The Father of Carroll County

Editor’s Note: Since today is Father’s Day, I figured it was altogether proper and fitting that a history of Isaac Atkinson should be told as he is considered the “Father of Carroll County.”

There are so many things in life that you take for granted; never considering the how or whys of it. Such as the luxuries found in your own hometown.  For example, you do not really consider the matter of when you have to do county business, like paying those dreadful taxes, that you do not need to travel thirty miles away or the fact that the town is large enough that if you get a fast food craving or want to go grocery shopping you can just cruise into town in mere minutes. You never consider the fact that had it not truly been for one man; that this might just be another crossroads nestled among some rolling hills. This is the story of Isaac Atkinson, “The Father of Carroll County,” who took the small crossroads, backwoods town of Centreville and turned it into Carrollton, Ohio the county seat of Carroll County.



Isaac Atkinson
"Father of Carroll County"



Isaac Atkinson was born July 1, 1797 to Stephen and Mary (McMahon) Atkinson in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania.  Here he received his education in the classic one room school house, and soon obtained a solid sense of business by working in his father’s store. Around 1818, Isaac moved to Middleton in Columbiana County, Ohio and remained here for about four years before relocating to Centreville in southern Columbiana County.

When Isaac moved to Centreville, he came to a small town that less than seven years before had been carved out of the wooded rolling hills and platted by Peter Bohart.  Although the town had grown considerably since it was laid out on October 4, 1815, especially since it was located at the busy crossroads of the Steubenville-Canton and New Lisbon-Cadiz Pikes, its growth had plateaued as its all of its plots were close to being occupied. Isaac soon built a log store and home on the western edge of town (on present day South High Street between Main and 2^nd Street SW), and grew quite successful. When Peter Bohart passed away in April of 1825, Isaac saw the opportunity to grow his wealth and the village in which he lived and purchased the Bohart Estate.

A Forgotten Forefather

Throughout the course of time there have been a countless number of men that have performed tasks of great distinction and are forever remembered in the annals of history, yet there are even more men who have perform just as nobly and have all but been forgotten.  Many of these forgotten men laid the very footing of the civilization that we live in today. Moreover, many of us can call them our ancestors, they are the roots of which we derive from; a thread in our lives’ fabrics, and an unknown moral compass within us. This is the story of one of these men; this is the story of Jonas Groves.

In researching the life of Jonas Groves, it quickly becomes apparent that much of his life is still submerged in the murky waters of history, yet to surface to the modern researcher. However, the story of his life that is known is that quite full of merit and well worth recording in the annuals of history. What is known is that Jonas Groves was born in 1743, and at the age of seventeen volunteered for service in the French and Indian War. He enlisted in 1761 with Major Robert Rogers and his Rangers, and quickly became one of the feared scouts.

Roberts’ Rangers were a fierce bunch of backwoods pioneers who fought for the British Crown against the French and Indians in the northwest frontier of the Great Lakes region. They were well known as being one of the only combatant groups, besides Indians, that could function in theses harsh terrains and harsher winters. Major Roberts led his Rangers on many raids in the dead of winter against French towns and encampments, using primitive snowshoes and walking across frozen lakes and rivers.

On February 10, 1763, the Treaty of Paris was signed by France and England ultimately ending formal warfare between the two countries and bringing the seven year French and Indian War to a close. As part of the surrender terms the French were to relinquish Fort Detroit over to British control, and Major Roberts and his Rangers were assigned the task of taking control of the fort and supplying it.

Jonas Groves was sent to Buffalo, New York along with several other Rangers to gather supplies and ferry them across Lake Erie to Fort Detroit.  On May 30, 1763, while Jonas and 117 other Rangers were ferrying supplies in open boats to Fort Detroit they were attacked by a large band of Ottawa Indian warriors. Although they were twenty-five miles from the fort and in open water, they were surprised and ambushed, suffering heavy casualties. Of the one hundred and eighteen men on the lake, only eight Rangers, including Jonas Groves, survived and were taken captive.

The Story of the Park Hotel

On the east side of the square in the small town of Carrollton, Ohio, stood a modest white clapboard building, which for 190 years sat in the shadow of the county courthouse . It was the resting place for many a weary traveler and also a social gathering place for many in the town. Built as a modest home, and later turned into a marble works, and finally a hotel, it was known as The Park Hotel.

In 1815, as Peter Bohart was laying out the village of Centreville in the backwoods of Ohio (present day Carrollton); the Roberts family built a large farmhouse for their growing family on Lot 32 of Bohart's Original Plat. The house was a simple “L” shaped house with a large front porch overlooking the square. Here the family grew larger and older and finally in 1859 sold the property.



The Aldridge Marble Works
From an Engraving, 1874



Nicholas J. Aldridge of New Cumberland, Ohio, came to Carrollton in 1850s, and opened a wood mill with his brother, Joshua. In 1857, at the age of 23, Nicholas purchased the Roberts home to house his new family and built a small store on the north end of the building. In this store he opened The Aldridge Marble Works, a trade that Nicholas learned as an apprentice from Armstrong Bathwell of Carrollton, along with mastering woodworking. The Aldridge Marble Works dominated this niche, producing nearly all of the cut marble and sandstone in the area, as well as, many of the tombstones. However, by 1877 Nicholas decided to retire from the masonry business and open up a hotel, much like his father operated in New Cumberland.

Nicholas made several additions to the back of the building and built an area above his old marble works for additional rooms and completely renovated the structure, and opened the hotel as The Aldridge Hotel. This was at the time Carrollton’s fourth hotel, following the Indian Queen Hotel, Hoopes House, and The Van Horn Hotel.



The Aldridge Hotel
circa 1880



In 1892, Nicholas Aldridge leased the hotel to Elias and Rebecca Fisher. Elias was the janitor at the new courthouse and so left the hotel business to his wife.  Rebecca first changed the name of the Aldridge Hotel to the Commercial Hotel. Mrs. Fisher then had the dining room area renovated and began to offer meals to both hotel guests and the general public. Her culinary skills soon became well known in the area and the dining portion of the hotel began to thrive.  However, around the turn of the century Mrs. Fisher’s health began to fail with her advancement in age and the doors of the Commercial Hotel were closed, and would remain so for a few years.

In December 1906, Mr. Grant Gregory made a deal with the Aldridge family and reopened the hotel. Mr. Gregory was a successful butcher that saw an opportunity in the hotel business after the Van Horn Hotel closed its doors earlier in the year. Mr. Gregory had purchased many of the furnishings from the luxurious Van Horn Hotel, and had them brought up the street to his newly renovated hotel. At this time, Mr. Gregory changed the name of the hotel once again and began to operate under the New Aldridge Hotel. However, Mr. Gregory apparently soon realized the hotel business was too much of a change from the butcher shop, and transferred his lease to John S. Shull. 

The Fire And Brimstone Patriot

In the late eighteenth century there was a new wave of ideals sweeping the British colonies in America. The citizens of these lands thought of themselves more as free Americans than as subjects to the crown, and this idea was only compounded with each new generation born upon these soils. These new idealist felt that they should govern themselves with laws and taxes that they felt fit and that they should have the freedom to practice the religion of their choosing. One of these idealists was a young Pennsylvanian by the name of John Herrington.



John Herrington
His only picture on his 100th Birthday



On January 1, 1759, John Herrington was born in Pennsylvania to John and Martha (Berkley) Herrington. John was born into a developing area still hostile with wild game and frequent Indian Raids. In 1763, during the closing days of the French and Indian War, the Herrington family fled from an Indian attack; however, both of John parents died in this attack leaving the four year old boy orphaned. John was raised by a couple in the community that was devoutly faithful and taught the word of the Lord to the young lad.

When the Revolution broke out John soon enlisted with Captain John Redman’s company attached to the 11^th Pennsylvania Regiment.  While in service John fought under General “Mad” Anthony Wayne in 1777 at the Battle of Brandywine, and again at the Battle of Paoli, where the regiment took heavy casualties.  Herrington spent the fateful winter of 1777-78 encamped at Valley Forge and saw his last engagement of the war at the Battle of Monmouth under Aaron Burr, before being mustered out of service.