USA > Indiana > A popular history of Indiana : with an introduction > Part 6
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GENERAL ST. CLAIR.
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HISTORY OF INDIANA.
what now constitutes the states of Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, Wisconsin and a small part of Minnesota. The seat of govern- ment was fixed at Vin- cennes and General Harrison was made governor. His commission was dated 1801, although the act creating Indiana territory had taken effect July 4, 1800. John Gibson was made secretary and William Clarke, Henry Vanderburg and John Grif- fin judges. The territorial act was brief, providing sim- ply for a division of the orig- WILLIAM HENRY HARRISON. inal territory and the crea- tion of an additional government "in all respects similar " to the government created by the ordinance of 1787. It stipu- lated, however, that a legislature should be chosen as soon as a majority of the freeholders of Indiana territory signified a desire for one. The civilized population of the new territory was estimated at 4,875.
General Harrison reached Vincennes January 10, 1801, and assumed the reins of government which had been temporarily held by John Gibson, the secretary. On the 12th, the governor and judges went into session and adjourned on the 26th, hav- ing adopted seven laws and three resolutions.
At an election held in Indiana territory September II,
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1804, a majority of 138 was recorded in favor of organizing a general assembly. Early in the following year a house of rep- resentatives was elected. The upper house or council of five was selected by President Jefferson through Governor Harrison from ten names submitted by the house of representatives and on July 29, 1805, the first general assembly of Indiana territory met at Vincennes. A few days before this the territory of Michigan had been detached from Indiana. From that time until February 3, 1809, when the territory of Illinois was organ- ized, Indiana consisted of all the original Northwest territory except Ohio and Michigan. The separation of Illinois from Indiana in 1809 reduced the latter to the dimensions of the present state, which has an area of 36,350 miles.
The territorial history of Indiana was eventful. The Indian and slavery questions were all-absorbing. Notwithstanding the prohibition of 1787, negroes were held, to some extent, in slavery. There was a strong and persistent movement in favor of the suspension of the anti-slavery provision of the ordinance of 1787, in so far as it applied to Indiana. In December, 1802, a convention, which had been elected by the people, met at Vincennes to consider this matter. Governor Harrison pre- sided. The convention prepared a memorial to Congress, which was signed by the delegates and other citizens, in favor of such an amendment to the ordinance of 1787 as would permit the admission of slaves into Indiana territory for a period of ten years. Congress refused to change the ordinance. The mat- ter was repeatedly brought before that body. There was a considerable opposition to the change among the people of
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Indiana, which manifested itself in public meetings, resolutions, memorials to Congress, etc. Feeling ran high throughout the state. The effort to introduce slavery into Indiana was finally defeated in 1807 when the matter was before Congress for the last time.
Between 1800 and 1805 there was considerable immigra- tion from the east. Land speculation was rife, and there was a good deal of official rascality in connection with it, which Governor Harrison exposed in reports to President Jefferson. Great confusion existed in land titles, arising from the conflict- ing grants which had been made by the French, the English, Indian treaties, etc. From 1804 to 1810 a commission created by Congress was engaged in the examination of titles and claims. They confirmed a large number and rejected a large number, and their decisions, ratified by Congress, are the foundation of most land titles in Indiana to-day.
In his message to the first legislature, Governor Harrison urged the passage of a law to prohibit the sale of spirits to the Indians. He drew a vivid picture of scenes which were then familiar in Indiana. "You have seen our towns crowded with drunken savages; our streets flowing with their blood; their arms and clothing bartered for the liquor that destroys them, and their miserable women and children enduring all the extremities of cold and hunger. So destructive has the prog- ress of intemperance been among them that whole villages have been swept away."
The legislature met annually and passed laws covering a wide range of subjects.
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In ISo7 the laws then in force were revised and codified .. The work of revision was done by John Rice Jones and John Johnson. The laws were published at Vincennes by Messrs. Stout and Smoot, printers to the territory. The criminal code made four offenses capital-treason, murder, arson and horse stealing. A number of offenses were punishable, in whole or in part, by whipping-among them burglary, robbery, larceny, hog-stealing, bigamy and " disobedience by children or serv- ants." Forgery was punishable by fine, disfranchisement and "standing in the pillory."
Between IS05 and 1807 the movements of Aaron Burr created much commotion in Indiana. He was organizing an expedition supposed to be of a treasonable character and was in close correspondence with some of the leading men of the territory. He visited Jeffersonville, Vincennes and other points and enlisted a number of inhabitants in his. enterprise. But his projects came to naught. In 1807 he was arrested in Mississippi and brought to trial for treason. His expedition had, however, been abandoned before his arrest.
CHAPTER XIV.
LATER TERRITORIAL HISTORY.
THE PEOPLE OF INDIANA INSIST UPON GOVERNING THEMSELVES-RAPID GROWTH OF POPULATION-THE EARLY GOVERNORS-JENNINGS, TIIE ANTI- SLAVERY LEADER-GIBSON'S ROMANTIC CAREER-REMOVAL OF THE CAPI- TAL TO CORYDON-THE CONSTITUTIONAL CONVENTION OF 1816-INDIANA ADMITTED AS A STATE.
Under the ordinance of 1787, which was continued in force by the act of 1800 creating the territory of Indiana, the appoint- ment of territorial governors, secretaries and judges was con- ferred upon the president, "by and with the advice and consent of the senate." Until a legislature was elected the governor and judges, or a majority of them, were to have the right of adopting civil and criminal laws subject to rejection by Con- gress. A legislature was to be established only when demanded by a majority of the freeholders of the territory. No one could sit in the legislative council unless possessed of 500 acres of land, or in the house of representatives unless pos- sessed of 200 acres. The members of the council were appointed by the president from among persons nominated by the house of representatives. Among the qualifications of electors of members of the latter body was the ownership of fifty acres of land. The governor had the appointment of all militia officers and of the county officers and justices of the
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peace. He also had the exclusive power to divide the territory into districts, to apportion representatives, to veto any bill passed by the general assembly, and to convene, prorogue and dissolve that body at his pleasure. The people of the infant territory were restive under these restrictions upon their privi- leges as citizens. Scarcely had the territory been organized when a strong movement for an extension of the suffrage developed. The legislature of 1807 attempted to enlarge the suffrage, and Congress, in the following year, did, in some degree, modify the qualifications of electors. In 1809 Congress conferred upon the qualified voters of the territory the right to elect the legislative council and a delegate to Congress, and two years later it abolished the property qualifications of voters by extending " the right of voting for members of the general assembly and for a territorial delegate to Congress to every free white male person who had attained the age of twenty-one years, and who, having paid a county or territorial tax, " had been a resident of the territory for one year.
The first general assembly elected Benjamin Parke, an able and worthy man, as delegate to Congress. Mr. Parke was a native of New Jersey and had come to Indiana in 1801. In 1808 he resigned his place in Congress to take a seat on the supreme bench of the territory. Jesse B. Thomas, then speaker of the Indiana house of representatives, succeeded Judge Parke as delegate to Congress. On May 22, 1809, the first popu- lar election of a delegate was held. Jonathan Jennings, who was a conspicuous figure in the early history of Indiana, and to whom, more than to any other man, the preservation of the territory
4
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from the blight of slavery was due, was elected over Thomas Randolph by a small majority. The total vote polled was 911. Jonathan Jennings was born in New Jersey in 1784. His father was a Presbyterian minister. He passed his childhood and early youth in Fayette county, Pennsylvania, where he received an excellent education. He removed to Indiana territory when a very young man and was appointed clerk of the first territorial legislature. He was a determined anti- slavery man. In the congressional cam- paign of 1809 the issue was the slavery question. A strong party led by Gov- ernor Harrison was striving to have the ordinance of 1787, prohibiting slavery in the territory, amended or repealed. Jen- nings and his followers earnestly resisted GOV. JONATHAN JENNINGS this movement. At that time, notwith- standing the law, negroes were freely bought and sold in Indiana. The contest was extremely bitter. Jennings, who was a very young man, was opposed by most of the leading men in the territory. His election was contested by his oppo- nent, but Congress admitted him.
In 1810, the population of the territory had grown to 24,250. For several years following, the tide of immigration from the east was checked by Indian troubles in the territory and the disturbed condition of the country caused by the war with Great Britain, which was declared on June 18, 1812. Governor Harrison, then fresh from his triumph at Tippecanoe, was called again into the military service. In August he was
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appointed a major-general of the Kentucky militia, and in the following autumn was made commander of the army operating against the British in the northwest. The duties of governor then devolved for a time upon John Gibson, who was one of the most unique and interesting characters of the day. He was over seventy years of age, having been born in Lancaster, Pa., in 1740. He had had an adventurous career. In early life he had taken part in an expedition against the Indians in Pennsyl- vania. For a number of years he had lived at Fort Pitt (now Pittsburg ) where he was an Indian trader. At one time he was captured by the Indians and condemned, with a number of other white men, to be burned at the stake. An old squaw, who had conceived a fondness for him, rescued him from this terrible fate and adopted him as her son. For a number of years he lived among the Indians, adopting their customs and learning their language. He pined for civilization, however, and at the first opportunity made his escape and returned to Fort Pitt. He served as colonel of a regiment in the Revolu- tionary war and for a time was in command of the western frontier. In 1788 he was a member of the convention that framed the constitution of Pennsylvania. In ISoo he was appointed secretary of Indiana territory and organized its gov- ernment. It is said that his knowledge of the Indian character and language enabled him to prevent an outbreak at the famous conference between Harrison and Tecumseh. He had a marked influence with the Indians, among whom he was known as "Horsehead." Ile served the territory for one year both as governor and secretary. He died in 1822 near Pittsburg.
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The legislature of 1813 passed a number of important laws, one of which provided for the removal of the territorial capital from Vincennes to Corydon, Harrison county. During that year the settlers were thrown into a panic by Indian depreda-
H
FIRST CAPITOL AT CORYDON.
tions. The Indians, incited by emissaries of the British, fre- quently attacked the settlements, stealing horses, killing men and women and committing other outrages. Between Febru- ary and July, fourteen or fifteen white persons were killed by
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the savages and a large number wounded. Acting-Governor Gibson called into the service of the United States sixteen com- panies of territorial militia for the purpose of protecting the settlers against the hostile savages. Several companies of mounted rangers also took the field. They numbered about one hundred each. "Each man," says Dillon, " was armed with a rifle and a large knife and many of the rangers carried tomahawks. No uniforms were required to be worn by these troops, but the men generally wore hunting shirts, some of which were made of linsey and others of linen. The discipline that was required in the ranger service was not so strict as that which was observed in the regular service, but more strict than that of the militia companies. Each ranger carried his own supply of provisions, consisting of flour or corn-meal, bacon, etc. Their orders of march and encampment were generally determined by the character of the country over which they passed. Through heavily timbered districts they marched in single file. Those who marched in front on one day were thrown in the rear on the succeeding day. The horses in the rear of the line of march always suffered more from fatigue than those in front, because in passing over fallen trees, ravines, gullies or any other obstructions each horse, after the first, would lose some distance which he was forced to regain by increased speed; and in a troop of 100 the horse that passed last over any such obstruction would be compelled to gallop a considerable distance in order to main- tain his proper place in the file." It was not until 1814 that the territory became quiet and peaceful.
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On February 27, 1813, President Madison nominated Thomas Posey, then a United States senator from Tennessee, as governor of Indiana territory. He was confirmed on March 3 and assumed his duties in the following May. Posey was born on the banks of the Potomac July 9, 1750. His parents were poor and his early advantages very limited. In 1774 he joined Dunmore's expedition against the Indians. He fought in the Revolutionary war and was one of General Wayne's ablest lieutenants GOVERNOR THOMAS POSEY. in his Indian campaign. Returning from the military service with the rank of major-general he located in Tennessee. After the admission of Indiana as a state he was defeated for governor by John Jennings and was appointed an Indian agent for Illinois territory, but died soon after reaching Shawneetown, March 19, ISIS. He is described as a tall, athletic, handsome man, graceful and easy in manner. He was a devout member of the Presbyterian church and a man of uprightness and considerable ability.
The territorial general assembly met for the first time at Corydon in 1813. Among the important acts passed was one to prevent duelling. It required every public official in the service of the territory, either civil or military, and every attorney-at-law, to take the following oath: " That he or they (as the case may be) has neither directly nor indirectly given, accepted or knowingly carried a challenge to any person or persons, to fight in single combat or otherwise, with any 9
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deadly weapon, either in or out of this territory, since Febru- ary 15, 1814; and that he or they will neither directly nor indirectly give, accept or knowingly carry a challenge to any person or persons, to fight in single combat or otherwise, with any deadly weapon, either in or out of this territory during their continuance in office."
In 1815 a census was taken of the territory, which showed a total free white population of 63,897. The act organizing Indiana territory provided that whenever the free white popu- lation of Indiana exceeded 60,000 it should be admitted into the Union as a state. In December, 1815, the territorial legis- lature adopted a memorial to Congress, praying that body to order an election of delegates to a convention for the purpose of determining whether it was expedient to form a constitu- tion or provide for the holding of another convention for that purpose. The memorial contained this language: "And whereas the inhabitants of this territory are principally com- posed of emigrants from every part of the Union, and as various in their customs and sentiments as in their persons, we think it prudent, at this time, to express to the general government our attachment to the fundamental principles of legislation prescribed by Congress in their ordinance for the government of this territory, particularly as respects personal freedom and involuntary servitude, and hope they may be continued as the basis of the constitution." A bill to enable the people of Indiana territory to form a constitution and state government was reported by a committee of which Mr. Jennings was chairman. This bill became a law April 19,
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1816. Under its provisions a convention was chosen, which was in session at Corydon from June 10 to June 29, 1816, and which framed the constitution under which the people of Indiana lived in peace and prosperity for thirty five years.
Jonathan Jennings was chairman of the convention and William Hendricks secretary. The convention had a mem- bership of forty-three. "They were mostly," says Dillon, "clear-minded, unpretending men of common sense, whose patriotism was unquestionable and whose morals were fair." The constitution embraced a bill of rights of twenty-four sec- tions, containing all the guarantees of religious and civil liberty deemed essential to the full protection of the individual in life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. The legislature was con- stituted of a senate and house of representatives. Senators were to be chosen for three years; representatives for one vear. The legislature was to meet annually on the first Monday in December. The governor was to be elected for three years. He was given the pardoning power, the appoint- ment of supreme judges and other officials (with the approval of the senate ) and the veto power, which, however, could be overruled by a majority of each branch of the legislature. The judges of the supreme court were to hold seven years. The circuit courts were to consist of a president, appointed by the general assembly, and two associate judges, elected by the people. All white male citizens of the United States, who had resided in the state one year, were made voters. The constitu- tion provided a method for its amendment, with this condition: "But as the holding of any part of the human creation in
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slavery, or involuntary servitude, can only originate in usurpa- tion and tyranny, no alteration of this constitution shall ever take place so as to introduce slavery or involuntary servitude in this state, otherwise than for the punishment of crimes whereof the party shall have been duly convicted." The constitution made it the duty of the legislature to establish a system of popular education and institutions for the shelter and care of the unfortunate. The propositions and conditions embraced in the enabling act of Congress, relating to boundaries, the donation of government lands for school purposes and for a seat of government, etc., were formally ratified and accepted by the convention.
The constitution was not submitted to the people for ratification, but went into effect at once. It was the product of wisdom and patriotism. It embodied all the essential prin- ciples of free government and was in every way well designed to meet the necessities of the people by and for whom it was framed.
CHAPTER XV.
PAST AND PRESENT COMPARED AND CONTRASTED.
IMMIGRATION OF NEW ENGLANDERS AFTER 1814-POETIC PICTURE OF A GREAT COMMONWEALTH-TRANSPORTATION BEFORE THE DAYS OF RAILROADS- No ROADS-MRS. MORSS TELLS HER EXPERIENCES-CABINS OF THE PIONEERS-FEW AMUSEMENTS-DANCES-QUILTING BEES-DRESS OF THE OLD DAYS-THE BEAU OF THE PERIOD.
After final peace was made with the tribes of the north- west in 1814 another wave of immigration, greater than any which had preceded it, swept over the new states and terri- tories. The wide prairies and magnificent forests of the rich valley attracted people from all the eastern states, but especially from rocky, rugged New England. These New Englanders transplanted well, and here in the broad west their strong and robust traits of character, cribbed and confined in their mountain homes, expanded and developed into a nobler type of manhood, if our vanity may be pardoned for saying so. The advantages of education and refined society were by no means disregarded by these people, but in many instances they had to be sacrificed that the foundation of the future great commonwealths might be laid. The privations endured, the obstacles overcome, and the wise and judicious laws enacted, prove the founders of this new commonwealth to have been men of force, enterprise and foresight.
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"What constitutes a state?
Not high-raised battlement or labored mound, Thick wall or moated gate;
Not cities proud with spires and turret crown'd -- No; men, high-minded men,
With powers as high above dull brutes endued In forest, brake, or den,
As beasts excel cold rocks and brambles rude;
Men who their duties know, But know their rights, and knowing, dare maintain."
Settling in a new, wild region in the carly part of this nineteenth century was very different from settling in a new part of the country to-day. In the first place, there were no railroads to carry the pioneer to his destination, and weeks were occupied in making the trip. And how did the pioneer travel, do you ask? Well, unless he wished to locate on the banks of the Ohio river, where steamboats began running as early as 1812-the first one being called the "Orleans " --- he had to travel in ways that would seem to us now a great trial of patience. They nevertheless had some fascinations and advantages that we must forego as we are hurried from point to point in luxurious railway carriages. Hundreds came west on horseback, bringing with them, besides the horses they rode, others called pack-horses, which carried on their backs the goods of the owner. Hundreds of others came in pirogues and flatboats. The former were canoes split through the center, with a board inserted; the latter were large and flat and propelled by poles. The travelers usually camped out at night or stopped at the log-cabin of some settler who had already established himself in the wilderness.
Mrs. Susan A. Morss, mother of the editor of the Indian-
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, ,
IMS
apolis Sentinel, who is (1891), at the age of seventy-six, blessed with a vigorous mind and a retentive mem- ory, is fond of relating her adventures en route to Indiana in the year 1832. She left her birthplace in western New York, when quite EMIGRATING WEST. a young girl, with her family. They traveled to Dayton, Ohio, a distance of several hundred miles, in a sleigh. A few years later they journeyed
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from Dayton to Logansport, Indiana, in a carriage. There were literally no roads-merely openings through the forests. The mud was often so deep that the wheels sank to the hubs, and had to be pried out with rails. At Logansport the carriage was abandoned, and the travelers continued their journey to Fort Wayne on horseback. They spent three nights at the cabins which were scattered at wide intervals along the road. Repeatedly they were obliged to sleep in the same room with Indians, who lay stretched upon the floor-or ground-with their heads to the fire. Several nights they passed in Indian wig- wams, where they were most hospitably treated, the Indians appearing honored and gratified to entertain them. Mrs. Morss' experience was that of all who came to Indiana in the days of its infancy and early youth as a state.
ยท If these pioneers wished to become farmers-as most of them did-they were obliged to make a clearing in the forests before they could plant their crops. In many of the log cabins greased paper answered the purpose of glass for windows, while at night the only light was obtained from a wick burned in a saucer of grease called a "dip." Even in the houses of the settlements the best artificial light was that of a tallow candle. Ingenuity was often greatly taxed in making the rude, rough furniture for their homes. Cradles were sometimes made by sawing and splitting a hollow tree, and rude stools took the place of chairs. They raised their own flax and wool and did their own spinning and weaving. Their fare was of the coarsest. Corn-bread and pork were the staples of their diet, but vegetables of their own raising were soon added. One
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