The existence of the Seager Tavern is well documented as one of the 30 taverns built along the 31 miles of the Maumee and Western Reserve Pike (now State Rte. 20) between Fremont (then known as Lower Sandusky) and Perrysburg, Ohio, known by pioneers as part of the Black Swamp.
Daniel Seager, born 1777 in Simsbury, Connecticut, had married Catherine Lounsbury in Duchess County, New York. After living many years near Pompey, New York and a brief time in Geauga County, Ohio, they came with five of their six adult children to settle in Woodville Twp., Sandusky County, Ohio in 1833.
It was a time of "westward" expansion. Improved lands in the east were often priced beyond the reach of young families. Northwest Ohio provided one of the last places in the state of Ohio where virgin land could still be purchased from the federal government. Many times, sons and daughters brought their elderly parents with them.
On April 3, 1833, shortly after his arrival, Daniel purchased tract #101, bordering on the south side of the pike in section 35 of Woodville Twp. It contained 118 acres. Daniel contracted to pay the federally regulated price of $1.25 per acre in four annual payments. It was here that Daniel and his family built their tavern. Like most of the other taverns along the pike, it no doubt served the family as their home as well. A short time later, he purchased another parcel consisting of 85 acres. This lay just south of the tavern property.
Accommodations at most of the taverns along the pike were primitive at best. Every pioneer family faced the awesome task of clearing land for crops. But those who settled in the midst of the Black Swamp had the additional burden of draining their fields. Only a few acres could be transformed into productivity each year. More than 1/3 of those who settled left within a year. But the hardy souls of the Black Swamp, such as the Seager family, were determined to take advantage of the income from the unbroken stream of "movers" slowly slogging their way westward through the pike's mudholes.
If enough shot and powder were available, families could provide meals of racoon, opossum, turkey, and deer - all plentiful in the swamp. Small grain crops produced feed for the oxen and horses. Warm fires and the ever-present whiskey jug made the mud, cold, and backbreaking misery nearly bearable. At dusk, the taverns filled up quickly. Every available inch of space would be filled with exhausted families wrapped in mud-caked, damp blankets. Many were forced to sleep in their wagons or beside campfires.
Daniel was nearing 60 years of age on his arrival. Most of the labor was necessarily done by his children - Charles, Thomas, Elizabeth, Mary, and Catherine. Charles, was born in Pompey, New York in 1811 and educated at its academy. A widower, he brought his young daughter, Martha Jane, to the swamp with him.
During this time the population of Woodville Twp. continued to grow as a few optimistic pioneers decided to try their luck in the swamp. When Woodville built its first schoolhouse in 1836, the township trustees hired Catherine Seager to be its first teacher. This position often went to young men, but Catherine, still single at the age of twenty-three, had been educated in the east and was well qualified for the position. By 1842, when Daniel died at the age of 65, all of his children except Catherine had married. It's probable the tavern continued in operation a few more years. Improvement had been made on the pike in 1840, decreasing the tavern business immensely.
Some miles west of the Seager tavern was that owned by Thomas and Harriet (Cochran) Miller who had married in 1826. The tavern was located where the Portage River crossed the pike (now Woodville, Ohio). The couple has lost two babies. A plot of land had been set aside by C. B. Collins as a burial ground. Thomas and Harriet buried their babies there and when Thomas passed away in 1828, he too, was interred in the same cemetery.
In 1835, Charles Seager married Thomas' strong-willed widow. They had one child, Charles L., born in 1837. The couple ran her tavern as well as assisting the Seager family with their lands and tavern. In 1837, Charles and Harriet sold the Miller tavern. Two years later, Charles bought from the heirs of Henry Weaver the tavern known as the "Sugar Creek House. " The tract, which was bisected by Sugar Creek, lay on the north side of the pike and contained nearly 143 acres. The couple also bought land and settled on a farm in Ballville Twp., Sandusky County.
In the Lower Sandusky Whig in 1839 Charles advertised "for rent Sugar Creek House 13 miles west of Lower Sandusky. Attached to this tavern stand is a farm containing nearly 150 acres, 50 tillable, very productive. Terms: rent payable quarterly in advance."
In addition, Charles and Harriet began buying up the interests in Daniel's estate. These plans were cut short when Charles died in 1844. Harriet buried him in the cemetery near her first husband.
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Harriet Seager
Sandusky County History, 1882 |
As Daniel's estate hung in limbo, no doubt Thomas Seager managed the Seager tavern and property. But with Thomas' death four years later, and the waning traffic along the pike the tavern business most certainly came to an end.
Daniel's widow, Catherine, and his unmarried daughter remained on the land. John McBride, relative of neighboring tavern owner Michael McBride, lived with them and farmed the property. This provided an income until the settlement of Daniel and Charles' estates. Barthol Hurrelbrink had purchased part of the Seager estate, but within a matter of months Michael McBride had gained title to the entire property. Catherine, almost 70 years of age, with her dower interest in Daniel's estate, returned to New York to an easier less primitive way of life.
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| Charles Seager Grave |
The great grandson of Charles Seager recalls the family history that when the Oakwood Cemetery was opened in Fremont, Ohio, Charles' widow Harriet Cochran Seager was determined to have her husband's body removed from the early Woodville Cemetery near Sugar Creek. Her son refused to take part in this expedition. Harriet then hitched her wagon and hired two men to help her remove Charles' body from the cemetery along the pike. He was then reinterred in the new Oakwood Cemetery in Fremont, Ohio.
