USA > Ohio > Morgan County > History of Morgan County, Ohio, with portraits and biographical sketches of some of its pioneers and prominent men > Part 9
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58 | Part 59 | Part 60 | Part 61 | Part 62 | Part 63 | Part 64 | Part 65 | Part 66 | Part 67 | Part 68
W ASHINGTON COUNTY being the parent of Morgan, it is ap- propriate that some account of her earliest settlement, as well as of other early events, be included in this volunne.
After the Ohio Company was fairly organized, and appeared likely to be successful in its objects and aims, the subject of colonization naturally became uppermost in the minds of its members. In the work of encouraging emigration from New England to the Ohio country Generals Putnam, Tupper and Parsons, Dr. Cutler and Winthrop Sargent were enthusiastic and energetic. After cou- cluding the purchase Dr. Cutler anony - mously published a pamphlet, giving extensive information as to the North- west, and especially the Muskingum region. In this publication Dr. Cutler took occasion to make some prophecies, which, though they were doubtless then
received with ridicule, have nearly all been realized. He asserted that in fifty years the population of the northwest- ern territory would exceed that of New England. The following passage, written in 1787, probably contained the first allusion ever made to the subject of steam navigation npon western rivers : "The current down the Ohio and Mis- sissippi, for heavy articles that suit the Florida and West India markets, such as Indian corn, flour, beef, lumber, etc., will be more loaded than any streams on earth. The distance from the Mus- kinginn to the Mississippi is 1,000 miles ; from thence to the sea is 900 miles. The whole course is run in eighteen days, and the passage up these rivers is not so difficult as has been represented. It is found by late experiments that sails are used to great advantage against the current of the Ohio; and it is worthy of observation that in all probability
72
HISTORY OF MORGAN COUNTY, OHIO.
steamboats will be found to do infinite service in all our river navigation."
The proprietors of the Ohio Company succeeded, however, in getting together a sufficient number of adventurers to begin the proposed settlement in accord- ance with their resolutions of November 23, 1787, already given in the preceding chapter. The first party, consisting of twenty-two men, and including the me- chanics and boat-builders, left Danvers, Mass., December 1, 1787, in command of Major Haffield White, and on the 23d of January, 1788, arrived at Sum- rill's Ferry, on the Youghiogheny River, in Pennsylvania, where they were ex- pected to begin the construction of boats for completing the journey. The other party, consisting of the surveyors and their assistants and others, left Hart- ford, Conn., on the 1st of January, under the conduct of Colonel Ebenezer Sproat (they were joined by General Rufus Putnam, superintendent of the colony, at Lauterdale Creek, on the 24th), and after a toilsome winter journey across the Alleghanies arrived at the Youghio- gheny in the middle of February. Here they were diappointed to find that very little progress had been made by the advance party in their preparations, and a delay lasting until the first of April resulted. Then, with three canoes, a flat-boat of about three tons' burden (the "Adelphia") and a galley of about fifty tons' burden (the "Mayflower"), the party embarked upon the " Yough," and proceeded down that stream, the Monongahela and the Ohio to their des- tination.
About noon on Monday, April 7, 1788, the little party, consisting of forty-seven men (increased to forty-eight by the ar- rival of Colonel Return Jonathan Meigs on the 12th), landed on the site of Ma-
rietta, where about seventy Indians, warriors, women and children, of the Wyandot and Delaware tribes, received them with manifestations of friendli- ness. The famous chieftain, Captain Pipe, was among the Indians.
The following are the names of the colonists :
General Rufus Putnam, superintend- ent of the colony; Colonel Ebenezer Sproat, Major Anselm Tupper, and John Mathews, surveyors; Major Haf- field White, steward and quartermaster ; Captain Jonathan Devol, Captain Josiah Monroe, Captain Daniel Davis, Captain Peregrine Foster, Captain Jethro Put- nam, Captain William Gray, Captain Ezekiel Cooper, Phineas Coburn, David Wallace, Gilbert Devol, Jr., Jonas Da- vis, Hezekiah Flint, Hezekiah Flint, Jr., Josiah Whitridge, Benjamin Griswold, Theophilus Leonard, William Miller, Josiah White, Henry Maxon, William Maxon, William Moulton, Edward Moulton, Benjamin Shaw, Jarvis Cut- ler, Samuel Cushing, Daniel Bushnell, Ebenezer Corry, Oliver Dodge, Isaac Dodge, Jabez Barlow, Allen Putnam, Joseph Wells, Israel Danton, Samuel Felshaw, Amos Porter, Jr., John Gard- ner, Elizur Kirtland, Joseph Lincoln, Earl Sproat, Allen Devol, Simeon Mar- tin, Peletiah White.
Regarding the landing of the advent- urers, there is a tradition that an inci- dent which then occurred gave rise to the name " Buckeyes," first applied to the early settlers, and afterward to all the inhabitants of the State. It is re- lated that two of the pioneers, on spring- ing to the shore, at once began a con- test to see who should inaugurate the improvement by felling the first tree. One selected a hardwood tree and his work was consequently difficult. The
73
WASHINGTON COUNTY AND THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY.
other applied his axe to a buckeye, and laid it low before his rival made much progress with his work. Another tra- dition, better authenticated, is to the effect that Colonel Ebenezer Sproat, a man of large physical proportions, was called by the Indians Hetuck, or Big Buckeye, and from this the name was made to apply to all the colonists.
It would carry us far beyond our pur- pose to write a history of the Marietta colony, but in order that the reader may have a full understanding of subsequent events which are properly included with- in the scope of this work we make a brief sketch of the more notable occur- rences in the annals of their work.
During the first summer the pioneers made commendable progress, building cabins, clearing land, planting crops, surveying the company's lands, laying out the streets of the new city, etc. As a measure of defense and protection, unfortunately soon rendered necessary, they began the erection of an elaborate fortress or garrison, large enough to afford refuge to the whole colony in times of danger. Much of the work was performed during the first year, but the whole of Campus Martius, as the defense was styled, was not finished till 1791. It was then pronounced the finest pile of buildings west of the Alleghany Mountains-which was doubtless true.
During the year the Marietta colony was increased by the arrival of eighty- four men, several of them being accom- panied by their families. The wife of James Owen, who came in June, 1788, was the first woman who settled in the Ohio Company's purchase.
General Arthur St. Clair, the first territorial governor, arrived July 9th. lle was a native of Scotland, born in 1734. He entered the British army, and
being sent to America during the French war, was present at the storming of Quebec. In 1764 he settled at Fort Ligonier, afterward in Westmoreland County, Pa., having been appointed to the command of the fort. He figured prominently in the colonial history of Pennsylvania, and was the first pro- thonotary of Bedford County, which at one time included all of Southwestern Pennsylvania. At the breaking out of the Revolution he joined. the patriots and was given command of a regiment. Subsequently he was promoted to a brigadier, then to a major-general. He represented his district in the Continent- al Congress and was president of that body. In October, 1787, he was com- missioned governor of the Northwest Territory, the commission taking effect in February following. He continued to act as territorial governor until with- in a few months preceding the forma- tion of the State government, in 1803. when he was removed by President Jefferson. Ile died in Westmoreland County, Pa., August 31. 1818.
Preceding Governor St. Clair, two of the judges of the territory, Samuel Holden Parsons and James Mitchell Varnum, and the secretary, Winthrop Sargent, had arrived at Marietta. John Cleve Symmes was the other territorial judge.
The governor and judges began the work of organizing the territory by issuing laws for its goverment, mod- eled after the laws of the older States of the Union. July 25, 1788, they passed a law regulating and establishing the militia. Other early acts related to the establishment of the general court of quarter sessions of the peace, the county court of common pleas, and the office of sheriff, the probate court. laws respect-
74
HISTORY OF MORGAN COUNTY, OHIO.
ing crimes and their punishment,* etc.
On July 26, 1788, Governor St. Clair issued a proclamation establishing the first county in the new Territory, to which he gave the name Washington, in honor of the Father of his Country. The order was as follows :
" By His Excellency, Arthur St. Clair, Esq., Governor and Commander-in-Chief of the territory of the United States northwest of the River Ohio.
" A PROCLAMATION.
" To all persons to whom these pres- ents shall come, greeting: Whereas, by the ordinance of Congress of the 13th July, 1787, for the goverment of the territory of the United States north- west of the River Ohio, it is directed that for the due execution of process, civil and criminal, the governor shall make proper divisions of the said terri- tory, and proceed from time to time, as circumstances may require, to lay out the part of the same where the Indian title has been extinguished into counties and townships, subject to future altera- tions as therein specified. Now, know ye, that it appearing to me to be neces- sary, for the purposes above mentioned, that a county should immediately be laid out, I have ordained and ordered, and by these presents do ordain and order, that all and singular the lands lying and being within the following boundaries, viz. : Beginning on the bank of the Ohio River where the western boundary line of Pennsylvania crosses it, and running with that line to Lake Erie ;
thence along the southern shore of said lake to the mouth of the Cuyahoga River ; thence up said river to the port- age between that and the Tuscarawas branch of the Muskingum ; thence down the branch of the forks at the crossing place above Fort Laurens ; thence with a line to be drawn westerly to the port- age of that branch of the Big Miami on which the fort stood that was taken by the French in 1752, until it meets the road from the lower Shawanese town to the Sandusky ; thence south to the Scioto River; thence with that river to the mouth and thence up the Ohio River to the place of beginning, shall be a county and the same is hereby erected into a county named and to be called hereafter the county of Washing- ton ; and the said county of Washington shall have and enjoy all and singular the jurisdiction, rights, liberties, privi- leges and immunities whatever to a county belonging and appertaining, and which any other county that may hereafter be erected and laid out shall or ought to enjoy, conformably to the ordinance of Congress before mentioned. " In witness whereof, I have hereunto set my hand and caused the seal of the Territory to be affixed this twenty- sixth day of July, in the thirteenth year of the Independence of the United States, and in the year of our Lord one thousand seven hundred and eighty- eight. " (Signed),
" A. ST. CLAIR."
The county of Washington, as above established, then embraced about one- half of the present State of Ohio. It remained the only county in the Terri- tory, and practically was the Territory civilly and judicially, until January 2, 1790, when Hamilton County was erected. Between 1790 and 1796 the
*The early laws provided for the suppression and prevention of profanity, Sabbath-breaking, etc., pun- ished theft and minor offences by fines, whipping and confinement in the stoeks or service at hard labor. Each county had its pillory, stocks and whipping-post. These "terrors to evil doers" were continued as late as 1812 .- Hildreth.
75
WASHINGTON COUNTY AND THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY.
following counties were organized in the Territory, outside the limits of Ohio: St. Clair, Knox and Randolph. Wayne was erected August 15, 1796, em- bracing parts of the present States of Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Wisconsin and all of Michigan. Adams, the next county within the State limits, was erected July 10, 1797. Jefferson follow- ed next, being erected July 29, 1797, largely reducing the size of Washington County, which was further curtailed by the formation of Ross, August 20, 1798. Fairfield and Trumbull were erected in 1800, and Belmont in 1801. These were all of the counties formed in Ohio under the territorial government. After the formation of the State gov- ernment in 1803 new counties multiplied rapidly. Gallia was formed in 1803 ; Muskingum in 1804 (from Washington and Fairfield) ; Athens in 1805 ; Guern- sey in 1810 ; Monroe in 1815 ; Morgan and Meigs in 1819.
The first court held in the Northwest Territory was the court of common pleas, of Washington County, which convened in the Campus Martius at Marietta. on Tuesday, September 2, 1788. The ceremonies were imposing, and no doubt made an impression upon the minds of the few friendly savages who witnessed them. A procession was formed at " the point " of citizens and officers from Fort Harmar, by whom the territorial judges, the gov- ernor and the judges of the common pleas court were escorted to the block- house, which was to serve as the court-
At the head marched the sheriff, with drawn sword and wand of office. The session opened with prayer by Rev. Manasseh Cutler, who was then on a visit to the colony whose establishment
he had done so much to promote, and after the reading of the commissions of the judges, the clerk and the sheriff. the court was proclaimed open for business by the sheriff, Colonel Ebenezer Sproat. Paul Fearing, Esq., was admitted to practice as an attorney, and was the first in the Territory. Colonel R. J. Meigs was the clerk, and General Ru- fus Putnam, General Benjamin Tupper and Colonel Archibald Crary the judges. No business being brought before the court, it adjourned sine die.
The county court of common pleas consisted of not less than three nor more than five judges, who received their commissions from the governor, and were authorized to keep a court of record. The court was held twice a vear in each county. In 1790 the member of terms was changed to four, and the number of judges increased to seven.
The court of quarter sessions of the peace under the territorial laws was held four times a year in each county, and was composed of justices of the peace commissioned by the governor. Not less than three nor more than five justices were especially commissioned for holding this court. Three could hold special courts when required. h 1790 a change in the law increased the number of justices to nine in each county, and gave the court power to divide the county into Townships, ap- point constables, overseers of the poor. township clerks, and to establish roads. The first term of this court was held in Washington County, at the Campus Martins, Tuesday, September 9, 1785, before Justices Rufus Putnam, Ben ja- min Tupper, Isaac Pierce, Thomas Lord and Return JJ. Meigs. Then was im- paneled the first grand jury in the
-
76
HISTORY OF MORGAN COUNTY, OHIO.
Territory. No cases were presented, and the court adjourned without day.
One other court completed the judi- cial machinery of the Territory. The general court, for the territory of the United States northwest of the Ohio River, held four sessions a year, for civil and criminal suits, at such points in the territory as the judges deemed advisable, due notice of the session being given. The terms began on the first Monday of February, May, Octo- ber and December. Process, both civil and criminal, could be returned at any place in the territory where they might be convened. They were not obliged to hold more than one court a year in any one county.
In December, 1790, the court of quar- ter sessions of Washington County established three townships, which in- cluded the three settlements which had been made up to that time.
Marietta Township included Town- ships 1, 2 and 3 in the eighth range and Townships 2 and 3 in the ninth range. Belpre contained Townships 1 and 2 in the tenth range and Township 1 in the ninth range. Waterford Township con- sisted of Townships 7 and 8 in the eleventh range, Townships 4 and 5 in the tenth range, and section 33 of Town- ship + in the ninth range.
Subsequently Gallipolis Township was established, extending from the eleventh range to the Scioto and bounded on the north by a line drawn west from the northern line of Township 3, Range 11. Two townships included the northern part of the county-Warren, west of Pennslyvania, and extending to the lake, and Middletown, west of Warren. These were taken into Jefferson County at its formation in 1797. Adams and Salem townships were estab-
lished in December, 1797. Salem was five miles wide and extended from the donation tract to the north line of the county. In December, 1798, the fol- lowing townships were established: Another Middletown, embracing nearly all of the present county of Athens ; Newton, from the north part of Waterford and extending to the north- ern line of the county ; and Newport Township. Roxbury (a part of which was added to Morgan County in 1845), was organized in 1806.
The government of the Territory, with the ordinance of 1787 as its foundation, could scarcely be called a " government of the people and for the people," for in reality the people had no voice in it. Its chief officers were appointed by Congress until after the ratification of the constitution and then by the President, and were accountable only to the general government. But, all things considered, perhaps the system was the best and wisest that could be devised for a vast and remote territory, inhabited only by Indians, traders, hunters and adventurers, with here and there a struggling colony upon its borders. No government free from abuses has ever been formulated by man, and that no arbitrary actions should creep into the administration of affairs in the Northwest no reason- able man could have expected. The nation was fortunate in the choice of the territorial authorities, and the gov- ernment served its purpose, giving birth to five great, free States. When the time arrived which enabled the in- habitants to adopt a State government they welcomed it with eagerness, as has been the case with the people of all the States of later origin.
The first step toward giving the
77
WASHINGTON COUNTY AND THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY.
people of the Territory a part in making their laws was taken in 1798. The or- inance of 1787 provided as soon as there should be "5,000 free male in- habitants of full age " in the Territory they should be entitled to a general assembly, to consist of the governor, legislative council and a house of rep- resentatives, the representatives to serve for two years and the council for five. The manner of selecting the council was as follows : As soon as the representatives were elected, the gov- ernor was required to appoint a time and place for them to meet and nomi- nate ten persons, "residents in the dis- trict and each possessed of a freehold in five hundred acres of land," and re- turn their names to Congress; from this number Congress must choose the five members.
Governor St. Clair, having ascertained that the Territory contained the requi- site number of voters, issued a call for an election of territorial representatives. The proclamation, issued October 29, 1798, ordered the election to be held on the third Monday of the following De- cember. The representatives elected were Return J. Meigs, Panl Fearing, Washington County ; William Goforth, William McMillan, John Smith, John Ludlow, Robert Benham, Aaron Cald- well, Isaac Martin, Hamilton County ; Shadrach Bond, St. Clair County ; John Small, Knox County ; Jolm Edgar, Randolph County ; Solomon Sibley, Jacob Visger, Charles F. Chabert de Jolineaire, Wayne County ; Joseph Dar- lington, Nathaniel Massie, Adams Coun- ty ; James Pritchard, Jefferson County ; Thomas Worthington, Elias Langham, Samuel Findlay, Edward Tiffin, Ross County.
The legislature met at Cincinnati,
Jannary 22, 1799, and nominated ten men for the legislative council. The five chosen by the national government were Jacob Burnet, of Cincinnati, Hamilton County ; Henry Vandenburg, of Vincennes, Knox County ; Robert Oliver, of Marietta, Washington Coun- ty; James Findlay of Cincinnati, and David Vance, of Vanceville, Jeffer- son County.
The first session of the legislature began at Cincinnati, September 16, 1799, and lasted until December 19, 1799, at which time it was prorogned by the governor to meet at Chillicothe (which had been made the capital by act of Congress May 7, 1800), on the first Monday in November, 1800. At the Cincinnati session, the legislature passed thirty bills, of which the gov- ernor vetoed eleven. William Henry Harrison was elected a delegate to Con- gress, receiving one more vote than his rival, Arthur St. Clair, Jr. A petition was introduced, from a number of Vir- ginia officers, asking permission to re- move their slaves into the Virginia Military District. The ordinance of Freedom rendered their praver futile. At the November session William McMillan was chosen a delegate to Congress, to fill the vacancy caused by the resignation of General Harrison, who had been appointed governor of Indiana Territory (formed May 7, 1800, and included the present states of Indiana, Illinois, Wisconsin, and a part of Michigan.)
The second and last territorial legisla- ture convened at Cincinnati, November 23, 1801. Ephraim Cutler and William Rufus Putnam were the representatives from Washington County. Edward Tiffin, of Ross County, was speaker. and Robert Oliver of Washington
78
HISTORY OF MORGAN COUNTY, OHIO.
County, president of the legislative council. The representatives from Wash- ington County opposed the formation of a State goverment, which about this tine began to be discussed. Put- nam made a speech at a supper in Cin- cinnati at which he proposed the toast, "The Scioto-may its waters lave the borders of two great States." This sentiment aroused the violent opposition of the Chillicothe people, who favored the formation of a State with its pres- ent limits, or at least, extending west- ward to the Miami, with their town as its capital. The boundary proposed by Putnam was generally favored by his constituents, and had it been adopted would have delayed the State organi- zation considerably, as the ordinance of 1787 provided that no part of the territory should become a State until it had a population of 60,000.
The opposition to the formation of a State came from a small minority and was strongest in Washington county. On the 17th of June, 1801, a meeting was held at Marietta, attended by dele- gates from the several townships of the county, who adopted resolutions, after- wards forwarded to their representatives in the general assembly, declaring that, in their opinion, "it would be highly impolitie and very injurious to the in- habitants of this territory to enter into a State government at this thne." There were several reasons for this opinion. First, they argued, that taxes would be increased without corresponding bene- fits : that the expenses of the State gov- ernment would fall most heavily upon the inhabitants of the Ohio Company's purchase, while the congressional lands would be exempt from taxation. The expenses of the territorial goverment were chiefly paid out of the National
treasury, and a State government once formed, this aid would cease. Secondly, the Washington county people were on the weaker or Federalist side in politics. and could hope for no offices under the State. This consideration may have had no weight, with the majority, but undoubtedly some were influenced by it. Thirdly, there was the hope that two States might sometime be formed of the territory now included in Ohio and that Marietta might be the capital of the eastern one .*
The discussion of the project reached Congress and the passage of the "en- abling act" was violently opposed by Paul Fearing, of Washington County, territorial delegate; but the act became a law April 30, 1802. By it the boundaries of the State were defined and the hold- ing of a convention for the formation of a State government was authorized.
The convention met at Chillicothe in November, 1802. The delegates were as follows : Joseph Darlington, Thomas Kirker and Israel Donaldson, from Adams County ; James Caldwell, from Belmont County ; Francis Dunlady, John Paul, Jeremiah Morrow, John Wilson, Charles W. Byrd, William Go forth, John Smith and John Reily, from Hamilton County ; Rudolph Bair, John Milligan and George Humphrey, from Jefferson County: Edward Tiffin, Na- thaniel Massie, Thomas Worthington, Michael Baldwin, and James Grubb, from Ross County ; Samuel Huntington, from Trumbull County; Ephraim Cut- ler, Rufus Putnam, Benjamin Ives Gil- man and John McIntire, from Wash- ington County. Edward Tiffin was elected president, and Thomas Scott secretary of the convention.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.