I have an item about Dayton Township, Ohio in 1798. At that time, Dayton Township was in Hamilton County, Ohio, but Hamilton County was divided in 1803 and Montgomery County was formed. Dayton Township was then in Montgomery County. In looking at Table 2, there is a number for Hamilton County --77177 and a number for Montgomery County --77172. (There is also a number for Dayton at --77173, but the territory of Dayton Township seems to be larger than the city of Dayton.) Does my item go in the number for the place where it was at the time (Hamilton County) or where it is now (Montgomery County)? Or does it go to the Dayton number?

Unless the entry in Table 2 specifies otherwise (e.g., by using the word "former" in front of a place name), the boundaries of countries, states, counties, etc., in Table 2 are the current boundaries. So the notation for Dayton Township is the notation for the area that it currently is within. What was Dayton Township is now in Montgomery County, but at --77172 in Table 2 you are referred to --77173 for Dayton; i.e., the current City of Dayton, with its current boundaries. If Dayton Township were within the City of Dayton, or approximated the city, you would use --77173 Dayton for Dayton Township.

However, given your description (and the information presented at http://www.daytonhistorybooks.citymax.com/page/page/1525915.htm), it is clear that Dayton Township was indeed much larger than the present Dayton. The web page cited above notes, "Dayton Township, Hamilton County, with other townships, was formed in Hamilton County in 1796-97. It included a part of the counties of Greene, Champaign, Clark, Logan, Shelby, Miami, and Montgomery." Of those counties, Greene and Montgomery are within what DDC calls "Southwestern counties of Ohio", at --7717, while the other five counties are in "West central counties of Ohio", at --7714. So for Dayton Township in 1798, the closest Dewey area to approximate it is --7714 West central counties of Ohio: much more than half of the township was in --7714, and five of the eleven counties in --7714 were in Dayton Township.

If you just had a work about part of Dayton Township, however, you would use the Dewey number for the smaller area, e.g., --77173 Dayton for a settlement located within the present City of Dayton.

Submitted by: Thanks to Andrea Christman at Dayton Metro Library for submitting this question.
Last revised: 11 May 2005