History of Knox County, Ohio, its past and present, Part 22

Author: Hill, N. N. (Norman Newell), comp; Graham, A. A. (Albert Adams), 1848-; Graham, A.A. & Co., Mt. Vernon, Ohio
Publication date: 1881
Publisher: Mt. Vernon, Ohio : A. A. Graham & Co.
Number of Pages: 1096

USA > Ohio > Knox County > History of Knox County, Ohio, its past and present > Part 22

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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 elected. 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 act 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 McFarland. 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 McLaughlin, 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 McCor- 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 act- ive part in its operations. Indeed, its liberty depended on the war.

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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

(6) Edward Tiffin.

Ross.

March 3, 1803 March 4, 1807

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, 1882 Dec.

13, 1836

Joseph Vance.

Champaign

Dec.

13, 1836 Dec.

13, 1838

Wilson Shannon

Belmont

Dec.

13, 183S Dec.

16, 1840

Thomas Corwin.

Warren

Dec.

16, 1840 Dec.

14, 1842

(f) Wilson Shannon

Belmont.

Dec,

14, 1842 April

13, 1844

Mordecai Bartley

Richland.

Dec.

3, 1844 Dec.

12, 1846

William Bebb.

Butler.

Dec.

12, 1846 Jan.

22, 1849

(g) Seabury Ford.

Geaug

Jan.

22, 1849 Dec.

12, 1850

(h) Reuben Wood.

Cuyahoga

Dec.

12, 1850 July

15, 1853

(j ) [ William Medill

Fairfield.

July

15, 1853|Jan.

14, 1856

Salmon P. Chase

Hamilton

Jan.

14, 1856 Jan.

9,1860

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

Hamilton

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 ..

Hamilton

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- weet 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 wae not given to Massie, nor does it appear, from the records that he claimed it, but Thomas Kirker, acting Governor, continned 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.

(1) Died August 29, 1865.

j Acting Governor.

į Acting Governor, vice Wilson Shannon, resigned.

" Acting Governor, vice Reuben Wood, resigned.

2 Acting Governor, vice John Brough, deceased.

(I) Resigned March 2, 1877, to accept the office of President of the United States.

(m) Vice Rutherford B. Hayes, resigned.

13, 1844|Dec.

3, 1844

įThomas W. Bartley

Richland

April

9. 1860 Jan.

13, 1862

William Dennison.

Franklin

Jan.

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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 Mc- 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. Hull was very care- 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 army, 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

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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 McArthur.

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 num- 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

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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. Duncan McArthur was appointed a Brigadier General in the regular army, and assigned to the command in his place. Gen. McArthur 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 close. 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

Orleans, whither goods were transported in flat- boats built especially for this pupose. This com- merce, though small and poorly repaid, was the main avenue of trade, and did much for the slow prosperity prevalent. The few banks in the State found their bills at a discount abroad, and gradu- ally becoming drained of their specie, either closed business or failed, the major part of them adopt- ing the latter course.

The steamboat began to be an important factor in the river navigation of the West about this period. The first boat to descend the Ohio was the Orleans, built at Pittsburg in 1812, and in December of that year, while the fortunes of war hung over the land, she made her first trip from the Iron City to New Orleans, being just twelve days on the way. The second, built by Samuel Smith, was called the Comet, and made a trip as far south as Louisville, in the summer of 1813. The third, the Vesuvius, was built by Fulton; and went to New Orleans in 1814. The fourth, built by Daniel French at Brownsville, Penn., made two trips to Louisville in the summer of 1814. The next vessel, the Ætna, was built by Fulton & Company in 1815. So fast did the business increase, that, four years after, more than forty steamers floated on the Western waters. Improvements in machinery kept pace with the building, until, in 1838, a competent writer stated there were no less than four hundred steamers in the West. Since then, the erection of railways has greatly retarded ship-building, and it is alto- gether probable the number has increased but little.

The question of canals began to agitate the Western country during the decade succeeding the war. They had been and were being constructed in older countries, and presaged good and prosper- ous times. If only the waters of the lakes and the Ohio River could be united by a canal run- ning through the midst of the State, thought the people, prosperous cities and towns would arise on its banks, and commerce flow through the land. One of the firmest friends of such improvements was De Witt Clinton, who had been the chief man in forwarding the "Clinton Canal," in New York. He was among the first to advocate the feasibility of a canal connecting Lake Erie and the Ohio River, and, by the success of the New York canals, did much to bring it about. Popular writers of the day all urged the scheme, so that when the Assem- bly met, early in December, 1821, the resolution, offered by Micajah T. Williams, of Cincinnati,

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HISTORY OF OHIO.

for the appointment of a committee of five mem- bers to take into consideration so much of the Governor's message as related to canals, and see if some feasible plan could not be adopted whereby a beginning could be made, was quickly adopted.

The report of the committee, advising a survey and examination of routes, met with the approval of the Assembly, and commissioners were ap- pointed who were to employ an engineer, examine the country and report on the practicability of a canal between the lakes and the river. The com- missioners employed James Geddes, of Onondaga County, N. Y., as an engineer. He arrived in Columbus in June, 1822, and, before eight months, the corps of engineers, under his direction, had examined one route. During the next two sum- mers, the examinations continued. A number of routes were examined and surveyed, and one, from Cleveland on the lake, to Portsmouth on the Ohio, was recommended. Another canal, from Cincin- nati to Dayton, on the Miami, was determined on, and preparations to commence work made. A Board of Canal Fund Commissioners was created, money was borrowed, and the morning of July 4, 1825, the first shovelful of earth was dug near Newark, with imposing ceremonies, in the presence of De Witt Clinton, Governor of New York, and a mighty concourse of people assembled to witness the auspicious event.

Gov. Clinton was escorted all over the State to aid in developing the energy everywhere apparent. The events were important ones in the history of the State, and, though they led to the creation of a vast debt, yet, in the end, the canals were a benefit.

The main canal-the Ohio and Erie Canal- was not completed till 1832. The Maumee Canal, from Dayton to Cincinnati, was finished in 1834. They cost the State about $6,000,000. Each of the main canals had branches leading to important towns, where their construction could be made without too much expense. The Miamiand Mau- mee Canal, from Cincinnati northward along the Miami River to Piqua, thence to the Maumee and on to the lake, was the largest canal made, and, for many years, was one of the most important in the State. It joined the Wabash Canal on the eastern boundary of Indiana, and thereby saved the construction of many miles by joining this great canal from Toledo to Evansville.

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History of Knox County, Ohio, its past and present, Part 22

Author: Hill, N. N. (Norman Newell), comp; Graham, A. A. (Albert Adams), 1848-; Graham, A.A. & Co., Mt. Vernon, Ohio Publication date: 1881 Publisher: Mt. Vernon, Ohio : A. A. Graham & Co. Number of Pages: 1096

Author: Hill, N. N. (Norman Newell), comp; Graham, A. A. (Albert Adams), 1848-; Graham, A.A. & Co., Mt. Vernon, Ohio
Publication date: 1881
Publisher: Mt. Vernon, Ohio : A. A. Graham & Co.
Number of Pages: 1096