History of Marietta and Washington County, Ohio, and representative citizens, Part 67

Author: Andrews, Martin Register, 1842-; Hathaway, Seymour J
Publication date: 1902
Publisher: Chicago : Biographical Pub. Co.
Number of Pages: 1490

USA > Ohio > Washington County > Marietta > History of Marietta and Washington County, Ohio, and representative citizens > Part 67

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DR. G. J. STEVENS, an old practitioner, was located in Harmar for 13 years. Ile was a native of Berkshire County, Massachusetts, where he was born in 1805. He attended lec- tures at Fairfield Medical College, and re- ceived a diploma in 1827. He practiced in New York, and in Portage and Summit counties, Ohio. He died at his home in Har- mar in April, 1881.

DR. WILSON STANLEY was born and spent his early life in North Carolina, and gradu- ated from the Homeopathic Hospital College .. of Cleveland, Ohio. He practiced medicine for about 10 years in Marietta, and moved to Memphis, Tennessee, in 1866, where he died within a year.

DR. GEORGE O. HILDRETH, son of Dr. Samuel Prescott Hildreth, graduated at Ohio University in 1829, at the age of 17. He en- tered upon a course of medical study under the direction of his father, and attended lectures at Transylvania University, Kentucky, where he graduated in 1835. He was regularly as- sociated with his father until the death of the latter in 1863. Since then he has been alone. occupying the same house and office on Put- nam street. Ilis practice has continued over a period of a little more than 60 years, with but a single intermission, during a period of four years-1849-53-which were spent in California. For the last five or six years failing health has compelled him to decline to visit patients. Until the summer of 1902 he con-

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tinued to walk about the streets as actively as a man of 40, but since that time he rarely ven- tures beyond the door of his home.

DR. JOSIAH DEXTER COTTON, son of Dr. John Cotton, was born in Marietta, Ohio, May 18, 1822. He graduated at Marietta Col- lege in 1842, being the youngest of a class of nine students. He began the study of medi- cine in his father's office, and after attending lectures at the medical college in New Orleans and the Ohio Medical College, received the de- gree of M. D. from the medical department of the university at Louisville, Kentucky, in 1847. He began practicing at Mount Ver- non Furnace, Lawrence County, Ohio, and there married Ann M. Steece, on July 6, 1848.

When his father died. Dr. Cotton returned to Marietta and has been engaged in active practice ever since, except three years during the war, when he was surgeon of the 92nd Reg., Ohio Vol. Inf. He was brigade sur- geon of General Turchin's brigade at the bat- tle of Chickamauga and medical director of. the Provisional Division of the Army of the Cumberland and Tennessee at the battle of Nashville. He was a member of the Council of the city of Marietta for 10 years, from which he resigned to enter the army.

DR. Z. D. WALTER succeeded to the prac- tice of Dr. W. Stanley in 1866. He was born of Quaker parentage, and spent his early life in Chester County, Pennsylvania. He re- ceived his education and afterward taught for two years at Westtown boarding school, a Quaker institution, and attended medical lec- tures at the Homeopathic Medical College of Pennsylvania, where he received his degree in 1866. From that time he continued to prac- tice in Marietta until 1889, and in that year he removed to Pueblo, where he continues the practice of medicine and takes a deep interest in scientific research. At the present time he is enjoying his experiments in managing a new automobile.

DR. H. N. CURTIS and his wife ( the first lady physician in Marietta) occupy the old home and office of Dr. Walter in Marietta.

DR. SETH HART was born in Berlin. Con- necticut, November 13, 1814. and came to Washington County in the spring of 1825, and on the 9th of April of that year opened an office in Watertown. He remained in prac- tice until September 27th, when he returned to New York and attended a course of lec- tures at Fairfield.

Dr. Hart practiced in Watertown from the spring of 1825 until 1836, excepting the time he was absent attending lectures in New York. Since 1836 his office ( until his death in 1891) was located in Harmar, with but two breaks. In 1865 he was called to Tennessee to assist his son at the army hospital at Tullahoma. After the close of the war he remained two years. In 1869 he took charge of a mining enterprise in the Rocky Mountains and re- mained one year.

Dr. Hart, ever after entering the prac- tice in 1825. made a habit of keeping and pre- paring his own medicines. His first experi- ence in compounding medicines was at a drug store at Palmyra, New York. Since then a long and busy life of practice gave him an inti- mate acquaintance with drugs and their use.

During the period of his practice in this county-more than 60 years-Dr. Hart al- ways maintained the highest reputation for efficiency as a doctor and integrity as a man. His life was useful not only to himself and family but also to the community which he served for more than half a century. His visits were an inspiration to thousands of fam- ilies in the hour of pain and distress, and his life was indeed an example of industry and uprightness. He joined the Presbyterian Church at the age of 16. When he came to Harmar, he united with the Congregational Church, where he held his membership until his death.

DR. SAM HART was born in Watertown township in 1830. He completed his studies at Marietta Academy in 1849. and received a degree from the Medical College of Ohio in 1852. He began practice in Marietta in 1853. and has continued till the present time, except during a period of four years of active

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surgical practice in the army in charge of a hospital, and two years spent in Bellevue Hos- pital. New York. Sketches of other prominent physicians

and surgeons of Washington County will be found in another part of this volume devoted more extensively to the biographical history of representative citizens.

CHAPTER XXI.

LATER HISTORY OF THE OHIO COMPANY.

We have described in a former chapter the early history of the conditional purchase made by the Ohio Company of Associates and the hard bargain which was extorted from them by the Congress of the Confederation. In that first contract, it was expected that the company would buy 1,500,000 acres of land about the Muskingum, and pay for the same $1,000,000 in cash or in the hard-earned cer- tificates, which they had received in lieu of money, from the government, for their ser- vices in the Revolution. The Indian war with its hardships and perils, and the subse- quent opening of the large tracts of fertile land to the north and west, rendered it im- possible for the company to find a sufficient number of shareholders, at $1,000 each, to buy the full amount. There were but 819 shares subscribed and paid for. Finally Con- gress in 1792 directed that three deeds be given to the company, amountinig in all to I,- 064.285 acres, but really only 964.285 acres went to the shareholders, since 100,000 acres, which by the way included nearly all the best land available at that time, west of the present Newport township line, were given in lots of 100 acres each to actual settlers whether they were members of the Ohio Company or not. In no sense could this "donation" tract be considered a part of the land sold to the Ohio Company since it was paid for by the holders in actual military service in the militia in de- fending the frontier against the Indians, who were incited to make attacks by the British agents.

Each shareholder received one eight-acre lot near Marietta; one three-acre lot in the same vicinity ; one city lot of one-third of an acre; one 100-acre lot; one 100-acre lot; one 640-acre lot : one 262-acre lot; making a to- tal of 1, 173 acres to each shareholder for the $1,000 he had paid to the government. These larger tracts were rarely occupied by those to whom they were first assigned by lot. In the course of years they were bought up at a low rate by persons who could afford to hold them, in the hope that they would appreciate in val- ue. Besides the money which the sharehold- ers had paid to the government for the land, they had expended large sums in making the settlements, providing for the general defense and the welfare of the pioneers, and in carrying out the surveys and allotments. The total amount of these expenditures was very large and a grievous burden upon men who had spent so long a time in the prime of life in the service of their country.

In 1815 Gen. Rufus Putnam advertised a final dividend of the Ohio Company,-a pay- ment of $3.75 to each one of the sharehold- ers who had contributed so much to the com- mon fund, but it seemed as if the final settle- ment never would come, as the following ex- tracts from Marietta papers of later date will abundantly show. Among these assets of the company were 43 Loan Office Certificates, for the sum of $400 each, issued by authority of Congress and countersigned "by order of J A. Treutlen. Governor of Georgia" by E. Da- vis, Jr.

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Nahum Ward, believing that these certifi cates, whose genuineness was beyond dispute, represented a just claim upon the government. bought up the shares of the Ohio Company and in its name presented a claim against the government. The suit was continued after his death, according to the directions of his will, by his son, William S. Ward. In 1870 it was decided by the Supreme Court that there was no legal claim on the part of the plaintiff against the United States govern- ment and thuis we may say that at this late date the affairs of the Ohio Company were finally settled.

NOTICE OF A MEETING OF THE PROPRIETORS.

Whereas, The Interests of this Company are multi- farions, scattered and unsettled .-- The Resolutions of January 1796, passed at the last meeting of the Ohio Company, in this piace, making a provision for a speedy, final settlement and division of the residuary property. then in the hands of Benjamin Tallmadge. Esq .. Treas- urer of said Company, not having been complied with -as there are now in aid Treasurer's hands, belonging to said Company. Loan Office Certificate, issued by order of Congress, dated 23d Dec. 1777. on interest at 6 per cent. per annum, for the sum of $17.200-And as there are also 6.400 acres of Land in the Ohio Com- pany's Purchase, belonging to the shareholders (817 in number) yet held in common.

Therefore-the undersigned-owner and proprietor by Deeds of one hundred and fifty-two shares, and special Attorney for sixty-five other shares-Gives No- tice that there will be a meeting of the Proprietors of shares in said Company, by themselves or legal repre- sentatives, on the 3d of July next, at 3 o'clock P. M. in the Exchange Coffee House. Boston-for the purpose of adopting such measures in regard to the interests of the Company as may then and there be resolved upon. NAHUM WARD.

Ohio Company Land Office. Marietta, O., May 12, 1831.

P. S .-- Powers of Attorney to present shares in said meeting, postage paid, directed to me-care of .1. HI. Ward, Esq. Custom House, Boston-will claim my special attention.

Marietta, Ohio, November 10, 1831 .-

"At a meeting of the Shareholders of the "Ohio Company,' held this day, at the Court House, by adjournment from time to time, of a meeting of the shareholders of said com- pany, at Boston, Mass., July 5, last past, at which Temple Cutler, Esq., of Lynn, was ap- pointed Chairman, and John Skinner, Esq. of Boston, Secretary, and of which notice was

given in the newspapers; and the proceeding at Boston published, and forwarded to all the proprietors known to the members at said meeting .- Temple Cutler, Esq. resumed the Chair, and William A. Whitney, Esq. was ap- pointed Secretary.

"Three hundred and twenty shares was represented as follows :

Hon. Levi Barber. 8

Col. Joseph Barker. C

Nahum Ward, 230

Ephraim Cutler,

Temple Cutler. 44

Win. Skinner. IO

William A. Whittlesey. 1-320

"There not appearing at this adjourned meeting a majority of shares, as was fully anticipated, and not being disposed without further trial, notwithstanding the apathy of many shareholders, to abandon the interest we have in the undivided property of the com- pany which cannot be obtained without a ma - jority of the whole number of shares: There- fore.

Resolved, That when this meeting is adjourned, it be to the first Wednesday of May next, at this place, at 3 P M.

"And it was further

Resolved, unanimously, That Temple Cutler, Na- humm Ward and Joseph Barker, Esquires, be and are hereby appointed a committee to make a concise state- ment of the unsettled affairs of the "Ohio Company," and communicate the same to the shareholders. in such manner and form as shall be in their opinion most for the interest of all concerned: that those sharehol- ders, not represented at this meeting, may. if possible, be induced to be represented at the adjourned meeting in May next. that the unsettled affairs of this company may be legally and finally closed.

"This meeting was then adjourned to the first Wednesday of May next, at 3 P. M., in this place.

"TEMPLE CUTLER, Chairman. "WM. A. WHITTLESEY, Secretary."

Marietta, November 15, 1831. "To the Shareholders, or Their Legal Repre- sentatives, in the Ohio Company. "The undersigned, proprietors and share-

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HISTORY OF MARIETTA AND WASHINGTON COUNTY,

holders in the Ohio Company of Associates, which was first organized at the Bunch of Grapes Tavern,at Boston, in 1786, having been appointed a committee to lay before you a con- cise statement of facts, relative to the unsettled affairs of this Company, that you may more fully comprehend the objects which we have in view, it will be necessary to a correct under- standing of these matters, that we give an historical sketch of the Company from its for- mation.

"In the organization of the company, the following named gentlemen appeared as agents, and represented the number of shares against their names, viz. :

Joel Barlow, 19 shares.

William Corlis, 100 shares. Arch. Crary. 15 shares.

M. Cutler. 86 shares. Ephraim Cutler, 13 shares.

E. Powner, 18 shares.

E. Harris, 31 shares. Henry Jackson. 13 shares.

John May. 35 shares.

S. H. Parsons, 91 shares.

Rufus Putnam, 59 shares. Winthrop Sargent, 148 shares. E. Sproat, 43 shares.

N. Freeman, o shares.

Benj. Tupper, 30 shares.

"The proprietors by these Agents appoint- ed the Rev. Mr. Cutler and Winthrop Sargent, Esq., to contract with the Government for I,- 500,00 acres of Land, and appointed Richard Platt, Esq., of New York, their Treasurer.

"A contract was entered into by the par- ties on the 27th of October, 1787, for 1,500,- 000 acres. Subsequently a patent was then taken out by the Directors of the Company for 750,000 acres only, in the present district of Marietta, Ohio. In 1793, Mr. Platt failed, and sunk a large sum for the Company. In the same year, Benj. Tallmadge, Esq., of Litchfield, Conn., was chosen as Treasurer, and all the stocks, notes, and effects, in the hands of Mr. Platt belonging to the Company, together with 43 Loan Office Certificates, the private property of Mr. Platt, paid to the Com- pany to make good, in some measure, the loss they had sustained by him, were placed in the hands of Col. Tallmadge.

"About this period, Col. Hamilton, hav- ing established the Funding System, the Di- rectors of the Company advised the turning of the stocks and effects of the Company in the hands of the Treasurer into cash, and to make arangements with the Government, whereby no more land should be patented to the Direc- tors in trust for the Company, than could be covered with the army warrants, then on hand. This arrangement was effected, and two di- vidends were made of the funds prior to 1796. The army warrants covered a tract of 214,205 acres, which was located on the west and north side of the first purchase, in ten townships.

"By the ordinance of Congress of May, 1785, it is therein enacted, there shall be re- served, Sections No. 8, 11, 26 and 29, for fu- ture disposition of Congress, and Section 16, for the maintenance of public schools. In the Contract with the Agents of the Ohio Com- pany, Oct. 1787, by the Board of the Treas- ury of the U. S., it was expressly stipulated that in each township, or fractional township, Sec. 16 should be reserved for schools, and Sec. 29, for the purposes of religion. The Patent for 750,000 acres contains those reser- vations : but in the second Patent there are no- reservations whatever. At the last meeting of the Company, January, 1796, the Agents made a donation of Sec. 16 for the use of schools, and 29 for the purposes of religion in the ten townships last patented, before a division was made of the land among the- Shareholders, that these townships should not be disfranchised of their rights; and then they petitioned Congress for twenty Sections in lieu thereof, which, if granted, were to be sold for the benefit of the shareholders. What be- came of the petition to Congress, which is mentioned on the books of the Company, we have no knowledge.

"In April, 1802, Congress ordered other lands equivalent to Sec. 16, out of the reserve lands, to be given. And by Act of Congress, March, 1803, it was enacted, that the Sections- of land heretofore promised for the use of Schools, in lieu of such of Section 16 as have been otherwise disposed of, shall be selected

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by the Secretary of the Treasury out of the unappropriated land, most contiguous to said Townships, which was done accordingly and is recorded on the books of the Treasury. The several townships accepted of lands given by Congress in lieu of Sec. 16, is the undivided property of the Company. The Company have a fair and just claim on Congress for ten Sections of land, in lieu of the ten sections, 29, disposed of by Congress.

"There are also several tracts of undivided common land, at the mouth of the Big Hock- ing River, and in the vicinity of Gallipolis ;- in all there is a fair and undivided claim of about 13,000 acres of land, which is a claim too large to be lost sight of.

"We will now remark upon the Treasury affairs of this Company. By referring to the resolutions of the Company, January, 1796, we find Col. Tallmadge was authorized to sell and dispose of all the funded or unfunded stock belonging to the Company, on the best terms he could, without limitation of price, and pe- tition Congress or otherwise to obtain the payment of the Loan Office Certificates, which were received of Col. Platt, and when the Treasurer had turned all the stock. notes, and accounts, and other funds of the Company into cash, he be directed to make a final divi- dend of the same. Auditors were appointed to examine and report to the Superintendent, Gen. R. Putnam. a final settlement of the "What sum formed the capital, when the 3d dividend was declared, has never been made known to the Agents, nor is it known what property or effects were remaining in his hands on presenting his final account, out of which, some ten years afterwards, he acknowledged the sum of $6.341 to be in his hands-no ac- count has been stated or rendered since 1804. to our knowledge, yet immediately upon the death of Gen. Putnam, in 1824, Col. Tall- madge again demanded his bond and receipts and Gen. Putnam's Executor gave them up. Treasurer's accounts, when requested so to do by the Treasurer, agreeable to the resolutions of 1796; and, by the same resolutions, the Su- perintendent was requested to deliver up the Treasurer's bond, and all receipts by him given for any effects belonging to the Com- pany, when a final settlement was ready to be made, and dividend declared to the sharehold- eis. The Treasurer's final account, as pre- sented to Gen. Putnam Oct. 1804, is a very ambiguous document, which, by its own show- ing, was not final, as the Auditors say. . We "The Loan Office Certificates, 43 in num- ber for $405 each, dated 23d Dec. 1777, made payable to Thomas Stone or bearer, on the find a balance of $818.12 due said Treasurer. which balance together with the interest aris- ing on the same from the date hereof. he is at |first of Dec. 1781, with interest annually, at liberty to take and apply, from the avails of the . the rate of 6 per cent, signed. Samuel Hille-

first property he may receive in behalf of, and on account of the Ohio Company.'

"On the presentation of this final account to Gen. Putnam, the Treasurer demanded his Lond and receipts. Gen. Putnam informed two of this Committee, that he peremptorially refused to deliver up the bond and receipts of the Treasurer, but would hold them, as a sac- red deposit for the shareholders to rest upon, until a fair and full development was made of the whole property in Col. Tallmadge's hands, and a final account of it rendered, agreeable to the resolution of 1796.

"It is well, however, that the frequent cor- respondence was carried on between the Su- perintendent and the Treasurer from 1804 to about 1814-upon the subject of funds in the Treasurer's hands subsequent to the 3d divi- dend being declared. and the rendition of his final account: when Col. Tallmadge proposed' that he would divide among the shareholders the further sum of $3.073-to this Gen. Put- nam would not accede. but demanded. from his knowledge of the funds, a dividend upon the capital of $6.241-and to Gen. Putnam's agency Col. Tallmadge paid a dividend on this sum being $7.76 per share, ten years after his final settlement, and the demand of his bond and receipts, as some of the committee have heard him say, and have received dividends of him accordingly.

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HISTORY OF MARIETTA AND WASHINGTON COUNTY,

gas. and countersigned E. Davis, were pre- sented at the Treasury of U. S. Dec. 22d, 1781, and the interest paid on 31 of the 43 as certified by Samuel lilillegas, Treasurer. Those certificates now in the hands of Col. Tallmadge, Treasurer of the Company, and which he acknowledges belong to the Com- pany, were presented at the Treasury in 1792 to be funded, but refused for some informal- ity. Col. Hamilton, in his report to Congress '92, said 'It would be a hardship to individuals ; who, upon the payment of the interest have' been induced to become the purchasers of those certificates for a valuable consideration.' 'It remains for the Legislature to decide how far there are considerations strong enough to induce a special interposition in their hehalf.' He says further-'There is no evidence that the Certificates were issued for any purpose of the United States.' Since that period, ev- idence has been obtained from Gentlemen of the highest standing, and familiar with the transactions of the Revolution, that they were legally signed and countersigned-and paid out in Georgia for the subsistence of the Con- tinental Army. Setting aside whatever claims there may be upon the Treasury for funds many years on hand, and not distri- buted, the Loan Office Certificates, and the undivided lands together with the claims on the Government for the ten Sections will, when turned into money, make a sum worthy the attention of every shareholder.

. "From the foregoing considerations we cannot but urge the shareholders by themselves or proxy to be represented at the adjourned meeting on the first Wednesday in May next. Without a majority local proceedings cannot be had.

"We are respectfully, your ob't serv'ts, "TEMPLE CUTLER, "L. BARBER, "EPHRAIM CUTLER. "NAHUM WARD, "JOSEPH BARKER.

"P. S. We are in justice bound to say that Nahum Ward. Esq., has been assiduous- ly striving for many years, at a heavy ex-

pense, to bring this concern to a close-and had it not been for his indefatigable exertions and unwearied attention the claims of the Company, set forth in this report, would have been forever lost.

"The undersigned have placed unlimited confidence in Mr. Ward in the management of this concern, having, each of us, given him power to act for us when we are not present. "TEMPLE CUTLER, "E. CUTLER."

"ATTENTION, LATE OHIO COMPANY.

"Among the articles received by the Direc- tors of the late Ohio Company from Colonel Platt, the first Treasurer of said company, to- wards the payment of the balance of his debt, were a number of Loan Office Certificates. These were duly deposited in the Treasury Department, to be funded ; but on examination they were rejected, from some supposed in- formality in their issue. Application was then made to Congress to have them assumed and paid by the Government ; and although re- peated applications have been made to Con- gress, nothing favorable has yet resulted.

"Being very desirous to close this business, 1 deem it proper to make the following pro- posal. Each Loan Office Certificate for divi- sion, being for $400 principal, it has been found utterly impracticable to divide them among more than 800 proprietary shares. If then the proprietors, or legal representatives of twenty-one proprietary shares, will unite and authorize some person to present their claims, the same being substantiated and al- lowed, said Agent or Attorney shall receive one of these Loan Office Certificates of $400 principal, for every twenty-one proprietary shares. The original agents are already au- thorized to draw for their whole agencies : but no evidence of title to draw dividend, already paid, will be sufficient to substantiate a claim for the Loan Office Certificate, as those vouch- ers are filed away among papers and accounts closed.

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History of Marietta and Washington County, Ohio, and representative citizens, Part 67

Author: Andrews, Martin Register, 1842-; Hathaway, Seymour J Publication date: 1902 Publisher: Chicago : Biographical Pub. Co. Number of Pages: 1490

Author: Andrews, Martin Register, 1842-; Hathaway, Seymour J
Publication date: 1902
Publisher: Chicago : Biographical Pub. Co.
Number of Pages: 1490