The reader might be interested in learning additional history of Ames township. The Amesville community is probably best known for the "Coonskin Library" association. In 1804 early settlers longing for information in the isolated Ohio frontier organized the Western Library Association raise funds to purchase communal books. The original library consisted of 51 books purchased in Boston with money raised from the sale of animal pelts transported from the Ames settlement and sold in Boston. For an extensive description of the Coonskin Library (Western Library Association) click here to read Sarah Jane Cutler's complete history of this unique early pioneer library. She was the grandaughter of Ephraim Cutler, a founder and first librarian of the library. Her father purchased the remaining books of the library in 1862; she subsequently donated them to Ohio University and the Ohio State Historical Society
Early historical Ames pioneers of acclaim include: Thomas Ewing, member of the earliest Ames family, earliest graduate of Ohio University, early United States senator, and Secretaries of both the Interior and Treasury; and Ephriam Cutler, (more on Judge Cutler) son of Manasseh Cutler, who was local agent of the Ohio Company, organizer of the early Ames settlement, early judge in Washington county, and very influential early Ohio congressman. Cutler was instrumental in: 1) writing the original Ohio Constitution, 2) championing the successful arguments to forbid slavery in the first state to enter the union from the Northwest Territory, 3) acquiring necessary funding for a fledgling Ohio University, 4) leading the efforts that provided for public funding of education in 1821, 5) establishing the first pike from Marietta to Athens through Ames Town, 6) bringing the railroad through Athens, and 7) bringing the canal system finally to Athens. At age 74 he crossed flooded rivers on horseback where it was necessary for the horse to swim against a rapidly moving current. He was an avid letter writer and his papers are archived in the Dawes Library of Marietta College. Rufus Putnam and Manasseh Cutler are two additional contributor who played a role in Ames history. Putnam was an organizer of the Ohio Company and in charge of the Marietta settlement. Cutler was another Ohio Company organizer; in Ames he was an earlier shareholder and it was on his land that son, Ephriam, established the upper settlement.
Interested readers will find a recently written Amesville History at the following web address:
http://oak.cats.ohiou.edu/~tl250692/AmesvilleHistory_Local/Introduction.htm
This history was prepared by Tracy Keirns, Jason Mayles, JoAnn Hunt and Danita McLaughlin to address 3rd and 4th grade audiences.
Updated by Richard Dean on January 7, 2006
Terms: Coonskin, Ames, Amesville, Athens County, Silas Dean, Nathan Dean, Richard Dean, Northwest Territory, Ohio Company, Marietta, Ephriam Cutler, Rufus Putnam, Mudsock, Thomas Ewing, Benjamin Brown, Revolutionary War, Western Library Association, Presbyterian Church, early postoffice, tourism, Silas Bingham