Ney

How Ney began

Ney was laid out in 1846 as Georgetown by George Ridenour in Washington Township, with twenty-eight lots, and its post office has carried the name Ney, for the French marshal Michel Ney, since 1850. A settler named William Ralston, arriving by canal boat in October 1843, first lived in a log cabin on Samuel Cameron's land where Georgetown was later platted. By 1883 Warner's county history counted two stores, a post office, a shoe shop, a blacksmith shop, a town house and a church. Ney had 289 residents in 1900, peaked at 379 in 1980 and had 303 in 2020; it is one of the shortest place names in Ohio.

Settled 1843 (earliest recorded nearby settler), platted 1846, by George Ridenour.

Where the name comes from

Platted in 1846 as Georgetown; renamed Ney, honoring French Marshal Michel Ney, by the time its post office opened in 1850. Ney had no personal connection to Ohio or to this specific village.

Before the town

No Native village, trail or treaty site specific to Ney was found; the village was platted in 1846, nearly three decades after the 1817 Treaty of Fort Meigs opened this part of Defiance County to settlement.

Timeline

1. 1843-10 — Settler William Ralston, arriving via canal boat by way of Cleveland and Toledo, settles at the site that becomes Georgetown before moving to nearby land of his own.
2. 1846 — The village is platted as Georgetown by George Ridenour with 28 lots.
3. 1850 — A post office opens under the name Ney, honoring Marshal Michel Ney.
4. 1883 — Warner's county history records at Ney two stores, a post office, a shoe shop, a blacksmith shop, a town house and a church.
5. 1900 — The census counts 289 residents in Ney, 298 in 1910 and 301 in 1950.
6. 1960 — The census counts 338 residents; the count rises to 378 in 1970 and 379 in 1980, then falls to 331 in 1990.
7. 1980 — The village's population peaks at 379.
8. 2020 — The census counts 303 residents, down from 354 in 2010.

Stories

Georgetown, twenty-eight lots in the Washington Township woods

Warner's 1883 county history, in its chapter on Washington Township, says the township was organized in 1838 and was heavily timbered and somewhat marshy when settlers came. The first cabin, built by Jesse Donely about 1832 or 1833, was followed by a cluster of families, among them the Donelys, Samuel Ridenour, Zachariah Hurt, James Craige and the hunter Andrew Finley, who voted in the township's early elections. George Ridenour laid out the village of Georgetown in 1846 with 28 lots, in the middle of that wooded township; a settler from Massillon, William Ralston, had spent his first winter there in 1843 in a small log cabin on Samuel Cameron's land after traveling by canal boat to Defiance. The post office, established in 1850, took the name Ney after Marshal Michel Ney of Napoleon's army (Wikipedia gives no reason for the choice), and the village that grew around it kept the French marshal's name. By 1883 Ney had two stores, a post office, a shoe shop, a blacksmith shop, a town house and a church, and the 2020 census counted 303 people.

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

Mostly private wells The water here

• Ney Village100% of residentsGroundwater wells (2 wells)

Fire and EMS stations (1)

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 2025-09-16

Source: Ohio EPA eDocument portal (edocpub.epa.ohio.gov), indexed 2026-10-14. Facilities are placed on the map from Ohio EPA's own map layers, EPA's Facility Registry, coordinates written in the filings, or a geocoded street address. A permit filed under a private person's name (most are household septic systems) is counted but never named, placed or linked; licenses for individual workers and open-burning notices are left out entirely.

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