First Settlement in Farmer Township

 "FIRST SETTLEMENT IN FARMER TOWNSHIP

Mr. Editor: -To redeem my promise, I send you some facts in relation to the first settlement of this township, which are mostly from recollection.

My first visit to this township was in the fall of 1834.  At this time, Nathan Farmer and John Heckman lived on Section 1, and Keelin Leonard had raised a cabin on Section 2, on lands afterwards owned and occupied by Collin Tharp.  A hunter had lived on the east side of Section 9 and __ Findlay had lived in a hut on Lost Creek, in Section 32, while hunting.  But few entries of land had been made in the township.

The next year a number of emigrants bought and moved on their land, of whom were Oney Rice, sen., Dr. Oney Rice jr., John Rice, Jacob Conkey, Widow Hopkins, W. G. Pierce, Randall Lord and Lyman Langdon.  These were from St. Lawrence county, New York; Levinus Bronson and Wm. Powell, who were from near Cleveland Ohio; Isaac and William Wartenbe, David Comstock, James Crane, Nathan Smith and Wm. Mann, who were from Muskingum county, Ohio; Thos. Dew from Hocking county; Elijah Lord and Darius Allen, whose home in the east are not now recollected. I think that Isaac, Elisha and Collin Tharp came this year from Allen county, Ohio.

About this time, the township was organized and named Lost Creek.  At the first election there was not an officer in the township authorized to administer an oath.  The people met and selected the election board, and one of their number swore a Clerk who in turn qualified the other members of the board.

Many of the citizens had not gained a residence, but they extended by common consent the elective franchise to all the male population over twenty-one years, and from their number elected their officers. Dr. Rice was afterwards elected a Justice of the Peace, and continued to fill this office for many years, administering justice in the mildest form.

A good story is told of his administration in these early times.  The first settlers were not rich; their lands were to be cleared, fenced, and cultivated before they could realize returns from their labors.  The Defiance merchants sold goods and groceries on credit, adding heavy profits.  The settlers made debts from necessity which is most cases became due before their farms were yielding a profit to meet their payments for goods.  The result was that the merchants sent their accounts to the Justice for collection, and one amongst them was upon himself.  He notified the parties, who confessed judgement and entered bail for stay of execution, not forgetting to give bail on docket for the amount claimed from the justice.

The first marriage might have been noticed in a seven by nine newspaper published then at Perrysburg.  'Married, September 10, 1834, by Jesse Haller, Esq., of Defiance township, Keelin Leonard to Elizabeth Ice, all of Lost Creek Township.'

The first death in the township was that of the hunter in Section 9.  The coffin was made by Obadiah Webb, who lived on the east bank of Bean Creek, opposite to the farm now owned by Lyman Langdon.  The coffin was lashed to a pole and carried by Abraham Webb and Wm. Kibble, on their shoulders, to the hunter's camp, a distance of nearly thirteen miles on a direct line, and their route was through the woods without a path to guide them. They crossed Bean Creek at dusk, and with a pocket compass to guide them and a hickory bark torch to light their way, they set out with their burden on their lonely route and reached the hut at 3 o'clock in the morning.  He was buried on the north-west quarter of Section 10.

                  Obadiah Webb, died 26 April 1849, buried in Noble and Tiffin Cemetery

Exceptions were made to the name of the township and it was changed to that of Farmer.  This was changed at the instance of the citizens because they thought it more appropriate, and it was also designed to perpetuate the name of the first settler.

Of the voters of the first election, Elisha Tharp, Esq. is the only one now living in the township.  Some of them have removed to other localities.

Tombstone of Elisha Tharp, Williams Center Cemetery, Williams County, Ohio

Our place of voting was near center of Section _?, where a log cabin had been built for this purpose and was also used for a school house.  Some years ago a grave yard was located at this place, and many of the pioneers have been gathered one by one to this place of burial, where their names are recorded on neat marble monuments.

You will hear from me again when I have more leisure. Farmer."

Defiance Democrat, September 9, 1871, p. 3

The Farmer Post Office in the Early Days

Original Farmer Post Office desk

I

It is said that Nathan Farmer settled in what is now named Farmer Township in the early 1830s.  But it was about 1842 - 1843 before the post office was established in the village of Farmer.  

Throughout the years, the site of the post office moved from private homes to grocery stores and even to a Grange building at the corner of Rt. 249 and Farmer- Mark Road. 

 Luckily, someone thought to save the original desk that was "the post office" - one that could be moved from place to place -  and it is still preserved by a local family.

The official U.S. Appointments of Postmasters list gave the names of these earliest postmasters and their appointment dates:

1843 August 31 - Oney Rice, Jr.

1848 September 5 - Orley N. Foot

1850 July 8 - Samuel D. Knight

1851 March 15 - Samuel Ayres

1854 January 16 - Richard Knight

1855 April 4 - William M. Brown

1856 July 8 - Samuel D. Knight

1861 May 23 - John Norway

1863 April 28 - Noah E. Cory

1864  April 10 - Newell O. Foot

1885 August 21 - Emory E. Martin

1889 May 21 - Belle Bowker

1893 June 22 - Ora J. Martin

1897 June 16 - David C. Lord

1904 January 2 - Clyde R. Norway  

Hiram F. Rice - Civil War Soldier Buried in Farmer Cemetery

Member of Farmer G.A.R.

Born, raised, and died in Farmer Township, Defiance County, Ohio - that described Hiram F. Rice.  His parents were early settlers in the township, established a farm there, and passed that farm down through the generations.

In 1860, Hiram lived there with his mother, Lydia, who was 52 and widowed.  She was listed as the head of the family in the census, with real estate valued at $4000 - quite an amount for the time.  Hiram, 22, and his brother, Aaron, 19, lived with their mother on the farm.

Hiram enlisted in Company F of the 111th Ohio Infantry on August 13, 1862 in Toledo, along with many other Defiance County men. His unit spent quite a bit of time in Kentucky and Tennessee, only to return again in 1863 to patrol and protect areas along the Ohio River against Confederate invasion.  In the fall of 1863, the group headed south again for battles at Kennesaw Mountain and Jonesboro, and then they chased Hood's army around the south.   On January 1, 1865, Hiram was promoted to First Sergeant. At some point after that promotion, Sgt. Hiram was wounded in the spine. (His pension papers would add details to this incident.)  He mustered out at the end of the war on June 27, 1865 at Salisbury, North Carolina.

In 1890, Hiram reported on the Veterans' Census that he had served 2 years, 10 months and 15 days. 



















On March 20, 1870, he married Rhoda E. Stone, the daughter of Alpha and Samantha (Marihugh) Stone.  After the war, his mother had apparently deeded over the farm to Hiram, as it appeared in his name in the 1866 plat book.

Section 21

In the 1870 census, Hiram was listed as head of household at the age of 32, with Rhoda, 24, and Lydia Rice, mother, aged 63.  Emory Heartman (Hartman?), 11, lived there, too as a laborer.  The farm had increased to $7000 in value. On June 18, 1885, the Defiance County Express reported that Hiram Rice "had a large barn raised and when completed, it will be one of the finest barns in the country."

Hiram and Lydia would have sons, Oney and Clark, and they also raised their grandson, Blake, an infant when his mother, wife to Oney, died. Lydia Rice died in 1895, and the Defiance Republican Express noted on June 6, 1895:

"Lydia Rice, mother of Hiram R. of Farmer township, died Saturday morning at the ripe old age of about 87 years.  She was on of the pioneers of Defiance County.  She was buried Sunday afternoon at Farmer cemetery."

Hiram's brother, Oney, had a wife, Hattie, who also died in 1895 at the age of 23.  She was the mother of Blake, who was then raised by Hiram and Rhoda.  In 1900, Hiram (born 1837), was 62 and he and Rhoda had been married thirty years.  With them were Clark, their youngest son, 21 and single, and Blake B. their grandson, aged 6, born in April 1894. 

Her obituary appeared in the Defiance County Republican Express on January 24, 1895:

Her husband, Oney, remarried in 1897 to Blanch and had children with her: Oney Jr.,Milo and Mabel.

 Hiram F. Rice died on October 3, 1906.  An obituary appeared in the Bryan Press on October 4, 1906:

"Hiram F. Rice died at his home near Farmer on the 3rd of October at the age of 68 years, 11 months and 2 days.  

He was born in Farmer township, Defiance county, where he always lived, except during three years spent as a soldier in the war of the Rebellion, where he served as a member of Co. F., 111th O. V. I.

He was married to Rhoda E. Stone on the 20th of March 1870, and to this union were born two sons, Oney and Clark.  A grandson, Blake, on account of his mother's death when a baby, has made a third member of the family since 1895.

On the 27th of last December, while in Bryan, Mr. Rice was stricken with paralysis, which gradually spread to his whole body and caused his death.  

Funeral services were held by the Rev. Mr. Kelly, of the M.E. church in Farmer, October 7th, at two o'clock."

Rhoda Rice lived on until 1914.

Memorial card found among Rice family possessions, Farmer, Ohio

The Defiance Crescent-News had an informative article about the Rice family farm on July 27, 1932, in its Rural Rambler column:

"A Family Farm
Clark Rice, who lives just west of Farmer, says that the old Rice eighty acres has been transferred only twice since it became a farm.  The first member of the Rice family to reside here was Dr. Oney Rice (father to Hiram F. Rice) who homesteaded it upon his arrival from St. Lawrence County, N.Y.  Then his son Hiram resided on the old home farm, and now the grandson, Clark resides here.

First Post Office
Mr. Rice showed the Rambler a desk that served as the first post office in Farmer.  This desk stood just inside the hall door of the old Rice residence which was destroyed by a fire about twelve years ago.  And from the desk was distributed the first mail at Farmer.

Antique Oil Can
Hanging on the wall of the farm shop on the Clark Rice farm is the coal oil can that Mrs. Hiram Rice purchased on a trip to Defiance when she bought the first coal oil lamp that the family owned.  The purchase of the lamp marked the passing of the tallow candle for the purpose of illumination in the farm home.

Building By Generation
This farm has buildings erected by three generations of Rices.  The old barn, now used as a utility barn, was erected by Dr. Oney Rice.  The farm barn was built by Hiram Rice, and following the fire which destroyed the old dwelling.  The modern residence were constructed by Clark Rice.

Handling the Farm
The farm, which has grown to comprise 171 acres, is beautifully set off by an eighty rod row of maples extending along the concrete road which passes the place.  Dale Rice, the only son, is actively engaged with his father in operating the farm on which an important factor is the flock of 140 sheep.

This farm has been kept at a high level of productivity as is indicated by the 36 bushels per acre yield of this season's wheat crop.  Oats looks good, but Mr. Rice says they are rustier than any oats he ever harvested.

Farm procedure includes the pasturing of sweet clover and oats by sheep each year as a successful method of maintaining soil productivity.    

Family All At Home
Besides his farmer son, Dale, Mr. Rice has three daughters, all at home present.  Miss Helen, who will teach in the Farmer school the coming term, is actively engaged as a 4-H club leader.  Miss Grace will teach in District No. 1 in Farmer township this term, andMiss Doris is intending to complete the course in the Farmer School."