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History
of
Auglaize County
and the
Indian History of Wapakoneta, and the First
Settlement of the County.
Publ. Wapakoneta: Robert Sutton, Publisher
1880
UNION TOWNSHIP.
Pg. 184
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Union
Township, situated in the eastern part of the county, and
bordering on Allen County, was organized in 1836. It has a
more undulating surface than any other township in the county.
The soil is of a mixed character, consisting of gravel, sand,
and clay, and is splendidly adapted to cereal culture.
Springs abound, and the whole section is well watered by living
streams. Across the northwest corner flows the Auglaize
River, while numerous smaller streams, among which are Blackhoof,
Wrestle, Huffman, Virginia, and Wolf creeks, traverse its
limits. A sufficient quantity of good gravel is found for
road purposes.
The township has now two gravel pikes, and contemplates
the construction of others the approaching season. It has
two village, Uniopolis and St. Johns; the former an enterprising
little town near the west line, and the latter on the south
line. It was settled principally by settlers from Virginia
and Southern Ohio, and the lands are still largely occupied by
the original occupants and their immediate, descendants.
The first piece of land entered within the township was entered
in Sec. 3, by Jacobs.
The elections for a number of years were held at
the house of Joseph Lusk, at the first of which between
twenty and thirty votes were cast. The first board of
trustees consisted of John Schooler, John Corder, and
_____. John Balzell was clerk at this time.
The first justice of the peace was John Morris.
During the first fifteen years the offices received no
compensation for their services. The township was first
organized into four school districts, and a cabin was built in
each for school purposes. This transpired about 1840.
The first church was a log house, known as Wesley Chapel,
erected about 1842, but which has been superseded by another
building bearing the same name, and occupying the old site.
James Lusk, at the age of twenty-one, accompanied his
father, Charles Lusk, to this county in 1832, and is,
perhaps, the oldest resident in the township. During the
first year he occupied and cultivated a piece of land which is
now a portion of the site of St. Johns. We would thus
probably be correct in claiming him to be the first white
settler of the soil in this township, as the land had been
cleared about St. Johns by the Indians.
The first school was taught, about 1836, by R. C.
Layton.
The following is a list of the first settlers with
the year of their arrival appended: -
Wm. Richardson, Byrd Richardson, John Lusk, John
Corder, Charles Lusk, and James C. Lusk in 1832.
Lemuel Bacome, Wm. Patterson, John Morris, John Hoffman,
James Watt, and Wm. Graham in 1833. John A.
Speece, Benj. Lusk, Allen Justice, John Carter, Aaron Howell, M.
Hodges, John Jacobs, John Schooler, and Lewis Y. Perkins
in 1834. Moses Porter, Jonathan Stiles, and
Levi Harrod in 1835. Levi Mix, John McCormic, Adam
Focht, Abner Copeland, H. F. Rinehart, John Harden, and
John B. Walton in 1836.
Uniopolis is the only village wholly within the
township, and is situated in Sec. 17, on the Wapakoneta and
Waynesfield gravel road, six miles east of Wapakoneta. It
is a pleasant little village of about two hundred inhabitants,
and contains two stores of general merchandise, one
school-house, one grocery store, one steam saw mill, one hotel,
and two churches.BIOGRAPHICAL.
JOHN MORRIS
ABNER COPELAND
LEMUEL BACOME
HUGH RINEHART
JOHN HARDEN
DANIEL FOCHT
SAMUEL FOCHT
JOHN McCORMIC
JONATHAN STILES
JAS. WATT
MOSES PORTER
BENJAMIN FALER
LEVI MIX
LEWIS Y. PERKINS
ANDREW SPEES
ALEX. HARROD
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