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HISTORY OF ROSS AND HIGHLAND COUNTIES, OHIO - 93

CHAPTER XIII.


ERECTION OF HIGHLAND COUNTY.


The Act Creating the County.—Subsequent Acts Modifying Its Form and Extent.—Division Into Townships.—Early Courts.—Methods of Punishment for Petty Theft —County Buildings.


HIGHLAND was the twenty-first county organized in the State of Ohio. It was erected by an act passed by the general assembly February 18, 1805, from territory originally included in the old counties of Ross, Adams and Clermont. The following is the full text of this act:


AN ACT


Erecting a part of the counties of Ross, Adams and Clermont, into a


separate county, by the name of Highland.


SECTION 1. Be it enacted by the general assembly of the State of Ohio, That all that part of the counties of Ross, Adams and Clermont, within the following boundaries, be and the same is hereby laid off and erected into a separate county, which shall be known by the name of Highland: beginning at the twenty mile tree, in the line between Adams and Clermont counties, which is run north from the mouth of Eagle creek, on the Ohio river, and running thence east twelve miles; thence northeastwardly until it intersects the line which was run between the counties of Ross, Scioto and Adams, at the eighteen mile tree from the Scioto river; thence northwardly to the mouth of the Rocky fork of Paint creek; thence up main Paint creek, by the bed thereof, including John Watt's survey of one thousand acres, on which the town of Greenfield is situate, to the south line of Franklin county; thence with said line west, to the east line of Greene county; thence with said line south, to the southeast corner of said county; thence with the south line thereof west, to the northeast corner of Clermont county, and from the beginning west, to the north fork of White Oak creek; thence north to the south line of Warren county; thence with said line east to the corner between Clermont and Warren counties.


SEC. 2. That from and after the first of May next, said county shall be vested with all the powers, privileges and immunities of a separate and distinct county: Provided, that it shall be lawful for the coroners, sheriff's, constables and collectors for the counties of Ross, Adams and Clermont, to do and perform all the duties which they are or may be required to do in their respective counties, within the bounds of said county of Highland, before the said division shall take place; and all suits and acts, which are or may be pending therein at the time of said division, shall be tried and determined in the same manner as though a division had not taken place.


SEC. 3. That all that part of the county of Highland, which shall lie south of an east line drawn from the forty-four mile tree, in the line which divides the counties Adams, Clermont, Ross and Warren, to Paint creek, shall be a district, within which and within four miles of the common center thereof, the commissioners who may be appointed, agreeably to an act, entitled "An act establishing seats of justice," shall fix the permanent seat of justice for the said county of Highland.


SEC. 4. That all the inhabitants within the said county of Highland, who do now or may hereafter reside north of the east and west line mentioned in the third section of this act, shall be exempted from paying any county rates or levies, for the purpose of erecting public buildings therein.


SEC. 5. That the courts to be held in the said county of Highland, shall be holden in the town of New Market, until a permanent seat of justice shall be established in said county. [Passed February 18, 1805].


Highland county, as established by the act of 1805, was very much larger than it now is. Its territory was considerably lessened by the erection of Fayette county in 1810 ; by the erection of Clinton county in the same year, and by the attachment of a portion of its lands to Clinton, by act of the general assembly, passed February 4, 1813. Since the latter date the boundaries of Highland have remained essentially unchanged.


The county contains, according to the most accurate survey, five hundred and forty-one square miles of territory, or three hundred and forty-six thousand three hundred and seven acres, "comprehended in six hundred


94 - HISTORY OF ROSS AND HIGHLAND COUNTIES, OHIO.


and thirty-two original surveys of the Virginia Military district."


CREATION OF TOWNSHIPS.


When the county was first organized it was divided into four townships, viz: Nqw Market, Liberty, Fairfield, and Brush Creek.


All records of the proceedings of county commissioners previous to 1811 have been lost, or more probably, destroyed, and so it is impossible to ascertain definitely any but the most meagre facts in regard to this portion of the civil history of the county.


At a meeting of the commissioners April 14, 1825, an order was issued "that the boundary lines of all the townships in the county should be collected in one view." The record sets forth the boundary lines of the four original townships, and of four others Paint, Union, Madison, and Concord—subsequently established, but gives no dates of their creation or organization, and, while it is almost absolutely certain that the last four townships were erected by the civil authority of the county, it is a matter of doubt, by what authority the four original townships were created. It is said by one* who has made an exhaustive search for information upon this topic, that no records exist in the auditor's, clerk's, or recorder's offices of Ross, Adams, Clermont, or Highland counties, from which any information can be gained of this matter.


The same authority, from whom we have above quoted, says in regard to the law defining the duties of county officials in making township divisions:


"The county commissioners were, for the first, exclusively authorized to organize and create new townships, by the act of the general assembly, of February ro, aro, and previous to that time, the justices of the court of quarter sessions, prior to the State constitution of 1803, and the commissioners of each county, and the associate judges of the court of common pleas of each county, after the adoption of that constitution had, concurrently, exercised the powers by law, of organizing new townships until 1810."


Following are the dates of the organization of the townships, which are found on the journals, and the territory of which they were formed :

Names of townships

Time of organization

From what townships created

Jackson

Sept. 24, 1816.

Brush Creek and Concord

Salem

Aug. 10, 1819

New Market and Union.

White Oak

1821

New Market and Salem

Dodson

June 7, 1830

Union, Salem and New Market.

Clay

Dec. 5, 1831

White Oak and Salem

Marshall

Jan. 15, 1844

Liberty, Jackson, Brush Cr. and Paint

Hamer

June 5, 1849

Salem, New Market, Union and Dodson

Washington

June 6, 1850

Liberty, Concord, Jackson and Marshall

Penn

March 2, 1852

Liberty, Fairfield and Union.


Highland county was so named from the fact that it consists of the high lands lying between the Scioto and the Little Miami.


THE FIRST COURTS.


The first court held in the county was at New Market, in '1805, Robert Slaughter being the presiding judge, with Richard Evans, John Davidson and Jonathan Berryman as his associates; Abram J. Williams as prosecuting attorney; David Hays, clerk; and Anthony Franklin, sher-


* Judge James M. Thompson, of Hillsborough.


ill. It is related that at one term of the court held at New market, one Joseph Quillon being found guilty of the charge of theft, was sentenced by the court to be fined and imprisoned ten days, and that for want of a jail he was imprisoned in an unfinished well, with rails placed over it for security.


Court was first held at Hillsborough, November 9, 1807, with Levin L. Belt as presiding judge, sustained by the same trio of associate or side judges who sat with his honor, Judge Robert Slaughter, at New Market. A small court house was built upon the public ground where the present edifice stands. In 1808, at the October term, a novel judgment was entered, and subsequently executed. The entry reads as follows: "The State of Ohio versus Francis Knott. The prisoner was brought to the bar in custody of the jailor, and being demanded by the judge if any objection he had why judgment should not be pronounced against him, replied he had none; whereupon it is considered by the court that he be whipped eleven stripes on his naked back—that he shall pay to John Moore, the person from whom he took the money, ten dollars; that he be fined ten dollars; also, that he pay the cost of this prosecution, and that he be imprisoned until the judgment of this court be complied with." The sentence of the court was carried into effect ; and thus, in the autumn of the year 18o8 there was a public whipping in Hillsborough. Francis Knott, the unlucky prisoner, says Judge Thompson, was tied to a beech tree upon Short street, and the stripes were laid upon his naked back by Sheriff Augustus Richards.


COUNTY BUILDINGS.


The first court house and jail in the county stood in the village of Hillsborough, upon the ground occupied by the newer, structure, and they were built in 1807-8. They were built by Shields and Pye.


The present court house, a two-story brick edifice, sixty-eight by forty-five feet in dimensions, built in the old-fashioned style, with panelled walls and front relieved by pllars, dates back to the year 1832. The records show that on Februay 13, 1832, the county commissioners Pleasant Arthur, William Carothers, and Phillip W. Spargur--met pursuant to adjournment, and, in addition to their routine business, awarded to Jonathan Harvey the contract for building a new court house, according to elaborate specifications by them provided. Harvey undertook the job upon an agreement that he should receive therefor six thousand six hundred dollars. John Smith and John Jones, the record states, were his securities. Harvey died in 1832, and the work being uncompleted, a second contract was awarded to Christopher Arthur, February 4th, with Joshua Woodrow, John Smith, and John A. 'Trimble, as securities. The final payment was made to Arthur on the fourth of April, 1835.


The old jail was purchased by Thomas Mullenix December 25, 1837, and removed by him. The present jail, a two-story brick structure, forty-four by thirty-two feet, and containing, beside the prison, a sheriff's residence, was built in 1837 by Ambrose Emrie, the contract be-


HISTORY OF ROSS AND HIGHLAND COUNTIES, OHIO - 95


tween him and the commissioners being dated January 27th of that year. The amount which he received was four thousand seven hundred and eighty-nine dollars. His securities were John Smith, David Miller, and Benjamin Chaney. At that time Newton Doggett, John H. Mitchell, and John H. Spargur, were the commissioners; and as they passed a resolution that the work should be superintended by one of their number, Newton Doggett was assigned to that duty.


The present infirmary farm, in Liberty township, on the Marshall road, was bought of Steward Irvine in 1844, and, for several years, a dwelling house standing upon it was used by the county as an asylum for its poor. The present infirmary building was erected in 1852.