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Welcome to
Carroll Co., Ohio
History & Genealogy

HISTORY
Source:
 History of Carroll and Harrison Counties, Ohio 
- Vol. I -
 Under the Editorial Supervision of Judge H. J. Eckley
- Illustrated -
Published by The Lewis Publishing Company - Chicago and New York
1921

CHAPTERS:
XVIII - Augusta Twp.
XIX - Brown Twp.
XX - East & Fox Twps.
XXI - Harrison Twp.
XXII - Lee Twp.
XXIII. - Loudon Twp.
XXIV. - Monroe Twp.
XXV. - Orange Twp.
XXVI. - Perry Twp.
XXV. - Rose Twp.
XXVIII. - Union Twp.
XXIX. - Washington Twp.

CHAPTER III.   NOT FINISHED
COUNTY ORGANIZATION AND BEGINNINGS

ANCIENT OWENRSHIP OF TERRITORY - THE INDIANS WHO ONCE HELD IT - PART OF THE GREAT NORTHWEST TERRITORY - ONCE INCLUDED IN SEVERAL OTHER COUNTIES - ITS NAME - ITS COUNTY SEAT LOCATED - FIRST OFFICIAL ACTION - FIRST OFFICERS OF THE COUNTY - PART OF THE LEGISLATIVE ACT CREATING THE COUNTY.

     This county was carved out of the territory of other counties, hereinafter named.  Being a sub-division of the State of Ohio, of course it at one date was also a part of the great Northwest Territory.  Was first held by he Indian tribes elsewhere named in this work; then was subsequently owned by France and England, before the United States was made a free and independent Republic in its declaration of 1776.  The Harrison County section of this work gives much concerning the early owners and the occupancy of this territory of both Indians and Whites, for in fact what applies to the other.

FIRST OFFICIAL ACTION

     The Centennial Edition of the Carollton Free Press-Standard, in 1915, gave the following interesting preface to the organization of this county: 
     The first official action of which there is any record, looking toward the establishment of what was afterward Carroll County, was taken in the House of Representatives Monday, Dec. 14, 1818, when Stephen Ford, representative from Jefferson "Presented a petition of sundry citizens praying that a new county may be established, to be taken from the counties of Columbiana, Stark, Tuscarawas and Jefferson which was read adn referred to Messrs. Ford, Hedges and Chapman, with leave to report by Bill or otherwise."  It was "Ordered that Mr. Claypool acquaint the Senate therewith."
     Isaac Atkinson became interested in the establishment of Carroll County and spent several winters at Columbus in behalf of the move, making the trips on horseback.  It is stated that it cost him something over $7,000 -which in these times was a fortune - to get the bill through.  It is related there was much opposition to it in the Senate, and one of the influential members had taken a decided stand against the bill.
     Mr. Atkinson who had a line on all of the connections and associates of the Assemblymen, learned that the member's brother-in-law kept a tavern in Columbus.  He went to the brother-in-law and asked him to use his influence, recounting in detail the hard fights he had made for years, and then added:  "If this bill becomes law I am going to banquet the members of the Assembly, the State officials and the prominent men of the State, and it is my intention to give that banquet at your tavern."  The tavern-keeper's brother-in-law soon swung into line in support of the measure, and it was greatly through his influence that it was accorded such a large vote in the Senate, and, of course he was at the banquet.  The bill became a law on Christmas Day, and Isaac Atkinson in the role of Santa Claus, put something in the stocking of the community that will never be forgotten.
     The following is a part of the law, along with the legislative proceedings pertaining thereto:

     SECTION ONE.  BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF OHIO, That so much of the counties of Columbiana, Stark, Tuscarawas, Harrison and Jefferson as comes within the following boundaries, be, and the same is hereby erected into a separate county which shall be known by the name of CARROLL, to-wit: (Here follows the detailed boundaries).

[ PICTURE OF ISAAC ATKINSON, FATHER OF CARROLL COUNTY ]

     Section 7 of this act states that "On the first Monday of April next, the legal voters residing within the county of Carroll, shall assemble in their respective townships, at the usual places of holding elections, and shall proceed to elect the different county officers, who shall hold their offices until the next annual election, and until their successors are elected and qualified."
     "Section 8.  That the court of said county shall be holden at any convenient house in the town of Centreville, until the permanent seat of justice for the said county of Carroll be established.
     "Section 9.  That the Commissioners shall be appointed agreement to an Act entitled 'For the establishment of seats of justice' fix upon a permanent seat of justice for the said county of 'carroll, and make report thereof to the court of Common Pleas, in and for said county, agreeably to the provisions of the above recited act; and the Commissioners of aforesaid shall receive a compensation for their services out of the treasury of said county of Carroll.  This Act shall commence and be in force from and after the first day of January next.
                                                              "DAVID T. DISNEY,
                                                                  "Speaker of the House of Representatives.
                                                              "SAMUEL R. MILLER
December 25, 1832.                                   "Speaker of the Senate."

     The standing Committees on New Counties had before them the following:  First - As to the county of Carroll: - "The proposed county of Carroll is composed of parts of the counties of Columbiana, Stark, Tuscarawas, Harrison and Jefferson and is in form nearly square, with a territory of about 403 square miles; said to contain about twenty-one hundred white male inhabitants over the age of twenty-one years, upward of sixteen hundred of whom presented their petitions to the last General Assembly for the erection of said county."
     Centreville named by the petitioners as the county seat, is situated near the center of the territory and nearly equal distanced from New Lisbon, Canton, New Philadelphia and Cadiz and thirty-three miles from Steubenville.  It is stated, that should this county be erected its most remote point from the county seat should not exceed twelve or fourteen miles and that as now situated, many of the petitioners reside at a distance of twenty-five or thirty miles from the seats of justice of their respective counties.
     After the usual pulling and hauling in the Legislature, Carroll County was finally set off from the other counties as a separate subdivision of the State.  The date being December 25, 1832.

FIRST ELECTION

 

CONCERNING THE COUNTY SEAT LOCATION

 

THE BEGINNINGS

     Carroll County was named for Charles Carroll of Carrollton, the last survivor of the signers of the Declaration of Independence.
     The county was erected from territory detached from Columbiana County, also parts from the counties of Stark, Tuscarawas, Harrison and Jefferson.  It was organized by the Act of December 25, 1832.  The first seat of justice was fixed at Centreville.  The Sandusky and Beaver Canal was constructed through Carroll County in 1835 but in 1850 was forever abandoned and railroads since then haven taken the place of water routs such as canals in this part of the world.  The name of the first county seat - Centreville - was changed later to Carrollton.  This place was laid out in 1815 by Peter Bohart, who had reached that section of the country in about 1810, coming from Pennsylvania.  At that time the line between Stark and Columbiana counties ran just to the west of the village.  Leesburg was laid out in 1812 by Thomas Price and Peter Sanders.  In 1860, this place was the most famous station on the "Underground Railroad."  It was also a favorite stopping place for great abolitionists, such as William Lloyd Garrison, Wendell Phillips, Fred Douglas and others.
     Daniel McCook, father of one of the famous families of the "Fighting McCooks," was the first clerk of courts in Carroll County after is organization.  In one of the two families of McCooks, fifteen commissioned officers and one private soldier served their country in the military service.
     Quite an important change in territory was brought about by the Act of December 25, 1832, when certain territory belonging to Columbiana County was attached to Jefferson; and certain other territory belonging to Tuscarawas County was added to Harrison County.

 

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