USA > Indiana > Harrison County > Indiana's Birthplace: A History of Harrison County Indiana > Part 3
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THIRD: That five per cent of the net proceeds of the lands lying within the said Territory, and which shall be sold by congress, from and after the first day of December next, after deducting all expenses incident to the same, shall be reserved for making public roads. and canals, of which three-fifths shall be applied to those objects within the said State, under the direction of the Legislature thereof, and two-fifths to the making. of a road or roads leading to the said State under the direction of Congress.
FOURTH: That one entire township, which shall be designated by the President of the United States in addition to the one heretofore reserved for the use of a seminary of learning, and vested in the Legislature of the said State, to be appropriated solely to the use of such seminary by the said Legislature.
FIFTH: That four sections of land be, and the same are hereby granted to the said State, for the:
:
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purpose of fixing their seat of Government thereon, which four sections shall, under the direction of the Legislature of said State, be located at any time in such township and range, as the Legislature, aforesaid, may select on such lands as may hereafter be acquired by the United States, from the Indian tribes within said Territory; provided that such locations shall be made prior to the public sale of the lands of the United States, surrounding such location; and, provided always, that the five foregoing propositions herein offered are on the conditions; that the Convention of the said State shall provide by an ordinance irrevocable, without the consent of the United States, that every and each tract of land sold by the United States, from and after the first day of December next, shall be and remain exempt from any tax, laid by order or under any authority of the State, whether for State, county or township, or for any other purpose whatever, for the term of five years, from and after the day of sale."
In conformity with the provisions of this act, an election for members of a Convention, to form a State Constitution, was held in the several counties of the Territory on Monday, the 13th day of May, 1816. The members of the Convention were elected according to an apportionment which had been made by the Territorial Legislature, and confirmed by an act of Congress. Their names and the names of the counties which they represented, follow:
Clark County, five members: Jonathan Jennings, James Scott, Thomas Carr, John K. Graham and James Lemmon.
Knox County, five members: John Johnson, John Badollet, William Polke, Benjamin Parke and John Benefiel.
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Dearborn County, three members: James Bill, Sol- omon Manwaring and Ezra Ferris.
Harrison County, five members: Dennis Penning- ton, Davis Floyd, Daniel. C. Lane, John Boone and Patrick Shields.
Wayne County, four members: Jeremiah Cox, Patrick Bank, Joseph Holman and Hugh Cull.
Franklin County, five members: William H. Eads, James Brownlee, Enoch McCarty, Robert Hanna, Jr., and James Noble.
Switzerland County, one member: William Cotton.
Jefferson County, three members: David H. Max- well, Samuel Smock and Nathaniel Hunt.
Washington County, five members: John DePauw, Samuel Milroy, Robert McIntyre, William Lowe and William Graham.
Gibson County, four members: David Robb, James Smith, Alexander Devin and Frederick Rapp.
Warrick County, one member: Daniel Grass.
Perry County, one member: Charles Polke.
Posey County, one member: Dann Lynn.
The Convention, with all of the members present, commenced its session at Corydon, on the 10th day of June, 1816, and continued to meet from day to day, until the 29th day of June, when, having completed the work of forming a State Constitution, the members closed the session by final adjournment.
Hon. Jonathan Jennings was President, and Hon. William Hendricks was Secretary of the Convention. Both of these gentlemen afterward served as Governor of Indiana.
On the third day of the Convention, the President,
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Mr. Jennings, announced the appointment of the fol- lowing committees:
Committee to prepare a Bill of Rights and Pre- amble to the Constitution, Messrs. Badollet, Manwar- ing, Graham, of Clark; Lane, Smith and Pennington.
Committee relative to the distribution of the Powers of Government, Messrs. Johnson, Polke, of Perry; Floyd, Maxwell and McCarty.
Committee relative to the Legislative Department of Government, Messrs. Noble, Ferris, Milroy, Bene- fiel and Grass.
Committee relative to the Executive Department of Government, Messrs. Graham, of Clark; Polke, of Knox; Rappe, Shields, Smock, Smith, Ferris and Brownlee.
Committee relative to the Judicial Department of Government, Messrs. Scott, Johnson, Dill, Milroy, Noble, Cotton, Lowe, Parke and Hunt.
Committee relative to Impeachments, Messrs. Dill, Cox, Hunt, Eads and Carr.
Committee relative to general provisions for the Constitution not embraced in the subjects referred to other Committees, Messrs. Maxwell, DePauw, Robb, Scott and Baird.
Committee relative to the mode of revising the Constitution, Messrs. Hanna, Pennington, Devin, Johnson and Graham, of Washington.
Committee relative to the change of Government and preserving the existing laws until repealed by the State Legislature, and providing for appeals from the Territorial Court to the State Courts, Messrs. Floyd, Lemmon, Holman, McIntyre, Manwaring and Benefiel.
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Committee relative to education and the universal dissemination of useful knowledge, and other objects which it might be deemed proper to enjoin or advise the State Legislature to provide for, Messrs. Scott, Badollet, Polke, of Knox; Lynn and Boone.
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Committee relative to the Militia, Messrs. Dill,. Hanna, Carr, Cotton, Robb, Holman, Cox, DePauw, Noble, Rappe and Benefiel.
Committee relative to Elective Franchise and Elections, Messrs. Ferris, Lemmon, Grass, Polke, of Perry; Cull, Smith and DePauw.
Committee on Prisons, Messrs. Carr, Pennington, Milroy, Grass, Hunt, Graham, of Washington; and McCarty.
On June 29, 1816, the following ordinance was adopted by the Convention:
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Be it ordained by the Representatives of the people of the Territory of Indiana, in Convention met. at Corydon, on Monday, the tenth day of June, in the year of our Lord, Eighteen Hundred and Sixteen, That we do, for ourselves and our posterity, agree, deter- mine, declare, and ordain, that we will, and do hereby, accept the propositions of the Congress of the United States, as made and contained in their act of the nine- teenth day of April, Eighteen Hundred and Sixteen, entitled, "An act to enabled the people of the Indiana Territory to form a State Government and Consti- tution, and for the admission of such State into the Union, on an equal footing with the original States."
And we do, further, for ourselves and our pos- terity, hereby ratify, confirm, and establish, the boundaries of the said State of Indiana, as fixed, pre- scribed, laid down, and established, in the act of Congress aforesaid, and we do also, further, for our- selves and our posterity, hereby agree, determine,
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declare, and ordain, that each and every tract of land sold by the United States, lying within the said State, and which shall be sold from and after the first day of December next, shall be and remain exempt from any tax laid by order, or under any authority of the said State of Indiana, or by or under the authority of the. General Assembly thereof, whether for State, county, or township, or any other purpose whatever, for the term of five years from and after the day of sale of any such tract of land; and we do, moreover, for our- selves and our posterity, hereby declare and ordain this Ordinance, and every part thereof, shall forever be and remain irrevocable and inviolate, without the. consent of the United States, in Congress assembled, first had and obtained for the alteration thereof, or- any part thereof. JONATHAN JENNINGS, President of the Convention. Attest: WILLIAM HENDRICKS, Secretary. June 29, 1816."
The following is the Preamble to the Constitution. adopted at that Convention:
We, the Representatives of the people of the. Territory of Indiana, in Convention, met at Corydon, on Monday, the tenth day of June, in the year of our Lord, Eighteen Hundred and Sixteen, and of the Independence of the United States the fortieth, having the right of admission into the General Government, as a member of the Union, consistent with the Consti -. tution of the United States, the Ordinance of Congress. of One thousand seven hundred and eighty-seven, and the Law of Congress entitled, "An act to enable the. people of Indiana Territory to form a Constitution and State Government, and for the admission of such State into the Union on an equal footing with the. original States," in order to establish justice, promote. the welfare, and secure the blessings of liberty to our- selves and our posterity, do ordain, and establish the-
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following Constitution or form of Government; and do mutually agree, with each other, to form ourselves into a free and independent State by the name of The State of Indiana.
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THE CONSTITUTIONAL ELM
When those hardy, pioneer delegates met at Cory- don on the 10th day of June, 1816, to draft a Constitu- tion for a state that was destined to become one of the
CONSTITUTIONAL ELM.
greatest commonwealths of the Union, and to formulate plans of government, for a great people, most of them had left the rude log cabins which they called home, and had traveled many miles through an almost unbroken wilderness, infested with Indians, and wild animals of almost every specie.
These early settlers were accustomed to all classes of hardship and an outdoor life, and rather than be
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seated in the large, commodious room of the "Ancient Capitol" building, during the warm days of June, while the Convention was in session, they hied them- selves to the inviting shade of the spreading boughs of a hugh Elm tree, near the banks of Big Indian Creek and about two hundred yards northwest of the Capitol Building, where they spent the greater portion of that memorable period of twenty days in devising ways and means of securing to their posterity, a wise and good government.
The old Elm Tree, under which the first Constitu- tion of Indiana was framed and adopted is still standing in all of its grandeur. It is one hundred and twenty- four feet from tip to tip of its branches, five feet in diameter and about fifty feet in height. This mammoth tree is sacred to the hearts of the inhabitants of Corydon and an attempt to mutilate it would likely be met with acts of violence on the part of many of the citizens. .
THE FIRST ELECTION
The Convention that formed the first Constitution of the State of Indiana, was composed of clear minded unpretending men, many of whom possessed but a limited education, but all of whom were endowed with a liberal supply of common sense, rugged honesty and unquestioned patriotism. Realizing the impor- tance of good government and absolute freedom, they had familiarized themselves with the imperishable principles and theories of that grand instrument, the Declaration of Independence. The constitution of the United States was also cherished by them as a sacred
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document. The Constitution that was there adopted for Indiana, was clear and concise, comprehensive and just, for the maintenance of civil and religious liberty, designed to protect the rights of the people, and to provide for the public welfare.
The officers of the Territorial Government were required to continue to discharge their duties until superceded by officers elected under the Constitution of the State. The President of the Convention was required to "issue writs of election, directed to the several sheriffs of the several counties, requiring them to cause an election to be held for Governor, Lieutenant Governor, Representative to Congress, members of the General Assembly, Sheriffs and Coroners, at their respective election districts, in each county, on the first Monday in August, 1816." At the general election which was held on that date, Jonathan Jennings, of Clark County, was elected Governor over Gov. Thomas Posey, of Harrison County, who was then the Territorial Governor. Mr. Jennings received 5,211 votes and Gov. Posey received 3,936 votes. Chris- topher Harrison, of Washington County, was elected Lieutenant Governor, and William Hendricks, of Jeff- erson County, was elected Representative to Congress.
The election of members of the first General Assembly, under the Constitution of the State of Indiana, resulted as follows:
SENATE.
Knox County-William Polke. Gibson County-William Prince. Posey, Perry and Warrick Counties-Daniel Grass.
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Wayne County-Patrick Baird.
Franklin County-John Connor.
Washington, Orange and Jackson Counties-John DePauw.
Jefferson and Switzerland Counties-John Paul.
Dearborn County-Ezra Ferris.
Harrison County-Dennis Pennington.
Clark County-James Beggs.
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES.
Wayne County-Joseph Holman, Ephriam Over- man and John Scott.
Franklin County-James Noble, David Mounts and James Brownlee.
Dearborn County-Amos Lane and Erasmus Powell.
Switzerland County-John Durmont. =
Jefferson County-Williamson Dunn and Samuel Alexander.
Clark County- Benjamin Ferguson, Thomas Carr and John K. Graham.
Harrison County-Davis Floyd, Jacob Zenor and John Boone.
Washington County-Samuel Milroy and Alex- ander Littell.
Jackson County-William Graham.
Orange County-Jonathan Lindley.
Knox County-Isaac Blackford, Walter Wilson and Henry I. Mills.
Gibson County-Edmond Hogan and John Johnson. Posey County-Dann Lynn.
Warrick County-Ratliff Boone.
Perry County-Samuel Connor.
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FIRST GENERAL ASSEMBLY
The men above named duly assembled at Corydon, and the first General Assembly of the State of Indiana, commenced its session on Monday, the fourth day of November, 1816.
John Paul was called to the Chair of the Senate pro tempore, and Isaac Blackford was elected Speaker of the House of Representatives.
On Thursday, November 7th, the oath of office was administered to Governor Jennings and Lieutenant Governor Harrison, in the presence of both houses. Immediately after the administration of the oath of office, Governor Jennings delivered his first message to the first General Assembly of the State of Indiana. In his message Governor Jennings had the following to say:
"Gentlemen of the Senate and House of Represen- tatives: The period has arrived which has devolved on you the important duty of giving the first impulse to the government of the State. The result of your deliberations will be considered as indicative of its future character as well as of the future happiness and prosperity of its citizens. The reputation of the State, as well as its highest interest, will require that a just and generous policy toward the general Govern- ment, and a due regard to the rights of its members respectively, should invariably have their proper in- fluence. In the commencement of the State govern- ment, shackles of the Colonial should be forgotten in your untried exertions to prove, by happy experience, that a uniform adherence to the first principles of our Government, and a virtuous exercise of its powers, will best secure efficiency to its measures and stability to its character. Without a frequent recurrence to
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those principles and administration of the government will imperceptibly become more and more arduous, until the simplicity of our republican institutions may eventually be lost in dangerous expedients and political design. Under every free government the happiness of the citizens must be identified with their morals; and while a constitutional exercise of their rights shall continue to have its due weight in the discharge of the `duties required of the constituted authorities of the State, too much attention cannot be bestowed to the encouragement and promotion of every moral virtue, and to the enactment of laws calculated to restrain the vicious, and prescribe punishment for every crime commensurate to its enormity. In measuring, how- ever, to each crime its adequate punishment, it will be well to recollect, that the certainty of punishment has generally the surest effect to prevent crime; while punishment unnecessarily severe, too often produces the acquittal of the guilty, and disappoints one of the greatest objects of legislation and good government.
The dissemination of useful knowledge will be indispensably necessary as a support to morals, and a restraint to vice; and on this subject, it will be neces- sary to direct your attention to the plan of education as prescribed by the Constitution. I recommend, to your consideration, the propriety of providing, by law, to prevent, more effectually, any unlawful attempts to seize, or carry into bondage persons of color legally entitled to their freedom; and at the same time, as far as practicable, to prevent those who rightfully owe service to the citizens of any other State or Territory, from seeking, within the limits of this State a refuge from the possession of their lawful owners. Such a measure will tend to secure those who are free from any unlawful attempts to enslave them, and secure the rights of the citizens of the other States and Territories as far as ought reasonably to be expected."
Thus was the Territorial Government superseded
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by a State Government, on the 7th day of November, 1816, and the State of Indiana was formally admitted into the Union, by a joint resolution of Congress, approved on the 11th day of December, 1816, which resolution was as follows:
RESOLUTION FOR ADMITTING THE STATE OF INDIANA INTO THE UNION.
Whereas, in pursuance of an act of Congress passed on the nineteenth day of April, one thousand eight hundred and sixteen, entitled "An act to enable the people of Indiana Territory to form a constitution and State government, and for the admission of that State into the Union," the people of the said Territory did on the twenty-ninth day of June, in the present year, by a convention called for that purpose, form for themselves a constitution and State Government, which Constitution and State Government, so formed, is republican, and in conformity with the principles of the articles of compact between the origi- nal States and the people and States in the territory northwest of the river Ohio, passed on the thirteenth day of July, one thousand seven hundred and eighty- seven.
Resolved by the Senate and House of Representa- tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That the State of Indiana shall be one. and is hereby declared to be one, of the United States of America, and admitted into the Union on an equal footing with the original States, in all respects what- ever. Approved, December 11, 1816.
STATE OFFICIALS
The following named gentlemen served as State officers during the time that Corydon was the State Capital. The names of the State officers are followed
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by the names of the United States Senators and Repre- sentatives in Congress.
GOVERNORS.
Jonathan Jennings, from November 7, 1816, to December 4, 1822.
William Hendricks, from December 4, 1822, to February 12, 1825.
LIEUTENANT GOVERNORS.
Christopher Harrison, 1816 to 1819. Ratliff Boone, 1819 to 1825.
SECRETARY OF STATE.
Robert A. New, 1816 to 1825.
AUDITOR OF STATE
William H. Lilly, 1816 to 1829.
TREASURER OF STATE.
Daniel C. Lane, 1816 to 1823. Samuel Merrill, 1823 to 1835.
SUPREME COURT JUDGES. James Scott, 1816 to 1831.
John Johnson, 1816 to 1817. (Died.)
Jesse L. Holman, 1816 to 1831. Isaac Blackford, 1817 to 1853.
UNITED STATES SENATORS. James Noble, 1816 to 1831. Waller Taylor, 1816 to 1825.
REPRESENTATIVES IN CONGRESS William Hendricks, 1817 to 1822. William Prince, 1822 to 1824. (Died.) Jacob Call, 1824. (To fill vacancy.)
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OLD CAPITAL HOTEL
The principal hotel building at which the members of the Constitutional Convention of 1816, and the members of the General Assemblies that followed, while Corydon was the State Capital, boarded, was built in 1809, by Jacob Conrad, who came to Corydon from Pennsylvania. The Old Capital Hotel is located on the Corydon and New Albany Pike about one mile
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east of Corydon. Our readers may not be able to understand why a hotel a mile away from the State House would be patronized in preference to those located nearer to their place of work. But we must remember that in those days, most of the statesmen traveled many miles through a roadless country, many of them walking to and from the State Capital, and when we consider the many privations and hardships to which they were accustomed we realize that a walk
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of a mile, morning and evening, was no task in their estimation. Besides this, the genial proprietor of the Old Capital Hotel furnished good pasture for the beast of the weary traveler without additional compensation, and many places for amusement were maintained on the hotel grounds, where the Sundays and evenings were spent in pitching horseshoes, running, jumping and wrestling.
The cut shown presents an excellent likeness of the Old Capital Hotel as it appears at the age of 101 years. There are many rooms in the building. The walls are twenty feet high and eighteen inches thick. Each L is about twenty feet long, and the building is constructed of hard blue limestone, taken from an inexhaustible quarry in the immediate vicinity. The fact that the estimated weight of the masonry of this old building is 618,790 tons, causes us to realize the magnitude of this building in its palmy days. The building contains 3,412 feet of blue ash flooring. The joists were prepared with the broad-axe and whip-saw. All of the wood-work, not exposed, remains in a perfect state of preservation; the giant walls remain intact and the mortar used seems impervious, although it has been exposed to the elements for more than a hundred years. In fact, centuries may come and go, 'but the lodging house of Indiana's first statesmen will stand intact. The small stone building nearby, is a spring house, through which flows, a large spring of pure, cool, refreshing, limestone water. It is said that in those days, a little of this water blended with a reasonable quantity of apple or peach brandy served as an excellent preventative of malaria, chills and ague
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and snake bites and it is barely possible that it was used by some, as a remedy for many other ailments. It is said that toward the close of his public life Gov- ernor Jennings became intemperate to such a degree that his usefulness was greatly impeded.
The Old Capital Hotel property is now owned by Mrs. Agnes Hess, widow of former County Auditor George Hess, who occupies it as a dwelling.
ANTIQUE RECORDS
A search of the Old Public Records of Harrison County reveals copies of many peculiar and interesting documents.
On the commissioners' record, dated August 13; 1817, appears the following:
On application of Ebenezer McDonald, Esqr., Clerk of the Supreme Court of the State of Indiana, by Davis Floyd, it is ordered that Mr. McDonald be permitted to keep his office in the northeast corner room of the upper story of the Court house when the said room is not occupied by any court of Indiana, or the Legislature.
"Ordered that John Tipton be allowed the sum of four dollars and fifty cents, with interest, for so much money advanced for wolf scalps, killed previous to the late law, as per certificate filed and that the county Treasurer pay the same out of this year's levy."
"Ordered that the Sheriff do on this day let out to the lowest bidder the cleaning of lot No. 44, being one acre & - perches, and the cleaning half of the streets adjoining the same, and also the building of a. stray pen, of hewed logs, twenty four feet square, to be fixed on nine good blocks two feet long, one of the feet sunk in the ground, the pen to be six feet high including the one foot of the blocks-to have girders.
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across the corners well pinned on, the door to be faced and well pinned on and a strong shutter to the door with a common padlock, and that the said sheriff take bond with good security in double the amount of the lowest bid, to be completed within four months. The money to be paid at the expiration of the time afore- said."
The following order, entered on record on Tuesday, the 4th day of April, 1809, also appears.
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