At the first election held in Madison county on the first Monday in April, 1810, John Moore and John Arbuckle were judges of election in Deer Creek township, receiving three dollars each for their services, the latter being paid one dollar extra for taking charge of the poll book. Luther Cary was paid two dollars for acting as judge of election in Darby township, while Abraham Denton and Bazil Hunt were allowed two dollars and one dollar, respectively, for a similar service in Stokes township. Elias Langham and Patrick McLene were paid one dollar each as judge and clerk of the election in Union township; and R. Soward was allowed two dollars for bringing three books and five quires of paper from Chillicothe for the use of Madison county.
It is revealed by the records that an election was held in many of the townships on May 19, 1810. In Union, Walter Watson, David Groves and John Timmons were judges, and Patrick McLene and William Gibson, clerks, all of whom were paid one dollar each for their services. In Jefferson township, Frederick Loyd and Henry Smith served as judges, while the clerks were Lewis Foster and James Moore. The compensation was the same as in Union township. At the same election William Blaine was judge in Deer Creek township, and Amos Howard clerk in the same, each of whom were paid one dollar, while William Ross was allowed seventy-five cents for making a ballot box for the use of Deer Creek township.
The regular annual election took place on October 9, 1810, with William Frankabarger, Thomas Gwynne and William Blaine as judges in Deer Creek township, and John Pepper and Charles L. J. Atchison, clerks. In Darby township, Samuel Mitchell, Luther Cary and Samuel Robinson served as judges, with James Ewing and Thomas Robinson as clerks. The judges of Jefferson township were Thomas Foster, David Bradley and James Moore; the clerks, Paul Alder and Nehemiah Gates. In Union township, the judges were John Melvin, Benjamin Kirkpatrick and Andrew Cypherd; while the clerks were Elias Langham and Patrick McLene. The Pleasant township judges were Forgus Graham, Enoch Thomas and John Smith; the clerks, Samuel Dawson and David Long. In Stokes township, the only name on record is that of William Kelso, who acted as judge.
The record of these early events will preserve the names of many of the pioneer fathers, who spent their lives in Madison county, ever taking an active interest in its government, while laying the foundation for the wealth and intelligence which characterize its people today. Those judges and clerks were each allowed for their services the small sum of one dollar, while the judge who took charge of the poll book was paid one dollar, or sometimes one dollar and a half extra. At this same election, John Moore, sheriff of Madison county, was allowed four dollars for taking the abstracts of the votes to Franklin county, while Robert Hume, clerk and recorder of Madison county, was paid five dollars for his services in opening the election returns. Thus the reader may compare the ofiicial compensation of the pioneer days with that of today, and gain thereby a fair knowledge of the wonderful progress in population, wealth and development of this garden spot of Ohio; for as intelligence and wealth expand, so, also, do liberal ideas, resulting in a generous compensation for all classes of labor wherever just laws and honest government prevail.