Clermont's name is borrowed from a
prefecture in France notable as the home of
Celtic leader
Vercingetorix who led the unified
Gallic resistance to
Roman invasion. Clermont connotes "clear mountain," which describes the hills when viewed through the thick
Ohio River fog. During the
Age of Discovery, the
French became the first recorded Europeans to see this land from the Ohio River, though Clermont's population dates to the
Paleoindian,
Adena,
Hopewell, and
Fort Ancient cultures. The
Gatch Site and other sites provide glimpses into what life was like for these people. The
Shawnee,
Miami,
Lenape,
Mingo,
Odawa,
Cherokee, and
Wyandot each have or had a presence in Clermont.
Ordinance and subsequent settlement At its ordinance in 1800 by the
Commonwealth of Virginia to reward Virginian military veterans with land
bounties, Clermont encompassed twenty-three current Ohio counties and over 4.2 million acres of dense
old-growth forest. The first
deed was issued on February 20, 1796.
George Washington owned three parcels of land in Clermont County, whose first capital was
Williamsburg, founded by
William Lytle, and like
Milford, was founded in 1796. A stone dairy house, constructed in 1800, is thought to be the oldest standing building in Clermont. The edifice is located beside Harmony Hill on South Third Street in Williamsburg. Harmony Hill, one of the area's first farms, was built by William Lytle. The last
American Indian village was located two miles south of Marathon in Jackson Township, along the mouth of Grassy Run on the East Fork of the Little Miami River. The site saw the largest frontier battle in Clermont, the Battle of Grassy Run, during which pioneer
Simon Kenton clashed with chief
Tecumseh on April 10, 1792. The Wyandot lived at this site until 1811. The Bullskin Trail, once a major American Indian trail, runs north and south through Clermont along
Ohio Route 133, and was used by frontiersmen Kenton and
Daniel Boone on hunting and warfare expeditions. In 1823,
New Richmond became the seat, and in 1824, the seat moved to
Batavia, the county's current seat. Clermont's
Moscow became the exiled home of French royalty during the early 1800s, including future
King of France Louis-Philippe in 1815 and the
Marquis de Lafayette in 1825.
Point Pleasant was birthplace and boyhood home of military hero,
Union general, and President
Ulysses S. Grant, born on April 27, 1822; although Grant spent little time in Clermont, and both his political and military careers were disconnected from it. During the 1800s,
antislavery sentiment remained strong.
Bethel was the residence of
Democratic United States Senator Thomas Morris who also served three terms in the
Ohio House of Representatives, as
Ohio Supreme Court Justice, and four terms in the
Ohio Senate. His U.S. Senate career lasted from 1833 to 1839, and in
1844, Morris was the vice presidential candidate for a third party with the goal of abolishing slavery—approximately sixteen years before the first antislavery Republican president.
Utopia, anarchist commune Also in 1844, Clermont became the site of the first of three major
anarchist settlements at
Utopia, as an
egalitarian haven of
Puritans who espoused the doctrines of
François Marie Charles Fourier. Peer-reviewed research about the mysterious village reveals Utopia's unique profile within national history. The three major elements of anarchism at Utopia included "a socialist movement inspired by the teachings of Charles Fourier, […] spiritualist/abolitionist undertaking led by John O. Wattles, and, finally, [the] labor-capital approach by proto-anarchist
Josiah Warren" (p. 3). The settlements included the Clermont Phalanx (in 1844); a second albeit spiritualist settlement at the previous site, led by Wattles, to be called Excelsior (in 1847); and a contemporaneous yet distinct influx by settlers drawn to America's first anarchist, philosopher
Josiah Warren (also in 1847). Researchers conclude all three settlement influxes at the site were
communitarian in nature.
Warren departed Utopia in 1850 after judging the project a success. The final labor-capital system of business transactions were made there in the 1870s; which, "by that time, the community was little more than a small village, with a store […,] vineyard and fruit distillery" (pp. 23-24). In the period's volume of planned communities across America, Utopia stands out for its multiple settlement patterns and growth overtime; feeding into the present, although without much of its earlier anarchist format. The primitive socialist life at Utopia was later made into a musical at the Carnegie Center of Columbia Tusculum.
Civil War and post-war history In 1847, future
Ohio Governor John M. Pattison was born near
Owensville. Long after being a Clermont resident, Ulysses Grant became commander-in-chief of the
U.S. Army in the
Civil War, during which
John Hunt Morgan and his
Confederate raiders invaded Clermont in 1863; and Grant was
elected the eighteenth president (and second Republican) in 1868. Image:TMorris.jpg|
Thomas Morris,
U.S. Senator Image:John M. Pattison 003.jpg|
John Pattison,
Governor Image:Hugh_H._L._Nichols,_12_profile_holding_cigar_(LOC).jpg|
Hugh Nichols,
Lt. Governor and
Chief Justice Clermont's last-standing
covered bridge was built in 1878 on Stonelick Williams Corner Road, near US Route 50; it was renovated in 2014. The Grant birthplace, originally a one-room cabin, continues to welcome visitors and in 1890 was removed from its original location, travelling by boat to be viewed by citizens along various waterways. It was also taken to the 1893
Chicago World's Fair before returning to Clermont. Pattison became the first Clermont Countian elected Governor of Ohio in 1905, Ohio's first
Democratic governor of the twentieth century. Pattison lived in Milford, and at a time before the influence of
Columbus, governed from his home called the
Promont, which was used as the official governor's residence. The mansion, completed in 1865, today is a museum that houses a library and other historical memorabilia. It is located at 906 Main Street, Milford. Democrat
Hugh Llewellyn Nichols of
Batavia served as
32nd Lieutenant Governor of Ohio and became the first Chief Justice of the Ohio Supreme Court in 1914. Orpha Gatch of Milford, the first woman elected to its school board, locally sponsored the
county LWV, and is the namesake for the club's award given annually at its
suffragist brunch honoring the recognized volunteerism and leadership qualities. Clermont's
progressivism created a climate of political independence. Despite recent
Republican prevalence in its offices, heavy
nonpartisan and
union influences exist. Clermont's growing population as well as
environmentalism have contributed to this climate. ==Geography==