Antwerp, Ohio: Early History Compilation

A three-part compilation of early local history:

“Brief History of the Old M.E. Church, and Its Members” — Dr. John Lincoln’s history of Methodism in Antwerp and vicinity, originally printed in the Argus, Sept. 7, 1899. Lincoln, who came to Antwerp in 1842, recounts the circuit’s earliest appointments (at William Banks’ farm and the widow Murphy’s, both outside Antwerp), a list of the circuit-riding preachers from 1842 through 1871, the first society organized in Antwerp in November 1849 (ten members, including Lincoln and his wife), the 1855 division of the old Defiance Mission into the new Paulding Mission, and the 1859-60 construction of the first church building — funded partly by a $90 donation from the Ladies’ Sewing Society and built under contract by A.H. Boland for $600.

“Pioneer Letter — T.W. Lincoln, 1907” — a letter from T.W. Lincoln, then living in Long Beach, California, to the editor of the Bee Argus, recalling his father’s 1844 diary of early Carryall Township settlement along the Maumee — his parents’ marriage (Nov. 20, 1844), building a 16x20-foot round-log cabin, and a roster of the township’s first settlers.

“Early History of Paulding and Paulding County” — a short, unattributed summary covering George Marsh’s 1850 platting of the village of Paulding, its 1873 incorporation, the county’s 1820 formation from Northwestern Ohio Indian lands, the county-seat succession (New Rochester, 1839; Charloe, 1841; Paulding, 1852), and John Paulding’s role as one of Major André’s captors. This closely tracks material already covered in this archive’s unattributed county history typescript and the county engineer’s overview — though the exact year the seat moved to Paulding varies by source (this piece says 1852, the typescript says 1851, and other sources in this archive say 1850 or 1855); none is treated as authoritative here.

See the full PDF for all three pieces in full.