PART II SCIOTO COUNTY CHAPTER I COUNTY FOUNDATIONS SAMUEL MARSHALL AND HIS RIVALS-LEGISLATION AFFECTING THE SCIOTO VALLEY-SCIOTO COUNTY CREATED--THE FOUR PIONEER TOWNSHIPS -DEVELOPMENT OF THE PRESENT COUNTY-THE IMPORTANCE OF JUDGE COLLINS-FIRST COUNTY OFFICERS-STEPHEN CAREY, OF THE RUN-JOSEPH FEURTH-MOSES FUQUA AND CYNTHIA COLLINS-PUBLIC ESTIMATE OF THE ASSOCIATE JUDGES-FIERCE GUARDIAN OF THE PEACE-JUDGE SAMUEL REED--PORTSMOUTH RISING AS A COUNTY SEAT CLAIMANT-FIRST SCHOOLS-DAVID GHARKY- BUILDING OF THE FIRST COURT HOUSE- WHIPPINGS IN THE FIRST AND SECOND JAILS-THE SECOND AND LAST COURT HOUSE-THE 1882 ADDITION-THE THIRD AND FOURTH JAILS-THE COUNTY INFIRMARY-CHILDREN'S HOME OF SCIOTO COUNTY--JUDICIAL CHANGES- THE COUNTY OFFICES -CHRONOLOGICAL CREATION OF TOWNSHIPS- COUNTY POPULATION, 1810-30—TOWNSHIP POPULATION, 1840-80- POPULATION BY TOWNSHIPS, 1890-1910—PROPERTY VALUE AND TAXATION, 1814-1914—FINANCIAL DETAILS FOR 1914-CONTRIBUTIONS TO THE COUNTY'S PROGRESS-IRON ORE DEPOSITS--FINE GRAINED SAND- ROCK- SCIOTO RIVER NAVIGATION-SCIOTO RIVER BRIDGES—A GREAT RAILROAD BRIDGE IN THE BUILDING-PIKES AND GOOD ROADS. In the chapter devoted to the early history of the lower Scioto Val-ley, mention has been made of the undoubted presence of French fur traders at the mouth of the river during the middle of the eighteenth century ; also of the fact that the first name of a visitor to that part of the Hanging Rock Iron Region, which has been recorded in history, was George Croghan, the widely known trader and deputy Indian agent; who rested there for a few days in May, 1765, while on a friendly visit to the western tribes. Then in 1785 occurred that spasmodic effort of the four Pennsylvania families to effect a settlement in that locality, with the fatal Indian attack which drove them from the ground bereft of two of the four men venturing into those wilds. SAMUEL MARSHALL AND HIS RIVALS Positive settlement was not effected within the present limits of Scioto County until 1796, in all probability. Samuel Marshall, another Penn- - 103 - 104 - HANGING ROCK IRON REGION sylvanian, is acknowledged to have built his cabin and installed his family therein, during the spring of that year. The only ones who have been pushed forward by local historians to befog his claim as the pioneer of Scioto County are his son-in-law, Thomas MacDonald, who had married one of his &lighters while Marshall waited at Manchester for a few months, until Wayne could perfect his treaty with the Indians and make the occupants of lands in the Scioto Valley fairly safe. MacDonald was the brother of a famous scout, and quite a backwoodsman himself, and, although his father-in-law erected his cabin in February, he himself may have thrown together a shack shortly before then; but there is no direct evidence to that effect, although it is known that soon after Marshall settled with his family he left the neighborhood and, with his young wife, located near Chillicothe.' Also one Hezekiah Meritt, on his way to Chillicothe, built a tem-porary cabin near the present site of Lucasville and put in a little patch of corn ; bit he stayed there only long enough to gather his modest crop and then passed up the river to his destination. It is not claimed that Meritt. made that temporary stay previous to 1796. James Keyes, in his "Pioneers of Scioto County," thus disposes of the MacDonald and Meritt claims: "Another man claiming to be the pioneer not only of Scioto county, but of the whole Scioto valley, Hezekiah Meritt, says that he raised the first crop of corn in the Scioto valley. By his own statement he was on his way to Chillicothe, but hearing that the Indians were yet -troublesome in that neighborhood concluded to stop and wait awhile before going up there. Accordingly he stopped in the neighbor-hood of Lucasville, threw up a temporary cabin, and planted a small patch of corn. This was in 1796 ; he then went on toward Chillicothe. If this constitutes a pioneer of Scioto county, then he was one. "A great many people passed through this county on their way to a higher point on the Scioto, long before' the country was settled, and perhaps some of theta might have stopped awhile ; but if they did not remain and settle permanently in the county, we cannot recognize them as pioneers. We have not the least doubt but that Mr. MacDonald and Mr. Meritt both stopped in this county, as they claimed, but as they went on farther and we lost all knowledge of them, we cannot admit that they were the pioneers of Scioto county." Neither do Maj. John Belli and his claim at the mouth of Turkey Creek dim the lustre of Samuel Marshall's firmly planted household at the mouth of the Scioto. Again Mr. Keyes comes forward : " The friends of Major Belli claim that he built the first house in Scioto county. We will examine his claims a little. There is documentary evidence to prove that he purchased a thousand acres of land at the mouth of Turkey creek in the year 1795 ; and there is traditionary evi-dence that he employed a man by the name of MacBride to go on the land and build a house, clear the land and plant orchards, and make all the improvements necessary on a new farm. Exactly at what time Mr. MacBride got on the land and commenced work does not appear, but as the land was purchased in Philadelphia in 1795, it is not probable HANGING ROCK IRON REGION - 105 that work was commenced before the next year, and by that time Marshall, Lindsey and others were coming in. "Jesse Marshall, who came here with his father's family in February, 1796, and who was eleven years old by that time and helped his father to build the cabin, told me about seven years ago (he was then nearly eighty years of age) that there was not another house of any description on the bank of the river on either side between Gallipolis and Manchester. Mr. Marshall moved up from Manchester at the time above indicated, and if there had been any house either at Turkey creek or Alexandria, he would have known it and would not have made the declaration that he did. "Major Belli is entitled to great credit as one of the pioneers of Scioto county, but he was a single man and was engaged in the business of settling up with the War Department after the treaty of peace with the Indians at Granville in 1795. So that it is not precisely known at what time he came to the county to reside." The next settlers to follow Samuel Marshall as permanent residents of Scioto County were the French colonists who commenced to occupy their grant in the extreme southeastern sections in 1797. This inter-esting colonization by a unique people has already been described, and if the reader is unfamiliar with the event and the actors he is referred to Chapter IV, of this work, entitled " The Scioto Land Company and the French Grant." LEGISLATION AFFECTING THE SCIOTO VALLEY In November, 1802, the convention met at Chillicothe ,which framed the first state constitution of Ohio. Besides framing the constitution by which Ohio became a unit of the Union, the convention performed another high duty. The act of Congress providing for the admission of the new state into the Union offered certain propositions to the people through their accredited representatives in convention assembled. They were (first) that section 16 in every township, or where that section had been disposed of, other contiguous and equivalent lands, should be granted to the inhabitants for the use of schools ; (second) that thirty-eight sections of lands where salt springs had been found—of which one township was situated on the Scioto, one section on the Muskingum and one section in the United States military tract—should be granted by the state, never to be sold or leased for a longer time than ten years ; and (third) that one-twentieth of the proceeds of public lands sold within the state should be applied to the construction of roads from the Atlantic to and through the same. These propositions were offered on the con-dition that the convention should provide by ordinance that all lands sold by the United States after June 30, 1802, should be exempt from taxation by the state for five years after sale. As the convention thus provided, the propositions were made binding. The first general assembly under the state constitution met at Chilli-cothe on the 1st of March, 1803, and among other measures passed acts 106 - HANGING ROCK IRON REGION creating the counties of Gallia, Scioto, Franklin, Columbiana, Butler, Warren, Greene and Montgomery. SCIOTO COUNTY CREATED The act to establish the County of Scioto, passed on the 24th of March, 1803, reads as follows : "1. Be it enadted, etc., That all that tradt of country comprehended in the following boundaries be, a,nd the same is, hereby erected into a county by the nam.e of Scioto, to-wit : Beginning on the Ohio, one mile on a straight End below the mouth of the Lower Twin Creek ; thence north to Ross county line ; thence east with said county line' to the line of Washington county ; thence south with said line to the Ohio; thence with the Ohio to the place of beginning. "2. That all actions, suits and prosecutions now pending in the county of Adams shall be determined in the said court; and that all fines, forfeitures and public dues, which have incurred to or which are due and owing to the county of Adams, shall be collected by the sheriff or collector of said county, in the same manner as though no division had taken place. "3. That until a permanent seat of justice shall be fixed in the county of Scioto, by commissioners for that purpose, Alexandria shall be the temporary seat of justice, and courts held at the house of John -Collins. "4. That this act shall take effect and be in force from and after the first day of May next." THE FOUR PIONEER TOWNSHIPS At the first session of the Commissioners' Court for the new county, held May 10, 1803, at the house of John Collins in the Town of Alex-andria, four townships were' created, with bounds as follows : "Beginning on the, Ohio at the county line ; thence up the mouth of the same to Carey's Run ; thence with the same to the dividing ridge ; thence with . the said ridge to the county line ; thence with the same to the beginning—which boundaries shall compose Nile township, and elections for the same shall be held at the house of John Thompson." Union Township began at the mouth of Carey's Run on the Ohio ; thence up the same to the mouth of the Little Scioto ; thence up the same to include "old Mr. Monroe's ;" thence westwardly to the 12-mile tree on the Big Scioto; thence westwardly until it strikes the dividing ridge between the waters of Brush and Bear creeks, with the same including all the. waters of Brush Creek, to the county line ; thence with the same to the dividing. ridge between the waters of the Ohio and Brush Creek; thence with the same to the head of Carey's Run, down the same to the beginning. Elections for the same to be held at the house of William Lucas, Jr. Upper Township, described as follows: "Beginning at the mouth HANGING ROCK IRON REGION - 107 of the Little Scioto ; thence p the Ohio to the county line; thence with said line to the Ross county line ; thence to opposite the main branch of the Little Scioto; down the same' to the point of beginning; and the elections shall be held at the house of Peter Reeshaws." Seal Township : "Beginning on the Ross county line opposite the head of the main branch of the Little Scioto, with said line to the west corner of Scioto county ; thence south to the dividing ridge and Brush and Camp creeks; thence with the same to include the waters of ipamp and Bear creeks to the twelve-mile tree on the Scioto ; thence eastwardly to the main fork of the Little Scioto, half a mile south of old William Monroe's; thence p the same to the beginning. Elections for the same shall be held at the house of Old Mr. Downing." DEVELOPMENT OF THE PRESENT COUNTY These townships, comprising the county of 1803, had as their eastern boundary a line drawn from the southeast corner of the French Grant to the present north line of Scioto Township, Pike County; north limits the line dividing the southernmost two tiers of townships in that county ; and the Western boundary as at present. In 1804 that part of Gallia County west of the seventeenth range of townships was annexed to Scioto, the territory thus added being sub-stantially what would now include the townships of Upper, Hamilton, Elizabeth, Decatur and Washington, Lawrence County ; and Jefferson and Franklin townships, Jackson County. The County of Lawrence was erected in December, 1815, and by supplementary acts of 1818 and 1826 small portions of its territory were attached to Scioto, County, which thereby attained its present area and form. THE IMPORTANCE OF JUDGE COLLINS On the 9th of August, 1803, at the house of John Collins, Alexandria, was held the first meeting of the Court of Common Pleas of Scioto County. Hon. Wylliss Silliman was the presiding judge, and Joseph Lucas, John Collins and Thomas W. Swinney acted as associate judges. The court received the report of the county commissioners, David Selby and John Chenoweth, appointed to fix the seat of justice, which was Alexandria, and the "court house" was for a long time the tavern of Judge Collins, who was the first of the three associate judges to be appointed, the first hotel-keeper in the county and, as he kept a grocery store, one of the first merchants, if not the pioneer of all the business men. Both the County Commissioners' Court and the Common Pleas Court were held at his house, or tavern. FIRST COUNTY OFFICERS William Russell served as Scioto County's first clerk and recorder ; James Munn, coroner, and Robert Lucas, surveyor. 108 - HANGING ROCK IRON REGION In 1805 there was a slight change in the Court of Common Pleas. During that year Judge Robert F. Slaughter was appointed presiding judge and Samuel Reed associate, in place of Thomas W. Swinney ; the other associates remained in office. STEPHEN CAREY, OF THE RUN The surveying of the land which became the townsite of Alexandria, in 1787 ; the laying out of the town by Major Belli, representing Alex-ander Parker, of Virginia, and the general rise and decline of Scioto County's first shire town have already been narrated. It appears that previous to that platting Stephen Carey, Stephen Smith, John Collins and Joseph Feurth had settled on the Parker tract at the mouth of the Scioto. Messrs. Carey and Feurth both settled on the Run at about the same time in 1796, and for some time that stream was designated by either name ; but finally Carey carried the day. Stephen Carey was a man of intelligence and standing, started the first tannery in the county and was the foreman of the first grand jury called at Judge Collins' tavern in 1803. His son, William Carey, was elected sheriff in 1824. JOSEPH FEURTH Various shreds of evidence patched together indicate that Mr. Feurth was exploring the Ohio Valley for a location before the French and Indian war, and that he lived at Maysville some time previous to the 1795 treaty. In the latter part of 1796 he stopped at the mouth of the Scioto and remained there long enough to divide the honors with Mr. Carey in the naming of Carey's Run. However, he did not stop long at Alexandria, but located a farm on Bear Creek, where he passed the remainder of his days. Mr. Feurth served as one of the pioneer justices of the peace. But of these original settlers on the site of Alexandria, John Collins proved to be the one of most force and persistence and remained with the town as long as there was anything tangible there. When he landed at the mouth of the Scioto in the fall of 1796, with his wife and several children, he was on his way to Chillicothe, which had been recently platted and quite extensively advertised.. But Mr. Collins saw that his stopping-place possessed trade advantages and at once erected several buildings for a tavern, grocery and a commission and forwarding house. He had the misfortune to lose his wife by death soon after locating, and his sixteen-year-old daughter, Cynthia, capably and faithfully assumed the duties of housekeeper. MOSES FUQUA AND CYNTHIA COLLINS While Cynthia, Collins was thus engaged, Moses Fuqua, son of a rich Virginia planter, came to Kentucky in quest of fertile lands, made HANGING ROCK IRON REGION - 109 a selection above Tygart's Creek and, as there were no living accommodations in that locality, crossed the Ohio and put up at the Collins tavern. He promptly fell in love with- the young housekeeper, but the father could not spare her then, he said. So the wealthy young Virginian waited several years and then married her. By that time the Fuqua family had moved from Virginia with the household slaves and settled on the new plantation on the banks f Tygart's Creek, and thither the young cople moved. There Mrs. Fuqua had negroes to wait upon her and became the honored mother f ten daughters and one son. PUBLIC ESTIMATE OF THE ASSOCIATE JUDGES For years Judge Collins was the mainstay of Alexandria, and men-tally and physically he was able to carry the burden. Although generally respected, as one f the three associate judges his dignity was not upheld by all the citizens ; as the assistants appeared to have nothing to do and never said anything, it was always a mystery to the villagers what they were in the courtroom for. A little incident occurred while Judge Collins was on the bench which was an indication of public opinion with regard to those judges. There was an eccentric old gentleman named Charles Stratton, who was a man f keen observation and very fond of making comical remarks upon whatever was taking place in his presence. He would have his , jokes no matter at whose expense they might be. He was in the court-room one day when there was nothing doing of a legal nature. He got up and 'addressed the court, saying, "We have a thousand judges holding court here today." Everyone knew there was some joke, so he was asked, "How is that, Mr. Stratton'? Please to explain." "Well," says he, "the arithmetic teaches us that one and three noughts stand for a thousand. -So, said he, pointing at the presiding judge, "you are one, and," pointing to the three associates, "there are the three noughts. According to the rules of arithmetic you are just a thousand, and figures can't lie." They had a good laugh at the expense' of the judges and let it pass. FIERCE GUARDIAN OF THE PEACE Judge Collins was a very stout man and able to take care of himself in any crowd. Fighting was a common. practice in those days, and the Legislature passed. laws for its sppression at quite an early period. Every civil officer. was. sworn to keep the peace. But keeping the peace was a very vague term, and some hardly knew what it meant or what they had to do in ease f a row. One time during a session of court a fight took place in the presence f Judge Collins. One of the combatants was Nathan Glover, a very- large, stout man. As soon as the fight commenced Collins thought it was his duty as judge to stop it. So he ran to where they were fighting, exclaiming at every breath, "I com-mand the peace! I command the peace, Nathan!" . As soon as he got 110 - HANGING ROCK IRON REGION within reach he gave Glover a few well-directed blows, which settled him and soon restored peace, which it was his duty to do, even if he had to whip the whole crowd. When Alexandria went down Judge Collins retired to a farm and spent the remainder f his days in the peaceful pursuits of agriculture. He retained his seat on the-bench until he became quite an old man. To be more accurate, he served until 1832, when he was seventy-eight years of age. He died in that year, one of the comforts of his last days being that he had lived to vote for Andrew Jackson, whom he greatly admired. Judge Collins was a Virginian, an active democrat and a strict Methodist. He was buried in Carey's Run Cemetery. JUDGE SAMUEL REED Samuel Reed, a bright, holiest young man of- mechanical training and keen as well as sound business judgment, "was- appointed an associate judge of the Common Pleas Court, in 1804, the year after his coming to Alexandria. He thus served until 1810, and as a resident of Pike County held the same office from 1817 to 1835 and from 1842 to 1847. Although a carpenter by trade, his life in the two counties named was spent as a farmer, a business man, a public official and a good citizen. It is related that Judge Reed was a very strong temperance man. When he moved to Piketon, it was the general custom to furnish whiskey to the harvesters, but Judge Reed said he would not give liquor to his men. His neighbors said he could not get workmen if he did not. He replied that he would let his grain rot in the field before he would give whiskey to his harvesters. So all his neighbors who were temperance men came to his rescue and harvested. his grain for him. His determination is said to have broken up the custom in his neighborhood, at least ; and his action was an illustration of his moral strength of character. Judge Reed died in 1852, and is buried in the old cemetery at Piketon. He was married four times, the last time when he was seventy-eight years of age. One f his ten children by his second wife was William Reed, who became the father of Samuel Reed, the widely known banker of Portsmouth and identified with the preparation of this history. PORTSMOUTH RISING AS A COUNTY SEAT CLAIMANT Portsmouth evinced its first sturdy signs of life in 1805, when its . plat was rearranged and Henry Massie commenced to really push its claims to be selected as the county seat. In July, 1807, he donated forty-eight lots to the county for the express purpose of erecting a courthouse, jail and other suitable buildings for public use. In 1809 Mr. Massie gave Jot 31 as the site for a courthouse, and "for no other purpose." FIRST SCHOOLS Thomas Parker, the founder of Alexandria, also gave liberally to the actual county seat, for school and other purposes. In August, 1807, HANGING ROCK IRON REGION - 111 he donated lot 86 toward the erection f a schoolhouse, having previously given other sites for educational purposes. As early as 1800 a school was taught in a log cabin, the site for which was donated by Mr. Parker. A school was taught in the French Grant during 1804. The first school west of the Scioto River in the county, excepting those at Alexan-dria, was a subscription affair in Rush Township, to which pupils came for three or four miles around. DAVID GHARKY Mr. Massie continued to faithfully promote the. fortunes of Portsmouth, making liberal offers to the citizens of Alexandria to abandon it in favor of the higher, dryer and more energetic town fathered by him. David Gharky, a hard-working and intelligent carpenter and builder, and a citizen of public standing as well, transferred his allegiance to Portsmouth in 1814 and was a strong accession to its business and civic life. He had already accumulated some, property and served Union Township as assessor and justice of the peace. When he moved to Ports-mouth he sold out all his holdings in the waning town of Alexandria, and thereafter for many years assisted in the progress of the new county seat, both as an expert builder and a, county official. In 1814, when he became a citizen of Portsmouth, he bought a lot on the bank of the Scioto and established a ferry ; although one had been in operation at Alexandria for several years, this was the first ferry across the Scioto at Portsmouth. Gharky also built a large shop for cabinet-making, and while the brick courthouse was being built by John Young in 1815-16, the Court of Common Pleas and Court f County Commissioners often met in his cabinet shop. Mr. Gharky was elected a member of the first Common Council of Portsmouth, which was incorporated as a city in 1815; was auditor of Scioto County from 1820 to 1830 and treasurer from 1834 to 1836. He had spent the four years from 1830 to 1834 in Muncietown, Indiana, in and near which he had extensively invested in land, and at the conclusion of his term as county treasurer he moved to Missouri, where he also bought and improved various tracts of land. If he had been younger, he would undoubtedly have realized handsomely from his investments; but, as it was, the rise of land values was too slow for his years, and in 1850 he died at Portsmouth, almost "land poor." He was then in his seventy-fifth year, virtually homeless, but highly honored by numerous old friends who had long appreciated his homely virtues and useful works. BUILDING OF THE FIRST COURTHOUSE Bids for the erection of the courthouse were received in June, 1814, and until it was completed three years later, the court and the county commissioners met as they could—in Gharky's cabinet shop and John Brown's Hotel near the Point, or the McDowell Building, corner of 112 - HANGING ROCK IRON REGION Market and Front. The walls of the courthouse were completed and accepted by the county commissioners at their August session of 1815 ; and in March f the following year the inside carpenter work was let to John Young for $1,350, and the lathing, plastering and whitewash-ing to William Pearson for $275. . The entire courthouse was completed in 1817 and accepted by the commissioners at their meeting of June 3d. Its total cost was $3,625. This first courthouse in Portsmouth was located on what is now known as Market Street, between Front and Second; at the time of its completion, Front was called Water Street and Second, First Street. The structure was forty feet square, with walls of brick and a stone foundation which stood two feet above ground. It was two stories in height, had a tin roof and a cupola twelve. feet high, surmounted by a figure of the Angel Gabriel. cut in wood. The only entrance was from the south. The courtroom was on the north side, with a fireplace on either side of the judge's desk, 'which stood three feet above the floor. The clerk's desk, in front of the judge's, was elevated eighteen inches; and the prisoner's box three feet above the floor, which was paved with brick eight inches square. On the second floor were rooms for the county clerk and sheriff, and for the grand and petit jurors. WHIPPINGS IN THE FIRST AND SECOND JAILS Three jails were built in Portsmouth before the second courthouse was completed. The first jail, erected in 1805, stood on the west side of Market Street between Front and Second and was a hewn-log cabin eighteen feet square. A padlock and chain fastened the door. A man and his wife were confined there, charged with stealing clothing from William Huston. They were tried and convicted and sentenced to whipping. In accord with the order of the court the man received thirty-nine lashes and the woman eighteen, at the hands of Joshua Parrish, sheriff. The second jail, built a few years after, was of stone—a dungeon below and a room above. It adjoined the residence of Thomas Hatch, who was the jailor. In 1808 William Peterson, confined for larceny, was taken from jail, led to a beech tree in front of Market Street and his arms tied around it, and lashed seventeen times for his misdemeanor. It is stated that "the whippings brought the blood and welts were raised on his bare back three-quarters of an inch." THE SECOND AND LAST COURTHOUSE In 1829 the county commissioners appointed Charles O. Tracy to receive propositions for the site of a new courthouse. Nothing definite came f his printed invitation published in the Western Times, but in June, 1833, Henry Brush, a lawyer of Chillicothe, donated to the county lot 380 upon which the building was erected in 1835-37. By an act of HANGING ROCK IRON REGION - 113 March 7, 1835, the State Legislature had authorized the county commissioners to borrow $10,000 with which to build a courthouse, and in June that amount was obtained from the Ohio Life Insurance and Trust Company. In September, 1835, General William Kendall was awarded the contract at $12,650, and on the following day the county board ordered it to be built on lot 380, sixteen feet from the south line and sixteen feet from the west line. The plans were the same as those which had been adopted for the courthouse at Ravenna, Ohio. On October 14, 1837, the building was accepted from the contractor, with the exception f the roof, which was to be subjected to rain tests. The finishing touches were added from time to time, last of all being the spire, vane and ball which were not placed until June, 1838 ; but the courthouse was considered ready for occupancy in the fall of 1837. It was formally occupied November 18, 1837. The Scioto Tribune said that it "was the most complete and elegant in the Broad West." It is described as facing west on Court Street sixty-eight feet, and south on Sixth Street forty-five feet. It had on the south a pediment front supported by six Ionic columns of polished stone, the frieze and cornice being of the same material. The cupola was an octagon, pointed, in the smile color with the base pedestal. The first story had four rooms for the principal county officers, a large entrance hall and two flights of stairs, one of which was to the main entrance and the other served as a private staircase for the judges to ascend to their courtroom above. THE 1882 ADDITION In 1882 an addition was completed, being that part of the courthouse north of the treasurer's office, the auditor's north office, the probate judge's office on the first floor, the clerk's office and the jury rooms above. In September, 1894, the courthouse was provided with steam heating, and other improvements have since been made in the way of comforts and conveniences, although it is not such a structure as is on a par with the. other public buildings of Portsmouth, or creditable to the enter-prise and progressive spirit of the county. THE THIRD AND FOURTH JAILS The building of the third jail on the southeast corner of the court-house lot covered a multitude of wrangles and complications from December, 1833, until June, 1836. It was an unsatisfactory stone building, erected by Isaac Noel. As facetiously remarked by a citizen : "This jail had to have an outside guard at times to keep outsiders from breaking in and letting the prisoners out." But it endured until April, 1860, when the commissioners ordered it vacated so that the material could be used for a new jail. In March, 1859, the legislature had passed. an act authorizing the county to borrow $20,000 for that purpose, and a year afterward the commissioners bought lots 370 and 379 on which to build the jail. Until its completion prisoners were sent to the Pike County Jail. Vol. I—8 114 - HANGING ROCK IRON REGION THE COUNTY INFIRMARY The County Infirmary is located on the Buena Vista Pike, a few miles west of Portsmouth, the present establishment dating from the early '80s. The first County Infirmary buildings were completed in December, 1846, under the supervision of the county commissioners. The con-tractors and builders were McIntyre and Stillwell. The County Board at its January session, 1847, appointed three infirmary directors to hold until others were elected and qualified : Joseph Riggs, Moses Gregory and Jacob P. Noel. The old infirmary remained until destroyed by fire in 1882, when arrangements were made to erect a more commodious building, and for that purpose the commissioners met in session in Sep-tember of that year. At that meeting the following record was made : " The board of commissioners being in session, and all the members there-of being present, the infirmary directors of said county, towit : Joseph Graham, Leonidas Piles and Jacob Bower, appeared at said meeting and took seats with said commissioners, and thereupon the plans, drawing, specifications, bills of material and estimates relative to the building of a County Infirmary heretofore proposed and finished by A. B. Alger, architect, were taken up by the joint board of county commissioners and infirmary directors for examination, and after the same were duly examined Charles Goddard moved that the said plans, drawing, representations and estimates for the building of a County Infirmary be approved and that said- approval be indorsed upon the same, which motion was seconded by William Turner and carried" by a unanimous vote of the Board of County Commissioners and the infirmary directors. This was in September, 1882, and. the buildings were all completed by 1884 at a cost of about fifteen thousand dollars. Additions and improvements have been made to the original establishment and, in accord with later-day consideration for the self-respect of the average American whom misfortune has overtaken, the name Poor House has long since been replaced by that of County Infirmary. The average number of inmates maintained by the county is fifty. The farm. comprises 400 acres and horses, cows and hogs are included in the live stock. Within the past ten or twelve years the accommodations have been greatly' extended, a complete modern system of heating having been-installed. John W. Addis is the present superintendent. CHILDREN'S HOME OF SCIOTO COUNTY The Children's Home is a. county institution close to the hearts of the people. It was under private control during the first two years of its existence, originating in January, 1874, with the ladies f the First Presbyterian Church. In April of that year a meeting was held at that church, with Judge Henry A. Towne as president. The principal address was made by Murray Shipley, president of the Cincinnati Children's Home. Over three thousand dollars was raised. for the local Home, 'f which &In G. Peebles and B. B. Gaylord subscribed $1,000 each. In' HANGING ROCK IRON REGION - 115 June, the common council reserved a certain portion of the City Hospital for the inauguration of the project. The headquarters of the Children's Home became the old building of the County Infirmary in 1875, and in August, 1876, the structure which had been partially erected for the institution was burned. It was completed by the county commissioners, who then assumed control of the Home. At first the management was in the hands of an association of ladies, but it was finally considered best to turn it over to a board of trustees appointed by the county commissioners. During the period that the ladies managed the home the spply committee consisted of Mrs. J. K. Lodwick, Miss Mary- Peebles, Mrs. George Johnson and Miss Marion Firmstone. The trustees, John G. Peebles, James Y. Gordon and William Kinney, assumed. control in August, 1877, S. C. Morrow , soon succeeding Mr. Kinney, resigned. Some of the leading citizens of Portsmouth have since served as trustees, including George D. Selby, John Peebles and Samuel Reed. The first officers to manage the home were : President, Mrs. D. B. Cotton, whose husband acted as physician ; vice president, Mrs. C. P. Lloyd; recording secretary, Mrs. H. A. Towne; corresponding secretary, Mrs. E. F. Draper ; treasurer, Mrs. James Y. Gordon. At the present time about fifty children are cared for by the home, which is maintained at an annual expense of $5,000, and located on Grant, between. Hutchins and Grand View avenues. W. C. Silcox, the well known merchant of Portsmouth, is the superintendent. JUDICIAL CHANGES, Various changes have been made by law in the functions of the executive and judicial officials of Scioto, the chief phases of which are indicated in the following notes. When Ohio was first divided into judicial (Common Pleas) circuits in April, 1803, Scioto County was placed in the Second, with Adams, Ross, Franklin, Fairfield and Gallia, and Wylliss Silliman was named. its presiding judge. Although the complexion. of the- circuit changed, Scioto remained in the Second Circuit until 1819, when it was attached to the Eighth, with Pike, Jackson, Athens, Morgan, Washington,. Meigs, Gallia and Lawrence. In 1848 it became a part of the Seventeenth Circuit, which was composed of Scioto, Jackson, Pike, Gallia and Lawrence ; tinder the. new constitution of 1851. Jackson, Vinton, Pike, Scioto and Lawrence constituted the Second subdivision of the Seventh Judicial District, since which there has been no change except that Vinton County was attached to the Third sub-division in 1894. The state constitution Of 1851 created the Probate Court, the juris-diction of which had previously been exercised by the Court of Common Pleas., THE COUNTY OFFICES The constitution of 1802 provided that the sheriff and coroner of a county should be elected for a term of two years and only be eligible 116 - HANGING ROCK IRON REGION four years out of six. The original constitution conferred upon the sheriff the duties performed since the adoption of the 1851 constitution by the assessor and. collector of taxes. The latter also retained the pro-vision that the sheriff should be ineligible for more than four successive years out of six, and provided that no county officer should be elected for a term longer than three years. The functions of the county auditor were at first discharged by a clerk appointed by the county commissioners, but the legislature in February, 1820, provided for the appointment of that official to super-vise the transfers of the county, and to make the tax lists and record them. In 1821 an act was passed by which the auditor was to be elected annually, and in 1824 the term was extended to two years. The term was made three years in 1877, and by various amendments to the origi-nal section he now assumes office in October. Under successive legislative acts the county treasurer has been ap-pointed by the territorial governor and the associate judges of the Court of Common Pleas, his election by the people dating from 182.7. No limi-tation is placed OD. the incumbency of this office. The recorder has had even a more complicated experience than the county treasurer. The office was created by the territorial government of 1795 and to be under the appointive power of the governor. His principal duties were to be the recording of deeds and conveyances and the satisfying of mortgages. In October, 1803, under an early state law, the associate judges were to appoint the recorder for a term of seven years. In February, 1831, the. office was made elective for three years, the commencement of the term of office having been repeatedly changed; it now begins the first Monday of September after election. From. April, 1803, to February, 1805, the prosecuting attorney was appointed by the State Supreme Court; after that, until 1833, he was the creature of the Court of Common Pleas. After January 23d of the latter year until 1881, the office was elective for a term of two years, since which the term has been three years, but still determined by popular vote. The clerks of the courts, under the constitution of 1802, were appointed by the judges for a term of seven years, and previous to their selection they were required to produce a certificate from a majority of the Members of the State Supreme Court stating that they were qualified to hold the position. The constitution of 1851 made the office elective for three years. From 1799 to 1827 the office of county collector was alive, its incumbent being appointed by the county commissioners. Since January 24th of the latter year his duties have been performed by the county treasurer. Under the territorial government, township assessors were either appointed by the Court of Common Pleas or elected annually; The state returned to the old plan of appointing them through the judges of the Court of Common Pleas, and did not pass an act for the election of a county assessor until March 12, 1831. He was authorized to ap- HANGING ROCK IRON REGION - 117 point one or more assistants. That provision was in force for ten years, but in Mareh, 1841, the county assessorship was abolished and its duties were passed over to the township .assessors provided for by the act of that date. CHRONOLOGICAL CREATION OF TOWNSHIPS As has been noted, four townships were erected from the territory of Scioto County, as created by the first State Assembly of 1803; they were Nile, Union, Upper and Seal. Upper Township contained a portion. of western Lawrence and southern Jackson counties, and Seal, a slice of southern Pike County, as we know it today. Lawrence County retains its Upper Township and Pike, its Seal Township, while the old Nile and Union townships of 1803 embrace about two-thirds of the present county of Scioto. The subdivisions by which the seventeen townships now included in the county were created are traced in detail in the sketches devoted to them. The chronological order of their erection was as follows: Wayne, 1809; Green, Jefferson and Madison, 1810; Bloom, 1812; Porter and Washington, 1814; Vernon, 1818; Brush Creek, 1820; Morgan, 1825 ; Clay, 1826; Harrison, 1832; Valley, 1860; Rush, 1867; Rarden, 1891. Since 1870 Wayne Township and the City of Portsmouth have covered the same territory. COUNTY POPULATION, 1810-30 The general progress of any section, or civil division, is fairly gauged by the increase in population; so with Scioto County. Its first census, taken in 1810, indicated a population of 3,399. By 1820 these figures had increased to 5,750, and in 1830 to 8,740. Since. that year the enumeration has been more thorough, so that it can be given by townships. TOWNSHIP POPULATION, 1840-1880 The showing for the last year of the decades ending 1840, 1850, 1860, 1870 and 1880 is as follows:

POPULATION BY TOWNSHIPS, 1890-1910

1910 1900 1890    County Bloom Township, including South Webster    Village South Webster Village Brush Creek Township, including Otway    Village    Otway Village Clay Township, including New Boston Village    New Boston Village* Green Township Harrison Township Jefferson Township Madison Township Morgan Township Nile Township Porter Township Rarden Township, including Rarden Village Barden. Village Rush Township Union Township Valley Township Vernon Township Washington Township Wayne Township, co-extensive with Portsmouth City    Portsmouth City :       Ward 1       Ward 2       Ward 3       Ward 4 48,463 1,899 499 1,555 234 4,227 1,858 1,376 1,221 833 1,343 813 1,738 2,843 1,357 350 1,162 1,139 1,143 908 1,425 23,481 5,043 5,194 4,369 8,875 40,981 2,158 445 1,667 274 1,764 . . . . 1,332 1,269 915 1,664 1,035 1,862 2,500 1,583 443 1,032 1,104 1,039 918 1,269 17,870 35,377 2,337 323 2,948 . . . . 1,102 . . . . 1,751 1,340 1,008 1,608 934 2,018 2,401 . . . . 296 939 1,282 1,018 1,074 1,223 12,394 * Incorporated in 1905. HANGING ROCK IRON REGION - 119 PROPERTY VALUE AND TAXATION, 1814-1914 The tax collector and assessor, as well as the census man, tell a story worth reading, The first tax found of record in Scioto County was collected in 1814 and amounted to $176,55, In 1823 taxation had increased to $1,399.77 not a prodigious leap, but a step, at least, The eleven townships then in existence contributed to that amount as follows : Wayne Washington Jefferson Porter Madison Green Total $737.529 63,985 86,39 100,85 87,80 89,525 Vernon Bloom Union Brush Creek Nile $ 50.60 30,60 54,925 31,425 66,15 $1,399,779 In 1835, twelve years after the above figures were issued by the assessors, the total tax f the county was $5,218,92; in 1842, $20,217,44, on a total assessed valuation of $1,121,245, On January 1, 1843, the returns of the assessors of Scioto County showed 155,263 acres of taxable land, valued, with buildings and other improvements, at $521,289. The town lots were valued at $332,011, over half as much as the country properties, The valuation of 1845 was $1,226,853 ; of 1854, $6,876,320, and of 1861, the first year f the Civil War, $6,987,791, In 1865 the valuation of real and personal property within the county had increased to $8,772,682, and the tax levy, which was $134,000 in 1861, had mounted to nearly $182,000 in 1865. In 1870 the property value was $9,836,834, and the tax levy, $266,443; in 1880, $10,648,703 and $260,425, respectively ; in 1890, $10,822,686 and $289,065, and in 1900, $10,974,844 and $300,148, The work f the assessors in 1914 brought out the following suggestive facts: A total f 375,563 acres of land were assessed, valued at 49,- 236,200; value of corporate real estate, $24,666,570; of personal prop-erty; $21,421,620; total value f real and personal property, outside and within the corporations, $55,324,390; total amount f taxes collected thereon, $77,432,412, FINANCIAL DETAILS FOR 1914 These statistics are so vital in a consideration of the present financial status f Scioto County that they are presented by townships in the following condensed table:         Value Personal Property     Civil Divisions Acres Value of Lands Value Corporate Real Estate Outside Corporations Within Corporations Total Value Total Taxes Bloom Township    So. Webster, S. D.    So. Webster Corporation Brush Creek Township    Otway, S. D.    Otway Corporation Clay Township    New Boston Corporation. Green Township    Haverhill, S. D. Harrison Township    Harrison, S. D. Jefferson Township Madison Township 29.248 1,495 551 27,740 3,040 116 16,880 453 22,8211,712 22,162 1,538 14,879 31,877 $ 519.720 38,300 ....... 162,320 36,780 ....... 1,288,300 ........ 599,100 136,290 410.220 67,720 148,760 603,060 ........... ........... $ 138,600 ........... ........... 48,600 ........... 2,041,680 ........... ........... ........... ........... ........... ...........  $ 407,010 24,580 ............ 124,550 139,700 ........... 1,054,440 ........... 1.488,370 51,510 181,960 38,470 62,780. 164,490 .............. .............. $ 118,900 ............. ............. 97,520 ............ 1,178,160 ............. .............. .............. .............. ............. .............. $ 926,810 62,880 257,500 286,870 176.480 146,120 2,341,830 3,219,840 2,087,470 187,800 592,180 106,190 211,540 767,550 $ 1,117,678 95,673 398,037 398,259 172,698 160,037 1,780,128 3,957,353 1,890,448 169,164 717,107 331,647 274,686 972,596 120 - HANGING ROCK IRON REGION    California, S. D. Morgan Township Nile Township    Buena Vista, S. D. Porter Township Wheelersburg, S. D. Portsmouth Corporation Rarden Township    Camp Creek, S. D. Galena, S. D.    Rarden Corporation Rush Township Union Township Valley Township Vernon Township    Vernon, S. D. Washington Township 262 18,996 52,529 866 5,796 9,824  .......... 14,785  1,193 3,022 87 14,387 27,896 15,464 21,544 408 13,992 9,700 312,280 489,600 71,030 958,740 763,870 ............ 92,430 5,420 27,200 ............. 184,550 208,830 831,380 294,230 6,120 670,160 ........... ........... ........... ........... ........... ........... 22,363,230 ........... ........... 74,460 ............ ............ ........... .... ...... ........... ........... ........... 2,600 69,520 110,170 37,170 1,185,210 843,090 .......... 107,790 2,420 ........... 94,940 425,870 324,880 1,319,080 189,630 1,970 281,650 ........... ............. .............. .............. .............. .............. 11,234, 180 .............. ........... 59,930 ........... ........... ........../ ........... ........... ........... ............ 12,300 381,800 599,770 108,200 2,143,950 1,606,960 33,597,410 200,220. 7,840 122,140 134,390 910,420 533,710 2,150,460 483,860 8,090 951,810 14,637 550,983 782,371 136,024 2,654,478 2,214,984 52,447,344 284,863 10.567 122,339 189,123 1,101,314 662,726 2,349,022 621,233 10,541 1,044,352 Totals 375,563 $9,236,20 $24,666,570 $8,732,930 $12,688,690 $55,324,390 877,432,412 CONTRIBUTIONS TO THE COUNTY'S PROGRESS Numerous natural advantages have contributed to the development of Scioto County, as thus illustrated by figures relating to its progress in material things, The close proximity of coal and f iron ore to the RIVER ROAD, SHOWING SCIOTO BOTTOM CORN LANDS, PORTSMOUTH Ohio River caused these mineral deposits of the county to receive earlier . attention than in other sections, where :the means of transportation were few, and those limited to wagons, mules and horses. The Ohio canal, which was commenced in 1825 and finished in 1832, also furnished extra transportation facilities, and gave an impetus to the county in its material Prosperity which lasted for many years, Thus the iron, coal and free stone gave wealth and employment, and the county increased quite rapidly in population, The mining and shipment f these valu-able accessories of wealth caused. Scioto County to be considered a favored locality, The stone quarries in the west did not command so much attention as the coal and iron, of the eastern section, and it was not long before the smoke of the furnaces showed that this industry was becoming a leading one, Six furnaces were in blast as early as 1840. They were the Junior, Scioto, Clinton,- Bloom., Franklin and Ohio, The HANGING ROCK IRON REGION - 121 starting of these furnaces added materially to the population of the county. It was also found from the increased stock and agricultural productions coining to market and being shipped by both canal and river, that the farming population had also materially increased. There was something peculiarly gratifying in this gain. It was the fact that. the rural population increased more rapidly than the towns, or in other words, that which would give solidity to the growth of a. city was a substantial country behind it. Thus it is found that while the largest town in the county, Portsmouth, had at the close of that decade, 1850, but a population of 3,867, the county in all had a population of 18,428, of which two-thirds were engaged in tilling' the soil and mining. Here was something to sustain the city, saying nothing about its large and increasing manufacturing interests, which, like the agricultural, was a producing as well as a consuming population. The Scioto furnace was the oldest, Bloom and Ohio following. The best business years for the iron industries in Scioto County were 1844-45, there being six furnaces in blast, as above named. Those were flush times in the furnace business. IRON ORE DEPOSITS The main bed of Scioto County commences about fourteen miles above Portsmouth, near the Ohio River, where the ore is seen cropping out on the tops and sides of the hills, and was first brought into use in 1828. The most important part of this mineral region when first dis-covered extended from the mouth of the Scioto River to Ice Creek, a point between Burlington and Hanging Rock. It commences with the lowest bed of iron ore, resting on a fine-grain sandstone, which underlies all this region, extending far up the Scioto to Waverly and bearing off northeasterly through the counties of Fairfield and Licking. These several deposits of iron ores, extending to six or more distinct beds, lie at an inclination of about thirty feet to the mile, dipping to the east and southeast, cropping out at successive but irregular intervals on the surface of the highest hills, a few miles back from the river, gradually sinking deeper and finally disappearing at the base of the hills and beneath the beds of the streams. Ore bed No. 1 is found at the Franklin furnace, sixteen miles above Portsmouth, in Scioto County. It rests on the main or fine-grain sand rock, about one hundred feet above the bed Of the Ohio River. It is a porous, siliceous ore, and resembles in external appearance the "bog ore." A. finer ore being found, this was not much used. Its thickness was fully two feet. Reposing. on this bed of ore is found a deposit of sand rock, sixty feet in thickness, which is nearly white and of fine grain and valuable in constructing furnace hearths, as it stands heat in a remarkable manner. Resting on this sand rock is a vein of bituminous coal between two and three feet thick. The roof f the coal bed is shale, and on top of that a coarse-grained sand rock. 122 - HANGING ROCK IRON REGION On this lies iron ore bed No. 2, which is also a siliceous ore, but more compact and heavier than No. 1. This bed crosses the river into Kentucky wad its ore was used largely at the Darlington furnace, infhat state, four miles west of the Franklin furnace. The roof of this bed of ore, which is some twenty inches thick, is a coarse-grained siliceous sand rock and grows coarser as you reach the summit of the hills. Resting on this is a deposit of limestone, which lies crumbled in the surface, but hard and compact as the strata, descends, and in some places, a few miles further east, is from eight to ten feet in thickness and conglomerate. Ore No. 3, called "block ore," is nearly continuous and from one to three feet thick. It is a rich calcareous fe, yielding fifty per cent of pure iron. When dug and exposed to the atmosphere it separates into thin concentric layers, and when roasted it assumes a bright red tint. This deposit crowns the summit of the hills in the vicinity oof the Franklin furnace, coming up to the surface a few miles northwesterly; and disappears or runs out as we approach within a few miles of the Scioto River, while to the east and south it is found gradually descending the base of the hills as high up the Ohio River as Storm Creek, Lawrence County. It is believed that this ore extends in a northwesterly direction as far as the limits of the coal measure. No. 4 is a thin bed of "kidney ore" in concentric masses, lying from a few inches to a few feet fove the block ore in a bed of argillafous sale. No. 5. This bed of ore -comes to the surface and crowns the hills about three miles southeast of the Franklin furnace, and rests immediately on the lime rock a few miles further east. When it crops out, however, it reposes on a siliceous rock resembling that found in Jackson County. No. 6 is a calcareous ore and needs no addition of lime in fluxing, The bed is about three feet in thickness and yields only about twenty to twenty-five per cent of iron, af is the last of the series of ore found on the Ohio side of the river. FINE-GRAINED SAND-ROCK In describing the iron ore deposit of Scioto County it was stated that bed No. 1 rested on a fine-grained sandstone this rock forms the surface of a very extensive deposit, underlying the iron ore and the coarser sand rock and coal. As this rock descends deeper into the earth it becomes more argillaceous, and at the depth of 100 feet changes, or rather rests, on a bed of slate, decomposing when exposed to the weather. On the west side of the Scioto, near its mouth, the upper bed of this fine sandstone has been opened quite extensively. It is a splendid building stone and has been quite largely shipped to. other points. SCIOTO RIVER NAVIGATION Steamboat navigation of the Scioto River was a pet scheme with steamboat men for many years. The record of early years gives no HANGING ROCK IRON REGION - 123 account of any traffic on the river until the winter of 1847-48. The steamboats built by Kendall and Head, about 1818, came down the Scioto from about the. mouth f Brush Creek, but probably they received their boilers, etc., at Portsmouth. The first steamboat, America, went Up the river in the winter above Mentioned as far as Waverly. It made a prosperous trip and. was in. the trade during the high water; some three round. trips were made, In December, 1848, a small steamer had been built to run up the Scioto, and the experimental trip was made December 12, 1848. She left her moorings and was watched until she was out f sight, by quite a large number of people. She plowed her way gracefully and successfully against the. current, and Piketon gave her an ovation. Her name was the Relief. She went p as far as the Feeder dam and Salt Creek, and grounded once, but slightly Then the handsome little steamboat, the John B. Gordon, became the regular Scioto River packet, made regular trips, commencing February 1, 1849, and continued until June.. She was owned by. the Scioto Valley Steamboat Company, and cost $3,500. Little more regarding the steamboat business can be found of record. Railroads and railroad bridges soon put a stop to much further effort, and although the Scioto is a free highway, her placid bosom has not of late years been disturbed or her waters used for navigation purposes. The last steamer that attempted to do a paying business on the river was a very pretty little craft called the Piketon Belle. She was launched October 26, 1860, and drew only twenty-two inches, was in the trade in 1861, and was built and owned at Piketon. She continued her trips until May 10, 1861.. SCIOTO RIVER BRIDGES The first which spanned the Scioto River in Scioto County was in 1849. This bridge, near the mouth of the river, was 666 feet long, resting upon three stone piers, and was twenty feet in the clear. A stone abutment was on the east end, and on the west end a wooden one and trestle reaching to high ground. The first team crossed August 13, 1849. The next bridge was to take the place of the structure above de-scribed, and a contract was entered into in October, 1855, to complete it at the cost f $25,000. It was to be one foot wider and six feet higher than the old bridge. A suspension bridge was completed across the Scioto just above the old bridge in January, 1859. In November it. fell in, or a. portion of it, and $6,000 was raised to repair it. It was owned by Newton Robinson and George and Charles Davis. In 1873 the bridge was purchased by the county for the sum of $45,000, and made free from July 1st of that year. A good bridge was built across the river at Lucasville, in 1878, at a cost of $10,000, bonds being issued for its payment. With free roads 124 - HANGING ROCK IRON REGION and free bridges, the people f Scioto County have little cause for complaint. A GREAT RAILROAD BRIDGE IN THE BUILDING With the extension of the railroads in Scioto County, bridge building so increased that an enumeration of all the structures which span the rivers and streams f that region would be not only impossible but of little interest. There is one, however, which is now under way f such magnitude that the details regarding it are important and worthy f note. The great bridge now being constructed by the Chesapeake & Ohio Northern Railway Company over the Ohio River just north of Sciotoville is one of the leading feats in that line f work in the middle West. With its approaches, this magnificent structure of open-hearth steel, with substructure f reinforced concrete, will be 3,448 feet in length. The approach on the Kentucky side is 1,073 feet, and on the Ohio side 825 feet, both of plate-girder construction. The bridge proper consists f two continuous spans, 775 feet each, truss construction. Actual work was begun October 19, 1914, and October, 1916, is the date fixed for completion. Approximately $1,500,000 will be expended. These figures are official. Thus another great railroad will obtain access to Scioto County and Southern Ohio; and that region has already felt the stimulus of the enterprise. PIKES AND GOOD ROADS For seventy years the State Legislature has fostered the building f roads in Moto County, especially to accommodate the agricultural population not reached by the railroads. In the early years the building and improvement of the turnpikes were necessary, while within a com-paratively recent period the "good roads movement" has been gener-ally spported by town people and farmers as one. f the strong forces in the development of adequate transportation facilities, in the stimulation f trade and the providing of comforts and pleasures to residents f the county at large. . At the session of the General Assembly held in the winter of 1837-38 the Legislature passed an act authorizing counties and towns to subscribe to the capital stock of turnpike roads. The date of this act was March 26, 1838, and under it meetings were called and a turnpike fever swept over the state. Turnpike roads in the County of Scioto were inaugurated by numerous companies, and the counties north united with Scioto in securing a, turnpike to Columbus, the state capital. Ross County subscribed $50,000, Pike $20,000, and Scioto $30,000. The Columbus and. Portsmouth Turnpike Company was organized and in 1838 commenced work in Scioto County. The same style of company was organized at Piketon, Pike County, on July 4, 1839. The work in Scioto County at first dragged, and another public meeting was called