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.

Isaac took the vast amount of open land that he acquired from the estate, adjacent to the town of Centreville, and surveyed 63 additional town lots nearly doubling the size of the village.  In laying out this addition he added to the size of the town square and promoted more business growth within the town.  Furthermore, to spur growth he erected a grist mill, oil mill and carding machine on East Canal Street (present day Second Street SE, on the site of Ed Long Inc.). All of these mills were first powered by oxen walking on a treadmill before being converted to steam power from water flowing through the adjacent Honey Run. This was one of the first steam mills west of the Ohio River, and brought a lot of tourist to see the operation as well as increased business. Isaac used that opportunity to promote settlement in Centreville and get even more businesses to come to town.

However, Isaac did notice one major drawback in getting people to come to Centreville; it was thirty miles (at the time over a day’s ride) from the county seat of New Lisbon, Ohio.  This seemed to stymie growth pretty well; only to add to the fact that Harrison County was two short mile south of the village, and the western edge was actually in Stark County. Thus, if any residents lived in these areas they answered to an entirely different county thirty miles away in opposite directions. Therefore, during the winter of 1826-27, Isaac travelled to Columbus, Ohio on horseback to petition the state government to create a new county with Centreville as the county seat.  His petition failed that winter and for the next four winters Isaac rod to Columbus on his horse and petitioned the General Assembly.

On the sixth winter, Isaac learned that there was one Assemblyman who was holding up the bill from passing. Isaac then pressed his associates in Columbus for information regarding the stubborn member of the Assembly, and found out that his brother-in-law ran a tavern in Columbus.  Isaac then went to the Assemblyman’s brother-in-law and asked him to use his influence with his sister’s husband, and recounted all his tales and hardships that he has had over the past six years trying to get this bill through the Assembly. Furthermore, Isaac added in his plea, “If this bill becomes a law, I am going to banquet the members of the Assembly, the state officials, and the prominent men of the state, and it is my intention to give this banquet at your tavern.”

The wayward Assemblyman soon fell into the “Yea” category and on Tuesday, December 25, 1832, the bill was signed into law. The bill change the name of Centreville to Carrollton, and the new county was call Carroll in honor of Charles Carroll, the last surviving signer of the Declaration of Independence.  Needless to say the promised banquet was held and in Carrollton a large bonfire was lit in the town square and General Stidger fired off his cannon in celebration.

Isaac returned home in January of 1833, having invested six years’ worth of work and over $7000 of his own money in the creation of Carroll County; however, upon his return he went straight to work.  He first donated a portion of ground in the town square for the location of a courthouse for the county. Moreover, he surveyed additional town lots for the expansion of the town, adding well over 100 lots.  He also rented out his tavern, the old Bohart Tavern, to be used as the first courthouse until the official one was completed (This was the site of the first session of the county commissioners and court hearings before being moved to the Reformed Church on East Canal Street).



Atkinson Building
Built 1828
(Being Resurfaced in the 1960s)

Around 1834, Isaac also began to take on partnerships, as he was serving a term in the Ohio General Assembly as Carroll County’s first representative, and a big boom was beginning in Carrollton. Isaac first took on James P. Cummings as a partner in his general store located on Main Street. The store was located in the first brick structure in Carrollton, built by Isaac in 1828, from bricks hauled by oxen from New Lisbon. He also went into partnership with Daniel McCook and the two of them surveyed another addition for the town as well as built a brickyard at the southern corner of Canal and High Street. These bricks were used in the construction of many of the buildings in town, including the Courthouse, McCook House, and Stidger Building. In 1849, Isaac went into business with a small group of men and began the Carroll County Railroad, which was a primitive line that never took off until years later after it was sold.

Isaac slowly settled into retirement in the 1850s, enjoying watching the fruits of his labor blossom into the thriving town of Carrollton. Here in his town he raised his family of twelve children with his wife, the former Hester Jones, and watched his children and two brothers, Thomas and Matthew, prosper.  Isaac passed away on December 29, 1874 at the age of 77. Isaac Atkinson, The Father of Carroll County,  was buried beneath a shady tree atop a small rise in Grandview Cemetery, overlooking the town and county that he helped to establish, where has watched it grow from the small little crossroads to the hearty little town that it is now.

Isaac Atkisnon's Headstone
Grandview Cemetery, Carrollton, Ohio

Today, when you visit Isaac Atkinson’s county you can still see many of his touches still visible in Carrollton. If you go to the square in the heart of town you can still see the McCook House and Stidger Building (present day Trunks and Treasures Antique Store), which were built from bricks made by Isaac Atkinson,  anchoring either end of the square, standing the test time. You can visit the center of the square and see the small simple monument to the original courthouse, which holds the original bell; the courthouse that Isaac helped fund and donated land for the construction of the building. Moreover, you can walk many of the streets like old Canal (present day 2^nd Street SE) and see much of the land and lots that Isaac had surveyed. Furthermore, you can still see traces of Isaac Atkinson’s brick general store on West Main Street, which he built in 1828, hidden behind the modern façade of new brick and is the current home of The Carpet Shop. Moreover, besides all of these tangible sights, if you just look around Carrollton and Carroll County is Isaac Atkinson’s Legacy to all future generations. Isaac Atkinson left us something more than we can ever realize, he left us a place to call home.

References:

Eckley, H.J.; Perry, W.T. (1921). History of Carroll and Harrison Counties. The Lewis Publishing Co. Vol II pg 989
Free Press Standard (1915) Carrollton Centennial Souvenir Edition. pgs.2,4,13-15,22-
            23,38,46,54,56,60
Herald, Peter M. (1883) Early History of Carroll County
Howe, Henry (1907). Historical Collections of Ohio, The Ohio Centennial Edition.
               The State of OhioVol I, p. 351