USA > Ohio > Biographical and historical memoirs of the early pioneer settlers of Ohio, with narratives of incidents and occurrences in 1775 > Part 13
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Soon after his college course he entered the office of Oli- ver Arnold, in Providence, then attorney-general of the col- ony. William Channing, Thomas Arnold, John S. Dexter and himself, were students together, at the time of Mr. Ar- nold's death, in 1770; and in the succeeding year, Varnum was admitted to the bar. He settled at East Greenwich, where his talents acquired for him an extensive practice ; and he traveled the circuits of the state, reaping the honors and the rewards of his profession.
Mr. Varnum had a great taste for military life, and early
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joined the Kentish Guards, and was appointed commander of that company in 1774; a company which, from their ac- quirements in military tactics, became the nursery of so many distinguished officers during the Revolutionary war : Gen. Greene, Gen. Varnum, Col. Greene, Col. Crary, Maj. Whitemarsh, and others, making thirty-two in all, who en- tered the Revolutionary army as commissioned officers from this company alone. The prominent part Mr. Varnum had taken in the colonial controversy, inspired an ambition to enter the military service of his country. The venerable John Howland, president of the Historical Society of this state, in a communication, states, that "When the news of the Lexington battle reached East Greenwich, Varnum's company mustered, and marched to Providence, on their way to the scene of action. I recollect seeing them on their arrival; Nathaniel Greene, of Coventry, afterward the gen- eral, was a private, with a musket on his shoulder; and Christopher Greene, afterward Col. Greene, who defended Red Bank, was also there, a private in the same company. They marched beyond Pawtucket, and hearing that the enemy had retired to Boston, they returned. The next week, the General Assembly convened, and resolved to raise three regiments of infantry and a company of artillery. Mr. Na- thaniel Greene, then a member of the House of Representa- tives, was appointed brigadier-general, and Varnum, colonel of the regiment to be raised in the counties of Kent and King's; Daniel Hitchcock to be colonel of the regiment to be raised in Providence, and Church to be colonel of the regi- ment to be raised in the counties of Newport and Bristol. Varnum took rank over Hitchcock and Church, from having commanded in the Kentish Guards, with the rank of colonel. The time for which these troops were called out, expired December 31st, 1775. The state raised two regiments for the year 1776. Varnum commanded the first, and Hitch-
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cock the second. The officers of these troops afterward re ceived commissions from the president of Congress, when Washington was appointed commander-in-chief. They were then styled continental troops. In January, 1776, the state raised a regiment called state troops, to be stationed in New- port. They remained there until the disastrous battle on Long island. This regiment, commanded by Col. Lippitt, was taken into the continental service, and ordered to join Gen. Washington at New York; they arrived at Harlem after the evacuation of the city. This regiment composed part of the brigade commanded by Gen. John Nixon, which consisted of five regiments, commanded by Cols. Nixon and Little, of Massachusetts; Varnum, Hitchcock, and Lippitt, of Rhode Island. Toward the close of the year, Gen. Nixon was dispatched, by the commander-in-chief, on furlough, to Massachusetts, to urge the raising of new recruits for the army, to supply the place of those whose term of service would expire on the 31st of December; as without rein- forcements, Gen. Washington would be left without an army at the commencement of the succeeding year. Gen. Var- num then succeeded to the command of the brigade. But the necessity of the case, and the perilous situation of the country, induced Gen. Washington soon after to send Gen. Varnum to the Assembly of Rhode Island, for the same pur- pose ; selecting, for this all-important mission, those officers, for their known influence with their respective legislatures. The command of this brigade of five regiments then de- volved on Col. Hitchcock, as the senior officer. He com- manded it at a period the most important in our Revolution- ary history, and led his brigade with courage and ability, in the memorable battles of Trenton and Princeton ; and for his signal gallantry, received the special thanks of Gen. Wash- ington, in front of the college at Princeton, and which he
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was requested to present to the brigade he had so ably commanded."
In February, 1777, Col. Varnum was promoted by Con- gress to the rank of brigadier-general. The appointment was announced to him by Gen. Washington, by letter, under date of March 3d, of that year, which contains ample evi- dence that his military bearing had met the full approbation of the commander-in-chief. The General Assembly of this state in their December session, 1776, having appointed Gen. Varnum, commander of the state forces, at their March ses- sion, 1777, entered the following honorable testimonial of ap- probation on their journal : " Whereas, the appointment and commission of Brig. Gen. James M. Varnum, in the service of this state, has been suspended by his being appointed by the honorable continental Congress, to the same rank in the continental army : this assembly do, therefore, in grateful re- membrance of his services, vote and resolve, that he is dis- missed from his said appointment, and that he be paid to the time his pay commenced in the continental service." "Under the latter appointment," continues Mr. Howland, "Gen. Varnum commanded all that body of troops on the Jersey side of the Delaware, when the British and Hessians took possession of Philadelphia. Gen. Washington's purpose was to prevent the passage of the enemy's shipping up the river, and for this purpose a strong fort was erected on Red Bank, and a regiment of Marylanders on Mud island. Col. Christopher Greene commanded the two Rhode Island regi- ments : Lieut. Col. Samuel Smith, on Mud island, and Var- num the whole line of the coast of New Jersey. In October the enemy made a determined attack; but the battery and fort were so valiantly defended, that the invaders were de- feated and compelled to withdraw, and temporarily abandon the enterprise. The gallant defense of Fort Mifflin, or Mud
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island, and the defeat of the Hessians at Fort Mercer, on Red Bank, drew from Congress, then sitting at Yorktown, a resolution of thanks, and votes of elegant swords to Col. Greene, Lieut. Col. Smith, and Com. Hazlewood, for their intrepid defense of these two forts." "But the British, re- solved on the capture of these posts, so important in their position, renewed the attack in November. They brought up their shipping, the Somerset, of sixty-four guns, and a number of floating batteries, to break up the chevaux de frise, which extended across the river, and our forts opened their fire to prevent it. Col. Smith was wounded on the 11th of November, and the command devolved on Lieut. Col. Russell, of the Connecticut line, who, exhausted by fatigue, and destitute of health, requested to be recalled. The moment was critical. The commander-in-chief, Gen. Washington, had no idea of defending the place through the campaign, but wished to retard the operations of the enemy, until the main army should be reinforced by the Massachu- setts brigade, marching from the conquest of Saratoga, when he would be in sufficient force to cover the country, or to meet the enemy's whole force in the field. Upon the 12th, he signified his wish to Gen. Varnum, to defend the island as long as possible, without sacrificing the garrison. Gen. Varnum, considering the imminent danger of the post, im- mediately convened the field officers of Red Bank fort, with a request that one of them would volunteer, as Gen. Washington desired the island to be defended as long as possible, and take command of it in lieu of Smith, who had left. At this momentous crisis, Maj. Simon Thayer imme- diately offered himself, to the inexpressible satisfaction of Gen. Varnum. In the defense, to an officer knowing all the circumstances, nothing presented itself but death, or an. improbable escape, without the possibility of contending on even terms. But Maj. Thayer gallantly defended it day and
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night from the 12th, to twelve o'clock at night on the 16th of November, when the breastworks were beaten down, and no cover left for his men, when the general ordered him to abandon it. By those unacquainted with the transaction, all the glory has been ascribed to Col. Smith. If heroic valor was to be rewarded, who should have had the sword? When the swords which were wrought in France, arrived, and were to be presented, Gen. Varnum published a letter, dated at East Greenwich, August 3d, 1786, narrating all the circumstances attending the heroic defense of Mud island by Maj. Thayer. It is written in a natural, straightforward style, and in justice to the memory of this intrepid soldier of Rhode Island, and of his country, ought to be preserved in some durable form. Gen. Varnum continued in active service during the year 1778, and commanded a brigade in Sullivan's expedition on Rhode Island.
In 1779 he resigned his commission in the army, there being at that time more general officers in the service than were needful, in proportion to the men, and his talents being more congenial with political life than the duties of the camp; although he was respected and esteemed as a good and gallant officer. The legislature of this state, in consid- eration of his national services, and effectually to secure them in defense of the state, in May, 1779, elected him ma- jor-general of the militia, to which office he was unani- mously re-elected during the remainder of his life. In April, 1780, the people of the state, in grateful recollection of his eminent services in the cause of public liberty, and desirous to throw into the national councils, those distinguished tal- ents which could be spared from the field, elected him their delegate to the confederated Congress of that year. As that body sat with closed doors, his voice could not be heard by the public, but his name appears oftener in the published journals, than many others of that body." Mr. Howland
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continues to observe, "The old Congress under the confed- eration, had no power to raise money to carry on the war, either by taxes or imposts, and the states had enough to do, to furnish their own treasuries. Congress, on the 3d of February, 1781, requested the several states to grant them power to levy an impost of five per cent., ad valorem, on all imported goods; and all prizes and prize goods, to be appropriated to the discharge of principal and interest of debts contracted, or to be contracted, on the faith of the United States, for the support of the war. This was thought necessary to the salvation of the country, and to maintain our independence. The granting of this power to Congress, to raise a revenue, was a new question, and divided the pol- iticians in its discussion. To place the case, in its urgent necessity, before the respective legislatures of the states, several of the best speakers in Congress requested, or thought proper to return home, and persuade the people to grant the power. Rufus King advocated it in Massachusetts ; Dayton left his seat to advocate the cause in New Jersey ; and Varnum came to Rhode Island for the same purpose. The states which had little or no maritime commerce, readily granted the power. This question brought a new man into the field in Rhode Island. David Howell, knowing the im- porters would generally oppose the power, and that the people at large would unwillingly be deprived of a rich source of state revenue, at a crisis so distressing, came out in the Providence Gazette, and in all public places, with violent declamation against the five per cent., as it was called. He argued, if you once grant them five, they will soon take ten, then twenty, &c. Gen. Varnum vindicated the grant, in the same paper, over the signature of 'Citizen;' Howell, over that of 'Farmer,' knowing the majority of every state were farmers. At length the question came be- fore the General Assembly ; Varnum's speech occupied the
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forenoon, and, in strength of argument and eloquence, had not been equalled since the settlement of the state. Howell occu- pied the afternoon; the question was then taken, and decided in the negative. It was afterward ascertained, that a ma- jority had predetermined and agreed not to grant the power. Eleven of the states granted the five per cent. New York, headed by George Clinton, never decided one way or the other ; and Rhode Island refused. So Congress was defeated in the necessary source of revenue; all the states not con- curring in the measure.
After the war, Gen. Varnum recommenced the practice of law at East Greenwich, with increased reputation, and was promptly engaged in all the important causes in the state. At that period great and important cases arose, growing out of the new position in which the state and na- tion were placed. The great case of Trevett vs. Weeden, was one which stirred the community to its very foundations. Upon its issue was involved the destiny of thousands. Pub- lic feeling and anxiety were intense upon its result. The period succeeding the Revolution was the most eventful in our history. The crisis arose, and the experiment was on trial, whether the people were capable of self-government; and upon its issue depended the fate of the nation. The country was exhausted by a protracted contest ; and disap- pointed in the expectation of sufficient national resources, to meet the embarrassments produced by it; insubordination and misrule showed themselves everywhere. The army returned unpaid and discontented, with certificates upon a bankrupt treasury, instead of money, amidst a state popula- tion as impoverished as themselves. The state itself was insolvent, and wholly unable to pay the bills of credit against it. The stock of the farmer was selling at the auc- tion posts, for the payment of taxes. The old Congress was as embarrassed as the states for pecuniary means to
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discharge their engagements. They made requisitions in con- formity to the powers delegated to them under the confeder- ation : owing to inability the states rejected them. The bills which Congress had negotiated in Holland for the payment of the army, were unpaid at maturity, and returned pro- tested : the damages alone amounting to the startling sum of six hundred and thirty-six thousand dollars. At this act of sovereign dishonor and disgrace of the new republic, our ambassadors, Franklin, Jay, and Adams, were in despair. Prompted by exorbitant profit, the merchants shipped to Europe, all the remaining specie that could be obtained to supply the country with fabrics, which the war had ex- hausted. Massachusetts alone exported three millions of specie from the commencement of peace, to July, 1785; and we can only judge, by estimation, of the vast amount ex- ported from other seaports for the same purposes : so that in a short period, all the gold brought by the French, and the silver imported from the Spanish West Indies, was drained from the country. The avaricious course pursued by the merchants compelled the borrower to pay twenty per cent. per annum, and some four per cent. per month. Such was the posture of affairs at this momentous crisis. The confederation was powerless. The veteran soldiers, who had exposed themselves to tempests and battles through the whole contest, and whom peace had dismissed with laurels, returned to their families, penniless and clamorous. Neces- sity and distress showed themselves by insurrections and commotions in every quarter. If Shays had possessed cour- age equal to his address and ability, he might have marched in triumph through the nation, gathering to his standard, spirits enough to have insured him victory; such was the perilous condition of the republic. The state threw itself upon its reserved rights ; and the demagogues, who could best live and flourish in turbulent political waters, seizing
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upon the agitated occasion, roused the distressed of every class into a phrenzy, and made them believe, that Midas-like, they could touch paper, and convert it to gold. The paper- money party obtained an overwhelming majority, and ex- pressly instructed their representatives for the purpose; and in May, 1786, emitted the enormous sum of one hundred thousand pounds in paper bills. It was further enacted, that said bills ' should be a good and lawful tender for the com- plete payment and final discharge of all fines, forfeitures, judgments, and executions, that had become due and re- covered, of every kind and nature whatsoever.' There was no time fixed when said bills were to be redeemed, nor was their ultimate payment charged upon any fund, nor was it designated how they were to be paid. They were to be loaned for fourteen years upon mortgage, pro rata, to all the people, at four per cent. interest for the first seven years, and to be repaid in the next seven years, in seven equal instal- ments, without interest, and then they were 'to be consumed by fire ;' thus intending to annihilate the merchants, their fancied opponents, at a blow. These bills fell into imme- diate discredit, and those who had property chose rather to retain, than exchange it. They further enacted, that if any one refused to take it in place of specie, he should be fined one hundred pounds, and stand disfranchised. Every citi- zen was also to swear that he would use his endeavors to give it currency equal to gold and silver, and sell their prop- erty at the same prices for one, as the other Trials under the law could be had at a called court, and the culprit was denied the privilege of a jury. These curious movements of the public mind go to prove that 'the Inquisition' may exist in a republic, in civil affairs, as well as in a Roman Catholic country, in matters of religion.
The paper-money system gave rise to a celebrated law- suit, in which Gen. Varnum was engaged, and where he
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displayed his eloquence and law knowledge in a masterly manner. John Trevett, of Newport, bought meat of John Weeden, a butcher, in the market, and tendered to him bills of the emission of May preceding, in payment, which Wee- den refused. From thence arose this trial, before a special court, in September, 1786. If the complaint was sustained by the judgment of the court, all the commerce and busi- ness of the state would be destroyed, and all previous obli- gations canceled by this irredeemable trash. The whole population were deeply interested, and gathered, in vast numbers, at the court-house. Here Gen. Varnum displayed his vast powers, as an orator, in a manner never developed before, and came fully up to Patrick Henry's famous tobacco case, in exciting the applause and approbation of the people. 'The court adjudged the amended acts of the legislature, unconstitutional, and so void.' The fearless in- dependence of the bench overthrew the tyrrany of the dem- agogues, and the state was saved. But it was eulogium enough on Varnum, that the power of these speeches wrought such a triumphant victory over public opinion, that the dominant party, to save themselves from political pros- tration, were compelled to repeal their arbitrary and uncon- stitutional acts, within sixty days from the time of their passage. Gen. Varnum was not cold and phlegmatic in his eloquence; his tentperament was naturally ardent; and when excited or roused by the circumstances or events of his cause, was vehement. None can impart warmth or zeal, that have none of their own; and to impress an assembly with the truth or sanctity of our cause, we must ourselves be convinced that it is true.
In 1786, Gen. Varnum was again elected a representative to the old Congress, and was an efficient member. At the same session, the distinguished William Samuel Johnson was also a representative from Connecticut; an intimacy
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was contracted between them, which continued during their lives. This circumstance is mentioned to show why Dr. Johnson spoke of Gen. Varnum, in the case of Smith, of Connecticut, against John Brown, of Providence, in such favorable terms. It was a prize cause, of magnitude, and from the parties concerned, and the eminence of the counsel engaged, it excited unusual interest. It was tried before Judge Foster, judge of the State Admiralty Court at Kings- town. Jesse Root, afterward chief justice of the Supreme Court of Connecticut, and compiler of Root's reports, opened the case in behalf of Smith, and William Channing, attor- ney-general of Rhode Island, and Gen. Varnum conducted the defense in behalf of Brown, and the distinguished jurist and Christian, Dr. Johnson, of Stratford, closed for the claim- ant. From the splendor of the talents of counsel, unusual attention was attracted to the scene. The neat, concise, and clear openings by Root and Channing, the brilliant language and thundering eloquence of Varnum, and the calm, placid, unostentatious and classical oratory of Johnson, furnished a legal and intellectual banquet, such as was never seen before, and probably never since, in Rhode Island. To sus- tain himself against such power, was victory enough; but Varnum did more; he not only sustained the high expecta- tions of his friends, and the reputation of the Rhode Island bar, but drove his adversaries finally to a. nonsuit. Dr. Johnson, whose heart was too magnanimous for envy, be- side paying to Gen. Varnum, merited compliments in the close, stated, at a party in the evening, 'That he knew Gen. Varnum in Congress, and that he was a man of uncommon talents, and of the most brilliant eloquence.' We feel as- sured that he was justly entitled to this eulogium, or Dr. Johnson would not have given it. The following is a de- scription of the person and dress of Gen. Varnum at the bar: It was the fashion of that day to be very well, or
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rather elegantly dressed. 'Gen. Varnum appeared with a brick-colored coat, trimmed with gold lace; buckskin small clothes, with gold lace bands ; silk stockings, and boots; a high, delicate, and white forehead; eyes prominent, and of a dark hue; his complexion rather florid ; somewhat corpu- lent; well proportioned, and finely formed for strength and agility; large eyebrows; nose straight, and rather broad; teeth perfectly white; a profuse head of hair, short on the forehead, turned up some, and deeply powdered and clubbed. When he took off his cocked hat, he would lightly brush up his hair forward, and with a fascinating smile lighting up his countenance, take his seat in court.' This was the last great effort of Gen. Varnum in Rhode Island. At what precise time this trial took place, cannot now be ascertained, as no record of that court can be found. That it was after the confederated Congress of 1787, is presuma- ble; because he spoke of their intimacy while in Congress together; and Dr. Johnson and Gen. Varnum were not both members of the same Congress before that period.
Gen. Varnum was a warm and unwavering advocate for a federal constitution ; he knew the inefficiency of the con- federation, and also the selfish considerations that governed the states. If an instrument cementing the Union, was not speedily adopted, he ' felt that future efforts would be una- vailing.' The legal profession, with Gen. Varnum at their head, the mercantile, and the sound portion of the agricul- tural interests, urged the Legislature of Rhode Island, at their June session, 1787, in the strongest terms, to send del- egates to the federal convention, assembled at Philadelphia. But the advocates of the paper-money system, and the rev- enue accruing to the state from imposts, Rhode Island being then the second or third importing state, defeated the meas- ure. The minority in the Legislature, and those friendly to the federal constitution, addressed the convention on the
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subject, and inclosed it to Gen. Varnum, to be delivered to that body."
Early in the year 1787, the Ohio Land Company was or- ganized in Boston; it was originated by the disbanded offi- cers of the late army, many of whom were stockholders, while the larger portion was made up from the citizens at large. The ordinance of Congress, establishing the North- west Territory, was passed the 13th of July, 1787; in August of that year, Gen. Varnum was appointed one of the direc- tors of the Ohio Company. In September, Gen. Arthur St. Clair was appointed governor of the new territory, and, in October following, Gen. Varnum, Samuel H. Parsons, and John Cleves Symmes, judges of the Supreme Court. He left his home in Rhode Island in the spring of 1788, on his route to the Northwest Territory, by the way of Balti- more, and arrived at Marietta early in June. Gen. Parsons was there on the 26th of May; Gov. St. Clair arrived on the 9th of July, at Fort Harmer, under the escort of Maj. Doughty, who went up with the garrison barge and a party of soldiers to meet him at Fort McIntosh. On the 4th of July, the American independence was celebrated at Ma- rietta, by the citizens, and the officers of Fort Harmer, in a long bowery built near the upper point at the mouth of the Muskingum. Gen. Varnum was invited to deliver an ora- tion, which was done with his usual eloquence. "The ora- tion is short, but contains many beauties both in sentiment and language." "It was published at Newport in the same year, by order of the directors and agents of the Ohio Land Company, to which is annexed the speech of Gov. St. Clair, . and proceedings of the inhabitants." A copy of the speeches is attached to the appendix of this volume.
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