West Jefferson in Days Gone By - series 22 by Charlie Miller
EARLY ACTIONS: After 28 ordinances were passed one of the first things that the Council did was to procure a common seal for the Town of Jefferson. The seal was to represent on its face, the end view of the Little Darby Bridge, to be enclosed by the words within a circle, “Corporation of Jefferson, Ohio”. This was to be used by the President and Recorder as they exercised their official duties.
(The title of President was changed to Mayor several years later.)
Of course one of the first things to do included taxation! An ordinance- To tax the performances of circuses, riding performances, wax figures, animal shows, or exhibitions, in the amount of $10.00, in addition to every 24 hours thereafter. Also, ordinances were passed to prevent gambling, disturbing the peace, intoxication, and loitering, and to license groceries at $35.00 per license for a period of one year.
The first Street Supervisor was Ezekiel Arnett, and the first Treasurer was Daniel Ried. On May 13, 1834, it was ordained that the President be and hereby is authorized to contract with some suitable person to build and erect a small house for the use of the town of Jefferson in the manner and form that the council may agree upon for the purpose of confining disorderly persons and disturbances of the peace. (This was later repealed and included in another ordinance)
Pay for the officers: President, $12.00, Recorder, $10.00; The Marshall, $5.00; and Treasurer, $5.00. The expense of running the town for its first year of existence was $32.00. The first building built for public use was the ‘market house’. (This building sat on the current site of Village Hall.) This building was to house the marketplace, the jail, and the townhouse. This was built in the summer of 1835. This structure lasted for 20 years before a new townhouse was built. We can see from the village records market days must have been a big event in the lives of the early pioneers, as this provided a method for selling goods that they had raised or made. An ordinance was passed appropriating $58.50 to erect a meeting house, calaboose, marketplace, and townhouse all under one roof. In September of 1835, they had to appropriate $85.00 for the completion of the Market House. (Cost overruns are nothing new!)
Market House: Joseph Powers was appointed clerk of the Market and an ordinance was passed, establishing market days. Section-I, Be it ordained that a market shall be held in the town every Wednesday and Saturday from daylight until 9 o’clock in the fore noon. Butchers who rent stalls may display their meats for sale at an earlier hour.
Section -II, It shall not be lawful for any person during market hours to sell or purchase any article of marketing at any other place than the marketplace or engage, buy, or sell any marketing of any kind, except buying or selling meat from a butcher, on any market day, before marketing hours. Any person convicted of a violation of this ordinance shall be fined not more than $50.00 or less than 50 c.