JUDGE JOHN DAVISSON (ALSO SPELLED DAVIDSON) – Associate Judge 1817 –
Appointed Associate Judge January 1, 1817 – 1826
Judges Miller and Davidson named Fayette Township because they admired General De La Fayette.
FIRST ASSOCIATE JUDGE
Ironton Register, Thursday, April 2, 1857 – Death of son.
Before the Beginning: IR Apr. 2, 1857 – Died in Ironton, March 26, of consumption, Isaac Davisson, in his 61st year. Mr. Davisson was born in Harrison Co., Va., Aug. 8, 1796. When about five years of age, his father, John Davisson, who afterward became the first Associate Judge in this county, moved to Greenup Co., Ky., opposite Hanging Rock.
He resided there one year and moved to the farm now in possession of Andrew Davisson near the lower line of the county. Five years afterward, when the subject of this notice was about twelve years of age, in 1808, we believe, he moved to one of the farms on which Ironton is now located, and here Isaac Davisson lived until his death last week. He united with the Baptist church in this place in Jan. 1832 and was a deacon for about 21 years.
In August 1848, W. D. Kelly bid on the old Judge John Davidson’s place. This land comprised 300 acres above the mouth of Storms Creek and ran up to where the Courthouse now stands. He paid $17 per acre for it. (Note: This was one of the farms purchased when the Ohio Iron & Coal Company was planning on laying out a new town – which became Ironton)
- Elder brother of Nathaniel settled on land previously belonging to John Baccus. They lived here a few years, then moved up above Storms Creek and opened a farm where Ironton now Stands. John was among the first-class citizens of Lawrence County. He sustained at different times the office of Squire, Judge of the Court, and for one term, that Legislator. When he moved, his land was tenanted by Samuel Clark, Gabriel Neff, and Aaron Brown, and lastly, Andrew Davidson, his younger brother.
The Following Bio is From “A Standing History of the Hanging Rock Iron Region of Ohio” by Eugene B. Willard, Daniel W. Williams, George O. Newman, and Charles B. Taylor. Published by Lewis Publishing Company in 1916 and was found on the Ohio Biographies website.
Judge John Davisson
Some important history of early Lawrence County and of the beginnings of Ironton is illustrated by the career of Judge John Davisson, one of the most prominent pioneers of the Hanging Rock Iron Region and a man whose memory is gratefully cherished by his many descendants in this section and whose work and influence should not pass unmentioned in any history of the locality.
Judge John Davisson was born in Maryland in 1777, came to Ohio, and, in about 1801, settled on a tract of land beginning with the south bank of Storms Creek, following the Ohio River south to a point near where the D. T. & I. depot now stands, thence by a due east line out over the “Chronacher Hill” near the tunnel on Park Avenue.
He was one of the pioneers who cleared away the timber and farmed the land on which the lower portion of Ironton now stands. He built his first log cabin about where the “old mill” used to stand and set out fruit trees around it. Each year saw more land cleared and brought under cultivation until, in 1812, he built a modern hewn log house, which stood about where Buckhorn Street crosses Fourth Street.
Being one of the most prosperous farmers in this neighborhood, in 1822, he built the first brick house ever erected in this part of the country. For that purpose, he brought brickmakers from Columbus, and they made and burned the brick on his own land and laid them on the walls.
This two-story residence marked a new era in home building for the surrounding neighborhood and attracted little attention. It stood just back of the present New Excelsior shoe factory, fronting the river. It was occupied by his widow and family after his death until 1848 when the farm was sold for a townsite for Ironton, and the first lots were sold in June 1849. This old house stood as a landmark long after the town started but was torn down in 1892 to make way for improvements.
Judge Davisson was one of the most influential men in the public life of the county, serving as a squire for many years before Lawrence County was organized in what was then the Upper Township of Scioto County, taking its name from its position as the upper township in that county. Portsmouth was then the metropolis of this section.
When Lawrence County was organized in 1817, Judge Davisson and two other gentlemen—Miller and Kerr—were appointed associate judges for the new county, Mr. Davisson being chosen presiding judge. He held court at Burlington, the new county seat, for many years. Between 1821 and 1826, he served three terms in the State Legislature, first at Chillicothe and last at Columbus.
He traveled to the capital on horseback and stayed there all winter or throughout the session. The year he died—1831—he was to have stood for the state senatorship, but a malignant disease cut short his useful life in its prime. In early life, Judge Davisson was a splendid marksman and a great wolf hunter.
His wife was Susanah Lambert, born in New Jersey just twenty days after the Declaration of Independence. She died in 1848. They reared a splendid family of twelve children, nine sons and three daughters, who in turn have founded some of the best families of this region and in western states.
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