A STANDARD HISTORY OF SPRINGFIELD AND CLARK COUNTY, OHIO
PRINCE
Vol 1
Chapter 5, page 18
WHEN CLARK BECAME AN ORGANIZED COUNTY
As long ago as 1790, all of Southwestern Ohio was in Hamilton County, and Fort Washington was the logical center of the community. Cincinnati sustained that relation many years later, until internal improvements changed conditions in the country.
By proclamation of Governor Arthur St. Clair, August 20,1798, Ross County was organized with Chillicothe as its administrative center, and the area now in Clark County was transferred with it. On April 30, 1803, Franklin County was set off from Ross, and May 1 or one day later, Greene County was placed on the map drawing territory from both Hamilton and Ross, until March 1 two years later this area was in Greene County. It remains for the student of local geography to locate Springfield, when its outline was established March17, two years before the organization of Greene County. It is readily understood why Demint's plat of Springfield was withheld from the records for a time. Since Mrs. Demint died within a year, her signature was unnecessary in establishing the purchaser's right to property.
While the first Constitution of Ohio remained on the statutes, there were many changes in county boundaries, and since any area comprising 400 square miles of territory could effect county organization, there were as many changes on the map of Ohio as the World War rendered possible on the map of Europe. On march 1, 1805, Champaign County came into existence, embracing the territory lying north from Greene County, and since the area extended north forty-two miles over a scope of territory twenty-five miles wide, it provided for trouble in the future, the area embracing 1,050 square miles of territory, while 400 miles was the requirement.
When Champaign County came into existence, Springfield became the seat of government, and the first court was held in the home of George Fithian. However, county buildings were not erected because Urbana laid claim to the court privileges, and the citizens of that town were active in the removal of the seat of government. The Ohio Gazeteer of 1816, which contains the mention of Champaign County, says the name is descriptive-that it was applied because of the generally level and "champaign" face of the country, and since at that time Clark was included, some of the "Champaign faces may still be in the community. That was before the wet and dry issue in the country.
The Gazeteer says of original Champaign County, that part of the land is rather elevated and rolling, and later it lost ten townships to Clark, the new county coming into existence December 25, 1817, after twelve years as part of Champaign County. While the Ohio Assembly granted the request on Christmas day, the government of the new county was established January 1, 1818, with 2,097 voters concerned in settling the question. Champaign County had numbered 10,485 inhabitants-too many people for one county, but since then there is a changed conception of density. The tax duplicate of the whole county had reached $2,445,557, and as yet no transcript is available of the amount of taxable property transferred to Clark County. In the office of the county auditor is a bundle of papers yellow with age, but no one has busied himself to determine the original Clark County tax duplicate; it would involve some computation, and the papers are fragile already.
New counties were continually being placed on the map of Ohio until a second constitution was written, doing away with the custom, and Clark finally obtained its "place in the sun," with twelve square miles surplus territory after securing territory from Champaign, Madison and Greene counties. While the final e was dropped in the name, it is understood that the new country was named in honor of General George Rogers Clark, who wrested the area from the Shawnees. The Ohio Assembly was inclined to honor Revolutionary patriots, recognizing the fifteen counties to the northwest which constitute the military group on the same day a few years later, and giving to them the names of soldiers: Williams, Paulding and Van Wert, commemorating the captors of Major Andre, and a dozen other counties , named for well-known soldiers. The fifteen counties were named, February 12, 1820, three years after the Ohio Assembly had honored the Revolutionary patriot with the name of Clark County.