Ross County was formed by proclamation of Gov. St. Clair 20 Aug 1798, being the sixth county formed in the Northwestern Territory. Its original limits were very extensive. It was named from the Hon. James Ross, of Allegheny County PA, who at that time was the unsuccessful candidate of the Federalists for the office of governor of that State. Much of the surface off from the valleys is hilly; the land is generally good, and on the streams extremely fertile. The bottoms of the Scioto and Paint Creek are famous for their abundant crops of corn. Much water power is furnished by the various streams. The principal crops are corn, wheat and oats. It is also famed for its fine breeds of cattle, and has many swine.

Population of Ross in 1820 was 20,610; 1830, 25,150; 1840, 27460; 1860, 35071; 1880, 40,307: of whom 33,914 were born in Ohio; 1,479, Virginia; 619, Pennsylvania; 294, Kentucky; 213, New York; 177, Indiana; 1,685, German Empire; 514, Ireland; 138, England and Wales; 49, Scotland; 40, British America, and 30 France. Census 1890: 39,454.

Although there is considerable hilly land in the county, it is estimated nearly half of the surface is alluvium. The cultivation of wheat is increasing in the bottoms; that of corn on the uplands, and the farmers are diversifying their crops. The county is famed for its fine cattle. Some of these were sent in 1885, to the Kentucky State Fair, and took the prize over the luscious-fleshed animals raised in the famed bluegrass region of that State.

Such glowing descriptions of the beauty of the scenery and the fertility of the soil in the Scioto country, having been circulated through Kentucky, by Massie and others, who had explored it in 1792, portions of the Presbyterian congregations of Cane Ridge and Concord, in Bourbon, under Rev. Robert W. Finley, determined to emigrate thither in a body. They were in a measure induced to this step by their dislike of slavery, and the uncertainty that existed in regard to the validity of the land titles in that State. The Rev. Mr. Finley, as a preliminary step, liberated his slaves, and addresses a letter of inquiry to Col. Nathaniel Massie in December 1794.

That letter induced Col. Massie, who was a large landholder, to visit Mr. Finley in the succeeding March. A large concourse of people who wished to engage in the enterprise assembled on the occasion, and fixed on a day to meet at the Three Islands in Manchester, and proceed on an exploring expedition. Mr. Finley also wrote to his friends in western Pennsylvania informing them of the time and place of rendezvous.

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In 1800 the seat of government of the Northwest Territory was removed by law of Congress from Cincinnati to Chillicothe. The sessions of the territorial legislature in that year and in 1801 were held in a small two-story hewed log-house, which stood on the corner of Second and Walnut streets, and was erected in 1798 by Mr. Bazil Abrams. To the main building, extending along Walnut Street towards the Scioto, was attached a hewed-log wing of two stories in height. In the lower room of the wing, Col. Thomas Gibson, then auditor for the territory, kept his office, and in the upper lived a small family. In the upper room of the main building was a billiard table and a place of resort for gamblers; the lower room was used by the legislature, and as a courtroom, as a church, and a singing-school. In the war of 1812, the building was a rendezvous and barracks for soldiers, and in 1840 was pulled down.

In 1800 the old state house was commenced and finished the next year, for the accommodation of the legislature and the courts. It is believed that it was the first public stone edifice erected in the Territory. The mason work was done by Major William Rutledge, a soldier of the Revolution, and the carpentering by William Guthrie.

The territorial legislature held their session in it for the first time in 1801. The convention that framed the constitution of Ohio was held in it, the session commencing on the first Monday in November, 1802. In April 1802, the fist State legislature met in the house, and held their sessions until 1810. The sessions of 1810-1811 and 1811-1812 were held at Zanesville, and from there removed back to Chillicothe and held in this house until 1816, when Columbus became the permanent capital of the State. This time-honored edifice is yet standing in the central part of the town, and is used as a courthouse for the county.

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County officers, 1888: Auditor, John A. Somers; Clerk, Charles Reed; Commissioners, Simon R. Dixon, John W. Jenkins, Conrad H. Reutinger; Coroner, Valentine Kramer; Infirmary Directors, Edwin B. Dolohan, Isaac Lutz, Herman Schiller; Probate Judge, George B. Bitzer; Prosecuting Attorney, Marcus G. Evans; Recorder, John F. Brown; Sheriff, Joshua R. Wisehart; Surveyor, Philip J. Laessle; Treasurer, Nelson Purdum.