USA > Ohio > Crawford County > History of Crawford County and Ohio > Part 21
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The State continually filled with people. New towns arose all over the country. Excepting the occasional sicknesses caused by the new climate and fresh soil, the general health of the people im- proved as time went on. They were fully in ac- cord with the President, Jefferson, and carefully nurtured those principles of personal liberty en- grafted in the fundamental law of 1787, and later, in the Constitution of the State.
Little if any change occurred in the natural course of events, following the change of govern- ment until Burr's expedition and plan of secession in 1805 and 1806 appeared. What his plans were, have never been definitely ascertained. His action related more to the General Government, yet Ohio was called upon to aid in putting down his insurrection-for such it was thought to be- and defeated his purposes, whatever they were. His plans ended only in ignominious defeat ; the breaking-up of one of the finest homes in the Western country, and the expulsion of himself and all those who were actively engaged in his scheme, whatever its imports were.
Again, for a period of four or five years, no exciting events occurred. Settlements continued ; mills and factories increased ; towns and cities grew ; counties were created ; trade enlarged, and naught save the common course of events trans- pired to mark the course of time. Other States were made from the old Northwest Territory, all parts of which were rapidly being occupied by settlers. The danger from Indian hostilities was little, and the adventurous whites were rapidly occupying their country. One thing, however, was yet a continual source of annoyance to the Americans, viz., the British interference with the Indians. Their traders did not scruple, nor fail on every opportunity, to aid these sons of the |
forest with arms and ammunition as occasion offered, endeavoring to stir them up against the Americans, until events here and on the high seas culminated in a declaration of hostilities, and the war of 1812 was the result. The deluded red men found then, as they found in 1795, that they were made tools by a stronger power, and dropped when the time came that they were no longer needed.
Before the opening of hostilities occurred, how- ever, a series of acts passed the General Assembly, causing considerable excitement. These were the famous "Sweeping Resolutions," passed in 1810. For a few years prior to their passage, considera- ble discontent prevailed among many of the legis- lators regarding the rulings of the courts, and by many of these embryo law-makers, the legislative power was considered omnipotent. They could change existing laws and contracts did they desire to, thought many of them, even if such acts con- flicted with the State and National Constitutions. The "Sweeping Resolutions " were brought about mainly by the action of the judges in declaring that justices of the peace could, in the collection of debts, hold jurisdiction in amounts not exceed- ing fifty dollars without the aid of a jury. The Constitution of the United States gave the jury control in all such cases where the amount did not exceed twenty dollars. There was a direct con- tradiction against the organic law of the land-to which every other law and act is subversive, and when the judges declared the legislative act uncon- stitutional and hence null and void, the Legisla- ture became suddenly inflamed at their independ- ence, and proceeded at once to punish the admin- istrators of justice. The legislature was one of the worst that ever controlled the State, and was composed of many men who were not only igno- rant of common law, the necessities of a State, and the dignity and true import of their office, but were demagogues in every respect. Having the power to impeach officers, that body at once did so, having enough to carry a two-thirds majority, and removed several judges. Further maturing their plans, the "Sweepers," as they were known, construed the law appointing certain judges and civil officers for seven years, to mean seven years from the organization of the State, whether they had been officers that length of time or not. All officers, whether of new or old counties, were con- strued as included in the act, and, utterly ignoring the Constitution, an act was passed in January, 1810, removing every civil officer in the State.
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HISTORY OF OHIO.
February 10, they proceeded to fill all these va- cant offices, from State officers down to the lowest county office, either by appointment or by ordering an election in the manner prescribed by law.
The Constitution provided that the office of judges should continue for seven years, evidently seven years from the time they were elected, and not from the date of the admission of the State, which latter construction this headlong Legisla- ture had construed as the meaning. Many of the counties had been organized but a year or two, others three or four years; hence an indescribable confusion arose as soon as the new set of officers were appointed or clected. The new order of things could not be made to work, and finally, so utterly impossible did the injustice of the proceed- ings become, that it was dropped. The decisions of the courts were upheld, and the invidious doc- trine of supremacy in State legislation received such a check that it is not likely ever to be repeated.
Another aet of the Assembly, during this pe- riod, shows its construction. Congress had granted a township of land for the use of a university, and located the township in Symmes' purchase. This Assembly located the university on land outside of this purchase, ignoring the act of Congress, as they had done before, showing not only ignorance of the true scope of law, but a lack of respect un- becoming such bodies.
The seat of government was also moved from Chillicothe to Zanesville, which vainly hoped to be made the permanent State capital, but the next session it was again taken to Chillicothe, and com- missioners appointed to locate a permanent capital site.
These commissioners were James Findley, Jo- seph Darlington, Wyllys Silliman, Reason Beall, and William MeFarland. It is stated that they reported at first in favor of Dublin, a small town on the Scioto about fourteen miles above Colum- bus. At the session of 1812-13, the Assembly accepted the proposals of Col. James Johnston, Alexander MeLaughlin, John Kerr, and Lyne Starling, who owned the site of Columbus. The Assembly also decreed that the temporary seat of government should remain at Chillicothe until the buildings necessary for the State officers should be
erected, when it would be taken there, forever to remain. This was done in 1816, in December of that year the first meeting of the Assembly being held there.
The site selected for the capital was on the east bank of the Scioto. about a mile below its junction with the Olentangy. Wide streets were laid out, and preparations for a city made. The expecta- tions of the founders have been, in this respect, re- alized. The town was laid out in the spring of 1812, under the direction of Moses Wright. A short time after, the contract for making it the capital was signed. June 18, the same day war was declared against Great Britain, the sale of lots took place. Among the early settlers were George MeCor- mick, George B. Harvey, John Shields, Michael Patton, Alexander Patton, William Altman, John Collett, William McElvain, Daniel Kooser, Peter Putnam, Jacob Hare, Christian Heyl, Jarvis, George and Benjamin Pike, William Long, and Dr. John M. Edminson. In 1814, a house of worship was built, a school opened, a newspaper-The Western Intelligencer and Columbus Gazette, now the Ohio State Journal-was started, and the old State House erected. In 1816, the "Borough of Columbus " was incorporated, and a mail route once a week between Chillicothe and Columbus started. In 1819, the old United States Court House was erected, and the seat of justice removed from Franklinton to Columbus. Until 1826, times were exceedingly " slow " in the new capital, and but lit- tle growth experienced. The improvement period revived the capital, and enlivened its trade and growth so that in 1834, a city charter was granted. The city is now about third in size in the State, and contains many of the most prominent public institutions. The present capitol building, one of the best in the West, is patterned somewhat after the national Capitol at Washington City.
From the close of the agitation of the " Sweeping Resolutions," until the opening of the war of 1812, but a short time elapsed. In fact, scarcely had one subsided, ere the other was upon the country. Though the war was national, its theater of opera- tions was partly in Ohio, that State taking an aet- ive part in its operations. Indeed, its liberty depended on the war.
126
HISTORY OF OHIO.
LIST OF TERRITORIAL AND STATE GOVERNORS,
From the organization of the first civil government in the Northwest Territory (1788 to 1802), of which the State of Ohio was a part, until the year 1880.
NAME.
COUNTY.
Term Commenced.
Term Ended.
(a) Arthur St. Clair ..
July
13, 1788 Nov.
1802
*Charles Willing Byrd.
Hamilton.
Nov.
1802 March 3, 1803
Edward Tiffin.
Ross
March
3, 1803 March
4, 1807
+Thomas Kirker
Adams.
March
4, 1807 Dec.
12, 1808
Samuel Huntington.
Trumbull
Dec.
12, 1808 Dec.
8, 1810
(d) Return Jonathan Meigs
Washington
Dec.
8, 1810 March 25, 1814
+Othniel Looker
Hamilton
April
14, 1814 Dec.
8, 1814
Thomas Worthington.
Ross ..
Dec.
8, 1814 Dec.
14, 1818
(e) Ethan Allen Brown
Hamilton
Dec.
14, 1818 Jan.
4,1822
+Allen Trimble
Highland
Jan.
7, 1822 Dec.
28, 1822
Jeremiah Morrow.
Warren
Dec.
28, 1822 Dec.
19, 1826
Allen Trimble.
Highland
Dec.
19, 1826 Dec. 18, 1830
Duncan McArthur
Ross.
Dec.
18, 1830 Dec.
7, 1832
Robert Lucas ..
Pike.
Dec.
7, 1832 Dec.
13, 1836
Joseph Vance.
Champaign
Dec.
13, 1836 Dec.
13, 1838
Wilson Shannon
Belmont
Dec.
13, 1838 Dec.
16, 1840
Thomas Corwin.
Warren.
Dec.
16, 1840 Dec.
14, 1842
(f ) Wilson Shannon
Belmont.
Dec,
14, 1842 April
13, 1844
įThomas W. Bartley
Richland.
April
13, 1844 Dec.
3, 1844
Mordecai Bartley
Richland.
Dec.
3, 1844 Dec.
12, 1846
William Bebb.
Butler.
Dec.
12, 1846 Jan.
22, 1849
h ) Reuben Wood ..
Cuyahoga
Dec.
12, 1850 July
15, 1853
Salmon P. Chase
Hamilton
Jan.
14, 1856 Jan.
9,1860
William Dennison
Franklin
Jan.
9, 1860 Jan.
13, 1862
David Tod ..
Mahoning
Jan.
13, 1862 Jan.
12, 1864
(k) John Brough
Cuyahoga
Jan.
12, 1864 Aug.
29,1865
¿Charles Anderson
Montgomery
Aug.
30, 1865 Jan.
9, 1866
Jacob D. Cox.
Trumbull.
Jan.
9, 1866 Jan.
13, 1868
Rutherford B. Hayes.
IIamilton.
Jan.
13, 1868 Jan.
8, 1872
Edward F. Noyes.
Hamilton.
Jan.
8, 1872 Jan.
12, 1874
William Allen.
Ross
Jan.
12, 1874 Jan.
14, 1876
(l) Rutherford B. Hayes
Sandusky ..
Jan.
14, 1876 March
2, 1877
(m) Thomas L. Young ..
Ilamilton
March 2, 1877 Jan.
14, 1878
Richard M. Bishop.
Hamilton
Jan.
14, 1878 Jan.
14, 1880
Charles Foster.
Sandusky
Jan.
14, 1880
(a) Arthur St. Clair, of Pennsylvania, was Governor of the North- west Territory, of which Ohio was a part, from July 13, 1788, when the first civil government was established in the Territory, until about the close of the year 1802, when he was removed by the President. * Secretary of the Territory, and was acting Governor of the Territory after the removal of Gov. St. Clair.
(b) Resigned March 3, 1807, to accept the office of U. S. Senator. (c) Return Jonathan Meigs was elected Governor on the second Tuesday of October, 1807, over Nathaniel Massie, who contested the election of Meigs, on the ground that "he had not been a resident of this State for four years next preceding the election, as required by the Constitution," and the General Assembly, in joint convention, declared that he was not eligible. The office was not given to Massie, nor does it appear, from the records that he claimed it, but Thomas Kirker, acting Governor, continued to discharge the duties of the office until December 12, 1808, when Samuel Huntington was inaugurated, he having been elected on the second Tuesday of October in that year.
(d) Resigned March 25, 1814, to accept the office of Postmaster- General of the United States.
(e) Resigned January 4, 1822, to accept the office of United States Senator.
(f) Resigned April 13, 1844, to accept the office of Minister to Mexico.
(g) The result of the election in 1848 was not finally determined in joint convention of the two houses of the General Assembly until January 19, 1849, and the inauguration did not take place until the 22d of that month.
(h) Resigned July 15, 1853 to accept the office of Consul to Val- paraiso.
(j) Elected in October, 1853, for the regular term, to commence on the second Monday of January, 1854.
(k) Died Angust 29, 1865.
+ Acting Governor.
# Acting Governor, vice Wilson Shannon, resigned.
f Acting Governor, vice Reuben Wood, resigned.
2 Acting Governor, vice John Brough, deceased.
(l) Resigned March 2, 1877, to accept the office of President of the United States.
(m) Vice Rutherford B. Hayes, resigned.
15, 1853 Jan.
14, 1856
(j ) [ William Medill.
Fairfield.
July
22, 1849 Dec.
12, 1850
(g) Seabury Ford.
Geauga
Jan.
127
HISTORY OF OHIO.
CHAPTER XI.
THE WAR OF 1812-GROWTH OF THE STATE-CANAL, RAILROADS AND OTHER IMPROVEMENTS -DEVELOPMENT OF STATE RESOURCES.
TN June, 1812, war was declared against Great Britain. Before this, an act was passed by Con- gress, authorizing the increase of the regular army to thirty-five thousand troops, and a large force of volunteers, to serve twelve months. Under this act, Return J. Meigs, then Governor of Ohio, in April and May, 1812, raised three regiments of troops to serve twelve months. They rendez- voused at Dayton, elected their officers, and pre- pared for the campaign. These regiments were numbered First, Second and Third. Duncan Me- Arthur was Colonel of the First ; James Findlay, of the Second, and Lewis Cass, of the Third. Early in June these troops marched to Urbana, where they were joined by Boyd's Fourth Regiment of regular troops, under command of Col. Miller, who had been in the battle of Tippecanoe. Near the middle of June, this little army of about twenty-five hundred men, under command of Gov. William Hull, of Michigan, who had been author- ized by Congress to raise the troops, started on its northern march. By the end of June, the army had reached the Maumee, after a very severe march, erecting, on the way, Forts McArthur, Ne- cessity and Findlay. By some carelessness on the part of the American Government, no official word had been sent to the frontiers regarding the war, while the British had taken an early precaution to prepare for the crisis. Gov. IIull was very eare- ful in military etiquette, and refused to march, or do any offensive acts, unless commanded by his superior officers at Washington. While at the Maumee, by a careless move, all his personal effects, including all his plans, number and strength of his armny, etc., fell into the hands of the enemy. His campaign ended only in ignominious defeat, and well-nigh paralyzed future efforts. All Mich- igan fell into the hands of the British. The com- mander, though a good man, lacked bravery and promptness. Had Gen. Harrison been in com- mand no such results would have been the case, and the war would have probably ended at the outset.
Before Hull had surrendered, Charles Scott, Governor of Kentucky, invited Gen. Harrison.
Governor of Indiana Territory, to visit Frankfort, to consult on the subject of defending the North- west. Gov. Harrison had visited Gov. Scott, and in August, 1812, accepted the appointment of Major General in the Kentucky militia, and, by hasty traveling, on the receipt of the news of the surrender of Detroit, reached Cincinnati on the morning of the 27th of that month. On the 30th he left Cincinnati, and the next day overtook the army he was to command, on its way to Dayton. After leaving Dayton, he was overtaken by an ex- press, informing him of his appointment by the Government as Commander-in-Chief of the armies of the Indiana and Illinois Territories. The army reached Piqua, September 3. From this place Harrison sent a body of troops to aid in the de- fense of Fort Wayne, threatened by the enemy. On the 6th he ordered all the troops forward, and while on the march, on September 17, he was informed of his appointment as commander of the entire Northwestern troops. He found the army poorly clothed for a winter campaign, now ap- proaching, and at once issued a stirring address to the people, asking for food and comfortable cloth- ing. The address was not in vain. After his appointment, Gen. Harrison pushed on to Au- glaize, where, leaving the army under command of Gen. Winchester, he returned to the interior of the State, and establishing his headquarters at Frank- linton, began active measures for the campaign.
Early in March, 1812, Col. John Miller raised, under orders, a regiment of infantry in Ohio, and in July assembled his enlisted men at Chillicothe, where, placing them-only one hundred and forty in number-under command of Captain Angus Lewis, he sent them on to the frontier. They erect- ed a block-house at Piqua and then went on to Defiance, to the main body of the army.
In July, 1812, Gen. Edward W. Tupper, of Gallia County, raised one thousand men for six months' duty. Under orders from Gen. Winches- ter, they marched through Chillicothe and Urbana, on to the Maumee, where, near the lower end of the rapids, they made an ineffectual attempt to drive off the enemy. Failing in this, the enemy
128
HISTORY OF OHIO.
attacked Tupper and his troops, who, though worn down with the march and not a little disorganized through the jealousies of the officers, withstood the attack, and repulsed the British and their red allies, who returned to Detroit, and the Americans to Fort MeArthur.
In the fall of 1812, Gen. Harrison ordered a detachment of six hundred men, mostly mounted, to destroy the Indian towns on the Missisineway River, one of the head-waters of the Wabash. The winter set in early and with unusual severity. At the same time this expedition was carried on, Bonaparte was retreating from Moscow. The expe- dition accomplished its design, though the troops suffered greatly from the cold, no less than two hundred men being more or less frost bitten.
Gen. Harrison determined at once to retake Michigan and establish a line of defense along the southern shores of the lakes. Winchester was sent to occupy Forts Wayne and Defiance; Perkins' brigade to Lower Sandusky, to fortify an old stockade, and some Pennsylvania troops and artil- lery sent there at the same time. As soon as Gen. Harrison heard the results of the Missis- ineway expedition, he went to Chillicothe to con- sult with Gov. Meigs about further movements, and the best methods to keep the way between the Upper Miami and the Maumee continually open. He also sent Gen. Winchester word to move for- ward to the rapids of the Maumee and prepare for winter quarters. This Winchester did by the middle of January, 1813, establishing himself on the northern bank of the river, just above Wayne's old battle-ground. He was well fixed here, and was enabled to give his troops good bread, made from corn gathered in Indian corn-fields in this vicinity.
While here, the inhabitants of Frenchtown, on the Raisin River, about twenty miles from Detroit, sent Winchester word claiming protection from the threatened British and Indian invasion, avowing themselves in sympathy with the Americans. A
council of war decided in favor of their request, and Col. Lewis, with 550 men, sent to their relief. Soon after, Col. Allen was sent with more troops, and the enemy easily driven away from about Frenchtown. Word was sent to Gen. Winchester, who determined to march with all the men he could spare to aid in holding the post gained. He left, the 19th of January, with 250 men, and ar- rived on the evening of the 20th. Failing to take the necessary precaution, from some unex- plained reason, the enemy came up in the night, established his batteries, and, the next day, sur-
prised and defeated the American Army with a terrible loss. Gen. Winchester was made a pris- oner, and, finally, those who were intrenched in the town surrendered, under promise of Proctor, the British commander, of protection from the Indians. This promise was grossly violated the next day. The savages were allowed to enter the town and enact a massacre as cruel and bloody as any in the annals of the war, to the everlasting ignominy of the British General and his troops.
Those of the American Army that escaped, ar- rived at the rapids on the evening of the 22d of January, and soon the sorrowful news spread throughout the army and nation. Gen. Harrison set about retrieving the disaster at once. Delay could do no good. A fort was built at the rapids, named Fort Meigs, and troops from the south and west hurriedly advanced to the scene of action. The investment and capture of Detroit was aban- doned, that winter, owing to the defeat at French- town, and expiration of the terms of service of many of the troops. Others took their places, all parts of Ohio and bordering States sending men.
The erection of Fort Meigs was an obstacle in the path of the British they determined to remove, and, on the 28th of February, 1813, a large band of British and Indians, under command of Proc- tor, Tecumseh, Walk-in-the-water, and other In- dian chiefs, appeared in the Maumee in boats, and prepared for the attack. Without entering into details regarding the investment of the fort, it is only necessary to add, that after a prolonged siege, lasting to the early part of May, the British were obliged to abandon the fort, having been severely defeated, and sailed for the Canadian shores.
Next followed the attacks on Fort Stephenson, at Lower Sandusky, and other predatory excur- sions, by the British. All of these failed of their design; the defense of Maj. Croghan and his men constituting one of the most brilliant actions of the war. For the gallant defense of Fort Stephenson by Maj. Croghan, then a young man, the army merited the highest honors. The ladies of Chillicothe voted the heroic Major a fine sword, while the whole land rejoiced at the exploits of him and his band.
The decisive efforts of the army, the great nun- bers of men offered-many of whom Gen. Harrison was obliged to send home, much to their disgust- Perry's victory on Lake Erie, September 10, 1813-all presaged the triumph of the American arms, soon to ensue. As soon as the battle on the lake was over, the British at Malden burned
129
HISTORY OF OHIO.
their stores, and fled, while the Americans, under their gallant commander, followed them in Perry's vessel to the Canada shore, overtaking them on the River Thames, October 5. In the battle that ensued, Tecumseh was slain, and the British Army routed.
The war was now practically closed in the West. Ohio troops had done nobly in defending their northern frontier, and in regaining the Northwest- ern country. Gen. Harrison was soon after elected to Congress by the Cincinnati district, and Gen. Dunean MeArthur was appointed a Brigadier General in the regular army, and assigned to the command in his place. Gen. MeArthur made an expedition into Upper Canada in the spring of 1814, destroying considerable property, and driv- ing the British farther into their own dominions. Peace was declared early in 1815, and that spring, the troops were mustered out of service at Chilli- cothe, and peace with England reigned supreme.
The results of the war in Ohio were, for awhile, similar to the Indian war of 1795. It brought many people into the State, and opened new por- tions, before unknown. Many of the soldiers im- mediately invested their money in lands, and became citizens. The war drove many people from the Atlantic Coast west, and as a result much money, for awhile, circulated. Labor and provisions rose, which enabled both workmen and tradesmen to enter tracts of land, and aided emigration. At the conclusion of Wayne's war in 1795, probably not more than five thousand people dwelt in the limits of the State ; at the close of the war of 1812, that number was largely increased, even with the odds of war against them. After the last war, the emigration was constant and gradual, building up the State in a manner that betokened a healthful life.
As soon as the effects of the war had worn off, a period of depression set in, as a result of too free speculation indulged in at its elose. Gradu- ally a stagnation of business ensued, and many who found themselves unable to meet contracts made in " flush " times, found no alternative but to fail. To relieve the pressure in all parts of the West, Congress, about 1815, reduced the price of public lands from $2 to $1.25 per acre. This measure worked no little hardship on those who owned large tracts of lands, for portions of which they had not fully paid, and as a consequence, these lands, as well as all others of this class, reverted to the Government. The general market was in New
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