The Robert Murphy Inn
By: Stan Jordan
The following story is taken from the book “The Maumee River in 1835” written by Louis A. Simonis. You can get a copy of the book on line.
See ya!
The “inn” or home of Robert Murphy, Sr. is well identified by the many references seen on pages 162, 163, 167-170 of William Holgate’s journal.
The “old man”, Robert Murphy, Sr. was born, probably in the 1780’s; he was between 50 and 60 years old in 1840. He was native of County Down, Ireland, who came to America and settled in Pennsylvania. In 1828 he was living along the Big Miami River in Hamilton County, Ohio; he left there and settled in Paulding County that fall. His farm of one-hundred and 6 acres was located along the Maumee River in Carryall Township. It was in the northern part of section 32, about a mile and a half above present Antwerp, Ohio.
Robert’s wife, Anna (Jackson) Murphy, was a native of Pennsylvania, as Holgate recorded. Robert and Anna were the parents of eight children. The first white marriage solemnized in Carryall Township was between their son, David Phillip J. Murphy and Miss Nancy Runyan. Their marriage was witnessed by Gen. H. N. Curtis, Justice of the Peace, on October 21, 1830. Nancy’s parents had settled here in the spring of 1828, and also were from along the Big Miami in Hamilton County. Davis Phillip J. Murphy died in 1834.
Holgate mentioned “two, three” sons; there were actually four sons living then: John, Robert Jr., Joseph and Daniel. The Murphy’s also had three daughters: Rosanna, Anna and Harriet. Anna married Wilson H. Snook, an Indian trader called Tobachimo by the Indians who traded in his post at Delaware Town. Their son, U.R. Snook, left us this view of the Robert Murphy, Sr. home – reproduced from the History of Defiance County, 1883.
“Some time during the summer and fall of 1832, Antwayne, a chief of the Pottawatomies, and several of his braves, after having imbibed somewhat freely of the white man’s fire-water, paid my grandfather (Robert) Murphy’s residence a visit, the men folks being all out at work, and only grandmother and aunt (Harriet or Rosanna Murphy) being in the house. The Indians, as was their custom when peaceable and not on scalping bent, and bloody slaughter, unbuckled their belts, depositing scalping knives, tomahawks, guns and bullet pouches in one corner of the log cabin, distributing themselves around the capacious fire-place where grandmother was cooking the noonday meal. Antwayne squatted directly in the middle of it and in the way of getting at her culinary efforts. This was not to be endured and after grandmother had requested him several times to get out of the way, he replying in his broken English, ‘Me good Injun, me no hurt white squaw, Me big Injun, me heap good Injun, me no hurt white squaw,’ she drew from its resting place over the ‘jice’, the family rod, and at once bestowed ‘one big Injun’ good Injun’s naked shoulders, with no light hand, good, sturdy blows which made him howl with pain and jump up in great surprise.
Giving the characteristic whoop of defiance, he sprang for his deadly weapons of war, but as he did so, the other braves caught and forced him out of doors, where they in one accord declared that he should not hurt white squaw who was ‘heap much brave, whip Injun.’ They finally succeeded in pacifying him, and after securing his accounterments they departed in good humor.”
Snook further states: “If they had not been under the influence of whiskey it is hard to tell how the rash act of grandmother would have ended, probably in a bloody tragedy.”
In 1829, the first election was held for the township the gathering was in a log cabin about a half mile north of present Antwerp, Ohio. Twelve votes were cast; when tallied, Robert Murphy, Sr. became the first Township clerk.
Robert Murphy, Sr. died c. 1843 and the family apparently had a few problems for a while. They retained the farm, but in 1845, the farm was listed in the delinquent tax notice.
Old Railroads in Paulding County
By: Stan Jordan
The above picture of the old railroads in Paulding County was made in 1898. Now we old timers have heard of these old towns, but I imagine you younger generations never heard of some of these towns, but they were there.
Please pay attention to the “CN” that is the Cincinnati-Northern through Haviland, Paulding and Cecil north.
Now that was nearly extinct before my time also.
See ya!
The new sign at the Park
By: Stan Jordan
There have been some new governmental information signs erected in the area. The one reads 99 miles to Lake Erie by river. There is a sign at Forder’s Bridge that says it is 91.3 miles by river to Lake Erie.
There is a sign at the Cecil Bridge that reads it is 85 miles yet on the Maumee River Water Trail. I made a special trip from our corner down to the Cecil Bridge, all the signs read about the same. It tells how many miles by the Maumee River Water Trail to the final marina down by the end of the Maumee into Lake Erie.
If you read the signs it says it is 7.7 miles from the park marina to the Forder Bridge access.
On the old Wabash Railroad just east of Harrmann Road there is a sign that reads Toledo 72 miles. That is a straight shot into Toledo, but it is a lot shorter than the river route.
That reminds me of a meeting I had with Ben Franklin.
It was in a sort of sleezy joint on the water front in Boston in 1775. There was Ben and I and one of Ben’s girl friends who looked like an old worn out version of Stormy Daniels and I think I’m right in my assumption of that gal.
Ben told me about the shortest distance between two points in a straight line. And we traded adages, and I told him an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.
That group called the Metro Park System of the Maumee River have done a lot of work and effort of getting more people in the water way. I am very glad to see that being done.
See ya!
A few more names!
By: Stan Jordan
Oakwood: Probably because of the heavy stand of oak trees in the area
Ohio: From an Iroquois word meaning “great river”
Oquanoxa’s Reserve: Named for a chief who resided in a village there with about 600 Indians of the Ottawa Tribe until the reservation was sold in 1820
Paulding: For John Paulding, who along with two other soldiers captured Revolutionary War spy Major Andre.
Payne: For H.G. Payne, a senator from Ohio
Point Pleasant/Pleasant Grove: A post office on the Paudling-Van Wert Pike.
Reid or Reids: After Captain Robert M. Reid.
Renollett: For the Renollett family, who had large holdings at the site.
Roselm: From the family name “Rose” and the elm trees in the vicinity
Royal Oak: After a sign in an oak tree.
Scott: For John Scott, who platted the village in 1882
Section 8: A timber town that was laid out in that section of Paulding Twp
Six Mile Creek: Because it empties into Auglaize River six miles away.
Smiley: After J.E. Smiley who had a store and operated a mill and a shingle and a basket bottom factory.
