Statewide County OhArchives News.....Tid-Bits -- Part 109: Western Reserve County Names May 6, 2008 ************************************************ Copyright. All rights reserved. http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm http://www.usgwarchives.net/oh/ohfiles.htm ************************************************ File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by: Darlene E. Kelley http://www.genrecords.net/emailregistry/vols/00026.html#0006374 May 11, 2008, 1:11 am Historical Collections Of Ohio, And Then They Went West, Know Your Ohio May 6, 2008 Contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by Darlene E. Kelley donkeysid@webtv.net May 6, 2008 ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Historical Collections of Ohio And Then They Went West Know Your Ohio Tid-Bits -- Part 109 Western Reserve County Names ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Part 109 Western Reserve Counties In an enabling act. or following it, came appointment of commissioners who conducted an election in the new county, and when the elected officers qualified the county was said to be " established " or " organized." There was necessarily an interval between erection and establishment, which in some instances extended over several years. In such cases the newly erected county was temporarily annexed to the adjacent established county for purposes of government, especially as related to courts and records. The first county in Ohio was erected by proclamation on July 27, 1788. To it was given the name of Washington, in honor of George Washington. In it was included all that part of the Western Reserve lying east of the Cuyahoga River. On August 15, 1796, Wayne County was erected. It included that part of the Western Reserve west of the Cuyahoga River and extended to include the southern peninsula of the present state of Michigan and part of the present state of Indiana. The name commemorates General Anthony Wayne. On July 29, 1797, the nortern part of Washington County was erected as Jefferson County named in honor of Thomas Jefferson. From 1796 to 1797 the two territorial Counties were Washington and Wayne, and from 1797 to 1800, Jefferson and Wayne. The Cuyahoga River was the dividing boundry in each case. On July 10, 1800, the territorial governor, by poclamation erected Trumbull County to include all those parts of Jefferson and Wayne Counties that lay in the Western Reserve and so remained until December 31, 1805, a period of five and a half years. There are fourteen Counties lying wholly or in part of the Western Reserve in order with date of erection as listed below; Trumbull, July 10, 1800. Geauga, December 31, 1805 Portage, February 10, 1808. Ashtabula, February 10, 1808. Cuyahoga, February 10, 1808. Huron, February 7, 1809. Medina, February 18, 1812. Lorain, December 26, 1822. Erie, March 15, 1838. Summit, March 3, 1840. Ottawa, March 6, 1840. Lake, March 6, 1840. Mahoning, February 16, 1846. Ashland, February 24, 1846. With the exception of Trumbull County which was by proclamation of the territorial governor, all of these were erected by legislative act, two in December, seven in February, and four in March, showing that usually acion on erecting new Counties came late in the legislative session. Of the fourteen Counties in the above list, ten lie wholly in the Western Reserve. Of the four that lie only partially in the Western Reserve approximately eighty per cent of the area of Summit County, fifty-eight per cent of the Mahoning County, seventeen per cent of the area of Ashland County, and twelve per cent of the area of Ottawa County lies in the Western Reserve. For six of those Counties, namely Ashtabula, Cuyahoga, Geauga, Lorain, Mahoning, and Trumbull , there is no duplication as a County name in any other state. Counties with the name of Ashland, Huron, Medina, Ottawa, and Portage, are found in two states each, while Erie and Summit are County names in three different states, and nine states have a Lake County. Trumbull County commemorates Jonathan Trumbull who was Governor of the state of Connecticut when this County was erected. It is the only County of the Western Reserve named for an individual after Washington and Jefferson became part of the Pennsylvania Reserve line. Trumbull County has a feature found in no other County in the State. It is precisely square, being twenty five miles on each border. Crawford County is nearly square, but has a small notch in its southeast corner. Geaua County takes its name from an Indian word reputed to have been the early name of the River, which, when the County was erected, lay entirely within the County. This Indian name, however, was not in use when the area was first settled. The map of 1785 by John Fitch and the map of 1787 by Manasseh Cutler both show this River with its present name of Grand River, and this is the name that appears on the early maps of the surveyors of the region. Ashtabula County was named for its principal River, the name is of Indian origin. Cuyahoga County takes its name from the best known River of the Western Reserve, The importance of this River both as a boundary between Indian nations ans as a highway for Indian travel between the St Lawrence and Mississippi basins brought it to the attention of early explorers and its name appears on some earlier maps where no other river in the area of the Western Reserve is named. This word Cuyahoga is also of Indian origin. There is a simularity of sound in the two words Geauga and Cuyahoga, and spellings are only an attempt to translate into English syllables the oral enunciation by Indians, with much divergence of spelling for the same word. Both words are modifications of Cayuga, the Indian tribe, the name of which is perpetuated by the name of a lake and a County in New York State. We next come to a County named for a local feature within its bounds. The Indian portage between the Cuyahoga River and the headwaters of the Tuscarawas River that lies in the southern part of the Western Reserve, ten miles east of the middle point of the east and west extent of that area. When the western part of Trumbull County was take to erect a new County in 1808, it included this portage and the new County was named Portage County. In Wisconsin is a County of the same name arising from a simular feature. When in 1840 the western part of Portage County was contributed to help from Summit County, the Indian portage was in te area of the new County. Now, therefore, Portage County is misnamed. It retains the original name, but does not contain the portage. It was not until the treaty of Fort Industry in 1805, that extinquished the Indian claims that part of the Western Reserve west of the Cuyahoga River that surveys could be made and settlement begun. Therefore it was not until 1809 that there was any need of erecting a separate county in the western area. Huron County was the first County which lay entirely west of the Cuyahoga River. Although erected in 1809 it was not organized until six years later. Huron County was named for the Huron River which lies entirely within its borders when the County was erected. The name of the river appears on maps of 1785 and 1787. The name is also that one of the Great Lakes and commemorates an important Indian tribe. The name is found in connection with this lake on maps before it appears as the name of the River. This county, when erected, was co- extensive with the area known in Ohio as the Firelands and in Connecticut as the Sufferer's Lands. Medina County was te second county erected entirely west of the Cuyahoga River. Its name seems to be devoid of historical revelation to te area which it designates. At the time the county was erected the name of Medina was used in only one place in the United States. It was the name of a town in New York State . No relation to that town, however, has been found for owners or early settlers in the area of Medina County. Medina is te name of a city in Arabia, but no connection is apparent, although local historians gives this origin of the name. The present town of Medina, the county seat, which was not settled until after the county was named, was first called Mecca, ad was changed, probably, because there was a town of the same name already established in Trumbull County. Lorain County derives its name from a French place name that has no historical relation to the area it designates. There is, however, reasonably reliable tradition as to how the name was selected. Judge Ely, who was one of the influential men in the area, had traveled to Europe and spent some time in the Province of Lorraine, in which he duly admired. It was said it was he that suggested its name, because it was unique in the United States. Erie County derives its name from Lake Erie and this designation in turn comes fron the name of an Indian tribe. It was erected by taking from Huron County its northern part bordering on Lake Erie. Summit County derives its name from a feature within its boundaries. It contains the highest point on the Ohio Canal and those connected with canal transportation in te years before this county was erected called this point " the summit." Even today, in railway crossing mountain chains the top of the grade is called the Summit. The chief city of Summit County is Akron. The name is derived from the Greek word akros, meaning high. Thus, we have the county name and the city name with the same meaning, only one is English and the other is a Greek word. Akron was named about 1825 and incorporated in 1836, four years before Summit County was erected. Ottawa County derives its name also from the name of an Indian tribe. Lake County, like Erie County, takes its name from the name of the large body of water forming the northern boundary of Ohio, but from the generic part of the name. The name is fitting since this county has a greater extent of frontage on the open lake in proportion to area then does any other county in the State. This is the smallest County in the State and is adjacent to Ashabula, the largest in Ohio Mahoning County gets its name from the Mohoning River which traverses it. The name of the River is of Indian origin, but was not applied to that river until long after the first white settlement. In the early maps of te Western Reserve this river is called Big Beaver, but maps of 1830 name it Mahoning. There was a Mahoningtown in this area much earlier. Of the souce of the name of Asland County, a writer in his history of that county states that in 1822 the township of Montgomery, then in Richland County, was a village called Uniontown. Application was made for a post office, but since there was alrady a post office named Uniontown in Ohio, this application was denied as the postmaster general had refused to duplicate the name. Thereupon John Sloane ( 1779-1856 ) of Wooster, at the time a member of Congress from that district, chose the name Ashaland for the post office. Sloane was a friend and political adherent of Henry Clay, and tradition say that Sloane chose the name Ashland because it was the name of Henry Clay's Plantation near Lexington, Kentucky. Graham became the first postmaster and the village soon took the name of Ashland. When twenty four years had passed, it was proposed to erect a new county in that region and being Ashland was the largest town and central in the area, and the prospective county seat, Ashland was chosen as the name of the new County. Thus, of these fourteen county names, seven ( Ashtabula, Cuyahoga, Erie, Geauga, Huron, Mahoning an Ottawa ) are of Indian origin, all except Erie and Ottawa being derived from previously name rivers. This is half of all the county names in the Western Reserve. while in te State as a whole only about a fifth of the county names are of Indian origin. Only one of these county names ( Trmbull ) commemorates an individual, a much smaller proportion for the Western Reserve than for the State as a whole. Three names ( Portage, Lake, Summit ) are discriptive of local conditions. Of the three remaining names one ( Ashland ) was chosen by a known individual, one ( Lorain ) is traditionally the choice of an Euopean place name by a known individual, and one ( Medina ) is the name of an Arabian city and more likely taken from a town in New York State,. The county names in the Western Reserve is an intersting study and when it is coupled with historical relationship, it adds interest to the county names in the northeastern part of Ohio, called the "Western Reserve." ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Tid-bits con't in part 110. File at: http://files.usgwarchives.net/oh/statewide/newspapers/tidbitsp105nw.txt This file has been created by a form at http://www.poppet.org/ohfiles/ File size: 12.8 Kb