USA > Indiana > Dearborn County > History of Dearborn County, Indiana : her people, industries and institutions > Part 2
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Digitized by
HISTORICAL INDEX
First Houses
231
First Things
231
Floods
240, 244. 247, 248, 486
Growth
237, 246
Hard Times
243
Land Entered
230
Landmarks
250
Library
236
Lodges
410, 414, 416,
418
New Orleans Trade
237
Newspapers
234, 372
Patriotism of People
241
Physicians
235
Prices, Early
235
Quarries
65
Railways
248, 254
River Trade
.237, 239
Schools
456, 459, 464, 467
Town Government
252
Town Site
230
Trade Center, An Early
442
Lawrenceburg Academy
460
Lawrenceburg Institute
..
460
Lawrenceburg Township-
Churches
401
Early Families
183
Land Entries
183
First Events
204
Pioneer History
183
Reminiscences
190
Settlement
183
Lawrenceville
179,
395
Lawyers of the County
339
Legislative Council, First
48
Legislature, First Territorial
48
Legislature, State
141
Limestone Soil
68
Lincoln, Abraham, Visit of
505
Lincoln's Assassination
328
Location of Dearborn County
63
Lodges
410
Logan Township-
Boundaries
195
Churches
395
Early Business Interests
196
Early Families
195
Land Entries
116,
195
Mill
196
Organization
195
Schools
458
Settlement
195
Logans Cross Roads
196
Lutheran Churches
399
Mc
McClure, William
167
McGuire, James
1.48
M
Mail Routes
440
Maine Emigrants
198
Major, Daniel S.
351
Manchester-
Churches
390
Lodges
4II
Roads
442
Schools, Early
459
Settlement
198
Manchester Township-
Area
107
Changes in Territory
197
Character of Population
204
Churches
202
400
Early History
197
Emigrants from Maine
198
First Cabin
198
Land Entries
197
Pleasant View Debating Club
204
Schools
458
Settlement
197
Stories of Early Settlers
199
Market Conditions, Early
429
Masonic Order
410
Medical Fees
358
Medical Profession
356
Methodist Episcopal Churches
152, 168, 189, 214, 219, 224, 247, 385
Methodist Protestant Church
215
Mexican War
288
Miami Bottoms, Settlers in
115
Miami Clay Loam Soil
68
Military History
282
Military History of Indiana
55
Militia
132
Miller Township-
Boundaries
205
Church History
214
Creation of
205
Election, First
212
Digitized by
HISTORICAL INDEX
English Settlers
212
Entries of Land
206
Family of Patriots
211
tory
42
Organization of the County
132
First Settlers
207
Influential Men
208
Land Purchases
205
Organization
205
Pioneer Girl's Experience
210
Schools
455
Settlement
205
Mills 161, 163, 165, 178, 197, 212, 218, 273
Minerals
66
Moore, John C.
219
Moores Hill-
Altitude
64
Bank
426
Churches
391. 395
College
219, 472
Early Business Interests
220
First Stores
220
Laid Out
219
Location
218
Methodist Settlement
219
Name
219
Population
219
Town Government
220
Moores Hill College
472
Morgan's Raid
188, 329, 516
Morgantown
179
Mound Builders
74, 170
Murder by Indians
112
N
Name of Dearborn County
132
Natural Resources of State
60
New Alsace
181,
408
Probate Judges
1.40
Newspapers
234, 274, 372
Northwest Territory
34
Northwest Territory, Capitals of
54
Northwest Territory, Census of
44
Northwest Territory, Organization
of
42
O
Odd Fellows, Order of
414
Officers of the County, First
132
Ohio Company, the
104
Old-time Ailments
364
Ordinance of 1787
39,
80
Organization of Counties
........ 43,
51
Organization of Northwest Terri-
Orpheus Club
484
P
Patrons Mutual Fire Ins. Co.
192
Pauper for Sale
381
Pella
210
Petersburg
158
Physicians
356
Pike Family
130
Pioneer Bar
341
Pioneer Cabin
162
Pioneer Customs
122
Pioneer Days
114
Pioneer Experiences
161
Pioneer Farming Conditions
430, 435
Pioneer Girl's Experience
210
Pioneer Homes
157
Pioneer Newspaper, Typical
379
Pioneers, Hardships of
118
Pioneers, Sidelights on
127
Pleasant View Debating Club
204
Political History of Indiana
57
Pontiac's Conspiracy
36
Population of Indiana
57
Population. Territorial
45
Presbyterian Churches
397
Present Members of the Bar
356
Present Physicians
371
Press, the
234, 274, 372
Prices, Early
235
Primitive Domicile
121
Produce, Price of
126
Prosecuting Attorneys
1.45
Q
Quebec Act
........
36
R
Railroads
248, 254, 445
Recorders, County
145
Red Men, Improved Order of
418
"Redstone," I11-Fated
506
Related State History
33
Digitized by
HISTORICAL INDEX
Removal of County Seat.
133
Spooner, Col. Benjamin J.
352
Representative Stage of Government
42
Stage Routes
440
Representatives
141
Review Club
483
Revolutionary Period
36
Revolutionary Soldiers
282
River Changes
64
River Trade
237
River Transportation
446
Road, First Permanent
437
Roberts, George M.
353
Rocks, the
65
Ross Family
160
Runaway Slave Story
511
S
St. Cecelia Musicale
482
St. Clair's Defeat
34,
85
St. Leon
65, 182, 409
Scenery of the County
63
School Superintendent, County
145
Schools
453
Schwartz, John
353
Secret Societies
410
Seminary, County
457
Settlement in Indiana Territory
45
Settlement of Dearborn County
99
...
Settlers 127, 148, 157, 159, 167, 172,
177, 181, 183, 195, 197, 205, 217, 221
Settlers, First Actual
107, 110
Sheriffs
145
Sidelights on Dearborn History
505
Sidelights on Pioneers
127
Size of Dearborn County
63
Slavery. Efforts to Establish
50
Soil Analysis
71
Soils
68
Spanish-American War
56,
336
Sparks, Judge Elijah
345
Sparta
220, 395
Sparta Township-
Boundaries
216
Churches
219
Description
216
Distillery
218
Land Entries
216
Mills
218
Origin of Settlers
218
Schools
458
Settlement
217
State Benevolent Institutions
61
State Educational System
61
State History
33
State Legislature
141
State Medical Society 359
State Military History
55
State Political History
57
State Road, the
442
Stockade at Guilford
227
Stratified Rocks
65
Superintendent of Schools, County 145
Survey of Dearborn County
128, 139
Surveyors, County
146
Surveys, First Territorial
39
Symmes Purchase, Settlements on 100
T
Tanner's Station
127, 158
Taverns
442
Teachers, Early
455
Territorial Congressional Delegates
49
Territorial Election, First
48
Territorial Government
46
Territorial Judges
139
Territorial Legislatures
43,
141
Territorial Surveys, First
39
Territory Northwest of the Ohio
34
Thomas, Jesse B.
344
Topography of County .
63,
66
Transportation
437
Treasurers, County
,144
Treaty of Ft. Finney
94
Treaty of Greenville
80
Tribute to the Early Settler
125
U.
United Brethren Church
178, 181
V
Vance, Capt. Samuel C.
139, 186, 230, 239, 241, 354, 438, 467
Vincennes, Capture of
37
Vincennes, Settlement of
38
Volunteers from Dearborn County 290
Votes for Constitutional Convention 52
Digitized by Google
HISTORICAL INDEX
W
War of 1812
285
War of the Rebellion
296
War with Mexico
288
War with Spain
336
Wars, Indiana's Part in
55
Wars with Indians
33
Washington Agricultural School
467
Washington Township-
Churches
224
Creation of
221
Description of
221
Land Entries
221
Location
221
Pioneers, the
223
Reminiscences
222
Settlement
221
Watts Family
150
Wayne, Gen. Anthony
41
Wealth of Indiana
60
Weaver Family
184
Weisburg
64.
179
West Harrison
116, 170
Whitewater Canal
444
Wild Fruit
156
Wild Game
156
Wilmington-
Additions to
176
Churches
391
County Seat
133, 176
County Seminary
176, 453, 457
Early Business Interests
176
Laid Out
174, 176
Lodges
413, 416
Newspaper
376
Population
176
Public Buildings
176
Schools
457, 459
Transportation
441
Wilmington Seminary
457
Wolf Den. In a
515
Woman's Research Club, Aurora
485
Women's Clubs
482
Y
York Township-
Burying Ground, Old
228
Cabin, First
228
Creation of
226
Land Entries
2.26
Name
226
Schools, Early
458
Settlement
226
Stockade, Old
227
Yorkville
226, 229, 409
Digitized by
i
BIOGRAPHICAL INDEX
A
Abraham, William L.
611
Alig, Philip H.
647
Andres, John A.
651
Andres, Rev. Martin
683
Axby, Joseph L., D. V. S.
573
B
Backman, Co. John Jeremiah
1039
Bailey, Edgar U.
692
Barker, Edward
994
Bauer, Jacob M.
874
Bayly, Miss Eva
671
Bennett, Adolphus W.
603
Bennett, Mrs. Margaretha
863
Berg, Philip
1030
Berner, Herman
985
Berkermeier, Charles H.
861
Bidner, Peter
1058
Bielby, Hon. Estal G.
529
Bigney, Prof. Andrew J.
803
Bishop, Charles R.
644
Bittner, Frank
674
Bloom, Benjamin F.
610
Bobrink. John A.
660
Bockhorst. Henry D.
679
Bond, Marc L., M. D.
696
Borgerding, Mrs. Emma C.
705
Bowers, Charles M.
733
Braun, Philip C.
Brown, Robert L.
865
Bruce, Adam
887
Bruce, Martin V.
758
Bunger, Wesley G.
1010
Burlingame, Harry S.
854
Busse, George F.
560
Busse, Henry C.
765
Busse, Henry P.
851
Busse, William F.
601
C
Calhoun, William S.
895
Canfield, Mrs. Elizabeth
757
Canfield, Perry
810
Canfield, Vanden B.
1006
Carter, Julius P.
956
Cass, Robert Barr
1056
Chance, Robert H.
742
Clemenz, Edward C.
717
Cobb, Louis W.
699
Cole, George C.
536
Conaway, Mrs. Anna Smith
739
Conaway, Preston H.
858
Cones, Louis H.
968
Cook, August D.
1060
Cooper, Edward, D. V. S.
591
Cottingham, Thomas Benton
708
Cox, Frank M.
843
Creath, William A.
IOII
D
Darragh, Charles B.
925
Dashiell, Rev. John W., D. D.
824
Davies, Llewellyn E.
614
Dean, Willard M.
840
Decker, Carl W.
931
Demas, George
838
Diefenbaugh, George F.
594
561
Diehl, Clifford S.
892
Dietrich, Albert H.
1042
Dietrich, George August
714
Dietz, Albert V.
728
Dils, Clifford J.
884
Dittmer, John F.
998
Dober, Edward
766
Dorman, J. S.
1015
Downey, Charles A.
563
Duncan, William F., M. D.
1051
Digitized by
BIOGRAPHICAL INDEX
E
Ebel, Arthur H.
534
Eberhart, Charles
774
Ellinghausen, Henry H.
589
Emerson, William A.
929
Emmert, Philip J.
1019
Enyart, William E.
944
F
Faber, Henry
720.
Fagaly, Arthur T., M. D.
793
Feist, Joseph P.
787
Fischvogt, Louis F.
653
Fisher, Harry E.
581
Fitch, Thomas A.
915
Folke, Henry H.
551
Foulk, Louis M.
738
Fuller, Elijah
607
G
Gardner, Robert R.
1002
Gear, Henry
819
Givan, John F.
973
Givan, Martin J.
937
Givan, Hon. Noah Samson
526
Glover, William G.
554
Gooden, William T.
532
Greene, William H.
731
Greenham, Claude D.
590
Greenham, Edward
583
Grelle, Fred
726
Gridley, Albert T.
680
Groff, Joseph
896
H
Hall, John C.
604
Harsch, Christian G.
823
Hauck, Judge Warren N.
791
Hayes, Edward
1065
Hayes, Ezra P.
958
Headley, Enoch
869
Heffelmire, Frank
842
Heibeck, Frederick
893
Helmuth, Lewis H.
770
Hill, Capt. Abram
633
Leive, William H.
850
Hill, Adam K.
781
Hill, Lew W.
557
Hodell, Henry
905
Hoffmeier, Anthony
933
Holthause, Edward
836
Homann, John F.
618
Hooper, James N.
751
Hornbach, Jacob
853
Hornberger, John
719
Hornberger, John F.
545
Hornberger, William
722
Hoskins, William L.
549
Houston, Joseph R., A. M.
701
Housmyer, John F.
799
Howrey, Weldon E.
630
Hueseman, Ernst H.
754
Huschart, Michael M.
936
J
Jackson, John M., M. D.
642
James, Anderson M. T.
966
Jaquith, Orville S., M. D.
789
Johnston, Columbus
712
Johnston, David E., M. D.
996
Johnston, Ella Jane
712
Johnston, George
808
Johnston, George W.
565
Johnston, Robert L.
569
Johnston, Thomas
677
Jones, Sylvester D.
1068
K
Kammeyer, Albert H.
995
Kemp, Charles O.
778
Kennedy, John B.
910
Kimball, William H.
798
King, Harry A., D. D.
628
Knippenberg, Henry H.
676
Knippenberg, John N.
940
Kruse, Mrs. Laura E.
622
Kuhn, Edward
771
Kunz, George
899
L
Lamar, Edward B.
848
Larimer, Major James E.
986
Lauman, Henry F.
706
Leive, Herman H.
657
Lewis, George H.
744
Lieberman, Charles R.
741
Digitized by
BIOGRAPHICAL INDEX
Loftus, James
736
Lommel, Edward G.
785
Longcamp, Henry J., D. D. S.
999
Lotshaw, Hannah
627
Lotshaw, Oscar
627
Lowe, Roger William, Sr.
1044
Luke, Charles F.
638
Lusk, Prof. Robert W.
599
Mc
MacElvain, Ben R.
829
Mccullough, John
698
McCune, William H.
1032
McElroy, Dr. Jesse L.
540
Mckinney, William Holman
1050
McKinzie, Daniel E.
685
M
Maloney, Michael E.
556
Marlowe, Ernest O.
979
Mathias, Albert H.
867
Mendell, William H.
616
Meyer, George Henry
711
Meyer, Henry
1070
Meyer, John F.
668
Meyers, William
1030
Miller, Clay J.
579
Miller, Thomas M.
716
Moeller, Herman H.
1001
Moore, Capt. Hansen D.
877
Moore, Richard C.
934
Mosmeier, Charles
686
Mulford, Morton C.
953
Mulford, William Charles
1033
Murdock, James
597
N
Neukom, W. J.
664
Nieman, Charles H.
625
Niemeyer, George
859
Nolte, John H.
816
Nolte, John L.
666
Nowlin, Ambrose E.
521
Nowlin, Harry Langdale
901
O
Oberting, John W.
1067
O'Brien, Cornelius 1025
O'Brien, Hon. William H.
1007
Oertling, Ernest Grant
1053
Olcott, Morris D.
815
Opp, Charles A.
655
P
Parks, Joseph G.
1063
Parrott, J. W.
1047
Pieper, Henry
748
Probst, John
885
R
Reagan, Peter
970
Rees, Martha and Mary E.
710
Richmond, Prof. Nathan L.
963
Richmond, Reuben M.
952
Riggs, George A.
762
Rodenberg, Louis F.
1017
Roehm, John M.
948
Rohlfing, Edward Otto
1049
Ruble, William
832
Rueter, Jesse
828
Ruhlman, Louis B.
817
Rullmann, Henry H.
688
Ruppert, George W.
946
S
Sawdon, George W.
703
Schipper, Frank A.
575
Schleicher, Joseph
796
Schmutte, Frederick
662
Schulz, Edward
847
Schumacher, Henry F.
761
Schuman, Joseph A.
921
Scripture, Ira A.
813
Seifert, Joseph
1037
Shaw, Archibald
552
Sherrod, Albert G.
783
Shockley, Clarence M.
801
Shuter, William
871
Shutts, James H.
615
Siekerman, William
Sims, Amos W.
586
Slater, Frederick
882
Small, Elias
618
Small, Mrs. Emma
617
Small, Joseph C.
639
Smith, Mrs. Ermina C.
612
Smith, Jeorge F., M. D. 567
Sondermann, Rev. Frank H.
961
Sondermann, Rev. John F.
879
Spaeth, Capt. Henry P.
519
Spanagel, Albert
542
Squibb, George L. P.
827
Squibb, Horace G.
873
Digitized by
821
BIOGRAPHICAL INDEX
Squibb, Nathaniel E.
908
Squibb, William P.
831
Stark, Ambrose E.
690
Stedman, Nathan
694
Steuver, Mrs. Amelia E.
889
Stevens, Carroll L.
648
Stier, John H.
571
Stoll, Louis D.
844
Sutton, George, M. D.
584
Sutton, Miss Georgiana
538
Sutton, Harley H., M. D.
776
Swarthout, Ernest W.
544
T
Terrill, Thomas E.
856
Theobald, John
990
Torbet, Charles Edgar
730
Trennepohl, J. H.
755
Treon, James F., M. D.
806
Turner, William T.
620
V
Van Dolah, Mrs. Nancy L.
...
609
Van Horn, Samuel A.
912
Van Osdol, Charles L., D. D. S. 723
Vesenmeir, Adam
927
Vinup, John F.
834
Vonholt Brothers
1029
Voshell, Charles L.
672
W
Walker, Emily E. (Hubbartt) 746
Werner, Henry
650
Wescott, William H. 923
Wheeler, Henry C. 981
White, Richard
950
Whiteford, William R.
623
Wilkin, Stanley E.
942
Williams, Wilbur A.
1003
Wilson, Clarence B. 524
Wilson, Robert P. 577
Wood, George H.
918
Wright, Hewson
Z
Zimmer, Nicholas
........ .1013
Digitized by Google
HISTORICAL.
CHAPTER I.
RELATED STATE HISTORY.
The first white men to set foot upon the Northwest Territory were French traders and missionaries under the leadership of La Salle. This was about the year 1670 and subsequent discoveries and explorations in this region by the French gave that nation practically undisputed possession of all the territory organized in 1787 as the Northwest Territory. It is true that the English colonies of Virginia, Connecticut and Massachusetts claimed that their charters extended their grants westward to the Mississippi river. However, France claimed this territory and successfully maintained posses- sion of it until the close of the French and Indian War in 1763. At that time the treaty of Paris transferred all of the French claims east of the Mississippi river to England, as well as all claims of France to territory on the mainland of North America. For the next twenty years the Northwest Territory was under the undisputed control of England, but became a part of the United States by the treaty which terminated the Revolutionary War in 1783. Thus the flags of three nations have floated over the territory now comprehended within the present state of Indiana-the tri-color of France, the union jack of England and the stars and stripes of the United States.
History will record the fact that there was another nation, however, which claimed possession of this territory and, while the Indians can hardly be called a nation, yet they made a gallant fight to retain their hunting grounds. The real owners of this territory struggled against heavy odds to maintain their supremacy and it was not until the battle of Tippecanoe, in the fall of 1811, that the Indians gave up the unequal struggle. Tecumseh, the Washington of his race, fought fiercely to save this territory for his people, but the white man finally overwhelmed him, and "Lo, the poor Indian" was pushed westward across the Mississippi. The history of the Northwest Territory is full of the bitter fights which the Indians waged in trying to drive the white man out and the defeat which the Indians inflicted on General St. Clair on November 4, 1792, will go down in the annals of American
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34
DEARBORN COUNTY, INDIANA.
history as the worst defeat which an American army ever suffered at the hands of the Indians. The greatest battle which has ever been fought in the United States against the Indians occurred in the state of Ohio. This was the battle of Fallen Timbers and occurred August 20, 1794, the scene of the battle being within the present county of Defiance. After the close of the Revolutionary War the Indians. urged on by the British. caused the settlers in the Northwest Territory continued trouble and defeated every detachment sent against them previous to their defeat by Gen. Anthony Wayne at the battle of Fallen Timbers in 1794. Although there was some trouble with the Indians after this time, they never offered serious resistance after this memorable de- feat until the fall of 1811, when Gen. William Henry Harrison completely routed them at the battle of Tippecanoe.
TERRITORY NORTHWEST OF THE OHIO ( 1670-1754).
Ohio was the first state created out of the old Northwest Territory, although Indiana had been previously organized as a territory. When the land comprehended within the Northwest Territory was discovered by the French under La Salle about 1670, it was a battle-ground of various Indian tribes, although the Eries, who were located along the shores of Lake Erie, were the only ones with a more or less definite territory. From 1670 to 1763, the close of the French and Indian War. the French were in possession of this territory and established their claims in a positive manner by exten- sive exploration and scattered settlements. The chief centers of French settlement were at Detroit, Vincennes, Kaskaskia, Cahokia, Fort Crevecour and at several missionary stations around the shores of the great lakes. The French did not succeed in doing this without incurring the hostility of the Iroquois Indians, a bitter enmity which was brought about chiefly because the French helped the Shawnees, Wyandots and Miamis to drive the Iroquois out of the territory west of the Muskingum river in Ohio.
It must not be forgotten that the English also laid claim to the North- west Territory, basing their claim on the discoveries of the Cabots and the subsequent charters of Virginia, Massachusetts and Connecticut. These charters extended the limits of these three colonies westward to the Pacific ocean, although, as a matter of fact, none of the three colonies made a settle- ment west of the Alleghanies until after the Revolutionary War. New York sought to strengthen her claim to territory west of the Alleghanies in 1701, by getting from the Iroquois, the bitter enemies of the French, a grant to the
Digitized by Google
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35
DEARBORN COUNTY, INDIANA.
territory from which the French and their Indian allies had previously ex- pelled them. Although this grant was renewed in 1726 and again confirmed in 1744, it gave New York only a nominal claim and one which was never recognized by the French in any way.
English traders from Pennsylvania and Virginia began in 1730 to pay more attention to the claims of their country west of the Alleghanies and north of the Ohio river. When their activities reached the ears of the French the governor of French Canada sent Celeron de Bienville up and down the Ohio and the rivers and streams running into it from the north and took formal possession of the territory by planting lead plates at the mouth of every river and stream of any importance. This peculiar method of the French in seeking to establish their claims occurred in the year 1749 and opened the eyes of England to the necessity of taking some immediate action. George II, the king of England at the time, at once granted a charter. for the first Ohio Company (there were two others by the same name later organ- ized) composed of London merchants and enterprising Virginians, and the company at once proceeded to formulate plans to secure possession of the ter- ritory north of the Ohio and west of the Mississippi. Christopher Gist was sent down the Ohio river in 1750 to explore the country as far west as the mouth of the Scioto river, and made several treaties with the Indians. Things were now rapidly approaching a crisis and it was soon evident that there would be a struggle of arms between England and France for the disputed region. In 1754 the English started to build a fort at the confluence of the Monongahela and Allegheny rivers, on the site of the present city of Pitts- burgh, but before the fort was completed the French appeared on the scene, drove the English away and finished the fort which had been begun.
FRENCH AND INDIAN WAR (1754-63).
The crisis had finally come. The struggle which followed between the two nations ultimately resulted in the expulsion of the French from the mainland of America as well as from the immediate territory in dispute. The war is known in America as the French and Indian War and in the history of the world as the Seven Years' War, the latter designation being due to the fact that it lasted that length of time. The struggle developed into a world-wide conflict and the two nations fought over three continents, America, Europe and Asia. It is not within the province of this resume of the history of Indiana to go into the details of this memorable struggle. It is
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sufficient for the purpose at hand to state that the treaty of Paris, which terminated the war in 1763, left France without any of her former posses- sions on the mainland of America.
PONTIAC'S CONSPIRACY (1763-64).
With the English in control of America east of the Mississippi river and the French regime forever ended, the Indians next command the attention of the historian who deals with the Northwest Territory. The French were undoubtedly responsible for stirring up their former Indian allies and Pontiac's conspiracy must be credited to the influence of that nation. This formidable uprising was successfully overthrown by Henry Bouquet, who led an expedi- tion in 1764 into the present state of Ohio and compelled the Wyandots, Dela- wares and Shawnees to sue for peace.
NORTHWEST TERRITORY AND QUEBEC ACT.
From 1764 to 1774, no events of particular importance occurred within the territory north of the Ohio river, but in the latter year (June 22, 1774) England then at the breaking point, with the colonies, passed the Quebec act, which attached this territory to the province of Quebec for administrative purposes. This intensified the feeling of resentment which the colonies bore against their mother country and is given specific mention in their list of grievances which they enumerated in their Declaration of Independence. The Revolutionary War came on at once and this act, of course, was never put into execution.
REVOLUTIONARY PERIOD (1775-83).
During the War for Independence (1775-1783), the various states with claims to western lands agreed with the Continental Congress to surrender their claims to the national government. In fact, the Articles of Confedera- tion were not signed until all of the states had agreed to do this and Mary- land withheld her assent to the articles until March 1, 1780, on this account. In accordance with this agreement New York ceded her claim to the United States in 1780, Virginia in 1784, Massachusetts in 1785 and Connecticut in 1786, although the latter state excepted a one-hundred-and-twenty-mile strip of three million five hundred thousand acres bordering on Lake Erie. This strip was formally relinquished in 1800, with the understanding that the
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United States would guarantee the titles already issued by that state. Vir- ginia was also allowed a reservation, known as the Virginia Military Dis- trict, which lay between the Little Miami and Scioto rivers, the same being for distribution among her Revolutionary veterans. There is one other fact which should be mentioned in connection with the territory north of the Ohio in the Revolutionary period. This was the memorable conquest of the territory by Gen. George Rogers Clark. During the year 1778 and 1779, this redoubtable leader captured Kaskaskia, Cahokia and Vincennes and thereby drove the English out of the Northwest Territory. It is probable that this notable campaign secured this territory for the Americans and that without it we would not have had it included in our possessions in the treaty which closed the Revolutionary War.
CAPTURE OF VINCENNES.
One of the most interesting pages of Indiana history is concerned with the capture of Vincennes by Gen. George Rogers Clark in the spring of 1779. The expedition of this intrepid leader with its successful results marked him as a man of more than usual ability. Prompted by a desire to secure the territory northwest of the Ohio river for the Americans, he sought and ob- tained permission from the governor of Virginia the right to raise a body of troops for this purpose. Early in the spring of 1778 Clark began collecting his men for the proposed expedition. Within a short time he collected about one hundred and fifty men at Ft. Pitt and floated down the Ohio to the falls near Jeffersonville. He picked up a few recruits at this place and in June floated on down the river to the mouth of the Tennessee river. His original intention was to make a descent on Vincennes first, but, having re- ceived erroneous reports as to the strength of the garrison located there, he decided to commence active operations at Kaskaskia. After landing his troops near the mouth of the Tennessee in the latter part of June, 1778, he marched them across southern Illinois to Kaskaskia, arriving there on the evening of July 4. The inhabitants were terror stricken at first, but upon being assured by General Clark that they were in no danger and that all he wanted was for them to give their support to the American cause, their fears were soon quieted. Being so far from the scene of the war, the French along the Mississippi knew little or nothing about its progress. One of the most important factors in establishing a friendly relation between the Amer- icans and the French inhabitants was the hearty willingness of Father Gibault,
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