Source:
A Standard History of
THE HANGING ROCK IRON REGION OF OHIO
An Authentic Narrative of the Past, with the Extended
Survey of the Industrial and Commercial Development
Vol. I
ILLUSTRATED

Charles B. Taylor
Editor for Vinton County
Publishers: The Lewis Publishing Company
1916
 

CHAPTER II.

OF GENERAL COUNTY INTEREST.
Pg. 249

CREATED AND NAMED - COUNTY SEAT, BURLINGTON - FIRST OFFICERS - JAIL, FIRST COUNTY BUILDING - TAXES AND OTHER MONEY MATTERS - FIRST MARRIAGE 0 FIRST JUDGES AND LAWYERS - THE BURLINGTON COURTHOUSE - TAXES FOR 1818 - FOUNDING OF THE IRON FURNACES - POPULATION IN 1820 AND 1830 - CENSUS BY TOWNSHIPS, 1840, 1850, 1860 - POSTOFFICES IN 1850 - IRONTON FOUNDED - COUNTY SEAT REMOVAL - ERECTION OF IRONTON COURTHOUSE - PROPERTY VALUATIONS 1856 - 1866 - TRANSITORY PERIOD - POPULATION 1890 - 1910 - PROPERTY VALUATION IN 1914 - PRESENT COURTHOUSE AND JAIL - COUNTY INFIRMARY - LAWRENCE COUNTY CHILDREN'S HOME - COUNTY SYSTEM OF EDUCATION - STATISTICS BY DISTRICTS - COUNTY MANAGEMENT - HIGH SCHOOLS - DUTIES OF SUPERINTENDENTS - MEDICAL AND LEGAL COUNTY SOCIETIES.

     At different period from 1803 to 1816 Lawrence County, as it is now known, was included in old Washington, which included the country from the Scioto Valley to the Pennsylvania state line; Adams County, which later stripped off a small section of the present Township of Elizabeth and passed it over to Scioto County, and Gallia, which embraced all of its territory with that trifling exception.

CREATED AND NAMED

     Lawrence County became a specific geographical division of the state by the passage of the legislative act of Dec. 20, 1816, which fixed its present boundaries.  It was named in honor of Capt. James Lawrence, who fought bravely as a naval officer in the War of 1812.  His home was at Burlington, N. J., and as quite a number of the boatmen and traders and actual settlers of the country were from Pennsylvania and New Jersey, the little township which had been platted at the southern most bend of the Ohio River was named Burlington also.

COUNTY SEAT, BURLINGTON

     On Feb. 16, 1817, the General Assembly passed a resolution appointing Judge John W. Campbell and Moses Baird of Adams County and John Barr of Pickaway County as commissioners to fix the seat of justice for the new county.  As Burlington was then the only settlement within its limits, there was obviously little choice in the matter, especially

[pg. 250]

as no other localities offered any inducements.  Accordingly, on March 14th, the commission ordered the first Court of Common Pleas to meet at the house of Joseph Davidson, in the Town of Burlington.
     At that time the population of the county was 665, and its only postmaster, Thomas Kerr, of said Burlington.

FIRST OFFICERS

     The first common pleas judges were John Davidson, William Miller and Gabriel Kerr.  John Kelley was appointed temporary sheriff and W. G. Robinson clerk and recorder, while N. K. Cough was named by the court and prosecuting attorney.
     The first election of officers in the county was held (at an expense of $27) Apr. 7, 1817, when Joseph Davidson, Joel Brown and David Spurlock were chosen as commissioners.  The first meeting of the county board was held at Mr. Davidson's house, on Apr. 21, 187, and resulted in the appointment of Thomas Kerr as its clerk, as well as county treasurer.

JAIL, FIRST COUNTY BUILDING

     The commissioners also appropriated $700 for the building of a jail, a combined

TAXES AND OTHER MONEY MATTERS

     At this historic first meeting of the board of county commissioners the following rates of taxation were fixed:  Horses, mules and asses, 30 cents a head; neat cattle, 10 cents; all other property, one-half of one per cent.  Simeon Drouillard was the first tax collector.
     The first money ever paid out by the county was $9.62 for books and traveling expenses of the clerk, who went to Gallipolis to make his purchases.
     The second order on the county treasury was for $10 issued to David Spurlock for ten wolf scalps, which had been taken by James Webb.
     The first money spent on any road in Lawrence County was by Sheriff Kelley, who was also road commissioner.  It ran from Burlington to the Scioto County line and $525 was expended upon it.

FIRST MARRIAGE -

     Mr. Webb was appointed the first justice of the peace, and probably married the first couple in the county - John Ferguson and Elizabeth McCoy, on the 11th day of April, 1817.

FIRST JUDGES AND LAWYERS

     The first meeting of the Common Pleas Court was held July 7, 1817, John Thompson, president of the court for the Second District, presiding.  He was assisted by the local citizens already named.  The grand jury was as follows:  Edward Billups (foreman), Nathaniel Morrison, Augustus Smith, Elisha Hall, John Lunsford, Thomas Singer, Joshua Imes, Adam Farley, Charles McCoy, William Bruce, Richard Sumter, Daniel Laffoon, Edward Miller, John Billups and Peter Lineberger, Jr.  The expenses incurred by the jury amounted to $47!
     At this session of court John O. Ladley, David Cartwell, John M. McConnell and John R. Cheatwood were admitted to the bar.

THE BURLINGTON COURTHOUSE -

     In November, 1817, the commissioners ordered that $1,500 be appropriated for the building of a courthouse at Burlington, and the contract was awarded to Asa Kimball for $1,696.  The work was completed in the fall of 1819, and as late as 1892 the Register was saying:  "That old courthouse stands today, a little the worse for the wear and ravages of time.  At present it is used for school purposes; but every time the powder mill explodes across the river there are fears that the last days of the courthouse have come."
     Among the best known lawyers who practiced in the old courthouse at Burlington, and afterward moved to Ironton, which became the county seat in 1851, were John S. George, E. Nigh and Ralph Leete.

TAXES FOR 1818

     For the year ending June, 1818, the taxes collected in Lawrence County amounted to $1,933.

FOUNDING OF THE IRON FURNACES

     John Means settled at Manchester, Adams County, Ohio, in 1819 and treed his slaves there, and spent the remainder of his life there, but was the prime mover in building Union Furnace in 1826.  He was undoubtedly inspired by the establishment of such furnaces as the Argilite, the Steam and the Pactolus iron plants at Greenup, across the river in Kentucky.  The Bellefonte. also at Greenup, was founded ill the same year as the Union. 
     From the time Mr. Means started the Union Furnace, the Hanging Rock locality commenced to assume importance as a center of iron manufacturing.  Like all of the early furnaces it was operated with charcoal; in tact, there were few that used any other kind of fuel until the Civil war period, when bituminous coal commenced to have its day.

POPULATION IN 1820 AND 1830

     While Hanging Rock was just coming into notice and Burlington was obtaining quite a reputation along the river as a shipping point, the population of Lawrence County about doubled; that fact being indicated by the census figures' for 1820, which show a population of 3,499, and those of 1830, 6300.

CENSUS BY TOWNSHIPS, 1840, 1850, 1860

     The population of Lawrence County by townships, as shown by the national census enumeration of 1840, 1850 and 1860, was as follows:

POSTOFFICES IN 1850 - IRONTON FOUNDED

     By 1850 the following postoffices had been established in Lawrence County:  Aid, in the township by that name; Arabia, Mason Township; Athalia, Rome Township; Bartramville, Windsor Township; Burlington (courthouse), Fayette Township; Campbell, Decatur Township; Coal Grove, Upper Township; Greasy Ridge, Mason Township; Hanging Rock, Hamilton Township; Ironton, Upper Township; Israel, Perry Township; Kelley's Mills, Elizabeth Township; Miller, Rome Township; Olive Furnace, Washington Township; Quaker Bottom, Union Township; Rock Camp, Lawrence Township; Russell's Place, Union Township; Scott's town, Windsor Township; Symmes Run, Union Township; Waterloo, Symmes Township, and Willow Grove, Elizabeth.

IRONTON FOUNDED.

     The Ohio Iron and Coal Company was incorporated in March, 1849, and on the third of the following May its directors resolved that "John Campbell, C. Briggs and W. D. Kelley be authorized to lay out a town on the lands of the company above the mouth of Storms Creek, for the purpose of encouraging the erection of manufacturing establishments and other purposes connected with the operation of the company; that said town shall be

[PICTURE OF RIVER FRONT AT IRONTON]

called Ironton; that suitable grounds shall be appropriated in the laying off of said town for a market, courthouse and offices and for the public buildings of said town."
     Ironton was thus platted and the first sale of lots on the town site occurred in June, 1849.  Among the lands purchased at the mouth of Storm Creek for the site of the town was a tract on which stood the plant of the old Lagrange Furnace, built more than a dozen years before; but the first important industry established by the company was the Ironton Rolling Mill.  A lot had been deeded to the organizing company as a site for the factory, and preparations were being made to build not only the iron mill but the Iron Railway northward.  The brightest days had passed - both for Hanging Rock as an  industrial center and for Burlington as a shipping point and county seat.

COUNTY SEAT REMOVAL

     At this stirring period in the young life of Ironton, John Campbell, George N. Kemp and William Lambert, its most energetic capitalists, circulated a petition for the removal of the seat of justice from Burlington to Ironton.  "Ironton is and will be the Commercial and Business Centre of the county," says the paper named; "the chief town of the county for trade, manufactures, and consequently the principal market, and as such will be the point to which the citizens of the county will resort for business.
     "Ironton is nearer the Territorial Centre of the county than any other point on the river, an air line of twenty miles in any direction reaching to the utmost limit of the county, with the exception of the back sections of Washington Township; and nine of the thirteen townships of the county are nearer (or as near) to Ironton than to the present county seat, as also parts of the tenth township.
     "Ironton is nearer the Centre of Population of the county than any other river point, more than two-thirds of the inhabitants of the whole county being nearer to Ironton, and the townships of Upper, Elizabeth, Decatur, Washington and Symmes alone, all of which are much nearer Ironton than Burlington, contain nearly one-half of the inhabitants of the county.

ERECTION OF IRONTON COURTHOUSE

     "The present Court House is well known to be in a dilapidated condition, inadequate to the wants of the county, of sufficient size to contain but part of the county offices, and not affording convenience nor safe repository for the records of those it does contain; consequently a new Court House must very soon necessarily be erected, and for the erection of which the lower end of the county will pay the larger portion of the taxes that might be levied; but as a consideration for the erection of said building in Ironton during the year 1852, a public square, beautifully located on high ground has been donated."
     Citizens and supporters of Ironton had already subscribed $1,200 for the erection of the courthouse and $400 for the removal of the jail, conditional of course on the action of the voters as to the location of the county seat.  The writer has had the privilege of examining a remarkable scrip-book, made by Charles Campbell, son of the founder of Ironton, in which, among other priceless documents connected with the history of the Hanging Rock Iron Region, is preserved the original subscription paper circulated just before the issuing of the petition.  About a hundred citizens signed it, some donating cash for the purposes designated, and others such labor as stone work, painting, hauling, iron work, etc.  Thomas Murdock agreed to contribute $50 worth of brick, and Voglesang and Buchanan $30 in carpenter work.
     The largest subscriptions in cash were made by the following:  Ohio Iron and Coal Company (by John Campbell, president), $400, "to pay for removal of jail;" George N. Kemp, $100; William Lambert, $100; Irwin Kelly, $50; S. Silverman, $50; H. and L. Cole, $50; John Culbertson, $50; J. E. Clark, $50; John Ellison $50; Simon Parker, $30; Mr. Leeke, $25; E. J. Farwell, $25; A. T. Brattin, $25; H. Crawford, $25; J. H. Jones, $25; S. McClure, $25; M. Jones, $25; G. R. Bush, $20; George W. Willard, $20; James Sullivan, $20.
     The petition for the removal of the county seat stated that the conditions of the obligations thus incurred "are such that in case a majority of the voters of Lawrence County, at the next ensuing election vote for the removal of the County Seat of Lawrence County from Burlington to front on in said county, and whereas the citizens of Ironton and vicinity have made large subscriptions for the erection of public buildings in said town of Ironton, which said subscriptions are made payable to John Campbell, George N. Kemp and William Lambert; now then if the said John Campbell, George N. Kemp and William Lambert shall well and faithfully apply said subscriptions for the purposes aforesaid, and put up and enclose for the use of said county a building suitable for a Court House - say 70 feet in length, by 45 in width, 2 stories high, say 36 feet

[DRAWING OF POSTOFFICE, IRONTON]

in height, including stone work, the walls to be brick, 12 inches thick, with pilasters between the windows 4 inches thick and 3 feet in width, the roof of said building to be a principal roof and to be covered with white pine shingles, with heavy brick cornice, said building to have one large double door in front and to have 25 windows, say 10 feet in height.
     "And they further agree to pay four hundred dollars for the purpose of removal of the present jail from Burlington to Ironton, and apply the unexpended balance of said subscriptions, if any, as the commissioners may direct.
     "And in case the size and shape of the aforesaid buildings does not suit the commissioners of Lawrence County, then the said John Campbell, George N. Kemp and William Lambert agree to expend whatever amount the aforesaid building would cost in the erection of any sized building the commissioners may determine to build.  Said buildings to be put on the public square donated by the Ohio Iron and Coal Company to Lawrence County, the whole work to be completed in the year A. D. 1852."
     The removal was supported by popular vote in 1851 and in the following year the courthouse was built on the square donated by the Ohio Iron and Coal Company.  In fact, events for many years to come were quite likely to conform to the program laid down by that corporation, which embodied all that was substantial in Ironton.

PROPERTY VALUATION, 1856 - 1866

     A conclusive evidence of the substantial condition of the county during the immediate ante-war period is furnished by the assessor's figures for 1856, showing the number of acres in each township, with the land valuation.

     At the commencement of 1866, a few months after the close of the Civil war, the 281,198 acres in the county (as then estimated) were valued at $2,148,284; personal property at $3,252,225; total value of all property, including real estate in the towns, $6,121,816.  There were 3,796 horses in the county, upon which a valuation had been placed of $283,103, and 10,691 cattle, valued at $235,843.

TRANSITORY PERIOD -

     The '70s and '80s were good decades for Lawrence County, after which there came a decline occasioned by the realization that the best bituminous coal immediately available for the operation of the furnaces lay outside of the Hanging Rock Iron Region.
     The transformation of Lawrence County from a region of iron industries to a section of diversified manufactories and agriculture, has been progressing for the last twenty yeas or more, and during this later-day period the population has been nearly stationary.  The only townships which have shown any gain during that period are Upper, Union and Washington.  The increase in Upper and Union townships is readily accounted for by the fact that Ironton City and Coal Grove Village, in the former, have steadily gained ground, and Chesapeake Village in Union Township has been created, while Proctorville, also in that township, has slightly increased in population.

POPULATION 1890 - 1910

PROPERTY VALUATION IN 1914

     The latest figures indicating the valuation of real estate and personal property, as well as public utilities, for the townships, school districts and corporations within the limits of Lawrence County, as take from the assessor's reports for 1914, are presented below:

PRESENT COURTHOUSE AND JAIL

    The county buildings at and near Ironton are creditable to the progressive spirit of the people.  The courthouse and grounds now occupied comprise a square on the border of the business and the residence districts, the structure itself standing on an imposing ridge.  It is a tasteful and substantial two-story and basement building, with rest rooms and several offices below, county offices also on the ground floor, and the courts in the second story, as well as the headquarters of the clerk and sheriff.  Heating, ventilating, lighting and all other accommodations are modern and maintained up to the standard of the best courthouses of its class.
     The Lawrence County Courthouse was erected in 1906-08 while E. B. Willard was chairman of the board of commissioners; James Hudson, T. J. Templeton, T. J. White, B. F. Daniel, David Halley, J. P. McDonough, L. E. Konns and L. Williams, other members of that body, and A. C. Robinson, auditor.  The architects of the building were Richards, McCarty and Bulford, and the contractors, J. C. Unkefer and Company.
     The sheriff's residence and county jail are housed in a two-story red brick structure, on the opposite side of Sixth Street, which was erected in 1887.

COUNTY INFIRMARY

     The original County Infirmary was completed in April, 1857.  Simon Parker was the superintendent and Elias Nigh, clerk.  The farm, in which corn and oats were raised, comprised twenty-six acres.  The infirmary proper was a one-story brick building, 130 feet by 38 feet, and contained twenty-four rooms, which were never vacant.  Superintendent Parker's residence was a two story house, with an L, about a quarter of the size of the main building.  In the fall of 1869 a new county infirmary was completed, which, with repeated improvements and extensions, has fully met the needs of the indigent for whom the county is responsible.

LAWRENCE COUNTY CHILDREN'S HOME

     The Lawrence County Children's Home, located within the limits of Ironton, has cared for 1,030 children since its establishment in 1874.  It has been a county institution since 1878.  The history of the origin and progress of this worthy charity is collated from various sources:  On the 4th of February, 1874, a meeting was held at Spencer (M. E.) Chapel, at which Cyrus Ellison presided and E. Bixby acted as secretary.  Rev. A. G. Byers spoke in favor of such a home, and following his address a committee of three from each ward was appointed to raise subscriptions for the purpose.  The move was an apparent success and the first trustees to serve were S. W. Dempsey, Cyrus Ellison, E. Bixby, C. B. Egerton, D. Nixon, J. A. Witman and W. W. Johnson (secretary)
     The first matron was Miss Mary E. Vincent and the first lady managers, Miss Sarah Bertram, Mrs. F. D. Norton, Mrs. R. Mather, Miss Woodrow, Mrs. Thomas Johns, Mrs. W. D. Kelly, Mrs. C. Ellison, Mrs. George Willard, Mrs. E. Nigh, and Mrs. J. Pritchard.
     The original location of the home was near the present site of the Scioto Valley Railroad depot and was conducted in a large brick house.  It there remained as long as it was under private management but in 1878 it was turned over to the Board of County Commissioners, who purchased the residence of J. N. Thomas at the foot of Vernon Street.  This they enlarged and otherwise adapted to the benevolent purposes in mind, appointing three trustees to manage the institution - C. Ensinger, A. T. Dempsey and T. I. Murdock.
     Miss Vincent continued to be matron of the home two years after it became a county charge, and has been succeeded by Miss Della Tipton, Mrs. E. Grant, Mrs. M. E. Carpenter, Mrs. F. Osterhouse, Miss Lola Zell, Miss Sarah F. Johnston, Miss Sarah A. Rogers and Miss Nevada M. Shingler.  The trustees now serving are J. F. McConnell, William Mittendorf and John Welch.  The average number of children in the home is fifty.

COUNTY SYSTEM OF EDUCATION

     The people have always taken great pride in the county system of education; in its development and management; and in both details it is up to the high standard of the popular institutions of education in Southern Ohio.  Its governing bodies are the County Board of Education and the County Board of School Examiners of which the superintendent of schools is the secretary and clerk, respectively.
     For administrative purposes the county is divided into township, special and village district, the county system including within its jurisdiction all schools except those within the city limits of Ironton, which, of course, are under the management of the educational authorities of that municipality.  Outside of the county seat there are six high schools.

STATISTICS BY DISTRICTS

     In the entire county there are 176 teachers, 6,956 pupils and school property valued at $133,250.  In the light of these general statements of following tables and lists will be intelligible:

COUNTY MANAGEMENT

     County Board of Education:  L. F. Kitts, president; C. SW. Boggess, O. S. O'Neill, P. V. Daniel, J. J. Howill.
     County Board of School Examiners:  L. C. Martin, president; H. M. Edwards, vice president.
     V. F. Dillon, secretary of the Board of Education, clerk of the Board of Examiners, and county superintendent of schools.

HIGH SCHOOLS

DUTIES OF SUPERINTENDENTS

     Besides furnishing the foregoing figures and facts, County Superintendent Dillon has contributed such a suggestive paper to the Ohio Educational Monthly for December, 1914, that it is herewith republished; it conveys not only personal conclusions, but much general information applicable to every county covered by this work.  In the discussion of his subject, "The Crucial Test of the County Superintendent," Mr. Dillon says: "The duties and powers of the county superintendent are so limited and varied and the implied powers so great, that it is very difficult at this early date to decide just what the Crucial Test will be.  His duties are both delegated and implied and may be classified as clerical, executive and professional, the professional being the more essential whether they be delegated or implied.
     "Among some of the implied powers are the following:  To assist the county board in dividing the county in supervision districts; consult with boards of education concerning courses of study, truancy, elections for uniting tax duplicates, etc.; determine for the county board the number of teachers to be employed, the number of district superintendents, the amounts to be apportioned to each district as its share of the county and district superintendents' salaries; help to arrange programs for school work; arrange and attend teachers' meetings; purchase material and supplies for the county board of education; make the necessary arrangements for the annual institute; assist in the consolidation and centralization of schools; defend the new school law, which is no small undertaking in our county; and organize first grade high schools not merely for their intrinsic value, but with a view of having normal training schools in our county so our boys and girls may obtain their high school and professional training at home.  This within itself may be the "Crucial Test, ' but I choose for the present to consider this only a part of it.  Quite a few of the above named duties are performed by the county superintendent as the executive officer of the county board of education.
     "The county superintendent has clerical duties to perform which are essential in his work but not necessarily decisive.  He is secretary of the county board of education; he calls a meeting of all the village and rural boards of education under section 4747-1, and acts as chairman of their meeting; he is clerk of the county board of school examiners and as such makes a monthly report to the county auditor, under section 7820, and an annual report to the superintendent of public instruction under section 7836; he also certifies to the attendance of teachers at the annual institute to the superintendent of public instruction.
     "Among some of the delegated professional duties we find the following:  He issues certificates of promotion to pupils who have completed the elementary school work; one day of the annual institute shall be under his immediate direction; the making of a minimum course of study is usually turned over to him by the county board of education; he nominates the district superintendents and holds monthly meetings with them; he visits and inspects the schools under his supervision of often as possible; he is a member of the county board of school examiners; and when the time comes, he is to have supervision over the normal training schools of the county, nominating its director and instructors, and teaching not less than one hundred or more than two hundred people.
     "Now, if I were to search diligently among all the duties enumerated above I do not think I could find that which would prove to be a 'Crucial Test.'  A superintendent might be able to carry out every duty named and yet be a failure.  He may have any or all of the qualifications that make him eligible as a county superintendent, enumerated in section 4744 and not succeed.  He may have grown up in the county schools and yet never have been a part of them.
     "If I were going to use one word only that would prove to be the 'Crucial Test' of the county superintendent I should use the word 'efficiency.'  This word has a very board meaning, but I shall use it in a limited sense.
     "The county superintendent should not only have a knowledge of books but of methods also.  He should have a pleasing personality.  He should be, not only a judge of men and women and children, but a leader also.  He should have a broad knowledge of the needs of the county schools.
     "Abraham Lincoln's success as president of the United States was not so much his own ability as a statesman as his proficiency to recognize ability in others.  The county superintendent has the right to nominate his district superintendents except those enumerated in section 4740, and can nominate these when a vacancy occurs.  If he is a good judge of men and has not political ax to grind or pre-election promises to fulfill for his political friends, he will be free to choose the most proficient without fear or favor from those who contributed to his election, and with nothing but the best interests of the schools to consider.
     "Some have said that the course of study is the most important work of the county superintendent but I can not agree with them.  The course of study and daily program are very important but some teachers have done good work without a course of study and without a daily program except for the recitation periods.
     "The county superintendent as a member of the county board of school examiners and clerk of the same can demand proficiency in learning, and this he should do, as a knowledge of the subject matter is of the highest importance, but 'Every applicant for a teacher's certificate shall be required to take in addition to the written examination, to test academic and professional knowledge, a practical test in actual teaching.  Such test shall be made at any time during the preceding year or before the applicant receives his certificate, by a member of the board of examiners, a local supervisor, a teacher of method or any other competent person authorized by the county board of school examiners to make such test.  Each applicant shall make a satisfactory showing in both written and practical tests.
     "The county and district superintendents will probably make all these tests, for the present at least, or until the normal training schools are established, and from their observation of actual work in the school room, they should be in a position to know when a person is proficient and also efficient.  If we go about this work with a single purpose in view, to select only those who are efficient in their work, we are pretty sure to succeed, and I am inclined to believe that this will be the 'Crucial Test.'  We may have to eliminate several old time teachers and quite a few younger ones, but the schools and school children are much more important than the teachers who are trying to instruct them.  This is going to be a trying proposition for the county and district superintendents for they will have many loyal friends and good citizens in the school rooms who are not efficient teachers and if they can not be made so by wise supervision and training they should be eliminated, and the sooner it is done the better it will be for the schools.
     "The district superintendent shall be employed upon the nomination of the county superintendent but the board electing such district superintendent not so nominated, and the local board shall employ no teacher for any school unless such teacher is nominated therefor by the district superintendent of the supervision district in which such school is located except by a  majority vote.  I take this to mean a majority of the whole board and not a majority of those present.  The will of the county and district superintendents may, and perhaps will be overruled and the purpose of the law defeated, but such instances will, we hope, be rare.  If the county superintendent has a broad knowledge of the needs of the county schools; if he has good executive ability; if he is a good judge of ability in others and uses his wisdom in selecting his assistants; if he and his assistants use their best efforts as supervisors in helping the teachers to become efficient, and then eliminate those who do not, regardless of the final consequences, then we will see a great Renaissance."

MEDICAL AND LEGAL COUNTY SOCIETIES.`

     Both the lawyers and physicians of Lawrence County have organizations.  Although in no way connected with the county government, as they are of more than local scope they are noted at this point in the narrative.  The associations are the outcome of early attempt at professional cooperation, some of which had more strength outside of Ironton than those of the present.
     In October, 1868, the physicians of Lawrence County met at the courthouse and organized a society with the following officers:  N. K. Moxley, president; W. F. Wilson, vice president; E. Arnold, secretary; Jonathan Morris, treasurer.  The only other doctors present at the time were A. E. Isaminger, O. Ellison and John S. Henry.  That society dissolved some years ago, but in 1900 certain physicians of the county again assembled and formed the County Medical Association, of which W. F. Marting is president and O. H. Snyder, secretary and treasurer.  The present membership of the association is about twenty-five.
     The Lawrence County Bar and Law Library Association was incorporated in February, 1911.  It has a membership of twenty-three, with the following officers:  Edward E. Corn (present common pleas judge), president; L. R. Andrews, vice president; Lindsey K. Cooper, secretary; Jed B. Bibbee, treasurer and librarian.
 

< BACK TO TABLE OF CONTENTS >

CLICK HERE to Return to
LAWRENCE COUNTY, OHIO
INDEX PAGE

CLICK HERE to Return to
OHIO GENEALOGY EXPRESS
INDEX PAGE

FREE GENEALOGY RESEARCH is My MISSION
GENEALOGY EXPRESS
This Webpage has been created by Sharon Wick exclusively for Genealogy Express  ©2008
Submitters retain all copyrights