Blanchard Township, Hancock County

How Blanchard Township, Hancock County began

Blanchard Township, in western Hancock County, was organized in 1833 and takes its name from the Blanchard River, which crosses it east to west and splits it into roughly equal halves. David Stinson and John Veal entered land there as early as August 1822, but the first actual settlers, John Hunter and John Chandler of Fairfield County, did not arrive until 1826, settling on the river's south side. The 1881 county history notes plainly that 'this locality, on account of the abundance of fish and game, was one of the resorts of the Indians on their hunting expeditions.' William Mires platted the village of Benton in November 1835, naming it for Missouri Senator Thomas Hart Benton; a second town, Louisville, founded in 1851, failed within a few years and was vacated. Today the township holds the village of Benton Ridge (the renamed Benton) in its southeast corner and remains farmland along the Blanchard.

Settled 1822 (first land entries, David Stinson and John Veal, August 12); 1826 (first actual settlers, John Hunter and John Chandler), platted 1835 (Benton, later Benton Ridge, by William Mires); 1851 (Louisville, later vacated), incorporated township organized 1833, by Hancock County commissioners.

Where the name comes from

The township is named for the Blanchard River, which the 1881 county history says 'passes through it from east to west, dividing it into two almost equal parts.'

Before the town

The 1881 county history states directly, of Blanchard Township, that 'this locality, on account of the abundance of fish and game, was one of the resorts of the Indians on their hunting expeditions' -- a general statement of seasonal use rather than a named village or documented site. No mound, earthwork, treaty reserve, or specific encounter within the township's boundaries is recorded in the sources checked. The township lies within the broad area ceded under the 1817 Treaty of the Maumee Rapids.

Timeline

1. 1822-08-12 — David Stinson and John Veal make the first documented land entries in what becomes Blanchard Township.
2. 1826 — John Hunter and John Chandler, of Fairfield County, become the township's first actual settlers, locating on the Blanchard River's south side.
3. 1828 — Richard, John, and Lewis Dukes of Franklin County and Thomas Grove of Pickaway County settle in the township.
4. 1830 — The township's first schoolhouse, a log cabin, is built; John C. Wickham teaches the first school.
5. 1833 — Blanchard Township is formally organized as original surveyed township number one north, range nine east.
6. 1835-11 — William Mires lays out the town of Benton, naming it for U.S. Senator Thomas Hart Benton of Missouri; the village later becomes Benton Ridge.
7. 1837 — A post office opens at Benton.
8. 1848 — A post office opens at Oak Ridge, in the township.
9. 1851 — The town of Louisville is established in the township; it fails within a few years and is vacated.
10. 1875 — Benton (Benton Ridge) is formally incorporated as a village.

Stories

A resort for fish and game, then a river of mills

Long before the county history's writers arrived, the land along the Blanchard River in what became Blanchard Township drew Native hunters for its fish and game, a use the 1881 history records in a single unelaborated sentence. Settlement came slowly after that: David Stinson and John Veal entered land in 1822, but the township's first real residents, John Hunter and John Chandler, did not build cabins on the river's south side until 1826. Once settlers did arrive, they turned the same river to different use, building saw mills along Ottawa Creek and clearing the township's poplar, oak, ash, hickory, sugar, beech, and walnut timber for lumber and farmland -- so thoroughly, the history notes, that by 1881 the once-abundant poplar 'has almost entirely disappeared.'

The senator's town that lived, and the town that didn't

In November 1835, William Mires platted a village in the township's southeast corner and named it Benton, in honor of Missouri's Thomas Hart Benton, then one of the most prominent men in the U.S. Senate. A post office followed in 1837, and the town grew steadily enough to incorporate in 1875, with 189 residents recorded by 1880; it survives today as Benton Ridge, its name lengthened at some point to avoid confusion with other Ohio towns named Benton. Louisville, platted elsewhere in the township in 1851, had no such luck: the 1881 county history describes it curtly as having had 'a sickly existence of a few years' before being 'finally vacated' -- one of several paper and near-paper towns scattered across Hancock County's early plat books that never became more than a name.

Local history sources: ohiogenealogyexpress.com · en.wikipedia.org · en.wikipedia.org · treaties.okstate.edu · en.wikipedia.org

Mostly private wells The water here

• Findlay City58% of residentsFindlay's two upground reservoirs, filled by pumping from the Blanchard River
• Northwestern W and SD - Mccomb37% of residentsRocky Ford Creek (via North Baltimore upground reservoirs)
• Rawson Village5% of residentsGroundwater wells (2 wells)

Who holds office

Roster as of 2026 edition (Directory of Officials): county board of elections.

Elections for office

Winners in bold. Results from the county board of elections' official canvass unless marked.

Auditor of State record

• No fiscal caution, watch or emergency on the Auditor of State's lists.
• Agreed Upon Procedures, 2024 to 2025, released 2026-09-01
• Agreed Upon Procedures, 2022 to 2023, released 2024-07-16

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