Spencer Township, Allen County

How Spencer Township, Allen County began

Spencer Township, in southwestern Allen County, was created in 1848 from the northeastern quarter of Salem Township and the eastern half of Jennings Township, both transferred from Van Wert County, plus two sections of Amanda Township. The 1885 county history says it was named for Col. Spencer of the State Board of Public Works, an ardent supporter of canal building. The Miami and Erie Canal, opened about 1844, brought the Dayton investors who founded Spencerville in 1844-46 on the upper and lower locks, ending the older settlement of Hartford. Lumbering, stave and lime making were the main industries. The township had 1,646 people in 1880 and 3,067 in 2020.

Settled 1825 (Salem Township settlement); no permanent settlement before 1833 in the township's present area, platted Spencerville 1844-46, incorporated 1848, by Ohio's 1848 organic act, which transferred territory from Van Wert County to Allen County.

Where the name comes from

The 1885 county history says the township name was bestowed in honor of Col. Spencer, a member of the State Board of Public Works in 1848 and an ardent supporter of canal building. Wikipedia says the village of Spencerville was named for William Spencer, a canal planner; the two accounts may refer to the same man but neither source says so.

Before the town

No mound, earthwork or village site specific to Spencer Township is recorded in the sources checked. The township lies in the Auglaize River country of southwestern Allen County, north of the Greenville treaty line, in the northwestern Ohio land ceded at Fort Meigs in 1817. The 1885 county history notes that Samuel Marshall and his son carried the mail from Piqua to Defiance in the early years and left settlers' letters at Fort Amanda in the adjoining township, a War of 1812 post. The Shawnee reservations at Wapakoneta and Hog Creek lay to the east and south and were ceded in 1831.

Nations recorded here: Shawnee, Ottawa.

Timeline

1. 1819 — Capt. Beardsley, U. S. Surveyor, surveys the future Salem Township; settlement begins there in 1825.
2. 1834-06-21 — Jennings Township, Van Wert County, is organized at Benjamin Griffin's house; the township's present area has no permanent settlement before 1833.
3. 1836 — Two Dr. Fultons practice medicine in the old village of Hartford, which ceases to exist once Spencerville is founded.
4. 1836-12 — Salem Township, Van Wert County, is established, organizing in January 1837 at Michael Tippe's house.
5. 1844 — The Miami and Erie Canal is opened to traffic through the area; about this year, Tyler, McConnell and Conover of Dayton buy 350 acres and build a mill at the upper lock.
6. 1845 — Spencerville is platted in 1845-46 by Conover, McConnell and Tyler at the lower lock (Wikipedia says 1844).
7. 1848 — Spencer Township is formed under the organic act from Salem and Jennings townships and sections 7 and 18 of Amanda; C. C. Marshall is its first justice.
8. 1851 — The first Methodist quarterly meeting is held at Hartford in August; Spencer Mission's official members assemble on August 1.
9. 1854 — The Acadia post office opens in the village.
10. 1858 — St. Patrick's Catholic church is formed by Rev. Patrick Henneberry; a log church 26 by 36 feet is consecrated in 1860 by Bishop Rappe.
11. 1867 — The Acadia post office and village take the name Spencerville.
12. 1876 — Father Brem completes the present St. Patrick's church, costing $1,100.
13. 1880 — Spencer Township has 1,646 residents, 532 of them in Spencerville; the ruling industry is lumbering, with lime burned in the northern districts.
14. 1881 — Spencerville voters approve building a town hall in April.
15. 1900 — Spencerville's population peaks at 1,874.
16. 2020 — Census population is 3,067 in the township and 2,198 in the village.

Stories

Dayton men at the locks

Spencerville exists because of the Miami and Erie Canal. The canal was opened for traffic in 1844, and about 1844-45 three Dayton investors, Tyler, McConnell and Conover, bought 350 acres at the upper lock and built a mill; they platted the village at the lower mill in 1845-46 and built a second mill in 1860-61. The older settlement of Hartford, where two Dr. Fultons had practiced medicine since 1836, ceased to exist as its people moved to the canal town. Dr. Campbell, who came in 1851 and wrote his reminiscences in 1880, listed the first town clerk, blacksmith, carpenter, hotel-keeper and storekeeper, all arriving between 1843 and 1847. The post office opened as Acadia in 1854 and took the name Spencerville only in 1867.

Lumber, staves and lime

In 1880 the ruling industry of Spencer Township was lumbering. The forests were still extensive and valuable enough to feed the lumber mills and stave factories of Spencerville, and in the northern districts the rock was good for burning, so lime-making became an important industry there; a few quarries also worked. The village had grown from 532 people in 1880 to 1,266 by 1890 and 1,874 by 1900, the peak recorded in Wikipedia's census table, as the Narrow Gauge railroad ran beside the canal.

Photographs

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

Mostly private wells The water here

• Spencerville Village86% of residentsGroundwater wells (3 wells)
• Delphos City14% of residentsLittle Auglaize River, stored in city reservoir

Bridges rated poor (1)

Public libraries (1)

Museums, historical societies, gardens and zoos (1)

Spills reported since 2021 (1)

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 2025-09-16

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