Second oldest Historical Society in Ohio, Since July 17, 1838

A way for our visitors to help ACHS

Since many of our pages here have been the same for many years we have decided to ask our visitors to help with any stories or other information about the history (NOT genealogy please) of Ashtabula County, Ohio. Please make sure that anything you wish to send us is about something more than 100 years old, particularly from the 1800's or before.

This has already happened, since a visitor living in Rome Township emailed me to say that his mother (or grandmother?) had written a book about the township she lives in and is so proud of. This was put into the Rome Township page as soon as it was ready. I'd be glad to get any other articles about YOUR township, village or city to consider! Please email any different information you have from the Contact page. It may take some time for us to review it and place it in the right place on the website. We will be glad to notify contributors when their item(s) are published to the ACHS website, and which page it is on.

Thank you, Ted Quick  ACHS Webmaster

Ashtabula County History Book 

​We were given a PDF file of scans made of the book "History of Ashtabula County, Ohio, by Williams, W. W." (printed in 1878) by our friends at the Platt R Spencer Historical Society in Geneva. This has been redone so that it is possible to do word searches on your computer, phone or tablet. That will help people find just the exact thing they are looking for in Ashtabula County history between it's founding and 1878. Most computers now have PDF readers on them, which may be built into your Chrome, Firefox or Edge browser. If not you can download a free Adobe Acrobat Reader program from.

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This was a HUGE PDF file, since it contained 415 pages, it has been split into 2 parts. Downloading both will take a fairly long time. Please click BELOW to download it.

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Once you have it there you can search for any word or phrase by holding down the CTRL key and hitting the F key to Find what you need. You may get any number of items which you can then scroll through until you find what you need. You can also use Ctrl C to copy them to use in an editor to collect all that you want. Once there use Ctrl V to place them where needed.

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Become a member and support local history

Join the society and become a member of the team of volunteers and history lovers who are helping us save the stories and historic properties of Ohio's largest county. Memberships start at just $18 a year for individuals. They make great gifts and members receive our newsletters. The form can be downloaded and mailed, along with payment, to: 

Ashtabula County Historical Society

P.O. Box 36 

Jefferson, Ohio 44047

Phone number: 866-533-3277

Bliss and Tragedy Books now available again

On a bitter cold night in late December, 1876, a passenger train fell into the Ashtabula River gulf, killing nearly 100 passengers and crew and injuring dozens more. It was the worst American rail disaster up to that time.

The second printing of the book "Bliss and Tragedy, The Ashtabula Railway Bridge Accident of 1876 and the Loss of P.P.Bliss" tells the story of this tragedy through a series of essays. The book is edited by the late Dr. Thomas Corts. Cost of this soft cover book (second edition) is $15.00 plus $5.00 shipping. 

Purchase in the gift shop of The Lodge and Conference Center at GOTL, pick up at the Jennie Munger Gregory Memorial Museum in GOTL or send a check to: 

ACHS

P.O. box 36, 

Jefferson, OH 44047

ACHS Collection Management

Norma Waters

Barrie Bottorf

Judy Pallutch

Giddings Law Office

Norma Waters (Chairman)

Kari Roberts

Blakeslee Log Cabin

Barrie Bottorf (Chairman)

Dan Hill

Susan Hill

Nominating Committee

Judy Pallutch  (Chairman) ​

Barrie Bottorf

Historical Home Research

John Johnson

Membership

Judy Pallutch

Kari Roberts

​Newsletter/Marketing​

Cameron Hartly

ACHS Headquarters 

Judy Pallutch (Chairman/Research)

Cameron Hartly

Dan Hill

Susan Hill

John Hnath​

Margie Millikan

Jennie Munger Gregory and

Officers for the Ashtabula County Historical Society for 2020:

Susan Hill, President

David Lepard, Past President

Judy Pallutch, Vice President, Historian

Courtney Johnson, Secretary

Norma Waters, Treasurer

Museum Chairpersons:

Giddings law Office: Norma Waters

Blakeslee log Cabin: Barrie Bottorf

Jennie Munger Museum: Judy Pallutch 

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Committee Chairmen

Membership/ Library Helper: Susan Hill

Events/Facebook: Courtney and John Johnson

Blakeslee: Barrie Bottorf , Allen Slater, Dan Hill

Jennie Munger: Judy Pallutch, Dan and 

Susan Hill

UELN Partnership: Bob and Bonnie Thompson

Long Range Planning/Financial Stabilization: John Johnson, Susan Hill, Norma Waters

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Trustees:

Barrie Bottorf         Courtney Johnson

​John Johnson                      Dan Hill

Susan Hill                      John Hnath

Dave Lepard                 Judy Pallutch

Allen Slater                Bob Thompson

Norma Waters                Keri Wetzel

 Bob Thompson

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Trustees' meetings are now the third Tuesday of each month at

Jefferson Healthcare at 6pm.

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Email: ashcohs@gmail.com

Website: http://www.ashtcohs.com

​Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ashtcoh

 The Cares Act is a Federal response to the realization that many areas of our economy will not be able to withstand the impact of Covid-19. Receiving the grant of $2500 allows the Ashtabula County Historical Society to pay bills at its three Museums since we are not able to hold Log Cabin Days or receive visitors into the Jennie Munger Gregory Memorial Museum and Joshua Giddings Law Office.   

 The Cares Act gift will allow the Society to survive through the summer and fall without borrowing funds from dedicated endowments. As the Society uses up the grant money, we will ask our members and supporters for help in a fundraising drive allowing us to provide new programming and to implement new ways to raise awareness of Ashtabula County’s extraordinary history. 

Page 1 of the newly restyled  Summer 2020 Newsletter is inserted here to reflect the current situation caused by COVID 19

Summer 2021 Museum Schedule Changed because of Covid-19 Pandemic

As with so many things this year the Ashtabula County Historical Society has had to change when our museums will be open to the public provisionally As long as the Pandemic doesn't force further travel or assembly restrictions the Jennie Munger Gregory Museum will be open during June, July & August on Friday, Saturday and Sunday from Noon-4 pm. Joshua Giddings Law Office will be by Appointment only while Blakeslee Log Cabin will be open for Old Fashioned Days in September or by Appointment at other times.