USA > Ohio > Madison County > History of Madison County, Ohio : its people, industries and institution with biographical sketches of representative citizens and genealogical records of many of the old families > Part 2
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Erection of 51, 155
Location
155
National Road
224
Officers, Present 159
Settlers
156
Soil
155
Streams
155
Surface 155
Timber 156
South Solon-
Banks 258
Business Interests 187
Early History 187
Growth 186
Location 186
South Solon-
Lodges
330
Original Plat 188
Physicians 369, 376
Platted
186
Population
187
Schools
187
Stores, First 186, 189
Railroads
189
W. C. T. U. 458
Spanish-American War
442
Spinning and Weaving 92
"Squatters"
115, 139
State Boundary Lines 59
State Fish Hatchery 469
State History, Related 33
State Judiciary Prior to 1851 378
50
State Military Record
State Politics 57
State Reformatory 213, 466
State Representatives 82
State Superintendent of Schools 273
Stenographers, Official
412
Stock Importing
233
Stock Marks
110
Stock Sales
233
Stock Speculators, Early 102
Stokes Township-
Churches 285
Election, First 62. 65, 160
Listers
67
Location
160
Roads
222
Schools
.163
Settlers 160
Soil
163
Streams
163
Surface
163
Tavern License
66
Streams
51, 95, 104.
115, 119, 126, 131, 135, 145, 154, 155, 164 Summerford-
Business Interests 159
Churches 159, 291, 314
Early Business Interests 159
Laid Out
159
Lodges
329
Physicians 159, 368
Population
159
Supreme Court
380
Surface of County
52
-
HISTORICAL INDEX.
Survey of County 63, 64
Surveyors. County 84
Surveys, First Territorial 37
Symmes Purchase 53
T
Tavern Licenses
66
Tax Collectors 8.5
Taxation, Early 67
Telegraph Companies
229
Telephone Companies
229
Temperance Movements
449
Temple Mound
465
Territory Northwest of the Ohio
34
Timber
57
Topography of County 52
Towns and Villages
174
Township Elections, First 62
Townships, Original
51
Tradersville
159, 296, 370
Transportation
222
Treasurers, County 83
Treaty at Greenville 45
Turnpike Lands
56
Turnpikes
225
Twentieth Century Club
350
U
Union Township
Boundaries 164, 172
Cemeteries 173
Churches
285, 294
Election, First
62, 65
Erection of
51
Infirmary
79
Location
164
Mills 166, 173
Mounds 464
Officials, First 173
Organization
172
Pioneers
165
Prairies
164
Roads
222
Soil 154
Streams
164
Surface
164
Tavern License
66
Timber
164
United Brethren Church
316
United States Military Lands
54
Universalist Churches
.306
V
Valuations, Railroad
228
Verdiets, Unusual
414
Villages
174
Virginia Military District
54
W
Walnut Run
181, 293, 300
War of 1812
418
War of the Rebellion 420
Warnersville
180
Water Supply, Natural
58
Watersheds
51
Wayne, Gen. Anthony
44
West Canaan
174
West Jefferson-
Banks
258
Belgium Relief Fund
460
Business Interests
124
Churches
288, 298. 319
Growth, Early
123
Improvements
124
Laid Out
122
Lodges
327, 328
333
Mills
123
Name Changed
123
Newspapers
265
Officials, First
123
Officials, Present
124
Ordinances, Early 123
Physicians 362, 376
Platted
123
Population
124
Public Utilities
124
Stores, Early
122
Wheat Harvests, Pioneer 230
Wild Animals
461
Wolf Hunt
462
Wolf Scalps
67
Woman's Christian Temperance
Union
450
Woman's Club 340
Woman's Elective Franchise Asso-
ciation
347
Woman's Relief Corps
335
Woman's Temperance Alliance
450
Z
Zane Sections
56
BIOGRAPHICAL INDEX
A
Alkire, Floyd 834
Anderson, Charles B. 499
Anderson, Daniel
710
Anderson, James R.
827
Anderson, Mrs. Lacy
902
Andrix, James W.
758
Armstrong, M. B. 934
Armstrong, Robert W. 905
Armstrong, Samuel C.
906
Atchison, J. R.
611
Atkinson, Charles F.
720
B
Baer, Jonas A. 612
Bales, Elijah W. 518
Bales Family, The 741
Ballinger, John T.
635
Ballinger, William I., M. D.
692
Bay, Harry E. 702
Beach, William M., M. D. 883
Beadle, W. A.
561
Beath, Robert C.
625
Becker, Philip
623
Beery, Foster
514
Bell, James F. 491
Bennett, George W. 751
Betchtel, Elmer L.
607
Bethards, Charles S.
813
Betts, Henry
562
Bidwell, Clarence 570
Bidwell, Eber W. 663
Bidwell, Mrs. Minnie J. 533
Bidwell, Monroe
736
Black, James T. 875
Black, Mary Ann (Harrington) .875
Blue, Alvin J.
865
Boerger, William
J.
715
Bogard, Jacob H.
799
Boice, George A.
.842
Booth, Mrs. Louise M. 616
Booth, Walter T. 515
Bower, Henry 932
Bower, Jesse S.
908
Bowers, James W.
619
Bowman, Howard D. 647
Boyd, Robert 532
Boyd. Robert W. 528
Bradfield, Robert G. 550
Bradley, Arthur
712
Bridgman, John C.
475
Brown, David 757
Bryan, Chester E. 488
Bryan, Ormond M.
888
Buffenburg, Peter
564
Buffington, Jonathan E. 766
Burnham, Asa
.690
Burnham Dewitt
C
941
Burnham, M. L.
512
Burnham, Walter
620
Burrell, Alpheus 554
Buswell, George W. 923
Buswell, John L.
671
Butler, Charles
591
Butler, John C.
662
C
Calhoon, Alvah 704
Carl, W. H.
852
Carpenter, Burr E.
646
Carpenter, Thomas H.
829
Carter, Stephen
790
Cartzdafner, George W.
777
Cary, Andrew
605
Cary, Henry
756
Chandler, William E. 613
Chandler, William J. 637
Chaney, H. M., D. D. S.
544
Chapman, Eugene C.
621
Chenoweth, Francis M.
848
BIOGRAPHICAL INDEX.
Chenoweth, J. Scott 552
Chenoweth, John W. 819
Chenoweth, Rea 915
Chenoweth, Robert F. .856
Chenoweth, W. D.
614
Cheseldine, Charles
484
Chrisman, Reed 599
Christopher, Harry V .. M. D. 508
Christopher, W. H., M. D. 485
Clark, Dennis 656
Clawson, Joseph C. 782
Clawson, William A.
925
Clingan, James H. 743
Cole. Edward E.
845
Converse, Charles D. 734
Converse, Henry B. 724
Converse, Howard J. 726
Converse, Ira
937
Converse, Ruby N.
604
Cook, Newton K. 814
Coons, Ralph V. D.
.530
Coover, Bertha
.836
Cornwell, Leroy
922
Corson, Benjamin F. 936
Cowan, William .815
Crabb, Judge Oliver P. .510
Crabbe, Charles C. 880
Crabbe, Fred L.
926
Crawford, Burton B.
806
Creath, George 531
Creath, M. M.
589
Creath, Thomas L. 822
Cross, Grant .681
D
Daugherty, Elmer P. 707
Davis, David 699
DeBolt, William L. 698
Dennison, Abraham J. 849
DeVore, John W.
755
Dickason, Oscar 706
Dille, Ira R.
831
Dorn, Charles A.
802
Dorn, Frederick W. .833
Dorn. George 911
Douglas, Thomas .657
Duff, Prof. Orris E. .882
Dun, John G. 500
Dun, Walter A. 776
Dungan, Major James M. 497
Durflinger, John W. 632
Durflinger, Judge Sylvester W. .873
Dwyer, Michael E.
648
F
Edwards, William J. 691
Emery, Ben 896
Emery, Payton R. 877
Engelsperger, Lawrence C.
684
Enright, Thomas C.
939
Erwin, Benjamin F.
729
Evans, Luther E., M. D.
935
F
Farrar, Asa E. 789
Farrar, Xerxes 494
Fattlar, Henry 830
Fauver, Harry F. 872
Fields, Nathan 572
Finley, Clement D. 860
Finley, Horace T. 687
Finley, Oscar W. 938
Finley, W. S. 676
Fisher, Edwin P. 513
Fisher, George M. .835
Fisher, Zebulon D. 844
Fitzgerald, Edward J. 563
Fitzgerald, George R. 940
Fitzgerald, William E. 547
Florence, John
772
Flynn, Bryan 869
Flynn, Ella 869
Flynn, Julia 869
Folmer, Henry D.
543
Foster, Kemper L.
870
Frey, Henry
670
G
Gain, Charles E., M. D. 580
Gain, Jesse S. .784
Gallagher, Frank 879
Gallagher, Thomas A. 519
Gaynard, Peter C.
761
Gaynard, Thomas C. .793
Geer, James Q. 748
Gillespie, Isaiah 809
Gillespie, Nathan 805
Gilliland, Samuel I. 823
Goodson, J. Wilson 559
BIOGRAPHICAL INDEX.
Gordin, Elisha S. 487
Gordon, M. E. 727
Gossard, George W. 781
Gossard, John P 767
Gossard, John M.
779
Graham, Auburn L. 675
Green, Amos F., M. D. 603
Green, Hon. Charles C. 832
Greenbaum, G. A.
719
Gregg, Pierce M.
886
Gregg, Thomas C. 644
Gunnett, Samuel N.
677
H
Hafey, Thomas F. 669
Hambleton, Prof. J. C. 742
Hames, Harry C.
542
Hamilton, James 504
Hamilton, James
680
Haner, William H. 658
Hankinson, Charles C.
824
Harbage, Arnett 696
Harbage, Owen 688
Harbage, Raymond 683
Harbage, Robert
694
Harbage, Vynul
708
Harvey, Esta Coover
836
Headley, William H. 596
Heath, Harry 811
Hewitt, Carl C. 826
Hewitt, Palmer G. 859
Hildinger, Henry L.
627
Hodges, Charles W.
843
Hoffhines, W. E., D. D. S 549
Holland, William .
.739
Hooper, William T.
.682
Horen, Matthew A.
590
Horn, Lee 730
Hornbeck, Cyrus R. 904
Hornbeck, George 792
Hornbeck, Hon. Roscoe G.
912
Hott, Frank H.
847
Houston, Lawrence C. 689
Houston, Thomas J. 722
Huber, Nicholas M.
734
Huff, Lysander G.
650
Huffman, Harlan 778
Hull, Scott
753
Hume, J. W. 527
Hunter, Lewis J. 794
Hutson, Austin S. 522
I
Iliff, Harry S. 597
Irwin, John H. 914
J
Jackson, H. F., D. D. S. 553
Jenkins, Morgan J., M. D. 622
Johnson, Mrs. Abner
.600
Johnson, Edward W.
576
Johnson, Joseph H.
624
927
Johnston, John W.
930
Johnston, Luther M.
Jones, Albert N.
.602
Jones, Cary
548
Jones, Frank
588
Jones, Horace G. 526
Jones, Omer E.
493
Jones, Hon. William M. 478
Jones, Willis
861
Junk, Clinton
919
Junk, Willis R.
828
K
Kaufman, George
585
Keefer, David O. 769
Keller, William H. .686
Kellough, John W. 788
Kelly, Henry
771
Kennedy, John H. 626
Kennedy, Swaine 731
Kilbury, Emilius M. 645
Kilbury, Thomas
728
Kile, Elton M.
652
Kile, Fred 647
Kilgore, Simeon G. 745
Kilgore, William B. 654
Kious, Lewis R.
864
Klever, Charles
629
L
Lane, Leonard
641
Langen, George 760
Lenhart, Leon D.
871
i
BIOGRAPHICAL INDEX.
Lewis, Howard .1. 713
Lindsey, John 1 774
Linson, Benjamin F. 763
Locke, Capt. John F. 408
Lohr, Berthier
672
Lombard, Mrs. Jennie .700
Long, Harvey E. 555
Long, Joseph .1. 840
Looker, Cloyd D. 803
Lowry, William F. 653
Lucy, Daniel
770
Lukens, W. E.
541
Mc
McCafferty, Herschel L. 483
McClimans, James H. 608
McCloud, Richard H. 568
McDonald, John, III 571
McKinley, Peter P.
895
M
Mallon, Thomas 787
Markley, Philip 594
Martin, Dr. Joseph S. 796
Meade, Edward B., M. D. 818
Mendenhall, W. O.
855
Miller, Manasses 749
Millikin, Mrs. Elizabeth 617
Millikin, James 636
Minshall, Wyatt 474
Minter, John
573
Minter, William 583
Mitchell, Charles E.
752
Mitchell, Harry S. 524
Mitchell, Raleigh
711
Mitchell, Samuel M.
733
Montgomery, Thomas 817
Moody, Pearl V.
868
Morgridge, William
664
Morrison, John 78.3
Morse, John M., M. D. 659
Morse, Wallace C.
717
Motteler, Louis 651
Murray, Judge Frank J. 477
Murray, J. Clark 931
Murray, Michael S. 536
Myers, Rev. F. Marion 642
Neff, Court M. 804
Nelson, Frank 631
Neville, Jerry 581
Noland, Frank E., D. D. S.
587
O'Day, John 850
O'Day, Scott 846
Oglesbee, John M. 900
O'Hara Family, The
916
Overturf, Elmer C.
721
Overturf, Rev. William M.
746
P
Parker, James S. 705
Parker, John W., M. D. 910
Parrett, Harland E. 899
Patterson, John
671
Paullin, Samuel J.
816
Payne, William
909
Peard. Richard
640
Perry, Daniel
718
Peterman, Jacob L.
682
Phellis, Verne H. 732
Phifer, Albert T. 913
Plimell, H. C.
558
Plymell, George W. 578
Plymell, William L.
579
Porter, James A.
750
Powell, Edgar 679
Pratt, James W. 675
Pratt, Wyatt C. 674
Price, Mrs. Sarah 609
Pringle, Charles W.
907
Prugh, Charles L.
677
Q
Quinn, Edward
569
R
Rausch, Martin 731
Rea, Matthew L. 582
Reay, John W. 858
Rector, John W. 738
Reece, Wilson H.
638
Reese, Herbert E. 735
N
BIOGRAPHICAL INDEX.
Rice, Prof. W. H. 501
Richmond, Hiram W. 480
Riddle, William H. 901
Roberts, Benjamin F. 740
Roberts, Mrs. Margaret S.
716
Robison, Edward J.
887
Rogers, Rev. Amos L. 610
Roseberry,. Fenton M. 723
Rosnagle, F. E., M. D. 525
Rowland Family, The
538
Runyan, Prof. James A.
482
S
Sanford, Charles F. 820
Sanford, Marion F. 661
Schryver, Robert H. 800
Schurr, John A. 786
Scott, John
697
Shaw, R. K. 516
Sheehan, Simon 615
Shepherd, Isaiah 810
Shepherd, Milton L. 862
Sherwood, Andrew E.
634
Sherwood, Charles
535
Sherwood, Webster E.
639
Shover, George A. 650
Sidner, Jacob 574
Simpson, John 920
Slagle, Arthur 754
Slyh, Robert
649
Smeltzer, William F., M. D. 503
Smith, Cloude L. 768
Smith, Luke D. . 566
Smith, Stephen C.
791
Smith, Stephen M. 701
Smith, Wade H., D. V. S. 556
Snyder, Edward T. 867
Sparling, H. P., M. D. 505
Speasmaker, Casper
592
Stalbird, Meritte D.
686
Stalbird, Thomas W. 685
Stateler, John R.
716
Stoddard, Pearl J.
797
Stone, Nelson H.
903
Stout, Mrs. Lydia J. 933
Street, William 575
Stroup, James R. 780
Stroup, John M. 778
T
Tanner, John R. 496
Taylor, Mrs. Margaret 929
Taylor, William 655
Thomas, Milton E.
.601
Thomas, Ralph W.
747
Thornton, Frederick H. 850
Timmons, Grant
551
Tingley, John 762
Toland, Aquila, M. D. 598
Toops, John W.
821
Toops, Orla H.
841
Torbert, Andrew J.
643
Truitt, Delilah J.
628
Trumper, Samuel P.
546
U
Underwood, Guy
534
V
Van Cleve, Samuel S.
537
Van Dyke, George M. 798
Van Wagener, George H. 560
Vent, John T.
520
Vogelsberg, Theodore
660
W
Waldo, John N. 853
Walker, Arch 606
Wallace, Charles H. .769
Wallace, Milton H. 511
Warner, Francis M.
565
Warner, Henry 898
Warner, William 764
Watkins, Martin H. 765
Watson, David 471
Watson Family, The
471
Weaver, Harold
729
Weaver, Lewis 701
Welsh, Harford B. 506
West, Welcome A. 737
Wheeler, Thomas 630
White, Mrs. Lovina 863
Willard, Edwin E. 693
Williams, John M. 854
Williams, Lee H.
495
Williams, William D., M. D.
489
BIOGRAPHICAL INDEX.
Wilson. Caleb G. 773
Wilson, Robert A. .604
Wilson, Charles
618
Wilson, Valentine 695
Wilson, Charles :
507
Wilson, Valentine H. 924
Wilson, Charles A.
860
Wingfield, John R. 812
Wilson, Clark .663
Wilson, Col. Eugene T.
.928
Wilson Family, The
889
Wilson, Harry
678
Wilson, Hiram R.
744
Wilson, Homer C.
.851
Wilson, John R.
855
Wilson, Lamar P.
759
Yerian, J. J.
584
Wilson, Leroy
798
Young, Seymour P.
844
Withrow, James 808
Wood, William D. 857
Worthington, Clyde B. 714
Worthington, Hubert S. 703
Y
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 possession of it nntil the close of the French and Indian War in 1763. At that time the treaty of Paris trans- ferred 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 the 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 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, cansed the settlers in the Northiwest Territory continual trouble and defeated every detachment 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 Harrison 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
(3)
1
34
MADISON COUNTY, OHIO.
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 posses- sion of this territory and established their claims in a positive manner by extensive exploration and scattered settlements. The chief centers of French settlement were at Detroit, Vincennes, Kaskaskia, Fort Crevecour and at several missionary stations around the shores of the great lakes. The French did not succeed in doing this without inen- ring 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 Northwest Territory, basing their claim on the discoveries of the Cabots and the subsequent charters of Vir- ginia, Massachusetts and Connectient. 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 settlement west of the Alleghanies until after the Revolutionary War. New York sought to strengthen her claim to ferritory 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 expelled them. AAlthough 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 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 Beinville 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 peenliar 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 organized ), 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 west of the Mississippi. Christopher Gist was sent down the Ohio river in 1750 to explore the country as far west as the month 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 disputed region. In 1754 the English started to build a fort at the confinence 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 begnn.
FRENCH AND INDIAN WAR (1754-63).
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 fonght 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 possessions on the mainland of America.
35
MADISON COUNTY, OHIO.
1369458
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 attention 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 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 administrative 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 Inde- pendence. The Revolutionary War came on at once and this act, of course, was never put into execution.
REVOLUTIONARY PERIOD (1775-83).
During the War of Independence (1775-1783), the various states with claims to western lands agreed with the Continental Congress to surrender their claims to the national goverment. In fact, the Articles of Confederation were not signed until all of the states had agreed to do this, and Maryland 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 Connecti- cut 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. Virginia was also allowed a reserva- tion, known as the Virginia Military District, 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 redoubt- able 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 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 terri- tory. 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 session of 1786 and the first half of 1787 were
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MADISON COUNTY, OHIO.
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.
ORDINANCE OF 1787.
There have been many volumes written abont this instrument of goverment and to this day there is a difference of opinion as to who was its author. The present article can do no more than merely sketch its outline and set forth the main provisions. It was intended to provide only a temporary goverment and to serve until such a time as the population of the territory would warrant the creation of states with the same rights and privileges which the thirteen original states enjoyed. It stipulated that not less than three nor more than five states should ever be created out of the whole territory and the maximum number was finally organized. although it was not until 1848 that the last state. Wisconsin, was admitted to the Union. The third article, "Religion, mor- ality and knowledge being necessary to good government and the happiness of mankind, schools and the means of education shall forever be encouraged." has given these five states the basis for their excellent system of public schools, state normals, colleges and universities. Probably the most widely discussed article was the sixth, which provided that slavery and involuntary servitude should never be permitted within the territory and by the use of the word "forever" made the territory free for all time. It is inter- esting to note in this connection that both Indiana and Illinois before their admission to the Union sought to have this provision set aside, but every petition from the two states was refused by Congress in accordance with the provision of the Ordinance.
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