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PREFACE
AUTHENTIC written history supplies one of the chief wants of the highest civilization, and the
character and culture of the people of a nation are in no small degree measured by their published
records. Barbarians, living only in the present and guided alone by their traditions, remain in a
state of barbarism, unenlightened by the experience of their predecessors. The broken tablets of
Nineveh,—the uninterpreted inscriptions of the extinct populations of Yucatan,—even the vague,
cabalistic figures of the Dighton Rock are clues by which the authors of each are assigned their
proper place in the scale of intelligence.
Local history stimulates that just local pride which is a bond of sympathy in the smaller
communities,—the surest safeguard of liberty and the staunchest champion of right and justice.
Although it is but three-quarters of a century since the first pioneers raised their homely cabins in
the wilderness immediately west of the Alleghanies, that wilderness has already become a
garden, and in turn has sent many of its first-born—pioneer sons of pioneers—to lands still
nearer the "Father of Waters" and to the rich plains beyond.
It is the aim of the following pages to record the facts concerning the early settlement of that part
of the State of Ohio which was embraced within the limits of the County of Columbiana
immediately prior to the assignment of five of its townships to the county of Mahoning, in 1846,
and name in each township the principal settlers who began the work which has wrought so
wondrous a change in so short a period.
The first chapters are devoted to the general history of the County, and are introduced by such an
account of French and Spanish discoveries as was deemed of value in connection with that
history. Other general chapters treat of Indian Occupation, Land Titles, Geology of the County,
Organization of the County, of the Courts and County Buildings, Statistics, Political History,
County Civil List, followed by chapters on Education, Authors, Physicians, Societies, Sources of
Wealth, Internal Improvements, and conclude with the County's Military History, and a Roster of
the early militia and of the soldiers from Columbiana County who served in the late civil war.
Following the general history are the histories of the several townships, in which are given
accounts of the earliest pioneers, and, so far as obtainable, the history of each township's
organization, and a list of those who have served in its civil offices down to the present time. The
records in many cases are imperfect or have been destroyed, and the names of some of the civil
officers are wanting and could not be supplied from other sources. There are also given sketches
of church and other organizations, schools, manufacturing and mining interests, thoroughfares,
and much other matter of special local importance.
The histories of the five townships—Beaver, Goshen, Green, Smith, and Springfield—which
became a part of Mahoning County in 1846, are placed for convenience in a separate division of
the work.
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6 - PREFACE.
In the compilation of this history of the County of Columbiana valuable aid has been rendered by
many of its prominent citizens. Among those whose courteous assistance has been of especial
value are Hon. W. D. Henkle, Hon. J. K. Rukenbrod, of the Salem Republican, Messrs. E. T.
Rukenbrod and J. D. Fountain, of the Salem Era, Jacob Heaton, Mrs. Sarah Hiddleson, Col. T. C.
Boone, Capt. M. F. Edwards, and Capt. T. J. Walton, all of Salem ; and Messrs. John Frost,
Henry H. Gregg, H. W. Brown, of New Lisbon, and the several county officers, access to whose
records has been generously granted,—Hon. William G. Wells, Probate Judge ; William
Monaghan, Clerk of the Courts ; Stacy. Pettit, Auditor ; William G. Bentley, Treasurer ; James
Atchison, Recorder ; Jehu B. Strawn, Surveyor ; Gen. E. S. Holloway, of Columbiana, and Uriah
Thomas, of Middleton. Special aid was rendered by Mr. Frost, who furnished the sketch relating
to the "Manufacturing Industries" of Centre township, and valuable data used in the compilation
of other portions of its history.
H. M.
PHILADELPHIA, Sept. 1, 1879.
CONTENTS.
HISTORICAL
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