Clinton County, Ohio - Chapter 3: Organization of Clinton County, 1915

Chapter 3: Organization of Clinton County

The General Assembly of the state of Ohio, on February 19, 1810, passed an act establishing the county of Clinton. The boundaries of the county as set forth in the act were as follow:

"Section 1. Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of Ohio, That all those parts of the counties of Warren and Highland within the following boundaries be and the same are hereby erecied into a separate county, to be known by the name of Clinton: Beginning at the southeast corner of Greene county, running east five miles; thence south to Highland county line; thence west with said line within four miles of the eastern line of Warren county; thence southwardly so far as to intersect a line one mile east from the southeast corner of Warren county; thence west, and from the beginning west so far that a line south will leave Warren county a constitutional boundary."

The county received the name of Clinton in honor of George Clinton, a distinguished citizen of New York and at that time vice-president of the United States. The territory described above was taken in almost equal portions from Warren and Highland counties, the old division line passing through the present town of Wilmington.

At that time the state constitution contained the following clause: ''No new county shall be established by the General Assembly which shall reduce the county or counties, or either of them, from which it shall be taken, to less contents than four hundred square miles; nor shall any county be laid off of less contents." The area of Clinton county, through some error, probably in estimate, fell short of the requisite four hundred square miles. When the deficiency was finally discovered is not known, but the state Legislature took the matter in hand and on the 4th of February, 1813, passed an act as follows, entitled, "An act to attach a part of Highland county to the county of Clinton" :

"Section 1. Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of Ohio, That all that part of Highland county within the following boundaries be and the same is hereby 'attached to and shall remain the county of Clinton: Beginning at the southeast corner of Clinton county, adjoining Fayette county, thence running a line in a southwesterly direction to strike the line of Clinton county at such a point as to include four hundred square miles in the county of Clinton.

"Sec. 2. That the county surveyor of Ross shall, within thirty days after being duly notified by the commissioners of Clinton county, proceed to survey said county of Clinton and annex thereto so much of the county of Highland as shall make said county of Clinton contain four hundred square miles, agreeable to the provisions of the first section of this act; and said surveyor shall take to his assistance chainmen and axmen who are not inhabitants either of the counties of Warren, Clinton or Highland, and who have no interest therein, who shall be duly sworn as the law directs; and said surveyor shall make out two accurate surveys, or plats thereof, one of which he shall return to the court of common pleas for said county of Clinton, who shall record the same in the records of the court of said county, and the other he shall deposit in the office of the secretary of state, who shall preserve the same with this act; which survey, when made and recorded, shall be the perpetual boundaries of the said county of Clinton, and said surveyor shall receive two dollars per day and said chainmen and axmen shall each receive one dollar per day for all the time they are respectively employed in such service, to. be paid out of the treasury of the county of Clinton."

We quote from the manuscript of the late Judge R. B. Harlan: "The records of the commissioners of Clinton county 'show that, in conformity with the above act, they did, on March 3, 1813, issue a notification to the surveyor of Ross county to proceed and survey the county of Clinton and annex thereto so much of the county of Highland as would make the county of Clinton contain the requisite number of square miles.

"John Hvans, Esq., the surveyor of Ross county, on the 6th day of April, 1813, proceeded to make the survey required by the above act, and July 10, 1813, returned to the clerk of the court of common pleas of Clinton county a report of his proceedings under said act. In this report he said that, on the 6th day of April, 1813, he proceeded to survey the county of Clinton, agreeably to the provisions of the act of February 4, 1813. He 'began at four gums, two elms, two burr oaks and one maple, a corner of Clinton and Highland counties, standing north eighty-nine and one-quarter degrees east, one mile from the northeast corner of Clermont county; thence with the line of Highland and Clermont counties south eighty-nine and one-quarter degrees west nine miles and two hundred and sixteen poles, passing the corner of Highland county at one mile, with the variation of forty-five seconds from the cardinal point, to a red elm, two maples and a white oak, a black oak and thorn bush, southeast corner of Warren county, as it was then run, to contain its constitutional bounds; thence with the line of Warren county, allowing the aforesaid variation of forty-five seconds west, twenty-one miles and one hundred and fifty-eight poles to a large ash tree, two sugar trees, and two thorn bushes, northeast corner of Warren county, and in the line of Greene county, which was formerly run and marked; thence with said line east twenty miles and two hundred and thirty-one poles, passing the corner of Fayette county at fifteen miles and two hundred and thirty-one poles, to a large maple tree, marked as a corner and with the letters C. C. F. C., being a corner of Fayette county; thence with the line of said county south eleven miles and ninety poles to two oaks and an elm in the line of Highland county; thence I ran a line to attach a part of Highland county to the county of Clinton, viz., south four degrees, forty-five seconds west fourteen miles, two hundred and twentythree poles, to the first place of beginning, being the most eastwardly end of the line of Clinton county called for in the first section of the aforesaid act (February 4, 1813), in which bounds there is only contained three hundred and eighty-five square miles and six hundred and twenty-two acres. Therefore, I find it impossible with all the provisions of the aforesaid law; for, by striking or intersecting the line of Clinton county, a deficiency of fourteen square miles and eighteen acres exist, and to include four hundred square miles in the county of Clinton, the line strikes a point considerably to the east of the line of Clinton county, which the aforesaid law contemplated for the line to strike. I then run and marked the following lines, which include the constitutional bounds in Clinton county: Commencing at the same corner, from which the aforesaid line is run; thence south forty degrees west twelve miles and one hundred and ninety-seven poles to two jack oaks, hickory and gum, all marked as a corner; and this line is represented on the plat as running from A (east corner of Clinton county), to C, two miles and three hundred poles, the beginning corner of Highland and Clinton eounties, in which is contained four hundred square miles. Finding this conflict in the law and the express provision for including four hundred square miles in the county of Clinton, I perceive no better mode to reconcile the difficulty than the one adopted, which shows the relation which each of these lines bears to the law under which I am bound to act.'

"The same day on which Mr. Evans filed this report, he produced to the commissioners of Clinton county, his account for his services as such surveyor, amounting to the sum of seventy-two dollars and 'fifty cents, and also an account for the services of chain bearers and markers upon said survey, amounting to the sum of sixty-six dollars, which accounts being inspected, were allowed on July 10, 1813; vouchers 514, 515, 516, 517, 518. The chainmen were Abel Crossley, Philip Hartman and William Clevenger.

"To make up the deficiency thus ascertained, the Legislature, on January 30, 1815, provided that eleven square miles of the territory of Warren county lying upon the eastern boundary of the county of Warren, and extending parallel to the said eastern _ boundary line along the whole length of it from north to south, should be and the same were attached to and made a part of the county of Clinton; and it was made the duty of the surveyor of Ross county, within thirty days after being notified by the commissioners of Clinton county, to proceed and survey and set off to the county of Clinton the eleven square miles as aforesaid, by running a straight line from north to south through the county of Warren, parallel to the eastern boundary thereof, a strip about one-half mile wide, so as to include the eleven square miles aforesaid. The act also prescribed the manner in which the survey should be made, the qualifications of the chainmen and axmen, with other necessary details.

"By the same act (January 30, 1815), section 4, it was provided that three square miles and eighteen acres of the county of Highland should be and the same were attached to the county of Clinton: 'Beginning where the line run by the surveyor of Ross, as described in the foregoing section, crosses the East fork of the Little Miami river, and extending down the said East fork until a line due west to the line of the county of Clermont, between the counties of Clermont and Highland, will include in the county of Clinton three square miles and eighteen acres of land, as aforesaid'; and the same was directed to be surveyed and laid off by the surveyor of Ross county, in the same way prescribed by the second section of the act to attach part of Highland county to the eounty of Clinton (February 4, 1813).

"In the month of October, 1817, Moses Collier, surveyor of Greene county, made a survey of the three square miles and eighteen aeres of land off from the county of Highland to become a part of the county of Clinton; since which time this three square miles and eighteen acres of land have been a part of the territory of the county of Clinton, and the county invested with her constitutional number of square miles.

."A meeting of the commissioners of Clinton county; present Joseph Doan, Mahlon Haworth and Samuel Ruble, commissioners; date, June 4, 1817, allowance No. 58: 'Walter Dillon, for conveying notice to the surveyor of Greene county to run off eleven miles from the county of Warren, and three square miles and eighteen acres from the county of Highland to become a part of the county of Clinton, agreeably to an act entitled, 'An act to attach part of the county of Butler to the county of Warren, and for other purposes," and an act amendatory of said act. Order issued, forty-two dollars and twentyfive cents.'

"Meeting of commissioners, October 21, 1817; present Joseph Doan and Samuel Ruble, commissioners. The commissioners proceeded to adjust demands against the county and allowed voucher No. 96. 'No. 96, Moses Collier, surveyor of Greene county, for making survey of three square miles and eighteen acres from the county of Highland to become-part of Clintom; nine days at two dollars, and two chainmen and one axman eight days at one dollar, and justices' certificate, twenty-five cents. Allowed. Order issued, forty-two dollars and twenty-five cents.'

"Act of February 19, 1810, section 2, contains this provision, that 'after March 1 next (1810), said county shall be vested with all privileges and ammunities (immunities) of a separate and distinct township: Provided, that the sheriffs, coroners, constables, collectors, and all other township officers in the county aforesaid shall continue to perform their respective duties as prescribed by law, within the said county of Clinton, before said division; and suits of law which were or may be pending at the time of said division shall be adjusted in the same manner as if the division had not taken

"Section 3 required the legal voters residing in Clinton county to assemble on the first Monday in March next ensuing, in their respective townships, and elect their several county officers, who should hold their offices until the next annua] meeting.

"Section 4. By this section the place of holding the courts of the county was established at the house of Jesse Hughes, two miles southeast of Wilmington, until a permanent seat of justice should be established in said county as directed by law. And this act was made to take effect and to be in force from and after March 1, 1810."

"Clinton county having been established, it became necessary to select a county seat or place for holding the courts of the county. By the act of March 28, 1803, it was provided that, 'For each new county established during the present or any future session of the Legislature, three commissioners shall be appointed by resolution of both houses of the Legislature, whose duty it shall: be to exaniine and determine what part of said county so established is the most eligible for holding the several courts within the county; and that it shall be the duty of the secretary of state to notify the persons of their several appointments.' ;

"Upon the passage of the act creating the county of Clinton, both branches of the Legislature, by a joint resolution, appointed three commissioners to examine and determine what part of said county was most eligible for the seat of justice. One of these commissioners was John Polloack, several times elected to the House of Representatives from Clermont county and speaker for the same body for the sessions of 1812-13, 1813-14, 1814-15; Mr. Stewart, either of Ross or Pickaway county. is supposed to have been a second. Who the third was, the writer of these notes has not the means of knowing.

"These commissioners, having been notified by the secrétary of state, proceeded, as required by the statute, to give twenty days' notice to the inhabitants of the new county of the time, place and purport of their meeting, in the county, and, having taken the oath required by the statute in such cases, proceeded to examine and selected the most proper place, in their opinion, for the said seat of justice, as near the center of the county as possible, paying regard to the situation, extent of population, and quality of land, together with the general convenience and interest of tht inhabitants of the county. The examination resulted in the selection of the present county seat, and the report thereof was made to the court of common pleas next holden in and for the county.

"This was an extra session of the court for the transaction of official business, held at the house of Jesse Hughes, Sr. Present, Peter Burr, Jesse Hughes and Thomas Hinkson; Warren Sabin, clerk pro tem. This report of the commissioners was filed in the court, May 16, 1810, and was opened, as shown by the minutes of the court.

"On its appearing that no town had been previously laid out at the place agreed upon, it became the duty of the court, under the law, to appoint a director whose duty it was, after giving surety for the faithful performance of his work, to purchase the land for the use and behoof of the county, to lay it off into lots, streets and alleys, under the regulations as prescribed by the court, to dispose of the lots either at private or publie sale as the court might think proper, and to make conveyances for the same in fee simple to the purchaser. The person selected for this office of director was James MeManis, a resident of the neighborhood in which Clarksville has since been laid out. He was a brother of George McManis, one of the first three county commissioners, who, soon nfter, on the resignation of Peter Burr, one of the associate judges, was appointed to fill the vacaney.

"It is believed that no offers to donate land, goods or money were made to the commissioners for the use of the county on condition that a different site for the county seat would be selected from the one proposed. Indeed. if there was any compe- tition, or any sharp or excited controversy about the location of the county seat, no record or tradition of it has been preserved. Two concurrent offers to donate land for the use of the county were made the commissioners on the condition that the county Seat be established on the site selected, namely, sixty acres, one lot of fifty acres, by David Faulkner, and another of ten acres by Joseph Doan. Both offers were accepted. _ The lands thus offered lay partly in David Faulkher's tract of three hundred and fifty acres, and partly in Joseph Doan's tract of three hundred and fifty-seven acres - tracts which lay side by side, and were parts of General Posey's survey, No. 1,057.

"But the question in regard to the county seat was not settled. There was still existing an unpleasant uncertainty in regard to it. It appears quite plain that the donors of the land sought to be acquired, and those having charge of the location of the county seat, had met with some cause for discouragement. It might have been about the character of the conveyances to be made, as, for example, whether upon some contingency occurring in future, the land should or should not revert back to the donors or their heirs. Be this as it may, on June 20, the court ordered that 'except David Faulkner and Joseph Doan come forward and make a good and sufficient title in fee simple for their respective donations, within fifteen days, then and in that case the court order the director to proceed to give notice to the commissioners to select the next most eligible place for the seat of justice for the aforesaid county.' What effect this order had, if any, cannot be ascertained, after such a lapse of time, with much certainty. But this much is shown by the minutes of the court for the next day succeeding the one on which this order was made: 'Deed executed by David Faulkner to the director of the county, agreeably to law' (June 21, 1810). Joseph Doan had previously, on the 7th of June, conveyed the title of his donation to the county.

"At a term of the court of common pleas, on June 21, 1810, present Jesse Hughes, Thomas Hinkson and George McManis, associate judges, and Warren Sabin, clerk pro tem., the court ordered that the director proceed to lay out the town for the county seat, and, after advertising the sale in the Chillicothe and Lebanon newspapers so long as he might think necessary, to sell every odd-numbered lot at a credit, onethird in six, one-third in twelve and one-third in eighteen months, by the purchaser giving bond with approved security.

"Accordingly, Mr. McManis proceeded to lay out the town, and, by August 2, 1810, had ready a plat representing the lots regularly numbered and the streets properly named, and, on the 5th and 7th of the same month, one-half of the lots were sold to the highest bidders for the same. The sale was largely attended and competition ran high. The name given the town on the official plat was Clinton, from Gen. George Clinton, of New York, for whom the county had been named. The deeds of these lots frequently, if not generally, bore date early in September. The first deed was dated September 3. The highest price paid for any lot was one hundred dollars, for No. 71, extending from Main street north to the alley, with the right of the lot on the east side of South street, bought by William Ferguson. The lowest price paid was for lot No. 82, on Sugartree street, now owned by the railroad company. It was sold to Isaiah Morris on time for four dollars and twelve and one-half cents. No. 57, next to the court house on the west, was sold for sixty dollars. John Cox bought lot No. 59, the old hotel property of Warren Sabin, where James Henry's grocery store now is, for eighty-four dollars. 'The Buckeye property was sold to Mahlos Haworth for sixty dollars. The corner lot on which William Hibben so long resided was bought for thirty-six dollars. The lot on the southeast corner of South and Locust streets (lot No. 69) was bought by Jesse and David Hughes. William Polk bought lot No. 17, dated September 3, for six dollars; Absalom Haworth, lot No. 179, South street, dated September 3, 1810; Joseph Doan, lot No. 28, for thirty-five dollars, dated December 5, 1810; William Hobson, lots Nos. 6 and 11, August 7, 1810.

"On September, 10, 1810, the court ordered the name of the town to be changed from 'Clinton' to 'Armenia.' On December 31, the name was again changed by the court on request of the donors, to Mount Pleasant (the name is written Mount Vernon, but the name is marked out with a pen and 'Pleasant' written after it). But this last name wa's not more satisfactory than the others had been, and, on February 10, 1811, the court of common pleas, which had charge of the matter, made an order that the county seat be called Wilmington, from cities 6f the name in Delaware and North Carolina, from which states emigrants had come to this locality, and that the name be not again altered without legislative act.":

The first division of Clinton county into townships occurred at a meeting of the commissioners of the county held on April 6, 1810. At this meeting were present George McManis, James Birdsall and Henry Babb, commissioners. It was "Ordered, tHat all that part of Clinton county east of the old boundary line of Warren county shall be one township known by the name of Richland; and all that part of said Clinton county that is within the old boundary line of Warren and north of Lytle's creek, and from the mouth of said creek west to the boundary line of Clinton county, shall be known by the name of Chester township; and all that part of the aforesaid county that lies south of Lytle's creek and south of the south boundary line of Chester and west of Richland, shall be set off as a separate township known by the name of Vernon."

Two additional townships, Union and Green, were created on August 21, 1813, and the first election for township officers in each was held on the second Tuesday in October following. Clark township was formed from Green and Vernon on July 14. 1817, and Liberty township was erected on the same date. The remaining townships of the county were organized at the following dates: Marion, August, 1830; Washington, June, 1835; Wayne, March, 1837; Jefferson, March, 1839; Adams, May, 1849; Wilson, August, 1850.

Court Houses

In 1812 the people of Clinton county consented to be taxed for the purpose of erecting a court house. The commissioners at this time were Mahlon Haworth, Joseph Doan and Henry Babb.

Again quoting from the notes of the late Judge R. B. Harlan, it is found that the court house was "to be built of brick on a stone foundation, sunk in the ground one foot and rising above the ground one foot; to be forty feet square outside of the wall; to be two stories high; the lower floor to be laid part with brick and part with inch plank, well seasoned, jointed, planed and grooved. The ground story to be fifteen feet high, and the wall eighteen inches thick; the second story to be ten feet high, with walls thirteen and a half inches thick. Cornice to be of brick; to have two chimneys in the upper story, both built in the north end, two and a half feet in the back. To have two doors, one fronting each street, four feet wide; nine windows, each of twenty-four lights, one of which was to be placed above the judge's bench; eight windows above, each of twenty-four lights; all the windows to be filled with glass eight by ten. To have a cupola ten feet square and seventeen feet high above the roof of the house, with a square roof, a spire, weather-boarded, the boards to be planed and painted white, the roof painted brown. The doors to be paneled doors. The building to be made of good materials and in a workmanlike manner, and to be completed in two years from the date of sale. The payments to be two hundred and fifty dollars in advance; one-fourth of the residue in six months, one-fourth in twelve months, one-fourth in eighteen months, and one-fourth in two years from the date of sale.

""Jacob Hale bid one thousand, seven hundred and forty-two dollars, and, no person bidding lower, the building of the court house was publicly cried off and sold to the said Jacob Hale for the sum as aforesaid bid. This was Friday, March 27, 1812, according to the record. The commissioners had held a consultation on the 18th of February preceding, and then determined to build a court house forty feet square and two stories high. And thereupon the said Jacob Hale, together with James Birdsall and Samuel Cox, who are approved by the commissioners as sureties, executed bond for the performance of the building aforesaid.'

"On March '5, 1816, the commissioners entered into an agreement with Henry Vanderburgh for performing certain work on the court house, 'that is to say, to make Venetian blinds for the cupola of the court house, which is to be done in a workmanlike manner; one to be hung with hinges, the others nailed fast - all to be painted green; the work to be finished in a good and substantial and workmanlike manner. The said Henry Vanderburgh to furnish all materials and. finish the same against the fifth day of May, next.' The price for the work and material was fixed at twenty-eight dollars, part to be paid in advance, and the residue on the completion of the work."

This building did service for twenty-six years: At the March, 1837, session of the county commissioners, the auditor was directed to have published in the Democrat and Herald a notiee that "Sealed proposals will be received on or before twelve o'clock of the first Monday of April next, for delivering one hundred thousand or more good merchantable brick in the kiln within half a mile of the center stone of the town of Wilmington, on or before the first day of November next." At an extra session in April following, Elisha Doan offered to "burn one hundred and fifty thousand good merchantable brick," ete., at four dollars and twenty-five cents per thousand, and his proposal was accepted and a sum of money paid him in advance. John and Joshua Haynes hauled stone from the quarry for the foundations of the new building in December, 1837. Doan's kiln of brick was not ready at the time specified and he was given further time. On the 2nd of January, 1838, it was examined by a man appointed for that purpose, and as they found the brick to be not merchantable, the commissioners rejected them, compelled Doan to pay back the one hundred dollars he had been advanced, besides some contingent expenses, and canceled the contract with him.

Plans for the new court house were received and accepted January Ish aieStcho dhe was drawn by John B. Posey, a member of the board. Notice for sealed proposals for doing the brick and carpenter work on the new building was ordered published in the Democrat and Herald, and on the 12th of February, 1838, they were opened and read. The contract for the carpenter and joiner work, and all except brick and mason's work, was awarded to John Bush for eleven thousand dollars; that for the brick and mason work and plastering to Thomas and Alfred Shockley and William and Joshua Noble for eleven thousand one hundred and forty-six dollars. John B. Posey was appointed superintendent of construction of the new building, and on the 7th of March, 1838, the old court house was sold to George Fallis and John B. Posey for two hundred and forty dollars. On May 17, 1838, the commissioners met and "proceeded to lay off the foundation of the new court house, and agreed to enlarge said building five feet in width, making said building fifty feet wide.' The new structure was painted by Samuel Peele. The final settlement with the brick and mason work contractors was made December 24, 1839, and that with J. H. Bush, carpenter work, etc., March 38, 1840. The offices in the new building were occupied in December, 1839. Some changes were made in the original plan of the building, owing to the. inability of the contractors to get a portion of the materials in time, and this made the cost something less than it would have been otherwise. "Additional expenses were incurted for humerous other items, and the total cost of the building, with outside wall (or fence), stone steps on south side, etc., was in the neighborhood of twenty-two thousand dollars. This building is still in use. The front is to the east, on South street, where is a portico supported by heavy columns. A bell weighing five hundred pounds, purchased at Cincinnati, of G. W. Coffin, for one hundred

At the sixth meeting of the county commissioners, held on September 22, 1810, the following plan for a county jail was presented, accepted and recorded: "Twenty by eighteen feet; a wall of good stone two feet thick, sunk two feet below the surface of the earth; the first floor one foot thick of hewed joint timber, to extend with the extremity of the above named wall; the first story to be nine feet high from the first floor, of a wall of hewed timber, two thicknesses of nine inches each, thicknesses laid close - a space of six inches wide between the aforesaid thicknesses, on each side and end of the first story, to be filled completely with stone to average one foot square each in the aforesaid 'first story taken up, the first wall dovetailed at each corner, and the inside wall taken up, half dove-tailed at each corner, and laid close. Four windows in the aforesaid first story, one foot square each; one bar of iron, two inches one way and one inch the other, let sufficiently into the wood, placed in each light, crossed with another bar of iron one inch square, running through the upright bar. The second floor, of timber, one foot thick, hewed and jointed close, extending with the outside wall of the first story;.a door in the center of the last named floor, three by two feet, the shutter two inches thick, of white oak planks one inch thick, spiked strongly together, and hung with iron hinges one inch in diameter each; three straps of iron on each side of the shutter, one inch and a half wide and a quarter of an inch thick, extending with the extremity of the first story, taken up, dove-tailed on each corner, and laid close; a sufficient number of joined, eight by four inches; the third floor, of one and one-half inch plank, spiked strongly to the joint and jointed close; a pertition (partition) of two-inch plank in the second story, running crossways of the building, sufficiently secure; a sufficient door in said partition wall, with a common prison lock thereon; a good and sufficient joint shingle roof, and the gable end sufficiently weatherboarded; three nine-inch light windows in the second story, each secured with three bars of iron, each bar half an inch one way, and an inch and a half the other, crossed with three bars of iron to each light, three-fourths of an inch square. A common size door in the second story, sufficiently cased and hung, and a common prison lock thereon; a sufficient set of steps leading from the ground to a platform three feet square at the above named door, the platform and steps sufficiently hand-railed. All to be completed in a masterly and workmanlike manner."

The record of the same day says: "Solomon Stanbury (also spelled Stanbrough on the records), undertakes the building of the aforesaid jail at the price of six hundred dollars. Enters Joseph Doan for security. Allowed fifty dollars advance. The work to be completed nine months from the above date, namely, 22d of September, 1810."

This jail stood on the east end of the lot occupied by the present jail building. Before the close of the War of 1812, a man by the name of Spencer, while confined in it for violation of the civil law, fighting and other misdemeanors, set fire to it, burst the lock and escaped, and let the building burn.

Nothing further is found on the commissioners' records concerning a jail until January 29, 1819, when, at a special meeting, the commissioners devised plans for a temporary jail building. On February 5, 1819, the contract for erecting the building was awarded to William Butler. The late Dr. A. Jones gives the following description of this jail: "In the construction of the new jail-house he (Butler) used unhewn and round beech logs, from twelve to fifteen inches in diameter, notched in so as to fit tightly, and so arranged that a crow-bar could not enter between them. The house had two high windows so provided that it was impossible to enter them from the outside. The building had two strong doors - one on the inside and one on the outside. The upper and lower floors were made of beech logs, fitted tightly. The floor was covered with twoay inch oak plank, and the under side of the upper floor with the like quality of oak plank, well spiked on. This jail was named 'Fort Butler'- - after the builder - and was the strongest and best fitted to retain prisoners and offenders of the law of all the jail-houses that have ever been constructed in Clinton county."

However, Fort Butler did not remain long in use. At the December session, 1821, of the commissioners, it was agreed to advertise for proposals for one hundred and fifty perch of stone, suitable for the erection of a stone jail, and, on the 5th of the following January (1822), the contract for furnishing them was awarded to George Haworth at seventy-four and a half cents a perch. The contract for the construction of the building was awarded on June 12, 1822, to Levi Shepard for five hundred and eight dollars. This jail was to be twenty by twenty-six feet, long way north and south, two stories high, walls of lower story three feet, and upper story two feet thick; lower story, six feet, and upper story, seven feet and four inches in the clear; the building to be completed by July 1, 1823. Jacob Doan and Samuel Myers furnished one hundred perch of stone, in addition to the first hundred and fifty, and the irons of the old jail were sold :to John A. Hays for nine dollars, sixty-two and a half cents. On August 1, 1823, the commissioners inspected and accepted the new jail. The contract for making and hanging five iron doors in the building was awarded to John McElwain for one hundred and nine dollars.

The matter of a county jail was before the commissioners again on March 1, 1830, when they ordered that an advertisement for bids for the work be published in the Constitutional Republican, then being issued in Wilmington. The records show that Joel Woodruff furnished the timber and did the woodwork on the new building, and that the masonry was laid by Jacob Miller. The work of both contractors was accepted - Woodruff's in November, 1831, and Miller's in January, 18382. This building was considerably damaged by fire in the fall of 1841, and a considerable sum of money spent in repairs on it.

On July 17, 1850, the subject of a jail again made its appearance before the commissioners of the county. The old one was torn down and the debris removed from the lot, and, in August of that year, the new building was commenced. Azel Walker was appointed superintendent of construction. The building, which is of brick and _ fitted both for jail and residence, was completed in 1852, costing about seven thousand dollars. This structure is still standing and still in use as the county jail.

County Office Buildings

In 1824, the commissioners formed a plan for a building for public offices, thirty-five by eighteen feet in dimensions, one story high and to be erected on the court-house lot. The contract for its construction was given to Levi Sheppard and the building was completed and accepted by the commissioners on August 18, 1825. The building was torn down and the materials in it sold at public auction in December, 1841. John B. Posey also built for the county, in 1833, fireproof offices costing about five hundred dollars.

In 1881 the commissioners erected, on lot No. 73 in Wilmington, a building in which the offices of the probate judge, recorder, and several other county officers are located. The building was built by Robert and Charles McMillan and William M. Cleveland, and the contract price was, at the time of settlement, February 7, 1882, nine thousand four hundred eighteen dollars and ninety-seven cents. The building was occupied in February and March, 1882. This building will be razed to make way for the new court house. THE NEW COURT HOUSE AND JAIL. The present Clinton county court house was erected in 1838 and, consequently, is over three-quarters of a century old - in fact, it is one of the oldest court houses in the whole state of Ohio. For several years there has been much agitation looking toward the erection of a new court house, but it was not until 1915 that the bond issue was ratified by the village voters. On January 18, 1915, the county commissioners - Job Clark. Zene G. Hadley and Charles Skimming - took the first definite steps in the matter of 4 new court house. On that date they set February 16, 1915, for a vote on the question and, according to law, if a majority of all the votes cast were in favor of the erection of the said building, the commissioners were then to take steps to provide a site for and the erection of the building. .

During the winter of 1914-15, the proposed new building was an all-absorbing question of discussion throughout the county. Perhaps some of the opposition to the proposed building was due to the fact that the taxpayers of the county were afraid that the large sum of money which was to be handled might be frittered away in such a manner that the people might not get the full benefit. In order to allay any opposition on this score, Judge West announced several weeks before the election the names of the men who were to act with the county @ommissioners in the selection of the site and the subsequent erection of the building. With the appointment of such men as A. J. Wilson, M. R. Denver, J. W. Sparks and J. F. Fitzhugh, the judge silenced all opposition which might arise from this source. It would have been difficult to have selected any other four men in whom the people of the county had as full confidence, and to this wise move on the part of Judge West may be attributed the final favorable vote on the question. The final vote on the question resulted in a vote of two thousand ninety-nine affirmatives to one thousand eight hundred sixty negatives, an athrmative majority of two hundred thirty-nine.

With the matter of a new building decided, the commission of seven at once met and organized for the transaction of business. The voters had authorized the board to issue three hundred thousand dollars of five per cent. bonds in accordance with the laws of Ohio (section 5642-1, of the General Code of Ohio), "for the purpose of purchasing a site and the erection of a court house and jail thereon.' The bonds were first offered for sale on June 1 at four and one-half per cent. but no bids were received. The bonds were offered for sale in denominations of five hundred dollars each. interest payable semi-annually, March 1 and September 1 of each year. The bonds were numbered from one to six hundred inclusive and come due between 1921 and 1944, twenty-four bonds falling due each year until 1944, when forty-eight fall due. Sealed proposals were received by the auditor until twelve o'clock, noon, Thursday, July 15, 1915, and on that date Tillotson & Wolcott Company, of Cleveland, were awarded the bonds, having offered a premium of eleven thousand three hundred sixty-one dollars and eighty cents for the total amount of three hundred thousand dollars, being the highest bidder by twenty dollars and thirty cents of the thirteen bidders.

As soon as it was decided to build a new court house, the question of a suitable location came to the front. It was evident that the present site could not be utilized; not only was it too small, but even with the addition of the remainder of the county property on the lot (lot No. 58 of the original plat), there was insufficient room for the court house and jail. At this point it seems pertinent to explain the peculiar history of lot No. 58, a part of which is occupied by the present court thouse, the remainder being occupied by four store-rooms facing South street. By referring to the plat it will be seen that the court house covers less than half of the lot. Just what was on the lots numbered 1, 2 and 8 prior to 1841, when they were first leased, is not known. According to the commissioners' records, these three lots (twenty by ninety feet) were leased on July 10, 1841, to the highest bidders for a term of ninety-nine years. Elisha Vance bid in lot 1 for an annual rental of thirty-one dollars and twenty-five cents: William Martin took lot 2 at thirty-two dollars and sixty-two and one-half cents, and Thomas Carothers had to pay only twenty-seven dollars to get lot 3. These lots were to be revalued every ten years and the rental changed to fit the new valuation. According to the terms of the leases, all buildings on the lots were to become the property of the county on the expiration of the ninety-nine years, which, by the way, will expire on July 10, 1940. These leases have changed hands many times in the past seventy-four years; lots 1 and 2 are now leased by John Hgan and lot 3 by Orange Frazer and the Denver estate. The value of the leases has been changed every ten years according to the provisions of the original agreement. In 1914, lot No. 1 cost the lessee one hundred forty-five dollars less the taxes of seventy-one dollars; lot No. 2 cost eighty-five dollars, less the taxes of forty-seven dollars and sixteen cents, and lot No. 3 cost two hundred twenty-five dollars, less the taxes of one hundred fifteen dollars and forty-four cents.

When David Faulkner and Joseph Doan donated fifty and ten acres, respectively, for the town site in 1810, the commissioners appointed a director to lay off the town and reserve lots for county purposes. Lots 58 and 73 were set aside for the county at that time and both are still the property of the county. Lot 73 is diagonally across the street from lot 58 and is now occupied by the building housing the probate court and the recorder, as well as the county jail. There are also some other buildings on this lot. ,

To return to the location of the new court house. From the beginning of the agitation for the new building, it seemed to be the consensus of opinion that the Square of which lot 78 was a part was the best location for the new court house and jail. This square contains lots 78, 74, 75, 76, 88, 84, 98 and 94, and is bounded by South and Walnut street on the west and east, and Main and Sugartree streets on the north and south. The commission of seven finally decided on this square, known as the Shadagee square, providing that it could be secured at a reasonable price. 'At the time this work went to the press the question of location had not been definitely decided. The case is now in the probate court. where condemnatory proceedings will establish the prices of the various lots in the square. If the total of the condemned property of the fifteen owners is not too excessive the commissioners will pay the condemnation price and the building of the court house and jail will then be commenced at once.

The commissioners have selected as architects, Weber, Werner & Adkins, of Cincinnati, and this firni has already submitted a tentative plan for the buildings. The court-house will occupy the center of the four-hundred-foot square, with the jail in the northeast corner facing the LaMgx theater. The court house, as planned, pre sents a striking appearance. It will be of the Italian renaissance style of architecture, the finish being in buff Bedford stone. Besides an assembly room on the first floor, there will be a Grand Army Republic hall, a room for the relics of the county, and retiring rooms. The second floor will contain all the county offices, while the courts 'will occupy the third floor. The jail will house the heating plant for both buildings.

District Assessor

Until the fall of 1913 the auditors of each county in Ohio were at the head of the taxing board of their respective counties. It was thought by many people that there should be created a new office in each county to have charge of this work. and so insistent became the demand that a law was passed by the General Assembly of Ohio at the 1913 session providing for a district assessor. This law, known as Warne's law. was approved by the governor on May 6, 1918. and by its provisions a district assessor for each county was to be appointed by the tax commission of Ohio. This official. in turn. was to select his own deputies from a list of applicants who were to be required to pass a civil service examination. It is probably true that the method of selecting the district assessor and his deputies led to the wide condemnation of the law by the ordinary citizen. He felt that his rights and privileges were being trampled upon aud that he should be allowed to vote directly for the men who were to assess his property.

Whatever the merits may be of the Warne act, such stout opposition developed to it that the General Assembly of 1915 repealed it and by the Parrot-Whitemore act

(approved May §, 1915) abolished the newly-created office of district assessor and placed the duties of the office back in the hands of the county auditor. The Republicans say that the passage of the Warne act was a political scheme to build up a machine for xovernor Cox; the Democrats upheld it ostensibly for economie reasons, and the average citizen execrated it because it took away his privilege of voting for a few petty officers. Be that as it may, the old order of affairs will be restored on January 1, 1916, and the state will revert to the former haphazard method of assessing.

The first district assessor of Clinton county was M. D. Barns, who was appointed in October, 1918, and held until his successor, J. B. Clarke, the present incumbent. was appointed and took the office on April 1, 1915. The office pays a yearly salary of fifteen 'hundred dollars; the deputy assessors receive four dollars a day, their work in Clinton taking them from thirty to fifty days, with an average of about forty days.

Clinton county has.twelve sub-assessment districts, with fourteen deputy assessors. Two districts (Nos. 3 and 4) have two townships each. District No. 3 comprises Liberty and Wilson. townships, and No. 4 contains Adams and Chester. Wilmington has one assessor; Green township has two.

Nearly all of these deputies have held their position from the time the law went into effect. In district No. 4, J. A. Craig preceded Wilkinson; in district No. 9, Elton followed W. B. West; in district No. 11, F. L. Rhonemus, now the chief clerk in the district assessor's office at the county seat, was the first appointee, resigning to take up his present duties. In district No. 3, H. V. Harris has been appointed as an additional deputy, and in district No. 9, Charles Nordyke has been appointed as an additional deputy. All of these deputies will automaticcally lose their positions on January 1, 1916, when the Parret-Whitemore law goes into effect.

The following table shows the number and value of each class of property found in Clinton county by the fourteen deputy assessors operating under District Assessor James B. Clark, for the year 1915, also the figures for 1914 for comparison:

According to an act of the Legislature. the judge of the common pleas court in each county in the state appoints a board of three members to supervise the distribution of relief to veterans of the Civil War and to their wives and minor children. Since the estublishment of this board, in 1901, the following persons in Clinton haye seryed on this board:

Name. Date appointed. End of Term. Appointed by. Georee: bay Daniels:..-seseccaa P= MAY 19 18992. ADIN chs TS) hae D. B. Van Pelt AICS we Vee MICO ONO oe = eee RY Sh See Fs eee April G7 1902s. D. 5B, Van Pelt OSS Dee I) NO Oe = eee ee ns April 6, 1900___~-: Sprit. 6. 1905 = D. B. Van Pelt Georcee Daniels 22c2hc.0- sea ae April. 32. LOC = 5 SFL LOGE W. W. Savage ARINeCSHR Ns el LCWOONR Geta as. eae April, 16, 1902. Apribek, Ji Se W. W. Savage LOShvel 1D aA Ones eee Oe ee May,4. 19032... May.4, 1006. -__._ =. = Felix, J asione George A. Orebaugh==--.2- = oe April .5, 1909____=! Stik, Oe be ee Edward J. West Gis VERE ts CNG hte se ee oe ee eee April 3, 1900. 2 ADE 1S Edward J. West NBL LIne StU SS gees ee ee es April 5. 191022222 9 iy 1 ie 27S ee Edward J. West Georges. OTebaligh= aes soe cen ee A Die 2 bless April '5, 1914-"" == Edward J. West ent E El GeDrattes= sea. eae AVE Le tO te ae Apri 1915. Edward J. West AV ea ie Vass USS eee eee oe ee ee Aprils, (Olas ADI, I9fG- 2 eee Edward J. West Peter Di. bAtrett=- - - =e. eee April Getta. =. ADVIL ROR fe Edward J. West ELEM yee EL ely Thre mee enon eee APLUM oO, 19a oe April. JOS oeeeee Edward J. West