THE early records of the county are in a very imperfect condition, not having been kept with that care, and in a form which would outlive the times in which they were made.  Kept for the most part in small books, poorly made, or on scraps of paper, poorly preserved, much of our early history is lost beyond hope of recovery.  Much that was recorded, has by the carelessness of those who had them in charge, been mutilated to such an extent as to be almost unintelligible, and much has been entirely destroyed.
     The greatness of a country depends, perhaps not so much upon the extent of territory, as upon its population, wealth and intelligence, and the progress made in these in Hancock County during the last half century is a matter of interest, and pride as well, perhaps, to my readers.
     I have been unable, in my researches, to find a report of the population of this county previous to 1830, that being the year in which the first federal census was taken after the organization of the county.  We might, by the usual method, estimate the population in 1828 from the vote polled in that year.  As we have already seen, the first election held in the county after its separate organization, took place on the first Monday in April in that year, at

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which election there were seventy-four votes cast.  Now counting the population at five times the number of voters, we have three hundred and seventy as the entire population, which number is no doubt very nearly correct.
     At this date there were perhaps not more than a half dozen settlements - as they were called - in the county.  One at Mt. Blanchard, one at Findley, one at McKinnis, and one perhaps in the south part of the county.  Of course there were a few families residing at other points in the county, but they were regarded as a part of one or the other of these principal settlements, for all were neighbors then who lived within a day's journey of each other.
     Two years later, when the census of 1830 was taken, there were eight hundred and thirteen persons in the county.  Of that number four hundred and fifty-one were white males, and three hundred and fifty-one were white females, and there were three males and six females colored.  Of the total number, only two hundred and fifty-two were above the age of twenty-one years.  One hundred and fifty-five males, and one hundred and forty-seven females, about three-fourths of the entire population, were under the age of twenty.  The population then of the county in 1830 was eight hundred and thirteen, and in 1880, just fifty years after, it was twenty-seven thousand three hundred and forty-three.
     The census of 1830 does not give the number of acres of improved lands, and value of buildings in the county.  We may, however, well conclude that but little had been done as yet towards subduing the wilderness, for even an hundred good stalwart pioneers could make but little headway against nature, which had been at work for centuries, and that farms or clearings were few and far between.  As to

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buildings, I presume there was not a frame or brick building in the county, outside of Findley.
     Long before church buildings were erected, the missionary - ever mindful of the Master's work - came, and for the time being the rude cabin of the frontiersman, or the log school house, were the church edifices, in the advanced settlements.  Here too, in these primitive buildings, were held the Sabbath Schools, the meetings of which were as anxiously looked for, and as highly enjoyed as are our more modern schools.  Church services were frequently held in the woods, under the cool shade of the forest trees, "God's First Temples."  Such meetings were known as camp meetings, because those attending erected tents in which to reside during the continuance of the meeting.
     This style of meeting was then a necessity, as there were no buildings of sufficient capacity to hold the congregations, and not ministers enough to supply the different settlements with services, hence, they came together in large bodies, and had the advantage of the ministrations of a number of preachers.
     These meetings were conducted with the utmost decorum, with services at stated hours, and rules governing the little community in such a manner that all might enjoy their coming together.  This style of services is practiced to a great extent even in this day, though there exists no such necessity as at that early date.  With the abundance of houses of worship, and ministers of the gospel, the holding of them meets with much disfavor by very many good Christian men and women, as they are too generally visited by the wicked to avail themselves of an opportunity of showing their inate cussedness.
     The first settlers, situated as they were in the midst of

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Indian country, cut off by many miles of forest, from the outside world, naturally felt their dependence on each other.  It would have been the extreme of folly in them to have allowed differences and dissensions to have crept in and divided them, and guarding against that, there was a feeling of friendship between them, stronger than the fear of Indians, and which lasted longer.
     There was not that constant desire to gain wealth for its own sake, that fifteen per cent, feeling, that effort to reach respectability through the medium of fine clothes, that desire to build themselves up by pulling others down, that jealousy of another's prosperity, that envy of another's success, which has unhappily sprung up amongst their children, and which has been so destructive of that genuine happiness, which they enjoyed.
     At a general election held October, 14, 1828, the second held in the county, there were seventy-seven votes cast, of these Allen TRIMBLE received forty-four, and John W. CAMPBELL thirty, for Governor.  A certificate signed by Joshua HEDGES and William HACKNEY, two Justices of the Peace, and Wilson VANCE, Clerk, certifies that for Congress Joseph VANCE had thirty-one votes and John ALEXANDER had forty-two votes.  For State Senator Asa SANDFORD had twenty-nine votes and David CAMPBELL had thirty-two votes.  For Representative Samuel M. LOCKWOOD had fifty-four votes.  Samuel LOCKWOOD had one vote.  The following named persons were elected County officers: Commissioners, John LONG, John P. HAMILTON and Charles McKINNIS, their comqetitors being William J. Greer, Mordica Hammond and Godfrey Wolford.  Sheriff, John C. WICKHAM, beating Squire CARLIN. Thomas Slight was elected Coroner over Reuben W. HAMBLIN.  For Treasurer Edwin S. Jones beat Joshua

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Hedges, and for Auditor William HACKNEY had a majority of four over Mathew REIGHLY, and Don Alonzo HAMBLIN had a majority of twenty-eight over Edwin S. JONES for Assessor.