AS PART OF THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY - 275 the settlement of the state than any other pioneer. He was a famous surveyor and laid out several towns including Chillicothe. Many of the settlers moved there from Kentucky to which they had emigrated earlier only to find out that they would rather live in a state where slavery did not exist. Indeed, this was the cause of much emigration to Ohio, even from Virginia and other slave states. Massie was a Virginian of the cavalier type, noted for his refinement, graceful manners and highbred courtesy. Later he was the first speaker of the House of Representatives. In 1807 he ran against Return Jonathan Meigs, Jr., for governor. Meigs had a majority of the votes, but the legislature held that he was not a resident of the state. This would have made Massie governor, but he was too much of a gentleman to accept the office in that manner. Prior to coming to the Northwest Territory, he had been a soldier in the Revolutionary War and afterwards served with distinction in the Indian wars and the War of 1812. The early history of Ohio could not be written without thumbnail sketches of Ephraim Cutler and Gen. Rufus Putnam, delegates from Marietta. Cutler was son of Manasseh Cutler, who had been one of the chief factors in organizing the Ohio Company which first settled the state at Marietta. He was a man of the highest personal character and of great influence in the convention, although he was the only delegate who voted against the motion to create a state and usually stood out against the majority on other propositions. Upon all constructive measures and especially upon the Bill-of-Rights, Cutler's intellect and pure character made their distinctive marks. One of his obsessions was an intensive hatred of Thomas Jefferson. Mr. Beman Dawes, of this city, is a great-great-grandson of Cutler and I infer, from some fluent remarks made by his brother Charles during the recent campaign, that all of his family have not yet been fully converted to the doctrines advocated by the party of Jefferson. Perhaps Gen. Rufus Putnam was the great outstanding figure in the very earliest settlement of the Northwest Territory—having led the party from Connecticut which came to Marietta in 1788. Prior to that he had made a splendid record in the Revolution—rising by fine service and hard fighting to the rank of brigadier-general. John Smith, a delegate from Cincinnati, was one of the first two United States senators. He was the first pastor of the first Baptist Church of the Northwest Territory and a fine orator. In the Senate he was a close friend of Aaron Burr and later, on that account, was unjustly charged with complicity in Burr's alleged treason. An unsuccessful attempt was made to expel him from the Senate. Randall and Ryan's History states that "his relations with Aaron Burr were much misinterpreted and, in his subsequent persecution, he was undoubtedly the victim of partisan intrigue." Judge Jacob Burnet, a near neighbor of Senator Smith, and one of his strongest political antagonists, praised him highly and defended him from any improper designs in connection with Burr. Charles Willing Byrd, a delegate from Hamilton County and scion of an ultra-aristocratic Virginia family, was a brother-in-law of Nathaniel Massie and a man of great ability as well as a learned lawyer. He was acting governor of the territory (as has been heretofore stated in this paper). When the state began to function he was appointed the first United States judge for the District of Ohio, and sat upon that bench for more than twenty years, retiring with a high reputation for learning and ability. It is hardly just to the many able and patriotic men in that convention to confine this sketch to the ten who have. been mentioned, although they were the most conspicuous. Benjamin Ives Gilman, the colleague of Putnam and Cutler from Marietta, and their peer, Michael Baldwin, acknowledged to be the most brilliant lawyer in the territory and speaker of the House of Representatives ; John Browne and Philip 276 - HISTORY OF OHIO Gatch, thrilling evangelists ; Gen. Joseph Darlinton, the great leader of Adams County; Henry Adams and Emanuel Carpenter, learned judges in Fairfield County ; Bezaleel Wells, the founder of the industries of Steubenville—famed for his baronial mansion and princely hospitality, and Nathan Updegraff of the same county, the first of a family famous in Ohio history ; William Goforth, the most skillful and widely known physician of his day ; John Reily and Francis Dunlavy, who established the first classical academy in the new state ; John McIntyre, the joint owner with Jonathan Zane of the land upon which Zanesville was laid out, and such an enterprising and successful business man that he left an estate for poor children which annually yields $8,000; and many others deserve mention in an account of sufficient length to give a real picture of early Ohio. Truly there great men in that day and we owe them an inestimable debt of gratitude for laying the foundation of this great commonwealth so broad and so deep. To them I say, "All Hail, Men of Eighteen Hundred and Two ! Let us hope and believe that our posterity forever will keep your memory green." As soon as the state was organized, a flood of emigration set in of which the vast majority were Revolutionary soldiers. They were a sturdy race and virile, God-fearing men who had conquered the British and came out here to conquer the wilderness. It was a marvelous stream of happily mixed elements. There were the Puritan from New England ; the Knickerbocker from New York ; the Quaker, the German and Swede from Pennsylvania and New Jersey ; the Catholic English from Maryland and Delaware ; the cavalier English from Virginia ; the Scotch-Irish from North Carolina ; the French Huguenots from South Carolina and the Methodist English from Georgia. They came here and intermarried and a new race of men, the like of which the world never knew, was born from this intermixture of those splendid strains of blood. This was why, in 1861, when the country seemed to be in the throes of dissolution, and government of the people, for the people and by the people was about to perish from the earth, that the male children of these early settlers, born between 1810 and 1830, bounded instantly to the front, carried off nearly all the honors in the field, the cabinet and Congress ; and, by the common consent of all the states, put Ohio at the undisputed head of the nation at the close of the war, where, for sixty years, she has stood in triumph. The evidence of this is that, in all these years, the people of the United States have elected ten presidents, seven of whom were born in Ohio, of that good old pioneer stock ; and, of five chief justices of the Supreme Court of the United States, three were appointed from Ohio. The title of this paper, as it appears upon the program, is "How and When ( ?) Ohio Became a State." The interrogation mark after the word "when" indicates the uncertainty of that proposition which should be briefly explained. Congress never admitted the State of Ohio into the Union. This fact need not alarm you, for the state undoubtedly is in the Union, although nobody knows exactly when it got in. It is the only state about whose admission there is a controversy. For some time after the Constitutional Convention adjourned on November 29, 1802, it seems to have been understood that this was the date when the state was born or, in the usual parlance, "admitted into the Union." That was an obvious error, for Congress has no power to create a state ; it has merely the right to admit one after it has been lawfully organized. To illustrate, I happened to be in Congress when in one day all records were broken and four territories (North and South Dakota, Montana and Washington) were empowered to hold constitutional conventions with a view to statehood. This was done in February, but these states were not admitted until November when the President, by public proclamation, gave legal notice of that fact. On the succeeding fourth AS PART OF THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY - 277 day of July, in accordance with law, four stars representing these states were added to the flag of the Union. That is the proper procedure. The authorities which have held that the year 1802 marked the birth of Ohio are some of the census reports, notably the ninth ; a note to the eleventh volume of the United States Statutes-at-Large; Hickey on the Constitution ; Townsend in his Analysis of Civil Government and W. H. Venable, a celebrated writer of early Ohio history. So far as I know, it is now generally conceded that this date is in error, but, to prove it, I have here a photostat copy of an original document in my possession, issued by the acting governor of the Northwest Territory in the twenty-fourth day of January, 1803. This is by way of an object lesson, as one concrete fact is worth any number of theories. Obviously the territorial and state governments could not exist simultaneously. Further, on the thirty-first day of January, the House of Representatives at Washington voted upon the question as to whether Paul Fearing was still entitled to hold his seat as a delegate from the Northwest Territory and decided that he was. It has been contended that an act of Congress passed February 19th did, by implication, practically admit the state. This was the opinion expressed by E. D. Mansfield in his Political Manual, by Caleb Atwater in his History of Ohio and by President Andrews of Marietta College. This act provided for the execution of the laws of the United States within the State of Ohio, but the federal authority did not have jurisdiction over the state then, nor were the federal officers for the judicial district of Ohio appointed until March 1st. On that day, also, the state officers were inaugurated and the state has functioned ever since. This was the opinion of Rufus King in his history of Ohio ; and Randall and Ryan (in the best history of Ohio ever written) dealt exhaustively with the question of the birth of Ohio and pronounced final judgment as follows : "In this inquiry it is well to bear in mind that there was no formal admission by act of Congress. * * * It may therefore be considered as settled from a historical and authoritative standpoint that March 1, 1803, was the date when the territorial government ceased and when Ohio became a state and, ipso facto, a member of the United States." In spite of this, two writers (one of them no less a person than Salmon P. Chase) have fixed the date at March 3. Thus it appears (in each case by excellent authority) that the State of Ohio has five different birthdays. Nevertheless, in due time the star of Ohio took its rightful place upon the flag of -the Union. The first thirteen represented the states which created the government, Vermont fourteenth, Kentucky fifteenth, Tennessee sixteenth and then OHIO. One may perhaps be pardoned for loving his native state a little better than any other ; and, as the scriptures tell us that "one star differeth from another star in glory," he may even be pardoned for feeling that the star which represents his state is a little more glorious than any of the others in that brilliant constellation on his country's flag. I know that I love my state. I was born in Ohio ; my father and my mother were born in Ohio ; my wife and all of my children were born in Ohio ; my only grandchild was born in Ohio. Everything which, in a long life, has made that life worth living, I owe to Ohio. Therefore, I love the star which represents her, but, when I realize that, great as Ohio is, she is just a small part of the proudest empire the world has ever known—my empire, your empire—then I know that, much as I love her star, infinitely more do I love that whole blue field emblazoned with the forty-eight stars which represent the majesty, the dignity, the power and the glory of this Great Republic. COUNTIES OF OHIO ADAMS COUNTY This county derived its name from the second President of the United States—John Adams. It is situated on the Ohio River, fifty miles from Cincinnati and 100 miles south of Columbus. July 10, 1797, it was formed by proclamation of Governor St. Clair, it being then one of the four counties into which the Northwest Territory was divided. Prior to that date had been formed Washington County, July 27, 1788 ; Hamilton, January 2, 1790 ; and Wayne, 1796. Generally speaking the topography of Adams County is rough and hilly. Its pioneer settlement was effected largely by honest homeseekers from the States of Virginia and Kentucky, with a goodly number from the north of Ireland. The county's area is 546 square miles. Years ago the statistics gave the acreage o f cultivated land as 85,873; woodland, 84,598; waste land, 11,123. The corresponding acreage for 1920 was—improved land, 214,375 ; woodland, 83,942 ; unimproved, 23,575. The chief soil products are corn, oats, wheat and tobacco. In 1885 Adams ranked eighth among the counties of the state in tobacco. production, then yielding 1,600,976 pounds of excellent tobacco ; in 1920 it ranked third, producing 5,547,412 pounds. The civil townships are : Bratton, Franklin, Green, Jefferson, Liberty, Manchester, Meigs, Monroe, Oliver, Scott, Sprigg, Tiffin, Wayne and Winchester. The population for various periods of United States census taking has been as follows : In 1820 it was 10,406 ; 1840, 13,271 ; 1860, 20,309'1 1870, 20,750 ; 1880, 24,005; over 20,000 of the last named number were Ohio-born ; 1890, 26,093 ; 1900, 26,328 ; 1910, 24,755 ; 1920, 22,403. Population per square mile, at present is forty-one. The incorporated villages in Adams County are : West Union, Man- • chester, Rome, Peebles, Seaman and Winchester, of which later mention is made. The only settlement within the Virginia Military Tract, between the Scioto and Little Miami, until after the treaty of Greenville in 1795, was effected at Manchester by Colonel (later General) Nathaniel Massie. In the winter of 1790 Massie determined to make a settlement in it, that he might the better carry on his surveying operations and be pro- tected from the Indians. He gave out word down in his old Kentucky home, that he would donate one in-lot and one out-lot, to the first and each other family up to twenty-five, which would join him in making this colony or settlement at what came to be Manchester. After much consultation he finally laid out his town "On the Ohio river, opposite the lower of Three Islands, as being the most desirable spot." By March 15, 1791, the whole town was enclosed by strong pickets firmly fixed in the ground with block-houses at each angle for defense. Thus was the first settlement in the Virginia Military Tract and the fourth settlement within the limits of the State of present. Ohio effected. Notwithstanding, this settlement was made in the hottest of Indian war times, it suffered less from depredations, than any other settlement previously made on the Ohio River. This was probably clue to the watchful care and foresight on the part of its founder and his associates, including those brave never-to-be-out-done men, the Beasleys, the Stouts, the Washburns, the Ledoms, Edgingtons, Denings, Wades, Ellisons and McKenzies. After Massie had properly prepared his station for defense, the entire colony went to work and cleared the lower parts of Three Islands and planted it to corn. The soil was very rich and crops yielded wonderfully well. Game was plenty, such as deer, elk, buffalo, bears and - 281 - 282 - HISTORY OF OHIO turkeys, while the streams were alive with excellent fish. When completed this place had for its nearest neighbors northwest of the Ohio, the inhabitants at Columbia, below the mouth of Little Miami, five miles above Cincinnati ; and at Gallipolis, a French settlement near the mouth of the Great Kanawha. EARLY COUNTY SEAT HISTORY AND FIRST COURTS—The first court in Adams County was held in Manchester. The commissioners appointed for that purpose located a seat of justice five miles above the mouth of Brush Creek in a very unsuitable place which they called Adamsville. In derision it was soon styled "Scant." At the next session part of the members met at Manchester and a part in Adamsville. When Governor St. Clair arrived on the scene he removed the county seat to the mouth of Brush Creek, where the first court was held in 1798. Here a town was platted by Noble Grimes, and it was called Washington. A large log courthouse was built, with a jail in the lower story. This served the county until the seat of justice was finally located at West Union, where the first courthouse was made of logs and the second a handsome stone structure, built by the labor and skill of ex-Governor Metcalf, of Kentucky, whose trade was that of a stone mason—hence he was later styled "Stone Hammer." PRESENT COUNTY OFFICERS—As shown by the 1923 Ohio Official Roster the following are the late officials of Adams County : Probate judge and Common Pleas judge, Will P. Stephenson ; clerk of the courts, Loran M. Grooms ; sheriff, J. L. Treifz ; auditor, C. Elbert Black ; county commissioners, W. R. Mowry, C. M. Wall, M. F. Hooper ; treasurer, J. 0. Stulz ; recorder, John Gaskins ; surveyor, George D. Collier ; prosecuting attorney, J. R. B. Kessler ; coroner, W. T. Warner ; county superintendent of schools, J. E. Nesbit, West Union ; agricultural agent, P. E. Haag. THE VILLAGE OF WEST UNION—This place is situated on an elevated site on old Maysville and Zanesville turnpike, ten miles from the Ohio at Manchester and 106 miles from Columbus. It is 910 feet above sea-level, 410 above Lake Erie and 478 above the Ohio at Cincinnati. In 1885 it boasted of being the only county seat in Ohio not on a line of railway. The name West Union was chosen for it by Hon. Thomas Kirker, commissioner, who laid it out in 1804, and an early settler. Its population in 1920 was 992. THE VILLAGE OF MANCHESTER—Here was effected one of the first settlements in Ohio. Up to 1846, it was of but little commercial standing. From that date on it improved and has since taken first rank among the villages in the county. Its population is now 1,824. Manchester COUNTIES OF OHIO - 283 was the fourth place settled in Ohio that developed into a town, the other three being Marietta, Gallipolis and Cincinnati, the last mentioned first called Losantville. The Village of Winchester is a station point in the northwest corner of Adams County, thirteen miles from West Union. In 1920 it had a population of a little less than 913. The Village of Rome, in Green Township, has a population of 200. Other villages of this county are Peebles and Seaman, small trading points for their respective neighborhoods. SERPENT MOUND STATE PARK is located in the northern part of Adams County, Ohio. It is in the form of a huge serpent about to swallow Archaeologistsfigure. Archwologists from all over the world have visited this famous mound, and there has been much speculation in regard to its origin and significance. It is believed by many writers to have been built for religious or ceremonial purposes and to indicate that the builders were serpent worshippers. An observation tower in this park enables visitors to view the entire length of the serpent effigy, the head of which is on a high bluff overlooking the valley below. In this park are about 100 acres of land. The serpent effigy is 1,254 feet in length. The park is owned by the state, and its custody is vested in the Ohio State Archaeological and Historical Society. ALLEN COUNTY Allen County was formed April 1, 1820, from Indian territory, and named in memory of Colonel Allen, of the War of 1812. At first this county was attached to Mercer County for judicial purposes. The southern portion was settled largely by a frugal German class of people, 284 - HISTORY OF OHIO including many Pennsylvania German families. The western half of this county is very flat and takes on the general appearance of the Black Swamp country, while the east is gently rolling and the southern portion is in the gravel knob and gravelly geological formation. What has ever been styled the "Dividing Ridge," presents many well cultivated and very valuable farms, which were a half century ago, all well drained from the surplus water found standing on its surface. Allen County has an area of 406 miles and contains about 205,577 acres of tillable land ; 31,357 in native woodlands ; 4,554 in unimproved lands. The civil townships are as follows : Amanda, American, Auglaize, Bath, Jackson, Marion, Monroe, Ottawa, Perry, Richland, Shawnee, Spencer and Sugar Creek. The cities and villages are : Elida, Harrod, Lafayette, Delphos City, West Cario, Lima City, Beaver Dam and Bluffton villages and Spencerville. The population of Allen County by decades is as follows : In 1830 it was 31,314 ; 1850, 12,109 ; 1860, 19,185 ; 1870, 23,623 ; 1880, 31,314 ; 1890, 40,644 ; 1900, 47,976 ; 1910, 56,580 ; 1920, 68,223. The population per square mile is now 168. In 1880 the census reports showed an Ohio-born population of upwards of 25,000, four Indians and three Chinese. In 1920 the native-born whites numbered 64,064; the foreign horn, 2,753. The original occupancy by the white race in this county was in September, 1812, when Colonel Poague of General Harrison's army, who constructed a fort on the west bank of the Auglaize, and in honor of his wife, named it Amanda. The next year a ship-yard was established there and many scows were built by the soldiers for navigation on the Lower Miami and other nearby streams, including that historic stream the Auglaize, which was visited by the French, and here also lived the noted Indian chiefs. This section was also traveled by Harmer's and Anthony Wayne's armies. The fort referred to above was a quadrangular affair, with pickets eleven feet high, and a block-house at each of the four corners.' The storehouse was in the center. Many years ago a national cemetery was established there, and seventy-five sacred mounds may be seen, the same being the graves of soldiers of the War of 1812. Among the first white men who lived at this point was a Frenchman, Francis Deuchoquette, an Indian interpreter, who was probably present and protested at the burning of unfortunate Crawford. Andrew Russell opened the first farm in the county on the Auglaize, and there was born the first white child, a girl, who became Mrs. Charles C. Marshall, of Delphos. She was commonly styled the "Daughter of Allen County." She passed from earth in 1871. Among those whose names should be COUNTIES OF OHIO - 285 inscribed in this work are such brave pioneer men as Samuel McClure, who came in 1825, locating five miles northeast of Lima. Others were the Wards, the Hoovers, and the Quilna families. Another family of many members in this county was that of Jacob Ridenour, who settled in 1831. About the same date came in for permanent settlement, John P. Mitchell, Absalom Brown, John P. Cole, Dr. William Cunningham, John Brewster, David Tracy, John Mark, and John Bashore, all having families save Brewster. These all located in and near present Lima. The county seat of this county is the City of Lima, on the Ottawa River, about 200 feet above Lake Erie, and is situated ninety-five miles west-northwest of Columbus, and is on five railway lines. Its present population (1920) is 41,326. Lima was named by Hon. Patrick G. Goode, one of the commissioners appointed to locate the county seat of Allen County. A public sale of town lots was had here in August, 1831. Two things have made Lima a good, fast growing and successful commercial point—its factories and its wonderful oil development which commenced in 1885. The county seat was located here by Commissioner Christopher Wood ; it was platted by Capt. James W. Riley, both remarkable men whose life work would fill a volume each of interesting narrations. The present county officials are as follows, as shown in the Official Roster published by the state for 1923-1924: Probate judge, Jesse H. Hamilton ; clerk of the courts, John T. Cotner ; sheriff, Harvey B. Crosson ; auditor, C. R. Phillips ; county commissioners, J. W. Thompson, A. J. Gray, Walter W. Craig ; treasurer, Harry E. Botkins ; recorder, John T. Wyre ; surveyor, Ed Smith ; prosecuting attorney, Eugene T. Lippincott ; coroner, Frank Smith ; county superintendent of schools, C. A. Arganbright ; agricultural agent, H. J. Ridge. As to the agricultural interests in Allen County, let it be remarked that the official bulletin issued by the Department of Agriculture for 1923 shows the following facts : The county's acreage of wheat in 1923 was 21,000 ; oats acreage, 28,000 ; barley, 4,000 ; rye, 1,160 ; buckwheat, 10 acres ; hay, tons produced, 39,000 ; potatoes, 92,880 bushels ; all cattle in county in 1924, 22,360 ; dairy cows in 1924, 11,830 ; hogs, 54,450 ; number of sheep, 16,360 ; improved land in farms in 1920, 205,577 ; average number acres per farm in county, eighty-three. Concerning the history of the various cities, towns and villages in the county it may be said in brief, that the subjoined facts cover the situation in a general way to the year 1924: 286 - HISTORY OF OHIO Of the City of Lima, it was written in 1888, "Lima has several fine business blocks. The courthouse is one of the most imposing in all Ohio's eighty-eight counties. It covers a half acre and was erected, with the stone jail, at a cost of $350,000 ; it was built Of Berea stone, ornamented with red granite. The finishing within was of beautiful cherry lumber: While Lima was the seat of justice and had considerable manufacturing, it was not accounted a very, enterprising city, until oil was discovered in an almost endless quantity, in 1885, when it soon became known as the greatest oil field in the world at that date—even outstripping Russia." It was while boring for natural gas that B. C. Faurot found oil at the depth of about 1,200 feet. A home capitalized corporation entered into the task of developing the oil field. In 1888 there were 116 oil wells flowing a total of 5,000 barrels daily. The Standard Oil Company soon seized the opportunity and erected mammoth. refineries and, storage tanks for the product that has almost revolutionized the industries of the civilized globe. The gas that came with the rush of oil, also made Lima a mint of wealth, and industry was seen on every hand. Later, the Standard Oil Company piped the oil to Chicago, a distance of 210 miles, at a cost of $2,000,000. Among the accidents incidental to the oil field was the striking by lightning of several huge 'oil tanks in October, 1885. Other industries of long ago Lima and present Lima are recalled, the car shops, the Lima Engine Company, railroad shops, Lima paper -mills, strawboard and egg-case works, and a score of lesser plants. Lima is now the center of Ohio oil fields. It has about 3,000 wells and an oil refinery. It manufactures steel castings, motor trucks, tile roofing; mattresses, gloves, railroad locomotives, cars, boilers, nitroglycerine and other articles. Two newspapers are published daily except Sunday : The News and Times-Democrat and the Republican-Gazette ; one the Star, is published semi-weekly. The next city in size in the county is Delphos, which is partly within Van Wert and partly in Allen County. Its railroad facilities include many trunk lines and feeders. In earlier times the Miami and Erie Canal was counted on for heavy freights. Delphos was laid out in 1845. Its name for many years was "section ten." It has been said that Delphos could never have been settled without the drug known as quinine, which was used to counteract the prevalent malaria, in the regions about the marshes. Fever and ague was omnipresent and perennial. All this has changed, and Delphos is now a very healthful city. The first settlers were German Catholic people, who in 1845 built a huge log house of worship which served until 1880, when a fine edifice was erected at a cost of $100,000. Bluffton, situated seventy-five miles southwest of Sandusky, in the northeast corner of the county, was platted in 1837 under the name of Shannon, but after many years was renamed. In 1920 its population was 1,950. The place, today, is a fine, small town with many business houses, churches, lodges and excellent schools. It is the seat of Blufton College, a prosperous educational institution. Spencerville, laid out in 1844-1845, has two railroads and the old canal. This place is fourteen miles from Lima. Population in 1920, 1,543. Other villages within the county are Elida, Lafayette, Westminster, Cairo and Beaver Dam. ASHLAND COUNTY Ashland County was formed February 26, 1846. Its surface on the south, is hilly, and the remainder of the domain is rolling. The soil of the upland is a sandy loam ; of the valleys which comprise a larger part of the county, is a rich sandy and gravelly loam, and noted for its production of all crops and fruits common to this latitude. Its present ter- COUNTIES OF OHIO - 287 ritory originally included the townships of Vermilion. Montgomery, Orange, Green and Hanover, with parts of Monroe, Mifflin, Milton, and Clear Creek, of Richland County ; also the principal parts of the townships of Jackson, Perry, Mohican, and Lake, of Wayne County ; of Sullivan and Troy, Lorain County, and Ruggles, of Huron County. The townships from. Lorain and Huron counties are from the Connecticut Western Reserve tract. As they stand as civil sub-divisions of the county today, the townships are known as : Clear Creek, Green, Hanover, Jackson, Lake, Mifflin, Milton, Mohican, Montgomery, Orange,. Perry, Ruggles, Sullivan; Troy and Vermilion. The population at various census periods has been : In 1850, 23,813; 1860, 22,951 ; 1870, 21,933 ; 1880, 23,883 ; 1890, 22,223 ; 1900, 21,184 ; 1910, 22,975 ; 1920, 24,627 ; total area today, 421 square miles ; number population per square mile, 58.5: The early settlers were chiefly from Pennsylvania. The incorporated villages of the county are as follows : Savannah, Perrysville, a part of Loudonville,. Polk, Mifflin, Jeromeville, Hayes ville and Ashland city. The county seat—Ashland—was platted by William Montgomery in 1815, and was known as Uniontown for many years ; it was changed to Ashland as a compliment to Henry Clay, whose home was "Ashland" near Lexington, Kentucky. Daniel Carter raised the first cabin at the point where now' stands Ashland, Ohio, in 1811. The first store was opened' by Joseph Sheets in 1817. In 1920 Ashland had a population of 9,249. Among the first to settle this place were : Joseph Sheets, David Markley, Samuel Ury, Nicholas Shaeffer, Alanson Andrews, Elias Slocum, and George W. Palmer. Ashland is only fourteen miles from Mansfield. Forty years and more ago, the place contained many churches and excellent business places ; also a flourishing classical academy. COUNTY GOVERNMENT-At the organization of the first Court of Common Pleas, at. Ashland, an old gentleman named David Burns was one of the grand jurors who, it is believed, was also a member of the first grand jury ever impaneled in Ohio. The court met near the mouth of the Wegee Creek, in Belmont County, in 1795 ; the country being 288 - HISTORY OF OHIO thinly settled, he was forced to travel forty miles to the place of holding court. In common with other Ohio counties, Ashland can boast of a fair, and progressive form of county government. Its 1923-1924 present officials are listed in the official roster as follows : Probate judge, Benjamin W. McCray ; clerk of the courts, Cloyd M. Scott ; sheriff, Charles R. Barr ; auditor, Seth Gougwer ; county commissioners, U. V. Shafer, J. W. Ogden and J. W. Davidson ; treasurer, Hugh Paxton ; recorder, Cloyd M. Moneysmith ; surveyor, Gus Otter ; prosecuting attorney, J. F. Henderson ; coroner, Dr. T. S. Sims ; county superintendent of schools, 0. H. Maffet, residing at Ashland ; agricultural agent, N. E. Shilliday. The first citizen from Ohio to offer his services as a soldier in the great Civil war, 1861-1865, came from Ashland County in the person of Lorin Andrews of the First Ohio Volunteer regiment of the Union Army. He foresaw that war was inevitable and tendered Governor Dennison his services in February, before Fort Sumter had been fired upon, and in April, 1861, raised a company and was made colonel of the Fourth regiment. He was ordered to West Virginia, where from exposure he died of typhoid f ever, September 18, 1861, and was buried at Gambier in a spot of his own selection. Truly a noble man who was cut down in the prime of his life when men of his type were much needed in the great conflict in which liberty itself was at stake. In 1920, Ashland County produced 960,000 bushels of corn, 777,000 bushels of oats, 576,000 bushels of wheat, 11,210 bushels of rye, 6,820 bushels of barley, 1,300 bushels of buckwheat, 57,240 bushels of potatoes, and 35,000 tons of hay. The number of livestock on farms was as follows : All cattle, 19,300 ; dairy cows, 10,960 ; swine, 24,440 ; sheep, 30,300. Jeromeville is a small village of this county, eight miles to the southeast of Ashland, on Jerome fork of the Mohican. In 1762 John Mohican, with 200 Indians of the Mohican tribe, came from Connecticut and built themselves a village on the west side of Jerome Fork. During the War of 1812, this was about the only settlement within the county. There was at that time a Frenchman named John Baptiste Jerome residing there, and hence the name of the place by the white settlers. Population in 1920, 408. Helltown and Greentown were two Indian villages in the southern part of this county. Greentown was named after Thomas Green, a Tory COUNTIES OF OHIO - 289 of Connecticut, who favored the English and Indians in their destruction of the valley of Wyoming, Pennsylvania, and afterward fled to Ohio and joined the Delawares. The exact location of Helltown is not known positively, but generally thought to have existed on the south line of Green Township, on Clear Forks branch. It doubtless derived its name from a Pennsylvania captive who spoke the German language, in which "hell" signifies clear or transparent, so called after the stream upon which it was situated. Perrysville, sixty miles to the northeast of Columbus, was laid out June 10, 1815, by Thomas Coulter, and it was the second village in the county. In this one village and surrounding township there were not less than nine "stills" where liquor was made. The pioneer in this business was Jeremiah Conine. He was not able to satisfy the thirst of all who wanted his production. Hops were raised and sold at fifty cents per pound. In 1920 its population was 575. Hayesville is seventy miles northeast from Columbus, and is situated within a rich agricultural district. In 1880 its population was 563 and its churches included the Methodist Episcopal, Presbyterian, United Presbyterian, and its school was in a flourishing condition. Vermilion Township and this village have a population at this date of about 1,300. In 1920 the population of Hayesville was 247. Loudonville, sixty-five miles southwest of Cleveland, a station on the Pittsburg & Fort Wayne Railway, is surrounded with a fine farming section, and its people are prosperous and well contented. Among the early and most extensive industries here was the roller-process flouring mills—among if not the best plant in its day in the state. This is still a good trading point, and its population will rank well with the remaining towns within Ashland County. In 1920 its population was 1,887. It should be remembered that nearby (Perry Township) in this county was born that very able United States Senator, William 13. Allison, who represented his adopted state (Iowa) for more than forty years in Congress. He practiced law in Ashland and Wooster, and removed to Dubuque, Iowa, in 1857. ASHTABULA COUNTY This county was formed June 7, 1807, and was taken from Trumbull and Geauga, and the date of its organization was January 22, 1811. It derived its name from Ashtabula River, which signifies in Indian dialect, "Fish River." Its surface along the lake shore is quite level, while other portions of the county are somewhat rolling and the soil is generally clay. If any products of Ashtabula County have been greater than others they certainly have been butter and cheese, which for many years were the important articles shipped out to the world's markets. Wheat is not grown sufficient to make the bread consumed by the population. But other grains do much better. The county is divided into twenty-eight civil townships, as follows : Andover, Ashtabula, Austinburg, Cherry Valley, Colebrook, Conneaut, Denmark, Dorset, Geneva, Harpersfield, Hartsgrove, Jefferson, Kingsville, Lenox, Monroe, Morgan, New Lyme, Orwell, Pierpont, Plymouth, Richmond, Rome, Saybrook, Sheffield, Trumbull, Wayne, Williamsfield, Windsor. The population has been at various census-taking periods as follows : In 1820, 7,369 ; 1840, 23,724 ; 1850, 28,767; 1860, 31,814 ; 1870, 32,517 ; 1880, 37,139; 1890, 43,655; 1900, 51,448; 1910, 59,547; 1920, 65,445. The present area of the county is 723 square miles. The number of inhabitants per square mile is almost ninety-one. Ashtabula has the honor of having been the first settled on the now famous Western Reserve, as well as the earliest in the entire Northern Ohio district. July 4, 1796, the first surveying party of the Western Reserve landed at the mouth of Conneaut Creek. This party of hardy 290 - HISTORY OF OHIO pioneers numbered fifty-two souls, of whom only two were women, Mrs. Stiles and Mrs. Gunn, and one was a child. This band was destined to make the section in which they settled, famous in the annals of Ohio. Their names deserve a place in this record : Moses Cleveland, agent for the company ; Augustus Porter, principal surveyor ; Seth Pease, Moses Warren, Amos Spafford, Milton Hawley, Richard M. Stoddard, surveyors ; Joshua Stowe, commissary ; Theodore Shepard, physician ; Joseph Tinker, principal boatman ; Joseph McIntyre, George Proudfoot, Francis Gay, Samuel Forbes, Elijah Gunn, wife and child, Amos Sawten, Stephen Benton, Amos Barber, Samuel Hungerford, William B. Hall, Samuel Davenport, Asa Mason, Amzi Atwater, Michael Coffin, Elisha Ayres, Thomas Harris, Norman Wilcox, Timothy Dunham, George Goodwin, Shadrach Benham, Samuel Agnew, Warham Shepard, David Beard, John Briant, Titus V. Munson, Joseph Landon, Job V. Stiles and wife, Charles Parker, Ezekiel Hawley, Nathaniel Doan, Luke Hanchet, James Hasket, James Hamilton, Olney F. Rice, John Lock and four others whose names are now unknown to the author. These men set about building a huge log house on July 5th, the day after their arrival. This as occupied by the colony for some time and was named for one of the party, "Stowe Castle." Judge James Kingsbury arrived at Conneaut soon after the surveying party and wintered with his family at this place in a cabin later covered by the waters of the lake. This is believed to have been the first family that wintered on the Reserve. The sufferings endured by this family form a story which all should read, after which they will, perchance, be better satisfied with the country's condition today. Mr. Kingsbury cut with his sickle the first wheat that was ever grown on the soil of the Reserve. His wife was buried at Cleveland in 1843. The fate of her child—first white child born on the Reserve—which starved to death for lack of food, will not soon be forgotten by the people of Ohio. Ashtabula County ranks high in agricultural products. Following are the latest available figures : Acres of corn harvested, 24,000 bushels, 816,000 ; wheat, 7,000 acres ; bushels harvested, 140,000 ; acres of oats, 32,000 ; bushels, 1,216,000 ; rye, 2,220 acres ; bushels, 44,400 ; buckwheat acreage, 6,980 ; bushels, 139,600 ; hay, 105,000 tons cut ; potatoes grown, 339,680 bushels ; num- COUNTIES OF OHIO - 291 ber of horses on the farms of county in 1923, 11,100; all cattle in county, 36,390 ; dairy cows, in 1924, 29,250 ; swine kept, 10,040 ; sheep on hand, 6,910 ; the number of acres of improved land in farms in county in 1920 was 252,635 ; average size of farms in county, 79.4. Greenhouse products are a recent development. For the growing of these, about fifty acres are now under glass. COUNTY GOVERNMENT—Ashtabula is Ohio's most extensive subdivision—contains 723 square miles. Its county seat is Jefferson, fifty-six miles from Cleveland and 204 miles from Columbus. The affairs of the county in a business way, has ever been up to the highest standard maintained in Ohio. The present county officials are as follows, as named in the Ohio Official Roster : Probate judge, W. W. Woodbury ; clerk of the courts, A. H. Pontius; sheriff, H. D. Hannum ; auditor, W. H. Cook ; county commissioners, E. J. Harvey, O. R. Beckwith and G. A. Gladding ; treasurer, May A. Ruggles ; recorder, Clarence E. Mathews ; surveyor, Dwight N. Leggett ; prosecuting attorney, Charles R. Sergent ; coroner, Carl W. Dewey ; county superintendent of schools, C. D. Groves ; agricultural agent, E. C. Sleeth. CITIES AND VILLAGES—Ashtabula is well supplied with thrifty, enterprising, modern towns and cities. These are as follows : Ashtabula, Conneaut, Jefferson, Andover, Geneva, North Kingsville, Rock Creek, Austinburg. The City of Ashtabula now has a population of 22,082. It is situated on the Ashtabula River, on the shores of Lake Erie, and has four first class railroad lines running through. it. The Ashtabula Harbor is coming to, in fact now is, among the leading lake harbors in the country. Vast cargoes of iron and coal pass in and out through this port. The manufacturing interests are no small consideration here. The unique appliances for loading and unloading iron, coal, sand, etc., is the best to be seen anywhere. From 700 to 1,000 men were kept constantly employed on the docks of this place, as far back as 1888, since which date the number has rapidly increased, while the improved machinery takes care of great quantities formerly handled by men and horsepower. This harbor is three miles: from the city proper, though is included in its corporate limits. The great boat lines, plying between Detroit, Duluth, Chicago and other lake ports, bring a vast business to the city. Boats from Duluth bring down iron ore and take back hard coal, almost as a ballast, thus cheapening freight. One of America's greatest railroad disasters occurred at this place on the night. of December 29, 1876, when the bridge on the Lake Shore road crossing the Ashtabula River went down to the bottom of the stream, a distance of seventy-five feet, carrying with it part of the coaches, which those days were always constructed of wood, and heated by wood stoves. The disaster was terrible to narrate. The train was drawn by two monster locomotives, drawing a train of eleven cars with 156 souls. The cars were consumed by fire, and the number lost was great. Among the passengers on that ill-fated train was the noted and beloved P. P. Bliss and wife of Chicago. He was a singing evangelist and wrote "Hold the Fort." Conneaut, located on Lake Erie at the mouth of Conneaut Creek, has a good harbor and a lighthouse. It is an important ore and coal port, with unusual facilities for handling large cargoes. The city has large railroad shops and canneries. It manufactures brick, shovels and leather, and supports three hospitals, a Carnegie library, a public park and a municipally owned electric light plant. Its population in 1920 was 9,343. Jefferson, the county seat of Ashtabula County, is situated fourteen miles from Lake Erie in the midst of a prosperous farming district. It has been the birthplace and home of many men and women of national popularity, and the influence has been ever for loyalty and the right standards of living. Here once resided Senator Ben F. Wade, Hons. - 291 - 292 - HISTORY OF OHIO Joshua R. Giddings, A. G. Riddle, William C. Howells, Rufus P. Ranney. These men represented the law, the orators and Abolition of Slavery workers and famous journalists. Both Giddings and Wade have fine monuments erected to their memory in Jefferson. Other illustrious characters of Ashtabula County may be recalled as Judge Albion W. Tourgee, author of "Bricks Without Straw," "A Fool's Errand," and other works once popular. President Garfield claimed the influence exerted through the last named book turned the scale toward his election, in 1880. Betsy M. Cowles and sister, Cornelia, lived in this county in anti-slavery times and became a power by singing Abolition songs with great effect, before and after spirited speeches by noted men. Betsy Cowles died in 1876 at her home in Austinburg. Old John Brown and associates, just prior to the raid on Harper's Ferry, made West Andover, this county, his headquarters. Brown's Sharp's rifles and other materials of war were stored in a cabinet shop on the creek road in Cherry Valley, where John Brown, Jr., resided. Whoever thinks of slavery and its final abolition must refer to loyal men and women who helped the cause along in Ashtabula County, and of the "Underground Railroad" from Wheeling, Virginia, to Ashtabula, Ohio, which line secretly allowed hundreds of escaping slaves out of this country over into Canada, where safety was assured them. In 1920 the population of Jefferson was 1,532. Austinburg, five miles west from Jefferson, is a small village, but within an historic neighborhood. The original proprietors of this township were William Battell and Solomon Rockwell, of Connecticut. Through the influence of Judge Austin, from whom the town was named, two families moved to the place in 1799. Some came by water, others overland. In 1800 another family came in. In the spring of 1801 came ten more families. The first church on the Western Reserve was organized by sixteen members, October 24, 1801, at Austinburg. It was founded by Rev. Joseph Badger, the first missionary of the Cross on the Reserve. In 1802 Rev. Badger moved his family to this town in the first wagon that ever came from Buffalo to the Reserve. North Kingsville, situated on the shores of Lake Erie, is sixty miles east of Cleveland, fourteen miles from Jefferson. For many years the chief industries here were basket-making and the manufacture of tool COUNTIES OF OHIO - 293 handles, in which more than eighty men were employed in 1888. This was once the youthful home of Judge Tourgee, author of "A Fool's Errand." In 1920 the population of North Kingsville was 598. Rock Creek, another small town, is sixteen miles south of the lake, along the line of the Ashtabula & Pittsburg Railroad. Its population in 1880 was upwards of 500. In 1920 it was 483. It has long been noted for its handle factories, tanneries, flouring- mills and moulding factory. Geneva, three miles from Lake Erie, is forty-five miles east of Cleveland. With the township in which it is situated there are about 5,000 population at this date. In 1920 the population of the village was 3,081. Its manufacturing industries of long ago, as well as in recent years, are profitable adjuncts to the community. It was here in this small place, then a mere hamlet, that the world known P. R. Spencer, author of the splendid "Spencerian System of Penmanship" made his home, having come hither from the Hudson River country, New York, in infancy. He was pioneer in the establishing of commercial schools. His copy-books have been sold way into the many millions, and his steel pens are known and used the world around. The noted American poetess, Edith M. Thomas, was a long-time resident of this town. The Village of Andover in 1920 had a population of 921, a slight increase over that recorded in the two previous decades. ATHENS COUNTY Originally, Athens was a part of Washington County, but became a separate organized county March 1, 1805. Its surface is broken and hilly throughout, save in its little fertile valleys. Even the hills are fertile 294 - HISTORY OF OHIO and originally abounded in a heavy growth of timber. It has an area of 487 square miles. It is rich in its mineral wealth. Between 1848 and 1868 there were shipped from the county 50,000 barrels of salt, annually. Its greatest mineral value now is its coal, being second in rank in the State of Ohio. The present civil townships of this county are : Alexander, Ames, Athens, Bern, Canaan, Carthage, Dover, Lee, Lodi, Rome, Trimble, Troy, Waterloo, and York. The census reports of the United States and Ohio give the following figures on the population of Athens County at various dates : In 1820, it had 6,342 ; 1840, 19,108 ; 1860, 21,364 ; 1870, 23,768 ; 1880, 28,411; 1890, 35,194 ; 1900, 38,730 ; 1910, 47,798 ; 1920, 50,430. It now has a population of 103.6 people to the square mile. The early settlement in this county began directly after General Wayne's treaty ; its inception, says one local historian, had its origin in one of the most noble motives that can influence humanity—the desire for the promotion of learning. Later will appear a sketch of the Ohio University at Athens. The county seat of this county is also called Athens, which is situated on the Hocking River, seventy-two miles southeast of Columbus. It became the legal seat of justice in March, 1805. The Ohio University, the first institution of learning established in all the territory northwest of Ohio River, was first chartered by the territorial government, and in 1804, by the state Legislature. Congress then endowed it with two full townships of land. Up to 1886 there had been educated about 10,000 persons at this institution. In recent years it has been more liberally supported by the state, and is attracting a rapidly increasing attendance. The general rule of progressive local county government has ever obtained in this county, where law and order are highly respected. The county officials of today are these : Probate judge, Samuel M. Johnson ; clerk of the courts, Thurman L. Morgan ; sheriff, P. H. McKinley ; auditor, Fred Cornwell ; county commissioners, John W. Hawk, A. L. Johnson, Andrew Murphy ; treasurer, R. P. Imes ; recorder, Elizabeth McGrath ; surveyor, J. R. Sands ; prosecuting attorney, R. N. Finisterwald ; coroner, Lewis W. Sanders ; county superintendent of schools, H. R. McVay; agricultural agent, T. H. Johnson. Agricultural statistics for 1923 show that there were that year grown 20,000 acres of corn ; 9,000 acres of wheat ; oats, 3,000.; rye, 58 acres ; buckwheat, 37 acres ; hay, 34,000 tons ; potatoes, 85,800 bushels ; all cattle on farms, 19,810 head ; dairy cows in use in county, 8,460 ; swine, 9,000 head ; sheep, 33,940 head ; average improved land in farm, 75.1 acres ; land under cultivation, 187,906 acres. The cities and villages of the county include Athens, the county seat ; Albany, nine miles from Athens ; Buchtel, in the norwest portion of the county ; Nelsonville, the coal mining center ; Amesville, Chauncey, Glouster, Jacksonville, Trimble, and Coolville. Athens, the county seat, had in 1920 6,418 population. It is twenty-five miles from the Ohio River. The town is situated on the banks of Hocking River. The scenery of the environments here is perfectly charming. Churches of nearly every denomination are found here. The asylum for the insane for part of Ohio has long been located at Athens. The Town of Albany, nine miles south of the county seat, has long been known as a temperance town. It is within a beautiful farming, grazing and wool-growing section. Among its old-time schools were the Atwood Institute, also the Enterprise Academy for colored students. Nelsonville, laid out in 1818 and named for Daniel Nelson, owner of the townsite, is among Ohio's greatest coal mining centers. Being close to both canal and railroad facilities, as long ago as 1880, the coal industry had reached large proportions. In 1880 its population was over 3,000. COUNTIES OF OHIO - 295 By 1900 it had attained the city grade of population. In 1920 its population was 6,440. Fort Gower was erected on the Ohio River at the mouth of the Hocking by Lord Dunmore in October, 1774, and named by him in honor of his friend, the Earl of Gower. From this point Dunmore marched to the Pickaway Plains, where he later concluded a treaty with the Indians. See the chapter on "The Dunmore War." A modest monument with bronze tablet marks the site of the fort. AUGLAIZE COUNTY This county was organized in 1848 and taken from portions of Allen, Logan, Darke, Shelby, Mercer and Van Wert counties. Its location is at the northern end of the great Black Swamp district, and it occupies the ridge dividing the head waters of the Ohio River and Lake Erie. By a modern process of drainage all of the former marshy land has been reclaimed. The population here is mostly of the German people, at least the early settlers were from the Fatherland. The county contains 397 square miles. The names of the several civil townships are as follows : Clay, Duchouquet, German, Goshen, Jackson, Logan, Moulton, Noble, Pusheta, Saint Mary, Salem, Union, Washington, Wayne. According to the federal census reports, the population at various decades has been as follows : In 1850, 11,338 ; 1860, 17,187; 1870, 20, 041; 1880, 25,444 ; 1890, 28,100 ; 1900, 31,192 ; 1910, 31,246; 1920, 29,527. Population per square mile, 74.4. The present county officers are as follows : Probate judge, L. C. Brodbeck ; clerk of the courts, John J. Kinney ; sheriff, Bob Ewing ; auditor, Fred F. Becker ; county commissioners, Philip F. Graessle, E. H. Youngs, John W. Brackney ; treasurer, Andrew M. Lampert ; recorder, Roy Hawkey ; surveyor, George A. Shuster ; prosecuting attorney, R. N. Karl Timmermeister ; coroner, W. S. Stuckey ; county superintendent of schools, J. H. Hixson ; agricultural agent, D. T. Herman. Among the early settlements of the county was that effected by the Society of Friends, who established a mission among the Shawnees at Wapakoneta ; this was removed in the time of the War of 1812. The farming of this county is best noted by reference to the products of the soil as reported in the State Agricultural Bulletin of Ohio : Acres of corn grown, 51,000; bushels produced, 2,040,000; wheat grown, 28,000 acres ; number bushels, 448,000 ; oats, 24,000 acres ; barley, 2,730 acres ; rye acreage, 880 ; bushels, 11,000 ; hay 35,000 acres ; tons, 38,000 ; potatoes, 1,090 acres ; produced 57,700 bushels ; number cattle in county in 1923, 22,980 ; dairy cows, 11,830 ; swine, 53,880 ; sheep, 10,000 ; the 296 - HISTORY OF OHIO number of acres in farms in county, 240,568; average size of farms, 91.6 acres. The cities and villages of this county are the county seat, Wapakoneta, St. Marys, New Bremen, Minster, Cridersville, Buckland, Uniopolis, New Knoxville and Waynesfield. The first two have attained the city grade of population. The county seat is Wapakoneta, seventy-five miles northwest of Columbus, on the Auglaize River and the Hamilton & Dayton Railroad. It is located in the natural gas and oil belt and in an agricultural region of great fertility. The name of the city is of Indian origin—Wapaghko-wetta, a famous Indian chief. It stands on the site of an ancient Indian village. Here Blue Jacket, who led the Indians against Wayne at the battle of Fallen Timbers once lived, and here Black Hoof, another famous chieftain, died at the age, it is claimed, of one hundred and ten years. The city was laid out as a village in 1833. It manufactures furniture, refrigerators, woodworking machinery and hollow ware. Population in 1920, 5,295. Saint Mary's was settled in 1795, incorporated in 1820, and became a city in 1903. It is located in the oil belt and is surrounded by a very productive agricultural section. It has chain works, woolen mills, machine shops, a box factory and a strawboard factory. Its manufacturing establishments employ about 1,000 men. The three banks of this city have an aggregate capital of $180,000. In 1920 its population was 5,679. Fort Amanda Park is located in the northern part of Auglaize County on the Auglaize River, and includes the site of old Fort Amanda. This fort was built in the War of 1812 and near it an engagement was fought. It includes a cemetery where some of the American soldiers are buried. It has been purchased by the state and a monument has been erected on the site. It is in the custody of the Ohio State Archaeological and Historical Society. BELMONT COUNTY September 7, 1801, Governor St. Clair established this county, which was the ninth formed in the Northwestern Territory. The name signifies "fine mountain," in French. The land is very hilly, but there is also much good tillable land within its borders. It has most enchanting landscape scenery. Its area is 530 square miles. The civil townships of this county are as follows : Colerain, Flushing, Goshen, Kirkwood, Mead, Pease, Pultny, Richland, Smith, Somerset, Union, Warren, Washington, Wayne, Wheeling, York. Population—The United States census reports give the figures below : In 1820 the county had a population of 20,329 ; 1840, 30,902 ; 1860, 36,397 ; 1870, 39,714 ; 1880, 49,638 ; 1890, 57,413 ; 1900, 60,875 ; 1910, 76,856; 1920, 93,193. Population per square mile, 175.8. Agricultural Resources—The Bulletin of the State Agricultural Department gives figures as follows for 1923-24 : Amount bushels of corn raised in the county, 1,066,000; wheat, 225,000 bushels ; oats, 403,003 bushels ; barley, 1,750 bushels ; rye, 3,550 bushels ; tons of hay, 54,000 ; bushels potatoes, 60,060 ; all cattle on farms, 27,870 ; dairy cows, 17,050 ; swine, 15,900 ; sheep, 48,480 ; total number of farms, 3,568 ; average size farm, 66.1 acres. Present County Officials—The Official Roster, published in 1923, gives the following : Probate judge, Edward D. Meek ; clerk of the courts, L. E. Imhoff ; sheriff, Sam Dun fee ; auditor, Homer G. Finley ; county commissioners, George L. Sandrock, Frank A. Hagadom, John F. Shry ; treasurer, Paul B. Jones ; recorder, C. B. Bradfield ; surveyor, Addison C. Murphy ; prosecuting attorney, Herbert W. Mitchell ; coroner, Clyde C. Hardesty ; county superintendent of schools, George M. Pogue ; agricultural agent, I. S. Hoddinotl. Belmont County was one of the first settled in Ohio, as well as the COUNTIES OF OHIO - 297 scene of many desperate Indian battles. About 1790 Fort Dillie was built on the west side of the Ohio River, opposite Grave Creek. Among the historic encounters at this point was the battle of Captina. Lewis Wetzel, the great Indian hunter, was frequently throun this section and ocn two occasions won fame for his thrilling and sanguinary contest with the red warriors. The county seat is St. Clairsville, situated on an elevated site, in a rich farming country, on the line of the National Road, eleven miles west of Wheeling and 116 east from Columbus. Its business and social functions are fully abreast with the other counties of the Buckeye State. This place has not grown to any considerable extent in many years. Along in the '80s a $200,000 courthouse was erected. A terrible cyclone visited the town in the spring of 1887, the worst ever seen in Eastern Ohio. The place has long been known for the men and women of rare intelligence and great moral worth, rather than for its size or business interests. St. Clairsville derives its name from that unfortunate but meritorious man, Gen. Arthur St. Clair, governor of the Northwest Territory. Here Benjamin Landy lived when he began his work for the abolition of slavery. Hither came Charles Hamond and began his distinguished career as lawyer and journalist. Bridgeport lies upon the Ohio River 135 miles east of Columbus, and is also one of the early towns along the old National Pike. For long years it was known for its manufacturing enterprise, including the production of glass, iron works, cut glass factories, barrels, flour, and extensive machine shops. This town was laid out in 1806 and called Canton, by old Ebeneezer Zane. Prior to that, the place had been known as Kirkwood, after Captain Kirkwood, who in 1789 erected his cabin on the south side of Indian Wheeling Creek. Its population in 1920 was 3,977. Bellaire, situated five miles below Wheeling on the Ohio River, is another town of Belmont County. Has long been listed as a manufacturing city of much importance. Coal mines and natural gas greatly aid the facilities. It has grown wonderfully with the passing of years. It now has a population of 15,061. Coal is mined, limestone and fire clay abound. The factory plants as long ago as 1887 included such industries as these : Glass works, sash and doors and blinds gas fittings, barrel works, iron foundries, lamp globes, stamping works, and foundry and machine works. The leading 'manufactured articles are iron and steel, glass, farming implements, enamel, machinery, boilers and rivets. Barnesville is almost 100 miles east of Columbus, and twenty miles west of the Ohio river. It has been known far and near, for more than sixty years, for the quality and amount of fine strawberries grown and marketed. This was the original home of the Wilson and the Sharpless strawberry and this luscious berry has found its way all over America and over many Parts of Europe. Its population in 1920 was 4,865. It is growing steadily and will soon attain city rank. 298 - HISTORY OF OHIO The first settlement about present Barnesville was in 1800, by George Shannon (Governor Shannon's father), John Grier and John D. Dougherty. Most of the first settlers were families of the Quaker faith, from North Carolina, Pennsylvania, and Maryland. Here Wilson Shannon, the first native of Ohio who became its governor, was born, February 24, 1802. Martin's Ferry, on the west bank of the Ohio, is within Belmont County, opposite the City of Wheeling. An almost inexhaustible vein of good coal underlies the region. Fine building stone and superior lime rock are close at hand. The first settlement here was in 1785 and called Norristown, but the Indians objected and General Harmar had the whites removed to the other side of the river. In 1788 the land where now stands the City of Martin's Ferry, was patented to Absalom Martin. In 1795 he platted the town and named it Jefferson, hoping to make it the county seat of Belmont County ; but failing in this, he abandoned his town site project. In 1835 Ebenezer Martin laid out Martinsville, later changed to Martin's Ferry. It became an incorporated town in 1865. Its manufacturing enterprises are numerous, including glass, iron, stoves, two tin plate mills, two sheet iron mills, metal ceiling works, steam engines, tableware, barrel factories, brick, tile, and scores of other plants. It had a population in 1920 of 11,634. This was written of the place in 1887: "The cultivation of grapes is an important and growing industry of this locality, the warm sunny eastern slopes west of the town being especially adapted to their perfection; not less than 350 acres are devoted to their cultivation. The grapes made into wine by the Ohio Wine Company find ready sale over a large scope of country." This city is the birthplace of America's great novelist—William Dean Howells,. born here 1837. Following are the remaining villages of the county : Flushing, Holloway, Bethesda, Fairview, Shadyside, Brookside, Yorkville, Morristown and Powhatan Point. William Windom, United States senator from Minnesota and secretary of the treasurer in the cabinet of James A Garfield, was born in Belmont County, May 10, 1827. COUNTIES OF OHIO - 299 BROWN COUNTY This sub-division of the state was formed from Adams and Clermont, March 1, 1817, and named for Gen. Jacob Brown, a gallant officer in the War of 1812. Aside from the Ohio River hills, this county is generally level and its soil very fertile. It has an area of 481 square miles. Its townships are : Byrd, Clark, Eagle, Franklin, Green, Huntington, Jackson, Jefferson, Lewis, Perry, Pike, Pleasant, Scott, Sterling, Union and Washington. A short time before this county was settled, a battle was fought at the "Salt Lick," in Perry Township, in the northern portion of the county, between a party of Kentuckians and some Indians under old Tecumseh. At various periods the population of the county has been shown by government reports to have been : In 1820, 13,367; 1840, 22,715 ; 1850, 27,332 ; 1860, 29,958 ; 1870, 30,802 ; 1880, 32,911; 1890, 29,899 ; 1900, 28,237 ; 1910, 24,832 ; 1920, 22,621. Population to square mile, 192.5. The county seat is Georgetown, 107 miles from Columbus. This was platted as a town site in 1819 by its owners, Allen Woods and Henry Newkirk. The place is handsomely situated in the valley of White Oak Creek. The early manufacturing interest included the woolen mills and tobacco business in its various departments. The last named industry, forty years ago, was the chief industry of the county. Almost 4,000,000 pounds were raised in 1885 ; in 1920, 56,038,387 pounds. Only two other Ohio counties surpass this for tobacco culture. Perhaps Georgetown will ever be known to those interested in war and statesmanship, as it was here that Ulysses S. Grant spent his boyhood days, and was born over in Clermont County. His great-grandfather, Noah Grant, was a captain in the early French wars, and his grandfather, Noah Grant, a lieutenant in the battle of Lexington. His father, Jesse Grant, was at one time mayor of Georgetown. The schoolhouse he attended, the father's tannery and two story residence, near by, are still standing and are interesting objects much sought by tourists. Thomas L. Hamer, state legislator, congressman and brigadier-general in the Mexican war, is buried here. A fine monument has been erected to his memory in the courthouse yard. While in Congress he appointed Grant cadet to West Point.