Athens County

Dunmore’s War

Dunmore’s War Probably but few of the present inhabitants of Athens county are aware that a fort was established within its limits, and an army marched across its borders, led by an English earl, before the Revolutionary war. The building of Fort Gower at the mouth of the Hockhocking river, in what is now Troy township, and the march of Lord Dunmore’s army across the county, thirty years before its erection as a county, forms an interesting passage in our remote history before the earliest settlement by the whites. “Dunmore’s war” was the designation applied to a series of bloody … Read more

Athens County, Ohio History

Athens County, Ohio History The county of Athens was established by the following act: “An act establishing the County of Athens. SECTION I. Be it enacted, etc., That so much of the county of Washington as is contained in the following boundaries, be and the same is hereby erected into a separate county, which shall be known by the name of Athens, viz : beginning at the southwest corner of township number ten, range seventeen; thence easterly with the line between Gallia and Washington counties, to the Ohio river; thence up said river to the mouth of Big Hockhocking river; … Read more

Athens Methodist Church, Athens County, Ohio

The establishment of the Methodist church, here, antedates that of any other religious society. Three quarters of a century ago, this denomination had already developed that spirit of energy and religious enterprise, which has not only made it the pioneer church, and forerunner of other denominations, but has caused it to become the most powerful church organization in America. We have quoted elsewhere, from the Rev. Mr. Quinn, an account of a missionary tour, which he made up the Hockhocking valley in 1800, when he preached at Athens. The Methodists have had a society here from that time, and during … Read more

Athens Newspapers, Athens County, Ohio

The first newspaper published in Athens, was The Athens Mirror and Literary Register, commenced in 1825, by A. G. Brown. The Mirror was political and literary in its character, printed once a week on paper of super-royal size (sixteen pages about nine by five inches to each number), and continued through five years. It was printed on a wooden press with a stone bed, and required four pulls to each sheet. Several copies of the old Mirror, running from January to May, 1829, are before us, and furnish some interesting bits of local history. Each number contains the advertisements of … Read more

Athens Presbyterian Church, Athens County, Ohio

The First Presbyterian Society of Athens was organized in the autumn of 180y by the Rev. Jacob Lindley. The original members of the organization were but nine in number, viz: Joshua Wyatt and wife, Josiah Coe, Arthur Coates, Dr. Eliphaz Perkins, Alvan Bingham, Mrs. Sally Foster and the Rev. Jacob Lindley and wife. Public service was held for a time in the little brick school house which stood just east of the present site of the Presbyterian church, and afterward in the court house until the year 1828, when the present brick church was built. In 1815, the church numbered … Read more

Athens Township Schools, Athens County, Ohio

The first school established in Athens was in 1801, and was taught by John Goldthwaite. The school house (a log one) was situated on Joseph Higgins’s place, about three miles south of Athens. Henry Bartlett taught in this house several quarters, between 1802 and 1806. Michael Higgins, now seventy-four years old, attended Esquire Bartlett’s school, and relates that, on one occasion, when the scholars undertook, according to a custom then prevalent, to bar the master out, on a certain day, and had made all very fast, Mr. Bartlett procured a roll of brimstone from the nearest house, climbed to the … Read more

Autobiography of Thomas Ewing

Thomas Ewing, son of the last named, was born in Ohio county, West Virginia, December 28th, 1789. The following autobiographical sketch, kindly furnished for these pages by this now great and venerable man, will be read with especial interest: My father settled in what is now Ames township, Athens county, early in April, 5798. He removed from the mouth of Olive Green creek, on the Muskingum river, and the nearest neighbor with whom he had association, was, in that direction, distant about eighteen miles. There were a few families settled, about the same time, on or near the present site … Read more

Bern, Athens County, Ohio Genealogy and History

Bern was originally included in Ames township, and was not separately organized till 1828. Incorporated with Ames for thirty years, much of its early history will be found in connection with that township. March 3, 1828, the county commissioners resolved that the original surveyed township No. 7 in range 12 in Athens county, at present a part of Ames township, be set off, and that a township by the name of Bern be established as above described.” The electors were directed to meet at the house of John Henry on the first Monday of April at 9 o’clock A. M. … Read more

Athens County, Ohio Biographies

Biographies on Ohio Genealogy Autobiography of Thomas Ewing Narrative Of Joseph Bobo, Of Lodi Sketches and Genealogies of Athens County Alexander, Athens County, Ohio Genealogy Ames, Athens County, Ohio Genealogy Athens, Athens County, Ohio Genealogy Bern, Athens County, Ohio Genealogy Canaan, Athens County, Ohio Genealogy Carthage, Athens County, Ohio Genealogy Dover, Athens County, Ohio Genealogy Rome, Athens County, Ohio Genealogy Trimble, Athens County, Ohio Genealogy Waterloo, Athens County, Ohio Genealogy York, Athens County, Ohio Genealogy Hosted at AccessGenealogy’s Biography Resource Center: Ames, Edward R. Ames, Silvanus Barker, Isaac, Capt. Brown, Benjamin, Capt. Brown, J. G. Brown, John Brown, John Brown, … Read more

Canaan, Athens County, Ohio Genealogy and History

It is difficult to separate the first settlement of Canaan township from that of Athens, of which Canaan was originally a part. It will have been noticed that the pioneer settlements clung pretty closely to the water courses. In the absence of roads or any other means of communication, the navigable streams always decide the movements of emigration. The Hockhocking was, from all accounts, a considerably deeper stream and carried much more water seventy-five years ago than now, and was easily navigable for heavily laden barges. It thus became valuable as a means of communication and supplies, and the regions … Read more