HISTORY OF ADAMS COUNTY CHAPTER 1. OUTLINE SKETCH OF ADAMS COUNTY ADAMS COUNTY is one of the oldest in Ohio. It was formed July 10, 1797, by proclamation of Arthur St. Clair, Governor of the Northwest Territory. The elder Adams was then President of the United States, and St. Clair named the county in his honor. The civil organization of the county was effected Tuesday, September 12, 1797, at Manchester, the site of the first white settlement in the Virginia Reservation, and the third in Ohio. There were three counties organized in Ohio before Adams, namely : Washington, Hamilton, and Wayne. Adams County lies on the majestic Ohio, and borders Highland on the north, Scioto on the east, and Brown on the west. Pike joins at the northeast angle. The form of the county is rectangular, its longer sides being its eastern and western boundary lines, and it contains six hundred and twenty-five square miles of surface. The original boundaries of the county included the greater portion of the Virginia Reservation. On the hydrographic charts of the state, Adams County is classed in the Scioto Valley section, but it is properly designated an Ohio River county. Its system of drainage empties directly into the Ohio, except a small area in the northeastern part drained by Scioto Brush Creek, a tributary of the Scioto River. Few counties of the state surpass Adams in the number and size of its fine streams and creeks. The largest of these is Ohio Brush Creek, a magnificent stream that flows through the central portion of the county from the north and empties into the Ohio River. From the village of Newport at the junction of its west and east branches to its mouth at the Ohio, it traverses a distance of nearly forty miles, and for the greater portion of its course attains the magnitude of a small river. In the days of the old iron furnaces their products were transported a portion, of the year in barges from "Old Forge Dam" to the Ohio. A system of slackwater navigation on Ohio Brush Creek was at one time contemplated by the state when the iron furnaces were in operation there. In an article in the WESTERN PIONEER George Sample states that in 18o6, he loaded two flat boats with flour at his residence on Ohio Brush Creek and took. them from there to New Orleans. Hundreds of rafts of logs used to be floated from the vicinity of the Sproull bridge during good stages of water, while the lower course of the creek could be used almost the entire year. Next in size and importance to Ohio Brush Creek is the West Fork, really the parent stream, which takes its source near Bernard in Eagle (3) 4 - HISTORY OF ADAMS COUNTY Township, Brown County, and flows southeasterly, entering Adams County at the northwest, crossing Winchester and Scott Townships and uniting with the East Fork at the village of Newport on the western border of Meigs Township. It receives from the north the waters of Little West Fork which drains the northern part of Winchester, Township ; and Buck Run and Georges Creek which drain Scott Township. From the southwest it receives Elk Run on the western border of Scott, and Cherry Fork, a fine stream that drains Wayne and the western portion of Oliver Township. The East Fork takes its source at the junction of the "Three Forks," Baker's, Middle and West, in the northern portion of Bratton Township. It is a beautiful stream nearly or quite as large as the West Fork, but differing from it in that its channel is cut in the {flinty limestone while the former is furrowed deep in the blue limestone. It flows from the northeast across Bratton Township and the northwestern portion of Meigs, and unites with West Fork at the village of Newport. Its principal tributary from the' east is Crooked Creek which rises in Franklin Township, while from the west it receives the waters of Little East Fork, the source of which is in the eastern portion of Scott Township. Scioto Brush Creek, the waters of which drain the eastern portion of the county, is a fine stream and one of the most picturesque; It rises in Jefferson Township near the center, flows north and then east entering Scioto County and thence the Scioto River near Rushtown, a few miles north of Portsmouth. The principal tributary of Scioto Brush Creek in Adams County is Blue Creek which rises on the border of Greene Township within six miles of the Ohio River and flows north receiving the waters of Churn Creek near Blue Creek postoffice in Jefferson Township. Near this point it unites with Burley's Run and forms Scioto Brush Creek. Turkey Creek rises near Steam Furnace in Meigs Township, flows southeast and unites with Scioto Brush Creek in Jefferson Township, near Wamsleyville. The North Fork of Scioto Brush Creek rises in Franklin Township, flows southeast receiving the waters of Cedar Fork and unites with Scioto Brush Creek in Scioto County. Lower Twin Creek rises on the southern border of Jefferson Township and flows south into the Ohio River near Rockville. Stout's Run is a small stream that rises in the hills of Jefferson Township and enters the Ohio at the village of Rome in Greene township. The west central portion of Adams County is drained by the East Fork of Eagle Creek which rises near West Union and flows southwest receiving from the north Hill's Fork and from the south Kite's Fork, in Liberty Township, and thence crosses the Brown County line and unites with the West Fork of Eagle Creek at Stevenson's Mill in Byrd Township. Big Three Mile and Little Three Mile each rise in Sprigg Township and flow southwest into the Ohio River. Lick Fork of Ohio Brush Creek rises near West Union and flows northeast uniting with the latter near Dunkinsville. Beasley's Fork has its source near that of Lick Fork, courses to the southeast across Monroe Township and enters Ohio Brush Creek. The surface of Adams County is diversified. In the west central and northwest it is flat or gently undulating. In the central and northern portions it is more broken, the hills are more lofty, their tops being gently OUTLINE SKETCH OF ADAMS COUNTY - 5 rounded or spread out in broad table lands. In the east the surface is very broken, there are high ridges and lofty hills, with many knobs reaching an elevation of a thousand feet, and some nearly fourteen hundred feet above the sea level, as for instance, Peach Mountain in the southeast corner :of Meigs Township and Greenbriar in Jefferson Township. On the top of the former is a large farm in a fine state of cultivation. In the south bordering the Ohio River is a range of beautiful hills, some almost attaining the altitude of mountains, affording a stretch of scenery far more beautiful and picturesque than any view along the highlands of the Hudson. The valley of. Ohio Brush Creek far surpasses in beauty, and equals in fertility of soil that of either the Miami or Scioto, while along its principal tributaries are some of the finest farms in the state. Along Scioto Brush Creek and its tributaries, the valleys are deep and narrow but very fertile ; and the neat farms with comfortable homes nestling under the shadow of the emerald-capped hills, present a most delightful picture of rural life. Being in the sandstone region the water of the streams is soft and very clear, appearing in the deeper pools to be a deep azure blue. The lands of Adams County, from an agricultural stand, are generally considered poor by those unfamiliar with its soils. But this impression is erroneous. While there is some poor or unproductive soil throughout the county, and especially in the hilly portions, yet there is a very great deal of good lands in every section. In pioneer days the eastern part of the county lying within the Waverly sandstone section was considered as of no value except for the timber and tanbark it afforded ; and the scattered inhabitants were spoken of as a "vagrant class" of "coon hunters and bark peelers" by an early historian of the state, whose statements are copied by many of the succeeding writers of Ohio history down to the present time; just as some geographers yet place the old town of Alexandria at the mouth of the Scioto on their maps. But today this section contains many fine farms. The valley lands are rich, and many of the hillsides produce goods crops of hay and corn, while some of them grow crops of fine white burley tobacco. In fact this is the tobacco section of the county. And the inhabitants instead of being a vagrant class of "coon hunters" are generally an industrious, intelligent and prosperous people. It is true, ignorance and poverty exist there, as is all communities. The western portion of the county, including all of Winchester Township and a portion of Scott, Wayne, Liberty and Sprigg, lies within the blue limestone belt and the soil is fairly productive of crops of wheat, oats, corn, and in the valleys, tobacco ; and the entire section when properly cared for produces excellent crops of timothy and clover hay. Some of the most productive farms of the county are on the uplands in the cliff limestone section in the south central part of the county, while the coves in Tiffin, Monroe, Wayne and Scott Townships have long been celebrated for their productiveness. The central portion of Adams County with its numerous streams and never failing springs affords the finest grazing lands in southern Ohio, and the sheep and cattle industry is the chief source of wealth in this section. The thickly grown virgin forest that once clothed the county contained a great variety of the most valuable timber. In the west there were extensive tracts of level lands heavily timbered with the finest specimens of hickory, white oak, beech and white maple. Recently a 6 - HISTORY OP ADAMS COUNTY white oak tree was felled in Liberty Township, which measured over seven feet across the stump. In the southwest and along the Ohio River grew ' the largest specimens of buckeye, red oak, black walnut, red elm and black maple. In the cliff limestone region, especially about West Union in Tiffin Township and on Gift Ridge in Monroe Township, grew the gigantic yellow poplar, and the largest specimens of black maple, with areas interspersed with hickory, white oak, ash and black walnut. Along the waters of the West Fork of Ohio Brush Creek and its tributaries were forests of black maple, red oak, dogwood, and in the coves and rich loams, the largest growths of wild cherry and black walnut, while in the bottoms on the borders of the streams grew enormous sycamores with their whitened trunks resembling columns of Carrara marble. On the hillsides and ridges in the section east of Ohio Brush Creek and extending to the Waverly sandstone region of Scioto Brush Creek were forests of white oak, chestnut oak, black oak, chestnut, spruce and cedar. The eastern section on the hills and knobs grew spruce, cedar and chestnut; and in the coves and valleys beech, maple, oak and yellow poplar. There were many specimens of yellow poplar in this region that measured over eight feet in diameter. On the farm of Finley Wamsley near the Wamsleyville bridge over Scioto Brush Creek was a yellow poplar tree which measured ten feet in diameter. When felled and cut into eighteen-inch stove wood it made thirty-eight cords, which would equal thirteen cords of wood of one hundred and twenty-eight solid feet to the cord. On the farm of Phillip Kratzer on Johnson's Run in Jefferson Township, stood an. oak tree which measured nearly seven feet in diameter and made three thousand staves. A sycamore at the mouth of Cedar Run on the farm of William Moore was large enough to drive a horse into and turn it around within it. Adams County has the best and most extensive system of macadamized roads of any county in Ohio. The beginning of this system was the old road known as the Maysville and Zanesville Turnpike constructed in the period of internal improvements by the States. President Jackson vetoed a bill providing for the construction of this road by the general government in 1830. Afterwards the state of Ohio committed itself to a system of internal improvements of its highways, under the provisions of which the construction of the Maysville and Zanesville turnpike was undertaken. The company was incorporated by act of the Legislature and the county subscribed one-half of the capital stock. It was a toll road and for many years paid large dividends to the stockholders. The length of the part completed in Adams County was about thirteen miles, beginning at the Brown County line and ending at the residence of the late Doddridge Darlinton in West Union. John Leonard, of West Union, who came from Belgium to Adams County in 1837 and Michael Warloumount, who then kept a small store at Bradyville, completed the first mile of this road in 1838, beginning at the lower end of Bradyville and extending through the village toward Bentonville. The next three miles were built by John Brotherton ; the next two miles by James and Peter McKee, beginning near Union Church; the next two miles by Hugh Clarke; and the next two by a Mr. Allison. John Schwallie built the first two miles below Bradyville, and Michael Dietz the next mile ending at the Brown County line. Abraham Hollingsworth was superintendent of construction, and OUTLINE SKETCH OF ADAMS COUNTY - 7 John Sparks treasurer of the company. The contractors were paid in county scrip, consisting of small bills about the size of the "Lincoln shinplasters," in denominations of one, two, three, five and ten dollars. These bore six per cent. interest. The road was purchased by the county about twenty-five years ago and made a free turnpike. From the close of the Civil War to the present time there have been over three hundred miles of macadamized roads constructed in the county; and the present system of free pikes reaches every hamlet, village and town from its center at West Union to the remotest parts of the county. This system of roads has done more than any other agency to develop the resources of the county, and to add. to the wealth and prosperity of the people. In connection with this system of roads and as a part of it there have been constructed hundreds of bridges across the numerous creeks and streams, affording safe passage over them at all seasons of the year. Many of these are wholly of iron and steel and are models of the best ideas of American bridge work. Of the natural resources of the county its timber is fast becoming depleted. The portable saw-mill has hastened the destruction of the finest forests in every section of the county. The iron industries on Brush Creek have long since been abandoned, and there is no prospect of their revival under existing conditions. But the county has millions of dollars of wealth in the ledges of building and paving stone not surpassed in durability and beauty in any of the quarries of the world. With cheap transportation which will eventually be provided, the products of these quarries will become the source of untold wealth to the county. The population of the county is largely descendant from two principal sources : the Virginia pioneers, and the Scotch-Irish who came at a later period. There is a small German element whose ancestors came about 1850. In religion each of these elements is Protestant, the first two very largely of the Presbyterian faith. There never has been but one Catholic Church in the county and that is now abandoned for lack of membership. Population of Adams County. The following table shows the population of the county at the periods stated :