The Stark County Democrat. [volume] (Canton, Ohio) 1833-1912, 1874-12-24
A SKETCH OF STARK COUNTY.
BY =. H. FoLGER.


command. Stark County was erected
by act Of the Legislature of Ohio, on the
18th Of February, 1903, the act to take
effect on the first day Of January, A. d.
1909, its boundaries as defined by that
act, were as follows
Beginning on the southern boundary
OF the Connecticut Western Reserve at
at the northeast corner of section No. 10,
in the sixth range; thence running south
between the fifth and sixth ranges to the
southeast corner of the fifteenth town.
ship Of said range; thence with the
township inc west until it intersectS the
eastern boundary Of the United States
Military District; thence with eastern
boundary line north of the northeast cor
ner Of the tenth township in the first
range ofssid military district thence with
the township line west until it intersects
the Indian boundary to the northwest
corner of fractional township No. 10 in
the tenth range in the Connecticut Re-
serve; thence north with the line running
between the tenth and eleventh ranges
to the northwest corner township of No. 2
of the tenth range; thence east with the
southern boundary of the Connecticut
Reserve, to the place of beginning"
lhe third section Of the act of Febru-
AIRY I3, I8o8,provides that all that part Of
country lying west of the tenth range and
east Of the sixteenth range in said new
purchase south of the Connecticut Re-
serve, and north of the United States
Military District shall be separate and
distinct county, Of the name Of Wayne,
but with the county of Stark shall be at
tached to and made part of Columbi-
ana county until said county Of Stark
shall be organized, and shall thereafter
be and remain a part of said county Of
Stark until otherwise directed by law
On the tenth day of January, 1912,
passed an act, the first section Of which
provides THAT the county Of Wayne be
and hereby is organized into separate
county"
By the foregoing Legislation preced-
ing, it will be seen what are the original
limits of Stark county. As the public
necessities required, il was laid off into.
the following townships: Lexington,
Washington, Sandy, Pike. Rose, Brown,
Harrison, Canton, Plain, Jackson, Beth
lehem, Perry, Lawrence, Green, Frank
lin, Tuscarawas, Sugar Creek, Nimishil-
len, Marlboro, and 0snaburgh The
township of Lake having been originally
laid out by the Commissioners Of Co
lumbiana county. Under this organila-
ton Stark had twenty-five townships, six
miles square. In 1882 the townships of
Brown, Rose, and Harrison, and one
tier of sections from Sandy were taken
to aid in forming the county of Carroll,
and in I84o to make the mutilation Of
the county perfect, the townships. of
Green and Franklin wereta taken and given
to Summit. The county now consists of
seventeen townships, two cities of the
second class, and another so fully grown
as to be ready to "chop from the tree top
of time" into the sistorhood of munci-
palities and giveto Stark what no other
county will likely seem to boast Of, three
cities.
Most of the counties are satisfied with
one city, but as the traveller journeys
westward through the State by the Pitts
burgh, Fort Wayne and Chicago Rail-
way he goes through Alliance, Canton
and Massillon, all commercially healthy
and growing into importance. The
growing villages are as the common
phrase has it, too numerous to men
tion," lest our friends Of Navarro, Viii
mot, Mt. Union, Fulton, Waynesburgh,
Louisville, Greentown and Union
town, Marlborough, Osnaburgh and
Paris should think US invidious, we care
fully give them an honored place on the
historic page.
-four limits would permit, we should
give so lie extracts from the early works
of the county giving its political organi-
zation. The "record of the Commission
ers of the county ofStark" shows that on
the 10Th of March. 1909, John Bowen,
James Latimer and John Nichols met
in what is now the city of Canton, the
ground plot of which had not been re-
lieved Of the leafY honors OF the forest
and organized the County. William
father or our respected citizen,
Esq, being clerk of the Board. They went
right into business, and Stark county
thenceforth was known and felt as one
of the political communities of the great
and growing State of Ohio, the first born
of the ordinance of 1887 Among other
things it was ordered that the Court of
Common Pleas should be held in MIR.
Courter's room and that for the use of the
room he should be allowed and aid the
sum of three dollars. Ferries and hotels
were licensed, petitions for the opening
of roads were received and read, and the
county machinery put into active opera
ton A liberal policy was pursued, and
the foundations of prosperity were well
laid, and nOlwii ihsmnding the county has
been shOrn OF part OF its territory it tan
fairly boast of having within its borders
sixty thousand Inhabitants. Its broad
acres produce greater number of BUSH
els ofcereals and succulents than the same
number of acres in any county in the
State, and it has been satisfactorily dea-
onstrated that the townships of Canton;
Perry, Pike, Osnaburgh, Bethlehem, Su-
gar Creek, Tuscarawas. jackson and Law
renee, are underlaid with coal of the best
quality, lime stone in great abundance,
while in the township Of Nimishillen
the amount OF iron ore is simply mex
haustible. In churches, schools, high
ways and bridges, no county in the Shlte
is better supplied, and its public build
ings are models Of beauty. For railway
facilities, the great tthoroughfare, the Pitts
burgh, Ft. Wayne & Chicago Ry. divides
the county almOsti in its center, east and
west, while north and south we have the
Lake Shore & Tuscarawas Valley, and in
addition to which is the Massillon &
Cleveland Railway, all Of which will
soon be supplemented with the Valley
from Cleveland via Akron and
Canton, TO the immense coal fields soulh
and southeast Of this city.
With all Of these advantages, and the
bold peasantry, the countfy's pride"
the fastening ills that grow out Of accu-
mulated wealth and the decadence Of
men, 80 well described by the bard Of
AL. -