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Edmund Munger was born in 1763 in Norfolk, Connecticut, and later moved to Vermont. In 1799, his wife Eunice Kellogg and five children traveled by wagon and flat-bottomed boat to claim land in Washington Township. A blacksmith by trade and a farmer, Munger was deeply interested in community affairs. In 1804, he was elected a Montgomery County Commissioner and four years later to Ohio’s Seventh General Assembly. From 1809 to 1826, he served as Clerk of Washington Township. His militia men elected him a Brigadier General in 1809 to take command of the Second Brigade, First Division of the Ohio Militia. During the War of 1812, Governor Return J. Meigs instructed Munger to defend the frontier within his command. His quick action protected settlers and kept vital supply routes open. General Munger died at his farm here in 1850 and is buried next to his wife in the Old Centerville Cemetery.
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Following the establishment of the public land system in 1785, the Continental Congress appointed a committee, chaired by James Monroe, to establish government in the new territory north and west of the Ohio River. Drafted prior to the Constitution of the United States, the Ordinance of 1787 provided the mechanism by which prospective states would enter the Union on an equal basis with existing states. It also prohibited slavery in the new territory and pledged good faith in dealing with Native American tribes. According to this plan, the Northwest Territory became the states of Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, Wisconsin, and part of Minnesota in due course.
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In the early 1800s, Jabez Wright, an early Huron County judge, purchased a large tract of lakeside land on the north side of what is now Cleveland Road. There Wright built an eight-room farmhouse that later served as a “station” on the fabled Underground Railroad, playing a vital role in aiding fugitive African-American slaves to freedom. Beneath Wright’s farmhouse was a sixteen foot-wide and ninety foot-long tunnel. Escaped slaves entered the passage through a trap door in the home’s basement and exited into a corn crib located a mere one hundred feet from Lake Erie. There the slaves awaited the arrival of rowboats transporting them to vessels heading north to Canada. (Continued on side two)
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The surrounding 132 acres of land served as the Knox County Poor Farm (aka Knox County Infirmary and County Home) from 1842 to 1955. The farm was nearly self-sustaining. Able residents grew their own food, raised livestock, and did various chores as partial compensation for their care. In 1874, a fire in the original wood farmhouse resulted in one death. Public outrage and concerns for residents’ safety compelled the county commissioners to build a new “fireproof” poorhouse. The four-story brick building was constructed from 1875-1877. It is believed to be the last building designed by architect William Tinsley, utilizing a version of the Kirkbride Plan. This plan, conceived by Dr. Thomas Story Kirkbride, improved the layout of institutions and infirmaries for the well-being of their charges. (Continued on other side)
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First a farming community, later a railroad crossroads in southern Hancock County, Arlington was one of the county’s earliest settlements. Gen. William Hull opened a trail into the area during the War of 1812 as he crossed Buck Run at Eagle Creek. He led his army to the Blanchard River to establish Ft. Findlay. Robert Hurd owned extensive tracts of land in the area, and his sons were the first recorded settlers, building a log cabin near this site in 1834. The rich farmland and abundant water soon attracted other settlers to the vicinity of “Hurdtown.” The name was changed to “Arlington” when the village was formally surveyed in November, 1844.
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In August 1818, a group of six interrelated Welsh families, led by John Jones (Tirbach) landed in Gallipolis. They journeyed from Cardiganshire, South Wales destined for the Welsh settlement at Paddy’s Run, near Cincinnati. Following their decision to remain here instead, they built cabins in the Symmes Creek Valley on the old Welsh road between Centerville and Oak Hill. The group became the nucleus for later Welsh settlement, as the area became known as “Little Cardiganshire.” Evans Cemetery is on land set aside by John Jones, later owned by grandson Timothy Evans. Approximately 50 souls lie here, several in unmarked graves.
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In the early 20th century Ohio’s deer, wild turkey, beaver, bobcat, and other wildlife populations were facing extinction due to the widespread loss of forests combined with uncontrolled hunting. Ohio’s first wildlife area, The Theodore Roosevelt Game Preserve, was established in 1922 under the leadership of Ohio Governor Harry L. Davis. Its aim was to reestablish wildlife by creating a game and reforestation preserve on 15,000 acres of land, purchased using funds collected from hunting license fees. An additional 5,000 acres were purchased by the state agricultural extension division. Roosevelt Preserve quickly lived up to the dreams of its famous conservationist namesake, President Theodore Roosevelt, with programming that reestablished Ohio’s extirpated wildlife. A century later, the partnership between hunters and wildlife management continues to thrive in Scioto County.
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Dr. Charles Elmer Holzer came to Gallipolis in 1909, as a resident surgeon at the Ohio Hospital for Epileptics. Recognizing the need for a community hospital, he returned in May 1910, after completing his training. With a local loan, he opened a seven-bed hospital. In 1913, he furthered his training in surgery, closing the hospital temporarily to study in Europe. He returned to Gallipolis in 1914, married nurse Alma Vomholt and resumed his practice. In 1916, he began construction on the First Avenue Holzer Hospital, the first general hospital in southeast Ohio. In 1949, the Holzers gave the growing hospital to the citizens of the five county area, to be administered by the Holzer Hospital Foundation. After outgrowing its downtown location, Holzer Medical Center opened on Jackson Pike in 1972 with 269 beds. (continued on other side)
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