Origin of Local Names

Author Unknown

HOME HISTORY – FIRST THINGS – ORIGIN OF LOCAL NAMES &C.

Ironton Register, June 21, 1888

Previous to 1817, Lawrence county was a part of Gallia and Scioto. It was organized in March of that year, with Burlington as the county seat, which was also the only post office in the county until 1821. Thomas Kerr was the first postmaster. The first county officers were:  Clerk W. G. Robinson, John Kelly, Sheriff; Joseph Wheeler, Auditor; Thos. Kerr, Treasurer; N. C. Clough, Prosecuting Attorney.  Joel Bowen, Jos. Davidson and David Spurlock were the first commissioners. 

The Justices of the Peace in 1821 were: Fayette, Daniel Brubaker, Thomas Kerr, S. Beckley; Union, Thomas Templeton, Edward Miller; Rome, Joel Bowen, Jacob Miller; Windsor, Peter Wakefield, Bazel Lewis; Symmes, D. Spurlock; Mason, Jacob Powell, H. Spear; Lawrence, James Webb, Elias Webb; Upper, Peter Lionbarger, John Kelly; Elizabeth, Thos. Triggs, A. Wolf.

The first white men who built cabins were Wm. and James Canter, who was here before the surveyors came in 1796 and lived on lot 1328 in Rome, Twp. Jesse Baldwin, a Quaker, came in 1797, settling in the lower part of Quaker Bottom. Shortly afterward, several other Quakers came and settled there; thus, we have the name Quaker Bottom. It is said the first meeting of Quakers in the Northwest Territory was held there. In the fall of 1797, the Kelleys came and settled in the neighborhood of Union Landing.

The taxation rates at the county organization were:  horses and mules, 30 cents.; meat cattle, 10 cents.; half percent. On valuation. The first duplicate amounted to $288.33.  One county Treasurer took wolf scalps to Columbus to settle his balance and brought back $129 cash over his balance. A merchant’s license was $10 per annum; a tavern license was $6.

The first town laid out was Burlington. The first church was a Baptist church near the mouth of Storms Creek. The first preaching was by Robt. Scott in 1802. The first Methodist preacher who visited this county was Rev. Shinn of the Baltimore conference. The first frame schoolhouse was in township 1, section 16, range 16, in 1820. The brick tavern at Burlington (now standing) was the first brick house. The first brick dwelling was for Mrs. Ventraux, just above the Two-mile creek. Rev. John Kelly built the first horse mill near Union Landing. The first road surveyed was from Burlington to the mouth of Symmes.

Dr. Moore, on Ice, and Dr. Brown, on Paddy, were the first doctors. Luther Blodgett and Solomon Beckley were the first lawyers. Radey Root and Thos. Rose was the first school teacher. The first steamboat in Ohio landed at Kouns’ Landing, at no other point in the county. In 1826, James Rodgers, John Means, John Sparks, and Valentine Fear built Union Furnace, the first in the county. 

The first forge was at Hanging Rock, built by Andrew Ellison, James Rodgers, and Robt. Hamilton in 1830 and changed to the first rolling mill by Robt. Hannah in 1840. Peebles, Wood & Co. built the first foundry at Hanging Rock in 1844. The first and only salt well from which salt was made was on Symmes creek, in Windsor twp., in section 31. The first locomotive on the I. R. R. was the Essex in 1851. The Hanging Rock R. R. was commenced in 1846 and finished in 1847, and the locomotive Shawnee was placed on the track the next year. The first Methodist chapel was built in 1820 at the mouth of Two-mile.

• Lawrence county was named after Commodore Lawrence, who fell in a naval battle crying, “Don’t give up the Ship.”
• Aid township was named by Mr. Haymaker, who wanted a short name as he would run for Justice of the Peace. He ran, was beaten, and left the county forever.
• Decatur and Perry were named after naval commanders.
• Fayette and Washington after revolutionary heroes.
• Symmes after Symmes creek, which was named after John Cleves Symmes.
• Elizabeth was named after Mrs. Elizabeth Hamilton and Hamilton for Robert Hamilton.
• Upper was the Upper Township of Adams and afterward of Scioto before Lawrence was carved out of Scioto and Gallia.
• Rome was named by E. B. Green after Rome, in Italy, the history he was reading and deeply interested in. Joel Bowen wanted to name it Bowen, but he and Green tossed up for the honor of naming, and Green won.
• Windsor was named for Windsor, Vt., by Peter Wakefield.
• Union was named as a sort of protest against Calhoun nullification that was then raging. Mason was named in honor of the Free Masons.
• Burlington was named by Judge E. B. Green for Burlington, Vt.
• Thos. Walton named Millersport from Jacob Miller.
• Storms creek was named for Strums, a Pennsylvania hunter who had a hunting camp near the mouth of the creek for years.
• Federal creek was so-called because Mr. Miller lived at the mouth and was a Federalist. Rankin creek for Hiram Rankin, who built a cabin at its mouth. Pine creek for Capt. John Pine, who lived on its banks.
• Johns Creek for Capt. John Smith an Indian who lived near Wat Neal place.
• Cannons Creek for John Cannon, who lived near its mouth.
• Paddy creek was called for Paddy Brown, who built a pawpaw cabin at its mouth. He was the first Doctor in the county.

Ironton is 540 feet above sea level. The latitude of Ironton is 32 degrees 22′, and the longitude is 82 degrees 38′. Ohio’s center of population is one mile west of Sunbury, Delaware county. The highest point in Ohio is near Bellefontaine, in Logan county, 1550 ft. above sea level. There are 82 railroads in Ohio; their average valuation is a million dollars a road. There are 189 national banks in Ohio, and their capital is 39 ½ millions. 

There are 145 schoolhouses in Lawrence county. The average wages of school teachers in Lawrence county are $40 for gentlemen and $34 for ladies; in the state, $37 for gentlemen and $26 for ladies. The largest vote ever cast in this county was in 1883, when it footed up 8056. Lawrence county has 61,000 acres of cultivated land. In the past 30 years, the valuation of real estate in Lawrence Co. doubled – from $2,487,638 to $5,191,746.