The first inhabitants of which there is any knowledge of in the area currently defined as Henry County were the Indians. The Ottawa tribe lived along the banks of the Maumee River and their village sites and burial grounds are scattered along the river from its mouth to the City of Defiance.

The white men then arrived: missionaries, traders, trappers, hunters and explorers. The Indians, of course, resented the intrusion. The British, in an attempt to interfere with the successful formation of a United States Government, incited the Indians to fierce resistance to settlement. This uprising of the Indians in the 1780's and 1790's caused by the British was aided and abetted by the white renegade and British agent, Simon Girty.

Any history of Henry County would not be complete without further mention of Simon Girty. Simon served as a scout under Lord Dunsmore in Pennsylvania. It is said that he and another scout, Simon Kenton, served with distinction. However, Girty, for some reason of his own, deserted his fellow men, turned renegade, and from that time on, lived and fought with the Indians. He is supposed to have been adopted by the Seneca tribe, the most fierce of the tribes composing the Iroquois confederacy and Indian uprising.

To quell the Indian marauding, several expeditions were formed and sent against them. These expeditions, led by General Harmar in 1790 and General St. Clair in 1791, were unsuccessful.

Realizing the situation was desperate, President Washington commissioned General Anthony Wayne to enlist and train an army, and to wrestle northwestern Ohio from the Indians and British. In the spring of 1794, Wayne gathered together near Greenville, Ohio a force of 2,000 regulars and 1,500 mounted volunteers. On July 28, 1794, he moved his army into Greenville and started his march. On the eighth of August his troops were at the junction of the AuGlaize and Maumee Rivers, the Indian headquarters. Upon the approach of Wayne, the Indians abandoned their town and Wayne moved in a build Ft. Defiance in one week. He then pursued the Indians down the Maumee river, following the north bank of that stream through Henry County, and met and defeated them in a one hour engagement known as the Battle of Fallen Timbers on August 20, 1794. After exchanging insults with the British Commander of Ft. Miami, Wayne returned with his army to Fort Defiance in the last days of August. On the way back, his men destroyed every Indian village, corn field, and garden they could find for a distance of fifty miles on either side of the river. The army remained at Ft. Defiance until September 14th, then moved to a new location and there erected Ft. Wayne, where the city now stands. The Treaty of Greenville was reached by General Wayne and the Indians on July 30, 1795.

After the Treaty of Greenville was concluded, the Indians were quiet for a few years until the War of 1812 with England when again the British incited the Indians to opposition. At the outbreak of the War of 1812, there were 67 families residing at the foot of the Maumee Rapids and all were compelled to flee. After the war was over, most of them returned and the settlement of the Maumee Valley progressed slowly until the construction of the Miami & Erie Canal.

Although the State of Ohio was created in 1803, it was not until February 12, 1820 that the State of Ohio created Henry County, named in honor of Patrick Henry, the great American statesman and rhetorician. Patrick Henry, of Virginia, had a great influence in the drafting of the United States Constitution, and his presence at the Constitutional Convention lives on today as he fought to preserve the rights of the American people. Indeed, Patrick Henry was a key figure in calling for the Bill of Rights to be added to the Constitution.

Henry county originally embraced all of what is now known as Fulton County, and parts of Lucas County and Defiance County. The Act also provided that the new county should be attached to Wood County with the seat of government and justice at Maumee. On February 2, 1824 henry County was attached to Williams County with the seat of justice at Defiance.

Henry County through the years has suffered three setbacks. On June 20, 1835, territory was taken from Henry County and given to Lucas County; on March 4, 1845, Henry County lost three townships to Defiance; and, on February 20, 1850, Fulton county was created from the northern half of Henry County.

The legislature of Ohio authorized that Henry county be organized for all purposes in the year 1834, and three non-resident commissioners were appointed to locate the County seat centered in Napoleon. The first election of County Officials was held with 97 votes being cast.

The census figures of the United States Government disclose the relatively rapid growth which occurred in Henry County in the 1800's. In the year 1820 it is safe to assume there were not more than 12 families in the county and not more than 50 to 60 inhabitants. Prior to 1825, only two settlements existed: one at Flat Rock on a point near Florida, and the other at or near Damascus. The census taken in 1830 shows 260 people in the county, including young and old; the census in 1840 shows 2,503; and the census in 1850 shows 3,434.

The Miami & Erie Canal must be attributed the credit for promoting the growth and development of Henry County. Contracts for the construction of the Canal in this area were awarded around 1837. The canal proper was not opened for traffic until the year 1843. The Canal was first suggested by Governor Brown of Ohio in his inaugural address in 1818 and ever since then he has been referred to as the "Father of Canals".

The completion of the Erie Canal in New York in 1825 made access to this area from the Eastern Seaboard much easier. It is easy to understand the, how the opening of the Canal in Henry "County made settling possible. The Canal was operated profitably by Ohio for several years until the coming of the railroads. Nevertheless, the Canal continued to operate until after the turn of the Century. It is of no importance that the Canal was not a profitable venture for the State. The fact remains that it did stimulate settlement, and with settlement came drainage by ditches and tile, and, ultimately, the reclamation of the once dreaded Black Swamp of Northwestern Ohio.

HOME

copyright 2010 Henry County OHGenWeb