This and That

By Helen Kaverman, The Delphos Herald
Published:  Monday, September 28, 2009 (5 months, 3 weeks ago)
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The last time we met, you were introduced to the fact that Putnam County is celebrating the 175th Anniversary of its organization. Three of the communities in the central part of the county are also celebrating their 175th. They are Glandorf, Kalida and Ottawa.
Some early pioneers settled in parts of the county as early as the 1820s. It took some time for the formal organizations to take place.
Some may find it difficult in this age of advanced technology to imagine what it was like when these brave pioneers came up the rivers or through the dense forests of this Great Black Swamp.
Stansbury Sutton was born in Huron County, Ohio in 1816. He came to Putnam County with his father, Moses, in 1833. They arrived in Lima, Allen County on 9 April 1833 and stayed there a couple days. When they heard of the Tawa Reservation (as Ottawa was known), his father decided to look the place over.
They took the old Perrysburg Road and arrived on the 13th of April at the Tawa Green, which was about 10 acres of cleared land on the north side of the Tawa Run. On the Green they found 3 hewed log Indian cabins, with puncheon floors, clapboard roofs, doors and windows. The Suttons took possession of one cabin and stayed 4 days. The weather was nice and warm.  During their stay they didn’t see or hear of another human being. Sutton remarked that the Perrysburg Road had been cut out 15 feet wide some ten years prior to this time but had nearly grown up with brush.
The Suttons then set out east on the Indian trail to see if they could find any other settlers. After traveling 4 miles up the Blanchard River, they found 5 or 6 families. Sutton said: “These were our neighbors on the east and Henry Wing, 6 miles down the river was the nearest settler in that direction. (Many histories tell that Henry Wing was the first white settler in the county but he wasn’t considered a settler because he moved with the Indians and even went West with the tribe.) We remained on the green until the next fall, I playing the part of the chief cook and washerman.”
The Suttons found a field about 5 acres which was later owned by David Cox. The field was partly fenced so they repaired the fence and planted corn. In September, the Suttons returned home for 6 weeks, then returned to the reservation to take care of the crops and prepare for building.
The sale of the reservation took place in December at Wapakoneta. Moses Sutton attended the sale and purchased what was known as Goose Neck Bottom, lying immediately above the village. (The 1895 Putnam County Atlas referred to the land as the Godfrey farm, near or adjoining the town of Ottawa.)
When the Suttons first came to Ottawa there were about 40 of the Ottawa Indians there, being the part of the tribe who refused to move west. They organized, electing PeDonquet (or Pedon-quet) as their chief.  He was part French and was always called the “half-chief.” He was a twin and his twin brother had been killed so he was always referred to as the “half-chief.” He was a large portly man, possessed of sterling good sense and a high order of integrity.  He possessed considerable property, consisting  of  horses,  goods, etc. He kept a small trading store, in which he had quite a variety of goods for sale, such as ammunition, muslin, thread, needles, pins, soda, etc.
The Indians were migratory in their habits, sometimes on the Maumee River, then returning to the county, staying from two to four weeks in a place. Sometimes they remained in  the county for the entire summer for hunting. The Indians remained in the area for about two years following the arrival of these white men. Stansbury Sutton became good friends with the Native Americans and learned to speak some of their language. He recalled some words, viz. Chemokeman meant white man, Mokeman was butcher knife; Bish meant water, Washkas was deer, Azsebunn meant coon, Unteka was no and Inda was yes.
More settlers arrived in the spring of 1834. Among them was William Galbreath, Michael Row, Henry Ridenour, Jonathan Nicholas and James Adgate. Michael Row was the son-in-law of Galbreath.  These families traveled on the Indian trail from Fort Findlay. Row and his family lived in the old Tawa Council House until he purchased the first lot sold in Ottawa, number 57. Here he erected the first hewn log building, in which he operated the Row House until his death in 1877. The early taverns were very important at that time. Meals were served at one setting and a bell was rung when it was time to eat. The Row House was well known throughout Northwestern Ohio.  Following the death of Row, the building became the Falke Marble Works and they sided the building. This building still stands and has the distinction of being the oldest building in Putnam County. It is home to the “Auto Shop” on West Main St. thas survived several floods.
Sutton told his story is Putnam County Pioneer Reminiscences and thanks to Marguerite Calvin for telling the Row story in People and Places. The following story was given by William Galbreath in Putnam County Pioneer Reminiscences. These stories of the early pioneers were given in their own words.
William Galbreath was born in Westmoreland, Pennsylvania in 1794. He settled in Putnam County in November of 1834. Galbreath died in September of 1877. His body was interred in the Old Cemetery in Ottawa.
Galbreath left Fort Findlay with his family and a team of two horses at the tongue, a yoke of oxen in the middle and a span of horses in the lead. He had to cut a good part of the road through brush, consequently it took two days to reach Ottawa. The mud in his route was so deep that his lead horse fell down and the off horse fell over him. When they got up the leader was on the off side.
Upon their arriveal in Ottawa they went to the home of a Red Man. There were no white families in Ottawa at that time. The next morning eight or ten Indians came and claimed the house. Galbreath negotiated with the Red Men….they gave the Indians bread and meat to stay in the house. The next day the Indians returned but were influenced to leave.  In a few days a man came from Findlay with three or four barrels of whiskey to trade with Indians for furs. The Indians found out about the whiskey supply so during the night one of them came with a tin bucket to steal the precious article.  In the process, he let the barrel tip, with the bung down, and all the whiskey ran out on the ground. The next morning the squaws and papooses came with little tins to dip up the whiskey, which was in the horse tracks on the ground. They squaws soon became merry and commenced singing.
Stansbury Sutton told of all the wild game available…such as bear, deer, turkey, coon, otter, mink, wolves and muskrats in large quantities. Firs of all kinds and deer and bear skins were in demand and commanded cash. Fish were abundant in the rivers. Some were unbelievably large like 50-pound Sturgeon, 36-pound Muskallonge and 15-pound Red-horse. This “fish story” was told by a Kalida resident, Hiram Sarber.
Sutton told how many early settlers resorted to hunting to supply food for their families. He said from early July to September, the deer were in the habit of going to the river at night, to fight flies and eat the grass that grew in the water.  Since the deer went to the river at night the hunters would use a mode of hunting, called fire hunting. The Indians were experts at this method. He continued: “The mode of procedure was to use a small canoe with a blind in the bow, so arranged, that with large beeswax candles placed in the blind, a shadow is cast over the bow, which prevents the deer from seeing anything but light. By careful paddling one can approach within 30 or 40 feet of a deer, and then shoot it down…. I have with the  assistance of my brother, killed  as  high  as  85  in  one hunting season, sometimes killing 6 in one night.
Sutton reported that after Galbreath, Row and the others arrived each went to work clearing the land and planting five or ten acres of corn. The bottoms were free of roots so that was where they first planted. The crops were looking excellent when the July flood came along and destroyed every stalk of corn in the township. It looked like starvation. At least it set everyone back one year.
Sutton had a good relationship with most of the Indians on the reservation but related an encounter he had with two of the Indians……Indian Tom and Bunzaee. One December morning these two Indians came to the Sutton home. They had their guns, knives and tomahawks. This was the first that Stansbury saw these two natives for a long time.  But it was plain to see they were in a bad humor. When they came to the door Sutton invited them in but the two Indians refused to talk, acting sullen and obstinate.  Stansbury said “After placing their guns and wiping sticks in a corner, Tom approached by brother who was picking a wild duck. Tom snatched the duck and threw it into the fire, then threw the Sutton boy into the fire. This was done in an instant. I thrust Tom aside and secured my brother. While I was doing this, Tom had caught his wiping stick, with which he dealt me three blows over my head with all the force in his power. While he was aiming for the fourth blow, I caught the stick and wrenched it from him and then returned the compliment in several well directed blows. Stansbury dragged Tom out of the house by his hair. The Indians finally left the Sutton home.
Stansbury Sutton later lived in Gilboa and Kalida before moving back to Ottawa. He moved back to Ottawa in 1866, when the county seat was moved to Ottawa. The first Putnam County Courthouse was located in Kalida.
Sutton   studied   law under John  McKenzie.  He  was    a  well  respected  lawyer  in  the  county.  He  died in  1879  and  is  buried  in  the Harmon Cemetery. Sutton’s  funeral  was  attended  by nearly  every  lawyer  in the  area,  including  representatives  from  the  Putnam County  and  Lima  Bar.

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