Ohio was admitted into the Union in 1802 and was comprised of the portion of the Northwest Territory on its eastern boundary, extending from the Ohio River on the south to the shores of Lake Erie on the north, a total of seventeen million five hundred thousand acres of good land. This land was surveyed by men appointed by President George Washington of whom were General Tupper, General Meigs, General Israel Putnam, Colonel Ebenezer Sproat, John Matthews, among others.
Meigs County, named from Return J. Meigs, elected Governor of Ohio in 1810, was formed from Gallia and Athens, April 1, 1819. A court house and jail were built in Chester, the county seat.
In 1822 a Mr. Lucius Cross came from Marietta and began a tannery, built boats and sent hay to the South, opened a general merchandise store and built a mill on Bowman’s run for making flour, sawing lumber, and giving employment to hundreds.
By 1830, transportation of coal on a steamboat, the Condor, down the Ohio River opened up boat building, and ship builders began to arrive from Maine and Nova Scotia. English and Welsh men came to take charge of the coal mines. Miners from England, Wales and Germany worked the coal tunnels and brought wealth to the hills.
Population of Meigs in 1820, 4,480; 1830, 6,159; 1840, 11,455; 1860, 26,534; 1880, 32,325, of whom 24,481 were born in Ohio; 1,554, Virginia; 1,101, Pennsylvania; 230, New York; 118, Kentucky; 88, Indiana; 1,148, German Empire; 780, England and Wales; 178, Ireland; 69, Scotland; 30, France; and 26, British America. Census, 1890, 29,813.
| REVOLUTIONARY WAR PENSIONERS FROM MEIGS COUNTY | |
|---|---|
| Luther Danielson | |
| John Entsminger | |
| James Graham | |
| Frederick Hisel | |
| Daniel Harper | |
| Robert Knowlton | |
| Andrew Kimball | |
| Roger McBride | |
| Joseph Silvester | |
| Josiah Simpson | |
FIRST SETTLERS IN MEIGS COUNTY, OHIO
1862 MARRIAGES IN MEIGS COUNTY, OHIO
1863 MARRIAGES IN MEIGS COUNTY, OHIO
1864 MARRIAGES IN MEIGS COUNTY, OHIO
1865 MARRIAGES IN MEIGS COUNTY, OHIO
1866 MARRIAGES IN MEIGS COUNTY, OHIO
North - Athens County
Northeast - Wood County, West Virginia
Southeast - Jackson County, West Virginia
South - Mason County, West Virginia
Southwest - Gallia County
Northwest - Vinton County
