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OHIO GENEALOGY EXPRESS

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WELCOME
to
ADAMS COUNTY, OHIO
HISTORY & GENEALOGY
(started)
 


 


Source:
Caldwell's Illustrated Historical Atlas
of
Adams County, Ohio

Publ. 1880

HISTORICAL SKETCH OF ADAMS COUNTY, OHIO.

CHAPTER III

THE PROSPECT BEFORE THE FIRST SETTLERS - ORGANIZATION OF THE TERITORY -
FIRST OFFICERS - SECOND GRADE OF TERRITORIAL GOVERNMENT -
EARLY LAWS - COURTS - EARLY SETTLEMENTS - FIRST SETTLEMENT IN ADAMS COUNTY
Pg. 11

     We can at this late day. but faintly imagine the outlook that presented itself to the view of the pioneers and their feelings, when they first landed upon the borders of the wilderness in which they were to make their homes.
     Before them lay the boundless wilderness covered with a dense forest of trees that were in many places interlaced and festooned with the wild grape vines, which also frequently covered the smaller timber with their closely intertwined branches that made an almost impenetrable canopy of green. Through these forests roamed countless numbers of ferocious wild beasts, as well as the savage and cruel Indian, while beneath his feet lurked venomous reptiles.
     A wilderness of great extent, presenting the virgin face of nature, unchanged by human cultivation or art, is one of the most sublime terrestrial objects which the Creator ever presented to the view of man.
     One prominent feature, of a wilderness is its . solitude. Those who plunged into this forest left behind them not only the busy hum of men, but domestic animal life generally. The parting rays of the sun did not receive the requiems of the feathered songsters of the grove, nor was the dawning of the early morn, ushered in
by the shrill clarion of the domestic fowls. The solitude of the night was interrupted only by the howl of the wolf, the melancholy moan of the ill boding owl, or the shriek of the frightful panther. Even the faithful dog, the only steadfast companion of man among the brute creation, partook of the silence of the desert; the discipline of his master forbid him to bark or move, but in obedience to his command, and his native sagacity, soon taught him the propriety of obedience to this severe government. The clay was, if possible, more solitary than the night. The noise of the wild turkey, the croaking of the raven, or the wood-pecker tapping the hollow beech tree, did not much enliven the dreary scene. The cravings of hunger often compelled him from day to day to sustain the fatigues of the chase. Eager in the pursuit of his game his too much excited immagination, sometimes presented him with the phantom of the object of his chase, in a bush, a log, or mossy bank, and occasioned him to waste a load of his ammunition, more precious than gold, on a creature of his own brain, and he repaid himself the expense by making, a joke of his mistake.  His situation was not without its dangers. He did not know at what tread his foot might be stung by a serpent, at what moment ho might be met by the formidable bear, or if in the evening, he know not, on what limb of a tree, over his bead, the murderous panther might be perched, in a squatting attitude, to drop down upon, and tear him to pieces in a moment. 'When watching a deer lick from his blind at night, the formidable. panther was often his rival in the same business, and if by his growl, or otherwise, the man discovered the presence of his rival, the lord of the world always retired as speedily and secretly as possible, leaving him the undisturbed possession of the chance of game for the night.  His situation was perilous in the extreme. The bite of a serpent, a broken limb, a wound of any kind, or sickness without medical skill, without those accommodations which wounds and sickness require, was a dreadful calamity.

ORGANIZATION OF THE TERRITORY

     The United States having secured title to the "Great Northwest," Congress soon deemed it advisable to take the preliminary steps looking to the permanent establishment of civil government in the new and extensive territory of which that body had just become the legal custodian.  Accordingly, after much mature deliberation and careful consideration of the subject, as well as prolonged discussion of the important questions involved, they, on the 13th of July, 1787, gave to the world the results of their deliberations in "An ordinance for the government of the Territory of the United States north-west of the river Ohio," which has come to be best known as "The Ordinance of '87," sometimes also called "The Ordinance of Freedom."  This ordinance was the fundamental law.

SECOND GRADE OF TERRITORIAL GOVERNMENT

 

 

EARLY LAWS OF THE TERRITORY

 

 

LOCAL COURTS AND COURT OFFICERS

 

 

FIRST SETTLEMENT OF ADAMS COUNTY

 

 

ADAMS COUNT6 - ITS ORIGINAL BOUNDARIES

 

 

TOPOGRAPHY - SOIL AND PRODUCTIONS.

 

 

PRODUCTIONS.

 

 

TIMBER.

 

 

 

THE COUNTY SEAT QUESTION.

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