Andrew "Andy" Race / Reese

Andy Race first came to Wood County around 1797 with General Anthony Wayne's army. He was a staunch Wayne follower and believed that "Mad Anthony" could do anything not actually forbidden by the Omnipotent Power. When Wayne swooped down on the Maumee Indians in 1794, Colonel John Anderson, a British-Indian agent, had a trading post and a garden and corn field above Fort Miami. General Wayne's soldiers devoured Anderson's roasting ears and destroyed everything of his outside the fort. Andy used to say that Wayne would have stormed the fort, and destroyed that too, only he ran out of whiskey that morning. Andy was a scout and later served as a sharpshooter under General William Harrison at Fort Meigs during the Battle of Fallen Timbers when General Wayne and the Indians clashed at Turkey Foot. After the war, Andy returned to New York, but in 1810, some New Yorkers and Pennsylvanians came by boat from Buffalo, and the schooner landed them where Port Clinton, Ohio is, to take a look at the countryside and decide where to permanently settle. Andy Race, who was with them on his return journey to the area, joined with his brothers, Bob and Dave, to pilot the party through the heavily wooded, swampy terrain until they reached the banks for the Maumee River. At Orleans, they stopped because of the rapids. They built cabins and planted crops. In 1814, Andy's older brother, William, was killed by Indians when he and William's brother-in-law, John Carter, returned from Cleveland to check on their cabins. They had fled to Cleveland for safety during an uprising but returned too soon. The Carter family later sued the United States government for the loss of their cabins and possessions such as wheat, horses, hay, clothing and bedding, and standing corn.

Andy settled down in Middleton Township in Wood County to farm and raise his family. In 1830, he has living with him 2 males between 20 and 29, a female between 10 and 14, and a female between 15 and 19. He is listed there in 1839. His wife (supposedly Rebecca Carter) had died before 1830 and his four known children were Andrew Jr., Momina "Minnie", Mahala, and Henrietta. Two of his daughters, Mahala and Henrietta, attended school in Wood County. Andy remained in Middleton Township the rest of his life, dying there in 1857.

William Race Note: Birth date is taken from Census Record. DOD is from Beers

• Reference: Find A Grave Memorial - SmartCopy: Apr 3 2017, 19:53:02 UTC