USA > Ohio > Hamilton County > Cincinnati > Centennial history of Cincinnati and representative citizens, Vol. I, Pt. 1 > Part 29
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The contract provided that the association should have the privilege of selling and locating at the rate of sixty-six and two-thirds cents per acre, payable in silver or securities of the United States, in eight installments. The first of these installments had already been advanced, the sec- ond was to be paid within a month after the government should have furnished a plat of sur- vey, showing the exterior lines of the entire tract, and the remainder was divided into six semi- annual installments. As fast as payments were made deeds were to be given for proportional parts of the tract. The purchasers, however, naturally depended upon their own sales for the
means of making payments to the government, and as the sales. were not up to their expecta- tions there was delay in the matter of payments. The making of the plat, too, was deferred by the government, both by reason of the fact that ade- quate preparation for the survey had not been inade and also because of the dissatisfaction with the boundaries insisted upon by the commis- sioners, and the feeling at any time the Little Miami would necessarily be selected as the cast- ern boundary of the tract. It was not long until it became apparent that the eastern line carried out, as provided in the contract, would cross the Little Miami and cut into the Virginia Military Reservation. The subject is discussed later.
SYMMES' TROUBLES WITH CONGRESS.
The matter of Symmes' troubles with Con- gress continued to occupy his attention for some years. The situation may as well be briefly out- lined here. This act of course left out alto- gether the Stites' property. Symmes naturally felt under obligations, "with regard to Mr. Stites, whose influence in the Redstone settle- ments and connection with Mr. Gano's family,
and they with the Baptists, who are the most numerous sect of Christians in this country, is such, that he has been able to embody about sixty men, many with their families, who ex- pect to settle at the mouth of the Little Miami on the sixteen sections which he had located there." (Symmes to Dayton, November 25, 1788.)
Ile displayed great anxiety that the commis- sioners "should be prevailed on to give up that mere fragment of land at the mouth of the Little Miami and suffer me to extend to the banks of that stream." He realized too that efforts would be made to supplant him in his appointment un- der the new government which would be estab- lished when the territory northwest of the Ohio was reorganized. The associates set great hopes however on the change in the land system by which the board was to be supplanted by a single individual.
Dayton in his letter to Symmes, August 15. 1780. informs him of this change: "The new system for the administration of the finance will soon be established, and as soon as it takes effect and the principal is appointed. I shall do my ut- most to have our line extended to the Little Miami. Everything in my power and within the circle of my interest shall be exerted to have Mr. Stites and his settlement included within the boundaries of our deed, and thereby to com-
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plete the title of such as have purchased under him there. The East Jersey Company have done nothing more since my last letter in the contract for the strip of land above alluded to, but did, upon my application to many of them, some time since, individually agree that Mr. Stites ouglit to be considered and indemnified if the purchase was made by them. I believe it will rest as it is, or be entirely dropped as to the company, unless some new and strange com- pany should become bidders for it. I shall not fail, however, to press this matter with the new financier, but I do not expect to succeed until I am prepared to make the second payment and take out the deed. The sooner you enable me to do that, the more likely I shall be to attain that object in favor of Stites and his associates on the Little Miami. Continental certificates are now at sig specie in the £ and are rising. If you have recived speeie for lands which you mean to convert into publie securities, the sooner you do it, the more advantageous it will be for you."
In a letter of August 25, 1789, Dayton informs Symmes of the "appointment of Judges for the Western territory is made-S. H. Parsons, John C. Symmes and Wm. Barton are the three. I enclose the paragraph taken from the news- papers, and the short law which is passed, re- specting that country. You will perceive that it is merely a temporary provision. The time assigned for the present session of Congress did not admit of their entering farther into that business, but it is expected that the organization of your government will be resumed and com- pleted at their next sitting. I think it proper to acquaint you that when I went to New York, to canvass for you, I found with pleasure that Governor St. Clair was not unfriendly to you."
In this letter too Dayton informs Symmes of the many injurious and unpleasant reports which had been circulated in the East about his con- duct in the Miamis. The reason for these con- tinued attacks is not plain at this late date and that they were not well founded was made clear by the reports of Colonel Spencer. This matter of annoyance was disposed of very soon.
THE CONTROVERSY WITH ST. CLAIR.
Dayton also in a letter about this time con- tradicts the story that had been circulated to the effeet that the company was going to endeavor to purchase the land covered by Stites. In the spring of the following year Stites accompanied
Dayton to Philadelphia in the hope of attaining some satisfactory settlement. Bills for the sale of Western lands were pending before Congress and it was important that the interests of his settlers should be protected. As little was done, Symmes finally made up his mind to go East himself on this matter. Governor St. Clair had begun to take a hand. In a letter to Israel Ludlow of May 19, 1791, he directed him that as the "line of the Miami purchase has been measured along the Ohio, and the place of begin- ning known, it will be proper that you should mark that place in a conspicuous manner to pre- vent trespasses being ignorantly though inno- cently committed upon the unalienated lands of the United States, which may involve individuals in disagreeable, and to them, perhaps, ruinous consequences." (St. Clair Papers, Vol. II, p. 209. )
Governor St. Clair seems to have been ignor- ant of the terms of Symmes' grant until this time. His attention had been attracted to it by Ludlow's request for an escort of fifteen men or more to accompany him while surveying the Ohio and Miami tracts. Ludlow had been suffer- ing from numerous delays although promised by General Knox and afterwards by Major Doughty that he should have proper escorts with paek- horses, corn, provision and camp equipage. After the coming of the cold season he found upon his arrival at Fort Harmar that no escort could be obtained. Major Ziegler thie com- mander thought the troops under his command but little more than sufficient to guard the settle- ment at Marietta. His application to General Harmar at Fort Washington was answered with the statement that the general did not consider his whole command a sufficient escort for the purpose.
On St. Clair's arrival upon his return from his Western trip in May, Ludlow renewed his application. St. Clair also assured him that lic considered the survey a matter of the highest interest and importance to the United States and would make every effort to assist him with suf- ficient guard but that it was then impracticable. Ludlow finally in October following received a guard of fifteen inen with a sergeant, accom- panied by whom he executed the Ohio Company's survey. On returning to Fort Washington, he lost six of his horses as he descended the Ohio on a raft of logs. On his arrival at Fort Waslı- ington lie asked for protection to go on with the Miami survey which was again refused by Major Ziegler. He finally obtained the assist-
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ance of three active woodsmen to assist as spies and give notice of any approaching danger. Af- ter extending the western boundary more than one hundred miles at the Miami River, the deep snows and cold weather compelled them to aban- don the undertaking and return to Fort Wash- ington. After the cold weather abated, Ludlow extended the cast boundary as far as the line intersecting the Miami River when they were driven off by signs of the near approach of Indians. They returned to Fort Washington where he again asked for an escort from Gen- eral Wilkinson and was refused. His report containing these particulars is contained in a let- ter to Alexander Hamilton, the Secretary of the Treasury, dated May 5, 1792. As just stated it was this application from Ludlow to St. Clair which called the latter's attention to the terms of the Symmes' purchase :
"To my astonishment I found that the purchase made by Judge Symmes did not extend further up the Ohio than twenty miles from the mouth of the Great Miami River. He had given out and published indeed to the world that he had contracted for all the lands to a certain distance northerly, which were contained between the Lit- tle and the Great Miamis as eastern and western boundaries. On my first arrival in this part of the Territory, I found the Judge liere and a number of people settled already, to whom he had sold lands far to the castward of the twenty miles. It never could have entered into my head that any person, much less one invested with a respectable public character, had published a falschood, was persisting in it, and availing him- self of the pecuniary advantages following from it. The settlement, therefore, met with all the countenance which I could give it, which I conceived to be a duty 1 then owed to the ad- venturers and to the United States; but I see I was wrong, and find myself in a very disagree- able predicament, having clothed many persons with civil and military authority whom it was more properly my duty to have removed, and so far sanctioned their intrusions on the lands of the United States." (St. Clair to Hamilton, May 25, 1791 ; St. Clair Papers, Vol. II, p. 209. )
This unexpected discovery of St. Clair af- forded him an excellent opportunity to indulge in a correspondence with Symmes. In view of the fact that the Governor of the Territory could write to the Secretary of the Treasury that "he has been selling the lands of the United States upon the Little Miami, which he had not con- tracted for, to pay for lands his agents liad con-
tracted for in his name upon the Great Miami" (St. Clair Papers, Vol. II, p. 210), Symmes was justified in writing to his associates from Cin- cinnati May 26, 1791 : "It is of vast importance to me to have the second contract vacated and the first established. I, therefore, intend doing my- self the justice, next winter, of attending at Philadelphia, in order to solicit this business with the United States."
St. Clair took the matter very seriously. His arbitrary temperament which became so apparent at a later date is indicated in Symmes' letter of August 15, 1791, in which he says of the Gov- ernor : "He starts the subject as though he had lately made a notable discovery of a conspiracy against the United States, and pursues it with all that fervor and zcal which he might do if the lands had been taken possession of by a colony from Detroit, under the auspices of the British Government."
On August 23, 1791, the Governor issued a proclamation which, dated July 19, 1791, he had first submitted to Judge Symmes. Symmes en- deavored with great earnestness to induce him to withhold it, but was unsuccessful. As a result St. Clair obtained for himself the bitter hostility of Symmes which continued until the time of the Governor's overthrow.
This proclamation recited the selling of lands eastward. of the twenty-mile line and thereupon gave the boundaries of the Symmes tract in ac- cordance with the act of October 15, 1788. It continued with the statement that the land lying castward of the parallel line "is as yet the prop- erty of the United States, and has not been aliened or sold to any person whosoever ; that the settlements which have been made upon the same are entirely unauthorized, and the persons who now occupy them are liable to be dispossessed as intruders, and to have their habitations de- stroyed; and that they are not treated in that manner immediately is owing only to the circum- stances that they were made to believe the said proprietors of the Miami purchase had a right to the land, and to give them an opportunity to represent their case to Congress."
The extension of settlements already made or the formation, of new settlements to the castward of the parallel line were forbidden until the pleas- ure of Congress should be made known and a certain tract adjacent to Fort Washington was set apart for public use and all persons were strictly forbidden to cut down, carry away or otherwise destroy any timber, trees or wood that might be growing, standing or lying within that
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tract. Persons having houses or lots within the reserved tract were allowed to possess the same "until the present crop is taken off and no longer," unless they should obtain permission from the officer commanding the garrison and should submit themselves to the military law as followers of the army. (St. Clair Papers, Vol. II, p. 211.)
It is not surprising that this proclamation should have aroused the indignation of Symmes and of the public and should have resulted in a conflict. Symmes in a letter quoted elsewhere speaks as follows: "The Governor's proclama- tions have convulsed these settlements beyond your conception, sir, not only with regard to the limits of the purchase, but also with respect to his putting part of the town of Cincinnati under military government. Nor do the people find their subordination to martial law a very pleasant situation." Then follows the recital of the treatment of Shaw and a complaint generally against the conduct of the officers. The pleasant feeling existing between St. Clair and Symmes can be inferred from this quotation from the same letter :
"We learn nothing yet when the present army is to be put in motion. They are encamped at Mr. Ludlow's station, five miles from Fort Washington, on account of better food for the cattle, of which they have near one thousand head from Kentucky. Many and important are the preparations to be made previous to their general movement. Not long since I made Gen- eral St. Clair a tender of my services on the ex- pedition. He replied : 'I am very willing you should go, but, by God, you do not go as a Dutch deputy!' I answered that I did not then recollect the anecdote of the Dutch deputation to which he alluded. His Excellency replied: 'The Dutch, in some of their wars, sent forth an army under the command of a general officer, but ap- pointed a deputation of burghers to attend the general to the war, that they might advise him when to fight and when to decline it.' I inferred from this that I should be considered by him rather as a spy upon his conduct than otherwise, and therefore do not intend to go, though I should have been very happy to have seen the country between this and Sandusky."
Among the intruders of the military reserva- tion was Judge Turner, who had been notified by the Governor that Judge Symmes could give no title. He paid no attention to this notice, but continued to make improvements and was told by the Governor that it was the duty of a judge
of the United States Court to set an example of obedience to the government. Judge Turner was on very friendly terms with Symmes and in fact carried his correspondence eastward at this time and he took St. Clair's advice and interference in high dudgeon.
On September 15th, the Governor issued a proclamation to the settlers of the forbidden terri- tory informing them that the Secretary of the state had asked from Symmes an explanation of his proceedings and further that as the settlers appeared to have acted in good faith they would not be disturbed for the time being. (St. Clair Papers, Vol. II, p. 213.)
That the friction between Symmes and St. Clair continued is shown in the former's letter of the 17th of September, 1791, in which, after speaking of having been indelicately treated by St. Clair and of preparing a retort, he says : "The army has advanced twenty-five miles into the pur- chase, and by the best account of their situation which I have yet got, they are building a fort on Mr. Boudinot's land in the fourth range- if not on that, it is in the third or military range. I begin to despair of anything important being done this campaign-the delays are amazing. Yesterday, a boat, with 120 barrels of flour, at- tempted to ascend the Miami. This is extraor- dinary to me-at the best times so large a freight is not judicious, but now the Miami is low, 'tis distraction. In June, this ought to have been done in perogues or large canoes of one ton or one and a half tons burden, it would then have succeeded. The Indians took off twenty horses in one night, this week, from the army. I hope the best, because no man is more interested, but my hopes, I fear, will prove like Noah's raven."
In his subsequent letter after the St. Clair de- feat, after commenting on the Governor's treat- ment of the Dunlap station, he speaks of the Governor's arbitrary conduct towards the set- tlers as being "more discouraging at the time than even the defeats" and of numbers leaving the purchase because of the Governor's conduct.
In January of the following year he persists in the claim that every person must admit that "the Governor has treated me and the settlers in the most cruel manner" and asks to be heard by the government with relation to the contro- versy. He insists that the Governor's letters and proclamations were written in a "language of reproach and illiberality" and that "he has charged him with many things that are not true and in a very rude manner" and refers his associ- ates for the fact to Judge Turner. "I do not
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mean nor wish, however, to impeach the Gov- ernor in form, but certainly his conduct has been very reprehensible." (Symmes to Boudinot and Dayton, January 25, 1792).
THE PATENT OF 1794.
As a result of the continued efforts of Symmes and his associates, Congress, on April 12, 1792, finally granted the proposed change of boundary, making the Little Miami River the eastern boundary of the purchase. This was reported by Dayton to Symmes as "very satisfactory to Mr. Benjamin Stites, who is now here and will doubtless prove extremely agreeable to the set- tlers at Cincinnata, Columbia, etc." The same letter conveys the information to Symmes of the passage of an act directing the issue of a patent to him for lands already paid for, which was accordingly issued by the President on Septem- ber 30, 1794. In these two acts and in the patent there was reserved to the United States a tract of fifteen acres (including Fort Washington) for the accommodation of its garrison. This patent included, together with the reservations, 311,682 acres ; excluding the territory in the res- ervations, it reduced the amount covered by it to 248,540 acres. It provided a frontage on the Ohio River between the two Miamis extending back to the northern boundary of the third range of townships, a line which crossed the district a couple miles north of the present town of Lebanon, in Warren County; this left of course the residue of the million acres unprovided for. The third range was subsequently called the "Military Range" and was conveyed in trust to General Dayton for the persons who should desire to turn in military warrants in payments for land. (Hamilton County Recorder's Office, Book S, page 203.)
This patent was issued after the trip to Phila- delphia taken by the Judge for the purpose of determining upon a settlement of the number of acres paid for. He objected at that time to the form of the patent because it conveyed the lands not to himself individually but to him and his as- sociates, but his objections were overruled by the Secretary of the Treasury. Symimes there- upon returned to the Miami country and com- menced the issuing of deeds. Before that time the purchasers of the lots had held no other evidence of right than their warrants received at the time of purchase. In his judgment the action of Congress and of the President was not a defin- ite termination of his rights under his original ap- plication. He expected as he was able to make
proper payments to be permitted to take up the rest of the million acres proposed for and for this reason he continued selling lots beyond the "Military Range" and beyond the territory cov- ered by his patent. As a result of this many rumors arose in the purchase to the effect that the titles conveyed by him in these sections would not be sustained by the government. The pur- chasers began to fear for the safety of their property and insisted that Symmes should take some action to protect them, but nothing was done. The farmers threatened to make direct application to. Congress for relief. Finding that he could not pacify his vendees any longer he went to Philadelphia in the fall of 1796 to make personal appeal to Congress with regard to the matter. He was accompanied by Judge Burnet, who was interested in the success of the appli- cation. The Judge was present at the time of the delivery by President Washington of his last official address to the two. Houses of Congress and in his "Notes on the Northwestern Terri- tory" he describes the scene. The President "was dressed in a suit of rich black velvet, with black silk stockings and large shoe-buckles and knee- buckles. According to the fashion of the day, his hair was combed back from his forehead- powdered-curled at his temples, and gathered behind in a square black silk bag suspended be- tween his shoulders. A neat dress-sword hung at his left side." His address was spoken "with great deliberation and with considerable emphasis. The intonation of his voice was solemn, and all his movements and gestures were dignified, but easy and graceful. The expression of his countenance, together with his manner and general deportment, produced on the feel- ings of the audience the same deep, indescribable effect that had been so often noticed, and spoken of on former occasions.
"After the address was closed, the multitude, evidently unwilling to retire, remained in their places gazing on the object of their veneration and love; and it was with much difficulty that a passage could be made sufficient to enable the President and his suite to reach their carriages."
That Symmes thought that his efforts were to be crowned with success is shown by the follow- ing address :
"TO THE PUBLIC."
"It being a matter no longer doubtful that Congress will establish their contract with the subscriber in the fullest extent for the 1,000,000 acres . of Miami lands, it is hoped that all
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who wish to become carly purchasers will no longer suffer themselves to be amused with idle reports against the contract, but purchase im- mediately from some persons who have a right to sell; and those gentlemen who have already contracted for Miami lands are desired to make payment as soon as possible to Capt. Wm. H. Harrison, at Fort Washington, as the Secretary of War has agreed to receive $20,000 at Fort Washington from the subscriber, if the money be paid immediately for the use of the army. "JOHN CLEVES SYMMES. "January, 20, 1797.
"N. B. The subscriber begs leave to inform the public that he is authorized by the Hon. John Cleves Symmes to sell a large quantity of land in the fourth, fifth, sixth and tenth ranges of townships in the Miami Purchase, which, in point of soil, situation, timber and water, is reckoned equal to any in the Western country. Those who purchase before the first day of April shall not only have the land at a reduced price, but the title warranted and the liberty of making the earliest locations of small or large tracts, as may be most convenient. Persons applying to the subscriber at Columbia, near the mouth of the Little Miami, shall be furnished with a sur- veyor to show the land.
"JOHN SMITH."
"January 26, 1797."
Symmes had been selling lands on the theory that his original tract was still valid, and as a result many of the tracts were outside of the line covered by this patent, and as late as 1796 Symmes and his agents continued to offer lands in the fourth, fifth, sixth and even the tenth range of townships in the Miami purchase. Congress finally held that the arrangement under the laws of 1702, was a final adjustment of all the claims of Symmes, and that he had no title to convey to any the lands outside of those cov- ered by the patent of 1794. This left his gran- tees of those lands, which were not covered by the patent, in a most desperate situation. They had paid for their lands in full or in part, and ex- pended considerable sums of money and some years of labor in clearing and improving them. Towns had been laid out and farms made and all the arrangements for permanent settlements made. In spite of these facts these unfortunate persons were simply squatters. As a result, Con- gress, in 1799, passed an act by which all per- sons having made contracts with Symmes prior
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