USA > Ohio > Hamilton County > Cincinnati > Centennial history of Cincinnati and representative citizens, Vol. I, Pt. 1 > Part 18
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John Armstrong who declined the appoint- ment of judge was born in Pennsylvania in 1758. While a student at Princeton in 1775 he became a volunteer in a Pennsylvania regiment and took an active part in the war until its conclu- sion at which time lie held the rank of major. He is best known as the author of the "New-
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burgh Addresses," written at the end of the war to induce the army to make such a demonstra- tion as would require Congress to do it justice. After the war he was Secretary of State and Adjutant-General of Pennsylvania and in 1784 conducted operations against the settlers in the Wyoming Valley. Two years after declining the nomination of judge he married the sister of Chancellor Livingston and removed to New York. He was a member of the National Senate from 1800 to 1804 at which time he resigned to become Minister to France. He was commis- sioned a brigadier-general in July, 1812, and in January of the following year became Secretary of War in the cabinet of President Madison. The failure of the operations against Canada and the capture of Washington in 1814 made him so 'unpopular that he resigned and retired to private life. He died April 1, 1843.
TIIE SETTLEMENT OF MARIETTA.
Some time prior to the appointment of the officers, on August 29th, Dr. Cutler met the di- rectors and agents of the Ohio Company once more at the "Bunch of Grapes Tavern" in Bos- ton and reported to them that he had made a contract with the Treasury Board for a million dollars worth of land at seventy-five cents an acre and on the following day the plat of the proposed city on the Muskingum was settled upon and proposals for sawmill and corn mill sites invited. Rufus Putnam was chosen as the leader of the pioneers and boat carpenters from Danvers were sent ahead and by the last of Jan- uary, 1788, they had reached the Youghiogheny. Putnam and the main party with surveyors and engineers joined them on February 14, 1788. They found no boats and no boards to build any, no person able to hollow out a canoe, the saw- mill frozen up and smallpox prevailing. How- ever. they set to work and by April 2nd, the "Mayflower," a forty-five ton galley, first known as the "Adventure" floated out upon the stream. On April 7th, this historic boat accompanied by the "Adelphia" a three-ton ferry and three log canoes reached the Muskingum. Here they were greeted by the. garrison at Fort Harmar whichi had been built there in 1785 for the protection of the surveyors and which with Fort McIntosh at the mouth of
the Big Beaver were the only stations then held by the government north of the Ohio. Among others who greeted theni was the famous Captain Pipe fresh from participation in the burning of Colonel Crawford. The site selected
for the town was a level plain thirty feet above the Muskingum on the eastern side of the stream opposite the fort, at the point where the mound builders had left so many of their remains. The town name selected in Boston was Adelphia but at the first meeting of the directors held on the ground, July 2nd, the name Marietta was adopted in honor of Marie Antoinette, the friend of the struggling Colonies. Here the land was cleared and one hundred acres planted with corn and huts were built, as was the custom, from the planks that had made their boats. On the top of the ancient fortifications of the mound build- ers, whose parapets, twenty feet high still re- main, was built a stockade including a building two stories in height with blockhouses at the angles ; this was called the Campus Martius. In the spring the changeable quality of the cli- mate, an entire novelty to the settlers, manifested itself. There was intense heat and much insect life followed by cloudbursts which deluged the rivers and caused them to rise as they had never seen rivers rise before. A sudden fall in the temperature made them fear the approach of winter in the mid-summer; however their crops leaped into life and the game which was at hand furnished them with food and plenty. Emi- grants began to arrive and in considerable num- bers. In May came Col. John May, the first journalist of the colony and in June two of the judges, Parsons and Varnum.
Lieutenant Denny, whose diary has been quoted so extensively before, joined the forces at Fort . Harmar on May 29th. He was much impressed with the character of the settlers "many of whom were of the first respectability,-old Revolution- ary officers." On July 4th, Independence Day was celebrated when venison, bear and buffalo meat regaled the appetite and Judge Varnum de- livered a patriotic address in the course of which lie referred to the expected visit of the Governor. "We mutually lament that the absence of his Excellency will not permit us, upon this joyous occasion, to make those grateful assurances of sincere attachments, which bind us to him by the noblest motives than can animate an enlight- ened people. May he soon arrive. Thou gently flowing Ohio, whose surface, as conscious of thy unequaled majesty, reflecteth no images but the grandeur of the impending heaven, bear him, oh, bear him safely to this anxious spot! And thou beautiful, transparent Muskingum, swell at the moment of his approach, and reflect no ob- jects but of pleasure and delight !"
The great episode of the arrival of the Gov-
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ernor took place five days later on July 9th. On this day intense excitement prevailed throughout the settlement and at the fort on the opposite bank. The officers assumed their newest uni- forms and the soldiers' muskets and trappings were polished to the highest degree of cleanli- ness. The distinguished citizens,-many of those in the number were distinguished citizens,-col- lected about the Campus Martius awaiting the arrival of their hero. General Harmar and his officers proceeded to the landing where amidst the ruffling of drums and the booming of the Federal salute of fourteen guns they received the Governor as he stepped from his twelve-oared barge of state. He was accompanied by Major Doughty of the artillery and Judge Parsons and Secretary Sargent. The party proceeded in sol- emn state to the fort where it was to remain until the formal opening of the civil govern- ment.
THE ESTABLISHMENT OF CIVIL GOVERNMENT.
On Tuesday, July 15, 1788, civil government was established in the territory west of the river Ohio. General St. Clair attended by Judges Parsons and Varnum and Secretary Sargent made his public entry into the city of Marietta being escorted across the river in a barge of state to the accompaniment once more of drums and guns. A bower had been erected under which he was received by Gen. Rufus Put- nam and all other citizens with the most sincere and unreserved congratulations. He was es- corted by the townspeople to the Campus Mar- tius whereupon all took their seats in solemn ar- ray. After a short period of silence his Ex- cellency arose and addressed himself to the as- sembly in a concise but dignified speech. He expressed his great pleasure at meeting them upon so important an occasion and informed them that he had brought with him a most excel- lent constitution for the government of the Ter- ritory to which he invited their attention. The Governor's address was followed by the reading of the Ordinance by Secretary Sargent and also of the commissions of the various officers. After this formality had been concluded the Governor spoke at length of the importance of good gov- ernment; of his desire to administer the trust confided to him in such manner as to merit their approbation ; of the relations of the Northiwest Territory and the general government and of the opening of a new country under such favorable auspices and of the importance of cultivating friendly relations with the Indians. "Endeavor
to cultivate a good understanding with the na- tives without much familiarity ; treat them on all occasions with kindness and the strictest regard to justice; run not into their customs and habits which is but too frequent with those that settle near them but endeavor to induce them to adopt yours. Prevent, by every means, that dreadful reproach, perhaps too justly brought by them against all the white people they have yet been acquainted with, that, professing the most holy and benevolent religion, they are uninfluenced by its dictates and regardless of its precepts. * * * The present situation of the country," he concluded, "calls for attention in various places, and will necessarily induce frequent ab- sence, both of the judges and myself, from this delightful spot ; but at all times and places, as it is my indispensable duty, so it is very much my de- sire to do everything within the compass of my power for the peace, good order, and perfect es- tablishment of the settlement; and as I look for not only a cheerful acquiescence in, and submis- sion to necessary measures, but a cordial co-oper- ation, so I flatter myself my well-meant endeav- ors will be accepted in the spirit in which they are rendered, and thus our satisfaction will be mutual and complete."
A contemporary account states that "during the address of His Excellency, a profound ven- eration for the elevated station and exalted benevolence of the speaker; the magnitude of the subject; the high importance of the occa- sion; the immense consequences resulting; the glory, the grandeur of a new world unfolding; heaven and earth approving, called forth all the manly emotions of the heart. At the close, peals of applause rent the surrounding air, while joy- ful echo reverberated the sound. Every citizen felt to the extent of humanity, and affection her- self impressed upon the mind, in characters never to be obliterated : long live our Governor !"
At the conclusion of the Governor's address, Gen. Rufus Putnam congratulated him on his safe arrival in a few appropriate remarks and presented to him a formal address on behalf of the citizens.
Immediately after the conclusion of the for- malities Governor St. Clair and the two judges who were present entered upon the duties of their office and set to work forming a code of laws for the government of the Territory. The Ordinance provided that the laws should be se- lected from the statutes of the thirteen original States; the judges however did not strictly fol- low this practice but whenever they could not
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find laws suited to the condition of the Territory they supplied the want by enactments of their own. This practice was acquiesced in by Gov- ernor St. Clair but with considerable reluctance on his part. The laws which were not selected from the statutes of the States finally failed to receive the approval of Congress but with two exceptions were continued in force because neces- sary until the second grade of the government was established in 1795 when the Governor and council formally enacted a code of laws. Salmon P. Chase in his preliminary sketch called atten- tion to the fact that although the government and judges may have exceeded their authority it must be concluded that this was done without any desire to abuse it as is shown by the fact that all the laws, with the exception of two, were confirmed and reenacted by the first Ter- ritorial Legislature.
The first law created providing for the organi- zation of the militia was prepared by Judges Var- num and Parsons and presented to St. Clair for his approval. The beautiful harmony which had hitherto prevailed comes to an end at this the time of the first official action in the Northwest Terri- tory. Governor St. Clair submitted with great deference some observations to the two judges which he thought might appear to them worthy of consideration. If these observations left any- thing of the original law without criticism it is not apparent. Thereupon the judges submitted a law relating to real estate which brought forth an elaborate veto from the Governor. This veto induced an elaborate correspondence between the judges and Governor as to their respective au- thorities in which apparently the Governor's view prevailed. Fortunately despite the warmth of the correspondence the personal relations between the Governor and judges remained of the most cordial nature. The laws which were finally ap- proved by St. Clair and the two judges were ten in number and related to the establishing of mili- tia; establishing of General Courts of Quarter Sessions, and of Common Pleas, and for the ap- pointment of sheriffs; establishing a Court of Probate; fixing the terms of the General Court; describing the forms of oaths of office and re- specting crimes and punishments; regulating marriages ; fixing fines for infraction of militia rules ; creating the office of coroner ; and limiting the time of civil actions and for instituting crim- inal prosecutions.
The signature of John Cleves Symmes appears on the law of August 30th, establishing a Court of Probate but on no other. This must have been
signed by him at the time of his visit to the Western country in the summer preceding the settlement between the Miamis. These laws took the place of the code of laws which in the absence of constituted authority were drawn up by Col. Return Jonathan Meigs, father of the judge of that name.
Judge Manning F. Force in "The Bench and Bar of Ohio" speaks of this code of laws as fol- lows: "Colonel Return Jonathan Meigs, Sr., be- came the law-giver protempore by common con- sent. He drafted a code or system of regula- tions on ordinary foolscap which was carefully tacked up for ready reference on the trunk of a large oak from which the rough bark had been removed. It is creditable to the self-restraint of the emigrants that history has recorded no in- fraction of these regulations which were read and approved by all."
A comment of Judge Force in the same article upon the matter already referred to of the power. to adopt a new law seems pertinent : "The court as a Legislative Council was empowered only to adopt laws selected from the statutes of the orig- inal States and had no authority to enact new statutes. The Congress assumed that the code and statutes of the original States were sufficient- ly comprehensive and elastic to meet all condi- tions; whereas the experiences of broad minded intelligent men encountering the actualities of a new settlement convinced them that original legis- lation was imperative. It may be regarded as sin- gular in the light of subsequent history that great men in the Congress of the confederacy, who were the especial guardians of the rights of States and the champions of local self govern- ment, should be so careful to reserve for them- selves in the general government the prerogative of vetoing or nullifying local legislation by the settlers of the Territory ; or that they failed to ap- prehend the marked dissimilarity in the physical conditions and wants of the emigrants in the new Territory and those of the citizens of Virginia and Massachusetts. But men of the past were jealous of power and that was one hundred years ago."
The laws which were adopted at this time had been regarded so far as those relating to crimes and offenses are concerned as very strict and even cruel. As there was no jail, minor offenses were punished by fines, whipping and confinement in the stocks. This latter emblem of terror re- mained in use in Ohio until 1812. It may be as well to conclude here the matter of State judiciary down to the time of the sessions of the first Terri-
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torial Legislature. As soon as a sufficient num- ber of States had ratified the constitution of the United States and Washington had assumed the reins of government thereunder it was thought to be the duty of the executive to issue new com- missions to officers whose commissions, having been issued by the Continental Congress were held to have expired with that government. For that reason President Washington in a letter dated New York, August 18, 1789, nominated Arthur St. Clair and Winthrop Sargent, Samuel Holden Parsons, John Cleves Symmes and Will- iam Barton as Governor, Secretary and judges respectively of the Northwest Territory. The nominations were confirmed by the Senate but Mr. Barton declined the appointment and George Turner was appointed in his place. George Turner seems to have made but little impression upon his time and served until his removal from the State in 1796, when he resigned.
THE JUDGES OF THE TERRITORY.
In November, 1789, the Chief Justice, Judge Parsons, was drowned while attempting to pass the falls of Beaver. He had an interest in a tract on the Mahoning and being anxious to prove that the navigation of the falls in canoes was prac- ticable, undertook to pass the falls in a canoe and was cast out and drowned. Lieutenant Denny in a letter to General Harmar, November . 22, 1789, conveys the first information of this disas- ter :
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"I am very sorry, indeed, that I have to inform you of the loss of one of the most serviceable members of the Western Territory, General Par- sons. He left the old Moravian town up Beaver early on the 17th, on board a canoe, accompanied only by one man. Sent his horses down by land. About one o'clock that day, as we entered the mouth of the creek we met the wreck of a canoe, with a good deal of her cargo drifting down, all separately. Part of the loading we took up. When we got to the blockhouse, Mr. MeDowell told us they had taken up a piece of the canoe, a bundle of skins, and had seen a pair of saddle- bags, which were well known to be the Judge's, and the same evening the man arrived with the horses, and told us he left the Judge early that morning about twenty-five miles up the creek, that he intended to dine that day with Mr. Mc- Dowell at the blockhouse, and the man knew the property which we took up to be part of what was in General Parsons' canoe, leaves no doubt of his being lost in attempting the falls of Beaver. The canoe was very much shattered,
and bottom uppermost, when we met her. Mr. MeDowell has made search on both sides of the creek, above and below the falls, but can make no further discovery, more than finding part of the canoe at the foot of a remarkably dangerous fall in the creek, which strengthens the belief that there the old gentleman met his fate."
General Butler in a letter November 25th, writ- ten to General Irvine, mentions this occurrence : "I am sorry to inform you that I have every reason to fear our old friend Gen. Parsons is no more. He left this place in company with Capt. Hart, ( who is sent to explore the communication by the way of Beaver Creek to Cuyahoga and the lake), on the 5th inst., in order to see the Salt Springs, and from whenee he had returned, and was coming down Beaver creek in a canoe. - On Tuesday, the 17th inst., he had sent a man with his horses from the place where he had encamped the night before, and directed him to tell Lieut. McDowell, who commanded the blockhouse be- low the falls of Beaver, that he, Gen. Parsons, would be there to dinner. A snow had fallen in the night, which retarded the progress of the man with the horses. At one place on the Beaver shore, he saw where a canoe had landed, and a person got out to warm his feet by walking about, as he saw where he had kicked against the trees, and then traeks to the canoe again. The man did not get down till evening, but about noon, the canoe, broken in pieces, came by the blockhouse, and some articles known to belong to Gen. Par- sons were taken up, and others seen to pass. Lieutenant McDowell had diligent search made for the body of the General, but made no discov- ery. There was one man with a broken leg in the canoe with the General, who was also lost."
Gen. Rufus Putnam was appointed March, . 1790, to succeed Judge Parsons and served until December, 1796, when he resigned to accept the position of surveyor-general of the United States. He was succeeded by Josephi Gilman. The va- caney caused by the resignation of Judge Turner was filled by the appointment of Return Jonathan Meigs, Jr., in 1798. Judges Gilman, Symmes and Meigs served until the State was admitted into the Union in 1803.
Joseph Gilman was from New Hampshire, where he was born in 1736. He was chairman of the Committee of Safety for his State during the Revolution and impoverished himself in his efforts to equip the soldiers. He was a member of the Ohio Company and settled in Marietta in 1789 with his wife and son, B. Ives Gilman. He was appointed judge of Probate and Quarter
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Sessions by General St. Clair and from that posi- tion was selected for the Supreme Court. He was regarded as a careful, upright and very studious judge although not a profound lawyer. His strong common sense and absolute determination to get at the right of propositions submitted to him usually led him to good conclusions. He died in 1806.
Return Jonathan Meigs, Jr., was a son of the first law-giver of Ohio and was born in Middle- town, Connecticut, in 1765. He graduated at Harvard at the age of twenty and studied law in his native State and came to Ohio in 1788. He was appointed by St. Clair in 1790. as a commis- sioner to the British commander in Detroit. He was an active participant in Indian wars and at- tained the rank of lieutenant-colonel. After the incorporation of the State he was elected by the Legislature as one of the judges and the first chief justice of the State of Ohio where he served two years after which he was appointed to the District of Louisiana. In 1807 he was appointed judge of the United States District Court of Michigan and soon afterwards elect- ed Governor of Ohio. . The Supreme Court held that he was ineligible on account of his residence in Louisiana and Michigan. The Legislature thereupon clected him to the United State Senate for the unexpired term of John Smith, who had resigned because of the charges against him of complicity in the Burr con- spiracy. In 1809 he was again elected Scna- tor but in the following year the people elected him to the governorship which position hc re- tained until 1814. He was Postmaster-General under President Madison and served from 1814 to 1823. He died at Marietta in 1825, leaving behind him a name and a career which have al- ways been among the most cherished possessions of the State.
Judge Force tells an interesting story as to the origin of his peculiar namc. "His grand- father Jonathan Meigs courtcd an attractive Quakeress near Middletown, Connecticut and suffered a nonsuit on two occasions. He was a persistent suitor however and pleaded ear- nestly for a new hearing and a reversal of judgment. Again unsuccessful, he had turned from the presence of his idol and mounted his horse and was slowly riding away, when the Good Spirit moved the heart of the gentle Quakeress to set aside the judgment thrice decreed and grant the prayer of the petitioner. Hastening to the cabin door, she shouted, 'Return Jonathan, Return Jonathan!' ' The
happy lover returned, a marriage followed and the 'Return' prefixed to his own good Bible name 'Jonathan' was applied to their first born at his christening and descended with manifest family pride to the second genera- tion and some collateral branches. Few men in the annals of the Ohio Company or the history of the Northwest Territory and the erection of the Ohio State government occu- picd a position of dignity, responsibility and usefulness equal to that maintained by the Mcigses, father and son." (The Bench and Bar of Ohio, Vol. I, p. 8.)
There is no record of any public acts of the Legislative Council during 1789. The follow- ing year the council consisting of Sargent, the Secretary and the acting Governor, and Symmes and Turner sat at Vincennes during the summer. In November St. Clair took Winthrop Sargent's place and the council sat at Cincinnati. In 1791 the council published at Cincinnati seven acts approved by them during the summer and in 1792 the sessions were again at Cincinnati. In 1795 the coun- cil sitting at Cincinnati revised the code of laws eliminating those to which Congress had objected and published the revision as cer- tified to by Governor St. Clair and Judges Symmes and Turner. This publication was printed by William Maxwell printer at Cin- cinnati and is known as the " Maxwell Code." It is regarded as the first book printed in this city. The council again sat at Cincin- nati in '1798 and enacted a number of new laws which were the last legislative acts of the territorial council.
THE ERECTION OF WASHINGTON COUNTY.
On July 27, 1788, Governor St. Clair by proc- lamation erected the county of Washington which embraced the eastern half of the present State of Ohio and within the next few days he commis- sioned justices of the peace, and judges of the Court of Common Pleas and of the Court of Gen- cral Quarter Sessions for the county of Washing- ton. He also appointed officers of militia and a judge of Probate. Thereupon on Tuesday, Oc- tober 2, 1788, there was held at Marictta the first duly appointed Court of Common Pleas with Generals Rufus Putnam, Benjamin Tupper and Archibald Crary sitting as judges. The popula- tion on the Ohio at this time had increased to one hundred and thirty-two souls, most of whom seemed to have received commissions either in the military or civil government. The occasion was
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