Chapter IV

AUGLAIZE TOWNSHIP
 - Pg. 15

     This township was attached to Brown until the year of 1840, at which time its own organization was effected.  An election was called, and John Mason, Sr., and Nathan Shirley were elected the first justices of the peace; Adam Hall was elected the first constable, and A. C. Adams the first clerk.  The first actual settler in the township was Shadrach Hudson.  He came from Miami county, Ohio, in the year of 1819, and built a log house on section 19, on the right bank of the Auglaize river, about one-half a mile east, of the present village of Junction.  This house is known as "the oldest house in the county," is still standing, and until recently has been occupied by dwellers.  The following description of it was given in June, 1890, by a correspondent of Oakwood Sentinel.
     * * * * * " It was built by Shadrach Hudson in 1822 or '23.  It is of square logs, is two stories in height, and has a huge fireplace in each end.  There are two rooms on the first story.  The house stands on and commands a fine view, both up and down the Auglaize river.  It is a pity the old house was not engraved for the county history.  It will soon be a thing of the past and forgotten.  I wish that some artist would take a sketch of the building and its surroundings, which are very picturesque."  (Photographs were made of the building shortly after the above was written and sold throughout the county.)
     "The house is situated on what is known as the Potter farm, one mile northeast of Junction.  Near by is the cemetery where sleep the Hudsons, the Careys, the Shirleys, the Romaines, the Potters, and many other deceased pioneers.  Its builder, Mr. Hudson, was a soldier with St. Clair, was at the battle where that general was defeated by the Indians; also in the war of 1812, during which he visited the Maumee valley, where, being impressed with its fertility and natural beauties, he afterward settled.  At one time he was a teamster employed in hauling supplies for the army.  One night he arose in his sleep, harnessed his four-horse team, hitched them to the wagon, and was about to start on his tedious journey, when he awoke.  Mr. Hudson and his wife lived a life of piety, and daily gathered their large family around the family altar.  They were very hospitable and entertained many a stranger who chanced to pass that way.  What huge roasts of bear meat, venison and wild turkey they used to make before those old fire-places!  Their fumes seemed to fill the very air with their appetizing favors.  I wonder if departed ones ever come back to visit their abodes while in the flesh!  If they do, what a host of them come back to that old house.  In former days I often visited friends there and used to think what stories its old walls could tell if they could speak.  But all are gone!
 

       The township originally consisted of thirty-six sections, but upon the construction of Defiance county, in 1845, its northern half was stuck off and added to Defiance township, of that county, the sections preserving the number of the original survey.  This territory was taken from Paulding county in order to make Defiance, which was to be the county seat of the newly formed county, nearer its geographical center.  To increase the size of Auglaize township, after its half and been cut off, sections 13, 24, 25 and 36 were taken from Emerald township and added to it on the west.  The township is, therefore, seven miles in length from east to west, and three miles wide from north to south, excepting on the west tier of sections, where it is four miles in width.  Owing to this addition, this township has two sections numbered 24, two, 25, and two 36; these are distinguished from each other by the ranges, those taken from Emerald township being in range 3, and those in Auglaize proper, being in range 4.  Through the carelessness of some county officials, serious mistakes are sometimes made in consequence of this arrangement of sections.  For instance: A few years ago the southeast quarter of the southwest quarter of section 36, town 3 north, range 4 east, was advertised to be sold at sheriff's sale, much to the surprise of the owner, as he knew nothing of the debt for which the sale of the land had been ordered.  Upon inquiry into the matter, it was found that the land which should have been advertised was of the same description as the above, excepting the range, which should have been 3 instead of 4.  this mistake in the substitution of one figure for another, slight as it was, made a difference of just six miles in the location of the two pieces of land.
     The largest stream in the the township is the Big Auglaize river.  It flows through the western part from south to north.  Flat Rock enters the township from the south, and Little Flat Rock and Six Mile from the west; all three flow eastward and empty into the Big Auglaize.  Bull Run enters from the south and empties into Big Flat Rock.  Eagle creek has its source in the eastern part of the township, flows westward and discharges its waters into the Auglaize.  There are several stone quarries in the township.  On the farm of Samuel M. Doyle, one-half mile east of Junction, is a quarry of blue lime, and furnished stone for the construction of many aqueducts and culverts along the line of the Miami canal, when that thoroughfare of commerce was being built; also stone for hte large iron bridge across the Auglaize river, near the location of the quarry.  It has been idle for some years, but is being worked at present.  Another quarry, on the farm of Jacob Davis, consists of blue, gray and white lime, and furnishes many parts of the county with stone for building and other purposes.
     Frederick Ruffner built the first and only flouring mill in the township in 1865.  It is located in the village of Junction, is a frame, with two run of buhrs, turbine water-wheel, and is furnished power from the Miami canal.  Owing to the complicated condition of its ownership, the mill has not been in operation for several years.  The first saw mill erected in the township was built by William K. Daggett, in the year of 1841.  It was situated about one mile north of Junction, and was furnished forty years.  A. C. Yencer, Hubert Naveau, Jr., and John Varner now operate steam saw mills in the township.
     The first school taught in the township was by A. C. Adams, in 1840.  It was in a log cabin which stood on section 25, range 3, a mall building with clapboard roof, puncheon floor, and stick chimney.  Ten or twelve pupils were in attendance at this school.  The first school-house built in the township was in the village of Junction in 1854.  It was a one-story frame, 28x30 feet in dimensions; a part of it is yet standing and is used as a dwelling.  Upon the organization of the other sub-districts, which occurred between the years of 1854 and 1860, they were at first furnished buildings of hewn logs, but are now all supplied with good, substantial frames, excepting the one in Junction, which is a two-story brick, built in the summer of 1876, at a cost of $2,500.  In sub-district number 4 (known as the Bethel school), is a large one-story frame, with two rooms on ground floor, built in 1878, by John Q. Gray, contractor, at a cost of about %1,000.  The Bethel and Junction schools each employ a principal and assistant teacher; the remaining four sub-districts employ but one teacher each.  About 600 pupils receive instruction at these schools.  The resident teachers of the township are the Misses Emma and Katie Dotterer.  Mr. Henry Schildt, Mr. Englebert Link and Miss Fronia Stover. 
     The first postoffice established in the township was in the village of Junction, in 1842.  It was called the same as the village, and John Mason, Sr., was the first postmaster.  The office still exists, and j. G. Dotterer is the present postmaster.  One other office was established in 1882, named Arthur, in honor of Chester A. Arthur, who was then president of the United States.  John Moore was the first postmaster at this office, and A. J. Kinnear is the present.  It is located in the eastern part of the township.  Junction postoffice is situated on a mail route, extending from Delphos to Defiance, and has a tri-weekly mail - Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays; Arthur is on a star route leading only from that point to Defiance, and receives a bi-weekly mail - Tuesdays and Saturdays.
     The first sermon preached in the township was in the cabin home of  John Mason, Sr., by a Methodist minister named Solomon Biggs.  the first church organization effected in the township was at Junction, in 1849, by a Methodist Episcopal minister named Adams, and the first Sabbath-school was opened the same year by that reverend gentleman.  There are now five religious organizations in the township - The Christian, the Methodist, the United Brethren, the German Reform, and Catholic - all of which have church edifices, the last four named being in the Junction and the first named at Arthur, five miles east of the Junction.
     The only village in the township is Juncton.  It was laid out in 1842 by John Mason, Sr., and Nathan Shirley.  It is situated in the western part of the township at the Junction of the Wabash and Erie and Miami canals.  In its early days it was a flourishing and enterprising place, so much so, that Capt. Dana Columbia sold his property on Columbia street in the now busy city of Fort Wayne, and located at the Junction, believing that he would better his chances for gaining wealth by so doing.  In those days canals were the great thoroughfares for commerce, and the opening of the Wabash & Eire and Miami extension canals gave to Junction its flattering prospects.  Daily lines of packets ran on both canals, and many passengers were transferred at this place.  This gave a prosperous business for hotels, of which there were two or three.  There were three or four large, well filled dry goods stores and groceries; three large warehouses for the storage of grain; canal collector's office and residence, and half a dozen saloons.  The wharves we3re lined with canal boats, loading and unloading grain and other freight, giving to the village the semblance of an embryo city, which many of its citizens believed it to be.  But commerce found other channels than the canals through which to discharge its wealth; and for many years the dust of decay has been settling upon the once thriving village.  The warehouses have all burned, and many of the other buildings have rotted down.  The streets have a forlorn and wo-begone appearance, so much so, that if Goldsmith had traversed them he might have been inspired to improve upon his celebrated poem, "The Deserted Village," if improvement was possible.  In common parlance, the place has been going "down hill" for several years, and farmers in that vicinity remark that "its site will make a good cornfield when its rubbish is moved away."  H. Naveau, Sr., William Dotterer and John Shawver have three small general stores for the accommodation of a few customers, but depend on their farms for a living, and S. M. Doyle is the proprietor of the only hotel in the place.
     About one mile north of Junction in the fine farm of F. W. Le Sueur, upon which is kept a fine herd of Hereford cattle.  There are several fine country residences in the township, among which may be mentioned that of H. Naveau, Sr.; John G. Dotterer and Andrew Ott, of brick; and the frame residences of F. M. Wade, Isaac Hardesty and Nathan Varner.  The number of voters May 18, 1891, was 258.  The population of the township in 1880 was 1,068; in 1890 it was only 1,027, a decrease of 41, if the figures in both instances be correct.

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