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We quote from the records of the Ohio Company, December 8th, 1795, the following report of the committee for examining the lands on the Hockhocking, suitable for fifth division lots
"Where beasts with men divided empire claim, And the brown Indian marks with murderous aim,"
"We, the subscribers, being appointed a committee by a resolve of the agents of the Ohio Company of the 9th of November, 1790, and for the purpose expressed in said resolve, but being prevented from attending to that business by the Indian war, until a treaty took place, since which (in company with Jeffrey Matthewson, a surveyor appointed by the superintendent of surveys), having measured and very minutely examined the lands of the Hockhocking, report: That in range 14, township 10, the following sections or mile squares, viz : No. 13, 19, 20, 25, 31, and 32; in range 15, township 12, sections No. 2, 3, 4, 9, 10, 17, 23, 24, 30, 35, and 36; in range 16, township 12, sections No. 5, 12, and 19; in range 16, township 13, sections No. 13, 14, 20, 21, 26, 271 25, 33 and 34, we find are suitable to be laid out in fifth division lots agreeably to a map herewith exhibited. Having also examined and surveyed the land at the mouth of the great Hockhocking we find it very suitable for home lots and in quantity according to the map herewith exhibited.
JONATHAN DEVOL
ROBERT OLIVER, Committee."
HAFFIELD WHITE.
The records of the Ohio Company show that on the 9th of November, 1790, a committee of three was appointed to reconnoiter and survey the lands of the Company lying on the upper Hockhocking. This committee consisted of Jonathan Devol, Robert Oliver and Haffield White, and was styled "the reconnoitering committee." Owing, however, to Indian hostilities, the work was deferred some years and the regular survey of Athens and adjoining townships was not begun till January, I795. The surveying party, which came up the Hockhocking river in canoes, was accompanied by a guard of fifteen men, as the Indian war had hardly closed and it was feared that bands of the savages might be found lurking in these deep forests. But none were met with, and the survey was completed during the ensuing spring and summer.
The township as established by the county commissioners at their first meeting included territory which now forms five townships, viz: Swan and Brown, of Vinton county, and Waterloo, Canaan and Athens of Athens county. Thus though not so extensive as Alexander or Ames, Athens township nevertheless included a large extent of country. It was, for that period, a fair two days' journey across the township; and although the country was now emerging from the condition of an unbroken wilderness, it was still very wild and thinly populated. The Rev. James Quinn, a pioneer Methodist preacher who died in Highland county at an advanced age in 1847, settled in Ohio in 1804. The same year he and the Rev. John Meek were appointed to the "Hockhocking circuit," which embraced not only the Hockhocking valley but also the settlements on the Muskingum and on the Scioto from the high bank below Chillicothe up to the neighborhood of where Columbus now stands. In 1805 Mr. Quinn was returned to the same circuit with the Rev. Joseph Williams as his colleague. A camp-meeting, probably the first ever held in the county, was held by Bishop Asbury and Mr. Quinn near the town of Athens in 1810. Mr. Quinn states that it lasted four days, and that Bishop Asbury preached two powerful sermons. In his autobiography, published many years since, Mr. Quinn says:
My first missionary excursion up the Hockhocking valley was performed in December, 1799. Leaving the vicinity of Marietta I ascended the Muskingum to the mouth of Wolf creek and then took the trace to Athens and the falls of Hockhocking. But, taking the right hand trace I left Athens to the left and passing through Amestown, struck the Hockhocking at the identical spot where Nelsonville now stands. There, at the foot of a large beech tree, I stopped and prayed. Having given my horse his mess of corn, and eaten my piece of pone and meat, I cut my name on the beech, mounted poor Wilks and went on. Between sundown and dark I reached the old Indian town near the falls. Here I found three families. They came together and I preached to them. I passed on up the river as far as there were any settlements, spending nearly a week with the people in the vicinity of where Lancaster now is. I then returned by the way I had come and stopped again at my beech tree. Saturday night found me at Athens and in comfortable lodgings at the house of a Mr. Stevens. The people came together the next day, which I think was the first Sabbath of January, 1800. I took for my text St. Paul's language to the Athenians of old, ' Of this ignorance,' etc. There were a few Methodists in the region round about, and we had a refreshing time."
This Mr. Quinn was ordained by Bishop Whatcoat, who was ordained by Wesley himself.
Between this time and the organization of the county in 1805 steps were taken by the trustees of the university toward establishing the town.
On the 6th of June, 1804, they passed an "ordinance providing for the sale of lots in the town of Athens.
The town of Athens had been "confirmed and established," by a legislative act of December 6, 1800; it was regularly incorporated by an act, passed January 28, 1811, entitled "an act to incorporate the town of Athens, and for other purposes." This act enacted that "so much of the township of Athens, county of Athens, as is contained in the plat of the town of Athens, as recorded in the recorder's office in the county of Washington, be and the same is hereby erected into a town corporate, to be known and distinguished by the name of the town of Athens." It provided for an annual election of a town council and other officers. It also authorized and directed "the trustees of the Ohio university to lease to the county commissioners, on a nominal rent, for ninety-nine years, renewable forever, in-lots Nos. 35 and 37, on which the court house and jail now stand, and also inlot No. 18, reserved for the purpose of building a school and meeting house;" also, to lease, on the same terms, the grounds reserved for a burying ground.
This act of incorporation was amended February 15, 1812, when the trustees of the Ohio university were authorized and directed to lease to the Methodist society in the town of Athens, on the foregoing terms, "a piece of the public commons which adjoins out-lot No. 61, beginning at the S. E. corner of said lot, thence E. four chains, thence N. eight chains, thence W. four chains, thence S. to the place of beginning for the use of the said Methodist society, and to build a meeting house thereon for the purposes of worship."
During the next half century, the population of the town and township increased but slowly. The extreme inaccessibility of the town during a long period, from the absence of railroad or other good communications, prevented a large immigration, while the superior agricultural advantages of states lying further west, have drawn away, from time to time, numbers of the citizens. In 1820, the population of the township was 1,114; in 1830, it was 1,703; in 1840, it was 2,282; in 1850, it was 2,360; and in 1860, it was 2,852. The present population of the town of Athens is about two thousand. It is handsomely situated, and, for a town of its class, well built. With a healthful location, in the midst of a region abounding in natural beauties of an uncommonly attractive and picturesque order, and with a quiet and intelligent population, Athens may justly be regarded as a pleasant place of residence. There is good reason also to believe that the future growth of the town will exceed the past. It is now accessible by one railroad, and will soon be the terminus of another. We have, elsewhere in these pages, adverted to the great mineral wealth of the county, and it can not be doubted that these attractions will eventually draw a large and valuable immigration to this point.
A recent triumph of the liberality and active enterprise of the citizens of Athens merits a conspicuous mention-we refer to the securing of the new lunatic asylum. January 17, 1866, Dr. W. P. Johnson, representative from Athens county in the state legislature, caused a resolution to be offered, through Mr. Lockwood, of Licking county, instructing "the committee on benevolent institutions to inquire what action is necessary by the general assembly, to do justice to the incurable insane, and report, by bill or otherwise," which passed the house. February 21, 1866, Dr. Johnson, chairman of the committee aforesaid, reported, by direction of the committee, a "bill to provide for the erection of an additional lunatic asylum, and for the enlargement of the northern and southern lunatic asylums." Meanwhile a flood of light was thrown on the condition of the incurable insane, within the state, by a committee of the state medical society, whose thorough and exhaustive reports on the subject, Dr. Johnson brought before the legislature, contributing much to the success of his measure. His bill, entitled "an act to provide for the erection of an additional lunatic asylum," became a law, April 13, 1867. It provided for the appointment, by the governor, of three trustees, to select and purchase, or receive by gift or donation, a lot of land, not less than fifty nor more than one hundred acres, suitably located for the erection of an asylum, to contain four hundred patients. Mr. W. E. Davis, of Cincinnati, Mr. D. E. Gardner, of Toledo, and Dr. C. McDermont, of Dayton, were appointed trustees; a vacancy occurring in this committee, through the death of Dr. McDermont, Mr. E. H. Moore, of Athens, was appointed in his place. There were various competing points, and for some time the contest was sharp and close; but through the superiority of her claims, the sagacity of her representative, and the liberality of her citizens, Athens finally eclipsed all rivals and secured the asylum. To carry the point, the citizens purchased and made a gift to the state of one hundred and fifty acres of land, lying south of the town, known as the Coates farm. The site is faultless. The land lies beautifully, overlooking the valley of the Hockhocking, with its encircling hills, and commanding on every side a picturesque and varied view. The location was fixed by the trustees in August, 1867. Contracts for the excavation have been let to Messrs. Maris & McAboy; for the brick (about 12,o00,000) to Messrs. D. W. H. Day and James W. Sands; and for the masonry to William McAboy. The entire length of the building will be about eight hundred feet, and its cost about four hundred thousand dollars. It will be an elegant and important feature of the place, and can not fail to attract public attention to the town and county.
Athens Court House, Athens County, Ohio
For about a year and a half after the organization of the county, the court was held in a room, rented for that purpose, of Leonard Jewett and Silas Bingham. In 1807-8, a hewed log court house was erected, very near the spot where the present one stands, in which the courts were held for about ten years. This temple of justice must have been a pretty substantial structure, if its chimney, described in the following extract from the records of the county commissioners may be taken as a "specimen brick:"
"September 7, 1807. The commissioners proceeded to adopt the following plan for a chimney in the court house in the town of Athens, to wit: The foundation to be laid with stone, one foot below the surface, the remainder to be of brick, to be well laid in good lime mortar; one fire place below and two above-the fire place below to be four feet clear in the back, twenty-two inches deep, and five feet four inches wide in front, to be secured by a bar of iron the size of a common flat bar, and secured with a sufficient bolt let into the discharging piece-the bolt to be secured by a fore lock and key, the bolt about one foot and five or six inches in length, and the discharging piece six inches thick. The fire places above to be each eighteen inches back, and built proportionably with the rest of the chimney, which is to be raised three feet above the top of the building; the upper fire places to be well coated, and the whole to be completed, including the hearths, in a workmanlike manner, on or before the 20th day of November next; which (contract) being put up at public sale, was struck off at seventy-eight dollars."
The resources of the settlement being very limited, this same building was used also for a school house, and meeting house. In the records of the county commissioners we find the following entry:
"December 7, 1811.-Resolved, by the commissioners, that from and after this date, the court house in the town of Athens shall not be used as a school house or a meeting house, unless the inhabitants of said town shall agree to furnish, for the use of the court, during the time of its session, a. sufficient quantity of fire wood, ready cut, fit for the fire; also to keep the house in as good repair as it now is, and keep the same well swept during the sitting of the court; and that the clerk notify the inhabitants as aforesaid, by advertisement posted on the court house door."
Perhaps the school teacher was careless about shutting the door at night, and probably school boys, in those days, like other boys before and since, were not scrupulous about keeping the floor clean; for the next entry on the subject is as follows:
"June 2, 18r2.-The board appointed Ebenezer Currier a committee to see, on condition the court house is used as a school house, that the door of said house be kept shut whenever the house is not occupied, every night, and that it be kept clean; also, that a sufficient quantity of fire wood be constantly kept for the court and commissioners, and that the house be left in as good repair as when entered upon."
And, finally, on this head, it was ordered, December 8, 1813
"That the court house shall be no longer used as a school house, and that Henry Bartlett be a committee to take care of the same, and have said house repaired by the 1st of January next."
"June 8, 1814, it was Ordered, that the north and east sides of lots Nos. 35 and 37, on which the court house and jail now stand, be fenced with good, sawed, white oak palings, of five feet in length, the posts to be of black locust, four by five inches square, and six and a half feet long, the rails of good white oak, and the panels ten feet long, with a small gate before the present court house door, and agate of ten feet wide near the north east corner, fronting the east."
Caleb Merrit and Joseph B. Miles were appointed a committee to carry the above resolution into effect. The old hewed log court house was the one in use while Thomas Ewing was attending college at Athens, and he was, doubtless, a frequent visitor here. Here he probably gained his first familiarity with judicial proceedings, and acquired his earliest knowledge of the workings of the law. The practitioners at the Athens bar of that day, if they noticed an unsophisticated youth, on a back seat, intently listening to their professional efforts, little imagined that that youth would live to become one of the greatest expounders of the law our country has yet produced, and to ornament some of the highest positions in the land.
Proposals for a new court house (the one now in use) must have been published in the spring or early summer of 1814, for in the proceedings of the meeting of the county commissioners, held August 1, of that year, present, Asahel Cooley, Caleb Merrit, and Robert Linzee, it is entered:
"Proceeded to sell, to the lowest bidder, certain articles, agreeable to advertisement, to be furnished for the erecting of a court house, viz : to Ebenezer Currier, twelve hundred feet of black walnut boards, one and one-fourth inches thick; one hundred feet of poplar boards, one and one-half inches thick, and five hundred feet, ditto, one and one-fourth inches thickto be delivered on the court house lot, piled up properly for drying, and to be delivered on or before the 1st day of January next. To Edmund Dorr, twenty perch of rough stone, for the foundation-to be laid, according to advertisement, before the 15th day of November next."
The following entries, copied from the old records of the county commissioners, mark the progress and history of the present court house:
"November 16, 1814:-Ordered, that the wall for the foundation of the court house be six inches thicker than described heretofore, and that the same be laid in mortar of lime and coarse sand, and that such further compensation be allowed to Edmund Dorr, contractor for the same, as masons shall adjudge."
"December 5, 1814.-County of Athens, to Joseph B. Miles, Dr
To 1,925 feet of boards and scantling, - $19 25
Hauling same from mill, - - - 3 00
Drawing plan of court house, - - 1 00
"December 6, 1814.-Ordered, that the clerk notify, by advertisement, set up in three public places in Athens, the furnishing of three ranges of cut stone, two feet wide and nine inches thick, to be well laid in lime mortar; also the furnishing of one hundred thousand good merchantable brick, to be delivered on the court house lot by the 1st day of August next. Proposals will be received by the commissioners, in writing, at their meeting, on the second Monday in January next."
" February 1, 1815.-The commissioners met for the purpose of consulting as to the practicability of proceeding in building the court house."
It was decided to proceed, and at their meeting, March 7th, the clerk was directed to
"Advertise in the American Friend, for furnishing brick and stone in amounts as aforesaid; proposals to be received by the commissioners, at the court house, on the second Monday of April next, from 10 A. M., to 4 P. M., on said day."
"April 10, 1815.-The commissioners met for the purpose of contracting for the furnishing of cut stone for the court house; also of one hundred thousand brick for the same. After having received the proposals of Elijah Hatch, Esq., and Edmund Dorr, for furnishing brick, and of William Dorr, William Alcock, and Jonathan Amlin, for furnishing and laying cut and hewed stone," the board adjourned till next day.
"Tuesday, April 11.-Proceeded to receive bonds of William Alcock and Jonathan Amlin for the stone work, and agreed with them for the sum of three hundred dollars, payable October 1st, next. Proceeded also to take bonds from Edmund Dorr, for the furnishing of one hundred thousand brick for the court house; amount of said contract, six hundred dollars, in county orders, on the completion of the contract."
June 7, 1815, the clerk was directed to advertise for materials, and making doors and window frames; also for sleepers, joists, and rafters, and for framing timber for floor, laying the brick, etc.
"July 17, 1815.-The commissioners proceeded to contract as follows : with John Havner, for laying up the brick walls of court house, five hundred dollars; with Abel Stedman, furnishing timber, framing cupola, etc., two hundred and seventy-four dollars; and with Elijah Hatch, for shingles, sixty-seven dollars." -
"September 5, 1815.-Agreed with John Porter, he being the lowest bidder, for the following jobs of work, viz: putting a cornice round the court house, at fifty cents per foot; also hoarding the roof of the same, for the sum of twelve dollars; and shingling the same at the rate of one dollar and twenty-five cents per thousand, and at one dollar for each hip."
"September 6, 1815.-The board appointed James Gillmore superintendent, to oversee and superintend the building of the court house, and to call on Charles Shipman and J. B. Miles to assist him at any time when required."
"September 26.-Resolved by the board, that the sum of four hundred dollars be borrowed from the Bank of Marietta, for the purpose of paying for the stone work on the court house, including window sills, etc., and for the purpose of purchasing nails; and that an order issue for the said amount, payable to Asahel Cooley, and that the same be sent by William Skinner, and deposited in the Bank of Marietta, for the purpose of obtaining the sum aforesaid."
"September 27.-Busy in making arrangements for the building of the court house, and making proposals to the trustees of the Ohio university for the loan of one thousand dollars."
"Thursday, 28.-Agreed with the trustees of the Ohio university, for a loan of one thousand dollars, for one year, at six per cent. interest."
"Friday, 29.-Resolved, That Robert Linzee and James Gillmore be a committee to examine the mason work of the court house, when finished, and receive the same, and also to ascertain the number of brick in said building."
The laying of the brick was finished in October, 1815, and John Havner received his pay in full, viz : $500, as per contract.
"Wednesday, December 6, 1815.-Resolved, by the commissioners of the county of Athens, That, in consideration of a subscription by sundry individuals, viz: Josiah Coe, Cephas Carpenter, Mary Ann Ackley, Lydia Ackley, James Gillmore, Jacob Dumbaugh, John Johnstone, Enos Thompson, David Pratt, Daniel Stewart, Joseph B. Miles, Henry Bartlett, Robert Linzee, Charles Shipman, Ebenezer Currier, Eliphaz Perkins, Chauncey F. Perkins, Alvan Bingham, Amos Crippen, John Porter, James J. Fuller, James Session, Silas Bingham, John White, Abel Stedman, Eliphaz Perkins, jun., S. S. Johnstone, John Havner, Thomas Armstrong, Seth Child, Asahel Cooley, Thomas McClelland, and Arthur Coates, amounting to $506, to be paid into the county treasury to assist in building the court house in said county, and this day presented by a committee appointed for that purpose by the subscribers; the commissioners do agree that the subscribers and their associates have the privilege of holding meetings for religious purposes, on the Sabbath and other days, for eight years from the first day of January, 1816, when it shall not interfere with the county business, upon condition that $500 of the above-named subscription be paid to Henry Bartlett on or before the first day of March next; and that each subscriber, on his paying the sum subscribed by him, shall receive a receipt for the same, to be refunded in eight years, without interest; and provided further, that if the said sum of $500 is not paid in by the time specified, then it shall be optional with the commissioners to refund the money or continue the privilege, and if they should not continue the privilege, then the money is to be refunded. And it is also understood that the aforesaid sum of $500 be appropriated for finishing the lower room of the court house, if the whole of said sum be necessary. The following form of receipt shall be given by Henry Bartlett, clerk of the commissioners, for the purposes aforesaid : ' Received of A. B. the sum of -, which is to be refunded to the said A. B., or his heirs or assigns, at the end of eight years from the first day of January, 1816, out of the county treasury, without interest.'
"January 6, 1816.-It is agreed by the commissioners and Joseph B. Miles, that the said Miles furnish the glass and oil for the court house, and that, after deducting the amount of said Miles's subscription from the articles, the balance be paid him, on delivery thereof.
Same day.-" Agreed with John Walker for making the sash for the lower and upper rooms of the court house, priming the same, and setting the glass, and fitting the sash in the frames, at ten cents per light-materials to be furnished by the commissioners. Also, agreed with John Walker for laying the lower floor, at $4 50 per square. The above contracts_ to be completed by May 1, 1816.
"Agreed with John Porter for finishing the upper part of the cupola, from the cornice up (including cornice), putting up rafters, boarding and shingling roof, putting on timber, with a ball agreeable to a plan this day exhibited, to be completed by May 1st, 1817. Also agreed with John Porter, finishing and building the stairs for the sum of $60; the banisters to be mortised into the. hand-rails and string board, and completed in a workmanlike manner.
[Time for completing the above contracts extended to the 1st day of September.] "
Same date.-" WHEREAS, Robert Linzee and Asahel Cooley, have loaned of the corporation of the Ohio university, the sum of $i,000 for the use and benefit of the county of Athens, in building the court house; therefore, be it resolved, that so much of the tax of this present year be appropriated for the benefit of said Linzee and Cooley, as will satisfy said sum and interest."
Same date.-" Resolved, That James Gillmore and Henry Bartlett, be a committee to receive bonds of the several contractors on the court house, and that the said Gillmore and Bartlett, be a committee to dispose of the $1,000 borrowed by Asahel Cooley and Robert Linzee, for the use and benefit of Athens county, which sum said committee are directed to apportion among the different contractors who have heretofore filled their contracts on said building in proportion to their claims, after deducting therefrom six per cent."
"June 13, 1816.-Agreed with John Walker, for completing the following jobs or parcels of work : finishing the judges' seats in the court house agreeably to the plan, twenty panels in front, with bed moulding and capping for a cornice; five panels on each |
