POLITICAL INFLUENCE
OF OHIO PIONEERS.
GEORGE M. GADSBY.
In present day politics we find the
principle of "like father,
like son" a very potent one. Or, as
a ward chairman of this city
recently remarked when speaking of the
politics of a candidate,
"an apple never falls very far from
the tree." If now this system
of "paternal" or
"traditional" politics is noticeable in recent
generations it is fair to presume that a
trace may be found run-
ning back to the time of the founding of
the territory or county
and there may possibly be a relation
between the politics of a
section today and the politics of its
original settlers.
In the case of the state of Ohio there
is enough variation in
the nature and origin of the first
settlers to lend considerable in-
terest to a study of the
"wherefor" of the present county "political
complexion."
Students of history will remember that
while the first legal
settlement was made by New Englanders,
the proximity of the
virgin territory to the boundaries of
Virginia and Kentucky had
induced many squatters to cross the line
before the Ohio Com-
pany was even formed. Later when the
land was opened for
settlement men came in great numbers
from the Southern states
as well as from Pennsylvania, New York,
and New England. In
the case of settlement by Southerners we
expect to find democracy
and when the Northerners first occupied
the land the principles
of Republicanism prevailed.
In taking up the study of the counties
as they are now found
it must be born in mind that many have
been formed from
adjacent counties and again that large
sections have been settled
by men from other older counties. In
these cases it is more
difficult to trace the political trend
as the accounts of the origin
of the first settlers is not definite.
In determining the politics
of the various counties the returns from
ten elections were taken,
the first election being that of 1836,
and the last that of 1904. In
Vol. XVII. 13. (193)