USA > Indiana > Sullivan County > A history of Sullivan County, Indiana, closing of the first century's history of the county, and showing the growth of its people, institutions, industries and wealth, Volume I > Part 25
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The questions brought for decision before the general court of the Indiana territory were in many cases quite different from those that have since engaged the attention of our courts. Legislation itself was different. Many acts now deemed criminal were then either sanctioned by the law, or at least looked upon with indifference or even indulgence. On the other hand, some offenses were then punished more severely than at present. Not only treason and murder, but also arson, horse-stealing upon a second conviction, and rape were punishable by death. Burglary, hog stealing and bigamy, in addition to other penalties, rendered the offender liable to be punished by whipping. But duelling was punishable only by a fine; although all officers, whether legislative, executive or judicial, as well as attorneys-at-law, were required to take an oath that they had not given or accepted a challenge to a duel. In their legislation against corruption in elections, the men of those days seem to have been wiser than some of our modern legislators. They punished the briber, the bribe-giver; while more recent laws, in many cases, have
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punished only the bribe-taker. Liquor laws also differed widely from our own. Tavern keepers might have their licenses revoked, not only for failing to do their duty towards their guests, as to giving proper attention and providing wholesome food for man and beast, but also for failure to keep on hand "ordinary liquors of good and salutary quality." Provisions of this kind, in favor of pure food and against adulteration, again seem to be receiving some attention from legislators, both in congress and in the general assembly.
As we have already seen, provision was made for the erection of pillories and whipping posts in every county for the punishment of criminals. And not only men, but even women, were publicly whipped for violations of law. Imprisonment for debt was also authorized by the laws of the territory, as it was then generally throughout the United States. Lotteries, on the contrary, now regarded as not only illegal but even as immoral, were in those days, rather favored by the law.
By an act of the legislature, approved September 17, 1807, the Vincennes university was chartered by the legislature. It is the oldest educational institution of that rank in the state, if not in the west. Among the provisions of the charter was one for the raising of twenty thousand dollars "for the purpose of procuring a library and the necessary philo- sophical and experimental apparatus" for such university. The trustees of the university were required to "appoint five discreet persons" as managers of the lottery, who were to have power "to adopt such schemes as they may deem proper, to sell the said tickets, and to superintend the drawing of the same, and the payment of the prizes." It was further provided that "said managers and trustees shall render an account of their proceedings therein at the next session of the legislature after the drawing of said lottery." It is clear that our worthy forefathers thought pillories and whipping posts suitable and proper means for the punish-
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ment of wrong-doers; and that they were also of opinion that money for the promotion of the higher education of the people, might properly be secured by the establishment of a lottery. It was not until February 3, 1832, that an act was passed by the legislature making the conducting of a lottery a misdemeanor ; but even in that act, for the purpose no doubt of protecting the Vincennes lottery, there was a saving clause in favor of lotteries "authorized by law." In the constitution of 1851, however, the prohibition was made absolute,-that "no lottery shall be authorized ; nor shall the sale of lottery tickets be allowed." But, notwithstanding this distinct declaration in the constitution, added to the previous statutory enactment, the trustees of the university still persisted in keeping up their lottery; and in this practice they were long sustained by the courts. As late as the May term, 1879, of the supreme court, the lottery provision of the Vincennes university charter was held to be an inviolable contract, which neither the legislature nor even the people, in the framing of their constitution, could abrogate; and the Dartmouth college case and other high authority was cited in support of the de- cision. "We hold," said the court, in Kellum v. State, 66 Ind. 588, "that the lottery established by the board of trustees for the Vincennes university, under the fifteenth section of the territorial law for the incorporation of said university was and is a lottery 'authorized by law.'" It was not until the May term, 1883, of the court, in the case of State v. Woodward, 89 Ind. 110, that the Vincennes lottery was finally declared illegal. The opinion in the case was the last written by the eminent jurist, James L. Worden; and followed a then recent ruling of the supreme court of the United States.
Another illustration of the persistence of customs which have long prevailed in a community, is exhibited in the history of slavery in Indiana. To many persons the statement may be a surprise that human slavery ever
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existed within the borders of this state. We must remember, however, that, on the conquest of the northwest by George Rogers Clark, all this country became a part of Virginia, under the name of the county of Illi- nois. Our territory thus becoming a part of the state of Virginia, slavery had a legal foothold here, as it had there. Besides, the French, and also the Indians, held slaves in the territory previous to the Virginia conquest ; the slaves so held being not only negroes but also captive Indians. After the deed of cession by Virginia to the United States, it was uncertain for a time whether slavery should be recognized or not; but, in the ordi- nance of 1787, for the government of the territory northwest of the Ohio, it was finally provided, in terms, that "There shall be neither slavery nor involuntary servitude in said territory, otherwise than in the punish- ment of crimes, whereof the party shall have been duly convicted." The same prohibition was carried into both our state constitutions. Yet, under the plea that, before the passage of the ordinance, slave property had been lawfully acquired within the limits of the territory, it was ar- gued that the holders of such property could not be legally deprived of it. The argument was even made that a mother being a slave, her children could be born only as slaves, and that the owner of the mother became the owner of the children so born.
The property interests of the country were enlisted in behalf of retaining the institution of slavery, and even of introducing more slaves into the country. A large part of the population was from Virginia and Kentucky, and this element constituted a powerful party in favor of per- petuating some form of African slavery. At the head of the slaveholding interest was the governor of the territory, William Henry Harrison. The governor was a Virginian, and seemed to be sincerely of opinion that the prosperity of the country depended upon the establishment of slavery. A strong effort was made to have the provision in the ordinance of 1787
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prohibiting slavery suspended, at least for ten years. The contest before congress was long and earnest, but the petition from Indiana was finally denied by that body. Yet the effort was still persisted in to retain in slavery, by some form of indenture or otherwise, those who had been slaves or who were the children of slave mothers. As late as the year 1813, the act concerning taxation passed by the legislature provided, as . a part of the schedule of assessments and taxation, for a tax "for every slave or servant of color, above twelve years of age, two dollars." Two cases came to the supreme court, in which the questions so raised were finally settled against the right to hold slaves in Indiana. In the first of these cases, State v. Lasselle, 1 Blackf. 60, the trial court had decided that a colored woman, Polly, was the property of Lasselle. The supreme court, without deciding whether Virginia, by consenting to the ordinance of 1787, intended to emancipate the slaves in the northwest or not, held that, in any event, slavery was effectually abolished by the Constitution of 1816. In the other case, that of Mary Clark, also a colored woman, decided in I Blackf. 122, Mary Clark had attempted to bind herself as a servant for a term of twenty years. She afterwards repented of her bar- gain ; but the trial court held that she must comply with her contract. The supreme court, however, decided that such an indenture, though voluntarily made, was a species of slavery, and that the contract could not be enforced. Thus was wiped out the last vestige of legal bondage in Indiana. It is true that long after these decisions, many persons con- tinued voluntarily to live out their lives as slaves within the limits of the state. Even as late as 1840, as shown by the United States census for that year, there were still three slaves in Indiana,-a man and a woman in Rush county and a woman in Putnam county. But slavery, as sanc- tioned by the law, was at an end; and it came to an end, in fact, with the death of the last of such voluntary slaves.
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The desire on the part of many of the inhabitants to establish slavery in the Indiana territory resulted in a proclamation by the governor call- ing for the election by the people of delegates to meet in convention at Vincennes, December 20, 1802. This convention petitioned congress for a suspension of the sixth article of the ordinance of 1787, which pro- . hibited slavery in the territory. The petition, as we have seen, was re- jected by congress. The report of the committee to which the petition was referred was prepared by John Randolph, the distinguished orator and statesman, then senator from Virginia, and was an unanswerable argument against the establishment of slavery in the territory. The Vin- cennes convention which prepared the petition in favor of slavery is also noteworthy as being the first deliberative body elected to represent the people of Indiana. The convention consisted of twelve delegates. From the county of Knox, four; from the county of Randolph, three; from the county of St. Clair, three; and from the county of Clark, two. The . counties of St. Clair and Randolph were in that part of the territory which is now the state of Illinois; Knox and Clark were in what is now Indi- ana. So small was the population, in 1802, of the territory now compris- ing these two great states. Wayne county, now the state of Michigan, does not seem to have been represented in this early convention.
The act of Congress for the organization of the Indiana territory, approved May 7, 1800, provided that whenever the governor became sat- isfied that a majority of the freeholders of the territory were in favor of the organization of a general assembly, an election for that purpose should be called, even though there might not then be in the territory five thousand free male inhabitants of the age of twenty-one years; thus pro- viding an earlier period than was provided in the ordinance of 1787, for the establishment of a representative government. By a vote of the peo- ple taken September 11, 1804, it appeared that a majority of one hundred
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and thirty-eight were in favor of organizing a general assembly ; and ac- cordingly Governor Harrison issued his proclamation declaring that Indi- ana had passed into the second stage of territorial government, and called an election for January 3, 1805, at which members of the first house of representatives were chosen in the several counties. This body met at Vincennes, February 1, 1805, and selected names for the organization of a legislative council, or senate, as provided in the ordinance of 1787. The counties then represented were Knox, Clark and Dearborn, in what is now Indiana ; St. Clair, in Illinois; and Wayne, in Michigan. This was the last official connection of Michigan with the Indiana territory. By an act of congress, approved January II, 1805, it was provided that from and after June 30, 1805, that part of the Indiana territory lying north of an east and west line drawn through "the southerly bend or extreme of Lake Michigan, until it shall intersect Lake Erie, and east of a line drawn from the said southerly bend" through the middle of Lake Michigan to its northern extremity, and hence north to the northern boundary of the United States, should be erected into a separate territory, to be known as Michigan. It will be noticed that this left the greater part of the pres- ent upper peninsula of Michigan in the Indiana territory.
The legislative council having been selected, the first general assem- bly of Indiana, embracing then the greater part of the old northwest terri- tory, except Ohio and Michigan, assembled at Vincennes, July 29, 1805. The council, or senate, consisted of five members ; and the house of repre- sentatives, of seven members. Michigan having become a territory, Wayne county was not represented. The counties having representation in the assembly were Knox, Clark and Dearborn, in what is now Indiana, and St. Clair and Randolph in Illinois. The business of this first general assembly was chiefly routine. Benjamin Parke was elected the first dele- gate of the territory in congress. The second general assembly began its
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session at Vincennes, August 16, 1807. The laws passed at those two sessions, together with all other laws in force in the territory, were col- lected and published in one volume, called the code of 1807. This was the first Indiana code of laws.
After the signing of the treaty of Greenville between General An- thony Wayne and Little Turtle and the other chiefs, August 3, 1795, it was believed that permanent peace had been established between the whites and Indians. But the emigration to the rich lands of the northwest grew to such proportions that the Indians were pressed farther and farther into the interior. Numerous treaties, as we have seen, were made, from time to time, throwing open to white settlement the several reservations of territory made at Greenville to secure to the Indians their hunting grounds. Often, too, where two or more tribes owned certain lands in common, as they often did, the whites secured by treaty the title of one tribe and then failed to respect the claim of the others to the same lands. The French had respected this community ownership of lands, and never denied the title of the Indians, even to the territory occupied by them- selves. Moreover, as to their own holdings, the French accepted the com- munity idea, which was universal. Several hundred acres were set aside at Vincennes, which the inhabitants of the post used in common for pas- ture and other uses. They "fenced in" their stock as is now the law in Indiana; and the crops planted outside this community property by each householder were without enclosure. The community idea, however, was antagonistic to the ideas of the emigrants from the east. Each settler wanted his own lands for himself exclusively, and was particularly un- willing that any Indian should have any part or parcel in his holding. But, besides securing additional Indian lands by new treaties, many white emigrants, without any such authority, pushed in upon the lands yet re- served to the Indians by the treaty of Greenville and other treaties. This
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land greed, as the Indians called it, was exasperating to the natives, who loved their old hunting grounds ; and the feeling of resentment against the encroachment of the whites became more acute from year to year. After- wards, when white men fell in battle with the Indians, it was not uncom- mon for the latter to stuff earth into the mouth, nose and ears of the fallen pale face, as if in mockery of this greed for land.
In a message to the legislature of Indiana, in 1806, Governor Harri- son referred to the growing dissatisfaction of the Indians, in this and other respects. The Indians, he said, "will never have recourse to arms- I speak of those in our immediate neighborhood-unless driven to it by a series of injustice and oppression. Of this they already begin to com- plain ; and I am sorry to say that their complaints are far from being groundless. It is true that the general government has passed laws for fulfilling, not only the stipulations contained in our treaty, but also those sublimer duties which a just sense of our prosperity and their wretched- ness seem to impose. The laws of the territory provide, also, the same punishment for offenses committed against Indians as against white men. Experience, however, shows that there is a wide difference in the execu- tion of those laws. The Indian always suffers, and the white men never."
In the state to which the minds of the Indians were wrought up. by both their real and their fancied wrongs, they needed but a leader to break out into hostilities against their oppressors. The leader was forthcoming, a greater perhaps than either Pontiac or Little Turtle. In 1805, Tecumseh, a Shawnee chief, and his brother Law-le-was-i-kaw- the loud voice-resided in a village on the White river in what is now Del- aware county. Law-le-was-i-kaw took upon himself the character of a prophet, and is usually known under that title. He began to preach to the Indians, calling upon them to reject witchcraft, the use of intoxicating liquors, intermarriage with the whites and the practice of selling their
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lands to the United States. He acquired great influence among the tribes, not only the tribes in Indiana, but those of the whole west. Prophet's Town was established on the banks of the Wabash river, near the mouth of the Tippecanoe, as a center to which all the Indians were invited to gather. While the prophet was arousing the religious enthusiasm of the Indians Tecumseh was visiting all the tribes of the west and the south, forming a confederacy which might be strong enough to resist further encroachments on the part of the white settlers. The poison of British ยท influence was again manifested ; and when the war of 1812 broke out be- tween England and the United States, the Indians were found in full and active sympathy with the British. Interviews took place from time to time between Governor Harrison and the Shawnee chiefs, but the es- trangement continued to increase from year to year. In the early part of 18II the people of the territory became thoroughly alarmed at the grow- ing strength of the Indians at Prophet's Town; and Governor Harrison, under direction of the president and the secretary of war, began prepara- tions for a military expedition against the prophet. Harrison's army consisting of about seven hundred effective men, of whom two hundred and fifty were regular troops, arrived near Prophet's Town November 6, 18II. On the morning of the seventh, before daylight, the Americans were fiercely attacked by the Indians, and many killed. Harrison quickly rallied his forces and charged upon the Indians, who were completely routed. Harrison's loss, in killed and mortally wounded, were sixty-two, with one hundred and twenty-six other wounded men. The enemy's forces are believed to have been greater, and their losses quite as severe ; but there is a lack of definite information on these points. The battle of Tippecanoe is the most important that ever took place within the confines of Indiana. The spirit of the Indians was completely broken, and the confederacy which Tecumseh was building up was completely destroyed.
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This great warrior was himself absent at the time, visiting the tribes of the south. It is said that he was angry with his brother for bringing on the engagement. Tecumseh was not then ready for his conflict with the whites, and his plans were therefore frustrated. He soon joined the Brit- ish army with his Indians and was killed at the battle of the Thames, in Canada, not far from Detroit, October 5, 1813. He was undoubtedly the greatest warrior and statesman ever produced by the Indian race.
After the battle of Tippecanoe there was occasional minor trouble with the Indians; but with the death of Tecumseh their courage and ambition as a united people was gone forever. The remnants of the red race were by degrees removed to the far west; and their place was rapidly taken by the hardy pioneers who poured in from the eastern states and from Europe. The triumph for the second time, of American arms over those of Great Britain, soon after followed; and the future of the great northwest was assured.
Another interesting episode in early Indiana history ought to receive at least a passing mention. In 1805, 1806 and 1807, Aaron Burr, once vice-president of the United States, was engaged in different places along the Ohio valley in organizing a mysterious enterprise, now believed to have been intended for the founding of an independent southwestern re- public, to embrace Mexican and American territory. Some are of the opinion that Burr's ambition looked to the uniting of all the states and territories of the Mississippi valley, with Mexico, into one great central state of which he should be chief. Amongst other places Burr visited Jeffersonville, Vincennes and Kaskaskia. He was arrested early in 1807, and his vast project, whatever may have been its nature, suddenly col- lapsed.
As the population of the Indiana territory increased the need of a division into two territories became greater. Congress yielded to the Vol. 1-23
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The convention consisted of forty-three members, elected from thir- teen counties, as follows: Wayne, 4; Franklin, 5; Dearborn, 3; Switzer- land, 1; Jefferson, 3; Clark, 5; Harrison, 5; Washington, 5; Knox, 5; Gibson, 4; Warrick, I; Perry, I; and Posey, I. It will be noticed that these counties were almost altogether on the Ohio and Wabash rivers. Indiana's first settlements were along the rivers on the southern borders ; and the settlers were almost all from the states and territories south and southeast of the Ohio. The population of the thirteen counties sending delegates to the constitutional convention of 1816 was sixty-three thou- sand, eight hundred and ninety-seven. Two additional counties, Orange and Jackson, also in the extreme south, were organized in 1816, under authority of the territorial legislature ; but not in time to send delegates to the constitutional convention.
The convention began its deliberations at Corydon, on June 10, 1816, and completed the framing of the constitution on June 29, 1816. Jonathan Jennings presided over the convention, and William Hendricks was chosen secretary. On the completion of their work, President Jennings, as re- quired by the constitution issued to the sheriffs of the several counties writs of election, fixing the first Monday of August, 1816, for the election of a governor and other state officers. Jonathan Jennings was elected first governor, receiving, 5,21I votes, to 3.934 cast for Thomas Posey, then governor of the territory. William Hendricks was elected first represen- tative of Indiana in the house of representatives of the United States.
The first general assembly, chosen at the same election, began its session at Corydon on Monday, November 4, 1816. Christopher Harrison, elected lieutenant governor, presided over the senate; and Isaac Black- ford, the famous jurist, was elected speaker of the house of representa- tives. The governor and lieutenant governor were inaugurated November 7, 1816; John Paul having been previously chosen president pro tempore
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of the senate. Thereupon the territorial government came to a close. By a joint resolution of congress, approved December 11, 1816, Indiana was formally admitted as a sovereign state of the Union. On November 8, 1816, the general assembly elected James Noble and Waller Taylor as the first senators to represent the state in the United States senate. The ses- . sion closed on January 3, 1817.
The population of Indiana when admitted into the Union, in 1816, ivas less than seventy thousand ; but such an impetus was given to emi- gration by the organization of the state government that the census of 1820 showed that the state then contained 147,178 inhabitants. The rev- enues of the state continued for many years to be derived from a tax upon lands, as had been the practice during the territorial government. This tax was not, as at present, a percentage of the valuation, but a fixed sum per hundred acres according to the quality of the land. For this purpose, all lands were deemed to be of first rate, second rate and third rate. In the beginning, first rate lands were assessed at one dollar per hundred acres ; second rate, eighty-seven and a half cents ; and third rate fifty to sixty-two and a half cents. In 1821, the assessment on first rate lands had increased to one dollar and fifty cents on each hundred acres, and on other lands accordingly. In 1831, the assessment on first rate lands fell to eighty cents a hundred ; second rate, to sixty cents ; and third rate, to forty cents. By an act approved February 7, 1835, the method of assess- ment was changed to our present advalorem system ; and the assessor was directed to assess land for taxation at its true value, or, as the act ex- pressed it, "as he would appraise the same in the payment of a just debt due from a solvent debtor." County revenues were raised principally from poll taxes and license fees, until the adoption of the ad valorem sys- tem.
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