The Great Black Swamp of Northwestern Ohio touches most of the counties formed by the Act of the Ohio Legislature, February 12, 1820. There were seventeen counties formed by this act. These pages deal with nine of the most northwestern ones, to wit: Wood, Hancock, Henry, Putnam, Paulding, Williams, Lucas, Fulton and Defiance. It seemed natural to use this as the name for the articles.

On April 1st, 1820, Daniel Hubbell, of Miami; Samuel H. Ewing, of Orleans, and John Pray, of Waterville, met in the second story of Almon Gibbs' store in Maumee, and organized by electing Daniel Hubbell clerk of the board. Then the board appointed William Pratt county treasurer. And, the board purchased a record book [on credit] at a price of $4.50. Thus was Wood County organized, with boundaries and a name, and officers in place. The only lacking element was the court.

The boundaries of Wood County are the same now as then, with the exception that the northern boundary was Michigan's sourthern boundary. In the year 1835, Lucas county was formed with the Maumee River then becaming the northern boundary of Wood County.

It has been written that Wood County "had no safes, no fireproof vaults, no tax duplicate, no money, no jail, no county roads, no ditches, no bridges -- hardly anything, except the bright anticipations of her projectors."¹ How different it was from today.

"In the beginning" [to use a familiar phrase], there were rugged forest trees and thick brush. River crossings were made by sluggish ferry, canoes or skiffs. Shipping could only make it as far as Fort Miami on the north side of the river. Three communities struggled for dominance. Maumee on the north side of the river extending about two miles along the river banks. Orleans, on the south side, was laid out on the flats below Fort Meigs. Perrysburg was a few cabins along what is now Front Street. At that point in time it was not much more than a path through the heavy timbered high ground.

In fact all along the some 120 miles of swamp, there were no roads. There were only "blazed" trails. Due to the abundnace of trees, log cabins were quickly raised. They consisted mainly of one room with a stone fireplace. Usually there was a loft with a ladder and puncheon floors [split log]. Corduroy roads were finally built in the 1830s.

Until logs were needed for roads, most of the timber was burned, even then much of it was burned. This due to necessity to clear the land to raise food; for man and beast. Until stumps were removed, farming was done around them. The land was so rich that even a small acreage planted would be extremely productive.

These people were hard working and industrious. But they would almost weekly take a day off and go hunting or fishing. This, of course, provided supplemental food supply, and additionally really provided a pleasant recreation. One can imagine why hunting is a popular "sport" even in this moderen age.

The settlers of the Black Swamp were pioneers who were arduous workers, who could and did overcome the many obstacles required to live and produce in this wilderness. Well, this series of articles is about these people; those who chose to come and change the "face of this earth".

Suffice it to say, change brings loss. And, no matter what we think, change doesn't always mean better, for often the loss can be greater than the gain.

These articles are "stories" about people and changes. There is a poem though, written by that most famous poet, "auther unknown", which goes something like this: