USA > Indiana > Decatur County > History of Decatur County, Indiana: its people, industries and institutions > Part 3
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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
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DECATUR COUNTY, INDIANA.
strip was formally relinquished in 1800, with the understanding that the 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 years 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 Fort 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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DECATUR COUNTY, INDIANA.
the Catholic priest stationed at Kaskaskia, in making his people see that their best interests would be served by aligning themselves with the Americans. Father Gibault not only was of invaluable assistance to General Clark at Kaskaskja, but he also offered to make the overland trip to Vincennes and win over the French in that place to the American side. This he successfully did and returned to Kaskaskia in August with the welcome news that the inhabitants of Vincennes were willing to give their allegiance to the Americans.
However, before Clark got his troops together for the trip to Vincennes, General Hamilton, the lieutenant-governor of Detroit. descended the Wabash and captured Vincennes ( December 15, 1778). At that time Clark had only two men stationed there, Leonard Helm, who was in command of the fort, and a private by the name of Henry. As soon as Clark heard that the British had captured Vincennes, he began to make plans for retaking it. The terms of enlistment of many of his men had expired and he had difficulty in getting enough of them to re-enlist to make a body large enough to make a successful attack. A number of young Frenchmen joined his command and finally, in January, 1779, Clark set out from Kaskaskia for Vincennes with one hundred and seventy men. This trip of one hundred sixty miles was made at a time when traveling overland was at its worst. The prairies were wet. the streams were swollen and the rivers overflowing their banks. Notwithstand- ing the difficulties which confronted him and his men, Clark advanced rapidly as possible and by February 23, 1779, he was in front of Vincennes. Two days later, after considerable parleying and after the fort had suffered from a murderous fire from the Americans, General Hamilton agreed to surrender. This marked the end of British dominion in Indiana and ever since that day the territory now comprehended in the state has been American soil.
VINCENNES. THE OLDEST SETTLEMENT OF INDIANA.
Historians have never agreed as to the date of the founding of Vin- cennes. The local historians of that city have always claimed that the settlement of the town dates from 1702, although those who have examined all the facts and documents have come to the conclusion that 1732 comes nearer to being the correct date. It was in the latter year that George Wash- ington was born, a fact which impresses upon the reader something of the age of the city. Vincennes was an old town and had seen several generations pass away when the Declaration of Independence was signed. It was in Vincennes and vicinity that the best blood of the Northwest Territory was
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DECATUR COUNTY, INDIANA.
found at the time of the Revolutionary War. It was made the seat of justice of Knox county when it was organized in 1790 and consequently it is by many years the oldest county seat in the state. It became the first capital of Indiana Territory in 1800 and saw it removed to Corydon in 1813 for the reason, so the Legislature said, that it was too near the outskirts of civiliza- tion. In this oldest city of the Mississippi valley still stands the house into which Governor Harrison moved in 1804, and the house in which the Terri- torial Legislature held its sessions in 1805 is still in an excellent state of preservation.
Today Vincennes is a thriving city of fifteen thousand, with paved streets, street cars, fine public buildings and public utility plants equal to any in the state. It is the seat of a university which dates back more than a century.
FIRST SURVEYS AND EARLY SETTLERS.
The next period in the history of the territory north of the Ohio begins with the passage of a congressional act ( May 20, 1785), which provided for the present system of land surveys into townships six miles square. As soon as this was put into operation, settlers-and mostly Revolutionary soldiers- began to pour into the newly surveyed territory. A second Ohio Company was organized in the spring of 1786, made up chiefly of Revolutionary officers and soldiers from New England, and this company proposed to estab- lish a state somewhere between Lake Erie and the Ohio river. At this junc- ture Congress realized that definite steps should be made at once for some kind of government over this extensive territory, a territory which now in- cludes the present states of Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, Wisconsin and about a third of Minnesota. Various plans were proposed in Congress and most of the sessions of 1786 and the first half of 1787 were consumed in . trying to formulate a suitable form of government for the extensive terri- tory. The result of all these deliberations resulted in the famous Ordinance of 1787, which was finally passed on July 13, 1787.
ORDINANCE OF 1787.
There have been many volumes written about this instrument of gov- ernment and to this day there is a difference of opinion as to who was its author. The present article can do 110 more than merely sketch its outline and set forth the main provisions. It was intended to provide only a tem- porary government and to serve until such a time as the population of the
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DECATUR COUNTY, INDIANA.
territory would warrant the creation of states with the same rights and privileges which the thirteen original states enjoyed. It stipulated that not less than three nor more than five states should ever be created out of the whole territory and the maximum number was finally organized, although it was not until 1848 that the last state, Wisconsin, was admitted to the Union. The third article, "Religion, morality and knowledge being necessary to good government and the happiness of mankind, schools and the means of educa- tion shall forever be encouraged," has given these five states the basis for their excellent system of public schools, state normals, colleges and uni- versities. Probably the most widely discussed article was the sixth, which pro- vided that slavery and involuntary servitude should never be permitted within the territory and by the use of the word "forever" made the territory free for all time. It is interesting to note in this connection that both Indiana and Illinois before their admission to the Union sought to have this pro- vision set aside, but every petition from the two states was refused by Con- gress in accordance with the provision of the Ordinance.
FIRST STAGE OF GOVERNMENT UNDER THE ORDINANCE.
The ordinance contemplated two grades of territorial government. During the operation of the first grade of government the governor, his secre- tary and the three judges provided by the ordinance were to be appointed by Congress and the governor in turn was to appoint "such magistrates and other civil officers in each county and township as he shall deem necessary for the preservation of the peace and good will of the same." After the federal government was organized a statutory provision took the appoint- ment of these officers out of the hands of Congress and placed it in the hands of the President of the United States. All executive authority was given to the governor, all judicial authority to the three judges, while the governor and judges, in joint session, constituted the legislative body. This means that during the first stage of territorial government the people had absolutely no voice in the affairs of government and this state of affairs lasted until 1799, a period of twelve years.
SECOND STAGE OF GOVERNMENT UNDER THE ORDINANCE.
The second stage of government in the territory was to begin whenever the governor was satisfied that there were at least five thousand free male inhabitants of the age of twenty-one and above. The main difference be-
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DECATUR COUNTY, INDIANA.
tween the first and second stages of territorial government lay in the fact that the legislative functions were taken from the governor and judges and given to a "general assembly or legislature." The ordinance provided for the election of one representative for each five hundred free male inhabitants, the tenure of the office to be two years. While the members of the lower house were to be elected by the qualified voters of the territory, the upper house, to consist of five members, were to be appointed by Congress in a somewhat complicated manner. The house of representatives was to select ten men and these ten names were to be sent to Congress and out of this number five were to be selected by Congress. This provision, like the ap- pointment of the governor, was later changed so as to make the upper house the appointees of the President of the United States. The five men so selected were called councilors and held office for five years.
INDIAN STRUGGLES (1787-1803).
The period from 1787 to 1803 in the Northwest Territory was marked by several bitter conflicts with the Indians. Just as at the close of the French and Indian War had the French stirred up the Indians against the Americans, so at the close of the Revolutionary War did the English do the same. In fact the War of ISI2 was undoubtedly hastened by the depredations of the Indians, who were urged to make forays upon the frontier settlements in the Northwest Territory by the British. The various uprisings of the Indians during this critical period greatly retarded the influx of settlers in the new territory, and were a constant menace to those hardy pioneers who did ven- ture to establish homes north of the Ohio river. Three distinct campaigns were waged against the savages before they were finally subdued. The first campaign was under the command of Gen. Josiah Harmar (1790) and re- sulted in a decisive defeat for the whites. The second expedition was under the leadership of Gen. Arthur St. Clair ( 1791), the governor of the Territory, and was marked by one of the worst defeats ever suffered by an American army at the hands of the Indians. A lack of knowledge of Indian methods of warfare, combined with reckless mismanagement, sufficiently accounts for both disasters. It remained for Gen. Anthony Wayne, the "Mad Anthony" of Revolutionary fame, to bring the Indians to terms. The battle of Fallen Timbers, which closed his campaign against the Indians, was fought August 20, 1794, on the Maumee river within the present county of Defiance county, Ohio. This crushing defeat of the Indians, a rout in which they lost twelve out of thirteen chiefs, was so complete that the Indians were glad to sue for
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DECATUR COUNTY, INDIANA.
peace. On June 10, 1795, delegates from the various Indian tribes, headed by their respective chiefs, met at Greenville, Ohio, to formulate a treaty. A treaty was finally consummated on August 3, and was signed by General Wayne on behalf of the United States and by ninety chiefs and delegates of twelve interested tribes. This treaty was faithfully kept by the Indians and ever afterwards Little Turtle, the real leader of the Indians at that time, was a true friend of the whites. While there were several sporadic forays on the part of the Indians up to ISHI, there was no battle of any importance with them until the battle of Tippecanoe in the fall of ISII.
ORGANIZATION OF THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY.
The first governor of the newly organized territory was Gen. Arthur St. Clair, a gallant soldier of the Revolution, who was appointed on October . 5, 1787, and ordered to report for duty on the first of the following February. He held the office until November 22, 1802, when he was dismissed by Presi- dent Jefferson "for the disorganizing spirit, and tendency of every example, violating the rules of conduct enjoined by his public station, as displayed in his address to the convention." The governor's duties were performed by his secretary, Charles W. Byrd, until March 1, 1803, when the state officials took their office. The first judges appointed were Samuel Holden Parsons, James Mitchell Varnum and John Armstrong. Before the time came for the judges to qualify, Armstrong resigned and John Cleves Symmes was ap- pointed in his place. The first secretary was Winthrop Sargent, who held the position until he was appointed governor of Mississippi Territory by the President on May 2, 1798. Sargent was succeeded by William Henry Har- rison, who was appointed by the President on June 26, 1798, and confined by the Senate two days later. Harrison was later elected as the first dele- gate of the organized Northwest Territory to Congress and the President then appointed Charles Willing Byrd as secretary of the Territory, Byrd's appointment being confirmed by the Senate on December 31, 1799.
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,
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DECATUR 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 :
County.
Washington
Hamilton
St. Clair
Knox
Randolph
Wayne
Adams
Jefferson
Ross
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.
.
1
I
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
January 4, 1790
June 20, 1790 April 27, 1790
October 5, 1795
August 6, 1796
July 10, 1797
July 29, 1797
August 20, 1798
Date of
representatives.
7
1
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3
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4
1
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1
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1
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Number of
1 1
1
1
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Organization.
July 27, 1788
1
1
1
1
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1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
2
I
1
44
DECATUR 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,
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DECATUR 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
14,632
Jefferson
8,766
Ross 1 1
1 8,540
Trumbull
1,302
Washington
I
1
1
1
1
1
1
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
3,861
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
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1
1
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I
1
1
1
1
1 1
1
1
1
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1
1
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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 :
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DECATUR COUNTY, INDIANA.
Mackinaw, in northern Michigan 1 1 J
I 251
Green Bay, Wisconsin 1
I 50
1 Prairie du Chien, Wisconsin I 1 1
1 1
1 1 65
Cahokia, Monroe county, Illinois
1 1 719
Belle Fontaine, Monroe county, Illinois 4
1 286
L'Aigle, St. Clair county, Illinois 250 1 1 1
I I 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 1 1
1 Vincennes, Knox county, Indiana 714 1
Vicinity of Vincennes (traders and trappers) 1 819
Traders and trappers at Ouitenon and Fort Wayne 155
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."
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