USA > Ohio > Defiance County > History of Defiance County, Ohio. Containing a history of the county; its townships, towns, etc.; military record; portraits of early settlers and prominent men; farm views, personal reminiscences, etc > Part 3
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15
HISTORY OF DEFIANCE COUNTY.
the next year, to the far West, settling at and near the mouth of the Kansas River.
FIRST OFFICERS OF THE TERRITORY.
Congress, in October, 1787, appointed General Arthur St. Clair, Governor; Maj. Winthrop Sargent, Secretary; and James M. Varnum, Samuel H. Parsons and John Armstrong, Judges of the Territory, the latter of whom, however, having declined the appoint- ment. John Cleves Symmes was appointed in his stead in February, 1788. On the 9th of July, 1788, Gov. St. Clair arrived at Marietta, and finding the Secretary and a majority of the Judges present, pro- ceeded to organize the Territory. The Governor and Judges (or a majority of them) were the sole leg. islative power during the existence of the first grade of Territorial government. Such laws as were in force in any of the States, and were deemed applica- ble to the condition of the people of the Territory, could be adopted by the Governor and Judges, and, after publication, became operative, unless disap- proved of by Congress, to which body certified copies of all laws thus adopted had to be forwarded by the Secretary of the Territory.
The further duty of the Judges, who were ap- pointed to serve during good behavior, was to hold court four times a year, whenever the business of the Territory required it, but not more than once a year in any one county.
THE SECOND GRADE OF TERRITORIAL GOVERNMENT.
After it shall be ascertained that 5,000 free male inhabitants actually resided within the Territory, the second grade of Territorial government could, of right, be established, which provided for a Legislative Coun- cil and also an elective House of Representatives, the two composing the law-making power of the Ter- ritory, provided always that the Governor's assent to their acts was had. He possessed the absolute veto power, and no act of the two Houses of the Legislature, even if passed by a unanimous vote in each branch could become a law. without his consent. The condi - tions that authorized the second grade of Territorial government, however, did not exist until 1798, and it was not really put into operation until September, 1799, after the first grade of government had existed for eleven years.
EARLY LAWS OF THE TERRITORY.
The first law was proclaimed July 25, 1788, and was entitled " An act for regulating and establishing the militia." Two days thereafter the Governor is- sued a proclamation establishing the county of Washington, which included all the territory east of the Scioto River to which the Indian title had been
extinguished, reaching northward to Lake Erie, the Ohio River and the Pennsylvania line being its east- ern boundary; Marietta, the seat of the Territorial government, also becoming the county seat of Wash- ington County.
Quite a number of laws were necessarily adopted and published during 1788 and the following year. From 1790 to 1795 they published sixty-four, thirty- four of them having been adopted at Cincinnati dur- ing the months of June, July and August of the last named year, by the Governor and Judges Symmes and Turner. They are known as the " Maxwell Code," from the name of the publisher, and were intended, says the author of "Western Annals," "to form a pretty complete body of statutory provisions." In 1798, eleven more were adopted. It was the published opin- ion of the late Chief Justice Chase, "that it may be doubted whether any colony, at so early a period after its first establishment, ever had so good a code of laws." Among them was that "which provided that the common law of England, and all statutes in aid thereof, made previous to the fourth year of James I, should be in full force within the Territory." Prob- ably four-fifths of the laws adopted were selected from those in force in Pennsylvania; the others were mainly taken from the statutes of Virginia and Mass- achusetts.
LOCAL COURTS AND COURT OFFICERS.
Among the earliest laws adopted was one which provided for the institution of a County Court of Com- mon Pleas, to be composed of not less than three nor more than five Judges, commissioned by the Gov- ernor, who were to hold two sessions in each year. Pursuant to its provisions, the first session of said court was held in and for Washington County, Sep- tember 2, 1788. The Judges of the court were Gen. Rufus Putnam, Gen. Benjamin Tupper and Col. Archibald Crary. Col. Return Jonathan Meigs was Clerk, and Col. Ebenezer Sproat was Sheriff. Elabo- rate details of the opening of this, the first court held in the Northwest Territory, have come down to us, showing it to have been a stylish, dignified pro- ceeding. Briefly, "a procession was formed at the Point (the junction of the Muskingum with the Ohio River) of the inhabitants and the officers from Fort Harmar, who escorted the Judge of the court, the Governor of the Territory, and the Territorial Judges to the hall appropriated for that purpose, in the north- west block-house in "Campus Martius." " The proces- sion," says Mitchener, " was headed by the Sheriff, with drawn sword and baton of office." After prayer by Rev. Manasseh Cutler, the court was organized by reading the commissions of the Judges, Clerk and Sheriff; after which the Sheriff proclaimed that the
16
HISTORY OF DEFIANCE COUNTY.
court was open for the administration of even-handed justice to the poor and the rich, to the guilty and the innocent, without respect of persons; none to be punished without a trial by their peers, and then in pursuance of the laws and evidence in the case.
On the 23d day of August, 1788, a law was pro- mulgated for establishing " General Courts of Quarter Sessions of the Peace." This court was composed of not less than three nor more than five Justices of the Peace, appointed by the Governor, who were to hold four sessions in each year. The first session of this court was held at "Campus Martius" September 9, 1788. The commission appointing the Judges
thereof was read. "Gen. Rufus Putnam and Gen. Benjamin Tupper," says Mitchener, " constituted the Justices of the quorum, and Isaac Pearce, Thomas Lord, and Return Jonathan Meigs, Jr., the assistant Justices; Col. Return Jonathan Meigs, Sr., was Clerk. Col. Ebenezer Sproat was Sheriff of Washington County fourteen years. The first grand jury of the Northwest Territory was impaneled by this court, and consisted of the following gentlemen: William Stacy (foreman), Nathaniel Cushing, Nathan Goodale, Charles Knowles, Anselm Tupper, Jonathan Stone, Olive Rice, Ezra Lunt, John Matthews, George Ingersoll, Jonathan Devol, Jethro Putnam, Samuel Stebbins and Jabez True."
ORGANIZATION OF COUNTIES.
Washington County, embracing the eastern half of the present State of Ohio, was the only organized county of the Northwest Territory until early in 1790, when the Governor proclaimed Hamilton County, which included all the territory between the Big and Little Miami Rivers, and extended north to the " Standing Stone Forks " on the first-named stream.
The following is a list of all the territorial coun- ties organized; also the date of organization, with their respective county seats:
COUNTIES.
WIIEN PROCLAIMED,
COUNTY SEATS.
1.
Washington.
July 27, 1788.
Marietta.
3.
Hamilton
January 2, 1790.
Cincinnati.
3.
St. Clair
February, 1790.
Cahokia.
1.
Knox
Iu 1790
Vincennes.
5.
Randolphi
In 1795.
Kaskaskia.
6.
Wayne ..
August 15, 1795.
Detroit.
7.
Adams.
July 10, 1797 ..
Manchester.
8.
Jefferson
July 29, 1797: . .
Steubenville.
9.
Ross
August 20, 1797.
Chillicothe.
10.
Trumbull
July 10, 1800.
Warren.
11.
Clermont.
December 6, 1800 ..
Williamsburg.
12.
Fairfield
December 9, 1800. .
New Lancaster.
13.
Belmont
September 7, 1801 ..
St. Clairsville.
It will be observed that Hamilton was the second county organized. There were situated within its limits, when organized, several flourishing villages, that had had their origin during the closing months of 1788 and early in 1789. Columbia, situated at the
mouth of the Little Miami, was the first of these laid out, its early settlers being Col. Benjamin Stites, of "Redstone Old Fort" (proprietor), William Goforth, John S. Gano, John Smith (a Baptist minister, who afterward became one of Ohio's first United States Senators), and others, numbering in all twenty-five persons or more, though some of them arrived a little later.
Cincinnati was the next in order of time, having been laid out early in 1789, by Col. Robert Patter- son, Matthias Denman and Israel Ludlow. Several not very successful attempts had also been made at various points between Cincinnati and the mouth of the Great Miami by Judge Symmes.
The early settlers of Hamilton County were prin . cipally from New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Virginia and Kentucky. Judge Symmes and Burnet were repre- sentative men in the Miami Valley from New Jersey, Jeremiah Morrow and Judge Dunlavy from Pennsyl- vania, William H. Harrison and William McMillan from Virginia, and Col. Robert Patterson and Rev. James Kemper from Kentucky.
The Scioto Valley, the next in order of time, was settled chiefly by Virginians and Kentuckians, repre- sented by Col. Thomas Worthington and Gen. Na- thaniel Massie, two of its prominent settlers.
And the early settlements along Lake Erie, dur- ing the closing years of the eighteenth century, whose representative men were Gov. Samuel Hunting- ton and Hon. Benjamin Tappan, were established by men not a whit inferior to those above named. And the good that Gen. Washington said of the New En- gland Colony that settled Marietta could, with very slight modifications, be said of most of the settlers and pioneers of the aforesaid settlements.
EARLY TERRITORIAL VILLAGES AND TOWNS.
The following is a list of the principal villages and towns in the Northwest Territory, started aud built up during Territorial rule, with the time of the first survey of lots, together with the names of their proprietors:
Marietta -- Laid out in 1788 by Rufus Putnam and the Ohio Land Company.
Columbia-Laid out in 1788 by Benjamin Stites, Maj. Gano and others.
Cincinnati-Laid out in 1789 by Robert Patterson, Matthias Denman and Israel Ludlow.
Gallipolis-Laid out in 1791 by the French set- tlers.
Manchester -- Laid out in 1791 by Nathaniel Mas- sie.
Hamilton -- Laid out in 1794 by Israel Ludlow.
Dayton -- Laid out in 1795 by Israel Ludlow and Gens. Dayton and Wilkinson.
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HISTORY OF DEFIANCE COUNTY.
Franklin-Laid out in 1795 by William C. Schenck and Daniel C. Cooper.
Chillicothe-Laid out in 1796 by Nathaniel Mas- sie.
Cleveland-Laid out in 1796 by Job V. Styles.
Franklinton - - Laid out in 1797 by Lucas Sullivant.
Steubenville -Laid out in 1798 by Bazaliel Wells and James Ross.
Williamsburg-Laid out in 1799.
Zanesville-Laid out in 1799 by Jonathan Zane and John McIntire.
New Lancaster-Laid out in 1800 by Ebenezer Zane
Warren-Laid out in 1801 by Ephriam Quinby.
St. Clairsville-Laid out in 1801 by David New- ell.
Springfield-Laid out in 1801 by James Demint. Newark -- Laid out in 1802 by William C. Schenck,
G. W. Burnet and John Cummings.
Cincinnati, at the close of the Territorial govern- ment, was the largest town in the Territory, contain- ing about 1,000 inhabitants. It was incorporated in 1802, with the following as its first officers:
President -- David Zeigler.
Recorder-Jacob Burnet.
Trustees-William Ramsay, David E. Wade, Charles Avery, William Stanley, John Reily, Samuel Dick, William Ruffner.
Assessor-Joseph Prince.
Collector-Abram Cary.
Town Marshal-James Smith.
TERRITORIAL OFFICERS.
The following exhibit gives a full list of the offi- cers of the Territory, with the date of service, in- cluding the delegates to Congress:
Governor-Gen. Arthur St. Clair, served from 1788 to 1802.
Secretaries-Winthrop Sargent, served from 1788 to 1798; William H. Harrison, served from 1798 to 1799; Charles Willing Byrd, served from 1799 to 1805.
The latter gentleman was also elected Governor during the closing months of the Territorial govern- ment, Gov. St. Clair having been removed from office in 1802 by President Jefferson.
Treasurer-John Armstrong, served from 1792 to 1803.
Territorial Delegates in Congress -- William H. Harrison, served from 1799 to 1800; William Mc- Millan, served from 1800 to 1801; Paul Fearing, served from 1801 to 1803.
Territorial Judges -James Mitchell Varnum, Sam- uel Holden Parsons and John Armstrong were ap- pointed Judges for the Northwest Territory by Con-
gress, in October, 1787; the latter, however, declined and John Cleves Symmes was appointed to the vacancy in February, 1788, and lie accepted.
Judge Varnum died in January, 1789, and Will- iam Barton was appointed his successor, but declined the appointment; George Turner, however, in 1789, accepted it. On the 10th of November, 1789, Judge Parsons was drowned in attempting to cross Big Beaver Creek, and Rufus Putnam became his suc- cessor March 31, 1790. In 1796, he resigned, and Joseph Gilman succeeded him. The Territorial court was composed of three Judges, two of whom constituted a quorum for judicial purposes, and also for the exercise of legislative functions in co-opera- tion with the Governor.
NAMES.
WHEN APPOINTED.
END OF SERVICE.
James M. Varuum .. .
October, 1787.
January, 1789.
Samuel H. Parsons.
October, 1787. .
John Armstrong ..
October, 1787 ..
November 10, 1789. Refused to serve.
John C. Symmes.
February, 1788.
William Barton.
-, 1789
Refused to serve.
George Turner.
-, 1789 .. .
Rufus Putnam
March 31, 1790. .
Served until 1796.
Joseph Gilman.
1796.
"Return Jonathan Meigs, Jr., was appointed (says Judge Burnet) after the first session of the Territorial Legislature, of which he was a member, and probably continued in office to the close of the Territorial gov- ernment, but I have not been able to verify said con- jecture."
HOSTILITY OF THE INDIAN TRIBES-MILITARY EXPEDITIONS.
From the time of the organization of the govern- ment of the "Northwest Territory," in 1788, until the ratification of the "treaty of Greenville," some- times called "Wayne's treaty," in 1795, the attitude of many of the Western Indian tribes toward the white settlers in the Northwest Territory was that of extreme, unrelenting hostility. The military or- ganization which had marched against them, before the establishment; of civil government in the great Northwest, had signally failed to subjugate them, or se- cure a permanent cessation of hostilities. The disas- trous expedition of Gen. Braddock in 1755, of Maj. Wilkins in 1763, of Col. Bradstreet in 1764, of Col. Lochry in 1781, and of Col. Crawford in 1782, and the disgraceful and murderous expedition against the Moravian Indians on the Tuscarawas, in the last named year, only tended to inflame the hostile Indian tribes, and inspire them with greater courage in their hostile movements and aggressive measures against the white settlers, The fruitless, if not abortive, campaigns of Col. McDonald in 1774, of Gen. Mc- Intosh in 1778, and of Gen. Broadhead in 1781, of course, led to no salutary results. Even the success- ful campaigns of Col. Boquet in 1763-64, of Lord
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HISTORY OF DEFIANCE COUNTY.
Dunmore and Gen. Lewis in 1774, and of Gen. George Rogers Clark in 1778, failed to secure a per-
manent peace with the Western Indian tribes. The inhabitants of the Northwest Territory were, therefore, from the 7th of April, 1788, when the first immi- grants arrived at the mouth of the Muskingum, until the treaty of Greenville was concluded in August, 1795, constantly liable to the stealthy but deadly at- tacks of the perfidious, merciless savage tribes of the Northwest. But they met their dastardly, cruel, re- lentless foe in the spirit of genuine manhood -- of true, determined, unflinching heroism! They were men worthy of the heroic age of the West! Bravely did they bear themselves during those seven years of toil and privations, of dread and apprehension, of suffer- ing and sorrow, of blood and carnage.
To secure the speedy termination of those savage atrocities the National Government early organized number of military expeditions, the first of these be- ing that of Gen. Harmar, in 1790, who was then Commander-in-Chief of the military department of the West. He had a few hundred regular troops un- der his command, stationed chiefly at Ft. Harmar and at Ft. Washington, which served as the nucleus of his army. The great body of his troops, however, numbering in all above fourteen hundred, were Penn- sylvania and Kentucky volunteers, the former being under the immediate command of Col. John Hardin, and the latter of Col. Trotter. The expedition left Ft. Washington and marched to the junction of the St. Joseph and St. Mary's Rivers (now Ft. Wayne, Ind.), where detachments of the army, under com- mand of Col. Hardin, on the 19th and 22d days of October, encountered the enemy and suffered mortify. ing defeats. Of course, the campaign failed to give peace or relief from apprehended barbarities.
The next year Gen. St. Clair, the Governor of the Territory, who had a Revolutionary record of patriot- ism and ability, organized an expedition, whose strength somewhat exceeded that of Gen. Harmar's. It met with a most disastrous defeat, November 4, 1791, near the head-waters of the Wabash, now in Mercer County, Ohio, the battle-field being known as Ft. Recovery. Of 1,500 men in the battle, more than half of them were either killed or wounded, and it was indeed a great calamity to the disheartened and greatly harassed pioneers of the Northwest Territory.
Immediately after the defeat of Gen. St. Clair, the Federal Government took the preliminary steps to raise a large army to operate against the hostile tribes, for the purpose of finally and permanently subjugating them. Military preparations, however, progressed slowly, and the summer of 1794 had nearly passed before the confederated hostile Indian tribes were met in bat- tle array by Gen. Wayne's army. The battle was fought
at the Maumee Rapids, near Perrysburg, and Ft. Meigs, in Wood County, Ohio, and is known as the battle of " Fallen Timbers," though sometimes called the battle of the Maumee. Wayne's army numbered more than three thousand men, well disciplined, and ably officered, 1,600 of whom being mounted volun- teer troops from Kentucky, commanded by Gen. Charles Scott, of said State, who was the second rank- ing officer in the army, and who, as well as Gen. Henry Lee (the "Light Horse Harry" of the Revolu- tion) aud Gen. William Darke, had been favorably considered by President Washington in connection with the chief command of the expedition. The choice, however, fell upon Gen. Wayne, the old com - panion in arms of the President, and to him is justly ascribed the honor of defeating the Indian tribes commanded by the celebrated Shawnee chief, Blue Jacket, on the Maumee, August 20, 1794, and of permanently breaking the power of a very formid- able Indian confederacy. Cessation of hostilities fol- lowed this victory, and a peace, which the General Government had vainly sought by friendly negotia- tion, was secured-a peace which continued for many years, even, until after the northwest territory had "ceased to be," and the important incidents and events connected therewith had passed into history.
ORGANIZATION OF THE SECOND GRADE OF TERRITORIAL GOV-
ERNMENT.
The Governor having satisfactorily ascertained that the conditions existed entitling the territory to the second grade of government, that is, that there were "5,000 free male inhabitants, of full age," within the Territory, he, on the 29th day of October, 1798, took the preliminary steps to effect that object, by issuing his proclamation, directing the qualified voters to hold elections for Territorial Representatives on the third Monday of September, 1798. The election was held in pursuance of said proclamation, which resulted in the following gentlemen being chosen to constitute the popular branch of the Territorial Legislature for the ensuing two years:
MEMBERS OF TERRITORIAL LEGISLATURE OF 1799-1800
Return Jonathan Meigs, Washington County. Paul Fearing, Washington County. William Goforth, Hamilton County. William McMillan, Hamilton County.
John Smith, Hamilton County. John Ludlow, Hamilton County.
Robert Benham, Hamilton County. Aaron Caldwell, Hamilton County. Isaac Martin, Hamilton County. Shadrack Bond, St. Clair County. John Small, Knox County.
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HISTORY OF DEFIANCE COUNTY.
John Edgar, Randolph County. Solomon Sibley, Wayne County.
Jacob Visgar, Wayne County.
Charles F. Chabert de Joncaire, Wayne County. Joseph Darlinton, Adams County.
Nathaniel Massie, Adams County.
James Pritchard, Jefferson County.
Thomas Worthington, Ross County.
Elias Langham, Ross County. Samuel Findlay, Ross County.
Edward Tiffin, Ross County.
The above named gentlemen met at Cincinnati on the 22d of January, 1799, and nominated ten men, whose names they forwarded to the United States Congress, five of whom were to be selected by that body to constitute the Legislative Council of the Ter- ritory. They then adjourned to meet on the 16th of September, 1799.
On the 22d of 'March, 1799, either the United States Senate, the United States House of Represen- tatives, or the President of the United States (author- ities are not agreed), chose from among those whose names had been suggested to them the following gen- tlemen, to compose the first Legislative Council of the Northwest Territory, their term of office to con- tinue five years, any three of whom to form a quorum:
Jacob Burnet, of Cincinnati, Hamilton County.
Henry Vandenburg, of Vincennes, Knox County. Robert Oliver, of Marietta, Washington County. James Findlay, of Cincinnati, Hamilton County. David Vance, of Vanceville, Jefferson County.
The ordinance of 1787 named Congress as the au- thority in whom was vested the right to select five from the list of ten persons to constitute the Territo- rial Council. But it will be borne in mind that said ordinance was passed by a Congress that legislated in pursuance of the articles of confederation, while yet we had neither President nor United States Sen- ate, hence authority was given to Congress to make the selection, But it is highly probable that the aforesaid authority was subsequently transferred to the President, or to the Senate, or to them jointly.
FIRST COUNCIL AND HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES.
Both the Council and House of Representatives met at Cincinnati, September 16, 1799, and effected a permanent organization. The Council perfected its organization by the election of the following officers:
President- - Henry Vandenburg. Secretary-William C. Schenck.
Door-keeper --- George Howard. Sergeant-at-Arms-Abraham Cary.
The House of Representatives completed its or- ganization by electing, as its officers, the following gentlemen :
Speaker of the House-Edward Tiffin.
Clerk-John Riley.
Door-keeper-Joshua Rowland.
Sergeant-at-Arms-Abraham Cary.
Thirty bills were passed at the first session of the Territorial Legislature, but the Governor vetoed eleven of them. They also elected William H. Har- rison, then Secretary of the Territory, a Delegate to Congress, by a vote of eleven to ten that were cast for Arthur St. Clair, Jr., son of the Governor, then a promising young lawyer of Cincinnati, and who then held the office of Attorney General of the Terri- tory. The first session of the Territorial Legislature was prorogued by the Governor December 19, 1799, until the first Monday of November, 1800, at which they re-assembled and held the second session at Chil- licothe, which, by an act of Congress of May 7, 1800, was made the seat of the Territorial government un- til otherwise ordered by the Legislature. This, the second session of the Territorial Legislature, was of short duration, continuing only until December 9, 1800.
On May 9, 1800, Congress passed an act establish- ing the Indian Territory, with boundaries including the present States of Indiana aud Illinois, and Will- iam H. Harrison having accepted the office of Gover- nor of said Territory, it devolved upon the Territorial Legislature, at its second session, not only to elect a Delegate to fill the vacancy occasioned by his resigna- tion, but also to elect a Delegate to serve during the succeeding Congress. William McMillan, of Cin- cinnati, was elected to fill the vacancy, and Paul Fearing, of Marietta, was elected to serve from the 4th of March, 1801, to the 4th of March, 1803. They were both reputed to be men of ability.
By the organization of the Indiana Territory, the counties of St. Clair, Knox and Randolph were taken out of the jurisdiction of the Northwest Territory, and with them, of course, Henry Vandenburg, of Knox County, President of the Council; also, Shadrack Bond, of St. Clair County; John Small, of Knox County, and John Edgar, of Randolph County, mem- bers of the popular branch of the Legislature.
On the 23d of November, 1801, the third session of the Territorial Legislature was commenced at Chil- licothe, pursuant to adjournment. The time for which the members of the House of Representatives were elected having expired, and an election having been held, quite a number of new members appeared. The Council remained nearly as it was at the previ- ous sessions, there being not more than two changes, perhaps only one, that of Solomon Sibley, of Detroit, Wayne County, who took the place of Henry Van- denburg, thrown into the new Territory. Robert Oli- ver, of Marietta, Washington County, was chosen
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