THIS
township was organized in 1832. The first
election was held at the house of Ephraim
Doty, and the following are remembered as
first voters: Ephraim Doty, Enos
Purtee, Lewis Purtee,
Samuel Russell, Oliver Conrad,
Peter Knipe, Jacob and
George Hall, Jacob, John and
Adam Coy, John and
Thomas Holmes and John Snider.
The officers elected were Jacob Coy
and Ephraim Doty, Justices of the
Peace; John Snider, Constable and
Treasurer; James Guthrie, Clerk;
Jacob Coy, Ephraim Doty
and probably Enos Purtee,
Trustees.
The first school in Tiffin was taught by Ephraim
Doty, in a double log cabin, which stood on
his farm in the northwest quarter of Section 21.
Hester Ann, George and
William Partee, Caleb,
Andrew and Polly Coy and
Houston Russell and Kitty,
Rachel and Abner Doty were the
pupils. One end of this double cabin was
used for a blacksmith shop. The first
schoolhouse was afterward built near the old
Evansport Cemetery. John Arnold
and John Cameron were early
teachers in that shop. There are now ten
schoolhouses in the township, six of them brick.
Ephraim Doty was the first settler
in the township, coming about 1825 and settling
on Tiffin River, then called Bean Creek. Enos
Purtee followed soon after; also Lewis
Purtee and William Graham.
Samuel Russell and John
Acus came in the spring of 1831, and in the
fall of the same year the Coys,
Sniders, Halls and Mrs.
Conrad. Mr. Hollingshead
and James Guthrie settled soon
after, but did not remain long.
The first sermon was delivered at the cabin of Enos
Purtee by Rev. Prior.
There are now six churches in the township, two
at Evansport, a Methodist Episcopal Church on
Section 33, which cost over $1,000, a German
Methodist Episcopal Church on Section 15, which
cost about $700, a United Brethren Church on
Section 15, which cost over $800, and a Catholic
Church on Section 31, which cost over $3,000.
Tiffin River was the only public highway open to the
first settlers, and canoes and pirogues the only
means of conveyance or transportation.
About 1847, a boat called the Experiment plied
between Evansport and Brunersburg; its capacity
was 600 bushels of wheat.
Ephraim Doty, the first settler, died in
1845. He built the first saw mill in the
township, on Doty Run, on the old up and down
style; he also had the first brick kiln in the
township, from which the settlers got their
brick to build the chimneys of their cabins.
About the year 1834 or 1835, Lewis
Partee built a saw mill on Webb Run in
Section 34, and had a small run of stone to
grind corn for the early settlers, but it has
long since passed away. Mr. John
Plummer, an old hunter, trapped in the
township several years before any settlement was
made, and settled in the township about 1835.
Mr. Frederick Von Beron erected a tannery
about 1842, in Section 16, and carried on quite
extensively until about 1866, when he sold his
farm and moved to Iowa. About the year
1847. there was a small distillery carried on by
Jacob Kintigh, which disappeared
about 1855. About the year 1852, a great
wolf hunter named Skiver came through the
township, and was so well skilled in hunting
wolves that he rid them all out so they have
troubled nothing since. He could track
them better than a dog. About the year
1837, came the Toberons, Hockmans,
Biderwells, Shermans, Rumkeys,
Wisemiller and Miers; all German
families, and settled on the east side of Tiffin
River, forming what is called the German
settlement, but now mostly English.
The soil of Tiffin Township along the river was covered
with walnut, poplar, beech, sugar, white ash,
huckleberry, dogwood, wild cherry, white and red
oak, making farms when brought under cultivation
equal to gardens. Away from the river, the
timber was mostly burr oak, white oak, black
ash, elm and hickory, with some beech and sugar
ridges, making it more difficult to bring under
cultivation, but with proper drainage it brings
good wheat and corn, clover and timothy, all
kinds of fruit do well, but apples and pears do
the best. As an agricultural township,
Tiffin is second in the county in wheat and
corn, with plenty of good pasture land to rear
horses, cattle, sheep and hogs, there being some
fine stock in the township.
EARLY VOTERS.
The
following were the voters of Tiffin Township in
October, 1845: Reuben Brown, Permenus
Kibble, Frederick Ingle, Henry Graham, Wesley
Brown,
Page 348 -
Isaac H. Huyek, Isaac W. Gibbs, William
Purtee, James Purtee, Henry Brown, Lewis Purtee,
John Collins, Jr., Andrew Sellinger, Jacob Coy,
Lawrence Purtee, Patrick McCauley, Mordecai
Cameron, William Stinger, Robert Kibble, John
Snider, David Strauser, Henry McCanley, Israel
Denman, John Sellinger, Christian Thurmburg,
Thurston Russell, Daniel Kintigh, Levin
Porter, Simon Figley, Philip McCanly, E. P.
Lindenberger, William C. Porter, Jacob Hall,
Henry Hockman, Henry Toberian, Jacob Smith,
Stephen Squires, Daniel Martin, Aaron Bennett,
Alonzo C. Barber, Dederick Biderwell, George K.
Kendal, Frederick Tobrian, Solomon Snider, John
Donaldson, Samuel Russel, Jacob Dieden, Enos
Purtee, Coonrod Rumka, George Purtee, Frederick
Van Beron, Caleb Sellinger, Rolle Sellinger,
Michael Justic, John Plummer, John R. Cassel,
Isaac Evans, Elihu Taylor, Thomas Churchman, Ely
Johnston, Solomon Wisler, Coonrod Myers, George
Hall, John P. Winters, Henry Shearman, Thomas
Winters, Nathaniel Mitchel, Efferson Toel, John
Wisler, H. B. Hall, John A. Garbor, William S.
Kintigh, David Myers, Jacob Kintigh, Simon Kent
and E. W. Fuller. Patrick MoCauley,
John Donaldson, and Solomon
Snider, Judges; Daniel Martin and Henry
McAuley, Clerks; election held at the
residence of Jacob Hall.
VILLAGE OF
EVANSPORT.
The
town was laid out by Jacob Coy and Albert G.
and Amos Evans, Dec. 14, 1835. The
original plat consisted of 122 lots. It
has a population of about 350. It has two
churches, one Methodist Episcopal brick built in
1874, and cost $2,800 and one United Brethren
Church, frame, cost about $800, and built in
1876. There is one Masonic and one
organized Odd fellows hall. The Masonic
hall was built in 1875, The Odd Fellows
built in 1871. They have about fifty
members each. The school buildings are
frame, but have two departments, with about
eighty scholars in attendance. There are
two dry goods stores, one drug store, one
hardware store, five cooper shops, two black
smith shops, two shoe-maker shops, one wagon
shop, three millinery and dress-making shops,
one harness shop and one post office and two
hotels. The grist mill at Evansport is the
only one in the township. It was built in
1836-37 by Jacob and John Coy and John
Snider. The saw mill was built about the
same time and by the same parties. Both
have been running continuously up to the present
time. The mill is now owned by Fribley
& Kimball, the latter purchasing an interest
in December, 1882. It has been remodeled
and rebuilt by Fribley & Co., and does an
extensive business. This first mill was
built by Coys & Snider, and ceased to
grind in 1868. In 1872, Daniel Fribley
and Abram Coy built the present mill
on same site, or nearly so, where the old
pioneer mill stood.
EVANSPORT
LODGE, F. & A. M., NO. 511.
This
lodge was organized under a charter granted by
the Grand Lodge of Ohio, Oct. 17, 1875, the
charter members being as follows: Enos
Kimble, Abraham Coy, William B. Showman, John S.
Cameron, Samuel Donaldson, Robert B. Cameron
and George W. Scott. John M. Welker,
of Bryan, Ohio, being appointed
first W. M. At the first election of
officers held under the charter, the following
were chosen: Robert B. Cameron, W. M.;
Enos Kimble, S. W. ; Samuel
Donaldson, J. W. ; Abram Coy,
Treasurer; John S. Cameron, Secretary;
George W. Scott, S. D.; James C. Sandford,
J. D. ; William, B. Showman, Tiler.
At the time of its organization, the financial
conditions of the people in its jurisdiction,
was such as to prevent many from making
application for membership, but as money began
to be more plentiful, in consequence of which
times got better, men good and true began to
inquire the way, and the growth of the lodge
from that time to the present has been a steady
one, the membership at present numbering sixty.
Present officers for 1883 are John S.
Cameron, W. M. ; Judson McCord,
S. W. ; Frank W. Ury, J. W. ; Abram
Coy, Treasurer: J. H. Hockman,
Secretary; Robert B. Cameron, S. D. ;
Sandford Posey, J. D.; and Robert C. Hall,
Tiler. Stated meetings are held on the
first and third Friday evenings of each month,
hour of meeting, 7 o'clock, P. M. All
Masons in good and regular standing are
cordially invited to meet with the brethren of
said lodge.
PERSONAL
REMINISCENSES.
THE COY
FAMILY
JOSEPH
COLLINS
ABRAM
TALLMAN COLLINS,
JOHN CAMERON
LYDIA (STENGER)
CAMERON
JOHN P.
CAMERON
ROBERT B.
CAMERON
CHRISTOPHER
KUHN
OBADIAH
PURTEE
JACOB HALL
GEORGE HALL
JACOB HALL
ADAM HALL
RESIDENCE OF JOHN SNIDER,
TIFFIN TP., DEFIANCE CO., OHIO
includes Mrs. John Snider, Mrs. Mary Conrad
& John Snider
WILLIAM HALL
JESSE HALL
OLIVER HALL
FRANK HALL
GEORGE HALL,
SR.
ADAM C. HALL
JOHN SNIDER
THOMAS
YEAGER
JOHN A.
YEAGER
SAMUEL
SHUTER
SOLOMON
SNIDER
AMOS SNIDER
SAMUEL
SNIDER
GEORGE
PURTEE
ENOS PURTEE
JOHN W.
WISSLER
DAVID
WISSLER
DAVID MILLER
CHARLES A.
SKINNER
WILLIAM RATH
FRANCIS L.
KEY
FREDERICK
SPEICER
WILLIAM F.
ANDREWS
DANIEL
FRIBLEY
FRANK
FRIBLEY
DR. HOUSTON
RUSSELL
ALEXANDER
BOHN
SAMUEL P.
CAMERON
JOHN A
GARBER
BRICE GARBER
DEWITT
CLINTON GARBER
JACOB MOON, JR.
JOHN G. WIELAND
JOHN J.
RUSSELL
SOLOMON
BERGMAN
SAMUEL
SCHLOSSER
GEORGE BLACK
ABRAHAM
SPANGLER
Philipp
J. Hoeltzel A. Fullmer
Augustus Skiver Henry J.
Hill
PETER
SPANGLER
PHILIP
McCAULEY
WILLIAM
CHURCHMAN
JACOB ERMAN
ALEXANDER
ROGERS, JR.
PETER GARES
JOHN
STRAWSER
JOHN H.
RETHMET
MRS. MARTHA
BARNHART
LEWIS PARTEE
JOHN G.
STEVER
AARON
BENNETT
JAMES S.
GURWELL
MARTIN
GURWELL
BARTHOLOMEW
YEAGLEY
JACOB DIEDEN
EZRA RETHMEL
FREDERICK
ENNEKING
HENRY BROWN
JOHN WESLEY
BROWN
PARMENAS
KIBBLE
WILLIAM
KIBBLE
PARMENAS
KIBBLE
ROBERT
KIBBLE
MARGARET
KIBBLE
JOSEPH
KIBBLE
ELIZA ANN
KIBBLE
WILLIAM
NELSON KIBBLE
JACOB FIGLEY
JOHN T.
CRAINE
JOHN N. WALTER
S. K. Benthe
Martin Struble
William Ufer
George Ridenour
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