The Cadiz Republican Cadiz, Ohio, Thursday, January 25th, 1917 EARLY COUNTY HISTORY The following sketches of early Harrison county history are taken from an address delivered by John A. McConnell at the great Centennial Fourth of July celebration, held at Cadiz in 1876: EARLY SETTLEMENTS As early as 1799 Alexander Henderson and family from Washington county, Pennsylvania, squatted on the southwest quarter of the section on which Cadiz now stands. At this time Daniel Peterson resided at the forks of Shortcreek with his family, the only one within the limits of the county. In 1800 emigrants principally from Washington county, Pennsylvania, began to cross the Ohio River, and in course of five or six years there had settled within the county the following persons with their families: John Craig, John Taggart, John McFadden, John Jamison, John Carnahan, John Huff, John Maholm, John Wallace, John Lyons, Rev. John Rea, Daniel Welch, William Moore, James Black, Samuel Dunlap, James Arnold, Joseph and Samuel McFadden, Samuel Gilmore, James Finney, Thomas and Robert Vincent, Robert Braden, James Wilken, Samuel and George Carnahan, Thomas Dickerson, Joseph Holmes, Samuel Hanna, Joseph, William and Eliazer Huff, Baldwin Parsons, James Haverfield, Robert Cochran, Samuel Maholm, Hugh Teas, Joseph Clark, Morris West, Jacob Shepler, Martin Snider, Samuel Osborne, Samuel Smith, Samuel Hedges, and perhaps others near Cadiz; and on Shortcreek, Robert and Thomas Taylor, John Ross, Thomas Hitchcock, Arthur and Thomas Barrett, Absalom Kent, John Pugh, Michael Waxler, William McCleary, Joseph, Joel and William Johnson, George Layport, William Ingles, and perhaps others; on Stillwater, John M. McConnell, George Brown, John Love, William and Robert McCullough, Daniel Brokaw, and others near the head waters of Wheeling Creek. These are familiar names. I might tell some of the exploits of John Huff with Indians, and might detail the story of George Layport’s skinning a wolf alive, and finding it dead a few days afterwards. These things are, doubtless, true, and give some idea of pioneer life, but a very inadequate one. Those grand old men had serious work before them. I remember now of hearing a statement made at a meeting held in Cadiz, a few years ago, when the building of turnpikes was under discussion. “Why,” said the speaker - and he was an intelligent man, too - “the expense attending the construction of turnpikes throughout our county would bankrupt every one of us.” Yet these men cleared away the mighty oaks, opened up their farms, built themselves houses, made roads throughout the county, built villages and erected mills for grinding their grain; and all without money, for money was then almost unattainable. How shall I describe their achievements? I remember some of the old families. I remember the old loom that might be seen at every farm house, on which the farmer’s wife or daughters would weave nearly every fabric worn by the family, the flax and the wool were the product of the farm. Every one was employed. And then they were neighborly. When a log house was to be built, every neighbor helped. At the log rolling and the corn husking, the whole neighborhood assembled, and with hearty good cheer the work was done. VILLAGES In 1804 Messrs. Biggs & Beattle laid out the town of Cadiz. It was then a forest. Its location was induced by the junction here of the road from Pittsburg via Steubenville with the road from Washington, Pa., via Wellsburg, Va., from whence the two united, passed by Cambridge to Zanesville. Previous to the construction of the National road through Ohio, this road was traveled, perhaps, more than any road northwest of the Ohio River. In April, 1807, Cadiz contained the following named persons and their families: Jacob Arnold, Innkeeper; Andrew McNeely, hatter and Justice of the Peace; Joseph Harris, merchant; John McCrea, wheelwright; Robert Wilken, brickmaker; Cornell Abdell, shoemaker; Jacob Myers, carpenter; John Pritchard, blacksmith; Nathan Adams, tailor; James Simpson, reedmaker; William Tingley, school teacher; and old Granny Young, baker. The people, in a fit of hilarity subsequently elected the old lady Justice of the Peace; of course she was debarred by the Constitution from serving her constituents. As early as July 4th, 1806, just seventy years ago, the people of the town and country for miles around assembled for the purpose of celebrating the Declaration of Independence, and partook of a fine repast of venison, bear meat, wild turkey, and such vegetables as the country afforded; and it is said they used for drink, rye whiskey. Ten years after Cadiz was laid out, other villages were commenced. About that time speculation was rife. Very many commenced banking and some selling town lots. There are still a number of villages in the county that had their beginning then. Of the number: New Rumley, laid out August 15th, 1814; Freeport, 1814; New Athens, 1817; Deersville, 1815; Harrisville, 1817. Still the great majority of the inhabitants of the county were farmers - a much larger proportion than now. They would then haul their surplus produce - principally wheat - to the Ohio River to market, and get but twenty-five cents per bushel; never over fifty cents, and perhaps did no more grumbling than we do now. ORGANIZATION OF THE COUNTY This county was organized in 1813, and named in honor of Gen. William Henry Harrison. March 11th of the same year, John Pugh and James Cobean, the newly elected Commissioners, met at Cadiz, took their oath of office, and appointed Walter B. Beebe, their clerk, and Samuel Osborne, County Treasurer. They then procured the house of William Grimes for the purpose of holding court until a more commodious place was found. They afterward contracted with the Associate Reformed Congregation for the use of their church, the only house of worship at that time in the place. It was a large log building on the ground on which John Carnahan’s residence, (now Ehrhart building) now stands. On September 15th, 1815, the contract for building the first Court House was sold to John McCurdy for five thousand six hundred and ninety-five dollars. The brick was burned and the walls built by Major John S. Lacey, and his cousin John M. Lacey. The building was not finished for three years afterwards. In 1820 the population of the county reached 14,345. During the year 1827, the Ohio Canal was finished as far as New Philadelphia, and a side cut made soon afterwards to Uhrichsville. This gave our farmers a choice of markets, and soon after the price of wheat advanced considerably. Here a new era is marked in our history. We soon reached our maximum population. The farmers being better remunerated, some increased in wealth and purchased land from their neighbors, causing them to move farther west, or seek other business in the villages. Thus farms and villages both grew larger. On the 11th day of June, 1854, the Cadiz Branch of the S. & L.L.R.R. was opened to Cadiz, with a fireman’s parade, speeches, and a sumptuous dinner. The influence of the road on the northern part of the county has been very marked. Villages sprang up at different points. Fairview was laid out by William Stahl, in 1851, in anticipation of the building of the road; Bowerston about the same time. Scio, then called New Market, and Mastersville, were already small villages. All these places became good shipping points, and afforded good markets for the produce of the country. There has been no increase in population since 1830, Harrison county at that time reached 20,920. I find in an old file of the Harrison Telegraph, that the receipts for taxes that year (1830) were $5,051. The total value of the property of the county can only be approximated from this data. In 1830 the total value of property, real and personal was $1,147,002. In 1854, the time of the completion of the railroad, it had increased to $7, 781,920; and in 1874 it had again increased to $13,921,130. CHANGE OF BOUNDARY The legislature of 1832-33 changed the boundary of our county somewhat by the formation of Carroll county. At the time this change was made a number of proposals were before the Legislature. one for the formation of a county from parts of Belmont, Guernsey, Tuscarawas and Harrison, with Freeport as the county seat. Another for a new county north of us with Leesville, Carroll county, as the county seat.