USA > Ohio > Fayette County > History of Fayette County, Ohio : her people, industries and institutions > Part 3
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CENSUS OF NORTHWEST TERRITORY IN 1800.
The division of 1800 left the Northwest Territory with only about one- third of its original area. The census of the territory taken by the United States government in 1800 showed it to have a total population of forty-five thousand three hundred and sixty-five, which fell short by about fifteen thou-
(3)
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FAYETTE COUNTY, OHIO.
sand of being sufficient for the creation of a state as provided by the Ordi- nance of 1787, which fixed the minimum population at sixty thousand. The counties left in the Northwest Territory, with their respective population, are set forth in the appended table, all of which were within the present state of Ohio, except Wayne :
Adams
3.432
Hamilton
14,632
Jefferson
8.766
Ross
8,540
Trumbull
1,302
Washington
1
1
1
1
1
1
5,427
Wayne
3,206
Total
45,365
The population as classified by the census with respect to age and sex is interesting and particularly so in showing that considerably more than one- third of the total population were children under ten years of age.
Males. Females.
Whites up to ten years of age
9.362
8,644
Whites from ten to sixteen
3.647
3.353
Whites from sixteen to twenty-six
4,636
3.861
Whites from twenty-six to forty-five_
4,833
3.342
Whites forty-five and upward
1.955
1,395
Total
24.433
20,595
Total of both sexes
45,028
Total of other persons, not Indians
337
Grand total
45,365
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1
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1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1 1
I
1
1 1
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1
1
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1
A digression is necessary at this point in order to trace the growth of settlement of the territory now within the present state of Ohio up to 1803. when it was admitted to the Union as a state. Marietta, founded in July, 1788. by the Ohio Company, is the oldest permanent settlement in the state. A number of New Jersey settlers were organized by John Cleves Symmes, and Symmes succeeded in securing a grant of land from Congress (1788- 1792) containing two hundred forty-eight thousand five hundred and forty
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FAYETTE COUNTY, OHIO.
autres. located between the Great Miami and Little Miami rivers. This grant of land is known in Ohio history as the Symmes purchase and contained the settlements of Columbia ( 1788) and Cincinnati (1789), although the latter place was first christened Losantiville. The man who devised this name exercised no small amount of ingenuity in its manufacture. The proposed settlement happened to be located at the mouth of the Licking river and this circumstance, with a little knowledge of Latin and a vivid imagination, was responsible for this hybrid word. The Latin word for town is "villa," which is Anglicized into "ville:" the Latin for opposite is "anti" and for mouth "os." These three Latin words account for the completed word, with the exception of the "L," and this letter is the initial letter of Licking. To make the word clear it must be read backward, syllable at a time-thus L-os-anti- ville. which being interpreted means the town opposite the mouth of the Licking.
The Virginia Military District, to which reference has been made, was settled largely by people from that state. The Connecticut Reserve, along Lake Erie, attracted many settlers from that state, among whom should be mentioned Moses Cleaveland, who, in 1796, founded the city which bears his name. The northern part of the state did not begin to fill up rapidly until after 1832, when the Ohio-Erie canal was opened for traffic. There have been estimates running from fifteen to twenty thousand as to the number of ·people who floated down the Ohio river within a year after the Ordinance of 1787 went into effect.
COUNTY ORGANIZATION ( 1788-1810).
It has already been stated that there were nine counties within the Northwest Territory in 1799, when it advanced to the second stage of terri- torial government. According to the provisions of the ordinance, the crea- tion of new counties was in the hands of the governor, although after the federal constitution went into effect the secretary was also given the same power. Knox and Wayne counties were started by Secretary Winthrop Sar- gent according to this provision. The state of Ohio is now divided into eighty-eight counties, ten of which were created before the state was admitted to the Union on March 1, 1803. The counties organized by Governor St. Clair, or his secretary, from 1788, when Washington county was organized. up to 1803, when the state was admitted to the Union, are ten in number : Washington, Hamilton, Wayne, Adams, Jefferson, Ross, Trumbull, Cler- mont. Fairfield and Belmont. The dates of the creation of the first six
36
FAYETTE COUNTY, OHIO.
have already been given. Trumbull. county was organized on July 10, 1800: Clermont and Fairfield, December 9, 1800; Belmont, September 7, 1801. Between the years 1803 and 1810, when Fayette county was organized, there were no less than twenty-four counties organized within the state of Ohio. The first session of the General Assembly of the state organized eight coun- ties, as follows: Franklin, Gallia, Greene, Scioto. Warren, Butler, Mont- gomery and Columbiana. Muskingum started its independent existence on the first day of March, 1804. In 1805 there were four counties created. Champaign, Athens, Geauga and Highland. The session of 1807 added four more to the rapidly growing state, Miami, Ashtabula, Cuyahoga and Portage. The following year saw six new counties opened for entry, Dela- ware, Stark, Tuscarawas, Preble, Knox and Licking. One county, Huron, was created in 1800. The five counties organized in 1810 include Fayette. the history of which is the main theme of this volume. The other counties created in this year are Pickaway, Guernsey, Clinton and Madison. This makes a total of thirty-nine counties up to and including the year 1810. In this year Cincinnati, the largest city of the state, boasted of a population of two thousand three hundred and twenty, while Fayette, which had been made out of parts of Highland and Ross counties, started out with a total popula- tion of one thousand eight hundred and fifty-four.
INDIAN WARS ( 1787-1803).
The period from 1787 to 1803 in the Northwest Territory was marked by several bitter conflicts with the Indians. Just as at the close of the French and Indian War had the French stirred up the Indians against the Ameri- cans. so at the close of the Revolutionary War did the English do the same thing. This inciting of the Indians by the British was one of the causes of the War of 1812, a struggle which has very appropriately been called the second War for Independence. The various uprising's of the Indians up to 1794 retarded the influx of settlers and was a constant menace to those who did venture into the territory. Three distinct campaigns were waged against the Indians during this period before they were finally subdued. The first campaign was under the command of Gen. Josiah Harmar, 1790, and re- sulted in a decisive defeat for the whites. The second expedition was under the leadership of Gen. AArthur St. Clair, the governor of the Territory, and was marked by one of the worst defeats ever suffered by an American army at the hands of the Indians. A lack of knowledge of Indian methods of warfare, combined with reckless mismanagement, sufficiently accounts for
37
FAYETTE COUNTY, OHIO.
both disasters. It remained for Gen. Anthony Wayne, the "Mad Anthony" of Revolutionary fame, to bring the Indians to terms. The battle which closed his campaign against the Indians is known as the battle of Fallen Timbers and was fought on August 20. 1794. The scene of the battle lies along the Maumee river within the limits of the present county of Defiance. This crushing defeat of the Indians, a rout in which they had lost twelve out of thirteen chiefs, was so complete that the Indians were glad to sue for peace. On June 10, 1795, delegates from the various Indian tribes, headed by their chiefs, met at Greenville, Ohio, to formulate a treaty. The United States government appointed General Wayne as commissioner plenipotentiary to draft the treaty and, after nearly two months of bickering, a treaty was drawn up on August 3. 1795. It was signed by General Wayne on behalf of the United States and by ninety chiefs and the delegates of twelve interested tribes. The treaty was faithfully kept by the Indians and ever afterward Little Turtle, the real leader of the Indians, was a true friend of the whites. It may be said that this battle of Fallen Timbers was the most important battle fought in America between the close of the War for Independence and the battle of Tippecanoe in the fall of 1811. To Gen. Anthony Wayne will remain the honor of opening the way for the permanent settlement of the Northwest Territory.
THE FORMATION OF A NEW STATE.
The three years intervening between the creation of Indian Territory ( May 7, 1800), and the admission of Ohio to the Union ( March 1, 1803). are marked by an acrimonious struggle during which Governor St. Clair was constantly growing in disfavor with his Legislature and the great mass of the people of the Territory. The Legislature wanted a state formed as soon as possible and succeeded in getting Congress to pass an act. April 30, 1802. authorizing the calling of a constitutional convention. This act established the limits of the proposed new state as follows: 'That part of the North- west Territory bounded east by Pennsylvania, south by the Ohio river, west by a line drawn from the mouth of the Big Miami river due north to an east and west line passing through the south extremity of Lake Michigan, and by this line and the Canada line through Lake Erie to the west line of Penn- sylvania." Since these boundaries omitted the eastern half of the present state of Michigan which had been left a part of the Northwest Territory by the division of May 7, 1800, it was denounced as a fraud by the Federalists in the omitted territory. However, it is very plain that Congress carried out
38
FAYETTE COUNTY, OHIO.
the intent of the Ordinance of 1787 by their act and the charge of political trickery fails of substantiation in the light of the specific provisions therein set forth regarding the creation of states out of the Northwest Territory. The enabling act provided for an election for delegates to the constitutional convention to be held in September of the same year ( 1802), the delegates to meet at Chillicothe on the first Monday of the following November. The thirty-five delegates met at the appointed time and by a vote of thirty-four to one, the negative vote being cast by Ephraim Cutler, decided to proceed at once to the organization of a state government and the formation of a consti- tution. The convention was in session until November 29th, at which time it had completed the first constitution for the state and the one which lasted until 1851. when a second constitution was adopted.
WHEN WAS OHIO ADMITTED TO THE UNION?
It is interesting to note the difficulty which Ohio historians have had in trying to fix upon the date which marks the formal admission of the state to the Union.
The natal day of Ohio has given rise to more dispute than the natal day of any other state in the Union. This is undoubtedly due to the fact that Congress never passed an act formally admitting it to the Union. There have been no less than five dates assigned by as many different authorities and each group of historians substantiate their claim by the citation of facts. These five dates are as follows: AApril 30, 1802: November 29. 1802: Febru- ary 19, 1803; March 1, 1803; March 3, 1803.
The first date ( April 30, 1802) has for its chief sponsor the editor of the "U'nited States Statutes at Large." This date is not tenable at all. since the territorial judges were in office for several months after this date and were, by the congressional act of February 21, 1806, paid their full salaries up to March 1. 1803. The second date ( November 20, 1802) is advanced by Hickey in his volume, "The Constitution," on the ground that the con- stitution was adopted on that day. The third date ( February 19, 1803) has been held by several good authorities, notably. Caleb Atwater, in his "Politi- cal Manual:" G. W. Pascal, in his "Annotated Constitution," and the late president of Marietta College, 1. W. Andrews. It was upon this date that Congress passed an act to "provide for the due execution of the laws of the United States within the state of Ohio." This would seem to indicate that Congress recognized February 19, 1803. as the date of the admission of Ohio to the Union, but when it is recalled that Congress had not yet appointed the
39
FAYETTE COUNTY, OHIO.
necessary judicial officers it must be concluded that this is not the proper date. The fourth date ( March 1, 1803) is now recognized officially as the actual day on which Ohio formally entered the Union, although it was an act of Congress passed nearly three years later which definitely settled this fact. The question arose in 1806 in Congress regarding the payment of the terri- torial officers and the act of February 2Ist of that year ordered that the gov- ernor and judges be paid for their services up to Maich 1, 1833. There can be no question but that Congress placed its official approval on this date as being the first day of Ohio's existence as a separate state. The fifth and last date (March 3, 1803) was advanced as the real date of the admission of the state, for the reason that on this date Congress gave its approval to certain changes in the constitution of the state which had been adopted on November 29, 1802. These changes related to the disposition of certain school lands within the state and were of minor importance and in no sense advocated any radical changes in the constitution of the state. However, on March 3. 1803, the state had been in full operation for a space of three days and exercising all the rights and privileges of a state: the governor had been installed : the Legislature was in session and the various state officials were discharging their duties in accordance with the constitution. Thus it must be concluded from all available evidence that Ohio was admitted to the Union on March 1, 1803.
CAPITALS OF NORTHWEST TERRITORY AND OHIO.
The capital of the Northwest Territory was located within the present limits of Ohio during the whole existence of the Territory both before and after the division of the Territory in 1800. When the Ordinance of 1787 was formally put into operation, on July 17, 1788, the capital was established at Marietta, the name being chosen by the directors of the Ohio Company on July 2, 1788. The name of Marietta was selected in honor of the French Queen Marie Antoinette, compounded by a curious combination of the first and last syllables of her name.
The capital remained at Marietta until 1800, when it was moved by the congressional act of May 7th of that year to Chillicothe and by the con- stitution adopted in 1802 the capital was to remain there at least until 1808. The Legislature of 1809 moved the capital to Zanesville until such time as a permanent site should be selected. The Legislature at the same time that it moved the capital to Zanesville appointed commissioners to report at the fol- lowing sessions "the most eligible and central spot for permanently establish-
40
FAYETTE COUNTY, OHIO.
ing it." The approaching War of 1812 made it necessary to take the capital back to Chillicothe, where there was less danger from attack by the Indians and British. The commissioners appointed by the Legislature of 1809 se- lected a small village by the name of Dublin, on the Scioto, about fourteen miles north of Columbus, but the Legislature refused to abide by their choice.
The capital was permanently located at Columbus by the legislative act of February 14, 1812, although no less than nine different sites were under consideration before the final decision was made. The act selecting the site did not choose a name for the proposed city and this honor belongs to Joseph Foos, the senator from Franklin county, who had been largely instrumental in the selection of the Legislature. At that time there was a solitary log cabin on the site and the whole tract was covered with a dense forest. The act of February 17. 1816, formally designated Columbus as the capital "from and after the second Tuesday of October. 1816." During the War of 1812, and until the buildings were ready at Columbus, the capital remained at Chillicothe.
CONSTITUTIONAL. HISTORY OF OHIO.
The state of Ohio has had four constitutional conventions : 1802, 1850-51. 1873-74 and 1912. The constitution of 1802, it is interesting to note, was never submitted to the people for ratification. Between the adop- tion of the first and second constitution there was an effort to hold a con- stitutional convention. A resolution, passed December 25, 1818, authorized a vote on the question of holding a constitutional convention, but at the elec- tion which was subsequently held it was decided adversely by a vote of 29.315 to 6,987.
The main facts concerning the second constitutional convention may be briefly summed up as follows. The Legislature on October 9. 1849. author- ized a vote on the question of holding a convention and the voters of the state cast a majority of 94,531 in favor of the constitutional convention. The vote stood 145.698 for and 51,167 against the convention. On April I, 1850. the one hundred and eight delegates were elected and on the 6th of the following May they met at Columbus. The convention was in continuous session until July 9. 1850, and then, not having yet completed their delibera- tions. adjourned to meet again on December 2, 1850. The second session continued to hold daily meetings until March 10, 1851, when it finally con- cluded its labors after having spent a total of one hundred and sixty-three days. The constitution was submitted to the people of the state on June 17, 1851, and adopted by a vote of 125.564 to 109.276.
41
FAYETTE COUNTY, OHIO.
.An attempt to adopt a new constitution was made in 1874. but failed. On March 30, 1871, the Legislature provided for a vote on the question of holding a constitutional convention and at an election held October 10, 1871, it was decided, by a vote of 267.618 to 104.231, to hold such a convention. On April 6, 1873. the one hundred and five delegates to the convention were elected and on the 13th of the following month they met and organized. The convention continued in session from that date until August 8th, and, after a recess, met on December 2d and remained in continuous session until May 15th of the following year. The convention held daily sessions for one hundred and eighty days, one of the longest constitutional conventions ever held in the United States. With all this deliberation it would seem that a satisfactory constitution could have been framed, but the voters of the state, on August 18, 1874. rejected it by a vote of 250,169 to 102,885. This ex- pensive attempt to make a new constitution was sufficient to thwart all efforts along this line for several years. However, the changes in economic, social and industrial conditions became more pronounced year by year, and on March 9. 1909, the Legislature submitted the question of holding a constitu- tional convention. At an election held on November 8, 1910, it was decided. by a vote of 693,263 to 67,718. to select delegates to a constitutional con- vention. The convention met on the second Tuesday of January, 1912, and remained in session until June 8, 1912, when it finally concluded its labors. This convention submitted forty-two changes in the existing constitution and on September 3d of the same year the qualified voters of the state accepted all but eight of the proposed amendments. The eight amendments lost are as follows: Suffrage, good roads, advertising, injunctions, capital punishment, voting machines, eligibility of women and elimination of word "white" from the constitution. The amendments which carried by various majorities con- cerned the following subjects: Jury system, depositions, suits, wrongful death, initiative and referendum, investigations, limiting veto, mechanics' lien, welfare, compensations, conservation of natural resources, eight-hour day, removal of officials, expert testimony, land titles, prison contracts, extra sessions, reform of the judiciary, county judges, justices, school boards, school commissioners, insurance, abolishing of board of public works, taxa- tion, corporations, double liability, state printing, civil service, submission of amendments, home rule for cities, schedule and license. The fight was the most bitter on woman's suffrage and the initiative and referendum. The vote on the first proposition was 249,420 to 336,875 and was defeated largely on account of the activity of the liquor interests. The initiative and referen-
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FAYETTE COUNTY, OHIO
dum carried by a vote of 312,592 to 231.312, despite the fact that every ruse and trick known to professional politicians was used to compass its defeat.
On November 3, 1914, there were four constitutional amendments sub- mitted to the voters of the state and the two which caused the most discussion. viz., woman's suffrage and prohibition, were defeated. The other two amend- ments related to home rule for cities and the regulation of the liquor traffic.
MILITARY RECORD.
The state of Ohio has had its citizens in four wars in which the United States has engaged since 1803: the War of 1812, the Mexican War, the Civil War and the Spanish-American War. It is very unfortunate that the public records of Ohio contain no list of the soldiers of the state who fought in the War of 1812, although large numbers of the citizens served in the field under various commanders. The records as regards the Mexican War are fairly complete and show that a total of 5.536 men were sent to the front by the state. When the call was first issued for troops, Ohio was called upon to furnish three thousand men and within a short time forty companies reported at Camp Washington, near Cincinnati. Thirty companies were formed into three regiments, commanded by Cols. Alexander M. Mitchell, George W. Morgan and Samuel R. Curtis. These troops were sent down the Ohio in July. 1846, and joined General Taylor on the Rio Grande. In 1847 additional troops were sent from Ohio, but none of them saw any active service. The regiment under the command of Mitchell was the only one to take part in a battle. and it distinguished itself in the storming of Monterey. The state of Ohio suffered a severe loss in the death of Brig .- Gen. Thomas L. Hamer, one of the most prominent men of the state at that time. He was a member of Congress at the time of the opening of the war, but left Con- gress, enlisted as a private and soon after received a commission as brigadier- general. He was in the operations around Monterey and shortly afterward was stricken with a fatal disease and died on December 30, 1846.
The part which Ohio played in the Civil War can be only briefly noticed in this resume of the history of the state. That Ohio did her full duty as a loyal member of the Union is a fact which is known to everyone. Within twenty-four hours from the time the President issued his first call for troops on April 16, 1860, the Legislature had passed a bill appropriating one million dollars for military purposes. Two days later (April 19) two regiments of Ohio troops left by rail for Washington. The ease and quickness with which
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FAYETTE COUNTY, OHIO.
this was accomplished is an indication of the intense loyalty of the state. İt is a glowing tribute to the state of Ohio that although there were only thir- teen regiments assigned to the state under the first call, enough men presented themselves to make more than seventy regiments. This outburst of loyalty was such that the Legislature authorized the governor to accept ten more regiments, and the state itself equipped and paid these additional men and enrolled them for the defense of the state. By October 1, 1862, the state had enrolled militia to the number of 425,147 and the state sent out for duty outside of its own limits 319.659 men, although their quota was only 306,322. This gives the state the honor of furnishing more than one-tenth of the total enlistment of men in the Northern army. The soldiers were a part of every army. participated in every campaign, fought in every important battle from Bull Run to Bentonville, from Sabine Cross Roads to Gettysburg. No less than forty-three Ohio regiments of infantry were present at the san- guinary engagement at Missionary Ridge and they were in like proportion at the other battles. Twelve thousand brave Ohio men were killed or mortally wounded and at least forty thousand received wounds of some kind. Thir- teen thousand died of disease in the service and twenty thousand were dis- charged for disability arising from wounds or disease. These figures give some idea of the prominent part which the soldiers of Ohio played in the great struggle.
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