Allen County OhArchives History .....Allen County, Old Settlers On Sugar Creek June 22, 1876
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Allen County Democrat, June 22, 1876
     ALLEN COUNTY
     Old Settlers on Sugar Creek
The first settlers on Sugar Creek, in the original township bearing that name, 
were four sons of BENJAMIN CLEVENGER, namely:  JACOB, SAMUEL, GEORGE and 
JOSEPH, who came from Franklin county, Ohio, in the fall of 1830, and located 
on the land then owned by their father, and now by JAMES CLEVENGER, their half-
brother, near where the town of Vaughnsville now stands.  WILLIAM CLEVENGER 
and family, of which his brother JOHN was a member, settled at the same time, 
near where the town of Gomer now stands.  Shortly afterwards, in 1831, DANIEL 
W. GRAY, the first clerk of the Court of Putnam county, settled on Sugar 
Creek, a short distance below where the CLEVENGERS settled.  In 1833, SAMUEL 
GANDER settled on the west bank of Sugar Creek just below where Mr. GRAY 
lived.  About the same time, ROBERT and WILLIAM ROBERTS settled still lower 
down, and SAMUEL and DAVID CRAHILL further up the creek.

Soon after, a Mr. THOMAS WILLIAMS settled near where the CLEVENGER brothers 
located, and where their father had by this time settled, and built a cabin 
and a mill, which was of great benefit to the early settlers at that time, and 
for many years afterwards.  A post office was kept by Mr. WILLIAMS at his 
house, the name of which was BENNING, but when he moved away the office was 
abolished.  In the fall of 1837, JOHN GANDER, sen., came from Franklin county, 
Ohio, and bought out ABEL HANSON, who had settled on the west bank of Hog 
Creek,--Ottawa river—about four miles above Kalida, and in February, 1838, 
moved his family, then consisting of his wife and four sons, DAVID, JOHN, 
JACOB and GEORGE, to their new home.  SAMUEL CLEVENGER and JOHN CLEVENGER, who 
had married daughters of JOHN GANDER, were then living where they now reside, 
on the east side of the river,  A short distance above them on the same side 
of the river, WILLIAM CLEVENGER, WILLIAM DINSMORE, JOHN GUFFY, AND JOHN 
DEFFENBAUGH, had located and were enjoying their cabins.  On the west side of 
the river, and ??? in the township, MARTIN and WILLIAM GUFFY, PETER RHODES, 
JOSEPH FORD. ALEXANDER MCKINLEY, JOHN KUNZ, JACOB CLEVENGER, GEORGE SARBER, 
JOSEPH CLEVENGER, JACOB CLEVENGER and DANIEL RIMER, were living when Mr. 
GANDER came to the country.  The openings around the cabins of the settlers 
were then small. But the almost constant labor of clearing gradually expanded 
them, until large farms were opened.  What social and hospitable gatherings 
were then enjoyed by the early settlers when they had their cabin raisings and 
log rollings and how often they enjoyed themselves hunting raccoons by night 
to save their corn, and deer and squirrels during the day to supply food for 
their families.  They had to make a warfare by trapping and with guns on the 
great number of squirrels which then infested the country and destroyed the 
corn.  There being no market at that time for corn, a large quantity was 
cribbed up by Mr. GANDER, which had been grown on the rich bottom land of Hog 
Creek.  The first and only sale of corn by him, except a little to new 
settlers, was to one of the contractors of the “deep cut” on the Miami 
extension canal; 200 bushels were sold at 50 cents a bushel, which at that 
time was regarded as a large sale.

                         THE MEMORABLE WINTER OF 1842-43
The Winter of 1842-43 was a long and severe one, and in some localities the 
new settlers ran out of food for their stock long before spring opened.  
Hearing that there was corn at Mr. GANDER’S many of them resorted thither from 
along the Blanchard, below Ottawa, for corn.  All who came were supplied at a 
low price—20 to 22 cents a bushel—and those who had no money as well as those 
who had, got corn, and were thereby enabled to save their stock; those who did 
not pay gave their notes and most of the them who did so paid them; but a few 
never paid.

                           SCHOOLS
For awhile there was no schools among the settlers, but about 1840 one or two 
schools were kept within the present limits of the township and in 1841, a 
third was opened in a cabin on the land near the residence of JOHN GANDER.  
The school houses of that day were like most of the houses of the settlers, 
log cabins with puncheon floors and paper windows.  Some of the teachers too, 
were men of but little education, yet earnest laborers to the extent of their 
ability.

JOHN DEFFENBAUGH, Esq., was for many years a Justice of the Peace in the 
western part of the township.  Different persons filled that position.  JOHN 
GANDER, JR., is now serving his sixth term as Justice of the Peace; he has 
served six times as township assessor; was land appraiser for the township in 
1859, and has filled each of the offices of township treasurer, Clerk, trustee 
and Supervisor, and was one among the school teachers.  At that time he was a 
young man, and was engaged eleven successive winters, and taught several times 
afterwards.  Many of his neighbors call on him for counsel in matters of 
difference.  His uniform course is to advise them to avoid litigating, and 
often remits a part and sometimes all the costs in suits before him. 
Consequently there is but a small amount of litigation in his township.  He 
has twice received an almost unanimous endorsement of the voters of the party 
he acts with his township for a county office, and was actually nominated once 
for Probate Judge, but was deprived of the position by dishonest politicians.

                           ANOTHER SETTLER IN SHAWNEE TOWNSHIP
WILLIAM ANDERSON came to Shawnee township in 1837.  His family then consisted 
of his wife and five children—one son and four daughters.  ANDERSON had no 
money when he came, and relied alone upon his strong heart and arms.

Wheat could not, even at that time, be purchased “for love or money”, except 
in the settlements on the upper Miami.

When mills first appeared for reducing grain to flour, the most convenient was 
at Cherokee, at Sidney, and in extreme straights, at the “tread-mill” of JOHN 
EAST, three miles north-west of Lima.  The next milling ????? occurred after 
the construction of the Miami Extension Canal, which opened mills at Section 
Ten (Delphos and Spencerville).


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