Skip to content
20-53 Major John B. Downing
Major John B. Downing was born in Rutland in February 1834, son of Rodney and Marian Black Downing. Educated at Marietta College, he spent 27 years as a pilot and boat owner on the Mississippi River, operating between St. Louis and New Orleans. Downing became one of the most experienced river boat pilots on the […]
19-53 James Edwin Campbell
James Edwin Campbell was born on September 28, 1867, in the Kerr’s Run area of Pomeroy to James and Letha Campbell. He graduated from Pomeroy High School with the class of 1884. After graduation, Campbell taught in various parts of Meigs County. Campbell achieved notoriety as an African American poet, editor, author of short stories, […]
18-53 Meigs County Fairgrounds
Situated in an agriculturally rich area, county fairs have long been a significant tradition and event in Meigs County. The Meigs County Agricultural Society held its first fair on October 22, 1851, in Middleport and its second at the Rock-Spring Hotel on October 31, 1852. Subsequent fairs occurred around the county until March 14, 1868, […]
17-53 Village of Pomeroy
Since it was formed in 1819, Meigs County was fostered by its location on 57 miles of the Ohio River, named by the Indians”Oyo,” meaning beautiful river. Pomeroy, the county seat, was named for Samuel Wyllys Pomeroy, an early landholder. His company, Pomeroy, Sons & Company, and his son-in-law, Valentine B. Horton (1802-1888), were influential […]
16-53 The Ohio River / Historic Middleport
The Ohio River begins at the confluence of the Allegheny and Monongahela rivers in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and flows 981 miles to join the Mississippi River at Cairo, Illinois. The Iroquois called the river “Oyo” or “Ohio,” which the French translated as “La Belle Riviere,” the Beautiful River. It was an important transportation route for countless […]
15-53 Birthplace of Ambrose Bierce
An influential American journalist of the late nineteenth century, Ambrose Bierce (1842 – c. 1914) was born in Meigs County and reared in Kosciusko County, Indiana. He fought in the Union Army during the Civil War, a formative experience related in his short stories “Chickamauga” and “An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge.” Moving to San […]
14-53 George Sumner Huntington
George Sumner Huntington was born on April 9, 1850, in East Hampton, Long Island, New York. His father and grandfather had both been medical practitioners, and George followed them into the medical profession, graduating from Columbia University in 1871 at the age of 21. The following year he moved to Pomeroy and married Mary E. […]
13-53 General James V. Hartinger
General James V. Hartinger, 1925-2000, was born in Middleport, Ohio, and graduated from Middleport High School in 1943. He graduated from the United States Military Academy at West Point in 1949 and was a career-long fighter pilot with the United States Air Force, flying every type of fighter craft the Air Force procured during his […]
12-53 Morgan’s Raid Route Pursuers converge on Pomeroy / Meigs County Courthouse
As Morgan’s Raiders rode eastward across southern Ohio during the third week of July 1863, the scattered defensive forces pursuing him consolidated and drew closer. Four regiments under Brigadier General Eliakim P. Scammon (including the 23rd Ohio, containing future U.S. Presidents Rutherford B. Hayes and William McKinley Jr.) arrived here by steamboat on July 18, […]
11-53 Morgans Raid Route – Skirmish at Bashan Church
General John Hunt Morgan led 2,000 Confederate cavalrymen into Meigs County on July 18, 1863, during a 45-day raid north of the Ohio River. In pursuit, Union forces under Gen. James M. Shackelford and Col. Frank L. Wolford deployed near Bashan Church on the morning of July 19. Near this point five regiments of Kentucky […]