Madison County, Ohio - Chapter 3: County Organization, 1915 (part 2 of 2)

County Recorder

The office of county recorded and the duties thereof were adopted from the statutes of Pennsylvania, in 1795. After Ohio had entered the Union, in 1803, an act was passed giving the power of appointing the recorder to the court of common pleas, the term of service being fixed at seven years. The duties of the office were changed and redefined by subsequent acts of the Legislature, until February 25, 1831, when a law was enacted. making the office elective every three years, all vacancies to be filled by the county: commissioners. It will be seen that the same men filled the offices of clerk and recorder at the same time for the first twenty-nine years of the county's career, as, doubtless, the labor did not justify an official for each office during those early years. The following is a list of men who have served the county in this capacity from the time of its organization up to the present time: 1810-15, Robert Hume (resigned in July); July 18, 1815, to June 27, 1839, John Moore (died); July 6, 1839, to May 9, 1854, Robert Hume (died) ; Oliver P. Crabb served out the unexpired term from May 10, 1854, until the following October; October, 1854, to May, 1857, William Love (died in office); 1857, June, W. A. Athey filled the unexpired term until January 1; 1858-63, George Bowen}: 1864-66, G. W. Darety; 1867-69, Sylvester W. Durflinger; 1870-June, 1880, Leonard Eastman; in June, 1880, E. W. McCormack was appointed to fill out the unexpired term; 1881-93, Samuel P. Trumper; 1893-99, H. H. Johnston; 1899-1905, Charles T. LeBeau;. 1905-11, R. W. Woodhouse; 1911-1915, J. W. Millholland; since September 6, 1915, Leroy Cornwall.

County Surveyors

The office of county surveyor was created and his duties defined by an act passed on April 15, 1803. Later acts which dealt with this office were passed in 1816, 1817, 1819, 1820 and 1828, in which the duties of the office were changed and more fully defined. At first the term of office was fixed at five years or during good behavior, and the incumbent was appointed by the court of common pleas. On the 8rd of March, 1831, an act was passed providing for the election of the county surveyor triennially by the legal voters of the county. Up to this time there had been only one county surveyor appointed, Patrick McLene serving for a period of twenty-one years. The following is a list of those who have filled the office, but the early records are incomplete and vague, causing many irregularities in dates which cannot be explained. In some of these cases there were resignations and the successor was appointed to serve the unexpired term: 1810-31, Patrick McLene; 1832-37, Henry Warner; 1838-40, Elias Warner; 1841-50, Henry Alder; 1851, J. M. Chastain; 1852-53, Henry Alder; 1854, James S. Burnham; 1855, William G. Allen; 1856-58, Henry Alder; 1859-64, Levin Willoughby ; 1865-67, Henry Alder; 1868-70, James 8. Burnham; 1871-73, Henry Alder; 1874-76, Jonathan Arnett: 1877, Lewis Creamer; 1878-80, Jonathan Arnett; 1881-87, Clinton Morse; 1887-90, William Reeder; 1890-93, Clint. Morse; 1898-99, H. L. McCafferty; 1899-1905, J. H. Asher; 1905-1915, H. L. McCafferty ; since September 6, 1915, J. H. Asher.

The office of county coroner was established under the territorial government in 1788, and on April 15, 1803, an act was passed making it elective and describing the duties thereof. By subsequent acts the duties were changed and more fully defined. The coroner, in case of the resignation or death of the sheriff, becomes the occupant of that office during the unexpired term, and the sheriff holds the same official relations toward the coroner's office. It has fallen to the lot of the coroner of Madison county to fill the office of sheriff no less than four tives in the history of the county. Since the organization of the county this office has been filled by the following men: 1810-13, John Timmons; 1814-16, John Blair; 1817, J. K. DeLashmutt; 1818-19, Amos G. Thomp-

Tax Collectors

There have been many changes in the manner of collecting taxes in the counties of Ohio. During the early history of the state, the chattel tax was collected by township collectors and a county collector gathered the land tax. From 1806 to 1820, the state was divided into four districts, and a collector of non-resident land tax was appointed by the Legislature for each district, while at the same time the county collector gathered the chattel tax and the tax upon resident lands. The county collector gathered all taxes for state and county purposes, from 1820 until 1827, but in the latter year the office was abolished. Since that time it has been the duty of the county treasurer to receive or collect all taxes. The men who served this county as collectors were as follow: 1810-11, John Moore; 1812, William McCormack; 1813, James Ballard; 1814-15, Philip Lewis; 1816, James Ballard; 1817, John Simpkins; 1818, William Ware; 1819-24, Nathan Bond; 1825-26, Stephen Moore.

Liquor Officials

The granting of liquor licenses in Ohio has been in the hands of three different boards within the past three years. Prior to 1912 they were granted by the county commissioners in each county. In 1912 the General Assembly passed an act creating a board of two liquor commissioners in each county. They were to be appointed by the liquor-licensing commission of the state, by and with the consent of the governor. The statute further provided that the appointees were to be of opposite political faith and to have a salary fixed by the county commissioners. Horace G. Jones (Republican) and William D. Morrisey (Democrat) have filled the office in Madison county since the law went into effect. They receive ten dollars a month for their services. The county now has nine saloons, seven at London and two at West Jefferson.

However, this statute had but fairly got into operation before it was replaced by the McDermott law. (Laws of Ohio, 105-106, pp. 560 seq.) This law went into effect on September 5, 1915. 'This new act divided the state into thirty-four districts, Hamilton and Cuyahoga counties constituting separate districts, the remaining districts being composed of two or more counties. Madison county -is-in the seventh district, with Clark and Greene counties. The law provides that an appointive board in each district, consisting of the presidents of the boards of county commissioners, the clerks of the courts and the recorders of the several counties composing each district, shall select two liquor traflic supervisors of opposite political faith for the said district. This appointive board in the seventh district will, therefore, consist of nine men. The two men the board selects will choose a third man as secretary. The salary of the liquor traffic supervisors is to be fixed by the appointing board, subject to the approval of the state budget commissioners. The appointive board met for the first time five days after the law went into effect and will meet biennially thereafter to select the supervisors. Just how this law will operate, the future alone can tell; if Ohio votes this fall (1915) to prohibit the sale of liquor in the state, the law, of course, automatically ceases to operate. If prohibition is voted down, it is safe to say that new liquor legislation will soon be on the statute books of the state. Past history shows that no question is subject to such frequent statutory changes as the liquor question.