USA > Ohio > Columbiana County > History of Columbiana County, Ohio, with illustrations and biographical sketches of some of its prominent men and pioneers > Part 5
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58 | Part 59 | Part 60 | Part 61 | Part 62 | Part 63 | Part 64 | Part 65 | Part 66 | Part 67 | Part 68 | Part 69 | Part 70 | Part 71 | Part 72 | Part 73 | Part 74 | Part 75 | Part 76 | Part 77 | Part 78 | Part 79 | Part 80 | Part 81 | Part 82 | Part 83 | Part 84 | Part 85 | Part 86 | Part 87 | Part 88 | Part 89 | Part 90 | Part 91 | Part 92 | Part 93 | Part 94 | Part 95 | Part 96 | Part 97 | Part 98
" Lake township having been struck off to Stark County, the addition of Knox still kept the number up to fourteen. "June 14, 1808, the board of commissioners paid Eli Baldwin and Elijah Woodworth $13 each, for serving as commissioners to fix the new county, having been created that year, and the county-scat fixed at Canton.
"The board of county commissioners at this time con- sisted of Daniel Harbaugh, Joseph Richardson, and George Atterholt; and James Craig was clerk.
" June 12, 1809, Madison township was added to the list of townships for taxation, to the amount of $35.70
on personal property, and Thomas George was appointed collector.
" The land tax for 1809, upon resident land owned in the county, was $1410.69.
"In 1810 the tax upon personal property was $1187.043, and was confined to the fifteen townships of the previous year, and the land tax amounted to 82207.347 ; making a total tax of $3394.39}, and no doubt thought to be heavy taxes at that early day ; but they were preparing to build a new court-house, and on the 15th of October adopted a draft for the same, for which they paid one dollar to Mat- thew Adams, and let the contract for building to William Harbaugh for $1710, and in March, 1812, to Peter Spiker for finishing the court-house for $3650.
" According to the United States census, taken in 1810, Columbiana County contained 10,879 inhabitants, and the county officers consisted of the following-named persons :
"Axsociute Judges .- Henry Bachman, Geo. Atterholt, and Wm. Smith. President Judge, Benj. Ruggles.
"Commissioners .- J. J. Bowman, Dan. Harbaugh, Joseph Richardson. Alexander Snodgrass, Clerk.
"Treasurer .- Thomas Rowland.
"Clerk of Court .- Reasin Beall.
" Sheriff .- David Scott.
" Prosecuting Attorney .- Elderkin Potter.
" Recorder .- Reasin Beall.
" Coroner .- David Hostetter.
"Collector of Lund Tax .- Thomas Wutt.
" Road Commissioners .- Win. Morrison, Aaron Brooks, Wm. MeLaughlin, Moses Marshall, David Hostetter.
" The vote cast in Columbiana County, at the election for governor and other officers on the 9th of October, 1810, was for Return J. Meigs, 373; Thos. Worthington, 352; making a total vote for governor of 725. In Stark County, Meigs, for governor, bad 135 votes, and Worthington had 42 votes, making the total 177 votes in Stark County.
" June 18, 1812, Beaver and Goshen were added to the list of organized townships for taxation and for holding elections. Taxes in Beaver, $35.25 ; in Goshen, $36.79}.
" The land tax upon resident land-owners, collected by Thomas Watts, in Columbiana County, in 1811, amounted to $1284.08. In 1813, the amount collected by David Scott was $1706; and in 1814, Thomas Watt collected of land tax $3100, showing a progress in wealth and taxation even at that early day.
" The commissioners, at their session on the 13th of June, 1815, added Augusta (now Carroll) to the list of townships, and assessed the tax at $17.97. Columbiana County then consisted of eighteen organized townships, and the total tax on personal property was $1585.03}.
" In 1816, West, Washington, and Franklin townships were added, and the personal property in the county assessed at $1386.59}, and the land tax at $6251.63,-not what is assessed and expended in a single Union School District of the present day; and to show the vast increase of wealth, as well as of taxation, at the present day, I will add that the tax duplicute of Columbiana County, in 1873, amounted to $299,548.64, and I have no doubt the people of our county paid it with greater ease than they did the land and per- sonal tax of 1816 named above.
* St. Clair evidently omitted-$76.20.
Digitized by Google
23
HISTORY OF COLUMBIANA COUNTY, OHIO.
" The United States census returns for 1830, as pub- lished in the Ohio Patriot, puts down the population of Columbiana County at that period at 22,033, being an in- crease of 11,154 over the census of 1810, and the returns are from twenty-three townships,-the townships of Fox and Saline being added to those previously organized. The number of inhabitants in New Lisbon is put down at 646, the town of Salem at 240, which is pretty well reversed at this day.
"The election returns in 1820 were also from twenty- three townships, and. the vote on governor was for E. A. Brown, 1222; for Wm. H. Harrison, 984; making the vote cast in Columbiana County 2206.
" The officers of Columbiana County in 1821 were as follows : President Judge, Benj. Tappan ; Associate Judges, Geo. Brown, Wm. Smith, Jno. J. Bowman ; Commissioners, Thos. Creighton, Jno. Crumbacher, Geo. Atterholt ; Sheriff, Geo. Duck ; Auditor, David Scott ; Treasurer, Jno. Small ; Recorder, Joseph Springer ; Clerk of Court, Horace Potter; Coroner, Jno. Morrison. 1821 was the first election of auditor, the office having been created that year. Number of votes cast this year, 2438 for senator.
" The Ohio Patriot of December, 1811, contains over two columns of legal advertisements for Cuyahoga County, signed by Elisha Whittlesey, as attorney for the parties. At that time the Ohio River counties contained most of the population and representation, Geauga, Ashtabula, and Cuyahoga being the only lake counties represented in the House of Representatives by Samuel Huntington ; and Cuyahoga, Geauga, and Portage by one senator, David Abbott. At the same session, Belmont, Hamilton, Wash- ington, Butler, and Warren had euch three representatives, and Jefferson County had four; Adams and Clermont each had two, and Ross and Pickaway had. five, and the three counties of Columbiana, Stark, and Wayne but three representatives.
" The lake shores then were looked upon as almost a barren waste, never dreaming of the population, trade, and commerce of the present day, or of the great cities that would grow up around those inland seas, or of the vast wealth which would be accumulated in them. When we look at the growth of Cleveland, even within our own recollection, how easy it is to imagine a population of a quarter of a million, and to believe that our children will see the city extended to three or four times its present size and population, and witness our rich coal fields and hills hollowed out and transported in innumerable trains of cars to supply the necessary heat and steam to aid in building up manufac- tures and amassing wealth in that city. Like the wish of old Ben Franklin, who would not like to appear here in a hundred years, to see what was going on? And if the human family (as sometimes prophesied) have the privi- lege of crossing the Atlantic, or sailing around in balloons, or using patent wings, who would not be tempted to ask for a ride ?
" Many of our old pioneers have departed for another world during the past year, among them Captain James Wormington, of Wayne township, who had arrived at the good old age of one hundred and two years, seven months, and twelve days. During the greater portion of his life he
had followed and encountered the dangers of the sea, and also suffered in prison during the conflict of the nations of Europe, for somo trivial violation of the laws of war, the ravages and desolations of war generally extending both to sea and land."
The first paper-mill in Ohio, and the second west of the Alleghanics, was erected in 1805-6, on Little Beaver Creek, and was called the "Ohio Paper-Mill." The proprietors were John Bever and John Coulter .* The first grist-mill in the county was built by Joseph Fawcett, on Carpenter's Run, near East Liverpool; the first steam saw-mill in what was then Columbiana County, by Wilson Teeter and Edwin Webb, at New Albany, in Green township, in 1822; the first blast-furnace, by Gideon Hughes, at New Lisbon, in 1808; the first tannery probably, at the same place, by John Arter and Daniel Harbaugh, in or prior to 1805; a cotton-factory of brick, at Salem, by John Strawn and others, in 1814.
NEW STRUCTURES +
There were erected during the year ending April 12, 1878, many new buildings, as shown in the following list, which gives the number and value of the different kinds, respectively : one church, $25,000; eighty-one dwellings, $48,285; one factory, $250; two flouring-mills, $2950; two saw-mills, 8850; one public hall, $7000 ; four school- houses, $3200; six shops, $1800; two other buildings, $900. Total value, $90,235. During the year fifteen buildings were burned, valued at $7908.
In 1841, there were in the county 83 grist-mills; 167 saw-mills ; 7 oil-mills ; 2 paper-mills; 2 furnaces; 8 air- foundries ; 37 tanneries; 6 salt wells, two of which were in operation, turning out 2800 barrels of salt yearly .; The following items were returned for taxation in 1840: mer- cantile capital, $108,849; money at interest, $44,265; 215 pleasure carriages, valued at $10,443; 8619 horses, valued at $344,760 ; 13,657 neat cattle, valued at $109,256.§
CHAPTER VIIL. CIVIL HISTORY.
ORGANIZATION OF THE COUNTY.
THE ordinance by which the possessions of the United States lying northwest of the Ohio were erected under the name of the " Northwestern Territory" was passed by Con- gress, July 13, 1787,-exactly ten months after Connecticut had ceded ber interest therein. The ordinance provided for the division of the territory into " not less than three, and not more than five States."
An ordinance constituting the territory had been reported to Congress in March, 1784, by. a committee of which Thomas Jefferson was chairman.' It prohibited slavery after the year 1800; but this restricting clause was stricken
. Howe's Historical Collections of Ohio, 1869. See also Hist. of Liverpool township in this volume.
t Ohio Statistics, 1878.
# Statistics on county map of I. G. Williard, 1841.
¿ Ibid.
Digitized by
24
HISTORY OF COLUMBIANA COUNTY, OHIO.
out, and the ordinance passed April 23, and remained on the statute-book till repealed by the new ordinance.
Concerning the later enactment Mr. Webster said, " I doubt whether one single law of any lawgiver, ancient or modern, has produced effects of more distinct, marked, and lasting character than the ordinance of 1787." Judge Timothy Walker said respecting it, " It approaches as near to absolute perfection as anything to be found in the legis- lation of mankind."*
This ordinance, so highly commended, is said, by good authorities, to have been prepared by Manassch Cutler.
Almost simultaneously with the passage of the ordinance an agreement was made with the " Ohio Company," repre- sented by Manasseh Cutler and others, for a large quantity of land in the new territory. The first colony planted upon the land so purchased arrived April 7, 1788, and settled at the mouth of the Muskingum, now Marietta.
WASHINGTON COUNTY ERECTED.
Gen. Arthur St. Clair, the first governor of the territory, and Winthrop Sargent, the first secretary, and three judges for the executive council, arrived in July. At the first meeting of the council, on the 26tht of the same month, the county of Washington was established, including all that part of the present State of Ohio east of the treaty line established at Fort McIntosh in 1785. This line con- nected the Cuyahoga River at Lake Erie with the mouth of the Scioto. The following were the bounds of the county :
" Beginning at the bank of the Ohio River where the western boundary line of Pennsylvania crosses it, and run- ning with that line to Lake Erie; thence along the south- ern shore of said lake to the mouth of Cuyahoga River; thence up said river to the portage between that and the Tuscarawas branch of the Muskingum; thence adown the branch to the forks at the crossing-place above Fort Lau- rens ;} thence with a line to be drawn westerly to the portage of that branch of the Big Miami on which the fort§ stood that was taken by the French in 1752, until it meets the road from the lower Shawanese town to the San- dusky ; thence south to the Scioto River, down that to its mouth, and thence up the Ohio River to the place of be- ginning.
JEFFERSON COUNTY ERECTED.
The county of Jefferson was organized by act of Gen- eral Assembly passed July 29, 1797, with the following boundaries :
" Beginning upon the bank of the Ohio River, where the western boundary of Pennsylvania crosses it, and down
. See Historical Address, delivered by Israel Ward Andrews at Manetta, O., July 4, 1876,-pamphlet.
t Commonly supposed the 27th. According to papers in the State Department at Washington, D. C., the county of Washington was established July 26, 1788.
# Erected in 1779, on the Tuscarawas, below the mouth of Sandy Creek.
¿ A fort at the mouth of the Mad River. The "fort" was visited by Christopher Girt, in 1752, while making explorations in the coun- try north and west of the Ohio, who found it to be only a trading- post with a stockade. He named the stream Mad Creek .- Imlay's America, p. 120.
the said river to the southern boundary of the fourth township in the fourth range (of those seven ranges of townships that were surveyed in conformity to the or- dinance of Congress of the 20th of May, 1785), and with the said southern boundary west, to. the southwest corner of the sixth township of the fifth range; thence north along the western boundary to the said fifth range to the termination thereof; thence due west to the Muskingum River. and up the same to and with the Portage, between it and the Cuyahoga River; thence down Cuyahoga to Lake Erie; thence easterly, along the shores of the lake, to the western boundary of Pennsylvania, and south with the same to the place of beginning."
An act of Congress was approved by the President April 30, 1802, " to enable the people of the eastern division of the territory northwest of the river Ohio to form a consti- tution and State government, and for the admission of such State into the Union on an equal footing with the original States, and for other purposes." The State constitution was adopted November 29th of the same year, at a conven- tion held at Chillicothe, in which the following nine coun- ties, then existing within the limits of the present State were represented :
Washington, organized July 26, 1788; Hamilton, or- ganized Jan. 2, 1790; Adams, organized July 10, 1797; Jefferson, organized July 29, 1797; Ross, organized Aug. 20, 1798; Trumbull, organized July 10, 1800; Clermont, organized Dec. 6, 1800; Fairfield, organized Dec. 9, 1800; Belmont, organized Sept. 7, 1801.
The county of Washington was represented in the con- stitutional convention, Nov. 29, 1802, by Ephraim Cutler, Rufus Putnam, John McIntyre, and Benjamin Ives Gil- man ; Jefferson County, by Rudolph Bair, John Milligan, George Humphrey, Bezeleel Wells, and Nathan Updegraff.
At the first session of the State Legislature, in March, 1803, at Chillicothe, eight new counties were erected,- Scioto, Warren, Butler, Montgomery, Greene, Columbiana, Gallia, and Franklin.
The following record of proceedings relative to the erec- tion of Columbiana County is copied from the House journal :
March 10, 1803 .- Mr. Thomas Kirker, of Adams, laid before the House a petition from sundry citizens of Jeffer- son County, praying a division may take place in said county, which was read and referred to a committee of five,-Messrs. Bair, Elliot, Reece, Russel and Sharp.
March 21, 1803 .- An engrossed bill for the division of the county of Jefferson was read the third time :
Resolved, That the said bill do pass, and that the title be, " An act for erecting a part of the counties of Jefferson and Washington into a separate county, by the name of Columbiana."
Ordered that Zaccheus A. Beatty carry the said bill to the senate, and request their concurrence.
March 23, 1803 .- A message by Mr. Vance: The Senate have passed the bill entitled " An act for erecting a part of the counties of Jefferson and Washington into a sepa- rate county, by the name of Columbiana," with an amend- ment, to which they desire the concurrence of the House.
March 25, 1803 .- Mr. Beatty reported back enrolled bill entitled " An act for erecting a part of the counties of
Digitized by Google
25
HISTORY OF COLUMBIANA COUNTY, OHIO.
Jefferson and Washington into a separate county, by the name of Columbiana," whereupon the speaker signed the bill.
Wednesday, April 6, 1803 .-- The Legislature, in joint ballot, at the above dute, elected us associate judges for Columbiana County the following persons : William Smith, Henry Bachman, and Robert Simison.
Friday, April 8, 1803 .- The following persons, by joint resolution of the Legislature, were appointed commissioners to establish the seat of justice for Columbiana County : John Leavitt, Calvin Austin, and John H. Adgate.
The following is a copy of the act organizing the county :
" AN ACT for the erecting a part of the counties of Jefferson and Washington into a separate county, by the name of Columbiann ..
"SRC. 1. Be it enacted by the General Amembly of the State of Okin: That all that part of the counties of Jefferson and Washington as comes 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 Columbiama: beginning at the wouth of Yellow Creek, on the north side of the same; thenoe up said creek, with the meanders thereof, to the northern boundary of the eighth township in the second range; thence with the same west to the western boundary of the seventh range; thence north to the northwest corner of the six- teenth township of the said seventh range; "thence west on the south boundary of the ninth township in the eighth and ninth ranges to the Muskingum River; thenoe up the said river, with the meanders thereof, to the southern boundary of the county of Trumbull ; thence with the same east to the Pennsylvania line; thence with the said line south to the Ohio River; thence down the same, with the meanders thereof, to the beginning.
"SEC. 2. And be it further enacted, That from and after the first day of May next the said county shall be vested with all the powers, privileges, and immunities of a separate and distinct county ; Pro- vided always, That all notions and suits which may be pending in the counties of Jefferson and Washington, on the said first day of May next, shall be prosecuted and carried on to final judgment and execu- tion; and all taxes, fees, fines, and forfeitures, which shall be then due, shall be collected in the same manner as if this sot had never been passed.
"SEc. 3. And be it further enacted, That until a permanent seat of justice be fixed in the said county, by commissioners appointed for that purpose, the temporary seat of justice shall be at the house of Matthias Lower, in the twelfth township and second range; and courts shall be held thereat, in and for the county of Columbians aforesaid.
" MICHAEL BALDWIN, " Speaker of the House of Representatives. "SAMUEL HUNTINGTON, " Speaker pro tam. of the Senate.
" March 25, 1803."
On the 10th of May, 1803, the associate judges of the Court of Common Pleas for Columbiana County met at the house of Matthias Lower, in Fairfield township, on section 23, and proceeded to lay out the county and townships, and apportioned the number of justices to be elected in each township. They established by name five townships and defined their boundaries, as follows : "Springfield was made ten miles square, and commenced for boundary line at the southeast corner of Trumbull County.t Middleton town-
ship was ten miles square, immediately south of Springfield. St. Clair township extended south to the mouth of Yellow Creek, west with the creek and including parts of Jefferson and Carroll Counties as they now are, and north including part of Stark County, and cast to Pennsylvania line, in- cluding what is now seventeen townships. Salem township was a small State when first described, commencing at the boundary line of Trumbull County, west of Springfield township, and running south ten miles to the southeast cor- ner of section 20, in Fairfield township, thence west to Mus- kingum River (now called Tuscarawas), and from there to the south line of Trumbull. Centre township commenced at the northeast corner of section 29, in Fairfield township, and running southi ten miles to the southeast corner of sec- tion 8, in Madison township, and including all west of these north and south lines."
The number of original townships (consisting each of an arca of about thirty-six square miles) embraced within the county limits at the time of its erection was forty-seven. For a short time subsequent to the ercction of the county, courts were held at the " house of Matthias Lower, in Fair- field township." Reasin Beall was appointed by the court to the offices of clerk (or recorder) and treasurer July 20, 1803; John Crozer was elected sheriff October 17th, in the same year; William Heald was cither appointed or elected surveyor in 1803; Obadiah Jennings, of Steubenville, was the first prosecuting attorney, appointed soon after the county was organized ; David Scott, the first auditor, was appointed in 1821 ; Calvin Peuse, the first president judge, was appointed in 1808; Robert Simison, Henry Buchman, and William Smith were appointed associate judges in 1803, and constituted the first probate court.
The commissioners met March 4, 1805, and " fixed" the boundaries of the several townships, " as recorded in the township records."
TERRITORIAL CHANGES.
Since Columbiana County was erected its territory has been reduced at three separate times: by the formation of Stark County on the west, in 1808; Carroll County on the south, in 1832; Mahoning County on the north, in 1845.
Erection of Stark County .- Feb. 13, 1808, all that purt of Columbiana west of the fifth range was cut off and attached to the new county of Stark, but continued for several years to participate with the mother county in the elections for senator, representatives, and members of Con- gress. The territory surrendered to Stark embraced but a single organized township (Lake) out of the following fourteen then existing : Springfield, Middleton, St. Clair, Salem, Centre, Elk Run, Green, Butler, Wayne, Lake and Hanover, Unity, Yellow Creek and Fairfield.
Erection of Carroll County .- Carroll County was erected by act passed Dec. 25, 1832, and took from Columbiana the townships of Saline, Fox, Augusta, and East, " being about three and one-half townships. This left Columbiana with twenty-one organized townships, and caused Saline to be named Washington."
June 3, 1833, upon the petition of "sundry inhabitants of the township of Wayne, and the fractional townships,
."Columbiana is a fanoy name, taken from the names Columbus and Anna. An anecdote is told pending its adoption in the Legislature, that a member jocularly moved that the name Maria should be added thereto, so as to have it read Columbiana-Maria."-Howe's Hiet. Col. of Ohio, 1869.
t Meaning original Trumbull, whose southeast corner was at the in- tersection of the west line of Pennsylvania with the forty-first parallel of north latitude.
4
Digitized by Google
26
HISTORY OF COLUMBIANA COUNTY, OHIO.
Franklin and Suline," the Board of County Commissioners altered the boundaries of such townships as follows : sec- tions 6, 7, 18, 19, 30, and 31 were taken from Wayne aud attached to Franklin ; sections 32, 33, 34, 35, and 36 were taken from Wayne and attached to Suline, now Washing- ton. They likewise provided for the election of township officers on the 25th of the same month : for Franklin, at Jucob Fox's residence ; for Washington, at " 'Squire Gil- son's." The commissioners present at the meeting at which the changes were made were Michael Arter, Isaac Wilson, and John Smith.
Perry township was erected, by order of the same com- missioners, Dec. 5. 1832. for which purpose sections 5, 6, 7, and 8 were taken from Salem township; 29, 30, 31, and 32, from Green township; 25, 26, 35, and 36, from Goshen township; and 1, 2, 11, and 12, from Butler township.
A township called Damascus was formed by the Board of Commissioners, Dec. 2, 1833, from parts of Goshen, Butler, Smith, and Knox ; but the order for the erection Was repealed March 4, 1834.
The township of Liverpool was erected June 3, 1834, and was composed of fractional township 5, of range 1, -which had been a part of St. Clair, an original township whose boundaries were fixed by the commissioners March 5, 1805,-added to other sections of St. Clair, in township No. 6, viz. : 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, and 36. The first elec- tion was appointed for June 23, at the house of Aaron Brawdy, in the town of Liverpool.
Erection of Mahoning County .- An act passed by the Legislature Feb. 16. 1846. authorized the erection of Ma- honing County, and took from Columbiana the five towns, Springfield, Beaver, Green, Goshen, and Smith. Green and Goshen had each surrendered four sections, in 1832, to the township of Perry. The five townships continued to vote with the old county for State and National officers until a new apportionment was made.
Territory attached to Jefferson County .- By the act for the erection of Carroll County, passed Dec. 25, 1832, the following described territory was taken from Columbiana and attached to the county of Jefferson :
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.