The area was initially settled by Virginia veterans of the American Revolution, who received the land from the government as payment for their service in the war.
Officially the city was named Washington as far back as 1910...the Court House was used to distinguish the city from other four places in the state with Washington in their name.
The suffix is attributed to settlers who had come from Virginia where Court House was used with county seats (e.g. Appomattox Court House). The name was made official when the city adopted a new charter in the early 2000s.
The first settlers are believed to have been Edward Smith Sr., and his family, who emigrated from Pennsylvania in 1810. Smith and his family constructed a crude house in the thick woodlands near Paint Creek, but their efforts to clear the land were interrupted by his departure for military service in the War of 1812.
Soon after returning from the was Smith drowned while attempting to cross a flooded creek and left behind his widow and 10 children who managed to do well. Smith's descendants remained prominent in county. A family residence still stands on Route 62 not far outside the city's eastern boundary.
In 1833, Washington Court House (then known as Washington) contained a printing office, seven stores, two taverns, two groceries, a schoolhouse, a meeting house, and about 70 residential houses.
Downtown, the courthouse square has been named a historic district, and a similar designation has been accorded the city cemetery. Nine individual buildings are separately listed on the register.
One hundred and twenty-seven years ago, on October 9, 1894, William "Jasper" Dolby, a black man, entered the home of Mrs. Mary Boyd, a white woman, and raped her.
He was soon captured, but managed to escape only to be an unruly crowd gathered outside the County Courthouse with intent to lynch Dolby. He was brought into court at 4 o'clock in the afternoon, pleaded guilty and was sentenced to twenty years in the penitentiary.
People were swarming into the town all day and deputies with revolvers drawn guarded the prisoner in the courtroom and because authorities had heard rumors of a lynching the militia had been called in to keep the angry mob at bay which they tried to do by using bayonets and clubbed guns.
Henry Kirk, brother-in-law of the assaulted woman, was thrown down the steps of the courthouse and badly bruised. Another man was bayoneted through the finger, while a bayonet was thrust through the clothing of another man.
Because of the mob it was impossible to get the prisoner to the train to take him to the state prison and so Dolby was held in the courthouse.
A little after 6 o'clock the first rush was made on the courthouse when a crowd of determined men attempted to break in the south door while another mob charged the militia stationed at the north door. Some one threw a stone at Colonel Alonzo B. Coit and he shouted a warning that if another stone was thrown he would order his men to open fire.
The crowd wasn't able to break in and the tiny courtyard was filled with people and they were cursing the militia and shouting, "Give us the ******!" With the crowd growing in size by the minute, Colonel Coit made a speech asking the crowd to disperse, but it was received with more cursing and jeers. Dolby, in great fear, was lying on the floor crying and moaning.
Out in the courtyard the mob attacked, but the militia held their fire. With the street filled with men, women and children, the mob finally forced the south door open.
That's when the militia detail guarding the door finally opened fire on the attacking mob.
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| The mob attacked |
None of the militia were injured, but a dozen or more in the street were injured. Three were killed outright and four more were fatally wounded and one died some time later.
After being fired upon, the mob scattered in all directions, but soon gathered again. Immediately all places of business in the city were closed and the mayor ordered every place in town that sold liquor to be shut down.
No time was lost in carrying away the dead and wounded. Businesses were converted into aid stations and all the doctors in town were called into service.
Meanwhile, mothers, sisters, wives and girl friends crowded around the dead and wounded and their lamentations added to the mob's rage.
Needless to say, feelings against the militia were bitter, vicious and vehement.
As time passed the mob grew in size and fury as the news spread by telephone, word of mouth and telegraph. Roads into the city were filled with men on horseback, in wagons and on foot.
Meanwhile in town a search was going on for arms, ammunition and dynamite and people were shouting, "Down with tho military!" and "Blow up the dogs along with the black ******!"
There was no doubt there were intentions to blow up the courthouse and the danger of further and greater bloodshed between an organized and armed mob and the militia was very real. Therefore, additional troops were ordered from Cincinnati, Columbus, Chillicothe and other cities.
Additional troops eventually arrived and Dolby spent a night of terror in jail. When the other prisoners discovered Dolby was in the jail they joined the crowd in cursing him and would have done him personal injury if they had been able to reach him. The next day officials managed to get Dolby transferred to the state penitentiary.
Dolby served 13 of his 20 year sentence and was paroled for good behavior. He eventually married a woman he had met in jail and it was rumored that their was a bounty on his head if he ever set foot in Washington Court House again.
Colonel Coit was indicted for manslaughter, but was acquitted at trial. After the trial, Governor William McKinley who was elected President of the US three years later stated, "The law was upheld as it should have been...but in this case at fearful cost...Lynching cannot be tolerated in Ohio."
The courthouse doors were not repaired or replaced and the bullet holes from the 1894 riot are still present in the southeast doors.
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