Weston Township (part 9 of 15)

1 849 - Schuyler N. Beach, George Powers, E. D. Maumee was undoubtedly the light canoe of the Peck, W. H. Hopkins, Willard V. Way, Joseph j Indian, which, as its owners became lower in Sargent and Collister Haskins et a/, being the j nature's scale, gave place to the cumbersome corporators. Under the section of the law, Plain ! "dug out," a stout but tricky boat, which the township voted $2,000 subscription, by a major- English-speaking pioneers adopted on their ity of nine at the second election, and Perrys- ; coming. What were the names of the craft, burg township subscribed $5,000. These sums, | which carried the early French explorers along with the capital of the projectors, were expended the Erie coast of Ohio and up her navigable in the construction of a plank road (from Perrys- rivers, may never be known, nor will the historian burg to a point near the north line of the present j be permitted to write the names of the little, town of Bowling Green), under the superintend- j trusty vessels, which carried to the Foot of ency of John McMahan. A steam sawmill four the Rapids, the hardiest and happiest souls miles south of Perrysburg, and one four miles ever identified with the inauguration of Innorth of Bowling Green, were used in sawing the dian trade in the West. The coureur-des-bois native woods into plank, and, in 1853, or there- left no record of the boats behind. Since 1810. abouts, the road was completed and the inevitable however, the newspaper reporter and customtoll-gate established. Perrysburg interests sug- house official have made it a duty to keep a gested the old turnpike as well as the plank road, record of the river marine, and from such records intending to make the town accessible to the the following facts are taken. The old journal, farmers in the interior; but the road was turned known as Miami of the Lake, published in April, to the advantage of the precocious village near 1846, a. list of schooners, steamboats and propelthe county's center, and exercised no small in- lers, built on the Maumee below the rapids, fluence in advancing the new town. The record In the first-class were the " Miami," built in of roads might be continued ad infinitum. 1810, a schooner of 25 tons; the " Guerriere,"

Enough has been told, however, to point out the in 1827, 75 tons; the ''Eagle," in 1827, 130 early roads and the pioneers connected with tons; the "Antelope," in 1828, 75 tons; the their construction. To go into the numerous "Michigan," in 1832, 130 tons; the "Walter

Joy," in 1835, 130 tons; the "Caroline," 50 tons; the " Gazelle," 75 tons, and the "John Hollister," 130 tons, were also built in 1835, the "Favorite," 1 50 tons, in 1837, and the "Scotland," 100 tons, in 1845 - all constructed at Perrysburg, with the exception of the "Guerriere," which was built at the mouth of Swan creek. Across the river, at Maumee, the "Merchant," 75 tons, was launched in 1-834; the "Tippecanoe," 50 tons, in 1836; the "Maria," 100 tons, in 1836; the "Chippewa," 25 tons, in 1837; the "Tom Corwin," of similar burden, in 1840; the " Robert Hollister, " 120 tons, in 1844, and the " Ireland," in 1846. The " Major Oliver, " built below Perrysburg in 1837, was of 150 tons burden, and the " Ottawa," built at Oregon the same year, 1 30 tons burden. They were all schooners like the " Chippewa," which was constructed at Chippewa in 1809 and brought into the Perrysburg trade in 18 10 by her master, Capt. Anderson Martin, who built the "Miami." Both vessels were captured by the British in 1812, but were recaptured by Perry, during the naval fight, and restored to Martin, who placed them in service lor conveying Harrison's army across to Canada and up the Thames in pursuit of Proctor.

In 1833 steamboat building was introduced below Perrysburg, when the " Detroit," 200 tons, was launched. In 1835 the " Commodore Perry," 350 tons, was built at the Perrysburg yards; in 1837, the "General Wayne," 390 tons; the same year, the " John Marshall, 35 tons; in 1838 the "General Vance," 50 tons; in 1844 the "St. Louis," 618 tons; and, in 1845, the " Superior," 567 tons - all owned by Perrysburg investors. The work of steamboat building began at Maumee in 1838, when the "Chesapeake," 412 tons, was launched. In 1840 the "General Harrison," 326 tons was placed in service; in 1843 the "James Wolcott," 80 tons; 1845, the "Troy," 547 tons; while at Toledo, the "Indiana," 550 tons, was launched. The " Oliver Newberry " and "Andrew Jackson," built at Detroit, were purchased forthe Maumee trade, and other sailing and steam craft brought in under purchase.

The first propeller built at Perrysburg was the "Sampson," 250 tons, in 1843, and the second the " Princeton, " 400 tons, in 1845. The "Globe," 300 tons, was launched from the Maumee yards in 1845, but like the others was owned by individual citizens of Perrysburg, and by the Perrysburg Steamboat Company.

The old captains were Martin, of the "Miami;" Jacob Wilkinson, of the "Black Snake" (1815); David Wilkinson, of the " Guerrierc " (1826), and of the "Eagle" (1828): Amos Pratt,

I (1847). In 1818 the historic steamboat "Walk in the Water," was built for the Buffalo and Orleans trade, but it failed to run the bar below Perrysburg, and was placed on the Detroit line. Such schooners as the " Nancy Jane," of which Jacob Wilkinson was master; the " Sally," sailed by William Pratt, the " Walter," by Amos S. Reed, and the "Leopard " by John T. Baldwin, entered the river to the Foot of the Rapids in 1818 and 1819. The "Fire Fly," Luther Harvey master, entered in 1820. In 1823, Capt. Baldwin, named above, sailed the 12-ton schooner " Happy Return," while Isaac Richardson was master of the " Wapakoneta," a little boat of 12 tons.

I The " Vermillion," 34 tons, of which John Bald- ' win was master, and "The Packet" of Miami, sailed by Almon Reed, entered in 1824. This Reed was master of the " Lady Washington " in 1825. In 1830, Henry Brooks brought in the "Essex," a' schooner of 30 tons; in 1831, the "Independence" sailed by James Foster, entered the port, and these boats, with nearly all of those builtat Perrysburg, Maumee and Toledo, may I be said to have been engaged in the Maumee trade.

; In 1837, the steamboat "Gen. Wayne," under Capt. H. C. Williams, plied between the Head of the Rapids and Flat Rock, near Defiance, so that passengers might leave Perrysburg at noon and arrive at Defiance about 7 o'clock in the ' evening, or leave Defiance at 6 o'clock in the morning and arrive at the Head of the Rapids about noon. In May, 1838, the "Andrew Jackson " ran between Perrysburg and Manhattan, stopping at Maumee, Oregon. Upper Toledo and Lower Toledo four times a day, and, in 1839, the "Oliver Newberry" and "Erie" made regular trips between Perrysburg and Detroit, leaving at 7:30 a. M. and arriving at Detroit about 4 p.m. Prior to this, even from 1822, a number of lake vessels called regularly at Perrysburg en route from Buffalo to Detroit.

In 1846, the aggregate tonnage of the Maumee Valley was more than half the steamboat tonnage of the lakes in 1835, and lacked only a ton of being one-fourth of the entire steamboat tonnage of 1845. The tonnage of sailing vessels, constructed in the Valley, lacked only 1,025 pounds of being one-fifth of the aggregate lake tonnage in 1835, and only 875 pounds of being one-fourteenth the aggregate tonnage of 1 846.

Hundreds of stories relating to these days are still told. Hosmer pictures the determined character of the old lake captains of the Maumee more than once, and Capt. David Wilkinson particularly. In the fall of the year 1840, Capt. Wilkinson's steamboat, "Commodore Perry," was lying at the Perrysburg dock, the Captain was sick, and his crew were either sick or scattered. The Captain was a great admirer of Commodore Perry, and always made it a point to attend celebrations of Perry's victory over the British fleet at Put-in-Bay. In that year the great naval triumph was celebrated in grand style at Erie, Penn. Sick as was Wilkinson, he was bound to attend the celebration, and insisted upon Shibnah Spink taking charge of the boat for the trip. A raw crew was collected, the Captain was carried to the boat and placed on a cot in his room, and the trip was made successfully, though not without many difficulties which seemed almost insurmountable. Those who knew him were not surprised at his making the trip, for all obstacles were forced to yield when he determined upon a line of action.

The story of the "Queen Mab," as associated with the old "Exchange Hotel," is a familiar one to the people of Perrysburg. Inside the bar was a small trap door in the floor known to but few persons. Beneath was a walled cellar deep and dark which was reached by a step ladder. This unknown vault was once stored full of the highest grades of imported liquors. How they came there, where from and when, outsiders did not know. About that time a fellow named Jack Olney frequented the Maumee a good deal. Jack was a New Yorker, a confirmed cripple, yet a jolly, openhanded sort of a fellow, a favorite with sporting men. Jack owned a little pleasure craft called "Queen Mab." She was ship-rigged in every appointment, painted black, and as handsome as a bird and a good sailer. Jack frequented the river, bay, and lake as far as Detroit and Malden, and often indulged his friends in a pleasure ride on the "Queen Mab," treating them with the most generous hospitality. But the report leaked out after the "Queen" had gone, that she was a sly little smuggler, false lined and equipped for the business, yet so carefully as to leave no ground for suspicion. So insignificant a craft of course received no attention from the custom officer who was stationed then at Miami, and the dark-mantled little "Queen" had no trouble in taking on a valuable cargo at Malden in the night and making her way unsuspected to any of the lake or river ports. Whether she ever landed a cargo on the island in the Maumee in front of Perrysburg, which afterward found its way to the dark cellar, is at best only a surmise. Bensman and Thurber, the original proprietors of the house, who were favorites on the "Queen," are gone; the cellar walls have long since tumbled in, but the impressions of our chronicler are that Jack Olney could tell how that Cellar came to be stored with the best imported high grade liquors, and that there never was a gayer smuggler than the little "Queen Mab."

Among the stories of wrecks by winds, or collisions, or fires, that of the schooner "Eclipse," in September, 1822; of the schooner "Sylph," in May, 1824; that of the schooner " Surprise , " April 28 or 29, 1826; that of the schooner "Guerriere," May 29, 1832; and that of the steamer "G. P. Griffith," June 17, 1850, concern the marine of the Maumee, either in ownership or personnel of people lost. In 1826, Capt. David Wilkinson commanded the "Guerriere " and rescued the survivors of the wrecked "Surprise." In 1832, the "Guerriere" was sailed by R. Pember for John Hollister, the owner. When lost on Middle Sister Island, May 29, 1832, it was Capt. Pember who saved most of the crew and passengers, a woman and her four children being lost. In 1850, Charles C. Robey was captain of the "G. P. Griffith." He, his wife, mether-in-law and two children, all of Perrysburg, were drowned, and about 300 passengers perished in the waters of Lake Erie. Most of the crew, too, were lost, so that, all in all, the burning of the steamer, in sight of Fairport, Ohio, that 17th of June, 1850, was a calamity as appalling then as the burning of a great ocean liner would be to-day.

Comparisons. - In 1838, the merchants of Perrysburg paid on freight from New York City at the rate of $22 a ton, via the Erie canal ajid lake boats, while from Perrysburg to Chicago a sum of $10 extra was charged. The fall rates were very much higher, being no less than $4 for a package the size of a barrel between Buffalo and Chicago. The insurance was $12.50 a ton between these points, and between Perrysburg and Chicago $8.34 a ton. The completion of the Michigan Southern Railroad to Chicago, in 1852, changed all this, brought Perrysburg within a few hours' ride of the Gateway to the West, and made traveling a luxury rather than an affliction. In 1841 Toledo began to take the lead of Perrysburg in marine interests; in 1842 seven steamboats were gathered under one management to run between Buffalo and Toledo, and, within a few years, the new town on the site of Fort Industry took precedence in everything except beauty of location. Perrysburg, of course, did not lose all her marine interests; for, until recent years, ship building was carried on, and several large boats were la'unched from her yards each year.

Railroads. - In 1832 the Ohio Legislature granted charters to twelve railroad companies, but of the number the Mad River & Lake Erie was the only one constructed. In 1839 this road was completed to Bellevue from Sandusky, and ! in 1844 to Dayton, Ohio. In 1832, when the name Toledo began to mean the village on each bank of the Maumee, below the Rapids, the idea of railroads running through the Black Swamp took possession of the leading spirits among the people, and Toledo would, in their mind's eye, become the great terminal of many systems. There were 232.54 miles of railroad completed in Wood county down to the close of 1893, of which the B. & O. had 24.46 miles; the Bowling Green, 21.21; the Columbus, Findlay & Northern, 1.06; the C., H. V. & T., 35.38; the Dayton & Michigan, 37.34; the L. S. & M. S., 15.51; the T. & O. C. main line, 41.40, and Western line, 40.87; the Toledo, St. Louis & Kansas City, 2.09, and the Toledo, Walhonding Valley & Ohio,

The Lake Shore & Michigan Southern Railroad begins its history with the charter granted by Michigan, in 1832, to the Erie & Kalamazoo Railroad Co. Its history, so far as it relates to Wood county, begins in 1850. when the Toledo, Norwalk & Cleveland Railroad was undertaken, which was completed to Toledo, December 20, 1852, and through service to Chicago inaugurated P'ebruary 7. 1853. The Junction Railroad Co. began paralleling the T. , N. & C. in 1 850, via Perrysburg and Maumee, and pushed forward the work as far as grading and building piers for the proposed bridge at Perrysburg. In 1853 the enterprise fell into the ownership of what is now the Lake Shore & Michigan Southern Co., and work ceased along the line, though subsequent efforts were made to have the road completed. The vote of Perrysburg, in May, 1851, on the question of subscribing $50,000 to the Junction Railroad Co. was 98 pro and 1 contra - the odd fellow being a German laborer who had his own ideas on such subscriptions. In June,

| W. V. Way was elected a director; B. F. Hollister and John C. Spink being among the directors elected October 25, 1850. The Cleveland and Toledo company constructed a bridge at Toledo | in 1855. The line between Cleveland and Buffalo was completed in 1853 by three corporations known as the Buffalo & Erie, the Erie & Northeast and the Cleveland, Painesville & Ashtabula Companies. In 1853 the Erie & Northwest was consolidated with the other two roads, and its sixfoot gauge made to correspond with the fourfoot-ten-inch gauge of the two roads forming that link in the present trunk line. The Erie Gauge war resulted. In 1 869 the Lake Shore & Michigan Southern Railroad Co. was formed as owner in fact of all the lines named, together with the proprietary roads known as the Toledo & Detroit, the White Pigeon & Kalamazoo, thejonesville & Lansing, and the lines running to Oil City, Pennsylvania.

The Ohio Railroad Company, organized at Painesville April 25, 1836, was granted $249,000 by the State, and large sums of money from the people along its proposed line, from the Pennsylvania boundary to Manhattan, on the Maumee, 177 miles. At Maumee the crossing of the river would be made so as to connect with the proposed Manhattan & Detroit Railroad. Under the plans of the projectors, the superstructure from ! the Maumee to Fremont (twenty-nine miles) was i completed in March, 1842; but here the work ended, and the sum of $237,220, or $11,780 less than the State contributed, was lost.

The Pittsburg & Bellefontaine Railroad was a reality so far as bonds and good will were concerned. The Act authorizing Wood county to subscribe $100,000 to this road was observed by the commissioners April 23, 1839, when they subscribed for one thousand $100 shares and appointed an agent to borrow the money. As told in the transactions of the commissioners, this agent's report and his resignation were received and accepted, and the end of the enterprise was at hand. There is no report of the cancellation of the subscription, or of any further dealing with the bonds.

of Wood county's first north and south road. The Dayton & Michigan Railroad Co. was chartered in Ohio, March 5, 1851, to# build a road from Dayton, Ohio, through Wood county, via Lima and Toledo, to the Michigan line in the direction of Detroit. On June 17, 1859, the road was completed to Tontogany. On August 1 8, 1859, the road was completed to Toledo, the cost of construction and equipment being $6,903, 190.92. T. J. S. Smith was then president, Matthew Shoemaker, superintendent, and Preserved Smith, treasurer. Ten days after the date given, its first freight was received at Toledo, being ten cars of staves consigned to P. H. Brickhead & Co. On May r, 1863, the D. & M. was consolidated with the Cincinnati, Hamilton & Dayton road. Down to 1 880, a rate as high as ten cents a tr.ile, and as low as two and one-fourth cents a mile, was charged for passenger service. The frieght rates ranged from seven to twenty cents a ton for one mile to one and four cents a a ton a mile, for through freight. The main line from Toledo to Cincinnati is 202.3 miles in length; Dayton to Ironton, 164.1 miles; Dayton to Delphos, 94.9 miles; Tontogany to North Baltimore, 19.4 miles; Cincinnati to Middletown, 13.9 miles; Hamilton to Indianapolis, 99 miles; and Desher to Findlay, 18. 1 miles, or 61 1.7 miles of single track.

The Columbus, Hocking Valley & Toledo Railway was conceived in 1867, to remedy the delays in travel between Cincinnati and Toledo, via the Cleveland, Columbus & Cincinnati and the Cleveland and Toledo Railroads. At a meeting held in Columbus in 1867, Gen. Robinson, of Hardin county, presiding, with Fred R. Miller, of Wood county, secretary, it was resolved to continue the Columbus & Hocking Valley Railroad, then in operation northward. At a meeting held the same year in Toledo, the authority to seek charters for four companies was given; C. C. Waite, a son of Chief Justice M. R. Waite, was appointed chief engineer, and by December 13. 1867, he reported the survey of a line, 123.^ miles in length, from Toledo, via New Rochester, Freeport, West Millgrove, Fostoria, Springville, Upper Sandusky, Marion, Middleton, Bellepoint, White Sulphur Springs, and Dublin, to Columbus. This line was not adopted. Within a year or two the "West Line," 127.^ miles long, was surveyed through Bowling Green and Marysville, while the East Line," 123.7 miles in length, was surveyed almost over the route of the survey of 1867. In March, 1873, the choice of routes was submitted to the Toledo council, and that body selected the eastern survey. In May,

1873, Toledo, which had donated $200,000 toward the construction of the East Line, voted a similar sum toward the construction of a road over the western survey. Work was begun under the charter of May 28, 1872, to the Columbus & Toledo Co., and to the other road, on each line, but the supreme court declared its donations unconstitutional, and this judgment caused the cessation of work on the "West Line," while the " East Line" builders pushed forward their enterprise, and on December 5, 1876, saw the road completed. On January 10, 1877, the first

The Toledo & Woodville Railroad was a local enterprise of 1869, suggested to Toledoans by the greed of the Lake Shore & Michigan Southern, which down to that date commanded Toledo's commercial aspirations east of the river, and opposed them in many ways. This terminal road was to extend 22\ miles southeast to Woodville, in Sandusky county, and offer to the new roads an easy entrance into the city. A sum of $450,- 000 was voted by the citizens toward the construction. J. H. Sargent surveyed the lin6, and April 10, 1870, J. Edwin Conant was awarded the contract for construction; but he surrendered such contract, and May 4. 1871, the directors contracted with the Baltimore & Ohio, the Toledo & Michigan, and the Mansfield, Coldwater & Lake Michigan Companies to pay for right of way and depot grounds, and bridge the Maumee, the city giving $420, 000 in bonds, if the work were completed within eighteen months. The companies named contracted with the Pennsylvania Railroad Company to iron the road, build depots, machine shops, and equip the little system. On June 1 1, 1872, the trustees, displeased with the slow procedure, accepted a contract from the Pennsylvania Company. On May 1, 1873, the road was open for traffic, and February 2, 1874. a train of twenty-seven cars left Toledo for Philadelphia. In 1878, the trustees sold the road to the Pennsylvania Company for $225,000, without conditions. It maybe called a terminal road, since the great Pennsylvania Company, and theC. , H. V. & Toledo use it in entering from the south; the Detroit & Canada Southern, the Toledo, Ann Arbor & North Michigan, and the Ohio & Michigan, in entering from the north. It is not now known by its original name. The Toledo & State Line road, built in 1872-73, was merged into the Pennsylvania system, and now forms a part of that road.

incorporated in June, 1869, to build a railroad from Toledo, via Fostoria, Bucyrus, Mt. Gilead, New Lexington and Athens, to Columbus. What work was done under that charter became the property of the reorganized company - the Ohio Central Railroad Company - in 1879, when the Sunday Creek Valley road was absorbed. In

1881, 148 miles of road, from Bush's Station to Toledo, and sixty-five miles from Corning to Columbus, were in operation. From September 29, 1883, to April 15, 1885, the company's affairs were in the hands of a receiver. Then the bondholders became owners, and reorganized as the Toledo & Ohio Central Railway Company. In August, 1 886, rthe company leased a portion of the Kanawha & Ohio Railroad, and entered on that prosperous business career which has made it not only a great international coal-road, but also a great freight and passenger road between Central and Northern Ohio. On January 30, 1883, the last spike in the Toledo and Indianapolis road, between Toledo and Findlay, was driven. On January 27, the first hand-car rolled into Bowling Green, and three days later passenger trains brought invited guests to the barbecue at Allentown, or Cygnet, in Bloom township, tendered by E. Shinabarger, the owner of the new village, in recognition of the completion of the road. The gross earnings for the year ending August 31, 1895, amounted to $1,903,990.04, and the net earnings to $190,740.23.

The Toledo, St. Louis & Kansas City, known as "The Clover Leaf," is the new name of the Toledo, Delphos & Burlington Railway. The company, organized in May, 1879, as the legal name of the consolidated companies, known as the Toledo, Delphos & Indianapolis Railway Company. organized in 1872; the Toledo & Maumee Narrow Gauge, incorporated the same year; the Delphos & Kokomo, and the Delphos, Bluffton & Frankfort, incorporated in 1877.

The project of building the Toledo, Thornton & St. Louis Railroad was discussed in January, 1872, before a meeting held at Bowling Green, Dr. T. M. Cook, E. Reed, S. L. Boughton and E. A. Barton being the principal speakers.

In t88o the Dayton. Covington & Toledo was absorbed, and in March, 1881, the Dayton & Southeastern. The last named company's line from Dayton to Gallipolis, 144 miles, was constructed, in fact, by the T. D. & B. ; in 1S81 the branch, from Lebanon to the junction, with the Cincinnati Northern, was built, and, same year, a branch from Wellston to Ironton was commenced. The extension of the Swan Creek road to Hamilton street, Toledo, where it connects with the T. , St. L. &. K. C. , was an individual rather than a corporate enterprise. George Laskey, who resided at Grand Rapids until his removal to Toledo, in 1877, was one of the founders of the T., St. L. & K. C. system. It was a narrow-guage road connecting Grand Rapids with Toledo, and, until and since its absorption by the "Clover Leaf, "the principal aid to Grand Rapids' trade and commerce.

Baltimore & Ohio Railroad. - The beginnings of this historic railroad were made July 4, 1828, i by no less a personage than Charles Carroll, of Carrollton. The nucleus of this present immense system was for many years the only means of rapid transit between the Forks of the Ohio and Baltimore. In later years the road was gradually extended westward, after the design of its founders, and in our own times, by new lines and consolidation of short roads, pushed forward its iron bands to the Gateway of the West, becoming, under the Garretts, a trunk line connecting Lake Michigan with the Chesapeake - the old city of Maryland with the new and precocious city of Illinois. Early in 1872 the work of construction between Newark (Ohio) and Chicago was entered upon, and this extension of 365 miles completed, the road was opened for traffic to Baltimore, 831 miles, in November, 1874. The Pittsburg & Western, leased for some years by the Baltimore I & Ohio Company, became the property of the company in 1891, and, with the new road from Akron to Chicago Junction, is used as the short line between Chicago and Baltimore - the old I line via Bellaire and Grafton being 858.8 miles, or 27.8 miles longer than the road via Akron and Pittsburg. The total length of the four great | divisions of this system is 2,052.98 miles, to ! which may be added 614.68 miles of second, third and fourth track, and 756.74 miles of side track, or a total of 3,424.35. The rolling stock embraces 896 locomotives, 689 passenger coaches and 27, 589 freight cars. At Chicago its terminal , facilities are represented by the great depot and yards known as the Grand Central Depot, a modern palace on Harrison street, near the business center, while at Washington and Baltimore its terminals hold even as close a relation to the hearts of these cities. The main line through Wood county (twenty-four miles in length within this county) was constructed under the charter of 1S72. On this division all through trains over the old and new roads run, affording unusual advantages to the southern half of the county. The road may be credited with founding the thriving towns of North Baltimore and Bloomdale, and the villages of Welker, Bairdstown, Denver and Hoytville; for without it, enterprising men would scarcely seek, on their sites, safe places for the investment of capital. The exhibit of the Baltimore & Ohio at the World's Fair was in itself a history in iron and wood, showing the quaint beginnings of the road in contrast with its present magnificence in extent and equipment. The general superintendent makes headquarters at Chicago, 111., while the general passenger agent - Charles O. Scull - has his office in Baltimore, the birthplace of the road.

The Toledo & Maumee Valley Railroad Company was organized by Parks Foster, W. A. Taylor, Thomas H. Tracey, A. K. Detweiller and others, to build a road from Toledo to Perrysburg. The road, eight miles in length, was completed in August, 1894 (in forty days), eight miles from the Toledo city limits to Perrysburg. Early in 1895 this company widened the bridge at Perrysburg, so that this road will connect with the company's road to Maumee, making a belt i road. Proposed extensions of this electric system are seriously entertained, and it would not ' be surprising to learn, within a few years, that j all the important towns and villages of the county were connected with the county seat by electric railways. [Since the writing of the above the road has been extended to Bowling Green, completed October, 1 896, and is in operation ! under the name of The Toledo, Bowling Green ! and Fremont Electric Railroad.]

Chapter Xxiv

Public Lands - Indian Treaties - Land Surveys and Sales in the Western Territory - The "Seven Ranges" - First and later Surveys within wiiat is now Wood County - First Grant made by Congress for Lands lying within present Limits of Wood County - Town of Perrysburg - Public Sale of Lands at Wooster - Sundry Acts of Congress relating to Public Lands - Land Grants - Military Bounty Lands - Canal

BUT little is known, comparatively, outside of official sources about the history of the public lands of the United States. In this chapter, for which no higher rank is claimed than that of a compilation, only a few of the more important matters can be noted; yet sufficient, perhaps, to enable the general reader to obtain a greater knowledge of the original history of the lands in this portion of the National domain, which have, within the memory of men yet living, been subdued and transformed from a dense wilderness of forest, into pleasant farm homes and villages.

The public lands of the United States were acquired by treaty, cessions by States, conquest or purchase. Under the treaty of peace of .September 3, 1783, closing the war of the Revolution, Great Britain recognized the United States, as sovereign and independent, and relinquished

I all proprietary and territorial rights of the same. During the period of government of 1 the United States, under the Articles of Confed- | eration, the Western lands, which included the j entire territory east of the Mississippi river and j north of the Ohio river, and west of Pennsylvania, became the subject of much heated discussion among the thirteen original States, each claiming the right to control, to sell and dispose of such of the lands as it claimed to own. Many 1 of the claims conflicted, on account of overlapping boundaries, as defined in the grants from ! Great Britain, to the different colonies and to in- ; dividuals; but this difficulty was finally adjusted,

I by deeds of cession from the several States to | the National Government. When the Government was subsequently organized, the title to the 1 unappropriated public lands became vested in it, as 1 the successor of the Government, under the Con-

Within a few months after the treaty of peace between Great Britain and the United States, and after the cession of Western land, by the States of New York and Virginia, the Congress of the Confederation immediately began to take steps toward the organization of the Western Territory. A committee of three members, consisting of Thomas Jefferson, Mr. Chase, and Mr. Howell, submitted to Congress resolutions embodying a plan for. the temporary government of this Territory. These resolutions provide that the lands ceded, or to be ceded, by individual States to the United States, when the same shall have been bought of the Indian inhabitants, and offered for sale by the United States, shall be formed into additional States.

Indian Treaties. - The several treaties, already referred to at length, were, in the earlier instances, treaties of occupancy, and, in the later cases, treaties of cession. They were written for this chapter; but, as Mr. Evers had also summarized them in connection with the military movements against the Indians, they are omitted here.

It is not to be understood that these relinquishments were made on the part of the Indians without an equivalent. Large sums of money were paid to them, and stipulated to be paid, in perpetual annuities, as well as goods and merchandise. For instance, at one of the treaties it was stipulated that the United States should pay ten thousand dollars, in goods, and a perpetual annuity of two thousand, four hundred dollars, besides furnishing the Indians with two blacksmiths for ten years. And, among the provisions of the treaty at the Foot of the Rapids, the ; United States engaged to erect a sawmill and ! gristmill, for the use of the Wyandots, and to provide and maintain two blacksmiths, one for the use of the Wyandots and Senecas, the other for the Indians at Hog creek.

In reviewing these treaties, made from time to time between the United States and the Indian tribes, who claimed the right of possession to the soil, we are fully convinced that the Indians received a just equivalent in money and goods, or otherwise, and thereby the United States obtained an absolute title to the land. It is an historical fact that none of the public lands had ever been disposed of, by the Governernment, prior to its cession by the Indians.

Surveys and Sales. - Congress had entire control of the public lands, and in May, 1784, a committee, previously appointed, reported an Orj dinance for ascertaining the mode of locating and disposing of the lands in the Western Territory, This Ordinance was discussed and amended, until finally, on May 20, 1785, it passed, providing for townships, each six miles square and containing thirty-six sections, each one mile square. The first public surveys, under this Ordinance, embrace lands running north from the Ohio river, known as the " Seven Ranges." The sections were numbered from one to thirty-six, commencing with No. 1 in the southeast corner of the township, and running from south to north, in each tier, to No. 36, in the northwest corner of the township, as shown in the following diagram:

From May 20, 1785, the three commissioners composing the board of treasury made sales, and assumed control of the administration of all matters pertaining to the public lands. The first officer in charge of the surveys was styled: " The Geographer of the United States," and the only person who ever held the office was Thomas Hutchins, who served from 1785 up to his death, which occurred in 1789. After his death the manj agement of the surveys devolved upon the board of the treasury, until a special officer wras again placed in charge, under the Act of 1796, w'hich provided for the appointment of a surveyor-general, and which directed the survey of that part of the lands northwest of the Ohio river, in which the titles of the Indian tribes had been extinguished, and which had not been already conveyed by patents, or divided, in pursuance of the Ordinance passed May 20, 1785, or which has not been heretofore and during the present session of Congress, may not be appropriated for satisfying military land bounties, and for other purposes. Said lands to be divided by north and south lines, run according to the true meridian, and by others, crossing them at right angles, so as to form townships of six miles square. One-half of the said townships, taking them alternately, to be subdivided into sections, by running through the same each way, parallel lines, at the end of every two miles, and by marking a corner, on each of said lines, at the end of every mile. It was further provided, that the sections should be numbered progressively, beginning with No. I, in the northeast section, and proceeding east and west, alternately, through the township, till the 36th section be completed in the southeast corner. This method of numbering sections is still in use, and is illustrated by the following diagram:

It was further provided, that whenever seven ranges of townships were surveyed below the Great Miami, the surveyed sections were to be first offered for sale, in whole sections, at public auction, under the direction of the governor, or secretary of the Territory, said sales to be held at Cincinnati and at Pittsburg. They were to be sold to the highest bidder, but for not less than two dollars per acre, one-twentieth part of the purchase money down, and within thirty days enough more to make one-half of the purchase money, and one year's credit for the remaining half. The townships, remaining undivided, were to be sold in the same manner, under the direction of the secretary of the treasury, in tracts of one quarter of a township, and for not less than two dollars per acre. The four central sections in each township were reserved from sale. The lands also remaining unsold, in the " Seven Ranges," which were surveyed under the Ordinance of May 20, 1785, including the lands sold but not paid for, were ordered to be sold as follows: The townships which were directed to be sold entire, under said Ordinance, to be offered for sale at Philadelphia, at public vendue in quarter townships, reserving the four center sections; the other townships, directed to be sold under said Ordinance, in sections, to be offered for sale, at Pittsburg, under the regulations provided for herein.

Under this Act, Rufus Putnam was appointed surveyor-general, and served until 1803. From 1803 to 1813, Capt. Jared Mansfield, of the United States army, filled the office, and, aided by Thomas Jefferson, made many useful changes and improvements in the system of surveys.

On May 10, 1800, the Act of May 1 8, 1796, was amended, and further provided for the establishment of four land offices, at Cincinnati, Chillicothe, Marietta and Steubenville; each to be under the direction of an officer, to be known as the Register of the Land Office. The lands were to be sold in sections and half-sections, for not less than two dollars per acre, purchasers to deposit one-twentieth part of the purchase money, on the day of sale, and within forty days to pay one-fourth part of such purchase money, including the amount deposited; another fourth to be paid within two years; another fourth within three years, and the remaining fourth within four years from date of sale, with interest, at six per cent., upon the deferred payments. The purchaser was also required to pay, exclusive of the purchase money, a surveying fee of six dollars for each section, and three dollars for each half section, purchased by him. Section 12, of the Act of March 26, 1804, provided, that the sections of land, reserved under former Acts, should be offered for sale, in quarter sections, to the highest bidder, under the directions of the register of the land office, and the receiver of public moneys, where the land offices are kept; the sales to remain open at each land office for three weeks only, and the lands not to be sold for less than two dollars per acre. The Act of February 11, 1805, authorized the surveyor-general to cause all the lands, which, under the Act of 1796, were sub-divided, by running through the townships parallel lines, each way, at the end of every two miles, and by marking a corner on each of the said lines, at the end of every mile, to be sub-divided into sections, by running straight lines from the mile corners, thus marked, to the opposite corresponding corners, as nearly as possible, equi-distant from the corners of the sections on the same.

surveys, returned by the surveyor-general, shall be established as the proper corners of sections, or sub-divisions of sections, which they were intended to designate; and the corners of the half and quarter sections not marked on the said surveys, shall be placed, as nearly as possible, equi-distant from those two corners, which stand on the same line.

The first surveys within the present Wood county, were made in the twelve-miles- square reserve. The exterior, sub-divisional and meander lines of Township No. i, of said reserve, and which includes the north part of Middleton township and a small portion of Perrysburg township, adjoining it on the north, was surveyed by Elias Glover, in October, 1805. Additional surveys and re-surveys were made in this township, by William Bfookfield, D. S., in 1816-17. The exterior lines of Township No. 3, of said reserve, embracing the north part of Perrysburg township and the west part of Ross township, were run by Elias Glover, in 1805. Re-surveys of exteriors, lots fronting on river, meanders and islands in the Maumee river, were made from 1816 to 1834, by Joseph Wampler, D. S., and William Brookfield, D. S. Township No. 4, of said reserve, which lies wholly within Perrysburg township, and includes the village of Perrysburg, was surveyed by Elias Glover, in 1805. The exterior lines of the township of Jackson, Milton, Weston, Grand Rapids, and Sections 1, 2, 1 1 and 12, Washington, were surveyed by Samuel Holmes, D. S., in 1819. The sub-divisional lines of these townships were run, in 1821, by Price F. Kellogg, D. S.

The exterior lines of the townships of Henry, Liberty, Plain, and Sections 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 and 9, Washington, were surveyed by Samuel and Alexander Holmes, in 1819, and the sub-divisional lines, by 1. T. Worthington, D. S., in 1821. The north part of Washington township, and the west part of Middleton township, extending north, as far as the south boundary line of the tsvelve-miles-square reserve, were surveyed by I. T. Worthington, and the subdivisions by P. F. Kellogg, in 1821. The exterior lines of Bloom, Perry, Montgomery, Freedom, Center, and the south part of Webster, were surveyed by Alexander and Samuel Holmes, in 1819, and the sub-divisional lines by S. Bourne, D S in 1821. ' The east part of Middleton, south of the reserve ! line, and the northwest part of Webster, were surveyed by Alexander and Samuel Holmes, run- j ning the exterior lines, in 1819, and by I. T.

Worthington, surveying the sub-divisional lines, in 1821. It appears that the entire surveys of Troy, and Sections 19, 20, 29, 30, 31 and 32, in Webster, were made by Charles Roberts, D. S. , in 1820. In Lake township, the exterior lines were surveyed in 1820, by Alex. Holmes, D. S. , j and the sub-divisional lines, by Ambrose Rice, D. S., in December, 1833, while the surveys in Ross township (outside of the twelve-milessquare reserve) were made by Ambrose Rice, D. S., in April, 1834.

An Act of Congress of March 3, 1805, provided for the survey and sub-division of lands lying north and west of the Indian boundary, by the Treaty of Greenville, which were ceded by that treaty to the United States; and that the lands be offered for sale, at Detroit, in the Territory of Michigan, or at such of the other land offices, established by law, in Ohio, or in Indiana Territory, under the same regulations as other land within the district. This placed the lands in the twelve-mile-square reserve in the Detroit land district, where the same remained until the Act of April 27, 1816, hereinafter noted. The land office at Wooster was established under the Act of March 3, 1807, for the disposal of the lands lying between the United States Military Tract and the Connecticut Reserve. The office of commissioner of the General Land Office was created April 25, 1812. The first commissioner was Edward Tiffin, who served from 1812 to 1S14. He was distinguished as the first Governor of Ohio, under the Constitution.

The first grant made by Congress for lands lying within the present limits of Wood county, was on April 26, 1816, as follows: - "That Amos Spafford, collector of the District and Port of 1 Miami, shall have the right of pre-emption to 160 acres of land, to include his improvements, situate within the limits of the reserve of twelve miles square, at the Rapids of Miami of Lake Erie, the boundaries of which shall be designated under the direction of the Secretary of the Treasury; which tract of land shall be granted to him, at the same price, and on the same terms and conditions for which the other public lands are sold at private sale." [The patent of this grant was signed by James Monroe.]

This tract of land lies on the Maumee river, west of the town of Perrysburg, adjoining " Fort Meigs," and is known as " Spafford's Grant." At this period the only land in Wood county, to which the Indian title had been extinguished, was the twelve-mile-square reserve, ceded to the United States by the Indians at the Treaty of Greenville, but as yet none of this land had been offered at public sale by the Government. Squatters or settlers had located upon the lands bordering on the river, previous to the year 1812, and were driven away by the Indians, who were hostile to the Americans during the war. Many returned after hostilities had ceased, to find their homes destroyed and themselves destitute. The plat of the public surveys shows the private claims of those settlers, all of which are on the north side of the Maumee river, except that of Amos Spafford. These claims embrace several thousand acres; among them are the claims of Whitmore Knaggs, William Brown, John Askin and others, nearly opposite Perrysburg. All of these private claims were taken under Acts of Congress, regulating the grants of land in the Territory of Michigan.

The Act of Congress of April 27, 1816, providing for the laying out of a town, and for a further survey and sale of the lands in the reserve, placed all of these lands in the land district of Wooster.

To add to the serious trials to which these settlers were subjected, the title to the lands occupied by them was brought in question. These had been purchased as parts of the twelve-mi les-square-reserve, which, by mistake, had been a second time ceded at the Treaty of Brownstown, subsequent to the purchase by the settlers. They had no more than become settled after their return, at the close of the war, than O ingress ordered the sale of the tract. In a letter to President Madison on the subject, Amos Spafford appealed in behalf of these sufferers, and asked that the time and location of the sale might be so fixed that they could have opportunity for securing the lands held by them, saying : "Should the time not be known, or the place of sale so remote that myself and others could not attend, all would be lost. First, burned by the enemy; second, destroyed by our own army; and, third, sold out by act of the Government, to whom, we don't know. This would be the last sacrifice that we could possibly make." The sale was finally held at Fort Meigs, the settlers obtaining titles to their lands without competition.

When the Act authorising the sale of the lands in the twelve-miles-square reserve, to be held at Wooster, became known, a large number of the settlers at that time had not yet received patents, and their rights as settlers had not yet been confirmed by the commissioners for the Detroit land district. It was no doubt in behalf of these claimants that Mr. Spafford interceded in his letter to President Madison. They were now in a new land district, and no provision had been made for them in the Act directing the sale at Wooster, except those to whom patents had been granted. The operations under this Act were entirely different from the provisions made in the Acts regarding the public lands in the Territory of Michigan, under which the settlers had located their claims, and it is readily seen how their status, as settlers, was affected by the change. After corresponding with the general land office with reference to this matter, the writer is led to believe that instead of a sale of lands at Fort Meigs, as related by Mr. Waggoner, commissioners were sent there to investigate the rights and claims of these settlers, and to confirm the rights of such as were legally entitled thereto. Patents had been issued to a few of the settlers prior to the passage of this Act, the oldest in date being that to John Askin, for four hundred acres, dated April 20, 1 8 1 1 . Another to Whitmore Knaggs, for six hundred acres, dated July 3, 1812. during the administration of President Madison. These patents contain recitals that the claims were confirmed by virtue of "An Act to regulate the grants of land in the Territory of Michigan," and, as noted above, all were on the north side of the Maumee.

Tenon of Perrysburg. - On April 27, 1816, it was enacted by Congress, that so much of the tract of land, of twelve miles square, at the British fort, of the Miami of the Lake, at the Foot of the Rapids, ceded by the Wyandots and other Indian tribes, to the United States, by the Treaty of Greenville, August 3, 1795, shall, under the direction of the surveyor-general, be laid off into town lots, streets and avenues, and into out-lots, in such manner and of such dimensions, as he may think proper. The tract so to be laid off shall not exceed the quantity of land contained in two entire sections, nor the town lots, onequarter of an acre each. When the survey shall be completed, a plat thereof shall be returned to the surveyor- general, on which the town lots and out lots shall respectively be designated, by progressive numbers, who shall cause two copies to be made, one to be transmitted with a copy of the field notes, to the commissioner of the general land office, and the other, to the register of the land office at Wooster.

As before stated, the tract of twelve miles square had been surveyed in the year 1805, and the Act of Congress authorizing a town to be laid out, also directed the surveyor-general to resurvey and mark the exterior lines of said tract conformably to the survey made in December, 1805, and also to cause divisional lines to be run through each section and fractional section, binding on the river, so that each sub-division may contain, as nearly as may be, 160 acres. Provided, that in running the sub-divisional lines no interference shall be made affecting or impairing the rights of persons to whom patents have been granted for land lying within the limits of the said twelve miles square. These tracts, lying on the Maumee river, were designated, in the surveys, as River tracts; those lying on the south side of the river, now in Wood county, being numbered consecutively, from 44 to 86 inclusive. It was further enacted, that all of the land within the twelve-miles-square reserve, except Section 16, reserved for school purposes, together with the in-lots and out-lots, in Perrysburg, should be offered for sale to the highest bidder, at Wooster, the sale to remain open for seven days and no longer. The quarter-sections and fractional quarter-sections not to be sold for less than two dollars per acre; the in-lots for not less than twenty dollars each, and the out-lots for not less than five dollars an acre; all of such lands and lots remaining unsold at the public sales, to be disposed of at private sale, by the register of the land office, at Wooster, under the regulations provided by law - patents to issue in the same manner as for other lands of the United States.

Afterward, it appears that difficulties began to arise about the boundaries of lots and streets, as originally surveyed, until finally an Act was passed by the Legislature of Ohio, on March 7, 1835, by which the town council is authorized to cause to be made a new and entire survey of the streets and alleys, which, when recorded in the records of Wood county, shall be held and deemed in all courts, to be a correct survey of said streets and alleys, and to exhibit the true situation of the same. This survey was accomplished by Hiram Davis, a plat of which is to be found in the public records. Subsequent legislation affecting the town will be noticed hereafter.

The public sale of the lands directed to be held at Wooster, under the preceding Act, took place, in July, 1817, and was upon the credit system, forty days being allowed for the first payment of 25 per cent, the balance to be paid in three equal annual instalments. Land companies were formed among the capitalists in the east, who purchased tracts at the sale, the prices ranging from $2. 13 to $75 per acre. Many of the tracts purchased reverted to the United States, on account of failure to pay the deferred instalments and interest. The credit system had always been a source of difficulty to the government, on account of default in the payments; the revenue arising from the sales of land was much less than was anticipated, besides the government was in competition with several of the States, which were disposing of western lands - Connecticut selling her Western Reserve lands in northeastern Ohio, at forty cents per acre - Virginia selling lands in Kentucky - North Carolina in Tennessee

- Pennsylvania, Georgia, and Massachusetts selling lands at reduced prices, which tended to check emigration to the Northwest Territory. As a remedy, the credit system was abolished, under the Act of April 20, 1820, and the price of land fixed at $1.25 per acre, payable in cash, at the time of sale.

The Act of Congress, of February 22, 1817, provided that "from and after September 1, 1817, the sections designated by Nos. 2, 5, 20, 23, 30 and 33, in each and every township, of the public lands, the sale of which is now, or hereafter may be, authorized, shall be offered for sale, either in quarter sections, or half-quarter sections, at the option of the purchaser; and, in every case, the division of quarter-sections shall be made by a line running due north and south." Land districts were formed under the Act of March 3, 1819. One of said districts comprised all the land lying between the west line of the State and the line now forming the west line of Wood county; the district extending north, to the northern boundary of the State, and south to the Indian boundary line established by the Treaty of Greenville, and for the sale of which a land office was established at Piqua. The public lands lying between the line now established as the west line of Wood county, and the west line of the Connecticut Reserve, having the same boundaries north and south as the district before mentioned, formed another land district, and, for the sale of which lands, an office was established at Delaware. . The Act authorized the President to appoint a register and receiver, at each land office, and also provided for the sales of the lands (except Section 16, in each township, reserved for the support of schools) to the highest bidder, at the land offices, where the public sales were to be kept open for three weeks and no longer; said lands to be sold for not less than two dollars an acre. The President was authorized to remove the land offices established by this Act, whenever he considered it expedient, tosuch place within the district as he judged most proper. By virtue of the authority thus conferred, land offices were established from time to time, at Wapakoneta, Lima, Upper Sandusky, Defiance, Bucyrus and Tiffin.

Under the Act of April 24, 1820, nearly all of the lands belonging to the United States, within the present limits of Wood county, were entered. The first section of the Act provides, " that from and after the first day of July, next, all of the public lands of the United States, the sale of which is, or may be authorized, by law, shall be offered for sale to the highest bidder, in half-quarter sections; and when offered at private sale may be purchased at the option of the purchaser, in entire sections, half sections, quarter sections or half-quarter sections; none of said land to be sold, either at public or private sale, for less than $1.25 per acre; none of said land to be sold on credit, but complete payment to be made on the day of purchase." Next follows the Act of May 15, 1820, viz.: "That there be granted to the State of Ohio, at the minimum price for which the public lands are sold, the right of pre-emption, to one quarter section, in, or near, the center of each county, included in the purchase recently made of the Indians, by the treaty concluded at St. Mary's, September 20, 1818, for the establishment of a seat of justice, in the said counties; provided, the purchase be made before the commencement of the public sales; and provided, also, that the proceeds of the sale of each quarter section, which may be made, under the authority of Ohio, shall be appropriated for the purpose of erecting public buildings, in said counties, respectively, after deducting therefrom the sums originally paid by the State aforesaid; and provided, further, that the seat of justice for said counties, respectively, shall be fixed on the lands so selected." This Act was afterward repealed, as to that feature of it, requiring seats of justice to be established at, or near, the center of said counties.

Congress Helped Perrysbnrg. - Another Act ! of Congress, relating to the old county seat of Wood, which became a law, May 7, 1822, : is in effect as follows: "That the right to all i the unsold in-lots and out-lots, in the town of Perrysburg, be and the same is hereby vested in the commissioners of Wood county, and the right to all the unsold town lots and out-lots, in the town of Croghansvilie, be and the same is hereby vested in the commissioners of Sandusky county, in said State, on condition that said com- j missioners shall permanently locate the seat of | justice, for their respective counties, at said j towns; and that the net proceeds of the sales pf 1 so many of said lots as are necessary to be retained, for the purpose of erecting public buildings thereon, be applied to the erection and improvement of the public buildings and squares, in said towns, respectively. This special grant was no doubt made in lieu of the quarter section granted for county-seat purposes, in the preceding Act of May 15, 1820. It was not until the Act of Congress of April 5, 1832, that the public lands were sub-divided and offered for sale, in quarter-quarter sections, of forty acres each. I The Act was not put in force until 1834, owing !

Land Grants. - Various grants were made by Congress from time to time, some of which directly concern the lands in this county, and from which arise the terms "Road Lands," "Swamp Lands," "Canal Lands," etc. In connection with these grants, we shall also notice the Acts of the State Legislature with reference to the same. The grant made by Congress to the county commissioners of Wood of certain lots in the town of Perrysburg, for the purpose of establishing a seat of justice at said town, and for the erection of public buildings, has been already noticed in this chapter. A subsequent Act, approved July 27, 1842, gave to each purchaser, his heirs or assigns, of any lot or lots, in said town, at any sale for taxes thereon, assessed by the laws of Ohio (the title to which had not been divested from the United States in any other manner than undercolor of such tax sale) the right to make an entry of the same, at any time within one year from the passage of said Act, at the land office in the district within which said town is situated, at the price for which the same were struck off at Wooster in July, 1817, with interest from that date.

Another Act of Congress, approved February 20, 1845, relating to the lots in said town, provided that all title to lots in said town derived from Ohio, under color of the grant made to the State by virtue of the Act of Congress, entitled:

' 'An Act for laying out and making a road from the lower Rapids of the Miami of Lake Erie to the western boundary of the Connecticut Western Reserve, in the State of Ohio," approved February 20, 1823. be and the same are hereby recognized as valid and confirmed, in the same manner as though the title to said lots had been vested in said State, under the aforesaid Act: Provided. "That the authorities of said State shall, within one year from and after the passage of this Act, furnish the commissioner of the general land office with a certified list of all lots heretofore sold and disposed of, under color of the above recited Act."

Under the heading "Road Lands," of this chapter, the Act referred to, granting certain lands to the State of Ohio, for the construction of the above mentioned road, is more fully noted. It appears that the State authorities, under said Act. appropriated certain lots and lands within the limits of Perrysburg, which were not intended to be included in the above grant for road purposes, and hence confusion arose as to the title. The above mentioned Act, therefore, was passed to quiet the title in the owners, who hr.d pur- cha'Sed said lots from the State. A deed of quit- penses of said road, was granted to the State, to claim from the United States to the owners of the commence at the Miami Rapids and terminate at lots in question bears date March io, 1846, dur- the western boundary of the Connecticut Western ing the administration of President Polk; and is ! Reserve, with full power and authority to sell and recorded in the deed records of this county. The j convey the same, and apply the proceeds to the lots, thus relinquished by the United States, are 1 making of said road. In view of the proposal in fully described in said deed. the foregoing Act, the State Legislature at once

Maumee and Western Reserve Road Lands. - took action thereon, by appointing John Wal- Article 2, of the treaty of Brownstown, be- lace, of Champaign county, John Patten, of fore mentioned, between the United States and Wayne county, and Quintus F. Atkins, of Ashtacertain tribes of Indians, held November 25, bula county, commissioners, to locate and survey 1808, is a cession by said Indians, to the United said road, 120 feet wide, and to file a plat of said States, of a tract of land for a road, 120 feet survey in the office of the Secretary of State, in width, from the Foot of the Rapids (Perrys- Said commissioners were charged with the duty burg) of the River Miami of Lake Erie, to the of valuing the lands, on each side of said road, west line of the Connecticut Reserve, and all the one mile in width, ond to certify the same to the land within one mile of said road, on each side Secretary of State, together with a plan of conthereof, for the purpose of establishing settle- structing the road, and the probable expense of ments along the same. Article 3, of said treaty, its construction. This was followed by another is an agreement that the lines embracing the Act of the Legislature, of February 25, 1824, lands given and ceded by the preceding article, which provided for constructing said road, and shall be run in such directions as may be thought for a superintendent, to be appointed by joint most advisable by the President, for the purposes resolution of both Houses of the General Assemaforesaid. The Act of December 12, 1 8 1 1 , bly. The superintendent to give bond in the authorized the President to appoint three com- sum of $5,000, conditioned for the faithful dismissioners to mark a road from Perrysburgto the charge of the duties required of him, and to acwestern line of the Connecticut Reserve; said count for all moneys received by him, for the commissioners to make and to transmit the plats sale of lands, &c. This Act also authorized said to the President, who, if he approve, shall cause superintendent to enter into contract, for the the plats to be deposited in the office of the j building and constructing said road, and also for shall be considered as established and accepted, ! by Congress; the lands to be offered for sale for pursuant to the treaty of Brownstown. 1 not less than $1.50 per acre; one-third of the

A subsequent Act, approved February 4th, purchase money to be paid at time of sale; one- 1815, provided that in surveying lands ceded by ' third in one year, and one-third in two years, the Indians, at Brownstown, the ordinary mode The superintendent was authorized to make conof surveying the public lands should be so far ; tracts for constructing the road, payable in land, deviated from, that the boundary lines of the j upon such terms as he might think most advantracts to be laid off should be run parallel to, and j tageous to the State. Under this Act, Atkins, at right angles with, the road laid out, in con- 1 one of the commissioners, was appointed first formity to said treaty. Whether any commis- superintendent.

contemplated,* was made under the last two Acts, Maumee and Western Reserve road to cause we are not able to state, in the absence of any surveys of the lands belonging to the State of official report in the matter, but it appears by an 1 Ohio, in the reservation, at the foot of the Act, approved February 28, 1823, that Ohio was ! Rapids of the Miami of Lake Erie, to be made as authorized to lay out, open and construct a road, ' he might think fit, and to cause a plat to be from the lower Rapids of the Miami of Lake | made of the lands, so surveyed and owned by Erie to the western boundary of the Connecti- j said State, and to sell said lands for not less cut Reserve. 1 than seven dollars yer acre. It was under this

In order to enable Ohio to open and con- \ Act that the new survey of out-lots to Perrysstruct that road, a tract of land, 120 feet wide, burg was made, a copy of which was unearthed whereon to locate the same, together with a : by the writer in the State archives during the quantity of land, equal to one mile on each side summer of 1895.

uary 29, 1827, a surveyor was appointed to proceed to survey such of the lands, granted by Congress to Ohio, for the purpose of building and keeping in repair the road, as have not been heretofore surveyed, under the authority of said State. The Act provided, that said lands should be surveyed into lots of 80 acres each, and where there are fractional parts occasioned by said road, such fractional parts to be surveyed with, and attached to, the half-quarter section, lying back of and adjoining such fractional part. Triplicate plats of surveys to be made, one of each to be filed with the superintendent of road, Auditor and Secretary of State, and superintendent authorized to sell land for not less than $1.50 per acre. Thomas R. McKnight, of Perrysburg, was appointed superintendent of said road, January 30, 1827. The lands in Wood county, surveyed under this Act, are designated as the Maumee and Western Reserve Road Lands, and are situated in the townships of Perrysburg, Lake and Troy; such of said lands as lie contiguous to said road are known as Road Tracts.

Military Bounty Lands. - There are no lands within the limits of Wood county specially granted for bounties to the soldiers and sailors of the United States, although a large quantity of land, in this county, has been located with military land warrants. It is proper to observe here, that on June 1, 1796, Congress set apart a tract of land, within the present State of Ohio, for the officers and soldiers, serving in the Revolutionary war, known as the United States Military District, comprising two and one-half millions of acres, embracing within its limits, in whole or in part, the counties of Tuscarawas, Guernsey, Muskingum, Monroe, Coshocton, Holmes, Knox, Licking, Franklin, Delaware, Noble and Lake. All warrants granted by the United States, under this Act, were restricted to, and located exclusively in this district, until after the passage of the Scrip Act, of May 30, 1830, by which the Revolutionary warrants could be exchanged for scrip, and the same located outside of the military district.

Another district, known as the "Virginia Military District," lying between the little Miami and Scioto rivers, containing over four million acres, was reserved in the cession by Virginia, in 1784, of her territor}' northwest of the Ohio river, for the purpose of satisfying the warrants, issued to the officers and soldiers of the Continental Line, army and navy, under the laws of Virginia, for military services during the war of the Revolution, as they were promised by the Legislature of that State. Subsequent Acts were passed by

Congress, granting warrants to officers and soldiers, who had served in the war of 1812, and in the war with Mexico, which were allowed to be located upon any of the unappropriated lands of the United States.

Canal Lands. - The Act of Congress, of May 24, 1828, granted to Ohio, for the purpose of aiding said State in extending the Miami canal, from Dayton to Lake Erie, by the Maumee route, a quantity of land, equal to one-half of five sections in width, on each side of said canal, between Dayton and the Maumee river, at the mouth of the Auglaize, reserving each alternate section of the land unsold, to the United States, to be selected by the Commissioner of the general land office, under the direction of the President, which land, so reserved to the United States, shall not be sold for less than two dollars per acre. The said land hereby granted to Ohio, to be subject to the disposal of the Legislature of said State, for the purpose aforesaid and no other. Said land to be selected bj' the Governor, and a report of such selection to be made to the Secretary of the Treasury of the United States. After such selection, the State was authorized to sell and convey the same in fee-simple. The quantity of land granted to the State under this Act was five hundred thousand acres.

Under the provisions of this Act, the State of Indiana was authorized to convey and relinquish to Ohio, upon such terms as may be agreed upon by said States, all the right and interest granted to the State of Indiana to any lands within the limits of the State of Ohio, by an Act, entitled: "An Act to grant a certain quantity of land to the State of Indiana for the purpose of aiding said State in opening a canal to connect the waters of Wabash river with those of Lake Erie, approved March 2, 1827," the State of Ohio to hold said land on the same considerations upon which it was granted to the State of Indiana, by the Act aforesaid. The Legislature of Ohio, by Act passed December 22, 1828, assented to the several provisions and conditions of the preceding Act of Congress. An Act of Congress, approved March 2, 1855, confirmed the selection of land made by the State of Ohio, under the Acts of March 2, 1827, and of May 24, 1828. Several thousand acres of lands, granted by the Acts of Congress aforesaid, were located in Wood county, and are found in the townships of Perrysburg, Lake, Ross, Webster, Freedom, Perry, Middleton, Plain, Washington and Weston. Also, one-quarter section in Milton township, and a tract of ninety-one acres in Portage township. The total quantity of land

Swam/) Lands. - The subject of worthless public lands, swamps, marshes and overflowed lands, was frequently discussed in Congress, at an early period, but no legislation was had successfully, until the Act of March 2, 1849, which applied exclusively to Louisiana. Then followed the law of September 28, 1850, extending the grant, to enable the " State of Arkansas to construct the necessary levees and drains, to reclaim the swamp and overflowed lands therein," the last section of which enlarged the grant, so as to embrace "each of the other States of the Union, in which such swamp and overflowed lands, known and designated, as aforesaid, maybe situated." The reasons assigned for these donations to the several States, were the alleged worthless character of the lands, in their natural condition; the great sanitary improvement to be derived from the reclamation of extensive districts, notoriously malarial, and the probable cultivation that would follow; and the enhancement in value, and readier sale of Government lands, adjoining the same.

The above Act made it the duty of the Secretary of the Interior to make accurate lists and plats of all such lands, and transmit the same to the Governors of the several States, in which such lands might lie, and at the request of the Governor of any State, in which said swamp and overflowed lands were situated, to cause patents to be issued to said State therefor, conveying to said State the fee-simple of said land. Said Act also provided, that in making out lists and plats of the lands aforesaid, all legal subdivisions, the greater part whereof was wet and unfit for cultivation, should be included in said lists and plats; but when the greater part of a subdivision was not of that character, the whole was to be excluded therefrom.

In pursuance of said Act, on November 21, 1850, the Commissioner transmitted to the Governors of the respective States, to which the grant applied, copies of office circular, setting forth the provisions of said Act; giving instructions thereunder, and allowing the States to elect which of two methods they would adopt, for the purpose of designating the swamp lands, viz. : 1st: The Government field notes could be taken, as the basis for selection, and all lands shown by them to be swamp or overflowed, within the meaning of the Act, would pass to the States. 2d: The States could select the lands by their

Up to and including June 30, 1883, Ohio laid claim to 54,458^ acres, but, up to the same i date, there had been approved and patented to said State 2 5.6401701o acres. By an Act of the Legislature of Ohio, approved March 2, 1853, the auditor of State was directed to transmit to the county auditor of each county, in which any i swamp or overflowed lands were situated, a list of the same, by such description and in such divisions and subdivisions, as reported by the Secretary of the Interior to the Governor of said State of Ohio. It was also made the duty of the county commissioners of each county to appraise said lands and make return, in writing, to the county auditor; and, upon such return, the auditor was required to give notice, in some newspaper in said county, at least thirty days, that sealed proposals would be received, until the expiration of said time, for draining and reclaiming said swamp lands, in the manner specified by, and under the direction of, said county com- , missioners, to be paid in said lands, lying in said county, at the appraised value thereof; the bids, when opened, to be awarded to the lowest responsible bidder, such bidder to enter into bond, with security, for the faithful performance of his contract, which was limited to two years from the date of such contract. Upon completion of his contract, each contractor received from the county auditor of his county a certificate for the amount due him thereon, and contaiuing an accurate description of the land to which he was entitled. Such certificate, when presented and delivered to the Governor, entitled said contractor to a deed from the State. The townships in this county containing swamp lands appropriated under this Act, are Jackson, Milton, Portage, Center, Montgomery and Webster.

School Lands. - The most important act of the founders of the American Republic, is the j provision made for educational purposes. The i first reservation, for such purposes, was made by the Congress of the Confederation, in the Ordinance of May 20, 1785, which provided that Lot No. 16, of every township shall be reserved for the maintenance of public schools, within said township. This was an endowment of 640 acres in a township of six miles square, but the manner of establishing such public j schools, or by whom, was not mentioned, or I pointed out. This reservation, by subsequent | enactment, became perpetual. This endowment of one thirty-sixth part of the public land, was the subject of much legislatio'n in the years following. Whether the public schools, thus endowed by the United States, were to be under National or State control, remained a question, and the lands were held in reservation, until after the admission of Ohio into the Union. By the Act of April 30, 1802, authorizing the formation, of a State government in Ohio, Congress submitted three propositions, which were offered for the acceptance or rejection, by the convention, to form the constitution for said State, for as yet no transfers had been made by the United States of the title or control of the sixteenth section of reserved school lands; one of these propositions being, "that the section No. 16, in every township, and where such section has been sold, granted or disposed of, other lands equivalent thereto, and most contiguous to the same, shall be granted to the inhabitants of such townships, for the use of schools." This proposition was accepted by resolution, passed in convention, November 29, 1802.

tracts of land, in the State of .Ohio, be and the same are hereby appropriated for the use of schools in that State, and shall, together with .all the tracts of land heretofore appropriated for that purpose, be vested in the Legislature of that State, in trust, for the use aforesaid, and for no other use, intent or purpose whatever; that is to say: one thirty-sixth part of all the lands of the United States, lying in Ohio, to which the Indian title has not been extinguished, which may hereafter be purchased of the Indian tribes by the United States, which 36th section shall consist of the Section No. 16, in each township, if the said land shall be surveyed into townships of six miles square, and shall, if the lands be surveyed in a different manner, be designated by lots. " The Legislature assumed control of all the school lands within Ohio, and enacted laws, from time to time, regarding the use and management of the same. Finally, by Act of February 1, 1826, Congress authorized Ohio to sell all or any part of the lands reserved and appropriated by Congress, for the use of schools, and to invest the money arising from such sale in some productive fund, provided said land, or any part thereof, shall in no case be sold without the consent of the inhabitants of such township or district.

After the passage of this Act, whenever it was desired to sell the school lands of any township, a special Act was obtained from the Legislature authorizing such sale, until, finally, a general Act

The provisions of the Act are cited here to show the manner of making such sales. First, it was enacted that all those lands granted by the Congress of the United States for school purposes, known as Section 16, might be sold; that in townships where no vote had previously been taken for the sale of such lands, the trustees of any original surveyed township, to which such lands belonged, should give not less than thirty days notice to the legal voters, residing in such township, to meet at a specified time and place, and cast their ballots for or against the sale of any such lands beloaging to such township; if such ballot was in favor of a sale, the trustees were required to deposit one of the poll-books with the county auditor, together with a copy of the proceedings had in relation to such election. The next step necessary and requisite was for the trustees of such township to file a petition in the Common Pleas of the county, asking the court to appoint three disinterested freeholders, not residents of the township, in which the land was situate, to divide and value the same, in money. If the proceedings were found to be legal, the prayer of the petition was then granted, and three persons were appointed to divide and appraise the lands, and, if necessary, call to their aid the county surveyor; the divisions to be made into such parcels as would be best for the sale thereof. The court, upon examining the return of said appraisers, and finding their proceedings to have been regular and just, then certified the same, and ordered such proceedings to be entered of record, a copy of which was required to be filed in the office of the county auditor. The auditor then advertised said land for sale six weeks in a newspaper of the county, and by notices posted in the county, containing a description of the lands to be sold, the valuation of the same, and the time when it would be offered at public auction by said auditor at the door of the court house, at not less than the appraised value thereof; one- twelfth of the purchase money to be paid at the time of sale, and the balance in eleven annual instalments of equal amount, with annual interest thereon. The land was to be sold to the highest bidder over the appraisement, and on the terms above stated. The purchasers of the land, when having made payment in full, received from the county auditor a final certificate to that affect, and that such purchasers are entitled to receive from the State a deed in fee-simple for said land. Upon filing such certificate with the Auditor of State, a deed was pre-

It is worthy of notice that the Territories which have been organized and afterward admitted as States subsequent to the admission of Ohio, were also granted the Section No. 16 in each township for school purposes, until the organization of the Territory of Oregon, in 1848, when Senator Stephen A. Douglass, of Illinois, inserted in the Act an additional grant for school purposes of Section No. 36 in each township, making the reservation for school purposes of the iCth and 36th Sections, or 1,280 acres in each township, of six miles square. Each of the States admitted since that fimc has had granted to it both of these sections.

Miscellaneous Grants. - Besides the various grants of land made by Congress to the several States and Territories, many special grants and donations of land have been made to private individuals for services rendered, a few of which we shall notice, none, however, being within the limits of Wood county, except, that under an Act passed June 4, 1832, directing that a patent or patents issue to Dr. Eliakim Crosby, for a quantity of land equal to two sections, which might be located on any of the unappropriated lands of the United States, subject to entry; a portion of the land selected lies within said county, consisting of eighty acres, in Section 17, in Webster township, and eighty acres, in Section 26, Plain township.

The first grant was an Act of the Continental Congress, August 14, 1 776, offering to receive, and make citizens of, deserters from the British army, and tendering to each deserter, or his heirs, absolutely, fifty acres of unappropriated land in some one of the States. Another Act was an appropriation of one township of land, in Ohio, to Arnold Henry Dorhman, an agent for the United States at the Court of Lisbon, during the Revolutionary war. This land was located in the Steubenville land district. During the Revolutionary war there was a force of Canadian officers and men in the army of the United States, known as " Refugees from Canada." To these were reserved three townships in Ohio, on the shores of Lake Erie, but, afterward, other lands were appropriated, in lieu thereof. In 1803, Congress directed the .Secretary of War to issue land warrants to Gen. LaFayette for 1 1 , 520 acres. The land was to be located, surveyed or patented at his option, or the warrants could be received, in payment for lands, within the State of Ohio. In 1804, Congress ordered that the warrants, above granted, might be located by Gen. La- Fayette, in Orleans Territory. In 1824, on the occasion of LaFayette's last visit to this country. Congress directed that $200,000 be paid to him, and also granted to him, or his heirs, a township of land in Florida.

In closing this chapter, we deem it of interest to mention that not a few of the men. who have been prominent in National and State affairs, have held title to lands in Wood county, and some of them are yet living. Of these, we find the names of President R. B. Hayes; of the Governors of Ohio - Joseph Vance, Reuben Wood, Seabury Ford, David Tod and Charles F'oster; of the Governors of Michigan - Alpheus Felch, Austin Blair and H. H. Crapo; Hon. Caleb Smith, Secretary of the Interior, under President Lincoln; Hon. M. R. Waite, Chief Justice of the United States; Senators Joshua R. Giddings and Benjamin F. Wade; Judge Joseph R. Swan; Gen. Thomas M. Keys; Hon. James Wadsworth, of Geneseo, N. Y., and his sons, Gen. James S. Wadsworth and William W. Wadsworth; Aristarchus Champion, a capitalist and banker of Rochester, N. Y. ; Jesse Stone and Sumner Stone, of the State of New York; Andrew D. White, ex-president of Cornell University, and ex-minister to Germany; Lyne Starling, the founder of the City of Columbus, Ohio, besides numerous others.

Chapter Xxv

Gas and Oil r ield - Geology and Phenomena ok the Wood County Field - Well Drilling - Various Results - Prof. Orton on Petroleum, Etc. - History ok the Industry - Discovery ok Gas - Oil Wells - Companies and Syndicates - Pen Sketch ok the Oil

THE story of the gas and oil reservoirs of Wood county, though opened only about ten years ago, is interesting to the economist as well as to the geologist of to-day. Why Nature closed in these reservoirs and kept them hidden from the oil operator for so many years, and why she continues to keep the chemist in ignorance of her oil manufacturing methods, are questions as new now as they were in 1885. Then the men of Bowling Green drilled deep into the earth to find light and heat. In 1886, the men of North Baltimore drilled deeper in search of oil. Each reaped rewards for their searches subterranean - they know they got more gas and oil than were expected, and continue to receive these presents from mother earth; but, here, knowledge ends. The enterprise of the oil man and the work of the driller tell us that oil may exist in the Trenton rock of Ohio, as it does in the sands of Pennsylvania, but whence it comes, the location of the laboratory, the substances from which it is expressed or distilled, its share in gas making, the period required for renewing the reservoirs, and many other points men desire to know, are left untold - surrendered to the speculators or guessers. In this chapter what is known of Wood county gas and oil is related, and references are made to the great wells of the county.

Throughout this field, the Trenton limestone is found, generally at the depth of 1, 150 feet or about 440 below tide level. In 1886, in the North Baltimore well, No. 1, it was ascertained to be 360 feet; at Bairdstown, 31 5; in the Simon's well, at Bairdstown, 301 feet, and in the Bloomdale, No. 1, 360 feet below that level. The observed rock pressure in the Godsend well of Bloom township was 465 pounds to the square inch, and the calculated pressure, 473 pounds, while the specific gravity of the oil on entering the tank, was 42 °, proving superior to that found in the upper fields, such as Findlay and Lima. The dead or unproductive line, as determined in

1886, was 500 feet below tide level, but there have been some exceptions to this general rule. It would not be an oil field unless the exceptions balanced or outstripped the general rule. Some of the phenomena of the field are hereafter described. In the mechanical and scientific work of converting the crude into commercial oil almost everything has been accomplished. In addition to what the Standard had done, in November, 1888, the Bradner refinery forwarded the first carload of oil refined under the Yargan process, and, within the last six years, further advances have ; been made toward rendering this oil very nearly equal to any on the market.

The 2,293-feet test well, on the Hager farm in Webster township, two miles east of Sugar | Ridge, was drilled 735 feet, through the Trenton i rock, to the salt water of the ocean. Three miles north of the Hager, a Chicago syndicate drilled a test well, finding only seven feet of Trenton rock resting on black limestone shale, hundreds of feet in thickness. In each case the god of commerce was not propitious, but the god of science was. Against such failures jnay be opposed the Ducat well, in Liberty township, the Foltz-farm well, near Cygnet, the Denver well, on the Chase farm, and many others, where the drillers' hopes were based on uncertainty, or the great gasser which is said to have produced hundreds of tons of gas every twenty-four hours where the drillers sought for oil.

Again, almost on the west line of the county, the oil basin proved that the drill may only locate it, and confirmed the law of uncertainty which rules. The report, speaking of the development of that field, says: During the year

1894 there were 3,001 wells completed in Ohio, it being the banner year of the field. The largest well completed during that period was that of the Kirkbride Bros., on the Jones farm, in Madison township, Sandusky county. The daily output was said to Lave been 20,000 barrels, but it never produced it. Tiie well yielded 310 barrels of oil an hour, which is equivalent to 7,440 barrels in a day of 24 hours. It was completed in October, and is said to have produced 500 barrels a day for some months after. The same firm completed a [,200-barrel producer on the same farm. The territory where the gusher was struck had for years been considered worthless, and the wells caused much excitement.

The well drilled by C. S. Wade for S. E. Niece, on the Chase farm in Henry township, a mile and a half west of North Baltimore, known as No. 1, and one drilled 150 feet distant made a race for the oil rock, the second well striking it first, when oil answered the drill at the rate of 2,000 barrels a day, and held up a record of 1,400 barrels for 19 consecutive days. Well No. 1 then struck oil at twenty-nine feet in the Trenton, and assumed control of the production, but soon after its neighbor enticed the oil away. Then No. 1 was drilled seven feet deeper and torpedoed, when a great body of oil responded and No. 2 slept as a producer for a time. This alternate production was observed for some weeks, until No. 1 settled down at 400, and No. 2 at 300, barrels.

The drill, not the geologist, told us that oil and gas underlies large sections of Henry, Liberty. Plain, Middleton, Washington, Perrysburg, Bloom, Portage, Webster, Center, Lake, Troy, Freedom, Montgomery and Perry townships. What it may yet accomplish in its subterranean research, no man knows. Gushers and gassers, as great as any recorded, may yet answer to it, to reward enterprise and labor.

"The questions in regard to petroleum." says Prof. Orton, "have been answered indifferent ways, but one line of answers commends itself to us on so many grounds that it is generally accepted by all those who have the knowledge that entitles them to form an opinion. An answer that may be named only to be rejected is that petroleum and the gas derived from it are results of chemical action alone. The conditions necessary for their production, it is argued, are the presence of metallic iron, potassium and sodium, at some considerable depth within the earth, and at a white heat, and yet reached by the percolation of water derived from the atmosphere, and, therefore, holding in solution carbonic acid. It is held that chemical combination would result between the substances thus brought together by which certain compounds of the petroliferous series would be formed. It is probably true that some such results would follow under the conditions supposed, but to propose this explanation of the origin of petroleum is, to the last degree, preposterous. Contrary to a comj monly received opinion, petroleum is an abundant and very widely distributed substance. It is 1 found, for example, in every stratum of the Ohio 1 scale, without exception; in the shales and limestones, in a disseminated condition, sometimes i recognizable only with difficulty, and in the sandstones and conglomerates in larger or smaller accumulations. All the facts point to a local origin of this series. The process must be widespread and everywhere active.