Jordan D Pickens
Jordan D Pickens is an educator and local historian. His is the co-author of a book on Meigs County history.
Remembering Morgan’s Raid
July 2, 1863, marked the beginning of Confederate General John Hunt Morgan’s 1,000 plus mile raid in Sparta, Tennessee. He then proceeded to cross into Kentucky, at...
Pomeroy Ponzi
“If you succeed in cheating someone, don’t think that the person is a fool. Realize the person trusted you much more than you deserved.” – Unknown
Memorial Day has come to be the unofficial start to summer. In Meigs County, bikers from all over our region gather on Main Street in Pomeroy to begin their annual run. Cookouts...
In last week's article the Bridgeman family was discussed along witha brief history of the tree planted by Emory Bridgeman before his departure for the Civil War and the building of the Bridgeman homestead known as "The...
One family with a long, rich history in Syracuse is the Bridgeman family. This article is the first of two, covering the family, and the second will be about the homestead and its renovations, maintaining...
Peter Niswonger: Indian fighter, hunter, squatter, brandy maker
Last Friday, the Chester-Shade Historical Association held their annual benefit dinner with different speakers giving presentations on all 12 of Meigs...
Abigail Graves: Meigs County’s G.I. Nightingale
It’s said to be better to be thought a fool and keep your mouth closed than to open it and erase all doubt. That is certainly the...
Early salt mining history in the Ohio Valley
"In 1794, when salt was worth from $6 to $8 a bushel, he projected an expedition into the Indian country near the Scioto River...
Joshua Gardner and the Fugitive Slave Case that went to the Supreme Court
The Mason-Dixon Line was surveyed between 1763 and 1767 by Charles Mason and Jeremiah Dixon in the...
James McHenry Jones
February is recognized as Black History Month. In the book about early African American education in West Virginia by Carter G. Woodson, it states, “There came J. McHenry Jones, J....
When running for the Illinois Senate against Steven Douglas, Abraham Lincoln gave his famous “A house divided cannot stand” speech. Lincoln went on to lose the Senate race, but his opinions put him...
"It is easier to do a job right than to explain why you didn't." –President Martin Van Buren
These words could sum up the legacy the Cross Family businessesgave the people of Sutton...
free·dom (noun) - The power or right to act, speak, or think as one wantswithout hindrance or restraint; absence of subjection to foreign domination or despotic government; the state of not being imprisoned...
"Railroad train, railroad train, hurry some more; put a little steam on just like never before. Hustle on, bustle on, I've got the blues, Yearning for my Swanee shore. Brother if you...
It’s an age old question, “Which came first, the chicken or the egg?” In Meigs County, which came first, Rutland Village or Rutland Township? To answer the Rutland question at least, the village of Rutland was laid out...
December 1933. The most publicized romance of its day officially came to an end as Mary Pickford filed for divorce from Douglas Fairbanks, Jr. Prohibition ended in the United States, legalizing the consumption...
“Here’s to you all, our sentiments are real, may your days be as brightand your hearts be as light as the spray from an ol’ paddlewheel.” – Unknown. Something amazing happened earlier this week: it was announced DELTA QUEEN will once again sail on...
I wrote a letter for the Action Network letter campaign "Urge Legislators to Extend Alternative Graduation Pathways".
With only a few weeks left in this legislative session, action is needed now to extend the alternative graduation pathways for the classes...
All aboard! Not an uncommon thing to hear before a train departs for its next destination. As I sat down to write this week’s article, I procrastinated and started to look around on Amazon and noticed that on “Cyber...
Rivalry: (noun) competition for the same objective or for superiority in the same field. Today the most active rivalry in Meigs County would easily be the one between the Southern Tornadoes and the Eastern Eagles. The last football game...
“What I love most about rivers is you can’t step in the same river twice; the water’s always changing, always flowing...” – Judy Kuhn. While the quote is from Disney’s Pocahontas, the sentiment can be applied to life in...
In 1849, “California Fever” hit southeastern Ohio. Several people in Meigs County headed west to leave behind a depression and a cholera epidemic plaguing the nation, grabbed their picks, shovels, and sifters, and searched for gold. The California Gold...
This week in my American History class at Southern High School, I started a chapter on settling the west. Topics include things like The Homestead Act, where for $10, an individual could file for a tract of public land...
November 12, 1928, the Pomeroy Bend Bridge, or as it came to be known, the Pomeroy – Mason Bridge, opened to traffic and would serve the people of Meigs County, Ohio, and Mason County, West Virgina, until January 31,...
In addition to the townships from Gallia County mentioned in last week’s article that helped to form Meigs County in 1819, Athens County also provided its share of townships to neighboring counties. At one time, Athens County contained one...
