Garfield, 251; Winfield S. Hancock, 225; James B. Weaver, 10; total, 486. At the October election of 1880, there was a larger vote cast, which was as follows: Townsend, for Secretary of State, had 255 votes; Lang had 229 votes, Lloyd 8 and Doan 1 vote; total, 493. That was the largest vote ever cast in the township. The vote for Governor in 1881 was as follows: Foster, 230; Bookwalter, 206; Ludlow, 14; Seitz, 22; total, 472.

The present township officers are William Sheridan, Jr., and W. B. Kitzmiller, Justices of the Peace; C. Arnsberger, A. Silvernail and John G. Rumsey, Trustees; F. Snear, Treasurer; J. M. Carens, Clerk; J. T. Heater, Assessor; John Winter and Esquire Umstead, Constables. The population of Springfield Township, including Stryker, was 1,981 in the year 1870, and 2,117 in 1880. There were 4,466 tons of freight shipped from Stryker in 1870, against 8,530 tons in 1880, and 670 tons received in 1870, against 2,042 tons in 1880. In the year 1881, C. Blinn & Co. shipped 51,895 pounds of oats and 2,577,575 pounds of wheat; Peter Charpoit shipped 87,515 pounds of oats and 1,937,705 pounds of wheat, and U. A. Wynn shipped 1,276,720 pounds of wheat.

From the above, it will be seen that there were nearly one hundred thousand bushels of grain shipped from Stryker the past year.

The writer is indebted to Hon. William Sheridan, Jr., Lewis W. Prettyman, Lewis Clark, J. A. Miles and others for facts concerning the early settlement of the township, and to T. H. Moore and J. M. Carens for information regarding the freight business of Stryker Station.

FLORENCE TOWNSHIP.

BY WESTON A. GOODSPEED.

The method of attaching Congressional townships before they had been settled to those which had been organized, was a common procedure in early years, which anticipated the wants and rights of prospective pioneers, and which was especially true of the territory comprising the present county of Williams. The soil of the present Defiance County had been occupied long before that of the present Williams County, and settlers slowly appeared within the limits of the latter, pushing their way northward from Defiance, and southward from the older localities in Michigan. This rendered the settlement slow, but comparatively uniform, until, finally, when ten or more families had founded homes within the borders of any Congressional township, an organization was ordered, and effected by the election of officers and the establishment of Justices' courts.

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At the time of the organization of old Williams County, in 1824, Delaware Township was created, to comprise all the territory in Ohio bounded north by Michigan, east by the line between Ranges 3 and 4 east, south by the line between Townships 3 and 4 north, and west by the Indiana line. Prior to February, 1835, the Commissioners of Williams County had taken no special action regarding the northern boundary of the same; but, at that date, the Ohio Legislature passed an act defining the northern boundary as the Harris line, after which the Commissioners claimed north to such line, and ordered the attachment of the disputed land to the various townships of the county that had civil organizations. From this it will appear that the northern boundary of Delaware Township, referred to above, was thought to be the Fulton line (the present line between Florence and Northwest), although the real northern line of Delaware was concealed under the (at that time) very indefinite expression, "the line between Ohio and Michigan." In December, 1833, St. Joseph Township was created, to comprise the present townships of Farmer and Milford, in Defiance County, and St. Joseph, Centre, Florence and Superior, in Williams County. In March, 1835, St. Joseph Township was extended north to include the present townships of Bridgewater and Northwest. In March, 1836, Centre was created, to comprise, in Range 2, the present townships of Center, Superior and Bridgewater. This left St. Joseph Township to comprise the present St. Joseph, Florence and Northwest Townships, as Farmer and Milford had been stricken off previously. In March, 1837, Florence Township was created, to include the present townships of Florence, Superior, Bridgewater and Northwest, and an election of township officers was ordered held on the first Monday of April, 1837. In March, 1839, Bridgewater was organized to include the present Bridgewater and Northwest Townships, and at the same session, Superior, as it now is, was created, thus leaving Florence with its present limits. The names of the officers who were elected in the spring of 1837, to administer the civil affairs of old Florence Township, are no longer remembered; neither can it be learned who first served after the township was cut down to its present limits.

APPEARANCE OF THE FIRST WHITE SETTLERS.

The Assessor, or Lister, for Florence Township (then including the present Townships of Florence and Superior), in 1837, returned the following report: Wesley Burgoyne, four cattle; John Cass, four cattle; Nelson Clark, four cattle; Elias Depew, five cattle; John D. Martin, three horses and three cattle; Robert Ogle, four horses; Robert McDaniel, two horses and two cattle; David Singer, one horse and three cattle; Tunas Van Slike, four cattle; George Wisman, four cattle. The horses

were valued at $40 each, and the cattle at $8 each, making the total value of horses $100, and the total value of cattle $264, and total value of both classes, $664. Martin & Depew's saw-mill was valued at $50, and this amount, added to $664, gives $714-the total valuation of all taxable property, both real and personal, for both Florence and Superior Townships. The assessment was made in the spring of 1837. Of the above men, all lived in Superior Township, except John Cass, David Singer, Elias Depew and John D. Martin. These four men were, so far as known, the only residents of the present Florence Township in 1837, or before. William Van Fossen located in the township in about 1838. In 1840, the following men in Florence, as it now is, were assessed personal property Benjamin S. Arnold, James Bark, George Costine, Levi Cunningham, Elias Depew, John Depew, Richard Porter, G. W. Perkey, David Singer, Asa R. Thomas, William Van Fossen, Edwid Wells and John J. Webb. At this time, there were but six horses and thirty-six cattle, all valued at $528, the total tax being $9.24. The following additional persons were assessed personal property in 1841: Jabez W. Arnold, James Arnold, John Allomong, Samuel Cain, Nathan Disbrow, Solomon W. Palmer, Moses Thomas, George White and Joseph Palmer. In 1840, Elias and John Depew, brothers, were assessed a tax of $10.447 on their property of West Buffalo, the same being valued at $597. At the same time, John D. Martin and Ambrose Rice, the former on Section 36, and the latter on Section 35, were assessed for house and land. In 1841, the following additional men were assessed houses and lands: Richard Baker, Levi Cunningham, Elias and John Depew, Daniel Farnham, Eli Farnham, Robert Mays, James McClellan, John J. Webb and J. Boyer, the latter owning four lots in West Buffalo. At this time, the Depew brothers owned the saw-mill, John having purchased the interest of John D. Martin; and they also owned the grist-mill, both mills being valued at $765. In 1844, the following men owned land in the township, the list being given that the names of as many old settlers as possible may be preserved. Of course, many of these men never resided in the township. The reader. is required to make the distinction: Demos Adams, Jacob Anspaugh, James Allman, Jonathan Andrew, James W. Austin, Jabez W. Arnold, James Arnold, B. L. Arnold, James Bark, Woodruff Beals, Richard Baker, David Brady, D. D. Brady, Stephen Beach, Oliver Belknap, Orlando Brown, George B. Bash, David Brown, Levi Cunningham, E. Colwell, John H. Cass, Elizabeth Crissinger, Joseph Clum, Samuel Cain, James Criswell, Samuel Call, Thomas Burk, Elias Depew, John Depew, Benjamin Delin, Harvey Denton, Hiram Depuy, George Donutt, E. and J. Farnham, James Ferrell, Edwin Ferrell, Nelson Fisher, Robert Forgey, William Greer, F. F. Garey, William Grayburt, Andrew Gephart, Spen