Northwest Township, Williams County

How Northwest Township, Williams County began

Northwest Township, the northwestern corner of Ohio, was organized on December 7, 1840, the second youngest in the county, and is named for its position with Michigan on the north and Indiana on the west. Aaron Burr Goodwin, an educated surveyor, gunsmith and Indian trader, is generally called its first white resident, in a cabin near the Indiana and Michigan lines as early as 1837; he had a reputation for cheating the Indians and feared one named Big Jack. James Knight, a War of 1812 veteran and hunter, settled north of Nettle Lake with five sons in September 1837. The Hopewell Nettle Lake Mound Group, listed on the National Register in 1974, stands in the township.

Settled 1837, incorporated December 7, 1840, by Aaron Burr Goodwin and James Knight.

Where the name comes from

Named for containing the extreme northwestern point of Ohio; the only Northwest Township in the state.

Before the town

Northwest Township holds the county's most significant confirmed Native site: the Nettle Lake Mound Group, four low earthen mounds (1 to 3 feet high, 18 to 30 feet across) off County Road 4-75 west of Pioneer, overlooking a stream that feeds Nettle Lake. Old, incompletely recorded pot-hunting digs recovered pottery fragments, burials and flint artifacts identifying the mounds as the work of the Hopewell culture (roughly 100 BC to AD 500); they are counted among the most northerly Hopewell mounds documented anywhere in Ohio, and have been owned and managed by the Williams County Historical Society since 1965. The mound group was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on March 27, 1974. No historic-era (post-1700s) Native village, trail or leader's residence specific to the township is documented.

Nations recorded here: Hopewell culture.

• Nettle Lake Mound Group (mound) — off the east side of County Road 4-75, west of Pioneer, Northwest Township, Hopewell culture, roughly 100 BC-AD 500 (en.wikipedia.org)

Timeline

1. roughly 100 BC-AD 500 — Hopewell people build the four mounds later known as the Nettle Lake Mound Group.
2. 1817 — The Treaty of the Maumee Rapids carries Indian title to this corner of northwestern Ohio, including the future Northwest Township, to the United States.
3. 1835-1836 — The Toledo War settles, in Ohio's favor, which state Northwest Township and the rest of the county's northern tier belong to.
4. 1837 — Aaron Burr Goodwin, an educated surveyor and gunsmith and for years an Indian trader in Michigan, Indiana and Ohio, is in the township by this year, in a cabin about forty rods northwest of the Aldis Johnson farm near the state lines, where he trades powder, lead, tobacco and whisky to the Indians and mends their guns.
5. 1837 — In September James Knight, a professional hunter and War of 1812 veteran, settles with his sons Thomas, Philip, Samuel, James and Joshua in a log cabin about eighty rods north of Nettle Lake.
6. 1839 — In March the commissioners organize Bridgewater, to include the present Bridgewater and Northwest townships, and Superior out of old Florence Township.
7. 1840 — Northwest Township is organized on December 7, the second youngest in the county; a disagreement over the line with Bridgewater is the only change in boundaries since.
8. 1843 — Goodwin leaves the township after six to eight years' residence (so about 1843-45), going to Iowa or Illinois; the removal of the Indians westward had ended what Shinn calls the siege of his cabin.
9. 1866 — Samuel Cain moves from Florence Township to Northwest, where he dies.
10. 1896 — Thomas Knight, the elder son of James Knight and one of the most expert hunters and trappers in the township, dies; his best day at trapping, with a five-hundred-pound bear, netted $11.50.
11. 1965 — The Williams County Historical Society takes ownership and management of the Nettle Lake Mound Group.
12. 1974-03-27 — The Nettle Lake Mound Group is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

Stories

The Northernmost Mound Builders

Four low mounds sit on a rise overlooking a stream that feeds into Nettle Lake, in the far northwest corner of Ohio -- close enough to the state line that a traveler could walk to Michigan or Indiana within a couple of miles. They are unimpressive to look at, one to three feet high and no more than thirty feet across, built of reddish-brown sand over an older layer of darker sand and loam. What makes them remarkable is where they are: pottery fragments, burials and flint tools recovered from old, poorly documented digs identify them as the work of the Hopewell culture, the mound-building tradition better known for the great ceremonial earthworks of southern Ohio, and archaeologists count the Nettle Lake mounds among the northernmost Hopewell sites found anywhere in the state -- evidence that the Hopewell world reached further into the Great Black Swamp country than its grander monuments alone would suggest.

The trader in the corner of the state

Aaron Burr Goodwin is generally accorded the honor of being the first white resident of Northwest Township, and Shinn says a great deal of romance and mystery lingers about his life. He was educated, an excellent surveyor and for years an Indian trader in Michigan, Indiana and Ohio, with a violent temper and no scruples. His cabin stood about forty rods northwest of the Aldis Johnson farm near the Indiana and Michigan lines, where he mended Indian guns and kept powder, lead, tobacco, calico, whisky and trinkets. He took constant advantage of the Indians, Shinn writes, getting them drunk and fleecing them of their annuities and furs; tradition says he once shot an Indian found stealing potatoes, and on another occasion he cheated one named Big Jack out of an unusually fine bear skin, whereupon Big Jack, one of the most desperate and revengeful of his band, threatened to kill him at first chance. Goodwin scarcely dared leave his cabin at night. People said he was cowardly, but Shinn thought him prudent. The siege ended with the removal of the Indians westward, and after six to eight years in the township Goodwin went to Iowa or Illinois and was never heard of again.

Photographs

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

Mostly private wells The water here

• Montpelier Village57% of residentsGroundwater wells (4 wells)
• Edon Village35% of residentsGroundwater wells (2 wells)
• Aqua Ohio - Seneca7% of residentsGroundwater wells (2 wells)
• Williams Co/hillside Country Living2% of residentsGroundwater wells (2 wells)

Fire and EMS stations (1)

Public EV charging (1)

Spills reported since 2021 (8)

Who holds office

Roster as of 2026-07-06: county board of elections.

Money issues on the ballot since 2025: 2 of 2 passed.

Ballot issues

Auditor of State record

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

Cite this page