WOOD COUNTY, OHIO - 209 CHAPTER XXVI. ASSESSMENT AND CENSUS STATISTICS-AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTS - STATISTICS OF POPULATION DECENNIAL CENSUS. THE chapters devoted to political and educational affairs contain very complete statistics relating to voters and school children, while that on the Transactions of the Commissioners deals more or less extensively with tax levies and financial affairs. Here, the assessed value of property, at stated periods, and the tax levied thereon are given, with figures on the products of the farm. The most important section of the chapter is that which deals 210 - WOOD COUNTY, OHIO. with the population. It differs from the assessment and agricultural statistics, in the fact of its authenticity. Though the former figures are summarized from State reports, they do not agree with true values or quantities, while it is known that the Census returns cover, practically, the number of inhabitants found in the county at the close of each decade, beginning with that ending in June, 1820. Assessment Statistics.-The assessed value of real and personal property, within its boundaries, of 1826, was $88,886, of which $40,704 was assessed on lands, $,23,230 on town lots, and $24,952 on personal property. The respective assessments, in 1830, were $38,158, $27,222 and $15,884, or a total of $81,264. In 1840, the assessment was increased to $577,999, the lands being assessed at $229,673, town lots at $216,244, and personal property at $62,082. The assessment for 1850 shows a total of $1, 195, 183, the lands being assessed at $890,7,36. This was increased, by 1860, to $3,406,418, the lands amounting to $2,353,142, town lots to $253,100, and personal property to $800,176. In 1870, the total assessed value was $4,737,217; of which land values were placed at $2,621,271, and personal property at $1,809,690. The valuation by townships, in 1871, is given as follows: Perrysburg, $1,341,402; Weston, $617,507; Middleton, $434,520; Portage, $259.403 Perry, 548,692; Montgomery, $493,814; Freedom, $J32,979; Troy, $322,225; Liberty, .$363, 039; Center, $385,005; Bloom, $438,451; Plain, $518,972; Milton, $454,524; Henry, $257,227; Washington, $450,893; Jackson, $217,671 ; Lake, $544,728; Webster, $291,082, or a total of $8,272, 134 The Act of April 26, 1872, authorized a one mill tax, for township purposes, where the valuation does not exceed $200,000, eight-tenths of a mill, where not in excess of $300,000, one-half a mill, where the valuation does not exceed $500,000, and one-fourth of a mill, where the assessed value is above the half-million mark. In 1872, the valuation of 1870 was almost doubled, when the total assessment reached $8,444.061, of which lands were valued at $5,675,274, and personal property at $2,253,740. In 1877, there were 391,585 acres of land valued at $5,774,520, town lots valued at $891,010, chattel tel property at $3,112,640, or a total of $9,778,170, on which a State tax of $28,356.69 was levied, and a local tax for all purposes amounting to $162,198.05, or a total tax of $190,554.74, including $49,741.40 for school purposes. The assessed valuation, in 1890, was $16,339, 950, on which a tax of $351,766.22 (exclusive of the one-dollar tax on 2,893 dogs) was levied, the total of county and local tax being $271,705-39. The assessed value of real and personal property, in 1893, was $19,266,790, the State tax, $52,983.67, and the total tax (except the one-dollar tax on 3, 124 dogs, and two-dollar tax on 114 female dogs), $555,906.44. The actual tax levy for county purposes was $385,775.89, being county, bridge-building, indigent soldiers' fund, road debts, township school $115,057.42; special, $34,732; city and village, $53,147.07; but neither poor nor miscellaneous taxes. According to the State reports, there were 385,970 acres of land assessed in 1893, at $9,486,130, with real estate in towns and villages assessed at $2,655,22250, and personal property in townships and towns at $7,125,410, or a total of $19,266,790, being about the ninety-first part of the assessed value of the State, $1,752,990,930. The true total for Wood county, on a marketable basis, might be ascertained by multiplying the given assessed value by four. The total State tax levied in 1893, on a basis of 2 "T' mills, amounted to $52,983.67; the county and local taxes amounted to $385775.89; the dog tax to $3,388; and delinquent taxes of 1893 and former years, $117,146.88, bringing the total up to $559,294.44. The assessment, which is the only official or legal document upon which to base the value of property, may be said to be only 25 per centum of the true value, so that, in times of ordinary prosperity, Wood county is valued for about seventy-seven million dollars. Agricultural Statistics. ---The production of grain, etc., in Wood county, from 1888 to 1892, is shown as follows: (NOT SHOWN) In 1894, there were 30,752 sheep, while, in 1895, the auditor of State credits the county with WOOD COUNTY, OHIO. - 211 only 24,816 sheep of the 3,005, 403 credited to the State. The assessed value of live stock is given as follows: In 1893, there were 12,349 horses valued at $486,270; 15,328 cattle, valued at $198,220; 196 mules, at $6,380; 31,917 sheep, at $66,180, and 17,005 hogs, at $63,180. The figures for 1894 and 1895 will not vary very much from these just given. While the county has not really felt the effects of the financial depression of 1893-95, so prevalent outside the oil fields, the shadow of that depression was visible, darkening enterprise, and postponing, to a certain extent, private and public improvements. The tax levy authorized by the commissioners in June, 1894, shows 2 mills for current expenses of the county, 2.05 mills for county bridge purposes, 2 mills for building court house, and .10 of a mill for relief of indigent soldiers. The finances for the year ending September 3, 1894, so far as the funds which the commissioners control are concerned, are given as follows: Current expense fund, $47,365-73; county bridge fund, $20,080; county building fund, $1,840; recorder's fee fund, $689.20; new court house fund, $101,290.67; special dog fund, $4,183. 15; county infirmary fund, $18,245.20; and soldiers' relief fund, $4,019.20. Of the total sum, the expenditures amounted to $140,145.44. The township, ditch and school taxes are not considered in the commissioners' report, but it may be said that they exceed the total of the general taxes. The county has a good deal to show for its annual expenditures-good roads, great drainage canals, a magnificent new court house, valuable infirmary property, and well-kept records. Statistics of Population.-In 1860, there were only 1,411 males and 1,031 females of foreign birth of the total population of 17,886. The native population, in 1870, was 21,445; in 1880, 30,170, and in 1890, 40, 066. The foreign population, in 1870, was 3, 151; in 1880, 3,852; and in 1890, 4,326. The figures given for the natives include 43 Africans in 1870; 132 in 1880; and 187 in 1890, as well as four natives of China. Of the native-born residents, in 1890, 21,171 were males, and 18,895, females; while, of the foreign-born residents, 2,528 were males, and 1,798, females. In 1890, there were 9,344 dwellings and 9,604 families in the county, giving 4.75 souls to a dwelling and 4.62 to each family. Bowling Green had 786 dwellings for 797 families, and North Baltimore, 546 dwellings for 608 families. The number of males in the county, between the ages of five and twenty years, was 7,851, of females, 7,359; and of males, twenty-one years and over, 10,528, or very nearly one-fourth of the total population. The distribution of population is 74.2 to the square mile, or one inhabitant for every 8.62 acres. The capacity of the county for sustaining a population bears about the same relation as its assessed value does to its true value. With four persons to 8.62 acres, or 296.8 to every square mile, the country would not be overtaxed, though, in the light of latter-day wants, many of the inhabitants would have to forget luxuries, which they now enjoy, and all would have to give more labor and more attention to agriculture. With manufacturing industries in number, the farming community of Wood county, increased to the maximum given, would become the wealthiest in Ohio. Decennial Census.-The population of the original county, in 1820, was 733, but as the territory embraced a large part of northwestern Ohio, not more than one-third that number of white persons resided within its present limits. In 1830, before Lucas was detached, the population was 1,102; in 1840, within the present limits, 5,357; in 1850, 9,157; in 1860, 17,886; in 1870, 24,596; in 1880, 34,022; and in 1890, 44,392. RETURN TO THE TITLE PAGE