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Please add profiles of those who were born, lived or died in Shelby County, Ohio.
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History
Shelby County was created in 1819 and was named in honor Isaac Shelby, first governor of Kentucky.
Several towns in Shelby County were established by German immigrants. The Miami and Erie Canal, which reached Shelby County in 1841, provided jobs for many of the county's European immigrants. It also changed the way new immigrants traveled to Shelby County from Cincinnati in the south and by 1845, Lake Erie in the north. The actual construction provided the initial boost; the real benefit proved to be the opportunity for increased commerce presented by this new transportation link. The canal brought a business boom which in turn drove farm product prices to previously unknown heights. As German immigrants arrived to work on the canal, on the land, and in the shops, business in Sidney and Shelby County expanded. The Germans' penchant for thrift proved to be a valuable asset to the area's economic and social growth.
There were also many families from England who arrived as immigrants in the 19th century. Those English immigrants were of working class rural origins; it was easier for working-class people to own land in America and by this time parts of the United States also had the practice of universal male suffrage so all men over the age of 18, regardless of property or wealth were allowed to vote. These factors encouraged English immigration, particularly from the villages of Penkridge, Gailey, Lapley, Wheaton Aston, Bishop's Wood, Brewood, Coven, Featherstone, Essington, Four Ashes, Perton, Pattingham, Seisdon, Wombourne, Himley, Swindon and Enville, in south Staffordshire in central England, and for this reason these immigrants were sometimes known as "the Staffordshire settlers".
In 1846, a group of 383 free blacks from Virginia, called the "Randolph Slaves", settled in the county, most at Rumley, Ohio. They had been freed by the 1833 will of Virginia planter John Randolph of Roanoke. He provided money for their transportation and resettlement on land in a free state.[6][7] Their gaining freedom was delayed by court challenges to Randolph's will, but the families were freed and traveled in 1846. Randolph had provided that those over the age of 40 were given 10 acres each for resettlement.
Adjacent Counties
Cities & Villages
- Anna
- Botkins
- Fort Loramie
- Jackson Center
- Kettlersville
- Lockington
- Minster (part)
- Port Jefferson
- Russia
- Sidney (County Seat)
Townships & Communities
Ballou | Clinton | Cynthian | Dawson | Depew | Dinsmore | Franklin | Green | Hardin | Houston | Jackson | Kirkwood | Loramie | Maplewood | McCartyville | McLean | Montra | Mount Jefferson | Newbern | Newport | Oran | Orange | Pasco | Pemberton | Perry | Plattsville | Rumley | St. Patrick | Salem | Swanders | Tawawa | Turtle Creek | Uno | Van Buren | Washington
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