Meigs County, named from Return J. Meigs, elected Governor of Ohio in 1810, was formed from Gallia and Athens, April 1, 1819, and the courts were directed "to be temporarily held at the meeting-house in Salisbury township." The surface is broken and hilly. In the west, a portion of the soil is a dark, sandy loam, but the general character of the soil is clayey.
Area about 400 square miles. In 1887 the acres cultivated were 59,039; in pasture, 95,062; woodland, 44,112; lying waste, 2,825; produces in wheat, 165,436 bushels; rye, 1,298; buckwheat, 269; oats, 73,338; barley, 1,032;corn, 313,447; broom-corn, 2,000 lbs. brush; meadow hay, 15,986 tons; clover hay, 821; potatoes, 66,966 bushels; butter, 407,854 lbs.; cheese, 7,410; sorghum, 4,050 gallons; maple syrup, 740; honey, 6,377 lbs; eggs, 365,060 dozen; grapes, 9,360 lbs.; wine, 90 gallons; sweet potatoes, 1,384 bushels; apples, 31,659; peaches, 11,584; pears, 501; wool, 273,023 lbs; milch cows owned, 4,255. Ohio mining statistics, 1888: Coal mined, 242,483 tons; employing 501 miners and 144 outside employees. School census, 1888, 10,157; teachers, 274. Miles of railroad track, 30.
Townships and Census 1840 1880 Townships and Census 1840 1880 Bedford, 566 1,720 Orange, 836 922 Chester, 1,479 1,752 Rutland, 1,412 2,340 Columbia, 674 1,116 Salem, 940 1,668 Lebanon, 621 2,020 Salisbury, 1,507 10,992 Letart, 640 1,365 Scipio, 941 1,720 Olive, 746 2,244 Sutton, 1,099 4,466Population 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.
The mouth of the Shade river, which empties into the Ohio in the upper part of the county, is a gloomy, rocky place, formerly called the "Devil's Hole." The Indians, returning from their murderous incursions into Western Virginia, were accustomed to cross the Ohio at that point with their prisoners and plunder, and follow up the valley of Shade river on their way to their towns on the Scioto.