5if 



Franklin (Onniv \\a> the homo dl' the lu-aver, hulllro>js ol ininiense size croaked 

 ihroiigli tlu' I'arlv s|)rin>i- nmntlis wiiii notliinn' to distnrh their music except the 

 <|iiack of tin' wihl diuk and the s(iiiall of the goose. 15atii Township is on the 

 divido hetwi-en tlie White Water and Miami river systems. Part of the land is 

 drained bv the Miami and part liy the White Water river. The swamps were^ 

 caused by large quantities of iee Iteing left on the land to slowly melt, as it melted 

 the water was carried oH to the east, south and west, while a gre.at part of their 

 debris was left on the gmnnd which i)artially buried tiie ii-e, this iee slowly melted 

 and left large ponds of water all over tlu' township. 



As the soil carrie<l down by the iee was an im])i'rvious clay, the water could 

 not very easily escape except i)y eva[)oi-ation, when the snows and rains of winter 

 came they were again tilled to overtlowinn. 



They varied in size from a (piarter of an acre to a hundred or more acres. 

 As the settlers hecanie more and more numerous they were pushed nearer and 

 nearer the wet lands, as it was impossible to raise anything on this wet land the 

 settler i)egan to devise means to carry oti this surplus water. He succeeded until 

 there are only two or three swamps that have not yielded to his labor. Through- 

 out the wooded portion of the township are low places which collect the spring 

 rains and hohl the water far into the summer, but only one large swam]) remains, 

 that is known as the "big swamp.' It is about a mile long and one-fourtii of a 

 mile wide at its greatest width. It is now covered with a tangled growth of vines, 

 willows and soft maples. It was formerly covered with a coarse grass which grew 

 four or five feet high. Each year the farmers plow a little closer to it or put in 

 a new tile ditch so that they are gradually reclaiming some of the best farming 

 land in the county. This swamp in the spring of the year is a miniature lake, aft-ev 

 a heavy rain the water is often fotir feet deej) in places. It abounds in thousands 

 of frogs that can be heard on any mild day in winter. Around the edges chim- 

 ney crawfish rear their chimneys in great numbers. Wild ducks only occasionally 

 visit it, but snipe are common. 



This swamp was formerly the home of the beaver. To have an abundant 

 supply of water he built a daiu at each end of the swamp. As they exist to-day, 

 they are about seventy to eighty feet in length and four to five feet high. These- 

 beavers knew how to economise their labor, becau.se they built their dam at the 

 })oint where it would require the least work. The water runs out of this swamp 

 ill two directions. It is the source of Big ("edar creek that empties into the- 

 White Water, and the source of Sand creek which finds its way to the Miami 

 river. When it was the home of the l)eaver. the water was probably ten feet 

 deep. An open ditdi at the south dam i> ten feet below the surface; add to this. 



