Ashland County, Ohio - Chapter 5, 1863

Chapter 5

Tue law to erect the county of Ashland passed the General Assembly of Ohio on the 24th of February, 1846. Its present territory originally formed the Townships of Vermillion, Montgomery, Orange, Green, and Hanover, with parts of Clearcreek, Milton, Mifflin, and Monroe,* in Richland County also, the Townships of Sullivan and Troy, in Lorain County; all except the eastern tier of sections of the Townships of Jackson, Perry, Mohican, and the fractional Township of Lake, in Wayne County, and the whole or Ruggles, in Huron County. The counties from which Ashland was made contained originally an aggregate of 2940 square miles and ninety-three townships. The several dates of their organization and number of civil townships were as follows: -

For many years after its organization, Richland County possessed the largest area of any county in Ohio. This fact gave rise to a multitude of new county schemes. There was scarcely "a laid-out" town outside a limit of twelve miles from Mansfield, that had not annually beleaguered the legislature with applications for new counties for the benefit of town lot owners. Within what is now Ashland County, there were numerous schemes which proposed to affect the territories of some of the counties from which Ashland was finally made - prominent among which were the new County of Ellsworth, with the seat of justice at Sullivan; the County of Mohican, with the seat of justice at Loudonville; the County of Vermillion, with the seat of justice at Hayesville; also, applications from Jerome, Orange, and Savannah for new counties, with the seats. of justice at their several towns; and at a later date, a new county for the benefit of real estate owners at Ashland. The success of the last-named project, by the passage of the act of 24th February, 1846, and by the vote of the electors of the new county on the first Monday of April of the same year, was regarded as a final settlement of all rival schemes; but the erection, at the legislative session of 1847-48, of thé County of Morrow, a long pending and rival "claim," was a yet further invasion of the territory of "Old Richland." The checks imposed upon the General Assembly by the constitution of 1851, with respect to the erection of new counties and the removals of county seats, are among the wisest provisions of that instrument, and destroyed the occupation of a horde of mercenary lobbies, whose corruptions had attained such magnitude as generally to control the legislation of the State. The constitution of 1802 simply prescribed the minimum area to four hundred square miles, without any guarantees for private rights involved in the changes of county lines and county seats. The legislative power over these subjects was supreme. One legislature could "permanently establish," and their successors could, and often did, as permanently unsettle and unmake "as a breath hath made." Rights which might be truly termed "vested," acquired under the most solemn legislative sanctions of former years, were wantonly invaded; and in an hour of fancied security men would find the accumulations of years virtually confiscated by "solemn" legislative enactment - an enactment secured by the corps of "lobbies" who held control of every avenue leading to the law-making halls - and not only that, but had invaded the sanc- tity of the premises wzthin the legislative bar and dictated the votes of the worse than "wooden men" who were often sent as "representatives of the people." Unless other abuses have recently reappeared at Columbus, and the lobbies found other prey, the corruptionists have had a' long fast at Ohio's capital.

First Election, Held On The First Monday Of April, 1846

By the terms of the law erecting the county, the officers elected in April only continued until their successors, who were to be elected on the second Tuesday of October, 1846, were elected and qualified.

Seventh Election, Held October 8, 1850

* Congress - George H. Busby, of Marion County; David K. Cartter, of Stark County; Norton S. Townsend, of Lorain County. Senator - George W. Bull.

'* At this and the preceding Congressional elections since the formation of the county, the townships in Ashland County voted with the several Congressional districts to which they belonged prior to the erection of the county.

Eighteenth Election, Held October 8, 1861

By an act of the General Assembly of the State of Ohio, entitled "An act to erect the County of Ashland," passed the 24th day of February, a.p. 1846, certain territory therein described taken from the counties of Richland, Wayne, Lorain, and Huron, in said State of Ohio, was set off and erected into a new county to be and remain a separate and distinct county by the name of Ashland, and by said act is attached and made a part of the eleventh judicial circuit of the Court of Common. Pleas...

After the passage of said act, to wit: On the 25th day of February, one thousand eight hundred and forty-six, the said General Assembly duly elected Edmund Ingmand, John P. Reznor, and George H. Stewart, Associate Judges for the County of Ashland aforesaid for the constitutional term of seven years from and after the day of said election.

On the 3d day of March, 1846, the said Edmund Ingmand, John P. Reznor, and George H. Stewart, having received their several commissions as Associate Judges for said County of Ashland, dated at Columbus, February 25, 1846, assembled at the house of James McNulty, in the town of Ashland, in said County of

Ashland, and the oath of office required by law was administered to each of said Associate Judges, by E. N. Gates, Esq., a Justice of the Peace in and for said County of Ashland, as appears by the certificates indorsed on said commissions.

On the said 3d day of March, 1846, and after said Associate Judges had been qualified by taking the oath as aforesaid, they all sat together as a special Court of Common Pleas of said County of Ashland at the same place at which they were sworn as aforesaid, and made the following order, to wit:

Ordered, That Daniel W. Brown be and he is hereby appointed Clerk pro tempore of the Court of Common Pleas of said County of Ashland, and that said Daniel W. Brown be required to give bond in the sum of ten thousand dollars, with three good: sureties, conditioned for the faithful paying over all moneys which may come into his hands as clerk of said court, and for the faithful and impartial discharge of all the duties of his said office as Clerk of the Court of Common Pleas of said County of Ashland as required by law; which bond was forthwith made out and signed by said D. W. Brown as principal, and C. R. Deming, H. Luther, and John L. Lang, as sureties, which sureties were accepted by said court, and the court retained said bond until the proper county officer should be elected and qualified to receive the same.

At a meeting of the Associate Judges of the County of Ashland, began and held in the town of Jeromeville, in said County of Ashland on Monday, the 16th day of March, a.p., 1846 - present E. Ingmand, G. H. Stewart, associates; D. W. Brown, clerk pro tem.

The said Associate Judges having convened in pursuance of "An act for levying taxes on all property in this State according to its true value," passed March 2, 1846, proceeded to divide the said County of Ashland into three districts, and to appoint assessors for two of said districts as follows, to wit:

The first district shall be composed of the Townships of Lake, Mohican, Perry, Jackson, and Montgomery; and John Allison, of Perry Township, is hereby appointed assessor for said district.

And the third district shall be composed of the following townships, viz.: Vermillion, Green, Hanover, Milton, and the fractional Townships of Mifflin and Monroe; and Jesse Hayes, of Hanover Township, is hereby appointed assessor for said district.

Ordered, That.the fractional Township of Mifflin falling within the limits of the County of Ashland be and the same is hereby organized into a separate township by the name of Mifflin; and the town of Petersburg or Mifflin shall henceforth be the place of holding elections in said township until otherwise ordered by law; and the judges of election in said township are required to return the poll books of the election to be held on the first Monday of April in regard to county officers, and the location of the seat of justice, to the Clerk of the Court of Common Pleas at Jeromeville, agreeably to the sixth section of the act to erect the County of Ashland.

Appointment of Assessor for the Second District. Wepnespay, March 18, 1846. This day two of the Associate Judges, to wit: Edmund Ingmand and John P. Reznor met at the house of said Reznor in Ashland in the County of Ashland, and appointed George McConnell, Esq., of Orange Township, assessor for the second district as aforesaid; and'said McConnell was forthwith notified of his appointment. Adjourned to meet at Jeromeville on the 28th instant. E. Inewanp, Judge.

At the special session of the Court of Common Pleas, held at Jeromeville on the 28th day of March, 1846, on motion, it was Ordered, That John McCormick, Nicholas M. Donaldson, and Lorin Andrews be and they are hereby appointed school examiners for the County of Ashland for the term of three years from and after this date.

Official Vote on the Question of Establishing the Seat of Justice. JEROMEVILLE, April 10, 1846. In pursuance of an act of the General Assembly of the State of Ohio, entitled "An act to erect the County of Ashland," passed February 24, 1846, the Associate Judges of said County of Ashland met at the house of G. H. Cake, in the town of Jeromeville in said

- County of Ashland, on the day above written, and in obedience to the sixth section of the aforesaid act, and the poll books from the.several townships having all been returned agreeably to said act, the Clerk of the Court of Common Pleas, in the presence and by the assistance of the Associate Judges aforesaid, proceeded to canvass said votes in regard to the location of the county seat as specified in said sixth section of the act aforesaid. Whereupon it appeared that there had been polled in said County of Ashland for seat of justice at Ashland, two thousand six hundred and eighty-two (2682) votes; for seat of justice at Hayesville, two thousand and two (2002) votes.

An abstract of said votes was forthwith made out and certified by said Associate Judges and Clerk, to be returned to the next Court of Common Pleas agreeably to the eighth section of the act aforesaid.

At a meeting of the Associate Judges of Ashland County, Ohio, convened at the house of Elias Slocum, in the town of Ashland, Matthew Clugston was appointed by the sheriff his principal deputy; which appointment was approved by the Associate Judges.

At a Court of Common Pleas begun and held at the court-house in the town of Ashland in the County of Ashland, in the eleventh judicial circuit of the State of Ohio, on the 7th day of May, a.p. 1846, there were present the Honorable Jacob Parker, President Judge of said court; and the Honorables John P. Reznor, Edmund Ingmand, and George H. Stewart, Associate Judges; James Doty, Sheriff; and Daniel W. Brown, Clerk pro tem.

Nicholas M. Donaldson, Prosecuting Attorney elect of the County of Ashland, appeared in open court and presented his bond .in the penal sum of two thousand dollars, conditioned, as the law directs, with Thomas J. Bull, George W. Bull, and Thomas McMahan, his bail; which bond was accepted and approved by the court, and ordered to be recorded.

A member of the bar furnishes the following list of attorneys in attendance at the first term of court, namely: From Ashland - Messrs. Maffett, Hunter, Gates, McCombs, Kellogg, Fulton, Taggart, Sloan, Rankin, Osborn, Slocum, Kenyon, Donaldson, Geddis, Smith, Broombeck, Scott, and Clark. From Wooster - Messrs. Dean, Cox, Hemphill, Rex, Flattery, Bonewitz, Carter, and H.C. Curtis. From Mansfield - Messrs. C. T. Sherman, John Sherman, Brinkerhoff, Purdy, Hull, Smith, I. J. Allen, Bryan, Bartley, Kirkwood, and Stewart.

The following named gentlemen were impaneled as Grand Jurors for the May Term, 1846: Hugh McGuire, Daniel Carter, Sr., George Buchanan, Christopher Mykrantz, Christian Miller, Thomas Smith, Samuel Burns, Daniel Campbell, Andrew Mason, Michael Myers, John Smurr, George McConnell, James Boots, Michael Riddle, and John Naylor; of whom Daniel Campbell was appointed Foreman. Having been impaneled and sworn, and received their charge, they retired to their room to consider of their duties.

Ordered by the Court, That John S. Fulton be appointed Commissioner of Insolvents for the County of Ashland for the term of three years from 'this day, (7th of May, 1846.)

At the March term, 1847, it was ordered by the court that Jacob O. Jennings be and he is hereby appointed clerk of this court for the constitutional term of seven years.

It appearing to the court that Jacob O. Jennings, Clerk of this Court, has appointed James Hunter his Deputy, it is by the court Ordered, That said appointment be approved and confirmed.

It appearing to the court that Asa S. Reed, Recorder of Ashland County, has appointed Hugh Burns his Deputy, itis by the court Ordered, That said appointment be and the same is hereby approved and confirmed.

Present - Jacob Parker, President Judge of the eleventh judicial circuit, and Edmund Ingmand,. George H. Stewart, and Daniel W. Brown, Associate Judges; James Doty, Sheriff; and J. O. Jennings, Clerk.

It appearing to the court that Jacob O. Jennings, Clerk of this Court, has appointed Albert L. Curtis his Deputy, it is by the court Ordered, That said appointment be approved and confirmed.

This being the first murder trial that had occurred in Ashland County - added to the fact that its circumstances were calculated to challenge the morbid curiosity of the multitude - attracted an unusual interest. The defendant had been designated by a coroners inquest, held in Jackson Township, as guilty of the crime of having murdered, on the 4th of July, 1851, while her parents were absent attending a Sunday-school celebration at Perrysburg, Clarinda Vantilburg, a blind girl, aged ten years and two months. At the September term, the Grand Jury found against him a true bill - the first three counts in the indictment charging murder in the first degree, in the commission of a rape. The fourth, fifth, and sixth counts charged willful, deliberate, and premeditated murder, by alleging that the killing was done in an attempt to commit a rape. The seventh and eighth counts charged the accused with. murder in the first degree, by averring that he killed the deceased purposely, and of deliberate and premeditated malice. The ninth and tenth counts charged murder in the second degree; and the two concluding counts, manslaughter.

This day came the State of Ohio, by B. W. Kellogg, Esq., Prosecuting Attorney, and also at the same time came said Charles Steingraver, in his own proper person, and for plea says that he is not guilty in manner and form as he stands charged in said indictment, and puts himself upon the country for trial. Thereupon came thirty-six jurors, having the qualification of electors, being householders in and of said Ashland County,-to wit: John McCormick, Ephraim C. Marks, Samuel White, John McKahan, Abiather Stockman, Hugh Burns, Abraham Ritter, Henry Dimit, Gilbert Crist, Isaac Hatch, Jacob Johnson, David Bryte, Jacob. Bucher, John L.. Hootman, W. W. Parker, John Van, Nest, George Ship, Andrew McClain, Samuel Baker, Hiram Tanner, Bradley Potter, Samuel Whittington, Stephen Wolf, Elisha Barnes, George Stott, Samuel Harman, Reuben Hill, Enoch Yallens, Calvin Hill, James L. Drake, Johnson Oldroyd, William S. Strickland, John Harman, Samuel Welty, Frederick Kighinger, regularly summoned jurors, and Joseph Chandler, as talesman, out of which said pannel were selected, tried, and impanneled the jury following, to wit: John McCormick, Ephraim C. Marks, Samuel White, Henry Dimit, Isaac Hatch, Jacob Johnson, Jacob Bucher, Elisha Barnes, George Stott, Samuel Harman, James L. Drake, and John Harman, who being duly impanneled and severally sworn to well and truly try and true deliverance make between the said State of Ohio and the said Charles Steingraver, and a true verdict give according to the evidence, and having heard the evidence adduced, the arguments of counsel, and the charge of the court, upon their oaths aforesaid do find and say that the said Charles Steingraver is guilty of murder in the first degree, as charged against him in the fourth, fifth, and sixth counts of said indictment, and not guilty as he is declared in the other counts in said indictment.

Monpay, a.m., October 6, 1851. Court' met pursuant to adjournment. Present as Judges, the Honorable Levi Cox, President, and the Honorables Edmund Ingmand, George H. Stewart, and John C. Myers, Associates.

This cause came up to be heard upon the motion of the said Charles Steingraver for a new trial, and was argued by counsel; on consideration whereof the court do order that said motion be overruled.

Therefore it is considered, and the sentence of the court is, that said defendant, Charles Steingraver, be taken hence by the Sheriff, and confined in the jail of the county, until Friday, the 30th day of January, in the year of our Lord eighteen hundred and fiftytwo, and then, on said thirtieth day of January, between the hours of 12 meridian, and two o'clock, post meridian, the Sheriff of said Ashland County, or in case of his absence or inability, then the Coroner of said county, take him, the said Charles Steingraver, to the place appointed by law, and execute him by hanging him by the neck until he is dead.

The execution of Charles Steingraver took place on Friday, the 30th day of January, 1852, as ordered and directed by the court. Early in the morning, immense numbers of the people were collecting from every section of the country - some from a great distance - and directing their course to the execution ground, which was guarded by the military, who were called out for the purpose of suppressing any disturbance which might occur to mar the proceedings, or hinder the law from being peaceably enforced. By eleven o'clock A.M. there had congregated, it is supposed, from eight to twelve thousand persons; and we are sorry to state, that many of this immense assemblage gave evident signs of intoxication. It might therefore be submitted whether executing the extreme penalty of the law in this manner brings about the desired reform, viz., of suppressing the awful crime of murder?

Steingraver was led from his cell precisely at twelve o'clock, accompanied by the sheriff and five ministers. He marched from his place of confinement to the gallows under the solemn and impressive. notes of the "Dead March," which were calculated to soften: the most obdurate and hardened, and impress suitable reflections for the solemnities of death. He shed not, a tear - he moved along with a firm and unfaltering step - ascended the scaffold with as little apparent regard for his hard fate as the ox for the slaughter.

His long white robe was calculated to rouse solemn reflections about the destiny of man and his long home, when he returns to his mother earth, and lies mouldering in the dust, wrapped in the slumbers of death - dreamless and quiet,

While religious exercises were taking place on the scaffold, his bearing was firm and unmoved. He knelt and listened to several appropriate and powerful prayers both in German and English, and not until the last. prayer wag being offered was he seen to shed a tear. He then wept - was much affected; but again braced up, rose with a firmness ill befitting his situation, and requested the sheriff to announce, as his dying words, that he was not guilty of the crime imputed to him. He then requested that the people be exhorted, in German and English, to avoid sins that were calculated to lead them into vice and eventually to ruin.

He then took his parting leave of the officers and ministers present on the scaffold - submitted calmly to have his arms and feet pinioned - the cap drawn over his head and face - the rope placed around his neck, and drawn up in order to launch him into eternity. The sheriff called out, nineteen minutes till the time expires - ten minutes - five minutes - one minute. During which announcements, he stood like a statue - unshuddering - unmoved, save to incline his head a little to the nght. A moment before he was precipitated from the scaffold, the sheriff, approaching him, pressed the question, "'Steungraver, are you innocent of the crime of murder as charged against you?" With apparent earnestness he replied, "Sherif, Iam innocent." It was now just fifteen minutes past one o'clock. A moment, and his guilty or guiltless soul was thrust into another world to meet its Creator; a few spasmodic shrugs of his body and limbs, and all was over. He hung suspended by his neck about half an hour; was then pronounced dead by the medical gentlemen present; his body taken down and placed in its coffin, and in something over half an hour transferred to an obscure place in the Ashland cemetery.

During these proceedings the people behaved with unexpected decorum, the best of order prevailing throughout the whole assemblage, except when the criminal was precipitated from the scaffold, and for a short time became invisible to the crowd. Order, however, was soon restored, and all went off quietlysir*ndythe haat

Remus

This was the second murder trial in the county. The defendant was arraigned for the murder of Noah Mock, at the town of Orange, on the 17th day of December, 1853. The tragedy had its origin in the matter of seven cents that had been used at a "raffle." The money belonged to Mock, but had been appropriated by Pool; and in the controversy growing out of this trifling affair, the murderous hate was generated, and a fatal stab was inflicted. "What a great matter a little fire kindleth." The case was tried at the March term, 1854 - Alexander Porter, Prosecuting Attorney for the State, and Fulton, McCombs, and Given, for 'the defence. The regular grand jurors were John Clugston, Harvey Sackett, Henry Stickler, Jacob Poorman, John Mason, John Aten, Jeremiah Buckmaster, Joseph Neff, Martin

This day came the State of Ohio, by A. Porter, Prosecuting Attorney, and also at the same time came said Thornton Pool, in his own person, and for plea says that he is not guilty in manner and form as he stands charged in said indictment, and puts himself upon the country for trial; thereupon came thirty-six jurors, out.of which said number were selected, tried, and impanneled the following persons, to wit: Wm. Craig, James Huff, David Ciphers, Herman Alleman, John Willson, Elias Bates, and Christopher Hootman, to serve as jurors in said cause; and thereupon the said panel of thirty-six jurors having been exhausted, the sheriff called as talesmen the following persons from the bystanders, having the qualifications of electors, and being householders in said County of Ashland, to wit: Henry Horn, Jacob Emrick, William Mory, Stephen Crozier, and Daniel Harman; who were selected, tried, and impanneled, to serve as jurors in said cause; * * * * upon their oaths aforesaid, the jury do find and say that the said Thornton Pool is guilty of murder in the second degree as charged against him in the fourth, fifth, and sixth counts of said indictment, and not guilty of murder in the first degree, as is charged against him in the first, second, and third counts of said indictment. And therefore came the said defendant, Thornton Pool, and filed his motion for a new trial.

This cause came on to be heard upon motion of said Thornton Pool, in arrest of judgment and new trial, and was argued by counsel, on consideration whereof the motion in arrest of judgment is ordered to be overruled, and it is further ordered that said verdict be and the same is hereby set aside, and that a new trial be had between said State of Ohio and the said Thornton Pool; and thereupon came said State of Ohio by A. Porter, Esq., who prosecutes in this behalf, and enters a nolle prosequi as to the fourth, fifth, and six counts, in said indictment, charging said Thornton Pool with murder in the second degree; and also at the same time came the said Thornton Pool in his own person, and, by leave of the court, his plea of "not guilty," heretofore entered by him, was withdrawn, and enters a plea of "guilty" of manslaughter as he stands charged in the seventh and eighth counts of said indictment.

Therefore considered, and the sentence of the court. is, that said defendant, Thornton Pool, be taken hence by the sheriff to the county jail, and from thence within sixty days from the rising of court be taken by the sheriff to the Ohio Penitentiary, there to remain in confinement and to be kept at hard labor for the period of ten years.

The whole number of State cases prosecuted to final judgment from the first term of the court, held in May, 1846, to the February Term, 1862, inclusive, amounts to four hundred and thirty-nine.

The Common School System Of Ash

Whatever may have been its results elsewhere, it can hardly be said that in Ashland County the present system has met the expectations of its friends. Although this county, by reason of its less amount of taxable property, and larger proportion of school children, receives nominally a thousand dollars or so yearly more from the State Treasury, than she pays into it, and might naturally, therefore, be classed with those eleemosynary counties that chronically resist all efforts to change the existing order of things, it may be a question whether the present is not, above all other systems that have been tried, the least profitable to our people, counting costs and returns, of any that has been in operation. While the population and wealth of most of the towns have made steady progress, the educational interests of the county, during the last twelve years, have scarcely maintained their statu quo. The "People's Colleges," of which we heard so much years ago, by those who urged the adoption of the system, have been so conducted as to create the necessity for two flourishing academies in the county, which are placed upon a permanent basis. Thus much by way of preface to the valuable statistics which follow.

2. "Fines, Licenses, and Miscellaneous Sources;" 3. "Trreducible School Funds;" 4. "State Tax;" 5. "Township Tax for prolonging School six months, and sustaining High Schools;" and, 6. "Township Tax for Sites, Buildings, Repairs, and Contingent Expenses."

The total expenditures include, 1. "Amount paid Teachers during the year;" 2. "Sites, Buildings, and Repairs;" 3. "Fuel and other Contingent Expenses."

Number of Schools; Number of Youths enrolled in Schools during the year; Number of Scholars in average daily attendance in Schools during the year.

Average length of time the Schools have been kept in session ; Number of Teachers employed during the year; Average wages of Teachers per month during the year.

ring the| ers employ- per month. year. ed during Name of corpora- ati es the year = Name of town- | ration andspe-| g¢ SD ships. cial school die-| 8 g = Common. High

Number and value of School-houses heretofore erected, with Furniture; Number and value of School-houses erected during the year; Number and value of School Libraries; Value of School Apparatus.

Reoapitulation Of The Foregoing Tables Board Of School Examiners

The names of the persons who were appointed by the Court of Common Pleas the first board of school examiners appear under the head of "Court Record."

From the first record of the board it appears that "on the 17th of May, 1851, the Court of Common Pleas appointed Wm. T. Adams, A. M. Fulton, and John Lynch, School Examiners in and for Ashland County." On the twenty-third of May the board organized by appointing W. T. Adams, chairman, and John Lynch, clerk.

The third quarterly meeting of the board was held June 26th, 1852. Seventeen teachers were examined, two of whom failed to obtain certificates. This appears to have been the last record made by John Lynch, clerk.

The next record, bearing date, of the proceedings of the board occurs on the 4th of May, 1853. G. W. Hill and Orlow Smith, the former secretary, conducted the examination.

A change in the board appears in the proceedings of October 27th, 1855, when the name of S. M. Barber, clerk, is appended to the proceedings; and in the record of the meeting of December 8th, 1855, the names of John Robinson, Levi Farnsworth, and S. M. Barber are given as the members constituting the board.

The board of school examiners therefore, as constituted in 1862, is composed of Rev. John Robinson, C. W. Mykrants, and Rev. W. A. G. Emerson.

Total Value Of Taxable Property In 1850

Number of Acres and the aggregate value of Lands and Personal Property in the Townships; and the value of Real and Personal Property in the Towns of Ashland County, in the year 1850, as entered on the Duplicate of 1849; and as Reported to the Ohio House of Representatives in a Special Report made by the Auditor of State, dated March 23, 1850.

Table showing the number of Acres of Land, and its Taxable value; the Taxable value of Buildings; Number of Acres of Arable or Plow, Meadow, and of Uncultivated or Wood Land ; and the Total value of Lands and Buildings, as returned by

Table showing the Taxable value of Lots and Buildings in the several Towns of Ashland County in 1859, as ascertained by the Returns of the Assessors.

Value of lands and buildings in 1859, as returned by LHE, SSBCSSOPE... <insansgosohseesenidinoasaace *eeaste sed OS OOS Value of town lots and buildings...............cessecees 335,829

To illustrate the increase of wealth in the county, the aggregate valuations of real and personal property during three periods of ten years are subjoined : -

Taxable Property

VALUATION OF THE TAXABLE PROPERTY OF THE SEVERAL: TOWNSHIPS AND TOWNS OF ASHLAND COUNTY, AS APPEARS FROM THE DUPLICATE IN THE AUDITOR'S OFFICE, JUNE 4TH, 1861.

Thandawsisi.. Medea ndaaas See ttaceaatenetnc nie $200,936 INOW ELT CEOLGS cans cnicnarncen cerncancchancoencsness 2,750 Chattels: cic. Ade daccasucacceneenen aeaeaces 102,030

Lands .......ccscesecscscacsasecceoscoses sebtaness $426,192 New structures é...2.....cascssasdaccascesesseces 1,450 Chattela...isetctcatecessnsdtticrssassunveaccoceees 133,640 MOUS IN COWDS.<cconsacccdecccuseessoccsnetcmecse 12,942

Meteorological Phenomena

Synopsis of. Meteorological Phenomena for nearly ten years, made at Savannah, Ohio, for the Smithsonian Institute, Washington, D.C. By J. Incram, M.D.

Temperature - The mean annual temperature for the period named was 49°92°; highest mean in any year, 51:55°, which was in 1858; lowest mean annual temperature in any year, 46°45°, which was in 1856.

The highest temperature in the shade within the above period, 104°, and happened on July 14th, 1859; lowest temperature observed during the same time was 24° below zero, on January 12, 1857.

Frost. - The time free from frost during the period would vary from 56 to 102 days, and the time free from killing frost would vary from 92 to 128 days - giving a difference of 36 days, which, with a temperature averaging 65° to 70°, would exercise a vast influence on vegetable and animal life in the way of growth, maturity, decay, and disease.

Rain. - The mean annual amount of rain for the period was 41:325 inches; highest annual fall of rain, 52°024 inches; least do. 28°854 inches. These amounts include the snow. in the form of melted water - ten inches of the former making one inch of the latter. The general course from whence most of our rains proceed may be seen by a glance at the following table, showing the average amounts in any given direction for four years. From the N. 2°493 inches; NE. 1:467; E. 325; SE. 7°678; S. 1:339; SW. 18-618; W. 2681; NW. 6-470.

The average number of rainy days in any one year is 85; do. of snowy days 23, making a general average of 108 days in a year.on which rain or snow fell.

Dew. - During some limited observations on dew and its relations to rain, the following facts were noted. The dew period extends from middle of April to middle of October, or 184 days.

In 326 dewy mornings there were 56 days on which rain fell, so that the mere fact of there being dew in the morning is no evidence that it will not rain that day. Also on 164 mornings of no dew, there were 47 days of no rain, and hence the absence of dew is no positive evidence of the fall of rain on the same day, although there is a probability in its favor of about 10 to 3.

Registry Of Periodical Phenomena List Of Plants

a3 Soft maple, acer rubrum........sescesecsescsses May 10 Sugar maple, acer saccharum............sss000+ pee i Yarrow maple, achillea millefolium..,........ June 3. Horse-chestnut, zesculus hippocastanum...... May 20. Ohio buckeye, esculus glabra..............+066 £ sags Service-berry, amelanchier Canadensis....... "HE SLL. Milkweed, asclepias cornuti.............s.seseee Sth Ss Pawpaw, asinimatriloba.s. os. sasens. cssaassbege "24. Chestnut, castanea VeSta..........cecceseeesceees June 2 Shagbark hickory, carya alba..............0000 May 24. Wild black cherry, cerasus serotina............ QT. Flowering dogwood, coruns Florida........... ". 20. White ash, fraxinus Americana..............6. he 20; Bluets, innocence, haustonia cerulea.......... Sen 1. Spicebush, laurus benZoin. .........cc..sececeees hy ee Oxeye daisy, leucanthemum vulgare........... Us

List Of Birds, Eto Marriage Statistics

Vermillion. - The first marriage in this township, as appears of record, was that of James Wallace to Miss Rachael Hooker, in April, 1815 - the ceremony being performed by Robert Newell, J. P.

Green. - The first on record is that of William Shaw to Helty Ayres, in 1815 - Samuel Hill, J. P., performing the ceremony. Henry Hill and Abigail Coulter (probably of Green Township) were the second pair married in Richland County; the marriage being solemnized on the 23d December, 1813.

Montgomery. - The first marriage on record is that of Jonathan Markley to Elizabeth Cline, in 1816 - the marriage ceremony being performed by James Wallace, Esq., then a Justice of the Peace of Vermillion Township.

Total from the organization of the county to 18th March, 1869; acecnsugebloaimbdascceactesescdtetscovaas teas 3281 Being an average of 205 per annum.

It is to be regretted that a more full record of the transactions of this Society is not attainable. The Society was organized in 1850 - Joseph Workman, President; John Scott, Jr., Secretary; and Wm. McNeil, Treasurer.

The first and second Fairs were held at Hayesville, and the Fair for the current year, urider the auspices of the Ohio State Board of Agriculture, was also held at Hayesville. The intermediate Fairs were held at Ashland.

The June Frost Of 1859

As Northern Ohio was particularly desolated by this extraordinary visitation, it may not be inappropriate in a work like this to make a brief record of its devastating effects. On that memorable Sunday morning, June 9, 1859, had a sheet of living flame passed over the face of the earth the preceding night, the vegetation that covered its hills and valleys could not have presented a more desolate appearance.

"The season of 1859 compares well with that of 1816. In each year we had frosts in every month of the year. In 1816, the frost did not do as much harm as in 1859. In 1859, since February, the weather had some extraordinary changes. Part of March, and the first part of April, the season was very favorable, and appearances promised one of the best of harvests. The fall grain looked more healthy than usual until the fourth of June; after a rain, it clouded up and flakes of snow were flying. On the morning of the fifth, there was more than a common frost. It was a severe freeze. The ice was one-half to threeeighths of an inch thick. Everything froze of the plant kind. Wheat and rye froze in the blossom, corn in the stalk, potatoes and vines froze to the ground. Some of the corn recovered, and some did not. The weather was cold and changeable till the fourth day of July, in the morning, when there was another frost which froze the corn on the flat, swampy land a second time. On August eleventh and on the twenty-eighth, we had frost. In May and September we had light frosts, but I did not put them on record. The month of September was a favorable one. October ninth we had the first hard frost. It froze the corn-fodder and some soft corn. Since that, the fall has been favorable."

Dr. S. P. Hildreth, of Marietta, one of the oldest citizens of Ohio, and a scientific and most experienced observer, also writes to the Commissioner : -

"No similar disaster had fallen upon us since the settlement of Ohio, in 1788. In 1834, destructive frosts took place in May, as late as from the thirteenth to the eighteenth day, six mornings in succession, destroying all the fruit, and much corn and wheat. But the wheat was then in blossom, and where not plowed up, in a great measure recovered by pushing up new stalks from the uninjured roots, and produced a faircrop. The corn was replanted, and, warm rains succeeding, the farmer was blessed with a fair return for his labor by the kindness and loving favor of Him who has said, 'Seed time and harvest shall not fail.' Even so, this present year, where the fields were immediately replanted, as late as tenth of June, on rich and well-cultivated soil, the crop of corn was really good. The apple and peach crops were, in a great measure, destroyed all over Southern Ohio and the adjacent regions. The fruit had acquired the size of an almond or nutmeg, and most orchards were filled abundantly. It was a serious loss, as the previous year had been unfruitful, and no stores of dried apples were laid up by the farmers."

Some interesting matter in regard to the weather during the years 1816-17, and the years following, are furnished by Judge Ingmand, and will be found in its proper place.

LOMCOUNUY AUGILON. comet retertesens sce sesehorsaecennest 9345 Whole number of Sabbath-schools in the county......... : 13 Number kept during only part of the year.............e00 6 Number of scholars) enrolled: icis.cessscsseseccecncaserestare. 1307 Average attendance of scholars...........0sssssccsssecceseees 963 Number of scholars in Bible or adult classes............. 280 Number of teachers and -OMCOrd. ....accsdnossoearscceasesavens Lit Members of Sabbath-schools who have made a profession of religion during the past year.............06 130 Namber of volumes in libraries............cecscossssedeosone : 2655 Aggregate number of copies of papers taken............08- 627 Contributions for use of schoolss...0+.caseecesnec acces tectees $222.55 Contributions for missionary PUrPOSeS........seeeessereees 125 00

Of the number of schools in the county, there are of Union, 4; of Methodist, 2; of Presbyterian, 1; of Lutheran, 1; of German Evangelical, 1; of United Presbyterian, 1; of Free Presbyterian, 1; of Disciple, 1; of Baptist, 1.

Of the number of scholars enrolled, there are of Union, 350; of Methodist, 275; of Presbyterian, 212; of Lutheran, 125; of German Evangelical, 55; of United Presbyterian, 66; of Free Presbyterian, 59; of Disciple, 90; of- Baptist, 75.

Of the members of schools making a profession of religion during the past year, there were of Union, 46; of Methodist, 2; of Presbyterian, 4; of Lutheran, 50; of German Evangelical, 8; of United Presbyterian, 5; of Disciple, 12; of Baptist, 3.

Inbrary. - Of volumes in the Union, there were 900; in the Methodist, 600; in the Presbyterian, 500; in the Lutheran, 300; in the Free Presbyterian, 80; in the Disciple, 100; in the Baptist, 175.

Papers. - Copies taken by Union, 130; by Methodist, 120; by Presbyterian, 200; by Lutheran, 75; by German Evangelical, 20; by United Presbyterian, 12; by Disciple, 72.

Pauperism

The Ashland County Infirmary building was erected in 1850. According to the census returns of 1860, the whole number of paupers supported during the year ending June 1 were 65 - of which there were

By the official report of the directors, it appears that the whole number of paupers supported for the year ending June 10, 1862, were 54 - of which there were

The Ashland County Infirmary is probably as well and as judiciously managed as any similar institution in Ohio. The present Board of Directors consist of Messrs. D. K. Hull, J. S. Martin, and Joseph Strickland. The immediate charge of the institution is confided to Mr. Edward Moore, Superintendent, and Mrs. Moore, Matron.

Diminution Of Population

It will be observed that the population of several of the townships in the county has diminished within the last twelve years. This is caused by the sales of the small landholders, and their emigration West; and by the absorption of their places by the larger farmers. Sections of land that formerly sustained six and eight families, are now occupied by one and two families. It is very clear that this process has neither improved the tillage, nor added to the wealth of the county.