USA > Indiana > Daviess County > History of Daviess County, Indiana : Its people, industries and institutions > Part 3
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REPRESENTATIVE STAGE OF GOVERNMENT (1799-1803).
The Northwest Territory remained under the government of the first stage until September 16, 1799, when it formally advanced to the second or representative stage. In the summer of 1798 Governor St. Clair had ascer- tained that the territory had a population of at least five thousand free male inhabitants and, in accordance with the provisions of the Ordinance of 1787,
43
DAVIESS COUNTY, INDIANA.
was ready to make the change in its form of government. On October 29, 1798, the governor issued a proclamation to the qualified voters of the terri- tory directing them to choose members for the lower house of the territorial Legislature at an election to be held on the third Monday of the following December. The twenty-two members so elected met on January 16, 1799, and, pursuant to the provisions of the ordinance, selected the ten men from whom the President of the United States later chose five for the Legislative Council. They then adjourned to meet on September 16, 1799, but since there was not a quorum on that day they held adjourned sessions until the 23rd, at which time a quorum was present.
At the time the change in the form of government went into effect there were only nine counties in the whole territory. These counties had been organized either by the governor or his secretary. The following table gives the nine counties organized before 1799 with the dates of their organization and the number of legislators proportioned to each by the governor :
Date of
Number of
County.
Organization.
representatives.
Washington
July 27, 1788
2
Hamilton
January 4, 1790
-7
St. Clair
April 27, 1790
I
Knox
June 20, 1790
I
Randolph
October 5, 1795
I
Wayne
August 6, 1796
-3
Adams
July 10, 1797
2
Jefferson
July 29, 1797
1
1
1
1
1
1
T
Ross
August 20, 1798
1
1
1
1
1
1
I
1 I
1
1
1
I
1
1
1
1 I
I
1
1 1
1
1
1
1
1
1
I
1
1
1 1
1
1
-4
FIRST TERRITORIAL LEGISLATURE OF NORTHWEST TERRITORY.
The twenty-two representatives and five councilors were the first rep- resentative body to meet in the Northwest Territory and they represented a constituency scattered over a territory of more than two hundred and sixty- five thousand square miles, an area greater than Germany or France, or even Austria-Hungary. It would be interesting to tell something of the delibera- tions of these twenty-seven sterling pioneers, but the limit of the present article forbids. It is necessary, however, to make mention of one important thing which they did in view of the fact that it throws much light on the subsequent history of the Northwest Territory.
İ
1
1
1
44
DAVIESS COUNTY, INDIANA.
DIVISION OF 1800.
The Legislature was authorized to elect a delegate to Congress and two candidates for the honor presented their names to the Legislature, William Henry Harrison and Arthur St. Clair, Jr., the son of the governor. The Legislature, by a joint ballot on October 3, 1799, elected Harrison by a vote of eleven to ten. The defeat of his son undoubtedly had considerable to do with the subsequent estrangement which arose between the governor and his legislature and incidentally hastened the division of the Northwest Terri- tory. Within two years from the time the territory had advanced to the second stage of government the division had taken place. On May 7, 1800, Congress passed an act dividing the Northwest Territory by a line drawn from the mouth of the Kentucky river to Fort Recovery, in Mercer county, Ohio, and thence due north to the boundary line between the United States and Canada. Governor St. Clair favored the division because he thought it would delay the organization of a state and thus give him a longer lease on his position, but he did not favor the division as finally determined. He was constantly growing in disfavor with the people on account of his overbearing manner and he felt that he would get rid of some of his bitterest enemies if the western inhabitants were set off into a new territory. However, the most of the credit for the division must be given to Harrison, who, as a dele- gate to Congress, was in a position to have the most influence. Harrison also was satisfied that in case a new territory should be formed he would be ap- pointed its first governor and he was not disappointed. The territory west of the line above mentioned was immediately organized and designated as Indiana Territory, while the eastern portion retained the existing govern- ment and the old name-Northwest Territory. It is frequently overlooked that the Northwest Territory existed in fact and in name up until March I, 1803.
CENSUS OF NORTHWEST TERRITORY IN 1800.
The division of 1800 left the Northwest Territory with only about one- third of its original area. The census of the territory taken by the United States government in 1800 showed it to have a total population of forty-five thousand three hundred and sixty-five, which fell short by about fifteen thou- sand of being sufficient for the creation of a state as provided by the Ordi- nance of 1787, which fixed the minimum population at sixty-thousand. The counties left in the Northwest Territory, with their respective population
45
DAVIESS COUNTY, INDIANA.
are set forth in the appended table, all of which were within the present state of Ohio, except Wayne :
Adams
3,432
Hamilton
1
14,632
Jefferson
8,766
Ross
8,540
Trumbull
1,302
Washington
5,427
Wayne
3,206
Total
45,365
The population as classified by the census with respect to age and sex is interesting and particularly so in showing that considerably more than one- third of the total population were children under ten years of age.
Males.
Females.
Whites up to ten years of age
9,362
8,644
Whites from ten to sixteen
3,647
3,353
Whites from sixteen to twenty-six
4,636
3,86I
Whites from twenty-six to forty-five.
4,833
3,342
Whites forty-five and upward
1,955
1,395
Total
24,433
20,595
Total of both sexes
45,028
Total of other persons, not Indians
337
Grand total
45,365
1
1
1
1
The above table shows in detail the character and distribution of the population of the Northwest Territory after the division of 1800. It is at this point that the history of Indiana properly begins and it is pertinent to set forth with as much detail as possible the population of Indiana Territory at that time. The population of 5,641 was grouped about a dozen or more settlements scattered at wide intervals throughout the territory. The follow- ing table gives the settlements in Indiana Territory in 1800 with their re- spective number of inhabitants :
46
DAVIESS COUNTY, INDIANA.
Mackinaw, in northern Michigan 251
Green Bay, Wisconsin 50
Prairie du Chien, Wisconsin 65
Cahokia, Monroe county, Illinois
1
1 719
Belle Fontaine, Monroe county, Illinois 286
L'Aigle, St. Clair county, Illinois 250
Kaskaskia, Randolph county, Illinois 467
Prairie du Rocher, Randolph county, Illinois 212
Settlement in Mitchel township, Randolph county, Ill. 334
Fort Massac, southern Illinois 90
Clark's Grant, Clark county, Indiana 929
Vincennes, Knox county, Indiana 714
Vicinity of Vincennes (traders and trappers) 819
Traders and trappers at Ouitenon and Fort Wayne I55
Fur traders, scattered along the lakes 300
Of this total population of nearly six thousand, it was about equally divided between what is now Indiana and Illinois. There were one hun- dred and sixty-three free negroes reported, while there were one hundred and thirty-five slaves of color. Undoubtedly, this census of 1800 failed to give all of the slave population, and it is interesting to note that there were efforts to enslave the Indian as well as the negro.
All of these settlements with the exception of the one in Clark's Grant were largely French. The settlement at Jeffersonville was made in large part by soldiers of the Revolutionary War and was the only real American settlement in the Indiana Territory when it was organized in 1800.
FIRST STAGE OF TERRITORIAL GOVERNMENT.
The government of Indiana Territory was formally organized July 4, 1800, and in a large book kept in the secretary of state's office at Indianapolis, there appears in the large legible hand of John Gibson the account of the first meeting of the officials of the Territory. It reads as follows :
"St. Vincennes, July 4, 1800. This day the government of the Indiana Territory commenced, William Henry Harrison having been appointed governor, John Gibson, secretary, William Clarke, Henry Vanderburgh & John Griffin Judges in and over said Territory."
Until Governor Harrison appeared at Vincennes, his secretary, John Gibson, acted as governor. The first territorial court met March 3, 1801,
47
DAVIESS COUNTY, INDIANA.
the first meeting of the governor and judges having begun on the 12th of the preceding January. The governor and judges, in accordance with the pro- visions of the Ordinance of 1787, continued to perform all legislative and judicial functions of the territory until it was advanced to the representative stage of government in 1805. The governor had sole executive power and appointed all officials, territorial and county.
CHANGES IN BOUNDARY LIMITS OF INDIANA.
During this period from 1800 to 1805, the territory of Indiana was con- siderably augmented as result of the organization of the state of Ohio in 1803. At that date Ohio was given its present territorial limits, and all of the rest of the Northwest Territory was included within Indiana Territory from this date until 1805. During this interim Louisiana was divided and the northern part was attached to Indiana Territory for purposes of civil and criminal jurisdiction. This was, however, only a temporary arrangement, which lasted only about a year after the purchase of Louisiana from France. The next change in the limits of Indiana Territory occurred in 1805, in which year the territory of Michigan was set off. The southern line of Michigan was made tangent to the southern extreme of Lake Michigan, and it so remained until Indiana was admitted to the Union in 1816. From 1805 to 1809 Indiana included all of the present states of Indiana, Illinois, Wiscon- sin and about one-third of Minnesota. In the latter year Illinois was set off as a territory and Indiana was left with its present limits with the exception of a ten-mile strip along the northern boundary. This strip was detached from Michigan and this subsequently led to friction between the two states, which was not settled until the United States government gave Michigan a large tract of land west of Lake Michigan. Thus it is seen how Indiana has received its present boundary limits as the result of the successive changes in 1803, 1805, 1809 and 1816.
SECOND STAGE OF TERRITORIAL GOVERNMENT (1805-1816.)
The Ordinance of 1787 provided that whenever the population of the territory reached five thousand free male inhabitants it should pass upon the question of advancing to the second or representative stage. Governor Har- rison issued a proclamation August 4, 1804, directing an election to be held in the various counties of Indiana territory on the IIth of the following month. In the entire territory, then comprehending six counties, there were
48
DAVIESS COUNTY, INDIANA.
only three hundred and ninety-one votes cast. The following table gives the result of this election :
County.
For Advance. Against Advance.
Total.
Clark
35
I3
48
Dearborn
1 1
0
26
26
Knox
163
I2
175
Randolph
I
I
40
21
61
St. Clair
I
22
59
81
Wayne
1
0
O
O
Total
260
I3I
391
1
1
1
It will be noticed that there is no vote returned from Wayne and this is accounted for by the fact that the proclamation notifying the sheriff was not received in time to give it the proper advertisement. Wayne county at that time included practically all of the present state of Michigan and is not to be confused with the Wayne county later formed within the present limits of Indiana. As result of this election and its majority of one hundred and twenty-nine in favor of advancing to the second stage of government, the governor issued a proclamation calling for an election on January 3, 1805, of nine representatives, the same being proportioned to the counties as follows : Wayne, three; Knox, two; Dearborn, Clark, Randolph and St. Clair, one each. The members of the first territorial legislature of Indiana convened at Vincennes on July 29, 1805. The members of the house were as follows : Dr. George Fisher, of Randolph; William Biggs and Shadrach Bond, of St. Clair; Benjamin Parke and John Johnson, of Knox; Davis Floyd, of Clark, and Jesse B. Thomas, of Dearborn. This gives, however, only seven repre- sentatives, Wayne county having been set off as the territory of Michigan in the spring of this same year. A re-apportionment was made by the governor in order to bring the quota of representatives up to the required number.
The Legislative Council consisted of five men as provided by the Ordin- ance of 1787, namely: Benjamin Chambers, of Dearborn; Samuel Gwath- mey, of Clark; John Rice Jones, of Knox; Pierre Menard, of Randolph, and John Hay, of St. Clair. It is not possible in this connection to give a detailed history of the territory of Indiana from 1805 until its admission to the Union in 1816. Readers who wish to make a study of our state's history can find volumes which will treat the history of the state in a much better manner
49
DAVIESS COUNTY, INDIANA.
than is possible in a volume of this character. It may be noted that there were five general assemblies of the Territorial Legislature during this period of eleven years. Each one of the five general assemblies was divided into two sessions, which, with the dates, are given in the appended table :
First General Assembly-First session, July 29, 1805; second session, November 3, 1806.
Second General Assembly-First session, August 12, 1807; second session, September 26, 1808.
Third General Assembly-First session, November 12, 18io; second session, November 12, 18II.
Fourth General Assembly-First session, February 1, 1813; second session, December 6, 1813.
Fifth General Assembly-First session, August 15, 1814; second session, December 4, 1815.
CONGRESSIONAL DELEGATES OF INDIANA TERRITORY.
Indiana Territory was allowed a delegate in Congress from 1805 until the close of the territorial period. The first three delegates were elected by the Territorial Legislature, while the last four were elected by the qualified voters of the territory. The first delegate was Benjamin Parke, who was elected to succeed himself in 1807 over John Rice Jones, Waller Taylor and Shadrach Bond. Parke resigned March 1, 1808, to accept a seat on the. supreme judiciary of Indiana Territory, and remained on the supreme bench of Indiana after it was admitted to the Union, holding the position until his death at Salem, Indiana, July 12, 1835. Jesse B. Thomas was elected Octo- ber 22, 1808, to succeed Parke as delegate to Congress. It is this same Thomas who came to Brookville in 1808 with Amos Butler. He was a tricky, shifty, and, so his enemies said, an unscrupulous politician. He was later elected to Congress in Illinois and became the author of the Missouri Compromise. In the spring of 1809 the inhabitants of the territory were permitted to cast their first vote for the delegate to Congress. Three candi- dates presented themselves for the consideration of the voters, Jonathan Jennings, Thomas Randolph and John Johnson. There were only four counties in the state at this time, Knox, Harrison, Clark and Dearborn. Two counties, St. Clair and Randolph, were a part of the new territory of Illinois, which was cut off from Indiana in the spring of 1809. The one newspaper of the territory waged a losing fight against Jennings, the latter appealing for
(4)
50
DAVIESS COUNTY, INDIANA.
support on the ground of his anti-slavery views. The result of the election was as follows: Jennings, 428; Randolph, 402; Johnson, 81. Jonathan Jennings may be said to be the first successful politician produced in Indiana. His congressional career began in 1809 and he was elected to Congress four successive terms before 1816. He was president of the constitution conven- tion of 1816, first governor of the state and was elected a second time, but resigned to go to Congress, where he was sent for four more terms by the voters of his district.
EFFORTS TO ESTABLISH SLAVERY IN INDIANA.
The Ordinance of 1787 specifically provided that neither slavery nor any voluntary servitude should ever exist in the Northwest Territory. Notwith- standing this prohibition, slavery actually did exist, not only in the North- west Territory, but in the sixteen years while Indiana was a territory as well. The constitution of Indiana in 1816 expressly forbade slavery and yet the census of 1820 reported one hundred and ninety slaves in Indiana, which was only forty-seven less than there was in 1810. Most of these slaves were held in the southwestern counties of the state, there being one hundred and eighteen in Knox, thirty in Gibson, eleven in Posey, ten in Vanderburg and the remainder widely scattered throughout the state. As late as 1817 Frank- lin county scheduled slaves for taxation, listing them at three dollars each. The tax schedule for 1813 says that the property tax on "horses, town lots, servants of color and free males of color shall be the same as in 1814." Franklin county did not return slaves at the census of 1810 or 1820, but the above extract from the commissioners' record of Franklin county proved con- clusively that slaves were held there. Congress was petitioned on more than one occasion during the territorial period to set aside the prohibition against slavery, but on each occasion refused to assent to the appeal of the slavery advocates. While the constitution convention of 1816 was in session, there was an attempt made to introduce slavery, but it failed to accomplish anything.
THE INDIAN LANDS.
The United States government bought from the Indians all of the land within the present state of Indiana with the exception of a small tract around Vincennes, which was given by the Indians to the inhabitants of the town about the middle of the eighteenth century. The first purchase of land was made in 1795, at which time a triangular strip in the southeastern part of the
5I
1
DAVIESS COUNTY, INDIANA.
state was secured by the treaty of Greenville. By the time Indiana was ad- mitted to the Union in 1816, the following tracts had been purchased : Vin- cennes tract, June 7, 1803; Vincennes treaty tract, August 18 and 27, 1804; Grouseland tract, August 21, 1805; Harrison's purchase, September 30, 1809; Twelve-mile purchase, September 30, 1809.
No more purchases were made from the Indians until the fall of 1818, at which time a large tract of land in the central part of the state was pur- chased from the Indians. This tract included all of the land north of the Indian boundary lines of 1805 and 1809, and south of the Wabash river with the exception of what was known as the Miami reservation. This treaty, known as St. Mary's, was finally signed on October 6, 1818, and the next Legislature proceeded to divide it into two counties, Wabash and Delaware.
ORGANIZATION OF COUNTIES.
As fast as the population would warrant, new counties were established in this New Purchase and Hamilton county was the tenth to be so organized. This county was created by the legislative act of January 8, 1823, and began its formal career as an independent county on the 7th of the following April. For purposes of reference, a list of the counties organized up until 1823, when Hamilton county was established, is here appended. The dates given represent the time when the organization of the county became effective, since in many instances it was from a few months to as much as seven years after the act establishing the county was passed before it became effective.
I. Knox June 20, 1790 15.
Orange
Feb. 1, 1816
2. Clark
Feb.
3, 1801
16. Sullivan
Jan. 15, 1817
3. Dearborn Mch. 7, 1803 I7. Jennings Feb. 1, 1817
4. Harrison Dec. I, 1808 18.
Pike
Feb. 1, 1817
5. Jefferson Feb. 1, 18II 19.
Daviess Feb. 15, 1817
Feb. 1, 1818
7. Wayne Feb.
1, 18II 21.
Spencer Feb. 1, 1818
8. Warrick Apr. 1, 1813 22. Vanderburgh Feb. 1, 1818
9. Gibson Apr. 1, 1813 23.
Vigo
Feb. 15, 1818
IO. Washington Jan. 17, 1814 24. Crawford
Mch. 1, 1818
II. Switzerland Oct.
1, 1814 25. Lawrence
Mch. 1, 1818
12. Posey Nov.
1, 1814 26. Monroe Apr. 10, 1818
I3. Perry
Nov. I, 1814 27. Ripley Apr. 10, 1818
14. Jackson Jan. I, 1816 28. Randolph Aug. 10, 1818
6. Franklin Feb. 1, 18II 20. Dubois
52
DAVIESS COUNTY, INDIANA.
29. Owen Jan. 1, 1819
38. Morgan
Feb. 15. 1822
30. Fayette
.Jan.
1, 1819
39.
Decatur
Mch. 4, 1822
3I. Floyd Feb. 2, 1819 40.
Shelby
Apr. 1, 1822
32. Scott Feb. 1, 1820 41.
Rush
.Apr. 1, 1822
33. Martin Feb. I, 1820
42.
Marion
Apr.
I, 1822
34.
Union
Feb.
I, 182I
43.
Putnam
Apr. 1, 1822
35.
Greene Feb.
5, 182I
44. Henry
June 1, 1822
36. Bartholomew
Feb. 12, 1821 45. Montgomery Mch. 1, 1823
37. Parke
Apr. 2, 1821
46.
Hamilton
Apr. 7, 1823
The first thirteen counties in the above list were all that were organized when the territory of Indiana petitioned Congress for an enabling act in 1815. They were in the southern part of the state and had a total population of sixty-three thousand eight hundred and ninety-seven. At that time the total state tax was only about five thousand dollars, while the assessment of the whole state in 1816 amounted to only six thousand forty-three dollars and thirty-six cents.
CHANGES IN THE CONSTITUTION OF INDIANA.
The Constitution of 1816 was framed by forty-three delegates who met at Corydon from June 10 to June 29 of that year. It was provided in the Constitution of 1816 that a vote might be taken every twelve years on the question of amending, revising or writing a wholly new instrument of gov- ernment. Although several efforts were made to hold constitution conven- tions between 1816 and 1850, the vote failed each time until 1848. Elections were held in 1823, 1828, 1840 and 1846, but each time there was returned an adverse vote against the calling of a constitutional convention. There were no amendments to the 1816 Constitution, although the revision of 1824, by Benjamin Parke and others was so thorough that it was said that the revision committee had done as much as a constitution convention could have done.
It was not until 1848 that a successful vote on the question of calling a constitution convention was carried. There were many reasons which in- duced the people of the state to favor a convention. Among these may be mentioned the following: The old Constitution provided that all the state officers except the governor and lieutenant-governor should be elected by the legislature. Many of the county and township officers were appointed by the county commissioners. Again, the old Constitution attempted to handle too many matters of local concern. All divorces from 1816 to 1851 were
53
DAVIESS COUNTY, INDIANA.
granted by the Legislature. Special laws were passed which would apply to particular counties and even to particular townships in the county. If Nobles- ville wanted an alley vacated or a street closed, it had to appeal to the Legis- lature for permission to do so. If a man wanted to ferry people across a stream in Posey county, his representative presented a bill to the Legislature asking that the proposed ferryman be given permission to ferry people across the stream. The agitation for free schools attracted the support of the edu- cated people of the state, and most of the newspapers were outspoken in their advocacy of better educational privileges. The desire for better schools, for freer representation in the selection of officials, for less interference by the Legislature in local affairs, led to a desire on the part of majority of the people of the state for a new Constitution.
The second constitutional convention of Indiana met at Indianapolis, October 7, 1850, and continued in session for four months. The one hun- dred and fifty delegates labored faithfully to give the state a Constitution fully abreast of the times and in accordance with the best ideas of the day. More power was given the people by allowing them to select not only all of the state officials, but also their county officers as well. The convention of 1850 took a decided stand against the negro and proposed a referendum on the question of prohibiting the further emigration of negroes into the state of Indiana. The subsequent vote on this question showed that the people were not disposed to tolerate the colored race. As a matter of fact no negro or mulatto could legally come into Indiana from 1852 until 1881, when the restriction was removed by an amendment of the Constitution. Another important feature of the new Constitution was the provision for free schools. What we now know as a public school supported at the expense of the state, was unknown under the 1816 Constitution. The new Constitution estab- lished a system of free public schools, and subsequent statutory legislation strengthened the constitutional provision so that the state now ranks among the leaders in educational matters throughout the nation. The people of the state had voted on the question of free schools in 1848 and had decided that they should be established, but there was such a strong majority opposed to free schools that nothing was done. Orange county gave only an eight per cent vote in favor of free schools, while Putnam and Monroe, containing DePauw and Indiana Universities, respectively, voted adversely by large majorities. But, with the backing of the Constitution, the advocates of free schools began to push the fight for their establishment, and as a result of the legislative acts of 1855, 1857 and 1867, the public schools were placed upon a sound basis.
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