Ohio Counties
Adams
Historical Collections of Ohio
By Henry Howe
Vol. I
©1888
Ashland County
Page 251
ASHLAND COUNTY was formed February 26, 1846. The
surface on the South is hilly, the remainder of the county rolling. The soil of
the upland is a sandy loam; of the valleys-which comprise a large
part of the county-a rich sandy and gravelly loam, and very productive. A great
quantity of wheat, oats, corn, potatoes, etc., is raised, and grass and fruit
in abundance. Majority of the population are of Pennsylvania origin. to present
territory originally comprised the townships of Vermillion, Montgomery, Orange,
Green, and Hanover, with parts of Monroe, Mifflin, Milton, and Clear Creek, of
Richland county; also the principal part of the townships of Jackson, Perry, Mohican,
and Lake, of Wayne county; of Sullivan and Troy, Lorain county; and Ruggles, of Huron county. The townships from Lorain and
Huron counties are from the Connecticut Western Reserve tract. Area, 470 square miles. In 1885 the acres cultivated were 130,94;
in pasture, 47,607; woodland, 45,137; lying waste, 3,128; produced in wheat,
443,339 bushels; in corn, 861,675; cheese, 476,850 pounds; flax, 564,200; wool,
268,573; maple sugar, 57,850.School census 1886, 7,336; teachers, 153. It has
29 miles of railroad.
|
Townships And Census |
1880 |
|
Townships And Census |
1880 |
|
Clear Creek, |
1,154 |
|
Montgomery, |
4,638 |
|
Green, |
2,857 |
|
Orange, |
1,448 |
|
Hanover, |
2,316 |
|
Perry, |
1,492 |
|
Jackson, |
1,486 |
|
Ruggles, |
726 |
|
Lake, |
886 |
|
Sullivan, |
795 |
|
Mifflin, |
846 |
|
Troy, |
715 |
|
Milton, |
1,192 |
|
Vermillion, |
2,209 |
|
Mohican, |
1,693 |
|
|
|
Population in 1860 was 22,951; in 1880,
23,883, of whom 18,852 were Ohio born.
ASHLAND IN 1846.—Ashland, the county-seat, was
laid out (1815) by William Montgomery, and bore for many years the name of
Uniontown; it was changed to
Page 252
its present name in compliment to Henry
CLAY, whose seat near Lexington, Kentucky, bears that name. Daniel CARTER, from
Butler county, Pennsylvania, raised the first cabin in
the place about the year 1811, which stood where the store of William GRANGER
ranger now is in Ashland. Robert NEWELL, three miles east, and Mr. FRY, one and
one-half miles north of the village, raised cabins about the same time. In 1817
the first store was opened by Joseph SHEETS, in a frame building now kept as a
store by the widow YONKER. Joseph SHEETS, David MARKLEY,
Drawn
by Henry Howe in 1846.
PUBLIC BUILDINGS IN ASHLAND.
Samuel URY, Nicholas SHAEFFER, Alanson
ANDREWS, Elias SLOCUM, and George W., PLAMER were among the first settlers of
the place. Ashland is a flourishing village; eighty-nine miles northwest of
Columbus, and fourteen from Mansfield. It contains five, churches, viz., two
Presbyterian, one Episcopal Methodist, one Lutheran, and one Disciples; nine
dry-goods, four grocery, one book, and two drug stores; two newspaper
printing-offices; a flourishing classical academy, numbering over 100 pupils of
both sexes, and a population estimated at 1,300. The above view was taken in
front of the site selected for the erection of a court-house, the Methodist church building
seen on the left being now used for that purpose; the structures with steeples,
commencing on the right, are the First Presbyterian church, the academy, and
the Second Presbyterian church. At the organization of the
Frank Henry Howe, Photo., 1888.
PUBLIC BUILDINGS IN ASHLAND.
first court
of common pleas for this county, at Ashland, an old gentleman by the name of
David BURNS was one of the grand jurors who, as a remarkable fact, it is said,
was also a member of the first grand jury ever impanelled
in Ohio. The court met near the mouth of Wegee creek,
in Belmont county, in 1795; the
Page 253
country being sparsely settled, he was compelled to travel forty
miles to the place of holding court.—Old Edition.
County officers for 1888: Auditor, Samuel L. ARNOLD; Clerk,
Milton WINBIGLER; Commissioners, Nathan J. CRESSON, John Martin, Jacob KETTERING; Coroner,
William H. REINHART; Prosecuting Attorney, Frank C. SEMPLE; Probate Judge,
Emanuel FINGER; Recorder, Edwin S. BIRD; Sheriff, Randolph F. ANDRESS;
Surveyor, John B. WEDDELL; Treasurers, James W. BRANT, Thomas C. Harvey.