crowds of immigrants who had followed the first settlers into the new country.

Springfield was organized as a separate township on March 30, 1835, the territory having prior to that date been attached to or a part of Tiffin township (now in Defiance county). The boundaries then provided by order of the county commissioners carried jurisdiction to the Michigan line, but these were subsequently reduced and the present congressional limits established. The first election for township officers was held at the house of Sarah Luther, on the 16th day of May, 1835, and resulted in the selection of the following named persons: Jonathan B. Taylor, clerk; Bruce Packard, John Stubbs and Harmon Doolittle, trustees; Joseph Stubbs, John Fields and Joseph Bates, fence viewers ; John Lindenberger and Joseph Bates, supervisors; John H. Stubbs and Calvin Gleason, constables; Daniel Colgan and Abram Worts, overseers of the poor; Thomas J. Prettyman, treasurer. By reason of the death of Thomas J. Prettyman, July 28, 1835, a vacancy was created in the treasurer's office, and the trustees, on September 5, appointed Daniel Colgan to that position. Upon the same day, Jonathan B. Taylor and Harmon Doolittle were elected

The township clerk's book containing the above facts is said to be still in existence, and among the records in the county clerk's office at Brvan is the poll-book of the election, held on September 5, 1835, when the justices named above were chosen. This record contains the name of every voter who cast his ballot at the election, and it is fair to infer that it represents nearly the entire voting population of the township at that time. The names recorded are as follows; John Stubbs, Joseph Stubbs, Daniel Colgan, John H. Stubbs, Calvin Gleason, John Hollinshead, Jonathan B. Taylor, Harmon Doolittle, John Lindenberger, Abraham Worts.

Of the early settlers of the township, jio one is more worthv of the post of honor than John Stubbs, not only because of his early residence, but because of his prominence and usefulness in the young community. He was a man of marked intelligence and strong humanitarian principles, one of the few who willingly yielded personal interest and made financial sacrifices for the sake of principle. He was born in Orange county, New York, August 12, 1784. His father, William Stubbs, who was of Welsh descent, was a soldier in the Revolutionary' War and assisted in the capture of the desperate and infamous tory, Claudius Smith, near Goshen, Orange county, New York, where he was afterwards hanged. In early life, John Stubbs removed to Tompkins county. New York. He was captain of a company of state militia during the war of 1812. In 1832 he sold his farm in Tompkins county and entered nearly 1,000 acres of land in what afterwards became Springfield township, Williams county, Ohio, and came with his family, together with his sons-in-law, Jonathan B. Taylor and Harmon Doolittle, and their families, all settling in Springfield township, the following spring. Mr. Stubbs located on Tiffin River (Bean Creek), about three miles south of the present site of Stryker, built a cabin and commenced clearing. Here he remained but a year, when he removed to another tract of land in the same township, two and a half miles west of Stryker, and built another cabin. This farm of 130 acres he soon afterwards sold to Dr. Kibbey, who contemplated building a saw-mill and surveyed a portion of the land for town lots, calling the new place Williamsport ; but becoming badly involved and unable to execute his intentions, the land reverted to Mr. Stubbs, who, in the meantime, had returned to his former place where he had begun a home, and where himself and family resided until 1861, when Mr. and Mrs. Stubbs went to live with their son, John H. Stubbs, with whom they remained until death called them. Mr. Stubbs died, January 26, 1864, and was followed by Mrs. Stubbs in 1871. Mr. Stubbs was for eighteen years justice of the peace in Tompkins county, New York, and after coming to Ohio filled continuously for many years some of the township offices, being also at one time one of the commissioners of Williams county. He was a member of no church, but was for more than half a century a prominent and leading member of the Masonic fraternity, having advanced as far in the order as was then possible in this country. He was for many years Worshipful Master of Hiram Lodge, in Tompkins county, New York, and after coming west helped to organize new lodges over northwestern Ohio. He believed Masonry to be the best organization ever instituted by man, and constantly practiced, through a long and useful life, the tenets of the order. Ever seeking to ameliorate the condition of humanity he dispensed charities with a loving heart and a bounteous hand.

John H. Stubbs came to Williams county, in 1833, and was identified with its growth from that early period. His parents located in Springfield township on a farm, where he remained at work, and which he acquired by deed of gift from his father in 1845. In company with two brothers-in-law, he built the first saw-mill in Springfield township, on Tiffin River, which he had charge of for several years. He was peculiarly fitted for pioneer life, and, being a sure marksman, the wild turkeys and deer with which the country abounded, suffered at his hands. He was of an eminently social nature, and, with his violin, was an indispensable figure at all the primitive gatherings of that day. He served to cheer and enliven the hearts of the widely-separated neighbors and inspire courage for renewed efforts. Mr. Stubbs was a charter member of Stryker Lodge, No. 61 1, I. O. O. F., and in politics was a Republican. He was born November 26,. 1820, in Springfield, Tompkins county, New York. For more than forty years he was an extensive, close and careful reader and investigator, especially of metaphysical subjects. He did his own thinking and would not allow creed-makers to forge fetters for his mind. He believed that all material things were formed in obedience to certain immutable laws ; that both law and matter are eternal and indestructible ; that the word "create" is a misnomer and should be stricken from every language. He believed that there is a certain something called "energy," also eternal and indestructible, which overcomes resistance and does work ; that this energy is always the same, no matter under what circumstances it may be manifested. He firmly believed that what men called "mind," "intelligence" or "soul," is only a manifestation of energy. He believed in. the entity of the individual mind ; that all mental improvement is but accumulated thought or energy, and that it must go on forever. To him, the only evidence of a future existence is in the manifestation of spirits, and while he repudiated creeds, one and all, as the inventions of men, he was yet no materialist. He would not bow the knee in superstitious reverence of the Past, simply because it is the Past, but worshiped toward the Dawn. He believed in a religion of love, rather than in a religion of duty; that the whole of religion, pure and undefiled, is to deal justly, love mercy, and to endeavor to make fellow creatures happy. Mr. Stubbs departed this life at his home near Stryker, September 10, 1882.

Thomas J. Prettyman was a soldier in the war of 1812, and by trade was a carpenter. He was born in the state of Delaware, but early in life removed to Philadelphia, and thence came to Pickaway county, Ohio, where he bought two farms, aggregating about 320 acres, and engaged in farming and stock-raising. In 1833, he brought his family to Springfield township, where he had entered 200 acres of land two years before, and entered 600 additional acres. Here he built a cabin on Bean Creek and began clearing up a farm, his nearest market being Defiance, which could be reached only by poling down the river. He was a local minister in the Methodist Episcopal church, and preached probably the first sermon ever heard within the present limits of Williams county, it being the discourse at the funeral of a Miss Knipe, whose death was the first on record in Springfield township. As stated above, Mr. Prettyman was the first treasurer of the township, and held that office at the time of his death, July 28, 1835.

It is claimed that James Guthrie settled on Bean Creek, about 1827. If such is the fact he must have been the first settler in what is now Springfield township, and very probably in what is now Williams county. Peter Knipe settled on the southeast corner of section 33, in the spring of 1831. He was a native of Pennsylvania, and removed to Ross county, Ohio, at an early day. He left Ross county and settled on Bean Creek, near Brunersburg, in the year 1827, and from there he moved within the present limits of Springfield township. Josiah B. Packard settled in the north part of the township at an early day. Rev. Thomas J. Prettyman, as stated above, settled on the north part of section 29, in the spring of 1833, was a Methodist local preacher, and a leading man in the community. Lewis W. Prettyman, a son, was four or five years of age when his father settled in the township and spent a long and useful life there. At the time of his death, which occurred but a few years ago, he had no doubt lived longer in Springfield township than any other person. Daniel Colgan settled on section 20. in the year 1833, and lived there until his death, which occurred in 1867. He came from Champaign county, Ohio, to Williams county, but he was a native of Kentucky. William B. Sprague and his father, Solomon Sprague, came to Williams county and settled in the south part of Springfield township, about 1832 or 1833. They were natives of Rhode Island and distant relatives of former Senator Sprague of that state. James Luther settled at an early day, perhaps in 1833, near the place where Stryker now stands. It is said that John Hollinshead first settled on a farm on the west bank of Bean Creek, and that Daniel Colgan bought the claim in 1833, after which Mr. Hollinshead moved farther north. Among the other early settlers were David Carpenter, Louis Clark, Harvey Clark and Chauncey Clark.

Louis Clark was born in Northampton, Massachusetts, December 4, 1802, where he received the usual education of the time, and worked on the farm of his uncle until twenty-one years old. Shortly afterward he opened a meat market in Greenfield, Massachusetts, which he continued two years, and, in 1834, came to Springfield township, where he entered 160 acres of land and commenced the work of clearing. The inhabitants at this time were sparse and the difficulties manifold, the nearest market and mill being seventy miles distant, by water, and corn was the only grain procurable. On one occasion, during the summer of 1834, Mr. Clark and other settlers went to Brunersburg to obtain provisions. None being procurable at that place, thev held a council (not of war, but of ways and means) to devise some mode of driving the wolves of hunger from their forest doors. Mr. Clark and another young man were dispatched to Cleveland for a supply of flour. They purchased fifteen barrels, paying ten and twelve dollars per barrel, and this they shipped by steamboat to Toledo, thence, by ox team, to a point on the river, and thence by barge up the Maumee and Tiffin rivers to the settlement, a distance of 120 miles. In 1838 Mr. Clark built a cabin and continued to increase his farm until it comprised nearly 400 acres, which he later divided among his children. He was the second trustee of Springfield township and a member of the school board for many years.

In 1834, Harvey Clark came to Springfield township and entered several hundred acres, some of which he began to clear. In 1836, he married Mary Stubbs and at once built a cabin, and resided in the township until 1866, when he sold his farm and moved to Missouri. In 1877, he returned and lived the remainder of his life with his children.

Stryker is the only village of importance in Springfield township. It was laid out in the fall of 1853 by John A. Sargeant and E. L. Barber, and was named in honor of John Stryker, who was an officer of the Air Line railroad. As a country town it has assumed and maintained progressive business interests, and, being in the center of a rich agricultural district, is destined to hold its own. notwithstanding the aggressions of other towns near by. In the last decade the village has had a substantial growth, showing an increase of nearly two hundred in population. A Mr. Tingley opened the first hotel in the town, and Blinn & Letcher (Chester Blinn and William Letcher) were the first merchants. Chester Blinn was born in Cleveland, Ohio, June 15, 1815, and at the age of eighteen was employed in the fur trade at Orleans, Ohio, where he remained nearly seven years. He then engaged in the same business at Fort Wayne, until 1849, when he removed to West Unity and formed a partnership in the mercantile business with William Letcher, under the firm name of Blinn & Letcher. In 1853, this firm took a grading contract on the Lake Shore & Michigan Southern railroad, and, in 1854, started a branch store at Stryker, which as before related, was the first one in the place. Both were operated until 1857, when the partnership was dissolved, Mr. Blinn retaining the stock at Stryker, which he sold in 1859. In 1861, he was employed in the quartermaster's department at Gallatin, Tennessee. under Capt. W. A. Hunter, and remained there two years. After his return the firm of Blinn & Douglas began operations in Stryker as grain and stock dealers, and for years did a very extensive business in that line.

William Sheridan, Jr., was the first postmaster at Stryker. When the town was laid out there was an old log schoolhouse near by that was used for school purposes until the town, with the aid of the township, built a two-story frame house, in 1856-57. This building

Perhaps the first religious meetings in the township were held at the house of Daniel Colgan, on section 20. In October, 1833, Rev. James B. Austin was invited to preach in Mr. Colgan's cabin, and at this meeting a society of five members was formed. It is said that this was the first religious meeting within the present limits of Williams county, and the five members who formed the first organization were Thomas J. Prettyman, Lydia Prettyman, Mary Prettyman, Daniel Colgan and Christi Ann Colgan. Peter Knipe and wife and Wallery Coonrod were also early church members. All of the above named were Methodists. David Carpenter, who settled in the "thicket," was the first prominent United Brethren church member in the township. The churches of the township have made rapid progress from these small beginnings of sixty-five or seventy years ago, and there are at least three societies of the Methodist Episcopal church, with a large membership in the total.

Perhaps the first religious society of United Brethren in the township was organized in the "thicket" about forty-five or fifty years ago. David Carpenter, a leading member, contributed a great deal of time and money, and through his efforts a building was soon after erected on his farm, on the southeast corner of section 15. About 1873, that house was removed to Stryker and rebuilt, and that act centered the organization of the church at the village. The Universalist church at Stryker was organized, April 13, 1877, by Rev- J. T. Rice, with seventeen members. The following were the first officers: W. E. Kintigh, moderator; Philip Werum, Chester Blinn and

William C. Miller, trustees; C. C. Douglas, clerk; Mrs. A. Silvernail, treasurer; S. P. Cameron and Chester Blinn, stewards. This church organization is one of the most active in the township. The Catholics have a church organization at Stryker, consisting of a number of families, and they erected a church building in the township as early as i860. The Baptists have a society, and there are a few Presbyterians and German Methodists in the township who have preaching occasionally.

Springfield township is one of the best agricultural districts in Williams county, and the thrifty farmers are profitably engaged in all classes of diversified farming. Considerable attention is given to the raising of fine stock, and some are buyers and shippers of the same. A very large proportion of the grain raised is fed to stock on the farms. There are many fine homes in the township, an evidence of thrift and prosperity.