History Of Bay View, Ohio

After the Revolutionary War the State of Connecticut donated a 500,000 acre tract of land, to be taken from the western end of what was known as the “Reserve,” to those who lost land at the hands of the British. Since the losses were caused by fires, the land given was justly named The Firelands. The present counties of Erie, Huron, the township of Ruggles in Ashland County, and Danbury in Ottawa County comprised this area.

The land, however, was not truly Connecticut’s to give. Indians lived on these lands. It is not clear when Indians first inhabited this area, but it is widely felt that Mound Builders lived here in pre-historic times. As long ago as the middle of the 17th century the Erie Tribe occupied northern Ohio. After the destruction of the Erie Nation, no one Indian tribe was more prevalent than another. Many tribes such as the Iroquois, Miami’s, Delawares, Ottawa, Chippewas, Senecas, and the Wyandots hunted these grounds.

In January of 1785 a treaty was concluded with four of the tribes the Wyandots, Delawares, Chippewas, and Ottawas. There was much dissatisfaction and uprisings were common. The Indians and settlers were at war for years until the treaty of 1805 when the Indian title to the remaining portion of lands of the Reserve was obtained by purchase.

As it took some thirty years to make treaties, settle claims, allot the lands, and draw up deeds, many of the original claimants were dead or too old to travel so the land was deeded to their descendants. Gradually the Firelands was settled and the names for the settlements reflected the towns from where they originally had come – Greenwich, New London, Ridgefield, Groton, Norwalk and Danbury.

The first pioneer known to settle in Margaretta Township came from Vermont in the Spring of 1810. His name was Docartus Snow and he built a grist-mill and log house at the head of Cold Creek.

The early name for this township had been Patterson. It was named for Hugh Patterson, a British Indian Trader, who did not get along with the Wyandot Tribe during his stay here. Local settlers and the Indian chief petitioned the Govemor in Detroit for his removal. Those living here did not want to retain the name of the man they despised so they asked a Major Frederick Falley, who owned options on much of the land to suggest a new name. He suggested that the township be named after his mother, sister, and several nieces. Thus, it was named Margaretta in the summer of 1812.

For nearly thirty years the settlers struggled to make a living. They built cabins, raised and hunted their own food, made utensils, furniture, and clothing. In making the wilderness their homes, the pioneers had no precedent to follow except that left by the Indians. They used the Indian trails to lay out roads which often led to springs and former Indian villages.

Agriculture was thriving but the settlers could not get their produce to market. The opening of the Erie Canal in 1825 allowed area farmers to ship their wares East as well as obtain manufactured goods and supplies on return trips. The opening of this canal system had great impact on the growth of the area.

At the time of the early land dealings, Margaretta Township was a part of Huron County and all land deeds were filed there. It was not until 1834 that steps were taken to separate and form a new county. This was accomplished in 1838 and Erie County was established.

Richard Martin migrated to this area in the early 1800s from New York when there were only a few log cabins. He owned and farmed the land of Margaretta Township now known as Bay View. In fact, Bay View was formerly named Martin’s Point after this early settler. Richard Martin was the grandfather of Christopher Quick Martin who was bom in a log cabin in Bay View (Martin’s Point) in 1859 and lived all of his years here. His son Edward was one of the Erie County Commissioners who supported the first steps for a bridge to cross Sandusky Bay. In a newspaper article in the Sandusky Star Journal, Christopher Martin reminisced of his childhood days. “I’ve often heard my grandfather say that he remembered well when Sandusky was a community of seven log huts, in one of which there was a sort of a trading station. And I recall my father’s having told me of how about 500 Indians used to live on the banks of Mills Creek and of how he used to play with the Indian children. I remember, too, of hearing Father tell how, “one moming he went out and shot and dressed 3 deer while his wife – my mother – was getting breakfast.” Descendants of the Martin family still reside in the Venice area, between Bay View and Sandusky.