Madison Township, Jackson County

How Madison Township, Jackson County began

Madison Township, in the southeastern corner of Jackson County, was one of the county's original townships and was named for President James Madison. Its 1840 population of 724 grew to 2,113 by 1880 and stood at 2,090 at the 2020 census. The western part of the village of Oak Hill lies in the township, and Oak Hill became the center of one of Ohio's most distinctive immigrant communities: Welsh settlers from Cardiganshire, arriving from 1818 on and in much larger numbers during the 1830s-40s 'Great Welsh Tide,' who worshipped, farmed, and worked the district's iron furnaces and coal mines while keeping the Welsh language in services into the 1920s. The 1868-69 Oak Hill Welsh Congregational Church, now the Welsh-American Heritage Museum, is the township's National Register landmark and the clearest surviving marker of that settlement.

Settled 1818 (first Welsh settlers in the Jackson/Gallia county area; the township itself was among Jackson County's original townships at the county's 1816 organization), by Organized as one of the original townships of Jackson County and named for James Madison.

Where the name comes from

Madison Township was named for James Madison; it is one of twenty townships of that name in Ohio.

Before the town

No source found records a named Native village, mound, trail, or specific encounter sited inside Madison Township itself. Jackson County generally was Mingo (Seneca-Cayuga), Lenape (Delaware), and Shawnee territory in the colonial period, with earlier Adena, Hopewell, and Fort Ancient mound-builder presence recorded elsewhere in the county (including the Leo Petroglyph). Nothing township-specific to Madison Township was found.

Nations recorded here: Mingo (Seneca-Cayuga), Lenape (Delaware), Shawnee.

Timeline

1. 1818 — The first Welsh settlers from Cardiganshire arrive in the Gallia/Jackson county area; Lewis Davies is recorded as the first Welshman to settle within what becomes Jackson County.
2. 1832 — Welsh Congregationalists in the district organize a church.
3. 1840 — Madison Township's population is recorded at 724 in the federal census.
4. 1841 — The Welsh Congregational church relocates to Oak Hill, in western Madison Township.
5. 1868 — Work proceeds on the Oak Hill Welsh Congregational Church building on East Main Street, Oak Hill, a Greek Revival structure with an octagonal bell tower whose primary builders were Isaac Parry and Thomas Herbert; it was not finished until 1869.
6. 1880 — Madison Township's population reaches 2,113.
7. 1962 — The Oak Hill Welsh Congregational Church congregation disbands.
8. 1972 — Welsh-American residents charter the Welsh-American Heritage Museum in the former church building.
9. 1978 — The Oak Hill Welsh Congregational Church is added to the National Register of Historic Places.

Stories

The Great Welsh Tide reaches Oak Hill

Welsh immigrants from Cardiganshire began arriving in the Gallia and Jackson county hill country in 1818, with Lewis Davies recorded as the first Welshman to settle within what became Jackson County. Many more followed in the late 1830s and 1840s, an era Welsh-American historians call 'The Great Welsh Tide.' They came to work the district's iron furnaces and coal mines and to farm its hills, and some were Congregationalists who organized a church of their own in 1832. That congregation moved to Oak Hill, in western Madison Township, in 1841, and finished a permanent brick building on East Main Street in 1869, built by Isaac Parry and Thomas Herbert in a Greek Revival style topped by an octagonal bell tower. Services continued partly in the Welsh language into the 1920s. The congregation finally disbanded in 1962, and in 1972 Welsh-descended residents chartered the building as the Welsh-American Heritage Museum, which still keeps the community's language, hymnals, and household goods on the site.

Photographs

Local history sources: en.wikipedia.org · en.wikipedia.org · en.wikipedia.org · rio.edu · genealogytrails.com · en.wikipedia.org · tynrhos.us · commons.wikimedia.org

Mostly private wells The water here

• Oak Hill, Village Of100% of residentsPurchased: Scioto Co. Regional Water Dist. #1 (Teays Valley Aquifer)

Bridges rated poor (2)

Facilities reporting toxic releases (1)

Spills reported since 2021 (2)

Elections for office

Winners in bold. Results from the county board of elections' official canvass unless marked.

Auditor of State record

• No fiscal caution, watch or emergency on the Auditor of State's lists.
• Agreed Upon Procedures, 2023 to 2024, released 2025-04-22

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