Page:History of Richland County, Ohio.djvu/575

 HISTORY OF RICHLAND COUNTY.

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��CHAPTER LVI.

SANDUSKY TOWNSHIP.

Its Primitive Condition — Crawford's March — Hunting Ground — Early Settlers and Settlements — The " RiBLET House" — Mrs. Hibner and the Bear — Organization of the Township — First Election — Schools — Churches — Origin of the Name.

��THE territoiT now included in Sandusky Township maintained its primitive con- dition until about 1817, before any permanent white settler made his appearance. The first white men to press the soil of the township, so far as is definitely and positively known, were the armed, belted and buckskinned knights under Col. William Crawford, in 1782, as the}' went silentl}', swiftly and with grim determina- tion to battle, death and disaster on the San- dusky plains. They halted at Spring ^lills over night, and in the morning took a prett}' direct course west, crossing the township very near the site of Crestline, but probabl}' a little north of that place, striking the Sandusky River near Leesville. This was a good hunting ground for the AYyandots and Delawares ; a chief of the latter tribe, Wingenund, having his camp for man}- ^ears on the river near Leesville. Col. Crawford was captured near the latter place. This was a beautiful home for these red men ; the beautiful sparkling little streams, the plains stretching away for man}- miles, sur- rounded b}' deep, dark forests, full of game of every kind, and dotted over b}- little clumps of trees ; all made a paradise which the}' were loathe to relinquish, and only relinquished after years of hard fighting and much l)loodshed and suflering. The remorseless white man, how- ever, was determined to possess this beautiful country, and. being superior in numerical and intellectual strength, succeeded.

When the first settlers entered Sandusky Township, it was one of the best hunting-

��grounds in the State. All kinds of wild game was so plenty that the hunter could supply his table with meat almost without stepping out- side his cabin door ; had it not been for this, they would have suffered greatly for provisions the first two years, as but little could be planted the first year, on account of the difficulty of making an opening in the gi'eat woods, and, be- fore the first crop of corn grew to maturity, says Mr. Snyder, one of the earliest settlers, " the squirrels came by hundreds and thousands and took it all."

It is a difficult matter to get the names and locations of the earliest settlers in the town- ship, as nearly all have gone to their long homes or moved away ; but the following per- sons were among the earliest settlers, and, it is believed, were the earliest in the township. Some of these settled in what is now Crawford County, ])ut some are known to have settled within the present limits of Sandusky Town- ship, as at present constituted. The first were Christian Snyder and Jacob Fisher, who came in 1817, and settled about two miles southwest of the present town of Crestline. Following these were John Doyle, 1818 ; Joseph Russell, 1818 ; Louis Lyberger, 1819 ; Daniel 3Iiller, 1818 ; Henry Hersner, 1819, and John Reed, 1818. Of these, Louis Lyberger and Hemy Hersner are known to have settled within the present limits of Sandusky Township, probably on Section 23. The first settlement, therefore, occurred near the center of the township. The others settled in what is now Crawford County ; and

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