One of the resolutions I made for 2023 is to provide readers with a brief history of each of Muskingum County's 25 townships. The county itself was formed from Washington County on January 7, 1804. Zanesville, the county seat, served as Ohio's capital from 1810 to 1812. According to "Ohio History Central" (Ohio History Connection), the county name derives from a Native American word meaning "near the river", referring to the Muskingum River that runs through the county. Wikipedia (Muskingum County, Ohio) offers other derivatives: A Shawnee word meaning "swampy ground"; a Lenape word referring to a thorn bush specific to the area; a Native word meaning "elk's eye" and referring to the number of elk that fed along the river's banks. Since there's no clarity on the meaning of the county's name, you're free to pick the one you like best.
Muskingum County's townships were formed between 1802 and 1853, in this order:
2. Springfield 21 June 1803
3. Jefferson 1805
4. Licking 1806
5. Falls 9 March 1808
6. Salt Creek 9 March 1808
7. Union 1808
8. Blue Rock 3 December 1810
9. Perry 1812
10. Highland 11 March 1814
11. Rich Hill 8 March 1815
12. Jackson 6 June 1815
13. Muskingum 7 June 1816
14. Brush Creek 10 Feb 1817
15. Hopewell 1 September 1817
16. Madison 2 July 1819
17. Monroe 2 July 1819
18. Meigs 13 July 1819
19. Salem July 1819
20. Washington 5 June 1822
21. Wayne Spring of 1826
22. Adams December 1826
23. Harrison 20 December 1839
24. Clay 9 December 1841
25. Cass 1853
The history of each of these townships will be presented in future blogs.
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