Monroe Township, Henry County

How Monroe Township, Henry County began

Monroe Township, in Henry County's southeast, was detached from Harrison Township and organized as its own civil township in 1850, part of the county's 'Big Woods' that supported hunters and trappers well into the nineteenth century. The narrow-gauge Toledo, Delphos and Burlington Railroad (later the standard-gauge 'Clover Leaf' route), built through the township in the 1880s, brought its real growth and gave rise to its three hamlets: Ellery (also called Herrtown), Grelleton (Grelton), shared with three neighboring townships, and Malinta, platted by John Bensing in 1880 and the township's principal village.

Settled by 1851 (Samuel E. Edwards, author of 'The Ohio Hunter,' among the first taxpayers), platted Malinta platted September 21, 1880, by John Bensing, incorporated organized as a separate township in 1850, detached from Harrison, by Henry County; Malinta by John Bensing.

Where the name comes from

The reason for the name Monroe Township is not recorded; it is commonly assumed across Ohio's many Monroe Townships to honor President James Monroe, but this is not confirmed for Henry County's township.

Before the town

No Native village, mound or treaty site specific to Monroe Township is documented. The 1888 county history describes the township, prior to its 1850 organization and railroad-era settlement, as part of the county's 'Big Woods' -- prime hunting ground that, in the historian's words, 'destroyed a large part of the happy hunting ground of the sportsman' as it was cleared, a phrase referring to white hunters and trappers of the mid-nineteenth century rather than to any documented Native occupation of the township itself.

Timeline

1. 1850 — Monroe Township is organized as a separate civil township, detached from Harrison.
2. 1851 — The township's tax duplicate lists seven chattel taxpayers, including Samuel E. Edwards, author of 'The Ohio Hunter,' on 14,463 acres of land.
3. 1860 — Monroe Township has 352 people.
4. 1870 — The township's population reaches 658.
5. 1880-09-21 — John Bensing records the first plat of Malinta, twenty lots on the north side of the new narrow-gauge railroad.
6. 1880 — A post office opens at Grelton, at the corner where Monroe meets Harrison, Damascus and Richfield; the hamlet's school, stores and mills follow.
7. 1880 — The township's population reaches 1,148, and the narrow-gauge Toledo, Delphos and Burlington Railroad has brought healthy growth after years as 'a stunted child.'
8. 1881-01-29 — Peter Ritter plats the hamlet of Herrtown, whose post office name, Ellery, becomes the accepted local name.
9. 1881-03-23 — Eli C. Clay lays out the first addition to the hamlet of Grelleton, at the point where Harrison, Damascus, Richfield and Monroe townships meet.
10. 1881 — A post office named Elery opens at Herrtown; it stays open until 1907.
11. 1884-05-10 — Eli C. Clay platts a second addition of thirteen lots to Grelleton, recorded December 27, 1884.
12. 1887 — The railroad is widened to standard gauge and becomes the Clover Leaf; the township has nine school districts and five churches, and Grelleton has 300 to 350 people, two dry goods stores, a saw-mill, hoop and stave factories and a depot.
13. 2020 — The census counts 1,083 people in Monroe Township.

Stories

Three hamlets on the Clover Leaf

Before the railroad era, Monroe Township was still mostly the 'Big Woods,' its handful of taxpayers in 1851 -- among them Samuel E. Edwards, who had written a book called 'The Ohio Hunter' -- living scattered across barely 14,000 taxed acres. The narrow-gauge Toledo, Delphos and Burlington line, built diagonally across the township in the early 1880s and soon upgraded to standard gauge as the 'Clover Leaf' route, changed that almost overnight, giving rise to three separate hamlets within a few years of each other: Ellery (known on the plat books as Herrtown), a small station with a store; Grelleton, shared with three neighboring townships and equipped with a saw-mill, hoop factory and stave factory; and Malinta, platted by John Bensing in September 1880, which grew into the township's principal village with four general stores, two hardware stores, a tile and brick factory and its own Lutheran and United Brethren churches within less than a decade.

A stunted child cut out of the Big Woods

Monroe Township was another corner of the 'Big Woods,' organized in 1850 when the 1851 tax duplicate showed only seven chattel taxpayers on 14,463 acres, all valued at $22,268. Early settlers included Samuel E. Edwards, who wrote The Ohio Hunter, John Bensing and the Rev. Williamson Barnhill. For years the township was in the county historian's words a stunted child, and only the narrow-gauge railroad, completed about 1880, started its growth: the population went from 658 in 1870 to 1,148 in 1880. By 1887 three-fourths of the land was cultivated, Turkey Foot Creek and its tributaries had been deepened, and the 22,960 acres taxed that year were valued at $233,210.

Photographs

Local history sources: archive.org · archive.org · en.wikipedia.org · commons.wikimedia.org · commons.wikimedia.org · postalhistory.com

Mostly private wells The water here

• Napoleon City24% of residentsMaumee River (with Wauseon reservoirs as backup/blend storage)
• Holgate Village23% of residentsGroundwater wells (4 wells)
• Hamler Village22% of residentsGroundwater wells (2 wells)
• Malinta Village22% of residentsMaumee River (with Wauseon reservoirs as backup/blend storage)
• Deshler Village7% of residentsGroundwater wells (2 wells)
• Northwestern W and SD - Sr 1081% of residentsMaumee River (with Wauseon reservoirs as backup/blend storage)
• Florida Village1% of residentsMaumee River (with Wauseon reservoirs as backup/blend storage)
• Northwestern W and SD - Co. Rd P0% of residentsMaumee River (with Wauseon reservoirs as backup/blend storage)

Bridges rated poor (1)

Museums, historical societies, gardens and zoos (1)

Superfund sites (1)

Who holds office

Roster as of 2026-09-17: 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, 2023 to 2024, released 2025-07-31

Cite this page