Bedford Township, Meigs County

How Bedford Township, Meigs County began

Bedford Township, in the north of Meigs County along U.S. 33 between Athens and Pomeroy, was set off from Athens County in 1821 together with what became Chester Township. It has no incorporated village; its one named place is the crossroads community of Darwin. The county's pioneer historian records a thin string of early residents: John Newell, a Massachusetts tanner and shoemaker who bought land here in 1815 four miles from the nearest house and moved his family in 1819, and the abolitionist Job Story, who died in 1883 aged 91. The 2020 census counted 1,249 residents.

Settled 1815-1819 (John Newell bought land in 1815 and moved his family in 1819, when 'many families had settled in the neighborhood'), incorporated 1821 (set off from Athens County, including Chester Township), by John Newell and other early settlers; names Job Story and John Harris appear in the county history.

Where the name comes from

No source found explains the name Bedford (a common English place name reused across the United States; the only other Bedford Township in Ohio is in Coshocton County).

Before the town

No Native village, trail or burial has been documented within Bedford Township in the sources checked. Two National Register listings once attached to this township's ZIP codes are false leads: the Adena burial mound called Mound Cemetery Mound is in Chester Township, and the Blackwood Covered Bridge is in Athens County. At the county level the land lay in the Ohio Company's 1787 purchase, was claimed by the United States from the Wyandot, Shawnee, Lenape (Delaware) and other nations through the Treaty of Fort Harmar (1789) and confirmed by the Treaty of Greenville (1795).

Nations recorded here: Wyandot, Shawnee, Lenape (Delaware).

Timeline

1. 1815 — John Newell, from Massachusetts by way of Fairfield County, buys land in what is now Bedford Township, four miles from the nearest house; he clears it and moves his family there in 1819.
2. 1819 — Meigs County is formed from Gallia, Athens and Washington county territory; Bedford is still part of Athens County.
3. 1821 — Bedford Township, including what became Chester Township, is set off from Athens County and added to Meigs.
4. after 1818 — John Harris of Bedford leaves his wife with eleven-year-old Daniel Knight for a New Orleans trip, and the boy sets his own broken thigh on the cabin floor.
5. 1839-10-14 — John Newell, tanner and shoemaker, dies suddenly.
6. 1883-03-18 — Job Story, one of Bedford's earliest settlers and a pioneer abolitionist 'who ever dared to vote his sentiments even in old Bedford', dies aged 91.
7. 2020 — The census counts 1,249 people in the township.

Stories

The boy who set his own leg

John Knight came to Meigs County in 1818 and lived at Middleport. His eleven-year-old son Daniel was hired to stay with the young wife of John Harris, who lived in a small cabin in the woods of Bedford Township while her husband went to New Orleans, and she soon went down to her father's. One night in early March, as Daniel and the younger Bissell boy brought in a log for the morning fire, the log fell and broke Daniel's thigh. He had the Bissell boy pull their straw bed to the hearth, lay flat on his back with his fingers thrust through the cracks of the puncheon floor, and told the other boy to pull on his foot until the bone slipped into place; then he tied his buckskin pants above and below the break as splints. Major Higley, riding by to look at some stock, found them with corn bread and venison, and rode to Middleport for the father. Mr. Knight fetched Dr. Robinson from Chester, and Mrs. Bissell got out of bed at midnight to guide them through the dense forest. Mrs. Knight stayed twenty-one days before the boy could be moved.

Local history sources: en.wikipedia.org · en.wikipedia.org · archive.org · en.wikipedia.org · en.wikipedia.org · en.wikipedia.org · en.wikipedia.org

Mostly private wells The water here

• Pomeroy Village55% of residentsGroundwater wells (2 wells)
• Leading Creek Conservancy District40% of residentsGroundwater wells (4 wells)
• Syracuse Village2% of residentsGroundwater wells (2 wells)
• Little Hocking Water Association, Inc.1% of residentsOhio River Valley Aquifer (own wells, Porterfield wellfield)
• Coolville Village1% of residentsLocal groundwater wells near Long Bottom (Ohio River valley area)
• Middleport Village1% of residentsGroundwater wells (3 wells)
• Tuppers Plains/chester Water District0% of residentsLocal groundwater wells near Long Bottom (Ohio River valley area)

Spills reported since 2021 (1)

Elections for office

Winners in bold. Results from the county board of elections' official canvass unless marked. The county's results on file run through 2026-05-05; later elections are not loaded yet.

Auditor of State record

• No fiscal caution, watch or emergency on the Auditor of State's lists.
• Basic Audit, 2024 to 2025, released 2026-07-14

Statewide question: State Issue 3: Voter ID

Local questions for Bedford Township, Meigs County, Meigs County and its school district:

• Bedford Township: Authorizes an additional 0.5-mill property tax levy for the fire protection & EMS of Bedford Township for 5 years, beginning in 2026.
• Meigs County: Renews a 1.6-mill property tax levy for the provide & maintain senior citizens services or facilities of Meigs County for 5 years, beginning in 2027.
• Meigs County: Authorizes an additional 2-mill property tax levy to acquire, construct, renovate, finance, maintain & operate developmental disabilities facilities of Meigs County for 5 years, beginning in 2027.
• Meigs County: Authorizes an additional 2.88-mill property tax levy for the police protection of Meigs County for a continuing period of time, beginning in 2026.

Races, candidates and every question for an address: your ballot. County offices and judges are on your county board's sample ballot.

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