Jackson County Ohio Genealogy

Founded: March 1, 1816

Named for: Andrew Jackson

County Seat: Jackson

Search Free Jackson County, Ohio Genealogy and Family History Records Online including census, cemetery, vital, military and other genealogical and historical records that can be used for your family history research.

Jackson County, Ohio genealogy and family history page is a place where you can come in and research your genealogy and family history. We also do our best to provide a history of the area, to provide you with an overview of the time in which your ancestors lived.

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History

Jackson County was formed on March 1, 1816. Its named after Andrew Jackson, a hero of the War of 1812 who was subsequently elected President of the United States. It is known as "The Little Wales of Ohio."

Jackson County is north of the Ohio River in eastern Ohio, an area that was long occupied by various tribes of Native Americans. Evidence of this era in the Ohio Valley is found in the area's large burial and ceremonial mounds and petroglyphs including the Leo Petroglyph.

Tribes that inhabited the area in the Colonial period included with Mingo, Lenape, and Shawnee. Westward expansion by American pioneers displaced the Indigenous People who were killed in wars or relocated to the Great Plains and placed on reservations following the passage of the Indian Removal Act. The pioneer settlers cleared the land for farming and developed industries around which towns and cities grew.

Iron ore was discovered in southern Ohio in the mid-19th century. The combination of deposits of ore and vast stands of old-growth forests made the Hanging Rock Iron Region ideally suited for the iron industry. The Jefferson Iron Furnace was constructed in 1854. It met the growing demand for iron in the developing United States of America. The importance of the furnaces in the Hanging Rock region grew tremendously during the American Civil War. Iron produced in Jackson County was sold to manufacturers under the trademark, "Anchor". This iron was used to build the USS Monitor, an ironclad warship made famous by its contest against the CSS Virginia, a Confederate ironclad sometimes known as the Merrimack, at the Battle of Hampton Roads.

The era of iron production in Jackson County began to wane in the years following the Civil War. Demand for iron outstripped the resources in the Hanging Rock Iron Region. Ore deposits had been cleared and what remained was minimal and difficult to extract. Also much of the forested land had been cleared to provide charcoal to fire the furnaces. A combination of a lack of ore and charcoal helped bring about the end of the iron era. Remnants of the Jefferson Iron Furnaces are found in Jackson Lake State Park.

Other industries that were in the area included coal mining and salt mining. Over a million tons of coal were mined in 1888. Jackson County was the second leading coal producing county in the state during the coal mining era. Salt mines along Salt Creek were set aside "by Congress for the use of the state to secure the salt." Indian tribes also used the area and came from great distances to gather salt.

Communities

Cities: Jackson (county seat).

Villages: Coalton, Oak Hill.

Townships: Bloomfield, Coal, Franklin, Hamilton, Jackson, Jefferson, Liberty, Lick, Madison, Milton, Scioto, Washington.

Unincorporated communities: Altoona, Banner, Big Rock, Blackfork Junction, Brocks Corner, Buckeye, Buffalo, Byer, Camba, Chapman, Clay, Comet, Davisville, Englishville, Four Mile, Garfield, Glade, Glen Nell, Glen Roy, Goldsboro, Horeb, Ironton Junction, Jackson Heights, Jonestown, Keystone, Kitchen, Leo, Lesmil, Limerick, Mabee Corner, Monroe, Mulga, Oakland, Orpheus, Pattonsville, Petersburg, Petrea, Pyro, Ratchford, Rempel, Roads, Rocky Hill, Savageville, Tom Corwin, Wainwright, Winchester, Vega.

Jackson County Genealogy Records

Biographies	Cemetery Records	Census Records
Church Records	Cities & Towns	County Records
Family Bibles	History Topics	Military Records
Miscellaneous Data	Newspaper Data	Obituaries
School Records	Vital Records	Wills/Probate Records

Adjacent counties

Vinton County (north)
Gallia County (east)
Lawrence County (south)
Scioto County (southwest)
Pike County (west)
Ross County (northwest)

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