COUNTIES OF OHIO, GIVING DATE OF ERECTION, WHOM NAMED AFTER, AND COUNTY SEAT.-Concluded. Named After Erected County Seat Return Jonathan Meigs, Jr. Act January 21, 1819... Pomeroy. Gen. Hugh Mercer.. An Indian name.... Gen. Richard Montgomery. Gov. Jeremiah Morrow.. Gen. Zebulon Pike.. Isaac Van Wert. Samuel F. Vinton.... Original inhabitants. Act February 12, 1820.. Celina. McConnelsville. Zanesville. New Lexington. Act February 24, 1848.. Mt. Gilead. Fremont. New Philadelphia McArthur. Lebanon. Act February 12, 1820..] Van Wert. Marietta. Act February 3, 1845... Upper Sandusky. The Ohio Indians The Indians who occupied Ohio were the Miamis, Shawnees, Delawares and Ottawas of the Algonquin linguistic family; and the Wyandots and Mingoes of the Iroquois family. There were also a few Senecas and Tuscarawas in the eastern and northeastern part of the state. They were also of the Iroquois family. They came into Ohio, however, merely to hunt, as their real homes were farther east in New York and Northern, Pennsylvania. Their tribal relations were with the Six Nations of the Iroquois. The Mingoes were a small tribe and owned only three villages, all of them standing on the present site of Columbus. Logan was their most noted chief and at one time possessed considerable authority over all the tribes of Northwestern Ohio. The Mingoes were practically destroyed as a tribe during the Dunmore War (See Ohio in the American Revolution). The Delawares came from the region of the Delaware in Pennsylvania and settled upon the Muskingum and later upon the Auglaize, in territory claimed by the Miamis and Wyandots. Later they moved to the White River in Indiana. They were at one time, before they came to Ohio, conquered by the Six Nations of the Iroquois and called women and reduced to the standing of women; but after their advent into Ohio, they redeemed their lost reputation. The Shawnees, after wandering over Florida, Georgia and Tennessee, settled upon the Scioto under the protection of the Miamis and Delawares. They were exceedingly restless and always annoyed the settlers of Virginia and Kentucky, and it was against this tribe that the expedition of Lord Dunmore (called the Dunmore War) was directed. The Ottawas formerly occupied the region of the Ottawa in Canada, whence they were driven by the Iroquois. A portion of the tribe finally settled in Ohio about the Maumee river and joined in the treaty of Greenville, in August, 1795. They produced the great Pontiac. The Miamis occupied all the western portion of Ohio, all of Indiana and Illinois. They had always lived in these regions. Their chief villages were along the two Miamis of the Ohio and the Miami of the Lake (the Maumee). At the time of the treaty of Greenville they were greatly reduced in numbers, but were the oldest occupants of Ohio territory. The Wyandots were a branch of the Hurons. During the first part of the seventeenth century a war broke out between the Hurons and the Iroquois in which the latter were victorious. They drove their enemy north of Lake Superior, but these later found their way down to Lake Erie and the Sandusky river. They finally settled in what is now Wyandot and Marion Counties. CONGRESSIONAL AND JUDICIAL DISTRICTS Common Pleas Judicial Districts and Subdivisions First district-Hamilton county. Second district-first subdivision, Butler county; second subdivision, Darke, Miami, Champaign, Clark and Preble; third subdivision, Montgomery, Greene, Warren and Clinton. Third district-first subdivision, Shelby, Auglaize, Mercer, Van Wert and Allen; second subdivision, Williams, Defiance and Paulding; third subdivision, Fulton, Henry and Putnam. Fourth district-first subdivision, Lucas, Ottawa, Sandusky, Erie and Huron; second subdivision, Lorain, Urbana and Summit; third subdivision, Cuyahoga. Fifth district-first subdivision, Clermont and Brown; second subdivision, Highland, Ross, Fayette, Pickaway and Madison; third subdivision, Franklin. Sixth district-first subdivision, Delaware, Licking and Knox; second subdivision, Morrow, Richland and Ashland; third subdivision, Coshocton, Holmes and Wayne. Seventh district-first subdivision, Fairfield, Perry and Hocking; second subdivision, Adams, Scioto, Pike, Lawrence and Jackson; third subdivision, Gallia, Vinton, Meigs, Athens, Washington and Monroe. Eighth district first subdivision, Muskingum, Morgan, Guernsey and Noble; second subdivision, Belmont; third subdivision, Tuscarawas, Harrison and Jefferson. Ninth district-first subdivision, Stark, Carroll and Columbiana; second subdivision, Portage, Warren and Mahoning; third subdivision, Lake, Geauga and Ashtabula. Tenth district-first subdivision, Wood, Hancock, Hardin and Seneca; second subdivision, Wyandot, Crawford and Marion; third subdivision, Logan and Union. Circuit Judicial Districts of Ohio First Circuit-Hamilton, Clermont, Clinton, Warren and Butler counties; Second Circuit-Franklin, Fayette, Madison, Champaign, Clark, Greene, Montgomery, Miami, Shelby, Darke and Preble; Third Circuit-Union, Marion, Crawford, Seneca, Wyandot, Hardin, Logan, Hancock, Henry, Putnam, Allen, Auglaize, Defiance, Paulding, Van Wert and Mercer; Fourth Circuit-Brown, Adams, Highland, Scioto, Pike, Ross, Pickaway, Hocking, Vinton, Jackson, Lawrence, Gallia, Meigs, Athens and Washington; Fifth Circuit-Ashland, Richland, Morrow, Delaware, Knox, Licking, Fairfield, Perry, Morgan, Muskingum, Coshocton, Holmes, Wayne, Stark and Tuscarawas; Sixth Circuit-Williams, Fulton, Lucas, Ottawa, Sandusky, Erie, Wood and Huron; Seventh Circuit-Lake, Ashtabula, Geauga, Trumbull, Portage, Mahoning, Columbiana, Carroll, Jefferson, Harrison, Guernsey, Belmont, Noble and Monroe; Eighth Circuit-Cuyahoga, Lorain, Medina and Summit. Senatorial Districts of Ohio 237 First district-Hamilton county; Second and Fourth-Butler, Warren, Clermont and Brown; Third-Preble and Montgom ery; Fifth and Sixth-Greene, Fayette, Clinton, Highland and Ross; SeventhAdams, Pike, Scioto and Jackson; Eighth -Vinton, Meigs, Gallia and Lawrence; Ninth and Fourteenth-Fairfield, Logan, Athens, Morgan and Washington; Tenth -Franklin and Pickaway; EleventhChampaign, Clark and Madison; Twelfth -Darke, Shelby and Miami; ThirteenthHardin, Marion, Logan and Union; Fifteenth and Sixteenth-Delaware, Licking, Muskingum and Perry; Seventeenth and Twenty-eighth- Morrow, Knox, Holmes and Wayne; Eighteenth and NineteenthTuscarawas, Coshocton, Guernsey, Noble and Monroe; Twentieth and Twenty-secand ond-Belmont, Harrison, Jefferson Columbiana; Twenty-first-Stark and Carroll; Twenty-third-Trumbull and Mahoning; Twenty-fourth and Twenty-sixthAshtabula, Lake, Geauga, Portage and Summit; Twenty-fifth-Cuyahoga; Twentyseventh and Twenty-ninth-Lorain, Medina, Ashland and Richland; ThirtiethOttawa, Sandusky, Erie and Huron; Thirty-first-Seneca, Wyandot and Crawford; Thirty-second-Williams, Defiance, Paulding, Van Wert, Allen, Mercer and Auglaize; Thirty-third-Fulton, Henry, Putnam, Wood and Hancock; Thirty-fourthLucas. Congressional Districts of Ohio First and Second Districts-Hamilton county; Third-Preble, Montgomery and Butler; Fourth-Allen, Mercer, Auglaize, Shelby and Darke; Fifth-Williams, Henry, Defiance, Paulding, Putnam and Van Wert; Sixth-Greene, Warren, Clinton, Highland, Clermont and Brown; Seventh -Miami, Clark, Madison, Fayette and Pickaway; Eighth-Hancock, Hardin, Logan, Champaign, Union and Delaware; Ninth-Fulton, Lucas, Wood and Ottawa; Tenth-Adams, Pike, Jackson, Scioto, Lawrence and Gallia; Eleventh-Ross, Fairfield, Perry, Logan, Vinton, Athens and Meigs; Twelfth-Franklin; Thirteenth -Sandusky, Erie, Seneca, Wyandot, Crawford and Marion; Fourteenth-Lorain, Huron, Ashland, Richland, Morrow and Knox; Fifteenth-Muskingum, Guernsey, Noble, Morgan and Washington; Sixteenth-Carroll, Jefferson, Harrison, Belmont and Monroe; Seventeenth-Wayne, Holmes, Tuscarawas, Coshocton and Licking; Eighteenth-Stark, Mahoning and Columbiana; Nineteenth-Geauga, Ashtabula, Trumbull, Portage and Summit; Twentieth and Twenty-first-Medina, Lake and Cuyahoga. This is a good Almanac-but the next edition will be better. Ohio Day at the Louisiana Purchase Exposition Ohio Day was Oct. 6, 1904. Upon that day one of the greatest crowds of the year attended the exposition, to hear the speeches delivered by Governor Herrick and other notables. The exercises were held in the beautiful Ohio building, Ohio Agricultural Experiment Station The Ohio Agricultural Experiment Station was established by an act of the General Assembly passed April 17, 1882. Although organized as an independent institution, it was located, by agreement with the trustees of the State University, on the farm belonging to that institution, being allotted 30 acres of land and two or three office rooms for its work. On the passage in 1887 of the National Experiment Station law, known as the Hatch Act, the work of the Station was enlarged, and in 1892 it was removed from Columbus to Wayne county, under an act authorizing the various counties of the State to offer it a home. Three adjoining farms were selected, the nearest point being a mile south of the court house in Wooster, the entire tract containing 472 acres. As the work of the Station has grown it has become evident that if the agriculture of the State as a whole is to be properly served the Station's work must be state-wide, for in no single locality can the varied soils and climatic conditions of the whole state be found. Realizing this necessity, the legislature from time to time authorized the lease or purchase of outlying farms, so situated as to serve for the study of special soil conditions or of special crops, and finally, in 1910, enacted a law authorizing any county in the State, by vote of its people, to provide a fund for the purchase and equipment of a farm to be operated by the Experiment Station. Under this policy district experiment farms were established in Cuyahoga, Montgomery, Meigs and Hancock counties previous to the enactment of the county experiment farm law, and since then county experiment farms have been established in Paulding, Miami, Clermont and Hamilton counties. The Hatch Act was supplemented in 1906 by a second national law, known as the Adams Act. Under each of these acts the Station receives $15,000 annually from the national treasury, and these funds are supplemented by appropriations by the State legislature, these appropriations aggregating about $200,000 annually for 1911 and 1912. The government of the Station is in the hands of a board of control consisting of five members appointed by the Governor. The present members of this board are all actual farmers. The management of the Station is lodged with the director, who is assisted by a staff of 11 chiefs of departments, more than 40 scientific assistants and about 150 foremen, clerks and laborers. The service which the Station offers to the farmers of the State is stated in its annual announcement as follows: What the Station Can Do The Station offers its advice and assistance to the farmers of Ohio along the following lines: The maintenance of soil fertility, including the rotation of crops and the selection and use of manures and fertilizing materials. The selection of varieties of grains, grasses and forage crops and methods of culture. The selection of varieties of fruits and vegetables and the management of orchards. The examination of seeds that are suspected of being unsound or adulterated; the identification of grasses, weeds and other plants; the prevention of fungous diseases of plants. The identification of insects and the control of such as are injurious. The feeding of animals, including calculation of rations and use of various feeding stuffs. The planting and care of forest trees and the management of farm woodlots. What the Station Cannot Do The Station is not prepared to analyze commercial fertilizers and feeding stuffs, as in Ohio that work is placed in charge of the Secretary of the State Board of Agriculture, at Columbus, to whom all requests for such analyses should be addressed. The Station is not prepared to give advice respecting treatment of contagious diseases of animals, that function having been transferred to the State Board of Agriculture in its capacity of State Live Stock Commission. Requests for such advice should be addressed to Secretary, State Live Stock Commission, Department of Agriculture, Columbus, Ohio. The Station is not prepared to examine animals suspected of having been poisoned. Such examinations should be referred to the nearest veterinarian. The Station is not prepared to make official inspection of orchards and nurseries under the law requiring such inspection, that work having been transferred to the State Board of Agriculture, to whose Secretary, Columbus, requests for such inspection should be addressed. The Station is not prepared to examine foods, drugs and dairy products suspected of adulteration, as that work is in charge of the Ohio Dairy and Food Commissioner, whose office is at Columbus. The Station is not prepared to analyze drinking water; requests for such analysis should be addressed to the Secretary of the State Board of Health, Columbus. Visitors to the Station or its various test farms are welcome at all times during business hours. Persons or parties who contemplate such visits and who desire special attention are requested to write in advance, giving date of proposed visit and probable number of party. Any citizen of Ohio has the right to apply to the Station for such assistance as it can give, and all such requests will receive prompt attention. The Bulletins of this Station are sent free to all residents of the State who request them. Address all communications to Experiment Station, Wooster, Ohio. OHIO CANALS Ohio Canals and State Board of Public Works 239 The State of Ohio, in 1827, opened for public use a system of canals which connected Lake Erie with the Ohio river. The Ohio canal extends from the Cuyahoga river at Cleveland to the Ohio river at Portsmouth. This canal system necessitated the building of 308 miles of public works, over a route which varied in height above the lake level from 395 feet at Akron locks, only 35 miles from Cleveland, to 317 feet at Licking Summit, and falling 96 feet below the level of the lake as the canal enters Portsmouth, 308 miles to the south. The Miami and Erie canal is 245 miles long, extending from Toledo to Cincinnati, and piercing the western tier of counties. The act to provide for navigable canals was passed by the Twenty-third General Assembly, February 4, 1825. Work was begun in the same year, and was continued until the reservoirs were completed in 1842. Land grants were made by Congress to aid in the construction of Ohio canals as follows: Date of grant, March 2, 1827; object, to aid in opening canal to unite at navigable points the Wabash river with Lake Erie (so far as the same is in the State of Ohio); extent, a quantity of land equal to one-half of five sections in width on each side of canal; grantee, State of Indiana, thence to State of Ohio, by joint resolution of State of Indiana approved February 1, 1834; number of acres, 292,223.51. Date of grant, May 24, 1828; object, to aid in extending Miami canal from Dayton to Maumee river; extent, quantity equal to one-half of five sections in width on each side of said canal; grantee, State of Ohio; acres, 438,301.32. Date of grant, May 24, 1828; object, to aid in the construction of canals in the State of Ohio; extent, 500,000 acres, to be selected from land subject to private entry; grantee, State of Ohio; acres 499,997.12. Total number of acres, 1,230,521.95. Miami and Erie Canal The distance from the Ohio river to the Loramie Summit is 100 miles, and the lift 512 feet. There were formerly 53 locks south of the Summit, but in 1863 ten were cut off at Cincinnati. From the north end of Loramie Summit to level of Lake Erie the distance is 123 miles, the number of locks 52, and fall 395 feet. Cost of construction, $5,920,200.41. The distance from Lewistown Reservoir to State Dam across great Miami river at Port Jefferson is 234 miles. Between this point and Lockington, the Sidney feeder, 134 miles in length, was constructed at a cost of $392,258.32. The St. Mary's feeder and Loramie feeder are 22 miles, 3,361 feet in length respectively. The total cost of construction of the Miami and Erie canal system was $8,062,680.80. Ohio and Erie Canal The north end of Portage Summit is 35 miles from lake level in Cuyahoga river and has 42 locks. The Summit level is 9 miles long, 395 feet above Lake Erie, 491 feet above Ohio river at Portsmouth, and 968 feet above the Atlantic Ocean. Distance from south end of Summit to Dresden side-cut, 102 miles; number of locks, 29; fall, 238 feet; from Dresden Junction to mouth of Muskingum river at Marietta, 91 miles, fall, 154 feet; from Dresden Junction to Licking Summit 31 miles, locks 19, rise 160 feet; from south end of Licking Summit to Ohio river at Portsmouth 116 miles, locks 53, fall 413 feet. Cost of construction, $4,695,203.69. The Walhonding canal extends from Rochester to Roscoe, distance 25 miles, locks 12. Cost, $607,268.99. The Columbus feeder extends from Columbus to Ohio canal at Lockbourne, distance 11 miles, locks 2, fall 14 feet. Cost, $61,483. Reservoirs St. Marys-Number of acres (original), 17,603; cost, $528,222.07. Lewistown-Number of acres (original), 7,200; cost, $600,000. Licking-Number of acres (original), 4,200; cost, $200,000. Portage, Summit county-Number of acres (original), 2,000; cost, $80,000. Loramie-Number of acres (original), 1,900; cost, $22,000. Size of Canals The Ohio, Hocking, Walhonding, and Miami and Erie canal from Cincinnati to Dayton, were constructed 40 feet in width on top water line, bottom 26 feet, depth 4 feet; Miami and Erie canal from Dayton to Junction 50 feet top, 26 feet bottom, depth 5 feet; Junction to Toledo 60 feet top water line, 46 feet bottom, depth 6 feet. The size of locks is 90 feet in length of chambers, with 15 feet clear width between walls, as originally built. Cost of Construction The entire cost of construction of the canals, including reservoirs and feeders, was $14,340,572.59, besides material aid from private individuals and corporations in donations of land, right of way, and moneys. The State has received by sale of the lands granted by the general government for canal purposes, $2,257,487.32. The expenditures for the maintenance of the Ohio canals in repairs and cost of collections up to July 1, 1904, has amounted to $12.066,686,13. The receipts from actual earnings for the same time have amounted to $18,003,352.34, leaving a net credit to the canal of receipts over expenditures for maintenance account of $5,936,666.21. The public works at present comprises 581 82-100 miles of navigable canals, about 30,000 acres of reservoir area, besides their feeders, and the navigable rivers of the State. Abandonment In 1894 the General Assembly ordered the abandonment of that part of the eastern system which was known as the Hocking canal, 56 miles, and in 1896, 19 miles of the "Walhonding" canal. Lease of the Public Works On the second day of June, 1861, the public works of Ohio were leased by the act of the Legislature, passed May 9, 1861, for twenty thousand and seventy-five dollars ($20,075) per annum. Said lease continued in force until December 1, 1877, at which time the lessees abandoned the public works and by appointment of the Superior Court of Montgomery county they were placed in the hands of a receiver until May 15, 1878, at which time the State Board again took possession of the public works of Ohio. The canals were under charge of the State Board of Public Works (three members) until the 1912 officials' time expired. By reason of the adoption of a constitutional amendment in 1912 the elective board was abolished and one Commissioner of Public Works, named by the Governor, succeeds the board. THE OHIO FLAG The Ohio Flag The design for the Ohio flag was adopted by the seventy-fifth general assembly on May 7, 1902. The Ohio flag is red, white and blue, made in the form of a pennant with a triangular split at the end. It has three red stripes, two white stripes, a triangular field of blue with 17 white stars surrounding a white circle with a red center. The proportions and symmetry of the flag are such that it may be shown in any position without affecting its symbolism. The triangles formed by the main lines of the flag represent the hills and valleys as typified in the state seal, and the stripes, the roads and waterways. The stars, indicating the 13 original states in the Union, are grouped about the circle, representing the original number of states. That it was the seventeenth state admitted to the Union is shown by adding four more stars. The white circle with its red center not only represents the initial letter of Ohio, but is suggestive of its being the "Buckeye" state. As good as this edition of the Ohio Almanac is, the next edition will be better. First Churches The Moravians built the | Diocese of Cincinnati was first house of worship in created and Rev. Mr. Fen1772, near where Marietta wick was created the first now stands. bishop. He had 8,000 Roman Catholics in his jurisdiction-the whole northwest territory. Rev. Edward D. Fenwick, a Dominican friar, was the first Roman Catholic missionary. He visited Cincinnati about 1810. In 1821 the Formal organization of the Public Debt of Ohio The following exhibit, so far as it relates to the State debt, is derived from the books of the commissioners of the Sinking Fund, and shows the present condition of the public funded debt of the State: The public funded debt of the State on the 15th day of November, 1912, was $1,665, and consisted of the following loan: Domestic loan, interest on which has ceased, $1,665. This item of $1,665 was due many years ago, but has never been presented for payment; therefore, it was supposed the bond or bonds are lost or destroyed. Where the Name Ohio Ohio takes its name from the river which borders it on the south and southeast. The name of the river is a contraction of the Iroquois OHIONHIIO, meaning "beautiful River." Territorial Capital Cincinnati was the capital of the Northwest territory until 1801, when the territorial legislature met in Chillicothe. The first territorial legislature met in Cincinnati in 1799. in Ohio took place in September, 1809, at Boardman, Trumbull county. The Baptists first organized at Columbia, on the Ohio river, in 1790. The first Western Conference of Methodists was held at Chillicothe in 1807. |