USA > Ohio > Noble County > The county of Noble; a history of Noble County, Ohio, from the earliest days, with special chapter on military affairs, and special attention given to resources. > 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
"By the formation and its geographical position, this territory should be united, in justice to its inhabitants, as well fully and prop- erly to develop its resources. The new county, properly formed, would soon stand forward among the best in the eastern part of the State of Ohio. As the lines of the respective counties now exist, the inhabitants within the territory are placed at great, and from the formation of the country, at most inconvenient distances from the respective county seats. The new county, properly formed, would leave sufficient territory in the respective counties of Guernsey, Mon-
51
THE COUNTY OF NOBLE.
roe, Washington and Morgan, and their respective lines and bound- aries more regular and less deformed than at present, and their respective seats of justice equally and more central than they now are. The new county would present regular lines, conforming to the country, and leave no one extreme point more than fifteen miles from the center. Your memorialists believe that the cost of organizing the new county and erecting the public buildings would not be onerous to the taxpayers; but they are satisfied from the experience of the past, that the amount of money paid by the inhabitants of this terri- tory in attending at their respective county seats, including money paid for bills and loss of time, exceeds the amount of tax now paid, or that would have to be paid if the new county were formed. The amount of debt owing by Monroe County, and the public property and public buildings lately obtained and commenced in Morgan County, and the contemplated erection of further public buildings in Morgan County, would and will inflict greater and more increased taxation on the inhabitants of the largest portion of this territory than would be necessary to raise if the new county were erected. But aside from all other considerations, if there are any advantages arising from the civil organization of counties, as they believe there are, your memorialists are entitled to them in the County of Noble, and most. respectfully entreat a careful regard to the subject, and its erection at your present session."
This memorial was signed by James Kyle, Samnel A. Long, David McGarry, John Wiley, John McKee, Joseph Caldwell, John Mc- Garry, Robert McKee, Charles Harwood, Gilman Dudley, Alfred L. Morrison, Joseph Archer, Ambrose Merry, James Archer, Joseph Archer, John Lanam, Samuel Caldwell, Lewis Smoot, Sr., Thomas Wiley, Samuel Sailor, James Archibald, Sr., John Brown, David Wilson, Dennis Gibbs, William Tilton, James Ogle, John Caldwell, Matthew Garvin, William Bell, Sr., James Garvin, Boneyparty Stretchbury, Isaac Bates, Samuel Anderson, Daniel Bates, Andrew Nicholson, G. W. Morrison, James Watson, John Clowser, Royal Fowler, Lemuel Fowler, Sr., Ezekiel Bates, James Barry, Lambert Newton, Jonas Bell, Josiah Burlingame, and Richard Duvall.
The legislature of 1849 failed to pass an act creating the county and the memorial was strengthened by the addition of more signatures and presented to the legislature of 1850. At the election of 1850, Ezra McKee, who lived in that part of Morgan county seeking to be included in the county of Noble, was elected representative from Morgan county. Two of his brothers, John and Robert McKee, were signers of the memorial, and he was heartily in favor of the erection of the new county. His election was a great encouragement to the advocates of the proposition, and when the assembly met a number of lobbyists were at the capital to use what influence they could to
52
THE COUNTY OF NOBLE.
secure the passage of an act creating the county. Foremost among these lobbyists was Samuel McGarry, who had been in attendance at every session of the legislature since 1846, doing what he could to secure the establishment of the new county .* At the previous sessions considerable opposition to the project had been manifest, but at the session of 1850 this dwindled away. A bill to create the county of Noble was introduced early in the session, but it did not become a law until March 11, 1851, when it was signed by John F. Morse, speaker of the house of representatives, and Charles C. Convers, presi- dent of the senate .. Besides establishing the county of Noble the act provided for the re-adjustment of the boundaries of some of the counties affected by the measure. The sections relating to Noble county were as follow :
"Sec. 1. Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of Ohio, That so much of the counties of Washington, Morgan, Guernsey and Monroe as is included in the boundaries hereinafter described be and the same is hereby enacted into a separate and distinct county, to be known and designated by the name of Noble, to-wit: Beginning at the southwest corner of township number 5, in range number 9 in Morgan County ; thence north to the northwest corner of said town- ship 5; thence west to the southwest corner of section number 34 in township number 7, in range number 10 ; thence north on section lines to the north line of said township 7; thence west to the northwest corner of said township 7; thence north to the southwest corner of Guernsey County ; thence east to the southwest corner of township number 8, in range number 9 in said county; thence north to the northwest corner of section number 18 in said township 8; thence east on section lines to the east line of said township eight; thence north to the northeast corner of said township 8; thence east to the southwest corner of section number 22 in township number 1, of range number 1 of the military lands ; thence north to the northwest corner of section number 19 in said township 1; thence east on section lines to the east line of said township 1; thence north to the northwest corner of township number S, in range number 7 in said Guernsey County ; thence east to the west line of Belmont County; thence south to the southwest corner of Belmont County; thence west to the southwest corner of section number 19 in said township 8, in range 7; thence south on section lines to the northwest corner of section number 19, in township number 6, in range number 7 in Monroe County ; thence east to the northeast corner of section number 13 in said township number 6; thence south on section lines to the
*Samuel McGarry was a lawyer of Sarahsville and one of the leading citi- zens of the community. After the creation of Noble county he was the first county treasurer, afterward serving for several years as the probate judge of the county.
53
THE COUNTY OF NOBLE.
southeast corner of section number 18, in township number 4, in range number 7 in Washington County ; thence west to the east line of township number 5, in range number 8 in said county; thence north to the northeast corner of section number 25 in said township 5; thence west to the southwest corner of section number 23; thence north to the northwest corner of said section 23; thence west to the southwest corner of section number 15; thence north to the southwest corner of section number 10; thence west to the southwest corner of section number 8; thence north to the northwest corner of section number 8; thence west to the west line of said township number 5, in said range number 8; thence south to the southeast corner of Morgan County ; thence west to the place of beginning.
"Sec. 3. That all suits, whether of a civil or criminal nature, which shall be pending in those parts of Washington, Morgan, Guern- sey and Monroe Counties so set off and erected into a new county, and within those parts of Washington County hereby attached to and made a part of the County of Monroe, previous to the first Monday in April, eighteen hundred and fifty-one, shall be prosecuted to final judgment and execution within the counties from which such parts shall be taken, the same as if this act had not been passed; and the officers of such counties respectively shall execute all such process as shall be necessary to carry into effect such suits, prosecutions and judgments ; and the collectors of taxes of said counties respectively shall collect all taxes that shall have been levied and remain unpaid in the said several portions of said counties, at the time of the passage of this act, the same as if this act had not been passed.
"Sec. 4. That all justices of the peace and other township officers within those parts of the counties of Washington, Morgan, Guernsey and Monroe which are hereby erected into the County of Noble, and within that part of Washington County hereby attached to and made a part of the County of Monroe, shall continue to exercise the func- tions and discharge the duties of their respective offices until their respective terms of service shall expire, and until their successors shall be duly elected and qualified, in the same manner as if they had been commissioned or elected for said new County of Noble or for the county to which they may be attached; and all writs and other process within the territory hereby erected into said new County of Noble, shall be styled as of said County of Noble, on and after the first day of April, one thousand eight hundred and fifty-one.
"Sec. 5. That the legal voters residing within the limits of the County of Noble shall, on the first Monday in April, in the year eighteen hundred and fifty-one, assemble in their respective town- ships, at the usual places of holding elections therein, and proceed to elect the county officers for said county, as prescribed in the act to regulate elections, who shall hold their offices until the next annual
54
THE COUNTY OF NOBLE.
election, and until their successors shall be duly elected and qualified. And at said first election all the voters residing in fractional town- ships taken from Monroe County shall vote in the townships im- mediately west thereof; those residing in fractional townships taken from Washington County shall vote in the townships immediately north thereof; those residing in fractional townships taken from Morgan County shall vote in the townships immediately east thereof; and those residing in fractional townships taken from Guernsey County shall vote in the townships immediately east and south thereof; and the clerks of the several townships included in the County of Noble shall give twenty days' notice of said election, which notices shall be in writing and posted up at the usual places of holding elections in their several townships.
"Sec. 6. The Commissioners of the Counties of Washington, Morgan, Monroe and Guernsey shall have power, immediately on the passage of this act, to attach the fractional townships made so by this act to the other townships, or to organize such fractional townships into separate townships in their respective counties ; and this power shall extend to the commissioners of the County of Noble to dispose of the fractional townships included within the limits made by this act.
"Sec. 7. The said County of Noble is hereby attached to and made a part of the eighth judicial circuit of the State of Ohio; and the court of common pleas and the supreme court of the said County of Noble shall be holden at some convenient house therein, to be designated by the associate judges thereof, until the permanent seat of justice of said County of Noble shall be established according to law.
"Sec. 8. That George Mccullough, of Jefferson County, Martin Heckard, of Meigs County, and Lafayette Emmett, of Knox County, be and they are hereby appointed commissioners to fix upon and locate the seat of justice of said County of Noble, agreeably to the provisions of the act entitled 'An Act for the Establishment of Seats of Justice.'
"Sec. 9. That nothing herein contained shall be so construed as to alter or change any representative, senatorial or congressional dis- trict.
"Sec. 11. That nothing contained in this act shall be so con- strued as in anywise to operate as a release or discharge of any person, residing within the territory taken from the County of Guernsey by this act, from any State, county, township or other tax heretofore as- sessed and levied by the officers of said Guernsey County, or on ac- count of any tax hereafter to be levied upon the real or personal property on account of any subscription to any railroad company heretofore made or hereafter to be made in pursuance of any vote
55
THE COUNTY OF NOBLE.
heretofore taken in said Guernsey County, and that the same shall be forever a lien upon the said property the same as if the said terri- tory had not been detached from the County of Guernsey.
"Sec. 12. The officers in the County of Guernsey, whose duty it shall be to assess and collect any tax hereafter to be levied for the payment of the principal or interest of any railroad subscription here- after to be made in pursuance of a vote heretofore taken in favor of such subscription, shall proceed to levy and collect the proportionate share of the same off the property in the territory taken from the County of Guernsey by this act, the same as if said property remained in the County of Guernsey ; and the said officers are hereby invested with all the powers in the collection of the same as are provided by law for the collection of State or county taxes."
As the description of the boundaries as given in section one of the organic act are somewhat technical, a more general description may enable the reader to form a clearer conception of the origin of the county. The townships of Beaver, Wayne, Seneca, and Buffalo were taken from Guernsey county; Marion, Stock, Enoch, nearly two- thirds of the eastern side of Center, and all of Elk, except four square miles of the south end, were taken from Monroe; Olive, Jackson, Sharon, Noble, Brookfield, and the western part of Center, were taken from Morgan; the four square miles that form the southern part of Elk township, and that part of Jefferson lying directly west, originally belonged to Washington county.
Immediately after the passage of the act creating the county, steps were taken to carry out its provisions. In pursuance of section five, an election was held on Monday, April 7, and the following county officers were elected : Robert Barclay, auditor; Samuel McGarry, treasurer; Joseph Schofield, sheriff; Jabez Belford, prosecuting at- torney ; Robert Hellyer, recorder ; John H. Jeffries, surveyor ; Jacob Lyons, John Noble, and Timothy Smith commissioners. On April 3, the commissioners who had been appointed to locate the county seat gave twenty days notice of the time and place of meeting, and at the expiration of that time they made the following report :
"The undersigned George Mccullough, of the County of Jefferson ; Martin Heckard, of the County of Meigs; and Lafayette Emmett, of the County of Knox, commissioners appointed to fix upon and locate the seat of justice of Noble County by the act entitled 'An Act to Erect the County of Noble,' passed March 11, 1851, having agree- ably to the provisions of the act entitled 'An Act Establishing Seats of Justice,' passed February 3, 1824, previously given twenty days notice to the inhabitants of the said County of Noble, of the time, place and purpose of our meeting, met pursuant to said notice on Wednesday, the 23d day of April, 1851, at Sarahsville, in said county, for the purpose of fixing upon and locating the seat of justice
56
THE COUNTY OF NOBLE.
of said Noble County, and after having been duly sworn according to law, proceeded to the discharge of our duties as commissioners afore- said ; and having duly and carefully examined the different localities pointed out by the inhabitants of said county, and duly weighed the arguments in favor of each, we do fix upon and locate the seat of justice of said County of Noble at the town of Sarahsville, in said county."
The report was dated at Sarahsville, April 24, 1851, and signed by all three of the commissioners. The location of the county seat was the last act necessary to fulfill the requirements of the organic law, and on April 29, 1851, the newly elected county commissioners met for the first time in their official capacity.
Chapter V.
EARLY CIVIL INSTITUTIONS-FIRST COURTS-NEW OFFICERS IN- STALLED - REORGANIZATION OF TOWNSHIPS - BOUNDARIES - CHANGES AFTERWARD MADE-ELECTION FOR JUSTICES OF THE PEACE-SUCCESSFUL CANDIDATES-SETTLEMENT WITH ADJOIN- ING COUNTIES-TIMES AND PLACES OF MEETING-FIRST NEWS- PAPERS-AN ECHO OF THE LOCATION OF THE COUNTY SEAT- OFFICES RENTED FOR THE COUNTY OFFICERS-FIRST TAX LEVY -A JAIL ORDERED-DESCRIPTION OF THE BUILDING-COST- TROUBLE WITH THE CONTRACTOR-FINALLY ACCEPTED-A COUNTY SEAT WAR INAUGURATED-SECTIONAL DIFFERENCES IN POLITICS-ACT OF 1854-SPECIAL ELECTION ORDERED-ANI- MATED CAMPAIGN-ANALYSIS OF THE VOTE-PARTY OF THE SOUTH VICTORIOUS-LITIGATION-PLAT OF CALDWELL SUR- VEYED-TOWN NAMED-SITE DEEDED TO THE COMMISSIONERS BY SAMUEL CALDWELL-CONTRACT FOR COURT HOUSE-TEM- PORARY QUARTERS-FIRST SALE OF LOTS-FIRST NEWSPAPER IN CALDWELL-BOARDING SHANTY-ORDER TO REMOVE COUNTY OFFICES-NEW JAIL-FIRST HOTELS-ANOTHER NEWSPAPER -EARLY CHURCHES-COUNTY INFIRMARY ESTABLISHED-IN- FLUENCES OF THE CIVIL WAR.
RIOR to the location of the county seat or the election of county officers the first session of the court of common pleas was held at the town of Olive, the record of that first court being as follows :
"Minutes of a court of common pleas held at the office of Robert McKee in the town of Olive, in the County of Noble, in the State of Ohio.
"The State of Ohio, Noble County, SS: Be it remembered that on the first day of April, A. D. 1851, William Smith, Gilman Dudley and Patrick Finley, Esquires, produced commissions from his excel- lency, Reuben Wood, Governor of Ohio, appointing each of them associate judges of the court of common pleas of Noble County ; also certificates on their several commissions that they and each of theni had taken the oath of allegiance and office. Whereupon a court of common pleas was holden for the county of Noble on the first day of
58
THE COUNTY OF . NOBLE.
April, 1851, at the office of Robert McKee, in the Town of Olive in the said county of Noble: present, the Hon. William Smith, Gilman Dudley and Patrick Finley, associate judges of said county.
"Appointment of Clerk .- It is ordered by the court that Isaac Q. Morris be appointed clerk of this court until the next term thereof. Thereupon the said Isaac Q. Morris appeared and gave bond accord- ing to law, and gave the necessary oath of office.
"Ordered that the court of common pleas and the supreme court in and for the County of Noble be held at the Methodist meeting house at Olive, in Noble County, until the permanent seat of justice of Noble County be fixed according to law.
"Whereupon the court adjourned sine die.
"WILLIAM SMITH, "Presiding Associate Judge."
The second term of court was held in the Methodist church at Olive, beginning on June 19, 1851. At this session Archibald G. Brown, judge of the eighth judicial district, presided, the three associate judges also being present, as well as the new sheriff, Joseph Schofield. Three cases were tried. Two of these were adjudicated by the court and the third was tried by a jury composed of Benjamin Tilton, Simeon Blake, Samuel Marquis, Jacob Crow, Jacob Fogle, John Mitchell, W. F. McIntyre, William Tracy, David McGarry, Wil- liam J. Young, John McGarry, and Dr. David McGarry. This was the first jury ever impaneled by the courts of Noble county. The case it was called to try was one on appeal from the common pleas court of Morgan couny, in which John Liming charged Absalom Willey with defrauding him in a horse trade. During the session the court ordered an election for justices of the peace in the several townships; appointed William Reed, Benjamin Mott, and Benja- min S. Spriggs school examiners for a term of three years; accepted the bond of Prosecuting Attorney Belford; issued naturalization papers to James Best, formerly a citizen of England ; appointed Luke Dilley and James McCune county auctioneers, and transacted a num- ber of minor matters.
When the board of county commissioners met on April 29 the county officers, who had been elected on the 7th of the month, filed their bonds and entered upon their duties. On the first day of the term a number of petitions were presented to the board, asking for the erection of new townships or for changes in the township lines. The petitions were examined and laid over until the following day when they were taken up again, and made the special order for Thursday, May 1. On the final hearing the townships of Jefferson, Center, Sharon, Stock and Wayne were erected and the boundaries of all the others, except Jackson, were altered. According to the records of
59
THE COUNTY OF NOBLE.
the commissioners court of Noble county the boundaries established at that time were as follows :
Beaver Township, altered so as to include and be composed of the following territory, to-wit: "Commencing for the same at the south- east corner of section 1, in township number 8 of range 7; thenco north along the range line to the northeast corner of section 6 in said township and range; thence west along said township line to the northwest corner of the east half of section 30 in said township and range; thence south through the center of said sections 30, 29, 28, 27, 26, and 25, to the southwest corner of the east half of said section 25 in said township; thence east along the township line to the place of beginning : containing 27 sections."
Brookfield, as originally organized by the commissioners of Morgan county, was a full congressional township of thirty-six sections. In the reorganization by the Noble county authorities the boundaries were fixed "commencing at the southeast corner of section 35 in township number 7, of range 10 ; thence north along the section line to the north- east corner of section 2, in said township and range; thence west along said township line to the northwest corner thereof ; thence south along said township line to the southwest corner thereof; thence east along said township line to the place of beginning; containing thirty sections."
The boundaries of Buffalo township began "at the southeast corner of section 36 in township number 8 of range 9; thence north along said township line to the northeast corner of section 13 in said township and range; thence west along the section line to the northwest corner of section 18 in said township and range; thence south along said town- ship line to the southwest corner of section 31 in said township and range ; thence east along said township line to the place of beginning; containing twenty-four sections.
The boundaries of Center, one of the new townships, were fixed : "Commencing at the southeast corner of section 28,* in township number 7, of range 8; thence north along the section line to the north- east corner of section four, in said township 7, range 8; thence west along the township line to the northwest corner of section two, in township number 7, and range number 9; thence south along the see- tion line to the southwest corner of section 35, in said township num- ber 7, and range number 9; thence east along the township line to the place of beginning ; containing thirty sections."
The boundaries of Elk township were altered to commence "at the southeast corner of section 18 in township number 4 of range num-
* The record says "Section 38" but as there are but thirty-six sections in a township of the original survey such a number is out of the question. As a matter of fact, the southeast corner of Center township is located at the southeast corner of section 28, which was doubtless the one intended in the record.
60
THE COUNTY OF NOBLE.
ber 7 ; thence north along the section line across township number 3 of range number 7, to the northeast corner of section 13 in township number 6 of range number 7 ; thence west along the section line to the seventh range line; thence south along the seventh range line to the southwest corner of section 36 in township number 4 of range num- ber 7; thence east along the section line to the place of beginning: containing 32 sections."
The boundaries of Enoch township were established, "commencing at the southwest corner of section 31 in township 6 and range 8; thence east along said township line to the southeast corner of sec- tion 33 in said township and range; thence north along the section line to the southwest corner of section 27 in said township and range ; thence east along the section line to the southeast corner of said section 27; thence north along the section line to the northeast corner of section 10 in said township and range ; thence west to the northwest corner of said section 10; thence north to the northeast corner of section 4 in said township and range; thence west along the township line to the northwest corner of said township number 6 and range 8; thence south along said township line to the place of beginning : con- taining twenty-two sections."
Jackson township, which embraces a full congressional township, remains as it was established by the Morgan county authorities in 1819. In fixing the boundaries of Jefferson county the commis- sioners had one of the hardest problems relating to township lines. Along the southern border of Noble county there was a diversity of opinion as to the necessity for the erection of a new county. After the passage of the organic act some of the residents in that section wanted to be included in the new county while others were just as desirous of being left out. In order to satisfy all these, the southern boundary of the township presents a rather peculiar appearance upon the map. The lines were finally fixed: "Commencing on the sev- enth range line, at the southeast corner of section 24, in township number 5, of range 8; thence north along the seventh range line to the northeast corner of section 24 in township number 6, of range 8; thence west along the section lines to the northwest corner of section 23, in township 6, range 8; thence south along the section lines to the northeast corner of section 34, in township 6, range 8; thence west to the northwest corner of said section 34; thence south to the southwest corner of said section 34; thence west along the township line to the northwest corner of township number 5, range 8; thence along said township line to the southwest corner of section 6 in said township number 5 of range 8 ; thence east to the southeast corner of said section 6; thence south to the southwest corner of section 8, in township number 5, range 8; thence east to the southeast corner of section 9, in township number 5, of range 8; thence south to the southwest cor-
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.