Wilseyville, Farmer Township, Defiance County

In Section 31 of Farmer Township was Wilseyville (here misspelled as Wolsenville,) formerly known as the town of Arrowsmith.  From the plat map of 1866, Defiance County

Miller Arrowsmith, the surveyor of Defiance County and eventually Auditor, came early to Defiance County to survey and purchase large plots of land.  He developed the village of Arrowsmith in about 1842. After the Civil War, the town was eventually renamed Wilseyville by his nephew, William M. Haller.

It has been reported that the town once contained a grist mill, a sawmill, a tanner, a boarding house, a post office, and an oar factory.  In 1961, then Sherriff Don Kehnast took a group on a tour of some of the historical places in the county. The Defiance Crescent-News reported the guide as saying:

"It is known definitely that Miller Arrowsmith was post master there for 15 years.  Mr. and Mrs. Ridenour, who live in a century old house, north on Route 2 near there found and still have letters bearing the postmark of a station of both names.  The letters were stored in the attic of the home where the Ridenour family have lived for at least 75 years."

A Wilseyville correspondent sent regular news items to the Defiance County Express from the late 1870s to 1883.  Known as the Wilseyville Whittlings (compared with the Hicksville Hackings and the Bethel Blubbers!), all kinds of news from the village was reported.
This example was from December 15, 1881:

The Defiance County Express announced on May 24, 1883: "Hereafter the 'Wilseyville Items' will be known as the 'Lost Creek Items,' as the Wilseyville Post Office  'has gone up the spout.'  The end of Wilseyville was at hand.