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Published on Saturday, 13 September 2008 23:46
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This is a reprint of an article from the printed edition of The FIG Tree News, November 1999 & February 2000
Information Provided By William D. Fenton
In 1834 a hardy band of Scottish men and women and children boarded a ship bound for the New World. Their destination was Wood County in Northwestern Ohio, in an area generally known as the “Great Black Swamp.” The area was a huge swamp approximately 120 miles long and about 40 miles wide that had been scooped out during the glacial age. As the glacier receded, a huge mud hole remained and over the centuries it evolved into a 2,000 square-mile, heavily forested swamp of stagnant water, running to the Ohio-Indiana border.
I learned of the Scottish Fentons while researching at the Rutherford B. Hayes Presidential Library in Fremont, Ohio. Our 19th president had a fondness for genealogy while running the affairs of state during his term in office from 1877 to 1881. Most of the immigrants settled in Webster Twp., Wood County, and, after enduring the hardships of carving out a living and taming a swamp, were able to establish the community of Fenton. In 1857 it was granted a post office. By 1900 the post office was gone and so were most of the younger Fentons who had drifted off to Fulton County or into Michigan.
While their presence is known and supported by census reports and cemetery records, I have been able to put together a little about their families. Perhaps FIG Tree readers can help fill in some of the missing pieces.
The first inkling I had of the village of Fenton came when I found a book entitled “Ghost Towns of Ohio.” Although late in the day and getting a bit bleary-eyed, my curiosity was tweaked when I turned to the page listing Fenton as a small community that once existed just a few miles northeast of Bowling Green. The railroads and highways shunned the village and that doomed it to become a ghost town. The land in northern Wood County is very fertile to this day, perhaps some of the best in Northern Ohio. I have been unable to check the site as no clues exist on modern maps and I have a hunch that all that remains today are acres of sugar beet fields where the ghost town flourished briefly 150 years ago.
In further research I found an account by one of the original settlers listing his reminiscences of the journey and what life was like in the Scottish colony. The article appeared in the “History of Wood County, Ohio, “ as told by Robert Fenton, before a group of pioneers assembled in Bowling Green in September 1883. I have edited and paraphrased in some places and translated in others.
On the 19th day of April, 1834, a hardy little band of Scotch people started from the city of Glasgow, Scotland, for America. A more robust, healthy, determined lot of people seldom have left Scotland. We took shipping at Greenock. As it was when Columbus started on his first exploring expedition in such small vessels, it does seem as though it was too much risk to brave the Atlantic in such small crafts, so it was with some of the oldest residents of Webster. Our wee brig, when she turned her prow westward for the land of promise, registered just 284 tons . . . After 42 days buffeting the billows we were brought safely into the bay of New York.
No person, unless one who has been similarly situated, can have any idea the anxiety the head of a family has in going to a land of strangers, and more especially a person in the situation of my father. He was a shoemaker by trade, not having done one day of outdoor labor in his life, with a family of small children and still smaller capital. I have heard him say that after our passage was paid he had 100 sovereigns left — a sum equal to $484. As to matter of wealth, all of us were about on equal footing.
As it now is, so it was then: everyone is ready to take advantage of emigrants (sic). It was not as to the matter of comfort we had to consult, but the way we could be taken the cheapest. After two days we came to Albany.
One incident occurred in that city, and I sometimes have to recall it when I get in company with your townsmen. As I have said before, emigrants have a great many rogues to deal with and so did we. It used to be a trick for three or four rascally canal boatmen to buy an old waterlogged boat and get her afloat, and agree, at a cheap rate, to take a load of emigrants on the canal to Buffalo. They would hire some old canal livery horse and, after going a few miles on the canal, commonly in the night, abandon her, first getting mostly all the passage money. By such we were victimized. We called these fellows ‘smooth-tongued Yankees,’ and so they were.
One of the sailors who came with us across the ocean came with us to Albany. He having more knowledge of watercraft than we had. After our luggage was aboard we discovered that the boat was in sinking condition, and that only by vigorous pumping could she be kept afloat, and that she had no rudder that she could be steered by.
He informed us that we had better get our stuff out, or that we would soon lose all we had; and he was right. Now came a tug of war, when we began to get our luggage ashore, and the boatmen saw their plans to cheat us frustrated.
Our sailor was a regular John L. Sullivan, and some blood was spilt. Then those fellows went and swore out a warrant, and most all the heads of the families were arrested. We hired a pettifogger (lawyer) and were cleared. We thought this a pretty rough introduction into this land of promise. We got along well enough on the rest of the Erie Canal except seeing of those what we thought monster snakes, and hearing the blood-a-nouns of the bull frogs, something we had never seen or heard of before. So at length we arrived at Buffalo.
From Buffalo we came to Cleveland in an old steamer, “William Penn,” that might have been built before the Revolution, and condemned as unfit for use. There was one incident that happened in coming up the lake, which I can never forget.
A German woman, the mother of a large family, while drawing a bucket of water from the lake, fell overboard and was drowned. The rascally captain did not try to stop the boat, which he could have done, and perhaps have saved the woman’s life, but the heartless wretch actually wanted to know if the pail had been lost also. He seemed more concerned for the bucket than for the woman’s life. What became of the poor orphan children I never learned, but their pitiful cries haunt my ears to this day.
At Cleveland we chartered a small schooner, called the “Rain Bow of Avon,’’ not finished or painted. One of the sailors, an old man, had once been up the Maumee River; all of the others knew no more about Perrysburg and the navigation of the Maumee than they knew of the course of the Nile. We sailed around half a day hunting to get into the mouth of the river. Finally we got to where Toledo now is. Between Toledo and Perrysburg we were becalmed for one day, all of us anxious to get to Perrysburg.
One of our men, a carpenter by trade suggested that we go ashore to the woods, where Toledo is now and we make large oars or sweeps. This was carried out, and I think this was the first vessel ever propelled up the Maumee River by the strong arms of a lot of sturdy Scotchmen.
We arrived at Perrysburg where we found a stranger who befriended us in every way, but no house could be found in Perrysburg to rent. But we did find a log house with the windows cut out but no floor in or door on. With a few boards to put our chests on, four large families of us spent our first night in Perrysburg in this shelter, on the 26th day of June, 1834.
We got work in a nearby brickyard. I worked nine days when I was taken with a fever and ague. I recollect how terrified we were: not knowing anything of ague, they thought I had a fit of palsy. A visitor to the house said he saw 13 of us shaking with the ague at one time; it was nigh nine months before I got better.
After being in Perrysburg a few weeks we had to think of getting homes for ourselves. My father and two others went into Michigan to hunt land; it must have been near where Adrian now is. In going through the openings and swamps on the road they got parted from one another, and each had to find his way home as best he could, one having to stay out all night.
Not long after, my father and several others went to hunt land along the McCutchenville Road (now Ohio Route 199), which had been under brushed out the winter before. There they met a man who had a good knowledge of the woods and where the section lines were, the land having been surveyed a short time before. The man gave them a description of the land and they had to travel to Bucyrus to the land office to enter it at $1.25 an acre. After much trouble getting to and from Bucyrus, they stopped at a little grocery store near what is now Fostoria and got crackers, cheese and whisky to wash it down with to celebrate the occasion.
Winters in Ohio were harsh. Many a time I think how poorly clad we were to go through the cold winters and sometimes our provisions were scanty and at the same time I cannot but think what a merry lot we were. There were a lot of us boys just getting to be men; girls just growing into womanhood, and we used to have lots of shindigs in the winter. I have known them as often as four in one week.
Not long after we came to the woods some of the Scotch boys got married to Scotch girls and everything had to be done in old Scotch style. Families would travel as much as 12 miles on foot for a wedding and a more merry lot has not gone over the roads to this day, and plenty of whisky, too in the bargain, and ‘danced all night till broad daylight.
Our nearest mill was either Waterville or Bank’s Mill near Woodville and the greatest difficulty was in getting to them. It was a long time before we had a team and those we had were oxen, and in winter it was one continued sheet of ice, so that oxen, not shod, would slip so we could not go. I recollect nearly all one winter we had to live wholly on potatoes, and as we had for many years no wheat, the rest of our living was corn meal, and that meal made from frostbitten corn. Sometimes our hogs used to be gone from us for months, and sometimes we had big times hunting them. I and my brothers have many a time gone to the woods with a little sack of parched corn to use when hungry.
My father had heard of a man in a nearby township who made hand mills to grind corn. He got one and there was never anyone so glad as we were to see that hand mill. Every morning we had to grind one peck of corn. There were two watches of us-father and brother James and my other brother John and myself the other. We earned hard all the meal we got, but we ground it at home.
There was an Indian camp not far from us on the Bellville Road. Many a night the Indians used to sleep by our fireplace. After getting some clearing done and putting in some corn, we used to be greatly troubled with the raccoons eating it up for us. We had a good coon dog and nearly every night we had to watch, or we would have no corn left. In the fall, when the fur began to get good, as a matter of necessity we had to hunt nearly every night, and I have known us to catch from one to three coons in an evening. This money we used to buy our winter clothing with.
”While the beasts of the forest, such as coon, deer and turkeys, were a great blessing to us, we found the sneaking, prowling wolves a great pest. They were very bold at times, and their dismal howling at night was terrifying to the uninitiated. One of our neighbors had a fine heifer dragged down and killed by them.
One night, when my father was gone, they came near the house, where two calves were penned up. The cows on the outside of the enclosure were nearly frantic, and bellowed until between wolves, calves and cows there was a pandemonium of noises. The dog whined piteously at the door to get in; my mother expected every moment that the calves would be attacked and she scarcely dared open the door. Finally she opened it a little and fired off the gun. The dog bounced in and went under the bed, and the wolves left.
Shortly after a wolf hunter came over and killed three wolves and neighbors killed three more. This was near where the Fenton Post Office now is. Afterward, an Irishman named Tom Flynn killed a fullgrown wolf with an ox-bow. He got the wolf cornered in an old cabin and knocked its brains out.
Wild honey was quite plentiful, but the most plentiful things in summer were gnats and mosquitoes.
One-year porcupines were unusually plentiful, it seemed like they were migrating through our land. Deer and turkey were so plentiful that we often had a bountiful supply for the table. My wife, formerly Ellen Forrester, one winter at our place trapped 25 wild turkeys. A neighbor killed three deer and one turkey in his little clearing in one day. I mention these instances to show how plentiful game was then.”
Descendants of John Fenton
Generation No. 1
1. John1 Fenton was born 1793 in Glasgow, Strathclyde, Scotland, and died May 18, 1867 in Webster Township., Wood, Ohio. He married Elizabeth McGowen in Scotland. She was born 1793 in Glasgow, Strathclyde, Scotland, and died November 6, 1873 in Webster Township, Wood, Ohio.
Children of John Fenton and Elizabeth McGowen are:
2. i. Robert2 Fenton, born 1820, Glasgow, Strathclyde, Scotland; died April 10, 1895, Webster Township, Wood, Ohio.3. ii. John Fenton, born about 1825, Glasgow, Strathclyde, Scotland; died June 13, 1893, Fulton, Ohio.4. iii. James Fenton, born about 1826, Glasgow, Scotland; died September 15, 1891, Swanton, Fulton, Ohio.iv. William Fenton, born. September 28, 1828, Glasgow, Scotland; died June 6, 1900, Webster Township, Wood, Ohio; married Ellen Maine, October 28, 1859, Webster Township, Wood, Ohio; born January 2, 1834; died January 30, 1923.
Generation No. 2
2. Robert2 Fenton (John1) was born 1820 in Glasgow, Scotland, and died April 10, 1895 in Webster Township, Wood, Ohio. He married Ellen Forrester. She was born about 1817 in Scotland, and died June 9, 1885 in Webster Township, Wood, Ohio.
Children of Robert Fenton and Ellen Forrester are:
i. Ellen S.3 Fenton, born about 1845, Webster Township, Wood, Ohio; died June 9, 1885.ii. William J. Fenton, born January 19, 1848, Wood, Webster Township, Ohio; died April 19, 1876, Wood, Webster Township, Ohio.iii. Elizabeth “Lizzie” Fenton, born 1849, Webster Township, Wood, Ohio; died 1910, Webster Township, Wood, Ohio.5. iv. Thomas Fenton, born 1852, Webster Township, Wood, Ohio; died February 15, 1884.v. Alice Fenton, born 1855, Webster Township, Wood, Ohio.vi. Robert Fenton, born 1857, Webster Township, Wood, Ohio; died 1920.vii. Maria Fenton, born 1860, Wood, Webster Township, Ohio; died 1922.3. John2 Fenton (John1) was born about 1825 in Glasgow, Strathclyde, Scotland, and died Jun 13, 1893 in Fulton, Ohio. He married Margaret “Maggie” Muir October 6, 1847 in Webster, Wood, Ohio. She was born between 1826 - 1828 in Whitburn Parish, Linlithgow, Scotland and died May 21, 1908 in Fulton, Ohio.
Children of John Fenton and Margaret Muir are:
i. Frances3 Fenton, born Fulton, Ohio.6. ii. John M. Fenton, born Fulton, Ohio.iii. Janet Fenton, born Fulton, Ohio.7. iv. Frank Fenton, born Fulton, Ohio.v. Mary Prentice Fenton, born March 12, 1849, Webster Township, Wood, Ohio; died February 16, 1930.vi. Robert W. Fenton, born 1852; died 1931, Fulton, Ohio; married LauraJ. Fetterman, May 13, 1875, Fulton, Ohio; born 1853; died 1956, Fulton, Ohio.vii. Elizabeth Fenton, born about 1853, Webster Township, Wood, Ohio; died May 17, 1884, Fulton, Ohio.viii. George W. Fenton, born 1858; died 1935, Fulton, Ohio; married Dora L. Thrudouble, August 8, 1882, Fulton, Ohio; born 1866; died 1953, Fulton, Ohio.8. ix. Samuel J. Fenton, born 1862, Fulton, Ohio; died 1939, Fulton, Ohio.4. James2 Fenton (John1) was born about 1826 in Glasgow, Scotland, and died September 15, 1891 in Swanton, Fulton, Ohio. He married Hannah J. Lake 1849 in Fulton, Ohio. She was born about 1824 in Pennsylvania, and died October 5, 1904 in Swanton, Fulton, Ohio.
Children of James Fenton and Hannah Lake are:
9. i. Thorton3 Fenton.ii. Martha Elizabeth Fenton; died Fulton, Ohio.iii. Maria Elizabeth Fenton, born 1850, Fulton, Ohio; died 1921, Fulton, Ohio.iv. William A. Fenton, born about 1851, Fulton, Ohio; married Maria Grove, October 1, 1871, Monroe, Michigan; born 1850, Pennsylvania.10. v. James M. Fenton, Jr., born February 1854; died April 22, 1935, Swanton, Fulton, Ohio.vi. John H. Fenton, born July 2, 1858; died October 15, 1859, Fulton, Ohio.11. vii. Horace G. Fenton, born 1859; died 1911, Fulton, Ohio. Generation No. 3
5. Thomas3 Fenton (Robert2, John1) was born 1852 in Webster Township, Wood, Ohio, and died February 15, 1884. He married Lavina Shroyer December 1876 in Wood, Ohio. She was born 1856 in Ohio, and died May 15, 1897.
Child of Thomas Fenton and Lavina Shroyer are:
i. Philip4 Fenton, born 1879, Webster Township, Wood, Ohio.
6. John M.3 Fenton (John2, John1) was born in Fulton, Ohio. He married Diantha Fetterman December 25, 1873 in Fulton, Ohio.
Child of John Fenton and Diantha Fetterman are:
i. Robert Basil4 Fenton, born May 23, 1883, Fulton, Ohio.
7. Frank3 Fenton (John2, John1) was born in Fulton, Ohio. He married Lena Fey.
Children of Frank Fenton and Lena Fey are:
i. Mary Margaret4 Fenton, born August 25, 1896.ii. William F. Fenton, born February 28, 1898.8. Samuel J.3 Fenton (John2, John1) was born 1862 in Fulton, Ohio, and died 1939 in Fulton, Ohio. He married Sarah A. Nearing October 6, 1889 in Fulton, Ohio. She was born 1868, and died 1937 in Fulton, Ohio.
Child of Samuel Fenton and Sarah Nearing are:
i. Ray N.4 Fenton, born August 8, 1896, Melamova, Fulton, Ohio; died August 1970, Camden, Hillsdale, Michigan.9. Thornton3 Fenton (John2, John1) He married Flora Brainard.
Child of Thornton Fenton and Flora Brainard are:
i. Ralph Adams4 Fenton, born 1884; died 1914.10. James M.
3 Fenton, Jr. (James2, John1) was born February 1854, and died April 22, 1935 in Swanton, Fulton, Ohio. He married Mary A. “Jennie” Grove. She was born 1854, and died April 2, 1935 in Swanton, Fulton, Ohio.
Children of James Fenton and Mary Grove are:
i. Miner4 Fenton, born November 28, 1875.ii. Gertie Imogene Fenton, born February 3, 1880.iii. Edna Fenton, born April 27, 1884.iv. Hazel Fenton, born 1892; died November 28, 1912, Fulton, Ohio.v. Wade E. Fenton, born January 2, 1895; died November 1979, Toledo, Lucas, Ohio.11. Horace G.3 Fenton (James2, John1) was born 1859, and died 1911 in Fulton, Ohio. He married Lou “Lulu” A. Waffle. She was born 1867, and died 1944 in Fulton, Ohio.
Children of Horace Fenton and Lou Waffle are:
i. Hannah H.4 Fenton, born May 23, 1885.ii. Clied Fenton, born August 26, 1888.iii. Harry Fenton, born March 16, 1892; died May 1966, Hudson, Lenawee, Michigan; married Elnore E. —, September 5, 1910; born 1891; died 1965, Wauseon, Fulton, Ohio.
If you would like to contact William regarding this information he can be reached at the following addresses:
William D. Fenton945 Nautical DriveVermillion, OH 44089E-Mail Address:
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