Introduction

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   4,466

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.

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.