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Hello and welcome to Ohio folklore. I'm your host, Melissa Davies. Thanks for listening. In today's world, the COVID-19 epidemic has robbed us of so much. Some of us have lost out on travel, concerts and family gatherings. Some of us have lost our jobs. Get Worst of all, too many of us have lost loved ones. This pandemic is a once in a lifetime occurrence that we're all muddling through as best we can. Someday in the not so distant future, once the scourge has passed folktales about what it meant to live through it will spring forth. Someday, perhaps generations Hence, our descendants will spend stories about the deadly threat of an unseen virus and the struggle we had in confronting it. We're living those stories now. For a time at the start of the pandemic this past spring, large sporting events were among the first events to be canceled. And for quite a while it appeared as though our most revered athletic traditions would be lost. None of us knew whether we'd soon have the chance to sit among like minded fans and revel in the roar of the crowd. Like most everything this year, we had to wait and wonder what the fates would allow. The storied rivalry football match between the University of Michigan and the Ohio State University had become among those sporting events which had initially been canceled. The big 10 conference announced in August that the season would not go forward, effectively nixing the game, as it has come to be known. And yet, as the fates would have it, the decision would soon be reversed. Fans of both Ohio and Michigan were thrilled to discover that come December 12. That team from up north would once again travel into hostile territory. They keep heading southward. 180 miles, passing Finley Marion and Delaware before finally arriving at the shoe. OSU is fabled football stadium, named for its horseshoe shape. It's a football rivalry with the earliest of roots in the late 19th century. These celebrated matchups have drawn attention from football fans around the world. It's an unending competition that once had a 10 year war from the period of 1969 through 1978. Back then, Michigan's head coach Beauchesne Belcher would confront his own former coach, Woody Hayes, in successive contests for 10 years. The first four games would fall equally to each team, with the fifth contest ending in a tie. The next four games would again each fall equally to each team, the 10th and final contest the ultimate conflict and the 10 year war, would hell Michigan victorious It was late fall 1978 and bums from up north who shall not be named Best of the buckeyes 14 to three, the student had outwitted the master. This wasn't the first time Ohio and Michigan had fallen into war. Long before COVID-19 Long before automobiles rumbled along our highways and even long before standard indoor plumbing. Our young state found itself on the brink of armed aggression with the fledgling territory on our northern border. At stake was the growing port city of Toledo on Lake Aires western shore in the mouth of the Great Miami River, a valuable asset and commerce and natural resources. Michigan claimed US territory as her own, as did we I'm talking about the Toledo war. Now I'm guessing many of you have heard of the Toledo war, but I'm also guessing many of you have not as peculiar as it sounds long before concepts like touchdowns and grid irons even existed. We Ohioans took up arms against encroaching Michiganders. Like most Ohio folklore episodes, my research on the topic led me down some rabbit holes. It's easy to get lost in rich details contained in history books. Yet with a little patience more than my fair share of black coffee. I landed on one personality. A man who nearly single handedly stoked the flames of what would become an armed conflict to determine possession of our great State's most northwesterly corner. Benjamin Franklin Stickney, who was the namesake of his great uncle, Benjamin Franklin, the historical figure who needs no introduction. Beyond having a famous ancestor, Stickney would lead a life of intrigue, cunning, and self promotion that would end in war. Stickney is legendary in life, and specifically his role in the Toledo war. We're nearly lost to the ages. That is before one local man preserve this history and a book, Mr. Kenneth Dixon, a retired high school teacher from suburban Toledo, painstakingly research Stickney his life from his humble upbringing on a farm and roll New Hampshire to powerbroker and land speculator in the wilds of the Northwest Territory. His actions would lead to nation states to take arms against one another. His deeds would shape the boundary lines, which remain yet today, rendering to Leto and a strip of land directly west of it as the Ohio territory and all of the Upper Peninsula to Michigan. Come here, Kenneth story. My name is Ken Dixon. And I was a mathematics teacher at Boucher for a little over three decades. And history of the area was probably my first love. If you mentioned Benjamin Franklin Stickney, and even though there is a or was a Stickney school and Stickney Avenue and other things named after Benjamin Franklin Stickney, this was a five or six year investigation into why things happened the way they did, in Ohio, and Michigan, in Indiana, and the pivotal role that Stickney played in the development of this area, this region. And we can even go further to say that he opened up the entire Midwest, to the markets of New England. Just a fantastic guy. In some respects, this character is really unique in our history. And I'm sure that's part of what intrigued you once you got further into the story here about this man who had really unique talents, but then also, I don't know, is a bit of a shyster. It seems like from what I've been reading. Well, he was definitely interested in himself. He was probably one of his biggest promoters, does make you wonder how he became forgotten. And it also underscores the importance of your work and your research and the book that you've written to try to keep some of that memory alive. Yes, thank you very much for that. I started work on a history of Benjamin Franklin Stickney. And they said well, about how long and I said probably a year away, and they said, well, contact is when you get it done. They were talking about running X shirts, like they had done in the past. They did they ran X shirts, which plan was going to be three to five days. And they ended up running almost a month of excerpt from Benjamin Franklin Stickney, and when and when the blade did that, it just took the sales of that book, to around 15,000 copies. Unbelievable. Just unbelievable for that. And if you try to find one today, you can't. So the people that bought them, kept them. Well see, that's the thing because the one that I ordered the witches supposed to be here on Monday, I've got a notice that said it might have been lost in shipping. It must be a hard thing to come by. This is in demand. I get calls and emails for it all the time. Unbelievable. And the huge book market, for one have in good condition is around 200 bucks, goes to show that there's a real appetite for for this kind of history and the story behind it. What do you know about 50s? Maybe early life and if you can try to summarize the how he got to the Ohio area. Oh, yes. Well, he was born in Pembroke, New Hampshire. And believe it or not April Fool's Day 1773. His family, the Stickney family was politically very, very well connected. They knew all the movers and shakers of that time period. However, they were like a lot of other families. They were basically poor, and they were farmers. So sicne decides that this is not a life for him. And he goes to Washington City, which the course Washington DC, and he is accepted into Washington's society. He becomes a part of that. He has mentioned in several books about the various political families of the area. And he's mentioned, he decides that being broke is not a good way to live. So what he does is he decides that he's going to get money the old fashioned way. And that means he's going to marry it. He meets general Stark, John Stark, Revolutionary War fame. Stark has a daughter who's 27, the same age as Stickney. They hit it off. And they get married. Stickney just decides he's going to become a gentleman farmer. And with the general Starks money, he's going to be set for life. Well, Stark, general Stark has other ideas. He contacts his good friend, President James Madison, and says, basically write some a letter and said, You got to get this guy out of here. He needs a job. So he becomes postmaster of voe New Hampshire. During this time, this is now about 1810 1811. Things are going very well, for Stickney. Secretary of State James Monroe, sends him on a spy mission, just like can early CIA. And he sends him into Canada, because there is talk of going to war with Canada in the War of 1812, which was looming on the horizon. He's gone for six months. He is traveling through the area around Montreal, talking to the people, what are their thoughts? What are their attitudes towards nation states. And he comes back and submits his report is called on Canada. And he submits it, maybe 1812 Before the war breaks out. And he is of the opinion that the Canadians will not support a war of invasion. This won't. And that goes against a lot of the current thinking at the time. And turns out he was right. For this, he is appointed sub agent for Fort Wayne Stickney was a very, very hard person to get along with. He has no quarters. And he leaves his family behind with his father in law. And the first thing he has to do is build his own quarters. And Stickney he is traveling all over meeting the Indians learning the language learning, who the power brokers are amongst the Indians, very important, very important. And he runs into an Indian, a Miami Indian, by the name of John Baptist, Richard Cville. And John Baptist Richard Ville is the Jimmy Hoffa of the Teamsters, in 18, two by 1825, all the freight that is moved between the Maumee River and the Wabash River is done by him. If he doesn't move it, it doesn't move. Now, this is a Miami Indian, who is controlling all movement of freight between the two rivers. Trouble is that Stickney is anti liquor. He does not want liquor given to the Indians whatsoever, because he realizes they have no affinity for it. They have everything to get an extra rank. It is it is really shameful. What the early Indian traders did to the American Indians. He gets into trouble with John deputies ritzville Because he goes out and destroys a couple of back pieces taverns now Keep in mind a tavern at that time in the woods was nothing more than three or four boards set on top of the whiskey kegs. And they would line up and well, they would give away all their annuities. And anything they had to get a drink. Stephanie comes in absolutely destroys these liquor concessions. But John Baptist richer Ville was so powerful that he complained. And Stickney was almost fired over this whole destroying of his liquor. Sydney Cup comes back comes back to the fort, he is reinstated. However, there are other Indian agents that are profiting off of the sale of liquor. So he isn't very friendly with them. They're not very friendly with him. He comes back to the fort in the fort is left in charge of a couple of people, Lieutenant Turner is one of them. And Lieutenant Turner has decided that the Indians are going to attack the fort, take the fort and killing. And he does the only thing that he can think of to do is he gets drunk and stays drunk, particularly comes back finds the fort in total disarray. He basically saves the fort from Indian attack. It's just unbelievable. So that uprising, the War of 1812, the Indians being on their side might not have happened if he would have done that. He becomes very good friends with the Miami leader, little turtle as he was at Fort Wayne and had a lot of time. I mean, they weren't fighting all the time. And he traveled far and wide. And he noticed that in times of high water between the Wabash and the mommy, the difference between the mommy River in the Wabash River was sometimes just a matter of a couple of miles. And John back to Richard Ville, he realizes and even making money certainly took the longer view and said we can open up farm and we can open the markets of New York and New Hampshire and New England to all of this produce. The canals were the big thing. And he is pushing for a canal to go from Fort Wayne to Toledo. He's gathered all of the inhabitants are together and says our future lies with the eventual state of Michigan or the territory of Michigan. Because in Ohio, he would have to pay property taxes. And in the territory of Michigan, they're going to be considerably cheaper if they even exist. So that's why he became a justice of the peace for Michigan is financially motivated for his own benefit. Oh, yeah, taxes. Just like, you know, people, today they vote their wallet, that he basically voted his wallet. Well, when they ran the line, wait a minute, our future is not going to be with Michigan, it's going to be with Ohio. And when they run the next line, it's also in Ohio. And he is panicked. He has to convince everybody to get the Miami and Erie cow and the lavash canal to terminate in Toledo. He has to have Toledo, inside Ohio. Because if Michigan gets all of his property is not going to be worth the kind of money that he promised his land speculators to the wood because it won't be on the canal. That's correct. So what he does, he is friends with Andrew Jackson, who's president. And he said we need a political solution to this problem. Because if this thing goes to court, Michigan will win because the territory had the better argument. So what we need is a political solution. And he gets the Michiganders all fired up the end because they have what's called the boy governor. And it's Stevens T Mason. And he has a temper that won't quit. Governor Lucas of Ohio. He has several meetings with him and says, here's what we're going to do. And you are not to go any further than Perrysburg. And we're going to let Michigan and Mason invade this area cause all kinds of hell and that'll cause President Jackson to To make a decision in Ohio's favor. Politics, land grabbing men drunk with power bent on achieving their own goals. Benjamin Franklin Stickney was a kingpin among them is influenced like countless others toward a tribalism, that would one day breakout and armed aggression. As the plans for a canal stretching from Fort Wayne to Toledo were established, Stickney began purchasing plots along the route. Much of what he bought was located near the mouth of the mommy in present day to Leto. His political connections allowed for advanced knowledge, a kind of insider trading. land surveys had initially proclaimed the section in question as part of the Michigan Territory. Not yet a state land within the territory was exempt from property taxes. This advantage Stickney his own personal finances, he happily stoked passions among his neighbors that the disputed land indeed belong to Michigan. However, when the state of Ohio touted plans to seize the land for her own, Stickney had a change of heart, Ohio would lay claim to not only the land, but the wealth brought on by the canal being constructed along the Mami Stickney saw that the political winds had shifted. He would set his sails accordingly, leaving wreckage in his wake. beleaguered residents living in the Toledo Strip, as it would soon be dubbed, lived in a kind of chaos. Some claim to be Michiganders. Others claimed to be Ohioans, and the confusion reigned not just among the citizenry, but within the power structures. Both governments claim jurisdiction over the space to get a sense for what it must have felt like to live through this. I've summarized the story printed in the Democratic Free Press in Detroit, Michigan, and July 1835. The article was entitled outrageous in Toledo. Governor Stevens T Mason of the Michigan Territory, so called the boy governor for his tender age of 22 years, had issued a proclamation. Authorities from the state of Ohio had been pretending to have jurisdiction in the Toledo Strip, and he was having none of it. He was assembling a legislative council to determine the next steps. He had also sought intervention from the United States government in hopes of brokering a peace within the disputed region. Tensions continued rising and conflict was sure to break out at some point. Ohio's claims to the land were absurd. The Michigan Territory for her part, would not be bullied, and in a show of force, Governor Mason would send law enforcement officers into the region. On encountering residents who pledged fealty to Ohio. They were summarily rounded up, arrested and taken to jail in Monroe, Michigan. Some citizens who are already found guilty and penalized for crimes by the state of Ohio, even minor offenses face law enforcement officials from both regions. They were receiving fines and other penalties twice. On one occasion, one poor Toledo man, Mr. Jeremiah O'Dell, Jr. had been unable to pay his debts by rights, what meager possessions he had left became state's property, his assets would be liquidated and the proceeds turned over to his creditors. as unfortunate as the situation was, it became even more devastating when officers from both Ohio and the territory of Michigan showed up to begin auction proceedings. The crowd that had gathered with plans to bid on Adele's possessions now turned into an angry mob. Some sided with the Ohio officers, others with the officers from Michigan. By the time and Michigan officers started the bidding process on the first horse. A tavern keeper from Toledo, a Mr. JB Davis, struck down the Michigan officer with successive blows. In the melee. The mob took two looting the items gathered for bid. Men mounted horses on the auction block and took off. Others grabbed what objects they could carry. When the last item was carried off, for Jeremiah Odell Jr. was left penniless when nothing more than the shirt on his back. All this and his debts remained enraged at the lawless outcome, yet powerless to bring justice to a mob of people, the Ohio officers took matters into their own hands. They brought Adele's main creditor, a Michigander by the name of Mr. Henry Clark, before an Ohio magistrate. They're under threat of death by being drawn and quartered, Clark released O'Dell of his debts. Not surprisingly, the Michigan officers were outraged by these events and vowed that justice would be served. They had been able to identify a few of the individuals who partook in the looting and violence that day. One such individual was a man by the name of to Stickney you heard that right to as an TW Oh, two Stickney was the second son of Benjamin Franklin Stickney to his older brother was named one Stickney. Their father had claimed to name them one and two, in hopes that they might choose their own names on growing into adulthood. As it happens, the name stuck. In here is where our story takes a pivotal turn. Far beyond having a curious name to Stickney would stand at the center of the aggression between the states. The son of a warmongering father, too would become involved in the only known incident which shed blood and the growing conflict. After securing an arrest warrant, a Monroe County Deputy Sheriff by the name of Joseph Wood, was dispatched to Toledo in search of to Stickney. He was to arrest him and take him to the Monroe jail, where he would later stand before a Michigan magistrate to answer for his actions. The search was soon ended when the deputy found to Stickney in the very Tavern of JB Davis, the man who had first struck the Michigan officer. Now one might wonder as to why the warrant hadn't been issued for the tavern owner himself, since he had started the whole thing. It's believed that to Stickney was a bigger prize, the son of Benjamin Franklin Stickney, the man who'd been fanning the flames all along. Officials from Michigan had hoped the action would send a clear message to the warmonger and self promoter. Deputy would was unarmed purposely in hopes that he might foster a peaceful arrest on approaching to Stickney he announced that he had a warrant, while staring at the beer before him on the table to Stickney declared that unless the warrant had been issued by the State of Ohio, he would not answer it. The deputy would have to take him by force. Deputy would gently laid a hand on to Stickney shoulder and advised him that he was his prisoner, under due process of the law. With no hesitation to Stickney removed a large dirt knife from his breast pocket and made several efforts to plunge it into the deputy's body. His last attempt would sink the blade deep into the poor man's left side between his second and third ribs. On stabbing him he shouted their damn you you've got it now. To Stickney soon fled the scene, along with a group of other men in the tavern, who had also been part of the original mob. The accounts of these events were pieced together from written affidavits of those who had been present at the time. All believed that the deputy would die from his wound, it bled profusely before a doctor could be called to his side. On finally arriving, the doctor also proclaimed the wound fatal, and suggested that the poor deputy be allowed to drink himself into a stupor to blunt the pain and anxiety of his pending death. All were surprised none more than deputy would himself when he awoke the next morning, but the biggest hangover of his life and his wound, no longer bleeding. The deputy was ate at home back across the Michigan line with the stern warning to him and all his colleagues, Michiganders were to keep away from Toledo and the lands west of it, or Ohio officers would finish the job that two Stickney had begun. They would resist Michigan officers quote to the last drop of their blood. Ohio's Governor Lew Lucas for whom Lucas County was later named, issued a statement instructing all Ohioans to resist the authorities and laws of the Michigan Territory. He promised the full protection of his office for any Ohio citizen following these instructions. He also sent 600 armed troops to the area as an exclamation point to the statement. In response to these outrages as the Monroe County District Attorney saw it, he called upon Michigan's governor to begin assembling armed forces along the border outside the village of Monroe. Governor Mason was all too happy to oblige the district attorney's request. The governor himself made an appearance in Monroe to boost the troops morale as they readied for battle. He issued a proclamation offering a $500 reward for the apprehension and delivery of to Stickney into Michigan's hands. To Stickney for his part at the time had fled beyond the southern bank of the Maumee River. It would later be discovered that he and his cohorts had been hiding out in the cellar of one of his father's properties. Soon enough, a Michigan arrest warrant was also issued for the Father Himself. Throughout the rest of that summer of 1835. Members of the Michigan militia threatened and harassed ordinary citizens living within the disputed territory. Tensions continued rising, and without some kind of intervention putting an end to them, further blood was sure to be shared. The solution turned out to be a political one. Presidential politics to be exact. Ohio's electoral votes were at stake and future presidential elections. Any decision by President Andrew Jackson that was not favorable to Ohio would risk losing those electoral votes. In an effort to end the entire ordeal swiftly, President Jackson removed the boy Governor Mason from office, and on September 7 1835, Ohio's Governor Lucas assemble the 20 man armed guard. The group snuck into Toledo's downtown offices under the cover of night and convene the first Common Pleas Court of Lucas County under the state of Ohio's jurisdiction. The court appointed three men as commissioners of Lucas County before it journeying to JB Davis's tavern for a night of drinking and celebration. In an effort to ease remaining hostility from Michigan, President Jackson declared what is now the Upper Peninsula as Michigan Territory. It was a move made without consulting the territory of Wisconsin, which had assumed the Peninsula for her own. In the end, one could argue that Wisconsin, although never taking any side in the Toledo war, became the de facto loser of it. And one final epilogue to the whole story. Michigan would go on to win statehood in 1837. With the resource rich upper peninsula within her borders. One of the state's first acts would be to elect former Boy Governor Stephen T. Mason, the first official state governor. This was widely viewed as a rebuke to President Jackson steps to remove him from office years earlier. Ohio's Governor Lucas for his part, but leave the area altogether to take a post as the head of Indian Affairs and the growing territory of Iowa. This convoluted drama ridden piece of Ohio folklore is a story not known to most Ohioans. We tend to believe that bitter Ohio Michigan rivalry is known only to football. While those tensions have indeed existed for more than a century. It turns out that Ohioans and Michiganders have battled long before that. Those earlier politics built on issues of land ownership, control of resources and tribal identification remains yet today. You needn't look further than the 2020 presidential election, to find passions from those who claim to come from red states and blue states. These forces that tear at Americans from within are stronger than ever. Just where they'll lead us yet is undefined. But there's value in knowing the lessons of those who've gone before us. Some, like Benjamin Franklin Stickney were blessed with talents of foresight and political savvy. Others like his son To Stickney got wrapped in the passions of war and righteousness, He became a symbol of hatred for the other side. Still others, like boy, Governor Steven T. Mason, wrote the forces of goodwill which surfaced and got him reelected. But you know what? After considering all the players in this crazy saga, one player stands alone as the most noble and most virtuous. After long contemplation of these events, which could have resulted in needless deaths of ordinary citizens, I've identified one player that sacrificed when she didn't have to. This forfeit allowed the heated forces to cool and for fledgling state governments to get on with the business of governing. That player, the one we should all hold up for taking the high road is none other than Wisconsin. That's right. The then humbled territory of Wisconsin had the annals of history turned another way to Leto and lands do west of it, would it become part of the state of Michigan, and further, the Upper Peninsula would have remained in the territory of Wisconsin, as the fates would have it, the efforts of Benjamin Franklin Stickney, and like minded others, in furthering their own financial interests, ultimately resulted in the loss of the up taken from innocent Wisconsin. The Wisconsin territory would not become a state until 1848. The upper peninsula, which is naturally connected to it could have easily been disputed, as unfairly stolen by Michigan. The claim would have been no less spurious than the claims once made by Ohioans like Benjamin Franklin Stickney. And yet, Wisconsin owners of that time took a different view. They viewed American citizens living on their borders as just that American citizens, people who deserved to live in peace are members of a wider family of humans just trying to get through another day. This is the lesson to take from this legendary story of the Toledo war. It's sorely needed in our sharply divided times. If more of us acted like the Wisconsin owners of 1848 Perhaps we'd no greater peace. I'd like to think there's hope still, don't you? This concludes today's episode on the Toledo war. I hope you've liked it. If so, please consider writing a review on Apple podcasts. It helps people find the show. You can find Ohio folklore at Ohio folklore.com And on Facebook. And as always, keep wondering