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Chapter XXIX.
pg. 277
HISTORY OF
WASHINGTON
TOWNSHIP
THIS is the last township in alphabetical order, and
possesses more intrinsic interest than any other of the
townships of Henry county. It was the hunting ground
of the last of the Ottawas, from which three chiefs and a
small band of followers were reluctant to retreat from the
advancing feet of Caucasian civilization. These three
chiefs were Oxinoxica, Wauseon and Myo, the latter ranking
third in the Indian degree of power. He was a small,
but exceedingly wise, or more properly, cunning Indian.
He died on the Maumee and his skull was for a number of
years preserved by Dr. L. L. Patrick, one of the
pioneer physicians who had the courage to combat with the
malaria and bilious fever of the Maumee, and who was an
uncle of George Patrick, now residing in Liberty
township and well known as one of the most prosperous
agriculturists of the Maumee valley, also an uncle of the
first wife of O. E. Barnes who is well known to the
citizens of Henry county as sheriff and clerk, for many
years.
This township was originally named Myo, in honor of the
chief so called - "Little Chief" - but possessed of more
judgment and distinction than the two who ranked him in
authority.
At the time of the organization of the township there
were but eleven voters and their names may be recorded among
the pioneers. These were Edward Murphy, Noah
Holloway, James O'Niel, Michael Connelly, sr.,
the father of Michael and James Connelly, who still
reside on the old homestead Edward Scribner, whose
descendants still reside in the county, William
Anglemeyer, some of whose descendants still reside in
the township, John Lamphier, now a well-to-do and
prosperous farmer residing in Liberty township, on the west
line of Washington, David Edwards, whose sole
surviving representative, Martha, is now married to
Robert Showman and now lives upon the old homestead,
David J. Cory, who was one of the first associate
judges of Henry county and who died childless at Findlay at
a ripe old age, having a large fortune, and was universally
respected.
The first voting place was in an unhewed log
school-house, known as Murphy's school house,
situated near where the fine brick residence of Michael
Connelly, jr., now stands. Abraham
Snyder, now of Damascus township, was at that time,
(1839) then a hunter in what was then the wilds of
northwestern Ohio.
The last known of Myo as a township on the duplicate of
the county was in 1847. Then there were 7,975 acres of
land valued at $23,016.45, paying total tax of $518.86, and
an additional tax of $112.23 for school houses.
[pg. 278]
At this time John Biggins, still living;
Dennis Bresnahan, dead; Peter Donnelly, living;
August Groff, dead; John Grumling, living;
Ephraim Hyter, living; Daniel Hartnell, sr.,
deceased; John Kettering, now of Harrison township;
Daniel Moore, dead (sons living on homestead), and
Nelson Polson, had moved and settled in the township.
Between the making of the duplicates of 1847 and that
of 1848 the Maumee river was made the southern boundary of
the township, and sections six, and parts of one, two,
three, four, five, seven and eight of Damascus attached, and
the name changed to Washington.
We then find on the duplicate of 1848 the additional
names of Charles Bucklin, David Mohler, William
Anglemeyer, James Durbin, Thomas W. Durbin (present
recorder), David Edwards, Edward O'Hearn, John Lamphier,
James H. Polson, A. Smith, Michael White, all of whom
are still living, or leave descendants.
This township was the last of the hunting grounds of
the Indians in Henry county, and in fact, in the
northwestern Ohio; a reservation for the last of the Ottowas
having been retained in the possession of that tribe for
many years after the whites had obtained a majority of
population. The reservation set aside for the Ottowas
extended into Henry county at the northeast corner, and was
situated as follows: Commencing a little north of the
half section line of twenty-four east, running southwest
with the west line of the northeast one-fourth of section
thirty-four, thence in the southeastern course to the Maumee
River in the north half of the southeast one-fourth of
section two, in the government surveyed township, five north
of range eight, east. This is still one of the best
sporting field in the county. Game, however, is
limited to the smaller class - pheasants, quail, rabbits and
squirrel. The time, however, has certainly come to
hang up the rifle and the trap, and the rapidly disappearing
forest also suggests putting aside the ax and the saw, and
picking up the shovel and the hoe, and learn that,
"He who by the plow would thrive,
Himself must either hold or drive."
The topography of this township
differs materially from all others in the county. The
southeastern part consists of what is known as "openings,"
i. e., quick-sand swamps - very wet, where nothing
but swamp grasses, shaking asps, and bull-rushes grow, and
of sand knolls covered with "scrub oak." A few years ago
this part of the township was not considered worth the
widow's mite, but by thorough ditching, and at considerable
expense, has been converted into productive and valuable
farms. The balance of the township was more like the
other parts of the county - very heavily timbered. But
the timber has gone, and it is too late to say, "woodman,
spare that tree."
What sad havoc was wrought in the early days when the
"clearings" were being made, and when trees had no positive
value and no market. It is only in later days that the
value of forest or timber lands has been appreciated.
[pg. 279]
Think! The forest lands of the United States,
excluding Alaska, embrace 500,000,000 acres, or twenty-eight
per cent, of the entire area. The farmers own about
thirty-eight per cent. of the forest area, or 185,000,000
acres. The rest is owned by railroad corporations,
mine owners, charcoal burners, tanners, lumbermen and
speculators. The farmers are the most desirable class
of owners, and they begin to learn the value of their wood,
and devote time and thought to its preservation. Now
they begin to cherish their woodlands, and add millions,
yearly, of trees for shelter and beautification, and for
subsequent profit to those who will come after them.
The farmers' area of forest is increasing in all the Western
States, and groves are plentiful as in the days of the
Druids in England, or of the classic deities of Greece and
Italy, and are put to much better purpose. One thing
is to be noted, that trees will flourish on lands that will
not return a remunerative crop. The conifers will
thrive under apparently most inhospitable conditions.
Forest trees return to the soil the nutriment they
take from it, thus maintaining its productive power and
encouraging their own growth. The routes of
transportation now render access to market easy, by land or
water, and these facilities, with the extension of
railroads, grow better every year. The railroads need
many hundreds of ties for each mile (60,000,000 a year in
all, at an average of two ties to a tree), and these ties
must be renewed every seven or ten years. One acre of
land may contain and perfect from four to six hundred trees.
In a few years these trees will produce a rich harvest of
ties, and the surplus wood will give an immense supply of
fuel and fencing. The farmer, with a big wood lot, may
well ask, "What shall the harvest be?" and then look out for
a rich profit. As matters go, the thirty-eight per
cent. owned by the farmers now will soon be seventy-five per
cent. of the tree area, and forestry is commanding the
attention of our most thoughtful and considerate men.
The duplicate of 1887 indicates the material wealth of
the township, and shows 18,178 acres of land, valued in 1880
at $219,175, and chattel property valued at $130,854, listed
for taxation, and a tax of $8,190.72 paid. The
educational interests have not been overlooked, and the
township is divided into ten districts, with good,
well-provided buildings in each. The spiritual welfare
of the people is attended to in three churches; one, a
Protestant Methodist, at Texas, and two at Colton, - a
Church of God, and one Methodist Episcopal.
The population in1860 was 894; in 1870, 1,141, and in
1880 amounted to 1,249. A proportionate increase has
been maintained since that time.
The township is situated in the same tier of townships
with Freedom, Ridgeville and Liberty, and like these
townships has contributed its twelve northern sections to
the formation of Fulton county. It is in the eighth
range, and is one of the oldest in the county, having had a
settlement long before Napoleon was thought of as a county
seat, and contained a hamlet of good size before the
woodman's ax had begun gnawing at the pillars of God's first
tem- [pg. 280]
ples in any other part of the county. It had an
important trading post before the surveyor's chain was
stretched and the streets of the present county seat were
marked, although it was not platted until many years later.
Texas was, and is, the principal village of the township,
and is one of the oldest in the county. It is
beautifully situated on the north side of the Miami and Erie
Canal, and on the north bank of the Maumee River. A
ravine runs around the north and west sides, so that the
town plat lies high and dry. The outlet lock of the
twenty-four mile level of the canal is at this place; and
the slack-water in the Maumee River, caused by the dam at
Providence, gives the river a great depth and a width of not
less than one hundred rods. A public ferry connects
the banks, the expense being paid by the county.
The village was recorded Apr. 2, 1849, by James
Durbin, the proprietor. The streets were laid out
to the cardinal points; those running from north to south
are named mainly from the timber natural to the soil, and
those running from east to west are named numerically,
beginning at the canal. Through the eastern part of
the town what is called a hydraulic canal. It leads
from the canal and was built for the purpose of supplying
motive power for the mills in the lower part of the town,
which were the first erected in the county. The first
brick burned in the county was made here, and the first
brick court-house, the one destroyed by fire in 1879, was
constructed of brick manufactured at this point, being
transported from there by canal to Napoleon. The
village, in its early days, was the most important trading
point in Henry county, being the best market for miles
around. It was also a formidable rival of Napoleon for
the county-seat.
In 1865 Captain George Carver conceived the idea
of boring for oil, and a company was formed in February,
1866, under the name of the Henry & Lucas Co., Oil
and Mining Company. Work was at once begun, and at a
depth of about four hundred feet a vein of gas was struck of
sufficient force to blow the tools, which weighed fifteen
hundred pounds, clear out of the well. A stream of
water shot into the air for twenty feet, and continued to
spout for a couple of days. At last it subsided and
work was resumed. Their method of boring was very
primitive, for instead of casing the hole, they continued to
bore in the water; reaching a depth of over eleven hundred
feet they discontinued, thinking there was nothing any
farther down, not at that time knowing anything of the
purposes to which natural gas could be converted.
The vein of water which was struck was of a strong,
sulphurous kind, and heavily charged with gas. By
taking a glass of it fresh from the well, it is noticed to
sparkle like champagne. It is impossible to fill a
bottle of fresh water and then cork it lightly, as the
generated gas will surely break the bottle. After the
futile attempt to strike oil, the land was sold to
Captain J. W. Geering, who, thinking that there was an
opportunity to start of sanitarium, built a large hotel on
the grounds, and thoroughly equipped it with all modern
[pg. 281]
conveniences. But alas! for human fancies! his
dreams were doomed to be blasted, and now the hotel is a
huge residence.
At present the town presents an aspect that dimly
recalls to mind the Sleepy Hollow of Irving's
creation. There are a few stores here, but the
weather-beaten siding, dingy inside and general look of
dilapidation leads one to believe thats its peaceful
inhabitants are enjoying the sleep of Rip Van Winkle,
or are soothing themselves with the fumes of tobacco which
gave to Wouter Van Twiller his sublime indifference.
They are still smoking, and the world wags on as they remain
in a semi-morbid state, not caring, and much less thinking
of what goes on around them - a veritable Knickerbocker
settlement minus the scheming "yank."
The next and only remaining hamlet in the county is
called Colton, and lies at the center of section twenty-one
on the line of the Wabash, St. Louis & Pacific Railroad; is
twenty-six miles west of Toledo, and ten miles east of
Napoleon. The town plat was recorded July 14, 1855,
and by John R. Osborn, the proprietor. At
present it is a thriving hamlet of about two hundred
inhabitants, and with a good hotel, express office,
post-office, and does a comparatively thriving business.
The population, like that of all the other townships of the
county in small. The southeastern part is settled
mostly by Irish or their descendants, who came here during
the construction of the canal, and locally is known as
"Ireland." The north is mostly German or of German
extraction. A good sprinkling of the Yankee is also
found here. The whole population is honest,
industrious, thrifty and enterprising, except in the
villages where a little energy, capital and modern
attachments would certainly do good.
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