History of
Paulding County
by Prof. Everett A. Budd as printed in the Historical Hand-Atlas:
History of Northwestern Ohio and History of Paulding County, Ohio.
H. H. Hardesty & Co., Publishers: Chicago and Toledo. 1882.
[Photo: Melrose (Ohio). 1890 circa. Center for Archival Collections, Bowling Green State University (OH). Ohio Memory Project.]
Statistics (from 1882)
The population of the county in 1830 was 161; in 1840, 1,034; in 1850,
1,766; in 1860, 4,945; in 1870, 8,544; in 1880, 13,489. Number of
acres of arable or plow land as returned in 1880, 47,199. Number of acres
meadow or pasture land, 7,230. Number of acres timber land, 205,970. Total
number of acres in county, 260,399.
Click on the following links to read more history:
Source: History of Paulding County by Prof. Everett A. Budd as printed in the Historical Hand-Atlas: History of Northwestern Ohio and History of Paulding County, Ohio. H. H. Hardesty & Co., Publishers: Chicago and Toledo. 1882.
Other Helpful Links
Ohio
Historical Society
Paulding
County
Genealogy Society
Ohio Memory
Scrapbook
Paulding
County
Carnegie Library
Canals
and Railroads
As early as 1816 the necessity of
connecting the waters of Lake Erie with those of the Ohio River, by means
of a navigable canal, was assented to, and a correspondence upon that
subject was had between Hon. Ethan Allen Brown of Cincinnati, and DeWitt
Clinton, then Canal Commissioner of the State of New York.
an act of the Ohio Legislature was passed in February, 1820, authorizing
the appointment of three Commissioners to locate such a canal. The
act also proposed to ask of the General Government a grant of one or two
millions of land. By some reason the Commissioners were not
appointed and no survey was made.
In 1821-22 the subject of canal was again revived in the Ohio Legislature,
and on the 31st of January a bill was passed which authorized an examination
into the practicality of constructing a canal from Lake Erie to the Ohio
river.
Seven Commissioners were chosen for that purpose, and competent engineers
were appointed to make surveys, examinations and estimates.
Four routes were taken into consideration. The first from the Ohio
river at Cincinnati to the Maumee river, and thence to the lake; the
second from Sandusky Bay to some point on the Ohio; third to traverse up
the Cuyahoga river, and then cross to the navigable waters of the
Muskingum, thence down that stream to the Ohio; the fourth route was by
way of the sources of the Grand and Mahoning rivers. The Cuyahoga
and Muskingum river route won the prize, and the Ohio & Erie Canal was
constructed thereon.
In 1824, however, a survey was made of the Miami and Maumee river route,
and an estimate of the probable cost of constructing a canal upon it was
reported to the Ohio Legislature at its session of 1824-25.
M.T. Williams, a member of the State Board of Canal Commissioners,
directed this survey. Samuel Forrer was the Chief Engineer, assisted
by J. L. Williams, Francis Cleveland and Richard Howe.
A great portion of this survey was through an unbroken wilderness.
From where the town of St. Marys now stands to the Auglaize river, a
distance of about forty miles, no signs of civilization were visible.
On the banks of the Auglaize a squatter named Elias McClish had made a
small improvement. Here the party had an encampment, and also at
Oquanoxa's town, an Indian village, which stood upon the present site of
Charloe.
The surveying of the Wabash & Erie Canal was commenced in 1826, but
not finally completed until the Autumn of 1828.
In 1827 Congress made a land grant to the State of Indiana, of one-half of
the public lands on each side of a proposed canal, that would connect Lake
Erie with the waters of the Wabash river. The Indiana terminus of
the Canal, and also of the grant, was at the mouth of the Tippecanoe
river, 213 miles from the lake.
In May, 1828, Congress made a similar grant to Ohio, to aid in the
construction of the Miami Canal from Dayton to the lake; and also in the
same act authorized the State of Indiana to convey to Ohio the rights to
all public lands lying within the limits of that State, upon such terms as
might be agreed upon by these States. Accordingly, commissioners
were chosen from both States, one from each, who met at Zanesville, Ohio
in October, 1829, where Indiana, through her commissioner, agreed to
surrender all the lands within the limits of Ohio to the latter named
State on condition that she would construct the canal from the State line
to Toledo, and give to the citizens of Indiana all the rights and
privileges that were granted to the citizens of Ohio.
Although the Miami canal was the first to be surveyed, yet Indiana people
were the first to begin their portion of the work.
The first ground on the Wabash & Erie Canal was broken at Ft. Wayne,
in the Spring of 1832.
The work progressed slowly, and by the middle of 1835 only thirty-two
miles had been completed.
In 1840 the canal was open between Lafayette and the east line of
Indiana. Ohio was slower than Indiana to appreciate this needed
channel of navigation, and Indiana, disappointed at this tardiness, in
1840 sent their Chief Engineer to Columbus to urge upon the Legislature of
Ohio the speedy fulfillment of their portion of the canal contract.
The Ohio people commenced work immediately, and in 1843 the final
completion of the Wabash & Erie Canal took place; the event was
celebrated at Ft. Wayne on the 4th of July of that year, and was
participated in by citizens from both States, who listened to an able
oration delivered upon the occasion, by General Lewis Cass.
The Miami Canal was not completed until 1845.
These two canals, of which a brief history has been given, pass through
Paulding county; the Wabash & Erie enters the county on the west side
and passes through the northern tier of townships; the Miami on the south,
and has a course through the eastern tier of townships.
They unite at the village of Junction in the northeastern part of the
county.
The beneficial results which arose from the construction of these canals,
is acknowledged by almost every citizen in the county, yet, for several
years they have been suffered to remain in a miserable condition.
The Indiana portion has been totally abandoned, and unless something is
speedily done for the repair of the Ohio portion, the great project of its
construction, which was attended with so much labor and expense, will be
irrecoverably and forever lost.
In justice to H. S. Knapp it may be said that many of the dates and facts
pertaining to the early surveys and construction of these canals, were
gleaned from his History of the Maumee Valley.
The first railroad in the county was the Toledo, Wabash & Western, now
called the Wabash, St. Louis & Pacific.
This road runs through the northern part of the county for a distance of
eighteen miles, and was completed in 1855. The distance that it
extends through Emerald township is 31,015 feet, and its value in that
township, as placed upon the tax duplicate of the county is $81,510; its
distance through Crane township is 34,124 feet, and its value $89,680; its
distance through Carryall township is 22,267 feet, value $58,519; its
distance through the village of Antwerp is 5,613 feet, valued at $14,752;
and its distance through Harrison township is 8,410 feet, valued at
$22,102.
Its total distance in the county is 101,429 feet; its total value
$255,563, and it pays into the county treasury a tax of about $6,000 a
year.
The Paulding & Cecil Railroad extends from Cecil to Paulding, a
distance of about seven miles.
S. Frank Eagle, of the Paulding Furnace, is the President of the
road. The first train was run over the road September 1, 1880.
The New York, Chicago & St. Louis road was completed through the
county in September, 1881. It extends through it from east to west,
a few miles south of its center.
The Cincinnati, Van Wert & Michigan Railroad has been put in operation
to a point on the south line of the county and its early completion from
north to south through its center is anticipated.
With these roads all in successful operation, the railroad facilities in
Paulding county will be almost equal to any in Ohio.