USA > Ohio > Greene County > History of Greene County, Ohio: its people, industries and institutions, Volume I > Part 2
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96
County's Part in Civil War
650
County's Public Buildings
122-156
Court House History
122-134
Covenanter Church
502
Cowan, Jennie, Story of
93
Coy, Jacob
210, 533
Crop Statistics
215, 234, 256,
304, 315, 337, 344, 404
Cyclone of 1884
393
D
Dairy Products
420
Daniels Post No. 500, G. A. R.
644
Daughters of America
627
Daughters of the American Revolu- tion 639
Darnell's Leap for Life.
91
Davidson, Dr. Andrew W
592
Davis, Lewis, Story of
299
Davis, Owen
96, 104, 105, 107,
212.298
122, 169, 173, 208, 219, 300, 376, 573
Dean, William and Daniel
336
Debt of Greene County.
116
Degree of Pocahontas.
624
Detroit, Toledo & Ironton Railroad 697
Dillon, Dr. J. S
596
Distilleries
412
Doctors of Greene County ____
588-607
HISTORICAL INDEX.
Dohrman's Grant
53
Draft for World War in 1917 668
Drainage
59, 207, 227, 274, 282,
298, 311, 319, 327, 336, 353.
Dunker Church
532
Dunlavey, Francis
580
E
Early Enumeration Lists __ 195, 202,
230, 247, 277, 283, 298, 311, 318
Early Physicians of Greene County_ 603
Early Poll-Book Lists __ 194, 202, 212, 230, 247, 276, 283
Early Tax Levies
112
Educational
425-451
Electric Railway Lines in County __
699
Elevation of Greene County
61
Ellsberry, William
582
English Traders, Activities of
34
Erie Railroad
696
F
Fairfield, Village of
291
Fallen Timbers, Battle of
34,
43
Farm and Garden Crops
409
Grape Grove, Hamlet of
316
Farming in the Old Days
405
Greene County Children's Home
153
Greene County in War Times ___ 646-675
Greene County in World War.
669
Farm Life in Greene County.
404-424
Fate of Two Villages at Stake_290, 400
Fertilizers
413
Financial
Contribution
to
World
War 675
Finley, Dr. R. S.
598
Fire Company Wins State Prize
370
Fires of Destructive Proportions __
394, 613, 721
First Commissioners of County_101, 108
First Court Held at Xenia. 124
First Court House
125
First Court in Greene County.
570
First Doctor at Xenia
592
First House in Xenia. 701
First Miller, The
173
First Newspaper in County 544
First Piano Manufactured in County
775
First School House in County. 429 First Seminary in County 452
First Settlers of Greene County 170
First Woman's Club in America 631
Flood of 1913
288
Flood-Prevention Plans
288, 400
Folck, Dr. John George
597
Food of the Pioneers.
184
Forage Crops
412
Fraternal Order of Eagles
630
Fraternal Organizations
608, 630
French and Indian War
.35,
43
French Settlements
34
Friends Church
539
G
Galloway, Dr. Clark Madison 599 Galloway, James __ 85, 106, 161, 176, 485, 574
Garrett, Cyrus
771
Geological Formations in County. 62
Girty, Simon
84. 177
Glacial Drift, Evidences of
68
Gladstone, Hamlet of
316
Governors of Ohio
55
Gowdy, James
706
Graduates of Xenia High School
450
Grand Army of the Republic, The
542
Greene County Library
731
Greene County Medical Society.
606
Greene County's Organization
06
Greenville Treaty Line, The
52,
97
Greenwood Springs, Plat of.
345
H
Hagenbuck, Dr. W. A.
598, 604
Hanging of a Wife Murder
769
Harlan, Aaron
583
Harmar, Gen. Josiah
43,
83
39
Harrison, Gen. William Henry.
.34.
Teher Institutions of Learning_452-483 Highways of Greene County. 687
Hivling, John
708
Hog Drive in the Old Days.
421
Hogs
420
Hoover, Dr. Reuben C.
595
Finances of County
112
Greene, Dr. Randolph R.
595
HISTORICAL INDEX.
Horses
417
Huffman Retarding Basin
289
Hussey, Christopher
353
Howard, Roswell F.
582
How Xenia Got its Name
104
I
Imprisonment for Debt. 575
Improved Order of Red Men 623
Incorporation of Xenia 709
Independent Order of Odd Fellows
617-620
Indiana Territory
40
Indians and Old Chillicothe 80-95
Indian Wars
33,
43
Industries of Cedarville.
366
Infirmary Superintendents
152
J
Jailed for Playing Cards.
109
Jail History
139-149
Jamestown, City of
387-397
Jefferies, James
782
Jefferson Township-
Agricultural Interests
355
Boundaries of
351
Bowersville, Village of.
356
Early Settlers
353
Industries of
355
Population of
120
Schools
435
Topography and Drainage
353
When Organized
351
Johnson, Dr. Joseph
593
Journalism, Local
544-564
Judicial System Prior to 1851
569
Judiciary, The
565, 578
Junior Order of United American
Mechanics
625
Junior Woman's Club
631
Junkin, Launcelot
432, 500
K
Kenton, Simon
85, 110, 169, 194,
199, 640
Kinney, Coates
758
Knights of Pythias
620-623
Kyle, Rev. Joseph, D. D.
474
Kyle, Samuel
98, 201, 276,
297, 330, 566
L
Lamme, Capt. Nathan 244
Land Grants of Ohio, The
50
Land Titles Defective 337
Land Surveys, System of.
36
Largest Barn in State 305
La Salle, Expedition of 33
Laughead, David
85, 276, 280, 704
Law Library
585
Lawrence, Dr. Horace.
594
Lawyers of a Past Generation
580
Lawyers of Greene County.
565-587
Lawyers, Taxing of in Early Days_ 569 Legislative Acts of Importance. 778
Lewis Post No. 347, G. A. R 642
Library of Greene County Bar 585 Lime Industry, Development of. 367 Lincoln in Xenia in 1861 782
Literary and Kindred Organizations 631-645
Little, John
760
Live Stock
415-424
Loafing Discouraged
110
Loyal Order of Moose
629
Lutheran Church
541
M
Madden, Dr. William P
599
Mad River and Vance Townships
193-203 "Magnetic" Springs at Bellbrook __ 263
Mann, Horace
459, 463
Marker at Historic Spot.
640
Market House in Old Days.
137
"Marriage Permits" in Old Days 781
Marshall, John
701
Martin, Dr, Joshua
593
Martin, Dr. Samuel
593
Masonic Order, The.
608-617
Maumee Road Lands, The
53
Maxwell, William
761
Medical Officers Reserve Corps 603, 667
Medical Profession, The.
588-607
Men of Prominence in Other Days_ 755 Methodist Episcopal Churches __ 511-526 Methodist Protestant Churches. 526
Mexican Border War in 1916.
663
Mexican War, The
48, 646
HISTORICAL INDEX.
Miami Conservancy District
_288, 400
Miami Township-
Agricultural Interests
304
Boundaries of
296
Clifton, Village of
306
Communist Settlement
302
Early Settlement
298
Population of
120
Schools
436
Tales of the Pioneers.
299
Topography and Drainage
298
Transportation
304
When Organized
296
"Whitehall"
305
Milford, Original Name of Cedar-
ville
362
Military History of County.
646-675
Military Lands, The ____ 52, 206, 226,
239, 278, 297, 310, 317, 326, 335, 341, 352
Military Record of Ohio
48
Moorman, Dr. Micajah
596
Mound Builders, The
72-79
Mt. Ida, Plat of
333
Munger, Judge Edmund H.
580
Murders in Beavercreek Township_ 213
Mc
McCune, Dr.
597
McMillan, Rev. Hugh
467, 497, 504
N
Neff House, Story of
383
Negro Churches
543
Negro Population of County
120
Negro- Secret Societies
630
Nesbit, Benoni
583
Nesbit, Wilbur Dick __ 362, 507, 559, 757
New Germany, Village of.
22.3
New Jasper Township-
Agricultural Interests
3.37
Boundaries of
334
Early Industries
337
Early Settlers
336
Land Troubles
337
New Jasper, Village of
338
Population of
120
Schools
437
Stringtown
339
Topography and Drainage
336
When Organized
334
New Jasper, Village of. 338 Newspapers of Greene County __ 544-564 Northwest Territory, The ____ 33, 34, 38, 39, 41, 43
O
Oats and Minor Grains
408
Ohio Company, The.
35,
37
Ohio Land Company Purchase.
50
Ohio Politics
55
Ohio State Boundary Lines
57
Ohio's Admission to Union
44,
96
Ohio's Military Record
48
Ohio's Successive Capitals.
46
Old Chillicothe (Oldtown)
82
Old Settlers and Pioneer Life.
169-188
Oldtown, Village of
280, 640
Orchard and Garden Fruits
414
Order of the Eastern Star
616
Ordinance of 1787, The
37.
57
Organization of County
96-121
Original Plat of Jamestown
387
Osborn, the "Doomed Town"
398-403
P
Paintersville, Village of.
232
Pastor Paid in Deerskins
251
Patent Medicines, Former Demand
for
590
Patriotic Societies
639-645
Paul, John ___ 103, 105, 107, 108, 114,
134, 157, 162, 173, 276, 570, 701, 761
Paxon, W. A.
388, 391, 783
Peddler Robbed and Murdered.
286
Pennsylvania Lines, The.
693
Physicians of Greene County.
588-607
Pinkney Pond, The
214
Pioneer Conditions
169, 188
Pioneer Reminiscences_179, 252, 320,
390, 433, 485, 702, 763, 781
Pioneer Wedding
252
Political Review of State.
55
Poll Books of the Pioneers_194, 202,
212, 230, 247, 276, 283
Pontiac's Conspiracy
35
"Poor House," The
149
Population Statistics
41, 119
Pork-packing in the '30s
266
IIISTORICAL INDEX.
Presbyterian Churches
507, 510
Present Court House
130
Press, The
544-564
Prices of Commodities in Old Days 775
Private Schools in Xenia
443
"Prison Bounds"
575
Prisoner Burned in Lock-Up.
293
Probate Court, The
576
Prominent in Past Generations
755
Prosecuting Attorneys
579
Prosperity, Present Era of
117
Public Buildings of County
-156
Public Square at County Seat.
134
Q
Quakers
539
Quebec Act, The
36
Quinn, Matthew
212, 486, 771
R
Railroad Bonds, County's Invest-
ment in
698
Railways of Greene County 687
Read, T. Buchanan, Heretofore Un-
published Poem of
773
Reaper, the Invention of
268
Reformed Churches
532-537
Reformed Presbyterian Church __ 502, 509
Refugee Tract, The
53
Registered Live Stock.
416
Reid, Dr. Alexander
595
Reid, Dr. John M.
595
Reid, Whitelaw
331, 503, 559, 756
33-58
Related State History
Religious Life of Greene County. 484
Revolutionary Period, The. 36
Revolutionary Soldiers, Graves of
641
Roads and Road Making.
687
Robbery and Murder of Peddler
286
Robinson, George F
567, 647, 650
Robinson, Plat of.
345
Ross Township-
Agricultural Interests 315
Boundaries of 309
Early Settlers
311
Origin of Name
309
Population of
120
Schools
437
Topography and Drainage
311
Villages of
316
Roster of Company I
665
Roster of County Officials
157-168
Roster of Greene County Bar
584
Roster of Greene County Physicians 600
Roxanna (Claysville)
346
Royal Arch Masons
612
S
Salaries of County Officials
167
Sale of Part of Public Square
111
Saloons
779
School Sections
54
Schools of Greene County
425-451
Scroggy, Thomas E.
583
Searl, Dr. Edward F
596
Seceders, The
485
Second Court House
127
Secret Societies
608-630
Selective Draft in Greene County __ 668
Shawnees, The
81
Sheep
423
Sherer, Judge Charles C.
584
"Sheridan's Ride," Inspiration of
770
Sheriffs of Greene County.
163
Shoups Station
222
Sidelights on County History_
763-789
Silvercreek Township --- Boundaries of 317
Churches
323
Coming of the Moormans
321
Early Industries
321
Early Settlers
319
Population of
120
Residents of in 1811
318
Schools
439
Story of Sylvester Strong
319
Topography and Drainage
319
Transportation
322
When Organized
317
Simple Needs of Early Settlers
115
Singing Schools of Other Days
182
"Sleepy Tom"
418
Smith Advertising Company
563
Smith, Dr. Raymond W
599
Snoden, James
248
Society of Friends. 539
Soldiers' and Sailors', Home.
763
Sorgum and Maple Products.
410
Spahr, Dr. Camaralza
596 .
HISTORICAL INDEX.
Spahr, Philip
336
Spanish-American War, The. 50, 661
Spencer, Charles L. 580
Spring Valley Township-
Agricultural Interests
344
Boundaries of 340
Churches
344
Claysville (Roxanna)
346
Early Industries
343
Early Settlers
342
Plats of Proposed Towns
345
Population of
120
Schools
343, 440
Spring Valley, Village of
347
Roads and Bridges
344
Transylvania
346
When Organized
340
Spring Valley, Village of.
347
State Encampment, G. A. R.,
at
Xenia 643
State Representatives
164
State Senators
164
Statistics Relating
to Schools
426
St. Clair, General
33,
38
"Steam Doctors"
589
Steele, Thomas
442
Stewart, Dr. J. M
598
Stock-Show Prize Winners
415
Stores Built on Public Square
137
Streams in Greene County.
59
Stringtown
339
Strong, Sylvester, Story of
319
Sugarcreek Township-
Agricultural Interests
256
Bellbrook, Village of. 258
Boundaries of
238
Early Churches
251
Early Settlers
241
First Election
246
Magnetic Springs, The
263
1
Military History
250
Mills
253
Population of 120
Schools
440
Sugar Making in Other Days.
255
When Organized
238
Sugar-making in Other Days
255
Symmes Purchase, The
42,
51
T
Taverns, How Licensed
106
Taxing Doctors in Old Days
588
Teachers, Qualifications of
426
Tecumseh
86
Temperance Crusade in 1874.
634
Templeton, Dr. Joseph
593
39,
Territorial Counties
42
Territorial Legislature
39
Territorial Settlement
41
"The Covenanters," a Poem.
507
"The Rented Farm," a Poem
783
Thorn, Dr. Edwin
598
Tippecanoe, Battle of
34
Tobacco
411
Toll Roads of Other Days
689
Topography and Geology of Greene County 59-71
Topography of Ohio
58
Towler, Rev. James
124, 702, 763
Township Officials
189
Townships of Greene County
189-192
Townsley, Thomas
328, 486
Tragedy at Bellbrook in 1858.
265
Tragedy in Miami Township
303
Transportation
687-700
Transylvania
346
Travel in Pioneer Days
172
Trebeins, Village of.
222
Trouble With Land Titles
337
Turnbull, James
369, 434
U
United Brethren Church.
541
United Presbyterian Churches __ 485, 502
V
Vance, Joseph C __ 103, 106, 107, 115,
141, 173, 243, 258, 486, 574
Virginia Military District
36,
52
Vote on New Court House
130
W
Walker, Thomas
Barlow
759
Walton, Moses
348
Ward, William
197
=
HISTORICAL INDEX.
War of 1812, The
48, 647
War With Germany
666
Water Courses of Greene County _.
59
Watering Place at Yellow Springs.
376
Water Supply of County
70
Watt, Dr. George
597
Wayne, Gen. Anthony
34,
43
Wheat
408
Whipped by Order of Court. 170
Whisky, an Early "Necessity"
177
"Whitehall"
305
Whiteman. Gen. Benjamin __ 85, 100,
104, 122, 140, 173, 208, 296, 301,
566, 570, 647, 761
Wilberforce University
475
Williams, Remembrance 702
Wilson, John, First Settler
171, 241
Winans, Dr. Mathias __ 389, 395, 581, 594
Winans James J.
581
Winchester, Plat of.
234
Winters, Rev. David
533
Woman's
Christian
Temperance
Union
631
Woman's Club, First in Country 631
Woolsey, Dr. Jeremiah 594
World War, The.
666
Wright Aviation Field
294
Wright, Samuel
701
X
Xenia College
454
Xenia Female Academy 454
Xenia Female Seminary
458
Xenia, The County Seat-
Appearance of in 1811 701
Cemeteries
726
Churches
484
Commission Government 742
Commercial Directory
751
Early Business Interests 705
Early Records Missing
711
Fire Department
720
Fires
721
First House in Town 701
Incorporation of.
709
Industrial Development 748
Library
731
Location of 104, 701
Naming of, The 104
Police Department
725
Population of
120
Postoffice
736
Public Buildings
729
Public Utilities
715-720
Schools
441
Sewerage System
722
Turning Point in Development
711
When Laid Out
701
Xenia Theological Seminary
468
Xenia Township-
Agricultural Interests 275
Boundaries of 271
Early Settlers
280
First Election
275
Population of
120
Schools
441
Topography and Drainage
274
Village of Oldtown
280
When Organized
271
Xenia, the County Seat.
701
Y
Yellow Springs, Town of.
376-386
HISTORICAL
CHAPTER I.
RELATED STATE HISTORY.
The first white men to set foot upon the Northwest Territory were French traders and missionaries under the leadership of La Salle. This was about the year 1670 and subsequent discoveries and explorations in this region by the French gave that nation practically undisputed possession of all the territory organized in 1787 as the Northwest Territory. It is true that the English colonies of Virginia, Connecticut and Massachusetts claimed that their charters extended their grants westward to the Mississippi river. However, France claimed this territory and successfully maintained posses- sion of it until the close of the French and Indian War in 1763. At that time the treaty of Paris transferred all of the French claims east of the Mississippi river to England, as well as all claims of France to territory on the mainland of North America. For the next twenty years the Northwest Territory was under the undisputed control of England, but became a part of the United States by treaty which terminated the Revolutionary War in 1783. Thus the flags of three nations have floated over the territory now comprehended within the present state of Ohio-the tri-color of France, the union jack of England and the stars and stripes of the United States.
History will record the fact that there was another nation, however, which claimed possession of this territory and, while the Indians can hardly be called a nation, yet they made a gallant fight to retain their hunting grounds. The real owners of this territory struggled against heavy odds to maintain their supremacy and it was not until the battle of Tippecanoe, in the fall of 1811, that the Indians gave up the unequal struggle. Tecumseh, the Washington of his race, fought fiercely to save this territory for his people, but the white man finally overwhelmed him, and "Lo, the poor Indian" was pushed westward across the Mississippi. The history of the Northwest Territory is full of the bitter fights which the Indian waged in trying to drive the white man out, and the defeat which the Indians inflicted on General St. Clair on November 4, 1792, will go down in the annals of American history as the worst defeat which an American army ever suffered at the
(3)
34
GREENE COUNTY, OHIO
hands of the Indians. The greatest battle which has ever been fought in the United States against the Indians occurred in the state of Ohio. This was the battle of Fallen Timbers and occurred August 20, 1794, the scene of the battle being within the present county of Defiance. After the close of the Revolutionary War the Indians, urged on by the British, caused the settlers in the Northwest Territory continual trouble and defeated every de- tachment sent against them previous to their defeat by Gen. Anthony Wayne at the battle of Fallen Timbers in 1794. Although there was some trouble with the Indians after this time, they never offered serious resistance after this memorable defeat until the fall of 1811, when Gen. William Henry Har- rison completely routed them at the battle of Tippecanoe.
TERRITORY NORTHWEST OF THE OHIO (1670-1754).
Ohio was the first state created out of the old Northwest Territory, although Indiana had been previously organized as a territory. When the land comprehended within the Northwest Territory was discovered by the French under La Salle about 1670, it was a battle ground of various Indian tribes, although the Eries, who were located along the shores of Lake Erie, were the only ones with a more or less definite territory. From 1670 to 1763, the close of the French and Indian War, the French were in possession of this territory and established their claims in a positive manner by exten- sive exploration and scattered settlements. The chief centers of French settlement were at Detroit, Vincennes, Kaskaskia, Cahokia, Fort Crevecour and at several missionary stations around the shores of the great lakes. The French did not succeed in doing this without incurring the hostility of the Iroquois Indians, a bitter enmity which was brought about chiefly because the French helped the Shawnees, Wyandots and Miamis to drive the Iroquois out of the territory west of the Muskingum river in Ohio.
It must not be forgotten that the English also laid claim to the North- west Territory, basing their claim on the discoveries of the Cabots and the subsequent charters of Virginia, Massachusetts and Connecticut. These charters extended the limits of these three colonies westward to the Pacific ocean, although, as a matter of fact, none of the three colonies made a settle- ment west of the Alleghanies until after the Revolutionary War. New York sought to strengthen her claim to territory west of the Alleghanies in 1701, by getting from the Iroquois, the bitter enemies of the French, a grant to the territory from which the French and their Indian allies had previously ex- pelled them. Although this grant was renewed in 1726 and again confirmed in 1744, it gave New York only a nominal claim and one which was never recognized by the French in any way.
English traders from Pennsylvania and Virginia began in 1730 to pay
35
GREENE COUNTY, OHIO
more attention to the claims of their country west of the Alleghanies and north of the Ohio river. When their activities reached the ears of the French the governor of French Canada sent Celeron de Bienville up and down the Ohio and the rivers and streams running into it from the north and took formal possession of the territory by planting lead plates at the mouth of every river and stream of any importance. This peculiar method of the French in seeking to establish their claims occurred in the year 1749 and opened the eyes of England to the necessity of taking some immediate action. George II, the king of England at the time, at once granted a charter for the first Ohio Company (there were two others by the same name later organ- ized), composed of London merchants and enterprising Virginians, and the company at once proceeded to formulate plans to secure possession of the territory north of the Ohio and east of the Mississippi. Christopher Gist was sent down the Ohio river in 1750 to explore the country as far west as the mouth of the Scioto river, and made several treaties with the Indians. Things were now rapidly approaching a crisis and it was soon evident that there would be a struggle of arms between England and France for the dis- puted region. In 1754 the English started to build a fort at the confluence of the Monongahela and Allegheny rivers, on the site of the present city of Pittsburgh, but before the fort was completed the French appeared on the scene, drove the English away and finished the fort which had been begun.
FRENCH AND INDIAN WAR (1754-63). 1324581
The crisis had finally come. The struggle which followed between the two nations ultimately resulted in the expulsion of the French from the mainland of America as well as from the immediate territory in dispute. The war is known in America as the French and Indian War and in the history of the world as the Seven Years' War, the latter designation being due to the fact that it lasted that length of time. The struggle developed into a world-wide conflict and the two nations fought over three continents, America, Europe and Asia. It is not within the province of this resume of the history of Ohio to go into the details of this memorable struggle. It is sufficient for the purpose at hand to state that the treaty of Paris, which terminated the war in 1763, left France without any of her former posses- sions on the mainland of America.
PONTIAC'S CONSPIRACY (1763-64).
With the English in control of America east of the Mississippi river and the French regime forever ended, the Indians next command the atten- tion of the historian who deals with the Northwest Territory. The French were undoubtedly responsible for stirring up their former Indian allies and Pontiac's conspiracy must be credited to the influence of that nation. This
36
GREENE COUNTY, OHIO
formidable uprising was successfully overthrown by Henry Bouquet, who led an expedition in 1764 into the present state of Ohio and compelled the Wyandots, Delawares and Shawnees to sue for peace.
NORTHWEST TERRITORY AND QUEBEC ACT.
From 1764 to 1774, no events of particular importance occurred within the territory north of the Ohio river, but in the latter year (June 22, 1774), England, then at the breaking point with the colonies, passed the Quebec act, which attached this territory to the province of Quebec for administra- tive purposes. This intensified the feeling of resentment which the colonies bore against their mother country and is given specific mention in their list of grievances which they enumerated in their Declaration of Independence. The Revolutionary War came on at once and this act. of course, was never put into execution.
REVOLUTIONARY PERIOD
(1775-83).
During the War for Independence ( 1775-1783), the various states with claims to western lands agreed with the Continental Congress to surrender their claims to the national government. In fact, the Articles of Confedera- tion were not signed until all of the states had agreed to do this and Mary- land withheld her assent to the articles until March 1, 1780, on this account. In accordance with this agreement New York ceded her claim to the United States in 1780, Virginia in 1784, Massachusetts in 1785 and Connecticut in 1786, although the latter state excepted a one-hundred-and-twenty-mile strip of three million five hundred thousand acres bordering on Lake Erie. This strip was formally relinquished in 1800, with the understanding that the United States would guarantee the titles already issued by that state. Vir- ginia was also allowed a reservation, known as the Virginia Military Dis- trict, which lay between the Little Miami and Scioto rivers, the same being for distribution among her Revolutionary veterans. There is one other fact which should be mentioned in connection with the territory north of the Ohio in the Revolutionary period. This was the memorable conquest of the territory by Gen. George Rogers Clark. During the years 1778 and 1779, this redoubtable leader captured Kaskaskia, Cahokia and Vincennes and thereby drove the English out of the Northwest Territory. It is probable that this notable campaign secured this territory for the Americans and that without it we would not have had it included in our possessions in the treaty which closed the Revolutionary War.
FIRST SURVEYS AND. EARLY SETTLERS.
The next period in the history of the territory north of the Ohio begins with the passage of a congressional act (May 20, 1785), which provided for
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GREENE COUNTY, OHIO
the present system of land surveys into townships six miles square. As soon as this was put into operation, settlers-and most Revolutionary soldiers- began to pour into the newly surveyed territory. A second Ohio Company was organized in the spring of 1786, made up chiefly of Revolutionary officers and soldiers from New England, and this company proposed to establish a state somewhere between Lake Erie and the Ohio river. At this juncture Congress realized that definite steps should be made at once for some kind of government over this extensive territory, a territory which now includes the present states of Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, Wisconsin and about a third of Minnesota. Various plans were proposed in Congress and most of the sessions of 1786 and the first half of 1787. were consumed in trying to formulate a suitable form of government for the extensive terri- tory. The result of all these deliberations resulted in the famous Ordinance of 1787, which was finally passed on July 13, 1787.
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