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In April 1797, a committee of Marietta citizens, led by General Rufus Putnam, met to establish an academy suitable for preparatory instruction for their youth. Muskingum Academy, completed late that year, became the first institution of its kind in the Northwest Territory, providing “classical instruction… in the higher branches of an English education.” Its first instructor was David Putnam, a 1793 Yale graduate. The building also served as the home of the Congregationalist Church until 1808. Growing and expanding with Ohio’s first city, the academy served Marietta’s educational needs for more than thirty years as the forerunner of Marietta College.
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For nearly a century, East Liverpool dominated the United States pottery industry. Drawn to easily accessible clay deposits and ready river transportation, British-born potter James Bennett established the first commercial pottery here in 1841. His success drew other enterprising and innovative craftsmen, and by the Civil War era, the local industry was well established. During its peak production years (1865-1910), East Liverpool’s potteries produced and sold the majority of America’s crockery, with nearly the entire city’s population employed in the industry. Competition from imports and plastics, along with limited expansion space in the narrow Ohio valley, brought a decline in East Liverpool’s importance in the ceramics industry in the 20th century. Three large potteries continue the pottery tradition. The Ohio Historical Society’s Museum of Ceramics displays collections of early local ware.
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First known as the Webster House, later as the New England House, and finally as the Old Tavern, this inn has served travelers on the old Cleveland-Buffalo Road (now State Route 84) since before Ohio became a state. As traffic on the old Indian trail increased and it became a post and stage road, the two original log cabins, built in 1798 and later, were converted to this two-and-a-half story inn between 1815 and 1820. While the tavern was the scene of Civil War-era parties and dances in the second-floor ballroom, local tradition suggests it offered much more clandestine hospitality to escaping slaves as a station on the Underground Railroad. The Unionville Tavern was added to the National Register of Historical Places in 1973.
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Zachariah Price DeWitt was born of a Dutch family in New Jersey in 1768. With brothers Jacob and Peter, he migrated to Kentucky where, in 1790, he married Elizabeth Teets, who was born in Pennsylvania in 1774. By 1805 all three brothers had settled in Ohio near Four Mile (Talawanda) Creek. Here Zachariah and Elizabeth raised corn, hogs, and eventually, nine children. Zachariah became a prominent community leader, operating a sawmill, building houses in Oxford, serving as Masonic Lodge secretary, and commanding a rifle company during the War of 1812. Tradition has it that Elizabeth wore a black sunbonnet to cover a scar from having been scalped as a child in Kentucky. Elizabeth died in 1843, followed by Zachariah in 1851. Both are buried in Darrtown Cemetery.
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Company E of the 30th Ohio Volunteer Infantry was the only full infantry company formed in Jerome Township. Capt. Elijah Warner organized the unit in the village of Jerome and it was mustered into the Union Army at Camp Chase in Columbus on August 29, 1861. A total of 102 men from the township fought in the regiment throughout the war, while approximately 25% of the total population of the Jerome Township served. Company E performed outstanding service, participating in the Antietam, Vicksburg, and Atlanta Campaigns, Sherman’s March to the Sea and the March through the Carolinas, and the in the Grand Review in Washington, D.C. Of the 102 Jerome Township men in Company E, 32 perished during the war. The regiment was mustered out of service August 13, 1865.
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Unserheim, meaning “Our Home” in German, is the name of this ante-bellum Queen Anne style home, which was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1998. From 1857-1878, it was home to Daniel Howell Hise, a Quaker and ardent abolitionist. On April 8, 1849, Hise wrote, “Welcome! Welcome to the protection I can give, with or without the law.” A major stop on the Underground Railroad, Unserheim’s secret rooms and tunnel provided shelter to slaves on their flight to freedom. Hise’s belief in abolitionism was so strong that following John Brown’s Raid at Harper’s Ferry, he was instrumental in erecting the Edwin Coppock Monument at Hope Cemetery. Coppock had been executed for his participation in the raid. Hise also supported the Women’s Rights Movement and opened Unserheim to such notable guests as famed suffragists Susan B. Anthony and Sojourner Truth.
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This brick, Federal-style house was built in 1836. Helen Moore, the grand daughter of General Robert McConnel, officer during the War of 1812 and founder of McConnelsville, married Dr. Hiram L. True and made their home here. Dr. True practiced medicine in the area and was widely known for his interest in science, serving as president of the local Scientific Society. Their daughter Evelyn True Button was born in the house in 1875. A graduate of Ohio Wesleyan University, Evelyn traveled to the Philippines in 1898 on a missionary trip to train teachers. A teacher, principal, community leader, and ardent worker for women’s rights, she died in the place of her birth in 1975. She bequeathed the house to the Morgan County Historical Society to serve as a depository of furnishings and artifacts of Morgan County heritage.
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Ohio Columbus Barber, a wealthy Ohio businessman and founder of Barberton, retired in 1905 to develop his Anna Dean Farm. Built in 1910, the colt barn was a part of this 3000-acre estate. Although originally intended for bulls, the building was converted in 1912 to a stable for colts. Akron architects Harpster and Bliss designed the barn, and it was the smallest on the farm. Like many buildings erected by Barber, the colt barn features the patriotic red, white, and blue color scheme he favored. Between Barber’s death in 1920 and the founding of the Barberton Historical Society in 1974, all but nine of the estate’s thirty-five original buildings were razed. The historical society saved the colt barn in 1978, which led to the birth of the city’s historic preservation movement. The society completed restoration of the colt barn in 1998 with a grant from the Barberton Community Foundation.
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