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Chapter XXIII
pg. 239
HISTORY OF MARION TOWNSHIP
MARION is the
extreme southern township in the county of range seven,
being bounded on the south by township two of that range,
the line between the two forming the line between Putnam and
Henry counties.
There is little to distinguish this township from the
balance of the county except the south or (as named by the
geologists of the State) Belmore Ridge, which runs through
it, entering the township near the half section line of
section thirty, and running in a winding track eastward
through sections twenty-nine, twenty-eight and twenty-seven,
when it turns southeasterly through sections twenty-six,
thirty five and thirty-six, crossing the township line near
the southeast corner of the latter section. The lands
along this ridge are high and dry. The remainder of
the township is, or rather was, very wet, but exceedingly
well timbered with burr and white oak, walnut, maple,
poplar, ash and the softer woods.
The settlement of the township has been slow, and even
comparatively modern. Located in a dense forest, no
roads, not even "cow paths," and no way to reach market
except on foot, it was absolutely inaccessible, except from
the ridge, which made a good natural road to Defiance.
The wetness of the soil, the density of the forest and the
isolation of the territory from market and civilization,
were, however, not the only causes which retarded the
settlement and improvement of the township. In the
years 1850-51, before the adoption of the new constitution,
Samuel Medary, then editor of the Ohio Statesman,
and the Columbus gentlemen and capitalists, conceived the
idea of founding a settlement in the "Black Swamp," ad laid
out a village, which they named Medary, in township two of
this range of land, in Putnam county. About the same
time a scheme was formulated by John M. Palmer, who
subsequently became a judge of the Court of Common Pleas, to
construct a plank road from the above village, northward, to
intersect the Kalida pike in section thirty, Monroe
township. The road is still known as the Medary road.
Palmer, by some process of manipulation in which
rascality is ever fruitful, succeeded in getting a board of
stupid trustees to issue the bonds of Marion township, which
at that time had scarcely any population, in the sum
of five thousand dollars for the ostensible purpose of
building this plank road. Having secured the bonds
Palmer negotiated them at once, put the proceeds in his
pocket, and the road was never built. The debt,
however, was entailed on the township, and to that extent
was a mortgage on all the land. The lands were valued
very low, and the duplicate being small, the tax was
correspondingly high, and the debt was not finally paid
until 1864. This aided materially in preserving Marion
as the camping and squatting ground of the hunter, and gave
it the name of "Big Woods."
The township was organized in the spring of 1847, at
which time there were but ten voters living in it. The
duplicate of that year shows but seven chattel tax payers:
John Hamler, Samuel H. Harshberger, Daniel Harshberger,
William Bales, William Rayle, S. K. Warnick and W. M.
Warner. The value of the personal property was
$680; that of the land, there being but 9,266 acres listed
for taxation, was $13,031.15, and the total tax paid was
$480.45. Most of the persons named are either dead or
removed. The descendants of Samuel H. Harshberger
and of William Rayle still reside in the township and
are the owners of some of the best farms in Marion, well
improved, good, and large buildings erected, and the land
under a high state of cultivation. W. M. Warner
soon tired of wood life and sold out to Casper Zeirolf,
now dead, but the old farm, perhaps in all respects, being
situated on the ridge, the best in the township, is owned
and occupied by his son William at present one of the
commissioners of the county. Samuel Harshberger,
son of Samuel H., was the first white child born in
the township, and inherited from his ancestors one of the
best farms in the township, upon which he now resides.
Of these pioneers John Hamler deserves more than a
passing notice, although he is elsewhere spoken of in this
book. He was the first settler in the township, having
entered land and located in section twenty-one, Sept. 16,
1846. The forest was dense, and wild beasts and
mosquitoes the only inhabitants. The Indians, a
remnant of the Ottawas, were only twenty-six miles east; the
nearest house was fourteen miles, twenty miles to the
nearest trading point, and thirty miles to mill, may give
some idea of the inconveniences and hardships of frontier
life. Yet Mr. Hamler says that his life was not
devoid of enjoyment, and that he took almost as much
pleasure in the rude and wild life of the woods as he does
now surrounded by all the comforts and luxuries of
civilization.
The real improvement and settlement of the township did not
commence until 1869, when the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad
was constructed. This road enters the township at the
southeast corner of section twelve and runs northwesterly to
the northwest corner of section six. The construction
of this road assisted largely in draining the lands, lead to
the erection of saw mills and stave factories; the cleaning
out and deepening of the creeks, the main ones of which are
Turkey Foot, Beaver, Brush and Lost creeks, and to the
location, construction and improvements of roads.
These improvements caused heavy taxation and assessments,
and this obliged the non-resident land speculator to dispose
of his holdings, which, passing into the hands of those who
became permanent settlers, improvements seemed to spring up
like Jack's bean pole, in a single night, and makes Marion
to-day as good a township as there is in the county.
The growth of the township may be indicated by the tax
duplicate and the census returns. We have already
shown the duplicate of 1847. That for 1887 shows
22,962 acres of land for taxation valued at $203,035, and
personal property to the amount of $130,613, and the amount
of taxes paid to be $7,541.17. The population in 1860
was only 195 souls; in 1870 it amounted to 513; in 1880, to
1,202, and at present may be safely estimated at 1,500.
The educational interests of the township have been
carefully provided for and there are at present, in addition
to the graded school at Hamler, nine good and substantial
schools-houses erected. In each of the village and at
one or two points in the country, church buildings have also
been erected.
The growth of this township has certainly been
phenomenal and is owing largely to foreign immigration, the
population outside of the descendants of the pioneers and
the few Yankees who have been attracted by the wealth to be
made of the great forests of timber, being composed mostly
of industrious, sober, quiet and religious classes of Irish
and German. These people mixing and inter-marrying,
including the native born, make the progressive and
energetic homogeneous American, and indicates that our
national motto, e pluribus unum, means not only one
State for many States, but one nation from all the nations
of the earth, and that the motto has not yet degenerated
into a trade mark for the standard dollar, but still
deserves a place on the broad standard of human rights and
human hopes. It also indicates a population of healthy
sentiment. No agrarian or communism here. An
honest, industrious people came here into the wild forest,
when cheap lands could be obtained, and lands inexhaustible
in fertility, which by hard work could be converted into
homes where old age might rest in comfort and its
descendants live in luxury. Men like these, who
settled and peopled Marion, were present in the mind of the
poet when he asked: "What constitutes a State?" and
answered:
"Not raised battlement and labored mound,
Thick wall or moated gate;
Not cities proud . . . .
Men, high-minded men, . . . .
Men who their duties know,
But know their rights, and knowing, dare
maintain -
Prevent the long aimed blow,
And crush the tyrant while they rend the chain -
THESE CONSTITUTE THE STATE!" |
EDWARDSVILLE.
Is a triangular tract of land in the
northeast corner of the northwest quarter of section
twenty-eight, formed by the crossing of the Medary road
and the Ridge road. It consists of seven lots and
two out lots, and was laid out by George W. Edwards
and John Rayle on the 6th of September, 1863, and
recorded on the 7th of the same month. A
post-office was established here as early as 1861 and
named Ridgeland. The post-office still remains,
but the hamlet has not grown beyond two or three
dwellings. William P. Young has, however,
erected a saw-mill, stave factory and tile manufactory
within a stone throw, and is doing a thriving business.
HAMLER.
This
flourishing village, named in honor of John Hamler,
is situated in section eleven, where the Baltimore and
Ohio Railroad crosses the Turkey Foot road. It has
a population of about five hundred, a post-office, and
is a telegraph and express station. A large and
extensive stave factory is located here, affording a
good and profitable market for the large quantity of
soft wood still growing in the township. A fine
two-story brick building affords excellent accommodation
for the graded school held in it. A new commodious
Catholic church, and a Methodist Episcopal furnish
places of worship, and indicates the religious leaning
of those with enterprise sufficient to erect a building.
The various mechanical trades are represented; three dry
goods stores, doing a general business; one hardware
store, an agricultural implement warehouse indicate a
thrifty business; and a good hotel, two saloons and
restaurants furnish accommodations for the stranger.
The Odd Fellows have a lodge here and the Grand Army a
post.
The village was originally platted by Hon. William
D. Hill, of Defiance, and his wife, Augusta B.,
on the 10th of July, 1874, and recorded December 23,
1875. Five and one-third acres were appropriated
to depot grounds; seventy-five lots were platted on the
south side of the railroad, and ninety-six on the north;
there were gen alleys, and the streets running east and
west were named respectively, Green, English, Edgerton,
Baltimore, Randolph, Benton and Cowan; and those running
north and south were christened White, Main, Lee and
Pendleton. Turkey Foot road, known as Marion
street, runs diagonally southwesterly through the
village. The lots are four by eight rods, except
those lying west of Marion street, which are eighteen
links in width.
On the 6th of January, 1875, J. W. Sergeant laid
out an addition of seventeen lots, which was recorded on
the 8th of the same month. It comprises four acres
of land, including streets and alleys, and is the east
part of the northeast corner of the north half of the
southeast quarter of section ten.
Mr. Hill and wife added their first addition of
three out lots Nov. 28, 1881. It is triangular,
west of Marion street, south of the railroad and east of
the west section line of section eleven.
On the 7th of April, 1887, recorded on the 21st of the
same month, Mr. Hill and wife added a second
addition of ninety-six regular lots, six irregular, and
blocks A and B. Chestnut, Cleveland, Blaine and
Hubbard streets run east and west, and First, Second,
Third, Fourth and Fifth north and south; there are seven
alleys. This addition is in the southwest corner
of section eleven and southwest of the original plat.
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