Defiance County Pioneers - Charlotte Bruner Tuttle

Charlotte Bruner Tuttle, mother of Andrew Tuttle, came to Defiance County when she was quite young and settled with her family in the Brunersburg area.  One of her sons, Andrew, was the benefactor of items which brought about the creation of the Tuttle Museum in downtown Defiance.

"DEATH OF MRS. TUTTLE

A Pioneer Lady of Defiance Passes to Her Reward.

Charlotte Tuttle, holding son, Andrew

Mrs. Charlotte Bruner Tuttle, wife of the late John Tuttle, died Thursday at 12:30, at the home of her daughter, Mrs. Mary Tuttle Beatty, wife of Chas. Beatty, on High street in North Defiance.  Early in September, Mrs. Tuttle went to spend the winter with her daughter, Mrs. Henry March, at Tiffin, and only a week ago on Wednesday, returned to Defiance to die, her trouble resulting in dropsy of the heart.

She survived her husband, John Tuttle, seven years.  Mrs. Charlotte Bruner was born in Maryland, in 1824, on Dec. 6th, and removed with her parents to Brunersburg, when but three years of age, and has lived her life and performed her duties as daughter, wife, mother, grandmother and great-grandmother in this immediate neighborhood. 

John Tuttle

 She was married to John Tuttle in 1844.  She was the mother of seven children as follows:

Andrew Tuttle,

Mrs. John Spangler (Elizabeth Tuttle),

Cornelius Tuttle,

Alvin Tuttle,

Mrs. Henry March (Laura Tuttle), Mrs. Chas. Beatty (Mary Tuttle),

and Elizabeth Tuttle.  

The eldest daughter died in infancy.

Mrs. Tuttle had twenty grand-children and one great grand-child.  She has been a consistent member of the Methodist church for the past twenty-five years, has not only raised her own family, but the two grand-children of her son, Alvin - Ed__ and Virl Tuttle.

She was always a hard-working woman, a typical American mother, and the impress of her earnest work will last forever.  The funeral services will be held from the residence of Charles Beatty on Sunday afternoon at 2 o'clock and the interment will be in the Brunersburg cemetery.  All friends of the family are invited to be present."

Defiance Democrat - March 25, 1897 

 

Tuttle Monument, Brunersburg Cemetery. www.findagrave.com

  

At Rest. Charlotte, His Wife, Died Mar. 19, 1897, Aged 74 yrs.

John Tuttle, Dec. 5, 1890, Aged 70 year

Page From the Past - Brunersburg

This article first appeared in the Defiance Crescent News on Wednesday, January 18, 1922, and then was reprinted in the society's newsletter, Yesteryears Trails in 1988.  It was written by J. F. Dowe.

"WHEN BRUNERSBURG, BIGGER THAN DEFIANCE, HAD THREE SALOONS AND FOUR HOTELS.

The things I am going to tell you are what I have heard old settlers tell about and what I have seen.

At one time, the 'Burg' had a greater population than Defiance.  The people had to come out here to vote.  That was before 1845 when this part of the county belonged to Williams County.

At one time, the Burg had four hotels and all had plenty to do.  They had large barns nearby as a place to keep horses.  In those days, the travelers came on foot or on horseback.  At times, the hotels were so crowded that the travelers had to sleep on straw ticks on the floor.  Most of these people seeking lodging were looking for homesteads or places where they could buy cheap land.  They all wanted land near some river or ravine.

I think Uncle Brice Hilton and his parents came to this country in 1822.  And a few years later, he purchased a good part of the business in the Burg.  Well do I remember when he had two tanneries, shoe shops, saw mill and grist mill and owned a good scope of land near the Burg.

There was a dam across the river -  one end a saw mill and on the other end a grist mill.  That was one of the fine dams in this country.  It was built long before the dam at Independence on the Maumee river.

I saw the grist mill and two of the hotels burn down and the other two hotels torn down.  The last hotel was owned and run by John Kniseley. 

In those days the Burg had all kinds of business except a bank.  But we had three saloons where you could deposit.

Benjamin Hilton and Daniel Bruner ran a dry goods store and a general store.  They also bought grain and did a good business.  They had to haul their grain to Defiance and load it on a canal boat and ship to Toledo.

This is when the Burg began to lose business.  They could pay more for grain in Defiance.  You remember the John Tuttle warehouse on the bank of the Maumee.  It was known for miles around.

A few years later came the Wabash railroad which put Defiance on the map, and it looks like it is there to stay.

Just a few words about our bridges.  There have been five bridges across the river at the Burg.  The first one was about 50 rods north of our present bridge.  It was built early in 1800, one which I never saw.  It was built by labor and money donations mostly.  In those days, the bridge was not more than 12 feet from low water.  We did not have such high water nor did the water run so swift.  In fact, the river would be a month rising and falling.

The second bridge was built while this section yet belonged to Williams county.  It was constructed of white and bur oak, three-span, with wooden bents.  The spot where the west abutment now stands was near the center of the river.

The third bridge was built right after the Civil War, probably about 1865 or '66.  It was a two-span bridge, set on wooden piers and wooden abutments.  The center pier was a wooden box filled with stone and dirt.  The framework of this bridge was pine, with two pieces 12 x 14 inches, well bolted and dovetailed together.  The siding was made of inch boards 10 feet long.

The year 1884 saw the building of the fourth bridge - a steel structure with 200 foot span.  It was erected by the Youngstown bridge company under the direction of Martin Struble, Levi Colby and Michael Gorman, commissioners and T. S. Knight, surveyor.  This was the bridge which the storm tore down on March 28, 1920, when a large part of the Burg was also destroyed.

The present bridge was built in the fall of 1920 by a Lima company - a three arch concrete affair which looks as if it would stand longer than all the rest combined.  The same abutments were used as on the former bridge."