Patterson Township, Darke County

How Patterson Township, Darke County began

Patterson Township, in Darke County's northeast corner, was cut from the north end of Wayne Township in 1841 and is the only Patterson Township in Ohio. Isaac Finkbone made the first clearing in 1827 on Sections 32-33 of this late-settled, heavily timbered country, and in June 1794 General Anthony Wayne's army camped in its southeast corner within two miles of the Native army that Little Turtle urged to attack by night. Annie Oakley was born on her parents' farm here in 1860, near the hamlet of Woodland (later Willowdell); the township has no railroad, two villages (Osgood and Yorkshire) and 1,452 people in 2020.

Settled 1827, incorporated 1841 (township formed from northern Wayne Township), by Isaac Finkbone (first settler, Sections 32-33); Philip Pitzenberger squatted nearby.

Where the name comes from

The 1880 county history says the township took its name from James Patterson, an early settler: his father James Patterson Sr. entered eighty acres in Section 28 southeast of Woodland, and James the son, a constable and later long-time justice, is described as 'him who gave his name to the section'. It is the only Patterson Township in Ohio.

Before the town

The 1880 county history places a pivotal moment of the Northwest Indian War inside this township. In June 1794, three nights after marching north from Fort Greene Ville toward Fort Loramie and St. Marys, General Anthony Wayne's army of about 3,000 camped in what the history calls the southeastern part of Patterson Township, while the main body of the Native confederacy lay barely two miles off on the banks of Black Swamp Creek in the same township. At a council in the Native camp, attended in disguise by Major Adams, who was serving in Wayne's army, Little Turtle (of the Miami, Myaamia) urged an attack before morning; the Crane (Tarhe), head chief of the Wyandot, the Shawnee and Potawatomi chiefs and other leaders voted him down, preferring to fight Wayne farther from his base and nearer the British fort on the Maumee, though the history says the real reason was distrust of Little Turtle after the previous autumn at Fort Recovery. The township's north line also carried the Treaty of Greenville line (Fort Recovery to Fort Loramie) as the Darke County boundary until 1848, when part of the township went to Mercer County and the county line ceased to match the treaty line. Fort Loramie lay close to the township's northeast. No mound or village site is named in the sources consulted.

Nations recorded here: Miami (Myaamia), Wyandot, Shawnee, Potawatomi.

• Wayne's June 1794 camp and Black Swamp Creek council (camp) — southeastern part of Patterson Township; Native army camped about two miles away on Black Swamp Creek, June 1794, on the march to the Maumee before Fallen Timbers (archive.org)
• Treaty of Greenville boundary line (treaty) — former north boundary of Darke County and of Patterson Township, from Fort Recovery to Fort Loramie, until the 1848 transfer of land to Mercer County, 1795-1848 (archive.org)

Timeline

1. 1794-06 — General Anthony Wayne's army of about 3,000 camps in the southeast of what is now Patterson Township three nights out from Fort Greene Ville, with the Native confederacy camped two miles away on Black Swamp Creek; at a night council Little Turtle's call for an immediate attack is rejected.
2. 1827 — Isaac Finkbone makes the first settlement, on Sections 32-33, and Philip Pitzenberger builds a cabin and squats nearby, clearing a few acres.
3. 1834 — William Russel, from North Carolina by way of Piqua, settles on 40 acres of Section 28 (in 1834 or 1835); Thomas Mendenhall of Miami County follows in 1835 or 1836 near the northwest corner.
4. 1841 — Patterson Township is organized, the only township of that name in Ohio.
5. 1841 — Patterson Township is formed from northern Wayne Township; a log schoolhouse is built on Section 32 soon afterward, with A. L. Wilson as first teacher.
6. 1848 — Part of the township is transferred to Mercer County and four sections to Wabash Township, and the Darke County line ceases to follow the Treaty of Greenville line.
7. 1850 — Patterson Township's population is 319, only about twenty of them over age twenty unable to read or write; by 1870 it is 978.
8. 1857 — A post office named Woodland opens, closing in 1867; Woodland was laid out in 1859, and Joseph Vanky opened a grocery there soon afterward.
9. 1860 — Phoebe Ann Mosey (Annie Oakley) is born on August 13 in a log cabin less than two miles northwest of Woodland, on the Patterson Township farm to which her parents had moved about 1855.
10. 1865 — The Lutheran church at Woodland is built; the Pine Church (Christian) had been erected in 1863 two and a half miles north on the Berlin pike.
11. 1870-03 — Annie Oakley, aged nine, and her sister are admitted to the Darke County Infirmary on March 15 after the death of their father, Jacob Mosey.
12. 1876 — The Patrons of Husbandry (Grange) organizes in Patterson Township with about forty members; W. W. Richardson is first Master.
13. 1879 — The Willow Dell post office opens at Woodland with John C. Schilling postmaster; it is discontinued in 1905.
14. 1880 — The township has seven school districts (six frame houses, one brick), three churches, no railroad, and storekeepers J. C. Shilling and F. P. Hawk.
15. 2020 — Patterson Township has 1,452 residents in the 2020 census; Osgood lies in its northwest and Yorkshire in its west.

Stories

Annie Oakley's township

Phoebe Ann Mosey, the future Annie Oakley, was born August 13, 1860, in a log cabin less than two miles northwest of Woodland, on the Patterson Township farm to which her Quaker parents had moved about 1855. Her father Jacob became ill after a blizzard in late 1865 and died of pneumonia the next year, leaving the family poor. She was trapping before she was seven and hunting by eight, selling game to local shopkeepers, and on March 15, 1870, she and her sister Sarah Ellen were admitted to the Darke County Infirmary. A local family then took her in on a false promise of wages and schooling; she called them 'the wolves' and endured about two years of abuse before running away and returning to her mother. By about fifteen her game sales had paid off the mortgage on her mother's farm, and the skill built on this township's farmland and woodlots took her to Cincinnati and eventually to Buffalo Bill's Wild West show.

A night council on Black Swamp Creek

The 1880 county history tells that in June 1794, three nights after leaving Fort Greene Ville with about 3,000 men for Loramie and St. Marys, General Wayne's army camped in what is now southeastern Patterson Township. Barely two miles away, on the banks of Black Swamp Creek, the main body of the Native army lay in its own camp. That night a council was held there, and Major Adams, an officer in Wayne's army who had been wounded and recovered years before, sat among the chiefs disguised in full paint and dress. Little Turtle urged an attack before morning, but the Wyandot head chief the Crane, the Shawnee and Potawatomi chiefs and others voted against it, saying they wanted Wayne farther from Fort Greene Ville and nearer their friends and the British fort on the Maumee. The historian wrote that the real reason was their distrust of Little Turtle after the previous autumn at Fort Recovery.

The case of the book with the torn-out pages

The first lawsuit in Patterson Township, tried before Justice William Kuldish, was Isaac Finkbone, the first settler, against Reason R. Millet over a book account Millet had kept for him. In the book every leaf containing credits in Finkbone's favor had disappeared. Constable James Patterson served the papers, and Finkbone's attorney James Brandon won the case on good legal ground, though the county history remarks that his client was morally in the wrong. The Millet family had become obnoxious to the neighborhood; it is said their house was destroyed and they themselves finally disappeared from the area. The case is noted as the first time anyone in the neighborhood resorted to a legal tribunal.

Local history sources: en.wikipedia.org · en.wikipedia.org · en.wikipedia.org · archive.org · en.wikipedia.org

Mostly private wells The water here

• Versailles Village100% of residentsGroundwater wells (14 wells)

Spills reported since 2021 (1)

Money issues on the ballot since 2020: 1 of 1 passed.

Ballot issues

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.
• Basic Audit, 2022 to 2023, released 2024-11-07

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