Gallia County OHGenWeb

County Seat: Gallipolis




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Welcome to the Gallia County OHGenWeb site, which is part of the OHGenWeb Project. The OHGenWeb Project is an affiliate of The USGenWeb Project which endeavors to provide free genealogy web sites for genealogical research in the United States.

My name is Lynn Tooley and I am the county coordinator for the Gallia County, OHGenWeb.

Please note: Though the information on this web page is believed to be correct, the possibility of error remains. Please notify Lynn should an error be found.


History

Gallia County was formed on March 25, 1803, from portions of Adams and Washington counties. Gallia County had originally been settled by French immigrants, who named the county “Gallia,” the Latin name for Gaul, the ancient region of Western Europe which included present day France.

In the 19th century, the county was settled by numerous migrants from the Upper South, who traveled to the territory by the Ohio River. In the antebellum years, some of its towns became centers of settlement by African Americans, both free blacks (some also from the South) and refugee slaves who had escaped their owners and come across the river to a free state.

In 1818 a group from Wales settled in Gallia County, with Welsh remaining Gallia County's most common second language until 1970.


Adjacent Counties: