Columbia Township, Meigs County

How Columbia Township, Meigs County began

Columbia Township occupies the northwestern corner of Meigs County and was set off from Athens County in 1820. The county's pioneer historian puts Allen Ogden, a Marietta man, here in April 1804, with Joshua Wood and Mary Ogden the first couple married in the township, and describes the cyclone that struck it at 11 p.m. on May 12, 1886, killing one woman and her grandson and splitting the K. & M. Railroad depot in two. There is no incorporated village; the GNIS lists the former places Buckhorn, Martinsburg and Zeal. The Leading Creek Conservancy District, organized in the late 1960s, supplies rural water, and the 2020 census counted 1,220 residents.

Settled 1804-04 (Allen Ogden), incorporated 1820 (set off from Athens County), by Allen Ogden and his family.

Where the name comes from

No source found explains the name Columbia (a patriotic name used for townships in Hamilton and Lorain counties as well).

Before the town

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

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

Timeline

1. 1804-04 — Allen Ogden (born in Maryland in 1775; in Marietta by 1788) moves his family of ten children to what is now Columbia Township, clears a farm and serves many years as a justice of the peace; his daughter Mary and Joshua Wood become the first couple married in the township.
2. c. 1818 — Amos Carpenter sells his Rutland farm and buys a valuable tract in Columbia Township, where he and his wife spend their last days.
3. 1819 — Meigs County is formed from Gallia, Athens and Washington county territory; the future Columbia Township is still in Athens County.
4. 1820 — Columbia Township is set off from Athens County and added to Meigs.
5. 1861 — Men of the Ogden, Green and Graham families go to the Civil War: Albert Green of the 18th Ohio Volunteer Infantry dies in service, as does William Graham in the war's first year, and Miles Graham of the 18th dies soon after the war.
6. 1886-05-12 — A cyclone strikes Columbia Township at 11 p.m., killing Mrs. McComas and her grandson, cutting the K. & M. Railroad depot in two and wrecking several farmsteads along a track about 300 yards wide.
7. 1960s — The Leading Creek Conservancy District is formed under Ohio Revised Code Chapter 6101, originally to clean small streams and develop a potable water system for rural residents of the area.
8. 2020 — The census counts 1,220 people in the township.
9. 2025 — The Leading Creek Conservancy District holds an unconditional Ohio EPA license to operate, with three Class 1 operators and two backflow-prevention technicians on staff.

Stories

The cyclone of May 12, 1886

At 11 o'clock on the night of May 12, 1886, two dark clouds were seen approaching each other from north and south over Columbia Township; they met with a roar and seemed to fall to the earth. The first house struck was a log house where J. Q. Adams and his family of seven escaped unhurt as it was demolished. The storm then took Mr. Gregory's barn and sheep houses, a school house, the upper story of E. Foster's dwelling and the house of T. D. Jackson, whose chimney fell on the family in bed; his barn was blown apart and two horses and eighteen sheep were killed. At the home of Mrs. McComas, who was sleeping with her ten-year-old granddaughter, everything was swept away: the girl was found apparently lifeless but revived, but the old woman lay fifty yards south, dead, and her twenty-year-old grandson was found with a broken neck and legs. The depot of the K. & M. Railroad was cut in two from roof to ground and carried east; Mr. and Mrs. McKnight lay flat as their frame house was lifted from over their heads, and Mrs. McKnight was left with two broken ribs. A cloudburst followed and kept the wreckage from catching fire. 'The storm lasted about two hours', the Telegraph's report concluded, 'but the havoc was the work of a few minutes.'

Allen Ogden's farm

Allen Ogden was born in Maryland on April 13, 1775, and was in Marietta by 1788. In June 1795 he married Hannah Keller, and in April 1804 they moved to what is now Columbia Township, where he bought land, cleared a farm and raised ten children. He served many years as a justice of the peace and in other township offices. His daughter Mary and Joshua Wood were the first couple married in the township; Joshua Wood became a justice and a Whig politician. Ogden's descendants stayed on the land: his daughter Nancy married William Green and both lived and died in Columbia Township, and the Civil War took Nancy's son Albert Green and her sons-in-law William and Miles Graham.

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

Mostly private wells The water here

• Albany Village60% of residentsHocking River Valley aquifer (horizontal collector wells)
• Leading Creek Conservancy District26% of residentsGroundwater wells (4 wells)
• Pomeroy Village12% of residentsGroundwater wells (2 wells)
• Zaleski Village1% of residentsGroundwater wells (3 wells)
• Syracuse Village1% of residentsGroundwater wells (2 wells)
• Middleport Village0% of residentsGroundwater wells (3 wells)

Fire and EMS stations (1)

Bridges rated poor (1)

Shale and injection wells (1)

Spills reported since 2021 (1)

Statewide question: State Issue 3: Voter ID

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

• Alexander Local School District: Authorizes an additional 0.75% income tax for the current expenses of Alexander Local School District for 5 years, beginning in 2027.
• Athens County: Authorizes an additional 1-mill property tax levy to maintain & operate health department of Athens County for 10 years, 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.

Cite this page