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PRIOR to Dec. 6, 1830, the territory now
composing of Marion Township was included in
Findlay and Amanda, but on that date the
commissioners erected Marion, which then
embraced, besides its present territory, what is
now known as Cass Township, or a total of
forty-eight sections. The latter
subdivision was cut off and organized into a new
township Mar. 4, 1833, leaving Marion as it
stands to-day, with twenty-four sections, or an
area of 15,360 acres of land, all llying in
Township 1, north, Range 212 east. It is
claimed that this township was named in Honor of
Gen. Francis Marion, a dashing cavalry
leader of the war of Indenpendence.
Marion is bounded on the north of Cass
Township, on the East by Big Lick, on the south
by Amanda and Jackson, and on the West by
Findlay. In 1840 it containd apopulation
of 707; 1850, 904; 1860, 1,064; 1870, 9990;
1880, 987. The census of 1860 gives the
township 77 inhabitants more that that of 1880,
which indi-
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cates that the farms increased in acreage, or
that of civilization of the past quarter of a
century has been productive of small families.
The timber was originally about the same as in other
parts of the county: oak, walnut, elm, ash,
maple, poplar, beech, linn, sycamore, cherry,
buckeye, hackberry and cottonwood predominating.
The more valuable woods have become very scarce,
as the first settlers thought only of clearing
the soil of what they then looked upon as an
incumbrance.
The Blanchard River strikes the south line of the
township, near the southeast corner of Section
35, flows due north until near the northeast
corner of Section 23, where it turns abruptly
westward, and leaves the township in the
southwest corner of Section 16. Several
small runs drain the north part of the township
into the Blanchard, while two or three come in
from the south and east. The Prairie
Outlet is the most important of these, as it
principally drains the large body of wet prairie
lands extending clear across Big Lick Township
to the Seneca County line, discharging its
waters into the Blanchard at the sharp turn or
elbow on Section 23. Lye Creek crosses the
southwest corner of Marion, and flowing
northwestward empties into the Blanchard in the
eastern suburb of Findlay. The Blanchard
and its tributaries afford first-class drainage
and stock facilities, though good water may be
found at a slight depth in any part of the
township. Along the river, on the farm of
Allen Wiseley, in Section 23, are
several deer licks, which were a great resort
for both Indian and white hunters throughout the
pioneer days. Mr. Wiseley says
when he settled there in the fall of 1830, there
were seats in several trees near the licks,
which he supposes had been constructed by the
Indians. Comfortably seated in a tree
close by, the hunter easily shot down the
unsuspecting deer, and thus secured his game
without much exertion.
This township possesses some very choice lands.
The bottoms along the Blanchard are composed of
alluvial and vegetable deposits, and the soil is
very fertile. Back from the river, in the
south part of the township, a rich loam
prevails, while a mixture of clay and sand is
found in the northern portion. A narrow
strip of the prairie extends along the outlet
into this township, and makes very good pasture
land.
Pioneers. - The first land entry in this
township was made by Elnatuan Cory, Nov.
28, 1822. He took up the northeast quarter
of the North-east quarter of Section 21,
probably with an eve to its importance as a mill
site. Oct. 24, 1825, the south part of the
northeast quarter of Section 23, also on the
Blanchard, was entered by Alexander Robertson.
These lands, however, were taken up as a
speculation and not for settlement. It was
not till 1827 that an opening was made in the
forest of Marion. In that year Joseph
A. Sargent built his cabin on the east half
of the northwest quarter of Section 21, the farm
now owned by George Burns.
Sargent came to the county with his
widowed mother early in 1827, and resided for a
short time in Findlay. He subsequently
married Elizabeth De Witt, daughter of
Joseph De Witt, and sister of Mrs. Parlee
Carlin. Squire Carlin
says Sargent was living with his mother
on the Burns farm in the fall of
1827. He was one of the voters at the
first county election Apr. 7, 1828, and also at
the organization of the township in April, 1831.
In May, 1831. he sold his land to Barnabas
De Witt, and soon afterward removed to
Wood County, where some of his children still
reside.
Asher Wickham,
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Othniel Wells
Joshua Powell and
his wife and son, Eli, and nephew
Nutter Powell, came to Findlay in the
summer of 1828, erected a house, and planted a
small patch of corn where the residence of E.
P. Jones now stands. The season was
very dry, and the crop proved a failure.
In the meantime Mr. Powell
purchased a part of the northwest quarter of
Section 22, Marion Township; there built a
cabin, and in the spring of 1829 removed into
it. In December, 1829, John
Trout and family, on their way to the
settlement on the site of Van Buren, staid over
night "at the house of a Mr. Powell,
about three miles above Findlay." This was
Joshua Powell's cabin. He
was one of the thirteen electors who cast their
votes at the first township election in April,
1831. After a brief residence here Mr.
Powell sold out and with his family
removed to Putnam County.
Willis Ward and family
In the spring of 1830 Major Bright
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Edward Bright
Adam
Beard and Justin Smith came in from
Amanda Township in 1820-30, and took a contract
to clear a piece of land in Section 25 for
David Egbert. Beard's parents
settled in Amanda Township late in 1827, as some
of the family voted at the first county election
in April, 1828, and Adam a couple of
years afterward came to this township where he
has ever since resided. He was born in
1808, and is now old and feeble. Justin
Smith lived only a short time in this
township, then removed to one of the southern
townships. Both he and Beard were
voters at the first township election in April,
1831.
Jacob Baker, a
Allen Wiseley
PORTRAIT of
Daniel Feller
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of his children a good farm, reserving the old
homestead for his own residence during his
declining years.
Edwin Jones
Michael Myers
About the same time that Myers effected a
settlement, Barnabas De Witt of Gallia
County, Ohio, located in the south part of the
east part of the northeast quarter of Section
21, which he purchased of William Hackney
in February, 1831. The following May he
bought Joseph A. Sargent's land in the
same section, and immediately removed to
Sargent's cabin. He was one of the
thirteen voters of April, 1831, and died in
August, 1832, froma malignant type of fever then
raging through the settlement. His wife,
Nancy, and three children, subsequently
went back to their old home on the Ohio River.
Joseph Johnson
Charles Thomas
David and Mary Egbert
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John Aultman
Adam and Hannah Altman
William Davis
Two other settlers of this period were Jacob
Iler and Ambrose Jaqua
Rezin Ricketts
William Marvin
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John Burns
Henry Snyder
Daniel Opp and Benjamin Wise
Early Election and Electors -
Justices of the Peace -
Schools -
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Churches -
Crow Postoffice -
Mills -
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