Hocking County Genealogy Resources and History

Named for: Hockhocking River, Native American word meaning "bottleneck"

Established: March 1, 1818
Population: 26,636
Area: 423.6 square miles
County Seat: Logan

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Research, photo's and some census records for the individual Towns of Hocking County.

69 feature records have been selected from GNIS website so you can view topographical maps.

Feature Name	St	County Equivalent Name	Type			USGS 7.5' Map
Apple	OH	Hocking	populated place	392410N	0824226W	Laurelville
Blackburn (historical)	OH	Hocking	populated place	393233N	0823818W	Clearport
Blackjack	OH	Hocking	populated place	392804N	0822931W	New Plymouth
Blatchford	OH	Hocking	populated place	393125N	0821212W	New Straitsville
Brashears (historical)	OH	Hocking	populated place	UNKNOWN	UNKNOWN	Unknown
Brush (historical)	OH	Hocking	populated place	UNKNOWN	UNKNOWN	Unknown
Buena Vista	OH	Hocking	populated place	393300N	0824015W	Clearport
Candy Town	OH	Hocking	populated place	392845N	0821350W	Nelsonville
Carbon Hill	OH	Hocking	populated place	393006N	0821441W	New Straitsville
Cawthorn	OH	Hocking	populated place	392837N	0821207W	Nelsonville
Cedar Falls (historical)	OH	Hocking	populated place	392511N	0823124W	South Bloomingville
Cedar Grove	OH	Hocking	populated place	392616N	0823223W	South Bloomingville
Coalgate	OH	Hocking	populated place	393213N	0821106W	New Straitsville
Consol (historical)	OH	Hocking	populated place	393026N	0821122W	New Straitsville
Coonville	OH	Hocking	populated place	392354N	0822022W	Union Furnace
Dewey Junction (historical)	OH	Hocking	populated place	UNKNOWN	UNKNOWN	Unknown
Enterprise	OH	Hocking	populated place	393353N	0822847W	Logan
Ewing	OH	Hocking	populated place	392821N	0822600W	New Plymouth
Fork Junction (historical)	OH	Hocking	populated place	UNKNOWN	UNKNOWN	Unknown
Gibisonville	OH	Hocking	populated place	392959N	0823400W	South Bloomingville
Gore	OH	Hocking	populated place	393449N	0821742W	Gore
Greendale	OH	Hocking	populated place	393231N	0821632W	Gore
Happy Hollow (historical)	OH	Hocking	populated place	UNKNOWN	UNKNOWN	Unknown
Haydenville	OH	Hocking	populated place	392855N	0821942W	Union Furnace
Haynes	OH	Hocking	populated place	392605N	0824045W	Laurelville
Hideaway Hills	OH	Hocking	populated place	393917N	0822838W	Bremen
Hopperville (historical)	OH	Hocking	populated place	UNKNOWN	UNKNOWN	Union Furnace
Ilesboro	OH	Hocking	populated place	392605N	0822712W	New Plymouth
Jobs	OH	Hocking	populated place	393001N	0821045W	New Straitsville
Joe (historical)	OH	Hocking	populated place	393850N	0822428W	Bremen
Kachelmacher (historical)	OH	Hocking	populated place	393211N	0821639W	Gore
Laurelville	OH	Hocking	populated place	392824N	0824422W	Laurelville
Logan	OH	Hocking	populated place	393224N	0822426W	Logan
Longstreth	OH	Hocking	populated place	392953N	0821313W	Nelsonville
Lost Run (historical)	OH	Hocking	populated place	393315N	0821355W	New Straitsville
Max (historical)	OH	Hocking	populated place	393802N	0822323W	Bremen
Maysville	OH	Hocking	populated place	393259N	0821916W	Gore
Monday	OH	Hocking	populated place	392932N	0821239W	Nelsonville
Monday Creek Junction	OH	Hocking	populated place	393455N	0821631W	Gore
Mound Crossing	OH	Hocking	populated place	393022N	0823723W	Rockbridge
Mount Pleasant	OH	Hocking	populated place	392334N	0822725W	New Plymouth
Murray City	OH	Hocking	populated place	393041N	0820949W	New Straitsville
Nancy (historical)	OH	Hocking	populated place	392324N	0823934W	Laurelville
Needmore (historical)	OH	Hocking	populated place	UNKNOWN	UNKNOWN	Logan
New Pittsburg	OH	Hocking	populated place	393052N	0821144W	New Straitsville
New Town	OH	Hocking	populated place	393115N	0821015W	New Straitsville
Old Gore	OH	Hocking	populated place	393439N	0821818W	Gore
Orbiston	OH	Hocking	populated place	392908N	0821007W	Nelsonville
Oreville	OH	Hocking	populated place	393505N	0821608W	Gore
Pattonsville (historical)	OH	Hocking	populated place	UNKNOWN	UNKNOWN	Unknown
Pine Grove (historical)	OH	Hocking	populated place	393552N	0823302W	Rockbridge
Point Pleasant (historical)	OH	Hocking	populated place	392614N	0823033W	South Bloomingville
Pursell (historical)	OH	Hocking	populated place	392626N	0823600W	South Bloomingville
Reeds (historical)	OH	Hocking	populated place	392447N	0823840W	Laurelville
Rockbridge	OH	Hocking	populated place	393447N	0823120W	Rockbridge
Rockhouse (historical)	OH	Hocking	populated place	392938N	0823654W	South Bloomingville
Sand Run	OH	Hocking	populated place	393054N	0821415W	New Straitsville
Sand Run Junction	OH	Hocking	populated place	393104N	0821541W	Gore
Smock (historical)	OH	Hocking	populated place	392431N	0822940W	New Plymouth
South Bloomingville	OH	Hocking	populated place	392507N	0823558W	South Bloomingville
South Carbon Hill (historical)	OH	Hocking	populated place	UNKNOWN	UNKNOWN	New Straitsville
South Logan	OH	Hocking	populated place	393144N	0822430W	Logan
South Perry	OH	Hocking	populated place	392948N	0824016W	Laurelville
Starr	OH	Hocking	populated place	392349N	0822140W	Union Furnace
Summit (historical)	OH	Hocking	populated place	392544N	0822130W	Union Furnace
Union Furnace	OH	Hocking	populated place	392742N	0822123W	Union Furnace
Webb Summit	OH	Hocking	populated place	393511N	0822143W	Gore
West Logan	OH	Hocking	populated place	393220N	0822543W	Logan
Winona (historical)	OH	Hocking	populated place	393532N	0822020W	Gore

The history of Hocking county would not be complete without mentioning the coal industry which brought people to the area between the years of 1860-1950.  Click on the button below to read more! Use your browser back button to return to this website.

Genealogy Resources

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Brief History of Logan and Hocking County

Before the first white people arrived in the area that would become Hocking County, there were three Native American tribes living here; the Delaware's, the Shawnee's and the Wyandot's. Their picture carvings can still be seen on the walls of caves throughout the county. They planted crops such as beans, corn, and squash, and also lived on fish and wild game.

The Delaware's called themselves the "Lenne-lanape" or "real people." They migrated from the east coast. They were the ones who named the Hocking River (Hock-hocking River). Near the headwaters of the Hocking, is a place where the river rushes down a narrow gorge and tumbles over a falls into a wide channel. This spot reminded the Delawares of the shape of a bottle. The Delaware word "Hock-hocking" means "shaped like a bottle." Later white people changed the name to Hocking.

The Wyandotte's had once been part of the powerful Huron confederacy. They came to Ohio after being defeated by the Iroquois. They were very active in the Indian Wars in Ohio. Their principal chief was Tarhe, the Crane. After the defeat at the Battle of Fallen Timbers, he served as top negotiator for the twelve Ohio tribes at the treaty of Greenville.

The Shawnee's originally came from the Carolinas. They built a powerful empire in the Scioto River Valley. Hunting was sometimes difficult. They had to travel a long way to find game. Their richest hunting ground was in southwestern Hocking County. The Shawnees travelled fifty miles on foot to bring food from the Hocking Hills to their towns along the Scioto River.

All three of these tribes fought against Mad Anthony Wayne at the Battle of Fallen Timbers. The Treaty of Greenville contained the terms of their surrender. Reservation land by Treaty's in northern Ohio was completely lost by the mid 1880's. All three of these tribes were removed to Oklahoma, where their descendants live today.

Thomas Worthington lived in Chillicothe, Ohio. He was a leading political figure and land developer of his day. He recognized that the lower falls of the Hocking River would be an excellent mill site. He bought the land, platted a village, and where Falls Mill bridge stands today, he built a water powered mill.

In 1816, Worthington named his new village "Logan" after the great Indian leader. Chief Logan, in turn, was named after a white man, James Logan, who was good friends with Shikellimus, chief of the Cayuga or Mingo tribe and Logan’s father.

Chief Logan, for whom the City of Logan was named, gained his prominence during Lord Dunmore's War, a prelude to the revolution. Logan was the son of a Cayuga chieftain, and was named for an English friend of his father. Just how he came to be chief of the Mingo's is not clearly explained, but it seems that he actually was.

The Mingo Indians were a small tribe with only three small villages, all near the present site of Columbus. Logan was their most noted chief, wielding a great influence over the other Ohio tribes.

The massacre of several of Logan's relatives was a contributing cause of Dunmore's War, although some historians have openly suspected that Dunmore, a loyalist and bitter enemy of the colonist, seized the opportunity to create a clash between the Virginians and the Indians. There are even hints that there was an understanding between the English and the Ohio Indians.

True or not, it may explain why Dunmore took his 1,500 men up the Hocking in1774, to the present site of Logan instead of meeting General Andrew Lewis and his men at the mouth of the Kanawha River, where the bloody battle of Point Pleasant was fought, "the most significant of any Indian battle in American history."

Logan did not attend the peace parley with Lord Dunmore near Circleville, sending word that he was a "warrior, not a counselor." He did deliver his famous message to John Gibson at that time.

Among the famous scouts who traveled with Dunmore up the Hocking River to the falls, and then cut across country to the Shawnee country near Circleville, were Simon Kenton, Simon Girty, George Rogers Clark and Michael Cresap. They traveled with a flotilla of 100 canoes, keel boats, and pirogues all of which were left at the falls during the peace parley.

More about Chief Logan From the Ohio Historical Society Online:

Chief Logan was born in Pennsylvania about 1725. His parents were Iroquois. The Iroquois living in the region of western Pennsylvania and eastern Ohio were known as the Mingo. His Indian name was Tachnechdorus. His more commonly known name of Logan probably resulted from the early friendship with William Penn's secretary, James Logan. Logan was friendly with the settlers who were moving into the region.

When Logan was about 45 years old in 1770, he moved his family to Ohio and became a leader among the Mingo people. His friendship with the settlers continued until 1774, when a group of settlers murdered his family. Logan sought revenge. He started to attack white settlements along the frontier. He fought against the British with the Shawnee chief Cornstalk in Lord Dunmore's War. After the Indian defeat at the Battle of Point Pleasant, Cornstalk knew that Indians must make peace with the white settlers. A meeting was held near Chillicothe, which Logan refused to attend. Instead, he sent a message that was read at the meeting. Logan stated:

"I appeal to any white man to say if he ever entered Logan's cabin hungry and he gave him not meat; if he ever came cold and naked he clothed him not. During the course of the last long and bloody war, Logan remained idle in his cabin, an advocate for peace. Such was my love for the whites that my countrymen pointed as I passed and said, 'Logan is a friend of the white man.' I had even thought to have lived with you but for the injuries of one man, Colonel Cresap, the last spring, in cold blood and unprovoked, murdered all the relatives of Logan, not even sparing his wives and children. There runs not a drop of my blood in any living creature. This calls on me for revenge. I have sought it; I have killed many; I have grown glutted by my vengeance. For my country I rejoice at creature. This calls on me for revenge. I have sought it; I have killed many; I have grown glutted by my vengeance. For my country I rejoice at the beams of peace; but do not harbor any thought that mine is the joy of fear. Logan never felt fear. He will not turn his heel to save his life. Who is there to mourn for Logan? No one."

Colonel Cresap was later tried for the murders of Logan's family and was found innocent. Logan continued his raids on white settlements on the frontier. In 1780, Logan was murdered near Detroit. He was possibly murdered by his nephew. At the time of Logan's death, the former Mingo leader was a very bitter man because of his tragic personal losses and he was unable to keep the settlers from moving onto Indian lands.

In the early days of Hocking County, men drove the mules, cut the timber, and hunted for wild game, while women were relegated to the concerns of the home. Few women crossed over that line, with one notable exception.

Susan Lyons was born in 1856. She married Cyrus Christ Buttermore and lived in a small house on the banks of the Hocking Canal on Laurel Run Road. Cyrus drove a mule for logging, worked in the mines, and farmed.

Susan was fascinated by the boats that went through the locks right out her kitchen window. One day, she thought to herself, "I could do that." So she convinced canal officials that she could be in charge of the locks. Several times a day, she interrupted her household chores to adjust the levers that allowed the boats to pass. She used a twenty foot pole to help guide the boats through the narrow stone walls. Susan died in 1936.

The original boundaries of Hocking county included: Green, Falls, Falls-Gore, Good Hope, Laurel, Salt Creek, Benton, Washington, Swan, Jackson, Eagle, the western half of Starr and Brown, southern 2/7 of Perry, and the southern 2/3 of Marion Townships.

12 March 1845-The county was increased to 438 sq. miles and then in 1850 Jackson, Swan, and Brown Townships were lost but Hocking County gained Ward Township from Athens County, the remaining 1/3 of Marion Township, and the whole township of Perry from Fairfield County.  Since then there have been no boundary changes, as the State Constitution of 1851 required each county to contain 400 sq. miles.

The following townships have been in existence in Hocking County since 1851:  Benton, Falls, Good Hope, Green, Laurel, Marion, Perry, Salt Creek, Starr, Washington, and Ward.

Great Offsite Links

Hocking County Obitituaries in Logan Daily	Hocking Obituaries in Athens Messenger	Athens county, OHGenWeb	African Americans in SE Ohio	Ohio University Archives and Genealogical Library	First Families of Ohio at OGS
Hocking Hills Country	Brown Funeral Home Obits	WOUB Online	Rural Action	Old Man's Cave	Appalachian Country

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