Proper Ohio Location Choices in Early 1800s

Question

Abigail Mathews Bailey was born in October of 1802. For her birth place, I selected Washington County, Northwest Territory, United States. She was actually born in the town of Springfield which had been platted by her father, Rufus Putnam, and Levi Whipple in 1801. Unknown to the founders, there was already another town by this name, but their town was not renamed Putnam until 1814.

In 1803, Springfield Township was formed. In January of 1804, Muskingum County was formed - but not effective until January, 1805.

I was going to add Levi Whipple's son today but the birth place choices gave me pause.

"The First Child Born in Springfield township is supposed to have been Warner Whipple, in 1803." Direct quote from History of Muskingum County, Ohio With Illustrations and Biographical Sketches of Prominent Men And Pioneers, J.F. Everhart & Co., 1882.

Technically Warner Whipple was born in Springfield, Springfield Township, Washington County, Ohio. A genealogy tree on FamilySearch shows his birth date as July 2, 1804. This is before Muskingum was effective.

My only choice from the list is Putnam, Springfield Township, Muskingum County, Ohio which I feel is incorrect. Since I'm unsure how to record his birth place, I didn't add his profile.

Answer 1

You do not have to accept the offerings, write your own accurate location.And if it will help, add the date.(this may not work)

Comments

Won't doing this create problems for the Data Doctors?

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Counties changed their names as they were reduced by  higher population neighbors, I would expect the Data Doctors  would honor these changes.

Answer 2

I agree with Tom. I would write your own accurate location and add the date. Then I would add an explanation in == Research Notes == with links to where you found the county information. Just the other day I found a great site that showed how the counties grew in each of the states. I don't remember where I found the link. I should of written it down because it was super informative and interesting. I think I watched the Ohio transformation at least 5 times. It was complicated and changed about every two years until about 1860. If anyone knows the site I am talking about I would sure like the name of that site.

I also get a lot of stuff from the book you quoted. I find it a good source.

Comments

County boundaries: https://publications.newberry.org/ahcbp/index.html

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I don't know about any of the other states, but I found and posted a link under the Ohio Resources (still waiting for acceptance to the Ohio Project) anyways. Evolution of Ohio County Boundaries has the time frames and also includes images of the counties as they changed over time. I'll add this link to Research Notes because it's an excellent suggestion to note why I'm not using the "standard" places.

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Thanks for answering my question! Neither of these were the one I used and yet they are both great as well. Everyone should take the time to have a look!