In the fall of 1821, Robert McKinnis, his sons Charles, James, Phillip, and John, and his son-in-law Jacob Poe traveled to Hancock County to establish its first settlement in the spring of 1822. As among the first white settlers in the area, Robert was able to choose his land and secured a deed to it on December 10, 1821. The property lay along the Blanchard River in Section 7 of Liberty Township, about six miles northwest of Findlay, Ohio, on the site of a Wyandot Indian village that had stood there until 1818, when the Wyandots left this portion of Ohio to the government. On the north bank of the Blanchard were 12 cleared acres that the Wyandots had long used as a burial site, and even after Hancock County was formed in 1820, they continued to come to the cemetery to bury their dead and visit, as the area was very sacred to them. The cleared 12-acre tract also contained a plum orchard planted by the Wyandots and later became known as Indian Green. Robert McKinnis likely chose the place for its river location, its 12 acres of cleared land, and its bountiful plum orchard, and he remained satisfied with the site while the Wyandots continued visiting the property regularly for many years.