THIS township when originally erected was a part of
Leith, a township of Crawford County, and was created by the
Commissioners of that county in March, 1838. It lies east of Crane
Township, and between Sycamore on the north and Antrim in the south; the
east being bounded by Crawford county. On the 2d day of June,
1845, the first Commissioners of this county, Stephen Fowler,
William Griffith and Ethan Terry, ordered "That Sections 1,
12, 13, 24, 25 and 36 of the original surveyed township of Range 14
east, No. 2 south, be attached to Township No. 2 south of Range 15 east,
and the same be designated as Eden Township." These boundaries
continue to the present time. The township derived its name from
the heavy growth of excellent timber, poplar, walnut and other
varieties, and the fertility of its soil, which qualified it for the
operations of husbandmen, and not, perhaps from the "fig leaf attire" of
its original inhabitants, the red man. It contains thirty
sections, about three-fourths of which are drained by Peter Run,
Negro Run, and its tributary, Kisor Run, and a few others, all of which
empty into the Sandusky River. The southeast quarter is drained by
Indian Spring Run and its tributaries, which in Antrim Township take the
name of Broken Sword Creek.
EARLY SETTLERS.
The first white man who
established himself in this township was, perhaps, Isaac Miller,
a native of Rockingham County, Va., who, with his family of five to
seven children, located on Section 29, near the present town of Nevada,
in 1836. He was familiarly known as Congress Miller, and for seven
years leased land of Jacob Young, a Wyandot Indian. In
1837, Mr. Miller was joined by George W. Leith, better
known as Judge Leith, who settled on a quarter-section of Section
No. 10, and John Horick on Quarter-section 27. Judge
Leith was a man of considerable prominence in the early history of
the county, having served as Justice of the Peace in Crawford County,
and as Associate Judge of Wyandot County for a period of eight years.
In 1839, John Welsh, Morgan Carter, Zaccheus Lea, Mr. Hill, Charles
Caldwell, Samuel Snyder and a Mr. Cook were added to the list
on Sections 34, 10, 10, 3, 34, 28 and 27 respectively. In 1840,
1841 and 1842 these were re-enforced by others who followed in rapid
succession till quite a settlement was formed.
The taxable inhabitants of Eden Township in 1845, were
as follows:
OWNERS OF REAL ESTATE
Adams, Demas, Sections
5, 15, 22 and 27, 375 acres; Akins, H. G. C., Section 34, 80
acres; Bartoon, John L., Section 15, 62 acres; Cook, Joshua,
[pg. 812]
Section 27, 54 acres; Culver, Ebenezer, Section 10, 63 acres;
Garrett, George, Section 3, 66 acres; Howland, Augustus,
Section 15, 80 acres; Horick, John, Section 27, 120 acres;
Kiser, David, Section 10, 142 acres; 'Lemon, Joel Section
3, 42 acres; Lauck, George, Sections 5, 15 and 22, 279 acres;
Lea, Zaccheus, Section 10, 80 acres; Leith, George W.,
Section 10, 80 acres; McElvain, John Sections 5, 3, 10 and 12,
281 acres; Mitten, Miles Section 3, 80 acres; Neeley, William,
Section 27, 80 acres; Slocum , Ezra, Section 34, 132 acres;
Stokely, Robert, Sections 3 and 22, 223 acres; Smith, William
Section 15, 80 acres; Smith, Daniel, Sections 5, 27 and 34, 303
acres.
OWNERS OF PERSONAL ESTATE.
Charles Caldwell, Joshua
Cook, Levi Bunn, William Hartman, John Horick, David Kiser, George W.
Leith, Zaccheus P. Lea, Isaac Miller, Lair Miller, Miles Mitten, James
B. Robinson, Samuel Snyder, John Welch, Jr., James Welch, John Welch,
Sr., Jacob Weeks, William Welch.
The first road regularly laid out in the township
extended through Sections 34 and 27, and was opened in 1839, though
prior to this the Indian trails and "blazed tracks" were, no doubt,
quite numerous and considerably used. The Oceola road from Indian
Run to Rock Run was opened by the Wyandot Indians, under the supervision
of Isaac Miller, who at this date resides in Antrim Township.
Some of these earlier roads of "trails" led to the Indian resorts, one
of which was the locality of the springs, which were supposed to be
medicinal in their qualities, located in Section 22, and two others on
the farms now owned by Henry and Samuel Aten on the Oceola State
Road. On the farm now owned by Tilman Balliet an Indian
burying ground is located, and here from the healing fountains, they
repaired to chant the death songs over their stricken dead.
Orchards were planted, and among these, as well as in other places, they
have left their records in the implements of war and the chase, stone
hatchets, spear heads and arrow heads and besides these the crude
domestic utensils, such as the mortar and pestle by which they ground
the corn that served to make their bread or thicken their skunk and
'possum broth. For the greater part of their supplies the earlier
settlers of this township, as well as of other townships went to
Sandusky City and Fremont, and up to date Eden Township cannot claim the
honors of a grist mill. In 1849, the first saw mill was erected by
Crawford & Lance, and seven mills are now in operation in the
township - one owned by Samuel Bever at Nevada; one by Turney
& Yohe, Edenville; one by Joseph Paulin, Little York; a
fourth by John Kreechbaumon Section 6; a fifth by James
Spangler, Eden Center; another by Martien Brothers, Section
15. The mercantile interests of Eden were somewhat thwarted by the
establishment of a store in the village of Wyandot in an early day, and
later by the sudden appearance and growth of Nevada (which, however, is
partially situated in this township), after the construction of the
Pittsburgh, Fort Wayne & Chicago Railroad. There are at present,
however, two stores in the township outside of the villages, one
situated on Section 20, conducted by Conrad Hasas; the other on
Section 17, conducted by Daniel T. Warner. The first store
was kept by William Jobs on Section 9. The first dwelling
log cabin, 14 x 18, by Congress Miller.
EDUCATIONAL
The first schoolhouse erected
in Eden Township was constructed of logs and very small in dimension.
Nancy Steele was the first to wield the peda
[pg. 813]
gogic wand, she being succeeded by Mary Chambers, Isaac
Stinebaugh, William Jobs and others. The first school building
was built on Section 10, the land being owned by Zaccheus P. Lea,
and as the forests were cleared away and the inhabitants increased in
number, others followed, till there are now eight districts established
and provided with good school buildings. They are located on the
following sections respectively: Sections 4, 7, 8, 22, 24, 27, 32
and 39. The schools of Eden Township are conducted as well,
perhaps, as those in other townships in the county, yet there is still
much room for improvement in this direction, and, as regards attendance,
the field for improvement is equally ample. Since the organization
of the first crude classes, under the instruction of Nancy Steele,
at $6 per month, wages have increased, till the prices from $35 to $45
per month. The school rooms are provided with books, charts, and
most of the modern conveniences, and with these should come the best of
educational results.
RELIGIOUS.
While the temporal and material
interests of the people of Eden Township were being carefully guarded
and developed, the spiritual and eternal were not forgotten. The
first church building was erected on Section 3 by the combined forces of
the Methodist, United Brethren and Congregational denominations in 1851.
Union Church - At
a meeting of the citizens of the township, held at the Case Schoolhouse,
in District No. 2, Jan. 14, 1859, it was decided that a union church
should be erected, and the site and size (30x40 feet) of the building
were also agreed upon. John Paulin, Jacob Beery and
Jacob Boroff were appointed a committee to solicit subscriptions,
the latter gentleman agreeing to donate one acre of land on the
southeast corner of the southeast quarter of Section 12 on which to
locate the building. At this first meeting, Mr. Case was
made President and A. Mackey, Secretary. A second.......................MORE
TO COME
German Baptist Church -
OFFICIAL.
The following is a complete
list of the officers who have served in the township since the
organization of the county:
Trustees |
|
1845 - |
John Welch, Miles
Mitten, Samuel Snider |
1846 - |
John Welch, George
W. Leith, John Caldwell |
1847 - |
James Anderson,
Oliver Beard, Peter C. Ulrich |
1848 - |
James Anderson,
Oliver Beard, Peter C. Ulrich |
1849 - |
James S. Cummins,
Peter C. Ulrich, Thomas Heugher |
1850 - |
James S. Cummins,
Jacob Ulrich, James Anderson |
1851 - |
Miles Mitten;
James Anderson, Benjamin Marshall |
1852 - |
James L.
Armstrong, George Eyestone |
1853 - |
Miron B. Case,
James L. Armstrong |
1854 - |
George Eyestone,
Miron B. Case |
1855 - |
James Anderson,
David S. Wolf |
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CLERKS |
1845-47 |
James B. Robinson; |
1848 |
Jesse Edgington |
1849 |
John Welch |
1850-51 |
Jesse Edgington; |
1852 |
David Swank; |
1853 |
Harris Beemis; |
1854 |
Jesse Edgington; |
1855 |
David Swank; |
1856 |
Jesse Edgington; |
1857-58 |
John Maskley |
1859 |
Isaac kaufman; |
1860-62 |
E. F. Elliott; |
1863-70 |
John Maskley |
1871 |
C. H. Canan; |
1872-74 |
I. O. Osborn; |
1875-77 |
C. H. Canan; |
1878-79 |
T. B. Armstrong; |
1880-81 |
T. D. Lanker; |
1882-83 |
J. N. Paulin. |
TREASURERS |
1845, |
John Harick; |
1846-47, |
Jesse Edgington; |
1848-54, |
George W. Leith; |
1855, |
Jacob Buroff; |
1856, |
Daniel Whitmore; |
1857-58, |
J. L. Armstrong; |
1859-60, |
George W. Leith; |
1861-69, |
David Balliet; |
1870-75, |
Tilman Balliet; |
1876-77, |
B. J. Ulrich; |
1878-79, |
R. W. Pool; |
1880-82, |
C. S. Swank; |
1883, |
Samuel Althouse. |
The following list of Justices
of the Peace were recorded on the township books:
1847, |
William R. DeJean; |
1850, 1853, 1856 |
James S. Cummins; |
1859, |
William R. DeJean; |
1862, |
Godfrey Blaser; |
1867 and 1870, |
Jacob Gilliland; |
1873 |
James S. Cummins; |
1876, |
John A. Amlin and William B.
Miller; |
1878, |
John Bender; |
1879, |
Israel Hart; |
1880, |
B. J. Ulrich |
1881, |
T. D. Lanker. |
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