Now for Number 2

The 2nd Most Embarrassing Moment of Ohio History is…

2.The Toledo-Michigan Border War

Toledo (1835). In 1835, a long-standing dispute between Ohio and the Michigan Territory over a section of Ohio’s poorly-drawn northern boundary boiled over, with both sides sending in militia. An attempted arrest in Toledo by the Monroe County, Michigan deputy sheriff of Two Stickney, whose brother’s name was One, resulted in the only blood shed in the conflict.  Two stabbed the deputy sheriff, causing a minor flesh wound. The conflict reached its apex of absurdity on September 7^th, when the newly minted Lucas County Court of Common Pleas – meeting in secret midnight session to prove Ohio’s jurisdiction – was routed by an imaginary force of Michigan militia. The court had retired to a local tavern to celebrate their success when word came of the approaching militia. In the resulting panic and retreat, the clerk of courts lost his hat containing the minutes of the meeting. The rumor proved to be unfounded, the papers were soon recovered, and by September 10^th, the “Toledo War” was over. In 1836, Congress gave the contested 450 square miles to Ohio, and as a compromise, gave the new state of Michigan 9,000 square miles of what is now the Upper Peninsula.

Portrait of Governor Robert Lucas from the collections of the Ohio Historical Society.

Further Reading:

The Toledo War.

Ohio History Central:  Toledo War.

Come back tomorrow for more from The Most Embarrassing Moments of Ohio History!

Number 10:  Ohio Antiquities are Treasured … in London

Number 9:  Rhodes’ Road to Canada

Number 8: Newark Board of Trade Finds a Curious Way to Save an Earthwork

Number 7:  Presidents and Generals First

Number 6:  Traitor Runs for Governor

Number 5:  No One Believes the Passenger Pigeon Will Go Extinct … Until it Does

Number 4:  Escape

Number 3:  Ohio Admited to the Union… in 1953

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