Ohio History Journal

The Evolution of Sandusky County.                l39

the bed rocks and those held in its frozen embrace, thereby creat-

ing what is known by geologists as till or boulder clay, but which

is commonly called ground of earth, which the glacier, when

it finally disappeared, left distributed upon the bed rock through-

out the region over which it passed, forming the basis of the

rich and productive soil for which the valley is noted.

The county when first erected (1820) included all of the

congressional townships, beginning with number four, north of

the base line, or forty-first degree north latitude, contained

within north ranges thirteen, fourteen, fifteen, sixteen and seven-

teen; and extending northerly to Lake Erie. Its eastern bound-

ary was the western boundary line of the Connecticut Reserve.

And as now bounded is mainly within what is known as the

Lower Sandusky valley, being the district of country drained by

the Sandusky river and bay, although some of the northwest

part of the same drains through the Portage river direct into

Lake Erie.*

THE RIVER.

The beautiful Sandusky rises in Richland county and from

thence passing through the counties of Crawford, Wyandot and

* W. C. Mills, in his "Archaeological Atlas of Ohio," says:

"Sandusky County was one of the most strategic and important

sections of Ohio in aboriginal times. It was chiefly remarkable as being

probably the most important trail center in the state. Around Sandusky

Bay there were a number of aboriginal towns and at this point the

greatest trails centered. Among these was the so-called Great Trail

from the Allegheny region, which passed on around the lake and thence

northward; the Shore trail, which followed the south shore of the lake;

the trails running north and south along the Sandusky and Scioto Rivers

to the Ohio, and further south; and the Mahoning trail, which merged

with the Great Trail not far below Sandusky Bay."

"Altho the importance of the County was mainly that of a great

station whence trails centered, there was a considerable population (pre-

historic) as evidenced by a number of enclosures and other works

found along the Sandusky River. One of these enclosures (earth-

works) was located where the city of Fremont now stands, while be-

tween that city and the Bay, there were at least five others. One was

located just south of Fremont, and another near the south line of the

county, and two others near the mouth of Pickerel Creek. The county

has a total of eighteen recorded pre-historic sites."

140      Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications.

Seneca enters the present Sandusky county from the south, about

midway of its south boundary line, and flows entirely across the

county in a general northeasterly direction, but with many

graceful bends, some of which embrace nearly, if not quite, all

points of the compass as it meanders its course amid alternating

picturesque slopes and flowering plains to where it mingles its

waters with those of the bay of the same name, and which bay

was designated by early geographers as "lake" Sandusky, and

lake Junandat, the latter name probably being derived from that

of the Wyandot tribes of Indians sometimes called Owendots or

Yendots, inhabiting its shores since about 1700.

The river, after entering the county passes scenes along its

banks and encircles islands in its course, of great interest; among

which may be mentioned the site of Ball's battle (1813) near

where now stands the residence of Birchard Havens, a little way

west of Ballville village, where the squadron, sent from Fort

Seneca by Gen. Harrison to bring Major Croghan before him,

to be tried for disobeying orders to abandon Fort Stephenson,

were attacked by Indians on their way, and seventeen of the

attacking Indians were killed in that skirmish; the place is

marked by a boulder and memorial tablet by the D. A. R. Next

appear the Blue Banks, noted for their interesting geological

formations, then the lower rapids, the site of the once noted

Indian village Junque-in-dundeh, or "place of the hanging haze,"

with Fort Stephenson on the west side and remains of an ancient

Indian fortification on the east side, and Brady Island just

below the rapids where Samuel Brady, the celebrated borderer

sent by Gen. Washington during the Revolutionary war to ob-

serve the movements of the hostile tribes here, secreted himself

while taking observations; and Spiegel Grove, the home of

President Hayes, all within the present city of Fremont, once

known as Lower Sandusky. Passing Fremont the peninsula

known as Negro Point on the east bank is reached, so named

from the fact that the Indians in 1780 captured a number of

negro slaves in Virginia and placed them on this point where they

were detained as slaves by their captors, and where they died

and were buried; the site of the Indian town or village (Munsee)

on the east bank near Negro Point is seen where the noted chief

The Evolution of Sandusky County.        141

and warrior Tecumseh (1809) planned hostilities against the

whites, and from whence an expedition for plunder of the Vir-

ginia frontiers was started; further down we pass, on the west

bank, the home of the white captives, Mr. and Mrs. James Whit-

taker, who married at Lower Sandusky, and settled here about

1782, and who are believed to have been the first white settlers

in Ohio; just above the mouth of the river are Cherry, Peach

and Graveyard Islands where the rebel Wyandot Chief Orontony

known as Nicolas, with his fellow conspirators, had his strong-

hold and villages, where he plotted the destruction of the French

garrisons at Detroit and other points. And after entering the

Bay are passed the sites of the English Old Fort Sandoski on

north side, and French Fort Junandat on south side of the same,

erected about the middle of the eighteenth century.

See the publication by Lucy Elliot Keeler, "Old Fort

Sandoski."

The name of the river, from which that of the county is

derived, according to the Bureau of American Ethnology, is

from the word or term Tsaendosti, pronounced San doos tee,

and is the proper Wyandot form of the expression, "It is cold,

fresh (water)," and may have been originally an Erie term

adopted by the Wyandots for the same waters, as we know the

Eries were the first occupants here known to authentic history,

preceding the Wyandots. They were both of the same lingual

stock, and most likely had the same name for these waters,

and which seems to have been applied first to the bay or lake

and is found in history in different forms, as to its orthography

as early as about the year 1700, as Sandosket, Otsandoske and

Sandoski.

CONTENDING POWERS.

Spain, France and England, as we know, contended for

dominion over the country, embracing the Sandusky Valley,

basing their respective claims upon discovery and settlement,

but as it would seem the principal ground of contention was more

that of occupancy than discovery. According to the principle

maintained by civilized nations regarding territorial acquisition

by discovery, it was not sufficient as among themselves, to dis-

cover alone, but such discovery must be followed by actual settle-

142      Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications.

ment or occupancy. Discovery gave only the right initiate;

occupancy must follow to consummate it.

Spain, while apparently entitled to priority of discovery yet

not having occupied or made settlements, based thereon, her

claim was not regarded as valid by the other contending nations,

nor indeed by herself it would seem, as to the region under

consideration. The real contention therefore narrowed to France

and England, both claiming by the application of the principle

mentioned, to have the paramount right.

THE ABORIGINES.

But there was an additional power asserting rights to sov-

ereignty, whose claims could not be entirely ignored by the

contending powers mentioned. This consisted of the native in-

habitants, the North American Indians, whose rights, if occu-

pancy had been allowed to govern, were paramount to all others.

But according to the rule maintained by civilized nations,

occupancy by savage people, gave only a qualified right, as against

discovery by civilized powers; complete sovereignty with the

right of disposition was denied them; and their rights acquired

by occupancy might be superseded or destroyed by conquest or

forced purchase. Discovery by the civilized was superior to

occupancy by the savage, upon the ground, it has been claimed,

that the Creator could never have designed that a comparatively

few savages should monopolize for hunting grounds an extent of

territory capable of supporting many millions of civilized people.

It may not be out of place to here state that our own Amer-

ican doctrine maintained that the Indians had originally no

fee in the lands occupied by them, but did have a qualified vested

right by occupancy, which could only be invaded in just wars or

extinguished by treaty, but like the other civilized powers, our

government denied to them unrestricted dominion, and in its

dealings and treaties with them, these principles were applied,

and no complete title to lands was recognized in the savage,

unless by express grant from the government.

Thus it appears that civilized governments claimed, and

when opportunity offered exercised the right of eminent domain

over all lands occupied by savage or uncivilized people.

The Evolution of Sandusky County.         143

We know that when European discoverers first came they

found all these northern parts of the continent in the exclusive

possession of an uncivilized or savage people called Indians,

divided in language into two great races, namely: the Algonquins

and the Iroquois. The country of the Algonquins extended from

the Atlantic to the Mississippi, and from Hudson Bay to the

Carolinas, and 'like a great island in this vast expanse of Algon-

quin population" were the homes of the Iroquois tribes or na-

tions, distributed as follows: the confederacy known as the Five

Nations, comprising the Mohawks, Oneidas, Onondaiguas, Cay-

ugas and Senecas extended through what is now central New

York from the Hudson river to the Genesee; the Neutral Nation

occupied the country around the upper end of Lake Ontario,

and between that and the north shore of the lower end of lake

Erie and probably extending some distance into the country

across and eastward of the Niagara river; the Wyandots, or

Hurons as they were called by the French, held the country east-

ward of Lake Huron, named from them, and northward of Lake

Erie; and the Eries were seated along the southern shore of

Lake Erie, from whom it took its name.

"The name it bears is that of an Indian nation of the Huron

(Wyandot) language, which was formerly seated on its banks

and who have become entirely destroyed by the Iroquois. 'Erie'

in that language, signifies 'cat,' and in some accounts this nation

is called the Cat nation. The name probably comes from the

large number of that animal (lynx) formerly found in this coun-

try. (Charlevoix in 1721.)

Of the Algonquins who in later times became incidentally

connected with the history of our valley and adjacent country,

were the Ottawas, Miamis, Delaware and Shawnees. But it

is mainly with the Iroquois, whose people were dominant therein,

first the Five Nations by conquest and afterwards the Wyandots

by settlement and occupancy that our history of this region

is more directly associated. The Five Nations (later the Six

Nations by the incorporation in 1713 of the Tuscarawas) waged

relentless wars, during the first half of the seventeenth century,

against their kindreds, the Neutrals, Wyandots and Eries, and

also against the Ottawas and some others of the western Algon-

144      Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications.

quins, and by about the middle of the seventeenth century,

had conquered these nations and driven them into exile west-

ward to and around Lake Michigan. The Eries were completely

exterminated as a nation and their seats, including our valley,

left a mere solitude. The conquerors, subject to their treaty

relations with England, mentioned below asserted dominion over

the conquered regions which were but little more than hunting

grounds for a period of half a century or more until re-inhabited

by the refugee Wyandots, Ottawas and remnants of other dis-

persed tribes. It seems that the Six Nations had lost ascendency

over the country formerly conquered by them from the nations

mentioned, and the Wyandots from their places of exile, having

rallied their own scattered tribes, and collecting with them the

bands of the dispersed Ottawas and other refugees of their fellow

sufferers at the hands of the Five Nations, about 1700 returned

to the vicinity of their ancient seats. The Wyandots settled

about Detroit, extending thence their settlements along Lake

Erie to and upon the shores of the Sandusky Bay or lake and

along the Sandusky river to its sources. The Ottawas located on

the islands of the lake, the Sandusky peninsula and up the Por-

tage river. They were on friendly terms with the Wyandots,

to whom they, with other tribes, yielded sovereignty as among

themselves over all the region mentioned, over which our Wyan-

dots also exercised their limited sovereignty as between them-

selves and the United States "to live and to hunt on" until the

treaty of Sept. 29, 1817, at the foot of the rapids of the Maumee

they ceded all their rights therein, to the United States. They

had previously, in 1785, ceded to the United States the two-mile

square tract on which the city of Fremont is built and in 1808

the Maumee and Western Reserve Turnpike lands, being a tract

120 feet wide, for a road, and all the land within one mile of the

road on each side for settlement, from the Maumee to the west

line of the Connecticut Reserve; also a tract for a road only,

120 feet in width to run southwardly from Lower Sandusky to

the Greenville treaty line.

The Wyandots were admitted to be the leading nation among

the Indian tribes of the Northwest, not because of numbers,

but for the reason that they were more intelligent and more

The Evolution of Sandusky County.        145

civilized in their manner of life. They were generally not

so cruel toward their enemies in war, and were more humane

in their treatment of captives than any of the other savages

known to this region. To them was entrusted the grand Calu-

met, which united all the Indians in that territory in a con-

federacy for mutual protection and to assemble the tribes in

Council and to kindle the Council fires.

The Sandusky valley, dominated by them, as we have seen,

was an ideal Indian place of abode. The waters and marshes

were at certain seasons, alive with wild fowl, the river teemed

with fish, and large game abounded in the forests on every hand.

It was, indeed, suggestive to them of the "Happy Hunting

Ground" in their hoped for "Land of the hereafter."

As to the name Wyandot, we have the authority of the

American Bureau of Ethnology for saying that it is the Angli-

cized form of their name, applied by themselves to their con-

federation of their four peoples, the Bear, Cord, Rock and Deer

peoples of the nation of Owendots, Yendots or Wyandots as

Anglicized from their language or dialect. And that the name

Huron is of French derivation, and signifies in the singular, a

bristly savage, a wretch or lout, a ruffian, and was probably

applied to the confederation mentioned, with reference to the

manner in which the hair and head ornament of these Indians

were worn, and was therefore a nickname. The names Wyandot

and Huron are quite frequently employed interchangeably by

historians when writing of this nation. But since their occu-

pancy of this region the name Wyandot is generally used to

designate them.

THE FRENCH.

France not only claimed but exercised actual sovereignty

over all the region of the St. Lawrence basin for a period of

about 150 years prior to 1763.

As we know, her claim to dominion rested upon the dis-

covery of the St. Lawrence by Cartier in 1534, and upon later

explorations and occupation of its basin by Champlain and others

as early as the year 1608.

She maintained that to discover a river established the right

to all the territory drained by that river and its tributaries. The

Vol. XXIV- 10.

146       Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications.

waters of the Sandusky Valley being tributary to the St. Law-

rence, the valley would therefore belong to France as a part of

her domain known as New France, with Quebec as its capital.

France subsequently greatly enlarged her asserted domain by

the discovery of the Mississippi by Joliet and Marquette, in 1673,

and the later explorations by LaSalle and by his act of taking

formal possession at the mouth of the river in 1682 in the name

of Louis XIV, King of France, whereby the Mississippi valley

which of course embraced that of the Ohio, was added to the

possessions already claimed by France. These discoveries and

explorations were followed by settlements and the erection and

occupation of military forts and trading posts at points on the

Mississippi and along the lakes, including Sandusky Bay, or

Lake, as it was called.

In 1749 formal possession of the Ohio Valley was taken in

the name of Louis XV, King of France, by Celoron De Bienville,

who buried inscribed leaden plates, at the mouths of the greater

rivers emptying into the Ohio, as evidence of possession, thus

reasserting the claims of LaSalle, made in 1682 at the mouth of

the Mississippi.

On a map of M. Bellin, Royal French Geographer, Paris, in

1755, a "Fr. Fort Sandusky" is placed on the west side of the

mouth of the river and noted as an "Ancient Fort abandoned"

and in remarks published with the atlas describing the Lake

Erie country states that "Where the river flows into the end

of the bay we have a fort and habitation." John Pattin, a captive

English trader, taken in 1750 to Detroit, in his narrative, writes:

"The French go in three days from the Fort Detroit to Fort

Sandusky, which is a small palisaded fort with about twenty

men, situated on the south side of Lake Erie and was built in the

latter end of the year 1750."

These forts are here mentioned for the purpose of showing

occupancy. The name Sandusky as applied to forts either French

or British had no reference to the name of any town or village,

because none was then nor for more than sixty years thereafter

in existence when (1816) Sandusky City was first laid out and

named. These forts took their names from the waters near

which they stood.

The Evolution of Sandusky County.        147

The English fort on the bay, occupied by Ensign Paully and

his garrison, was on May 22, 1763, taken by a band of Wyandots

living in the neighborhood, assisted by a detachment of Wyan-

dots sent by Pontiac from Detroit, in furtherance of his con-

spiracy to unite all the Indian tribes in a confederacy, and to

destroy all the Whites in the Northwest Territory. The gar-

rison was slaughtered, the fort burnt, and Ensign Paully taken

to Detroit as a prisoner, with the prospect of being burned at

the stake; but a somewhat less sad fate awaited him, which was

that of becoming the husband of an Indian widow, at her request.

From this forced connubial relation, however, he soon found

opportunity to escape, which he gladly embraced, as we are

informed.

THE BRITISH.

Notwithstanding the dominion thus actually exercised by

France, England was during all the time disputing the right

of France to such dominion, and claiming title in herself. Eng-

land's claim so far as discovery went rested upon that of the

Cabots in 1498, which antedated that of France by Cartier

(1534) but she did not follow her discoveries by attempts of

actual settlement in the northwest, until about the middle of

the eighteenth century, confining her settlements to the region

back of the Alleghenies along the seaboard. She claimed, how-

ever, that this occupation of region mentioned in connection with

her discoveries entitled her to dominion from the Atlantic to the

Pacific. She also made the further claim to the northwest by

reason of transactions and treaties with the Iroquois or Six

Nations of Indians, who claimed dominion over this territory

by conquest from the Eries and other Indians who previously

occupied the same, as we have seen.

England therefore claimed for herself and colonies not only

the right by discovery and seaboard settlements, but all the

rights belonging originally or by conquest to the Six Nations.

English traders from the colonies had as early as 1700 penetrated

the Sandusky Valley and from that time on they are frequently

found in the neighborhood and finally about 1745 they built a

blockhouse or stockade on the Sandusky Bay or Lake, which the

French believed to be a part of a scheme to come into friendly

148      Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications.

relations with the Wyandots who were generally allies of the

French, and, if possible, alienate them from the French, and

attach them to the English cause. The fears of the French

seemed to have been justified by the movements of the powerful

Wyandot Chief Orontony, whose baptized name was Nicolas,

who as early as 1745, had settled in the region, with the villages

of his followers along the islands and marshes of the Sandusky

waters as before mentioned.

He intrigued with the English Colonial authorities of Penn-

sylvania and New York and encouraged traders from those

colonies to come and permitted them to erect the block house

on the bay mentioned, the germ of Old Fort Sanduski, "the

first fort built by White men in Ohio," commemorated by a

monument recently erected near the spot through the efforts of

Col. Webb C. Hayes. About this time a conspiracy was formed

by Wyandots and some Miami tribes of which he was the

leader, for a general overthrow of the French power. Detroit

and the upper French posts were to be burned and the white

inhabitants massacred. The general work of destruction was

parcelled out to the various tribes of Wyandots and Miamis,

engaged in the plot, in their respective localities. The plot

was, however, discovered by the French in time to prevent its

consummation.

Nicolas sued for pardon which was granted him and the

Sandusky Wyandots engaged with him in the plot, under a pledge

of loyalty to the French authorities. In 1748 he and his fellow

conspirators numbering over 100 warriors and their families

abandoned the Sandusky, for the White river country, but

previous to their departure they burnt the cabins of their

villages.

Darlington in his "Gists Journal" expresses the opinion that

the villages of Nicolas were on Peach and Graveyard islands

at the mouth of the Sandusky river on the east side, and that

probably he may have, at first, settled on Cherry island, about

two miles above the mouth of the river and between that and

Green Creek. But for our purpose the exact locality is not

important. We do know, however, that the events just men-

tioned happened within the Sandusky valley in our immediate

The Evolution of Sandusky County.         149

vicinity and really contributed in no small degree toward the

causes which hastened the impending conflict of arms between

the contending powers.

About the same time and having relation to these events

were disturbances further south within the Ohio valley, the

center of which was the Indian town of Piqua or Pickawillany

as it was called by the English, at the mouth of what was after-

ward called Loramies Creek, on the Miami river. This was the

principal town of the Miami Confederacy of tribes, and then

their capital. The Miamis were not then friendly to the French,

some of whose tribes were in the conspiracy of Nicolas, as we

have seen, and like Nicolas' tribes with whom they were in

full sympathy against the French intrigued with the English

traders from Virginia, and suffered them to make Pickawillany

their headquarters as did Nicolas his Sandusky fort. Here

in 1750 traders erected a stockade or fort at which the English

flag was displayed not only by the traders but also by the Chief

of the Miami confederacy known as Old Britain.

This occurring by the authority of the Colony of Virginia

sanctioned as it was by England in authorizing the grant to the

Ohio Company, an association of English merchants and Virginia

planters, was regarded by France as a hostile invasion of her

domain. As we have seen, formal possession of the Ohio Valley

had been taken in the name of the Kings of France, first in

1682, again in 1749.

In 1752, Pickawillany was surprised and taken, by an ex-

pedition under French authority, composed mostly of Indians

of the Ottawa and Chippewa tribes. One white trader was

killed and the others in the fort at the time were plundered and

taken captive to Canada. Several Indians were killed, among

them was the chief, Old Britain, who was roasted and eaten

by the enemy! The town was completely destroyed and never

again occupied. Thus was begun hostilities which have been

regarded as the incipiency of the war between France and

England known here as the "French and Indian war," which

finally resulted in the complete overthrow of France in the new

world, an  the transfer to England by the treaty of Paris

which followed in 1763, of all her claims to dominion in Canada

150       Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications.

and the northwest to the Mississippi, which of course embraced

the Sandusky valley. Claims of the Colonies under charters

from England were not disposed of by the treaty nor were the

rights, whatever they were, of the Indians passed upon. Eng-

land, however, at once by a proclamation (1763) reserved for

the use of the Indians who by former treaties had placed them-

selves under her protection, all of the Northwest to the Mis-

sissippi, forbade further colonial grants of land within the re-

served country and demanded the abandonment of previous

grants.

This was regarded by Virginia as a violation of her rights

under her charter of 1609 from the British crown, being as

it was, prior in date to such treaties, and which as to extent, was

as follows: "Situate, lying and being in that part of America

called Virginia from the point of land called Cape or Point

Comfort all along the sea coast to the northward two hundred

miles, and from the said Point or Cape Comfort, all along the

sea coast to the southward two hundred miles, and all that space

and circuit of land lying from sea to sea, west and northwest."

The claims of other colonies are here omitted for the reason

that no actual jurisdiction over our valley was ever exercised

by them. It may be proper, however, to state that the charters

of some of them overlapped in area, that of Virginia, notably

Connecticut, whose charter of 1662 nominally embraced all the

present state of Ohio north of the 41st parallel of north latitude;

but in 1786 she ceded to the general government all of the

same west of the west lines of what are now Huron and Erie

counties.

Virginia's statesmen and jurists interpreted her charter of

1609 as granting all that vast domain, between the Atlantic and

Pacific, bounded south by a line running west from the south

point in the sea coast line named in said charter, and on the

north by a line running northwest from the north point in said

sea coast line. This interpretation was acted upon by Virginia

and jurisdiction exercised by her from the beginning, and until

modified as to western limits of the Mississippi by the treaty

of 1763 and subsequently until her cession in 1784 to the general

152      Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications.

government of her western territory. These lines as claimed by

Virginia would be about at right angles to the trend of the

coast lines described in the charter; an argument it is believed

supporting the Virginia interpretation as to territorial extent.

Immigrants refused to obey the proclamation, ordering

them to abandon their over mountain settlements; while at the

same time others were encouraged to follow them over the

prohibited line. Virginia insisted upon her charter rights and

continued to assert jurisdiction west of the mountains by creating

counties, as we shall see, and by other acts.

England's restrictive policy was also insisted upon by her

and further emphasized by what was known as the Quebec Act

in 1774, by which the province of Quebec was extended south to

the Ohio river and west to the Mississippi, trial by jury in civil

cases was abolished, and the French system of laws restored.

Thus the region embracing our valley became subject to the

jurisdiction of a government under English dominion, with the

same capital as when under that of France. England's unwise

and oppressive policy toward the Colonies, brought on the Revo-

lutionary war; the Quebec Act became inoperative during that

struggle as did all other claims of England to dominion, in the

territory of the Northwest, and resulted, as we all rejoice to

know, in England's loss, not only of the disputed territory west

of the mountains, but also of all her American colonies. By the

Paris treaty of peace, September, 1783, which followed, thir-

teen colonies were acknowledged to be free, sovereign and inde-

pendent states, and "all claim to government, proprietary and

territorial right of the same and every part thereof," was re-

linquished by England to them.

The long existing disputes among the Colonies as to bound-

aries and extent of territory granted to certain of them by

their respective charters now became acute; and for a time

threatened the peace of the country; but they were all finally set-

tled by cessions to the general government, upon satisfactory con-

ditions, or such as were acquiesced in by all the states; and thus,

except the Connecticut Western Reserve and the Virginia Mili-

tary Lands, all the territory bounded by the lakes, the Ohio

and the Mississippi became the public domain and by the ordi-

The Evolution of Sandusky County.        153

nance enacted by Congress, July 13, I787, was organized as

the Northwest Territory.

UNDER VIRGINIA.

In the dispute between England and France the chartered

rights of the English Colonies, as between the Colonies and the

Mother Country, were not directly involved; indeed the war

which resulted in favor of England may be claimed as waged

by her mainly in behalf of her Colonies.

Virginia had in the meantime pushed her settlements west-

ward, but had not till early in the eighteenth century crossed the

Allegheny mountains.

SPOTTSYLVANIA COUNTY.

The first official exercise of jurisdiction by Virginia over

the region west of the Alleghenies was the Act of her Colonial

Assembly (4 Henings Virginia Statutes at Large 450) creating

the county of Orange in 1734, taking the same, in part, from

that of Spottsylvania which had been formed in 1720, but whose

western limits were indefinite and did not extend beyond the

Alleghenies. It was, however, the first county organization to

extend west of the Blue Ridge. The first passage over this

range, by the white man, was claimed to be that of the romantic

adventure of Governor Spottswood in August and September

of 1716, when he and a party of gentlemen, including members

of his staff numbering in all fifty persons, journeyed, on horse

back by way of the Upper Rappahannock river, with pack-

horses laden with provisions for the expedition. After thirty-

six days they had "topped the mountain" and reached the famous

valley later named the Shenandoah, and crossing to the west bank

of the river, the governor named it "Euphrates," and there took

formal possession in the name of King George First, then of

England, by burying a bottle containing a written inscription to

that effect. The occasion was there celebrated with much con-

viviality in drinking and banqueting by the governor and his

gay party. Eight weeks were consumed and 440 miles traveled

in going and returning. The governor commemorated the jour-

ney by creating the "Knights of the Golden Horse Shoe," having

154      Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications.

reference to the careful shoeing of the horses required to enable

them to climb the mountain. He caused small golden horse shoes,

set with jewels, to be made in London, inscribed with the legend:

sic juvat transcendere montes, (thus it is a pleasure to cross

the mountains) which he distributed to his companions of the

expedition.

ORANGE COUNTY.

In the Act of the Assembly creating the county of Orange

and defining its boundaries, westward, are found these words:

"Westerly by the utmost limits of Virginia," which, of course,

according to Virginia's construction of her charter of 1609, em-

braced all of the present state of Ohio, and much more. It

was claimed by Virginia as including all west of the Blue Ridge,

extending southward to Tennessee and covering what is now

Kentucky.

AUGUSTA COUNTY.

The immense domain of Orange county was on November

10, 1738, (5 Hening 79) divided by the Assembly, and the portion

west of the mountains formed into the two counties of Augusta

and Frederick. The latter embraced comparatively a small ter-

ritory extending from the Potomac river to the northern

boundary of the present county of Rockingham, and a little

further westward. The remainder formed a part of Augusta,

which county extended south to the borders of Virginia, west

and northwest to the utmost limits of the territory of Virginia,

and contained what is now Kentucky, Ohio, Indiana and Illinois

and consequently embraced our Sandusky valley and brought it

within the nominal jurisdiction of Augusta county. Staunton

became the county seat, and courts were held there before the

Revolutionary War, and also at Pittsburg, which was in Augusta

county.

BOTETOURT COUNTY.

On November 10, 1769 (8 Hening 396) Botetourt county

was formed by Act of the House of Burgesses by cutting off

from Augusta all that part lying south and west of the North

river, by a line west, bearing north 55 degrees, beginning at the

Blue Ridge where that river flows through the same near the

The Evolution of Sandusky County.        155

site of Lexington in the present county of Rockbridge, Va.,

and running to the confluence of the south river with the north

branch of the James and up the James to the mouth of Kerr's

Creek and up that creek to the mountain; which line of separation

was by the provisions of the act mentioned, authorized to be

continued westward as far as the courts of the two counties

might thereafter order. The records of the court of Augusta

April 20, 1770, and of Botetourt, June 3, 1770, show an extension

of this line westward bearing north 55 degrees, to a point de-

scribed as the "west side of Anthony's Creek Mountain," which

is in what is now the northeast part of Greenbrier county,

West Virginia. There seems to be no record of legislative

enactments or of court orders further extending this line to be

found. That the act of the assembly creating the county of

Botetourt contemplated its extension to the "waters of the Mis-

sissippi," is apparent from its exemption from the payment of

certain levies, the people situated on the "waters of the Mis-

sissippi in said county of Botetourt." It is further apparent

from the two acts of the Virginia Assembly in forming Fincastle

county from Botetourt (8 Hening 600) in 1772, and in dividing

Fincastle into the three counties of Kentucky, Washington and

Montgomery, in 1776 (9 Hening 257) that at the dates of those

enactments, the legislature must have considered that Botetourt,

their source, did in fact, embrace the territory described in those

acts. While the boundaries of Fincastle are somewhat vague,

as defined in the act forming the same, yet if studied in con-

nection with the act dividing the same, as before mentioned, into

the counties of Kentucky, Washington and Montgomery, it will

be found, in addition to the southeastern portions thereof com-

prising the counties of Washington and Montgomery, to have

embraced territory west and south of the west side of Anthony's

Creek mountain, and bounded west and northwest by the Ohio

river, to the Mississippi, and south by the state of Tennessee,

as it will be seen that this county of Kentucky as then bounded

was nearly identical with the state of Kentucky as finally formed

and admitted into the union.

Returning in our sketch to Augusta county, it will be found

that in 1776 the counties of Ohio, Yohogania and Monongalia

156       Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications.

were formed from that part of Augusta lying between the

Alleghenies and the Ohio river, thus cutting off from Augusta

county and embraced territory west and south of the "west side

of Anthony's Creek mountain," leaving the same outside of any

county organization all that vast extent of country northwest

of the Ohio river, south of the lakes and east of the Mississippi,

a "great and terrible wilderness," roamed over and dominated

by savage tribes of the west in their murderous incursions against

the Virginia and Pennsylvania frontier.  Rightfully, as she

claimed, it was within the jurisdiction of Virginia, but this was

disputed by the mother country, whose government as we have

seen, claimed it for the benefit of the Indians. Since the treaty

of Paris (1763)and prior to that France had taught the Indians

that their title to this region was valid to the Ohio river.

ILLINOIS COUNTY.

In 1778 all the region just described was conquered from

England by Virginia under General George Rogers Clarke,

and in October, 1778, the legislature of Virginia established

from it the county of Illinois with Kaskaskia on the Mississippi

as the chief seat of justice and Cohokia and Vincennes, sub-

ordinates. Thus the present state of Ohio with our Sandusky

Valley was again brought within a county organization and

subject territorially considered at least to the jurisdiction of

the county of Illinois, which embraced all the chartered limits of

Virginia northwest of the Ohio river east of the Mississippi,

and so remained in so far as governmental relations existed,

until March, 1784, when Virginia ceded to the general govern-

ment, subject to certain conditions, all her rights to dominion

northwest of the Ohio river.

Notwithstanding the conquest from Great Britain by General

Clarke, and the organization of the County of Illinois by Vir-

ginia, from the conquered territory, the Indians still dominated

the Ohio country as its chief occupants and would listen to no

terms of settlement which did not grant them valid title, ex-

tending to the Ohio river. In the several attempted peace nego-

tiations with them, their ultimatum was title as thus claimed.

This demand not being granted hostilities against the frontiers

The Evolution of Sandusky County.        157

continued with unabated fury. Murderous incursions by the

Miamis and confederated tribes from the Maumee, and western

country, and by the Wyandots and their immediate allies from

the Sandusky valley, were frequent, attended with characteristic

savage cruelties.  In the meantime a number of ineffectual

attempts to conduct expeditions into the enemies' country were

made.

CRAWFORD'S CAMPAIGN.

Finally, in 1782, an expedition from the frontiers, com-

manded by Colonel William CRAWFORD, was organized, and four

hundred strong, moved against the Wyandots and allies of the

Sandusky country, started from Mingo Bottoms the 25th day

of May, and on the 4th of June, came upon the enemy near

the present site of Upper Sandusky, Wyandot County, where a

battle ensued in and around an island of timber in the plains,

since known as "Battle Island."

The first day's conflict seemed to result in favor of Colonel

CRAWFORD's force. Preparations were made by him for a renewal

of the engagement the next day, with confident expectations of

a victory, but the enemy being reinforced on the second day,

by the arrival of about two hundred Shawnees from the south,

and British troops known as Butler's Rangers from Detroit,

coming by the way of the Sandusky Bay and River to Lower San-

dusky and thence to the scene of conflict, so greatly increased

the force of the enemy that the intended renewal of attack was

deemed too hazardous and a retreat instead was decided upon

which commenced on the night of June 5th, greatly harassed

by the pursuing savages, until the site of the present town of

Crestline was reached, June 6th, where pursuit ceased.

Space will not permit a narration of the thrilling incidents

of this disastrous retreat, connected as it was, with the capture

of the brave Colonel CRAWFORD, who had become separated from

the main force, and his inhuman torture and tragic death by

burning at the stake, June 11th, 1782. A monument stands

where his torture and death occurred, near Carey on the east

bank of the Tymochtee.

John Sherrard, great-grandfather of Robert Sherrard, of

Fremont, was in that battle and rendered conspicuous service as

158      Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications.

a soldier in the fight, and in aiding the wounded, by carrying

them water in his hat from a pool caused by an upturned

tree.

UNDER FEDERAL DOMINION.

As we have seen, after the close of the Revolutionary War,

and the cessions by the Colonies to the general government of

their respective claims in the northwest, our valley became sub-

ject to the jurisdiction of the northwest territorial government.

Indian depredations, however, still continued, founded upon

their claim of title, extending to the Ohio, as before asserted by

them. Notwithstanding the stipulations in the treaty of Paris,

1783, by Great Britain to surrender all military posts within

the territory ceded by that treaty, those at Mackinac, Detroit,

and the Ohio posts on the Maumee, and on the Sandusky Bay,

were still garrisoned by the British, under the pretense, as

claimed, of regarding them as a guarantee by the Americans to

carry out a stipulation in the treaty to pay certain debts owing

by them to the British. Their real motive, however, was be-

lieved to be in order to keep on friendly terms with the Indians

by carrying on trade, especially in furs, with them, exaggerate

their grievances, and goad them on to hostile depredations against

the Western colonists, with assurance of British sympathy and

support, in the hope that the Western country might finally

be lost to the United States and restored to Great Britain as a

colonial dependency. British aid subsequently given the savages

in their repeated aggressions against the settlers, leaves no doubt

as to the real purpose of Great Britain in thus wrongfully occu-

pying these posts.

HARMAR'S EXPEDITION.

The United States, at first as the Colonies had done previ-

ously, resorted to negotiations with the savages, which proving

unavailing, General Harmar, under directions of General Wash-

ington, President, in the fall of 1790, with an army of thirteen

hundred men, marched from Cincinnati into the Indian country,

and at the confluence of the Rivers St. Joseph and St. Mary's

(Fort Wayne) a large detachment of his forces under command

of Colonel Hardin, encountered a large body of savages led by

the famous chief, Little Turtle; a severe engagement ensued.

The Evolution of Sandusky County.         159

resulting in the defeat of the Americans with great loss in killed

and wounded. The expedition was an utter failure.

ST. CLAIR'S DEFEAT.

President Washington, inspired with great anxiety for an

effective prosecution of the Indian war, caused a new army

to be organized in every way superior to the former, under the

command of Gov. St. Clair; it was composed of three regiments

of infantry, two companies of artillery, one of cavalry, and six

hundred militia men. With this force St. Clair invaded the

enemies' country, and on November 4, 1791, at the present site

of Fort Recovery, in Mercer county, was suddenly attacked

by the whole force of the northwestern tribes and disastrously

defeated with a loss of six hundred men and thirty-five officers

killed, while two hundred men and twenty-five officers were

wounded. So St. Clair's expedition was also a complete failure.

FALLEN TIMBERS.

The next year General Anthony Wayne was appointed to

the command of the army of the Northwest. In the spring of

1793, unsuccessful negotiations for peace were held with the

tribes at the rapids of the Maumee, pursuant to offered media-

tion of Great Britain, now believed to have been insincere. In

the meantime, General Wayne was perfecting his plans for a

decisive campaign against the combined tribes, which when fully

organized, was conducted by him along practically the same route

as that of St. Clair in 1791. On August 20th, 1794, his forces

consisting of about one thousand strong, met the enemy at the

rapids of the Maumee, at a place known as "Fallen Timbers,"

where a severe engagement took place, resulting in an over-

whelming victory for the Americans. The enemy, about sixteen

hundred strong, including perhaps two hundred British volun-

teers and regulars, was under the general command of Blue

Jacket. Tecumseh led the Shawnees, Little Turtle, the Miamis;

who led the Wyandots, does not appear, but several of their

chiefs were in the engagements, among whom was the great

chief Tarhe, the Crane, of Lower Sandusky, who was severely

wounded in that engagement.

160      Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications.

TREATY OF GREENVILLE.

Wayne's victory and events succeeding it, led to the treaty

known as the Treaty of Greenville of August 3, 1795, signed

by Anthony Wayne and by the several sachems and war chiefs

of the Northwestern tribes of Indians.

The signature of Tarhe, the Crane, of the Wyandots, is the

first to appear next under that of General Wayne. Indian

hostilities ceased from the time of this treaty for a period of

ten years, or until the uprising of the tribes under Tecumseh,

immediately preceding the war of 1812 with Great Britain, in

which he was also a conspicuous ally of the British. The Wyan-

dots of the Sandusky valley did not join Tecumseh, nor take

part against the Americans in the war of 1812, but on the con-

trary were friendly and adhered to us throughout that war,

as shown by the report of General Harrison to the Secretary

of War, March, 1814. The Wyandots at Detroit, however,

under the influence of their chief "Walk in-the-Water," sided

with Tecumseh and allied themselves with the British.

The first treaty made with the Indians, affecting title to

our valley, was that with the Wyandots, Delawares and Ottawas

at Fort McIntosh January 21, 1785, by which the boundary

line between the United States and the Wyandot and Delaware

Nations was to begin at the mouth of the Cuyahoga river (Cleve-

land) and run thence up that river to the portage between that

and the Tuscarawas branch of the Muskingum, then down the

forks at the crossing place above Fort Laurens; then westerly to

the portage of the big Miami, which runs into the Ohio, then

along said portage to the Maumee river and northerly down

the southeast side of the same to its mouth, (Toledo) thence

along the south shore of Lake Erie to the mouth of the Cuya-

hoga river where it began (Cleveland).

All the land contained within these lines was allotted to the

Wyandot and Delaware Nations, "to live and hunt on" and

to such of the Ottawa nation as then lived thereon. There were

certain reservations for the use and under the government of

the United States for trading posts. Among these were a

six mile square tract on the Sandusky Bay, "where a fort

The Evolution of Sandusky County.         161

formerly stood" and a two mile square tract on each side of

the lower rapids of Sandusky River.

All the lands east, south and west of the described line,

were to belong to the United States. This treaty in substance

was renewed or reaffirmed on the 9th day of January, 1789,

at Fort Harmar, the Chippewa and Patawatian nations joining

therein.

These treaties, however, were never fully carried into effect,

on account of the continued Indian hostilities, instigated by the

principal western tribes, who claimed that to make a treaty

binding, all the tribes must join therein, and that inasmuch as

they had not taken any part in these treaties they were not

bound by them. As we have seen, the treaty of Greenville

was finally signed by all the warring tribes and brought peace

between the settlers and Indians.

HAMILTON COUNTY.

The first county organization under Federal government

embracing our valley was that of Hamilton county, which came

into existence by the proclamation of the territorial governor,

Arthur St. Clair, January 2, 1790. It did not, however, at first

extend this far north, but on February 11, 1792, the boundaries

of Hamilton county were extended to the then north boundary

line of the territory, and included the territory which is now

Sandusky County. On the west it was bounded by Knox County,

in northwest territory now parts of Indiana and Michigan, on

the east by a line which would be the west line of Huron and

Erie Counties prolonged to the north boundary of Ohio. (Vol.

2, page 310, The St. Clair Papers.)

WAYNE COUNTY.

"In 1796 Capt. Porter with a detachment of troops from

Gen. Wayne's Army took possession of Detroit and flung to

the breeze the first American banner that ever floated over

Detroit." On August 15, 1796, Winthrop Sargent, Secretary

of the Northwest Territory, the governor being as he supposed,

absent from the territory, by proclamation formed the county

of Wayne, with Detroit as the seat of justice. The absence

Vol. XXIV-11.

162      Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications.

of the governor would confer authority upon the secretary to

so act. This county as formed embraced all the northwestern

part of Ohio, west of the Cuyahoga and Tuscarawas rivers to

Fort Laurens, a large tract on the northwestern part of Indiana

including Fort Wayne, a part of Illinois, including the site of

Chicago, and the whole of the territory of Michigan. It was

larger in extent than the present states of Ohio and Michigan.

Peter Audrian was Judge of Probate, Register of Deeds, and

Justice of the Peace of this vast county, which, of course, in-

cluded the Sandusky valley. All law suits between inhabitants

of our valley, within the jurisdiction of a Justice's Court, would

have been required, by law to be in the Court of Peter Audrian

as such Justice. Probate of wills and settlement of estates were

also within his exclusive jurisdiction! Thus it appears that the

present county of Sandusky was then a part of Wayne County,

which had Detroit as the county seat.

NORTHWEST TERRITORY DIVIDED.

An Act of Congress, May 7, 1800, to take effect July 4,

following, divided the Northwest Territory, and created the ter-

ritory of Indiana, making Vincennes the capital thereof. The

dividing line began at the Ohio, opposite the mouth of Ken-

tucky river, thence to Fort Recovery, and thence north to the

north boundary line of the United States.

This division still left our region, with Detroit, in Wayne

County. By Act of Congress April 30, 1802, known as the

"Enabling Act" authorizing the Ohio division of the North-

west Territory to form a Constitution, preparatory to admission

as a state, the region including Detroit was attached to Indiana

territory. No delegates from Wayne County to the Ohio Con-

stitutional Convention were admitted, notwithstanding its inhabi-

tants were counted to make up the required population. Our

valley thereby once more, together with other territory, became

outside of any county organization.

FRANKLIN COUNTY

was formed by Act of the Legislature March 30, 1803 (V. 1

p. 26) with the seat of justice at Franklinton (Columbus)

The Evolution of Sandusky County.         163

and would seem to have embraced the Sandusky valley; but

there is a question whether its north boundary line was intended

to be the "Indian boundary" line or the State line. In the Act

referred to, after defining the west line we find these words:

"thence north with the said line until it intersects the State line,"

and then reads as follows: "thence eastwardly with the said

line to the northwest corner of Fairfield County." Now it

is apparent that this last described line must have been a

diagonal one to reach the point mentioned and could not have

been the State line. So it would seem that the Legislature must

have confused the State line with the Indian boundary line;

and further, when the County of Delaware was subsequently

formed by being taken from the north part of Franklin (1808)

its northern boundary was defined to be the Indian boundary

line.

It is hardly supposable that any portion of Franklin would

have been purposely left detached from the main part, with

Delaware lying between the main and detached portion. It

seems, however, that there was some uncertainty, with reference

to the question of boundary, for in 1809, the legislature annexed

to Delaware "all that part of Franklin County lying north

of Delaware." Did this annexed territory extend to the north

boundary line of the State?

DELAWARE COUNTY

was formed, as we have seen, in 1808 (Vol. 6, p. 29) and unless

our valley was embraced in Franklin County when first formed

it remained outside of any county organization from April 30,

1802, until 1809, when the addition to Delaware which is believed

to have embraced it was made as before shown.

RADNOR TOWNSHIP.

That this annexed territory was intended to and did include

our region, would appear from the fact that the County Com-

missioners of Delaware County on April 29, 1811, as recorded

in their Journal Vol. 1, p. 35, passed the following resolution:

"Resolved by the Board of Commissioners of Delaware

County in conformity to a petition from the white inhabitants

164      Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications.

of Sandusky and by the verbal request of some of the inhabitants

of Radnor township, that all that part of country commonly

known and called by the name of Upper and Lower Sanduskys

shall be and now is attached to Radnor township enjoying town-

ship privileges so far as is agreeable to law."

HURON COUNTY

was organized January 31, 1815, (Vol. 13, p. 113). Section 3

of the Act organizing the same attached to Huron County for

judicial purposes, "all that part of the State of Ohio lying west-

wardly of Huron County, northwardly of the south line of the

Connecticut Reserve extended westwardly and eastwardly of the

east line of Champaign County, extended due north to the north

line of the State." This included our valley. That the same

had been regarded as in Delaware County as before stated is

evident from the further provision of Section 3, "that all suits

and actions which shall have been commenced within the above

described territory shall be prosecuted to final judgment and

execution in Delaware County as though the territory had not

been attached to Huron County." Avery was then the county

seat of Huron County. In 1818 Norwalk became the seat of

justice of that county.

LOWER SANDUSKY TOWNSHIP

was formed by County Commissioners Caleb Palmer, Charles

Parker, and Eli Barnum, of Huron County, at their first meeting

for the county which was held at the house of David Abbot,

August 1st, 1815, (Journal 1, p. 1).

This township, organized as it was before the organization

of Sandusky county, embraced "all that part of Huron county

west of the 24th range of the Connecticut Reserve" namely:

All lands between the west line of Huron and the east lines of

what are now Hancock, Wood and Lucas counties, including

Oregon and Jerusalem townships, now in Lucas, and all north

of the south boundary line of Seneca county to Lake Erie. The

first election for township officers of this immense township

was held in Lower Sandusky August 15, 1815, at the house of

Israel Harrington on the west side of the river. The officers

166      Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications.

elected were, Israel Harrington, Randall Jerome and Jeremiah

Everett (father of Homer Everett) trustees; Isaac Lee, clerk;

Morris A. Newman and William Ford, overseers of the poor,

and Charles B. Fitch and Henry Dubrow, appraisers. Thus it

will be seen that this township included within its limits the pres-

ent counties of Seneca, Sandusky, Ottawa and parts of Lucas

and Erie.

CROGHAN TOWNSHIP.

In the Huron County Commissioners' Journal No. 1, of their

proceedings is the following:

"May 18th, 1819, Commissioners met, towit: Joseph Strong

and Bildad Adams. A petition was presented for a new town-

ship, therefore ordered that all that tract lying west of the fire

lands (Huron County) and east of the Sandusky river is hereby

set off and made a separate township by the name of Croghan."

Croghan township was formed after the treaty at the foot

of the rapids of the Maumee was made, by which the title of the

Indians was extinguished to all lands within the State of Ohio,

then claimed by them, east of the west line thereof, and north of

the Greenville treaty line. This treaty was in the nature of a

purchase, and the lands included were known as "the new pur-

chase." The consideration passing from the United States,

was as follows: To the Wyandots, who were the chief Indian

parties concerned as to the Sandusky Valley, a perpetual annuity

of $4,000, a tract of land twelve miles square at Upper San-

dusky and a tract one mile square on Broken Sword Creek (a

tributary of the Sandusky river); to the Senecas, $500; to the

Shawnees, $2,000; to the Pattawatimies annually for 15 years,

$1,000; to the Chippewas annually for 15 years, $1,000; and to

the Delawares, $500, but no annuity; to the Senecas, thirty

thousand acres on the east side of the Sandusky river, in what

is now Sandusky and Seneca counties, about one-third of which

was in Sandusky, beginning at a point opposite the mouth of

Wolf Creek, running thence east through the north parts of

sections 29-28-27-26 and 25 in Ballville, and sections 30-29-28,

and into west part of section 27 of Green Creek Townships,

thence south to the Seneca County line. It also contains the

1,280 acre tract reserved to Elizabeth Whitaker "on the west side

168      Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications.

to thus appear among the sisterhood of Counties of the great

state of Ohio. Croghansville was the temporary seat of justice,

where public matters were conducted for a little more than two

years, or until May 23rd, 1822, when the permanent county

seat was located in the "Town of Sandusky," where by the

names successively of Sandusky, Lower Sandusky and Fremont

it has remained.

From the time that the seat of justice was permanently

located in the town of Sandusky, Croghansville has seemed to

have waned in importance as a separate village and to have been

gradually absorbed by the former. In 1827 that portion of

Croghan township embracing the village of Croghansville was

annexed to Sandusky township by action of the County Com-

missioners.

In 1829 the territory of both villages by Act of the State

Legislature was incorporated into one village by the name of the

"Town of Lower Sandusky." The village of Croghansville

thereby became extinct, in name. When Lucas county was

formed, in 1835, that portion of the territory of Sandusky

county, as originally erected, marked on the map as "disputed

by Michigan," was made a part of Lucas county.

In 1838 when Erie county was erected all that portion

of original Sandusky county lying along the south shore of

Sandusky Bay, bounded east by Huron county and south by

the north line of Townsend township to the northwest corner

thereof was made a part of Erie county.

March 6, 1840, Ottawa county was created, being taken

mostly from Sandusky and greatly diminishing its area, cutting

off all that part included within the following boundaries:

commencing at a point two miles north of the southeast corner

of the surveyed township number sixteen, called Bay township,

running thence west on section lines to the western boundary of

the county; thence north to the Lucas county line; thence east six

miles; thence north to the Michigan state line; thence with said

line until it intersects the line between the British and American

governments in Lake Erie; thence down the lake with said line,

so that a line to the mouth of Sandusky Bay will include Kelley's

Island; thence up the Sandusky Bay to the place of beginning.