USA > Ohio > Noble County > History of Noble County, Ohio: With Portraits and Biographical Sketches of some of its pioneers and prominent men > Part 7
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
An act passed May 10, 1800, changed and repealed several of the provisions of the foregoing law. Four land-offices were established in the Northwest Territory : at Cincin- nati, Chillicothe, Marietta and Steu- benville.
The townships west of the Musk- ingum which, by the act of 1796, were directed to be sold in quarter- *townships, were to be subdivided into half-sections; and all townships east of the Muskingum and all inter-
60
HISTORY OF NOBLE COUNTY, OHIO.
sected by that river which had not before been subdivided were required to be run and marked in sections.
The lands thus subdivided were ordered to be offered for sale in sec- tions and half-sections at the respec- tive land offices at specified dates, the sales to continue for three weeks and no more. The sale at Marietta was to begin on the first Monday in May, 1801. All lands remaining un- sold at the closing of the public sales could be sold at private sale by the register. No lands to be sold either privately or publicly at less than two dollars per acre. The terms as to payment and the amount of fees were also modified.
The subsequent acts in relation to public lands were so multifarious that it would be tedious to chronicle them ; therefore, having shown how public lands could be acquired in the beginning, we will drop the subject.
Allusion has been made in the be- ginning of this chapter to the first ordinance for the government of the Northwest Territory. Another and far superior measure was enacted on the 13th of July, 1787, which is known in history as the Ordinance of Freedom, and was the funda- mental law from the time of its en- actment until the Territory ceased to exist. The text of the ordinance is as follows :
"An ordinance for the government of the territory of the United States northwest of the River Ohio.
"Be it ordained by the United States in Congress assembled: That the said territory, for the purposes of temporary government, be one
district, subject, however, to be di- vided into two districts as future cir- cumstances may, in the opinion of Congress, make it expedient.
"Be it ordained by the authority aforesaid: That the estates both of resident and non-resident proprie- tors in the said territory dying intes- tate shall descend to and be dis- tributed among their children and the descendants of a deceased child in equal parts; the descendants of a deceased child or grandchild to take the share of their deceased parent in equal parts among them; and where there shall be no children or descend- ants then in equal parts to the next of kin in equal degree; and among collaterals, the children of a deceased brother or sister of the intestate shall have in equal parts among them their deceased parent's share; and there shall in no case be a distinction be- tween kindred of the whole and half blood, saving, in all cases, to the widow of the intestate her third part of the real estate for life and one- third part of the personal estate; and this law relative to descents and dowers shall remain in full force until altered by the legislature of the district. And until the governor and judges shall adopt laws as here- inafter mentioned, estates in said ter- ritory may be devised or bequeathed by wills in writing, signed and sealed by him or her in whom the estate may be (being of full age) and at- tested by three witnesses, and real estates may be conveyed by lease and release, or bargain and sale, signed, sealed and delievered by the person (being of full age) in whom
!
i
--.....
61
TERRITORIAL GOVERNMENT AND PUBLIC LANDS.
the estate may be, and attested by two witnesses; provided such wills be duly proved and such convey- ances be acknowledged, or the exe- cution thereof duly proved, and be recorded within one year after proper magistrates, courts and regis- ters shall be appointed for that pur- pose, and personal property may be transferred by delivery ; saving, how- ever, to the French and Canadian inhabitants, and other settlers of the Kaskaskies, St. Vincents and the neighboring villages who have here- tofore professed themselves citizens of Virginia, their laws and customs now in force among them relative to the descent and conveyance of prop- erty.
"Be it ordained by the authority aforesaid: That there shall be ap- pointed from time to time by Con- gress a governor, whose commission shall continue in force for three years unless sooner revoked by Congress. He shall reside in the district and have a freehold estate therein in one thousand acres of land while in the exercise of his office.
"There shall be appointed from time to time a secretary, whose com- mission shall continue in force for four years unless sooner revoked; he shall reside in the district and have a freehold estate therein in five hun- dred acres of land while in the exer- cise of his office ; it shall be his duty to keep and preserve the acts and laws passed by the legislature and the public records of the district and the proceedings of the governor in his executive department, and trans- mit authentic copies of such acts and
proceedings every six months to the Secretary of Congress. There shall also be appointed a court, to consist of three judges, any two of whom to form a court, who shall have a com- mon law jurisdiction and reside in the district, and have each therein a freehold estate in five hundred acres of land while in the exercise of their offices ; and their commissions shall continue in force during good be- havior.
"The governor and judges, or a majority of them, shall adopt and publish in the district such laws of the original States, criminal and civil, as may be necessary and best suited to the circumstances of the district, and report them to Congress from time to to time; which laws shall be in force in the district until the or- ganization of the general assembly therein, unless disapproved by Con- gress ; but afterward the legislature shall have authority to alter them as they shall think fit.
"The governor, for the time being, shall be commander-in-chief of the militia, appoint and commission all officers in the same below the rank of general officers. All general officers shall be appointed and commissioned by Congress.
" Previous to the organization of the general assembly the governor shall appoint such magistrates and other civil offiers in each county or township as he shall find necessary for the preservation of the peace and good order in the same. After the general assembly shall be organized, the powers and duties of magistrates and other civil officers shall be regu-
62
HISTORY OF NOBLE COUNTY, OHIO.
lated and defined by the said assem- bly ; but all magistrates and other civil officers not herein otherwise di- rected, shall, during the continuance of this temporary government, be ap- pointed by the governor.
" For the prevention of crimes and injuries, the laws to be adopted or made shall have force in all parts of the district, and for the execution of process, criminal and civil, the gov- ernor shall make proper divisions thereof ; and he shall proceed from time to time, as circumstances may require, to lay out the parts of the : district in which the Indian titles ; shall have been extinguished into counties and townships - subject, however, to such alterations as may thereafter be made by the legisla- ture.
"So soon as there shall be five thousand free male inhabitants of full age in the district upon giving proof thereof to the governor, they shall receive authority, with time and . place, to elect representatives from their counties or townships to repre- sent them in the general assembly : Provided, That for every five hun- dred free male inhabitants there shall be one representative, and so on pro- gressively ; with the number of free male inhabitants shall the right of representation increase, until the number of representatives shall amount to twenty-five ; after which the number and proportion of repre- sentatives shall be regulated by the legislature : Provided. That no per- son be eligible or qualified to act as a representative unless he shall have been a citizen of one of the
United States three years, and be a resident in the district, or unless he shall have resided in the district three " years; and in either case shall like- wise hold in his own right in fee sim- ple two hundred acres of land within the same: Provided, also, That a freehold in fifty acres of land in the district, having been a citizen of one of the States, and being resident in the district, or the like freehold and two years' residence in the district, shall be necessary to qualify a man as an elector of a representative.
"The representatives thus elected shall serve for the term of two years; and in the case of the death of a representative, or removal from office, the government shall issue a writ to the county or township for which he was a member to elect an- other in his stead to serve for the res- idue of the term.
" The general assembly, or legisla- ture, shall consist of the governor, legislative council and a house of rep- resentatives. The legislative council shall consist of five members, to con- tinue in office five years, unless sooner removed by Congress, any three of whom to be a quorum ; and the members of the council shall be nominated and appointed in the fol- lowing manner, to wit: As soon as representatives shall be elected, the governor shall appoint a time and place for them to meet together, and when met they shall nominate ten persons, residents of the district, and each possessed of a freehold in five hundred acres of land, and return their names to Congress, five of whom Congress shall appoint and
!
L
63
TERRITORIAL GOVERNMENT AND PUBLIC LANDS.
commission to serve as aforesaid ; and whenever a vacancy shall happen in the council by death or removal from office, the house of representatives shall nominate two persons, qualified as aforesaid, for each vacancy, and return their names to Congress, one of whom Congress shall appoint and commission for the residue of the term. And every five years, four months at least before the expiration of the time of service of the mem- bers of the council, the said house shall nominate ten persons, qualified as aforesaid, and return their names to Congress, five of whom Congress shall appoint and commission to serve as members of the council five years unless sooner removed. And the governor, legislative council and house of representatives shall have authority to make laws in all cases for the government of the district not repugnant to the principles and articles in this ordinance established and declared. And all bills, having passed by a majority in the house, and by a majority in the council, shall be referred to the governor for i his assent ; but no bill or legislative act whatever shall be of any force without his assent. The governor shall have power to convene, prorogue and dissolve the general assembly when in his opinion it shall be expe- dient.
i
"The governor, judges, legislative council and such other officers as Congress shall appoint in the district shall take an oath of affirmation of fidelity and of office- the governor before the President of Congress, and all other officers before the gov-
ernor. As soon as a legislature shall be formed in the district, the council and house, assembled in one room, shall have authority by joint ballot to elect a delegate to Congress, who shall have a seat in Congress, with a right of debating, but not of voting, during this temporary government.
"And for extending the funda- mental principles of civil and re- ligious liberty, which form the basis whereon these republics, their laws and constitutions are erected ; to fix and establish those principles as the basis of all laws, constitutions and governments, which forever hereafter shall be established in the said terri- tory; to provide also for the estab- lishment of States and permanent government therein, and for their admission to a share in the Federal Councils on an equal footing with the original States, at as early periods as may be consistent with the general . interests :
" Be it ordained and declared by the authority aforesaid: That the following articles shall be considered as articles of compact between the original States and the people and States in the said territory, and for- ever remain unalterable unless by common consent, to wit :
" ARTICLE 1. No person, demeaning himself in a peaceable and orderly manner. shall ever be molested on account of his mode of worship or religious sentiments in the said terri- tory.
"ART. 2. The inhabitants of the said territory shall always be entitled to the benefits of the writ of habeas corpus and of the trial by jury; of a
64
HISTORY OF NOBLE COUNTY, OHIO.
ยท
proportionate representation of the people in the legislature, and of ju- dicial proceedings according to the course of the common law. All per- sons shall be bailable unless for capi- tal offences where the proof shall be evident or the presumption great. All fines shall be moderate, and no cruel or unusual punishments shall be inflicted. No man shall be deprived of his liberty or property but by the judgment of his peers or the law of the land; and should the public exi- gencies make it necessary for the common preservation to take any person's property or to demand his particular services, full compensation shall be made for the same. And in the just preservation of rights and property it is understood and declared that no laws ought ever to be made or have force in the said territory that shall, in any manner whatever, interfere with or affect private con- tracts or engagements, bona fide and without fraud, previously formed.
" ART. 3. Religion, morality and knowledge being necessary to good government and the happiness of mankind, schools and the means of education shall forever be encour- aged. The utmost good faith shall always be observed toward the Indi- ans; their lands and property shall never be taken from them without their consent; and in their property, rights and liberty they shall never be invaded or disturbed, unless in just and lawful wars authorized by Con- gress; but laws founded in justice and humanity shall, from time to time, be made for preventing wrongs being done to them and for pre-
serving peace and friendship with them.
" ART. 4. The said territory and the States which may be formed therein shall forever remain a part of this confederacy of the United States of America, subject to the articles of confederation and to such alterations therein as shall be consti- tutionally made, and to all the acts and ordinances of the United States in Congress assembled, conformable thereto. The inhabitants and set- tlers in the said territory shall be subject to pay a part of the federal debts, contracted or to be contracted, and a proportional part of the ex- penses of government, to be appor- tioned on them by Congress, accord- ing to the same common rule and measure by which apportionments thereof shall be made on the inhabi- tants of other States ; and the taxes for paying their proportion shall be laid and levied by the authority and direction of the legislatures of the district or districts, or new States, as in the original States within the time agreed upon by the United States in Congress assembled. The legisla- tures of those districts or new States shall never interfere with the prima- ry disposal of the soil by the United States in Congress assembled, nor with any regulations Congress may find necessary for securing the title in such soil to the bona fide purchas- ers. No tax shall be imposed on lands the property of the United States; and in no case shall non-resi- dent proprietors be taxed higher than residents. The navigable wa- ters leading into the Mississippi and
------ -
i
65
TERRITORIAL GOVERNMENT AND PUBLIC LANDS.
St. Lawrence, and the carrying places between the same, shall be common highways and forever free, as well to the inhabitants of the said terri- tory as to citizens of the United States and those of any other States that may be admitted into the confed- eracy, without any tax, impost or duty therefor.
" ART. 5. There shall be formed in the said territory not less than three nor more than five States; and the boundaries of the States, as soon as Virginia shall alter her act of cession and consent to the same, shall become fixed and established, as follows, to wit : The western State in the said- territory shall be bounded by the Mississippi, the Ohio and Wabash Rivers ; a direct line drawn from the Wabash and Post Vincents due north to the territorial line between the United States and Canada; and by the said territorial line to the Lake of the Woods and Mississippi. The middle State shall be bounded by the said direct line, the Wabash, from Post Vincents to the Ohio, by the Ohio, by a direct line drawn due north from the mouth of the Great Miami, to the said territorial line, and by the said territorial line. The eastern State shall be bounded by the last mentioned direct line, the Ohio, Pennsylvania, and the said ter- ritorial line : Provided, however, and it is further understood and declared that the boundaries of these three States shall be subject so far to be altered, that, if Congress shall here-
after find it . expedient, they shall have authority to form one or two states in that part of the said terri- tory which lies north of an east and west line drawn through the south- erly bend or extreme of Lake Michi- gan. And whenever any of the said States shall have sixty thousand free inhabitants therein such State shall be admitted by its delegates into the Congress of the United States on an equal footing with the original states in all respects whatever, and shall be at liberty to form a permanent con- stitution and State government. Provided, The constitution and gov- ernment so to be formed shall be republican and in conformity to the principles contained in these articles ; and so far as it can be consistent with the general interests of the con- federacy, such admission shall be al- lowed at an earlier period and when there may be a less number of free inhabitants in the State than sixty thousand.
" ART. 6. There shall be neither slavery nor involuntary servitude in the said territory, otherwise than in the punishment of crimes, whereof the party shall have been duly con- victed : Provided, always, That any person escaping into the same, from whom labor or service is lawfully claimed in any of the original States, such fugitive may be lawfully re- claimed and conveyed to the person claiming his or her labor or service as aforesaid."
5
CHAPTER IV.
THE OHIO COMPANY.
AN ADVERTISEMENT - THE COMPANY ORGANIZED AT A MEETING IN BOSTON IN 1786-ITS PLANS AND PURPOSES - RAISING FUNDS-DR. MANASSEH CUTLER AS AGENT BEFORE CONGRESS - PURCHASE OF A TRACT OF LAND ON THE MUSKINGUM - THE ORDINANCE OF FREEDOM - DR. CUTLER'S PART IN ITS AUTHORSHIP - HIS REPORT ACCEPTED BY THE OHIO COMPANY - MEASURES RESPECTING THE PROPOSED CITY AND COLONY - PROVISIONS FOR SCHOOLS AND CHURCHES -SURVEY OF THE LANDS- THE OFFER OF DONATIONS TO SETTLERS - EMBARRASSMENT OF THE COMPANY - CONGRESS COMES TO ITS RELIEF - THE PURCHASE AS FINALLY MADE - ITS BOUNDARIES -THE DONATION TRACT - FINAL AD- JUSTMENT OF THE COMPANY'S AFFAIRS.
T THROUGH the instrumentality of the Ohio Company was founded the city of Marietta - the first permanent English settle- ment in the territory northwest of the Ohio River. This com- pany was projected by two New England men, heroes of the Revolu- tionary War, General Rufus Putnam and General Benjamin Tupper, of Massachusetts. The spirit of adven- ture, always a prominent trait in the New England character, had natur- ally been strengthened by the war, and the close of the Revolution found many soldiers, reduced through pov- erty or bankruptcy through the results of the seven year's struggle, ready to embrace any plan that promised to retrieve their wasted fortunes. Washington and other Rev- olutionary leaders had long sought to encourage and promote western colonization. The time was now ripe for carrying their wishes into effect.
A system of military land bounties for the benefit of all soldiers who should serve through the war had
been provided by Congress in 1776. By the provisions of this act a colonel was entitled to receive 500 acres, a lieutenant-colonel 450 acres, and other officers smaller quantities in propor- tion to their rank. A private was allowed 100 acres. In 1780 it was enacted that a major-general should be entitled to 1,100 acres and a brigadier to 850 acres.
" In 1783, seeing that the final re- duction of the army must soon take place, the officers to the number of 288, anxious for definite action, petitioned Congress to locate the lands they were entitled to some- where in the region now known as Eastern Ohio ; but even the great in- fluence of Washington was not able to bring about the object sought, and no legislation affecting the interests of the petitioners was enacted. Con- gress had not yet a perfect title to the territory northwest of the Ohio. It must be remembered that the offi- cers and soldiers of the revolutionary army did not receive money for their priceless services, but almost value-
66
67
THE OHIO COMPANY.
less certificates. In 1784 they were worth only about 3s 6d to 4s to the pound, and as late as 1788 they brought not more than 5s or 6s."
In 1784 Virginia ceded to the general government all her claims to the territory northwest of the Ohio, excepting only that tract since known as the Virginia Military District, lying between the Scioto and the little Miami. This session led to new efforts on the part of the New England officers to obtain some ade- quate recognition by Congress of the justness of their claims, but without result. At this juncture the plan of buying a tract was presented by Generals Putnam and Tupper. Gen. eral Tupper was one of the govern- ment surveyors appointed by Con- gress to lay out in townships and ranges that part of the Northwest Territory which is now Southeastern Ohio. He had visited the western country in the performance of his duties in 1785, and doubtless that visit and his favorable report of the region had its influence on the subse- quent purchase of the tract of the Ohio Company on the Ohio and Muskingum Rivers.
In January, 1786, General Tupper visited his friend General Putnam at the home of the latter in Rutland, Worcester County, Mass., and as the result of their conference there ap- peared in the newspapers of Boston on the 25th of January an address to the people, headed "Information," which read as follows:
"The subscribers take this method to inform all officers and soldiers who have served in the late war
and who are by a late ordinance of the honorable Congress to receive certain tracts of land in the Ohio country, and also all other good citi- zens who wish to become adventurers in that delightful region, that from personal inspection, together with other incontestible evidences, they are fully satisfied that the lands in that quarter are of a much better quality than any other known to the New England people; that the cli- mate, seasons, products, etc., are, in fact, equal to the most flattering ac- counts that have ever been published of them; that being determined to become purchasers and to prosecute a settlement in the country, and de- sirous of forming a general associa- tion with those who entertain the same ideas, they beg leave to pro- pose the following plan, viz .: That an association by the name of the Ohio Company be formed of all such as wish to become purchasers, etc., in that country, who reside in the commonwealth of Massachusetts only, or to extend to the inhabitants of other States, as shall be agreed on."
The address further proposed that all favoring the plan should meet at designated places in their respective counties on the 15th of the following month (February) for the purpose of choosing delegates, who should as- semble at the Bunch of Grapes Tav- ern in Boston, on Wednesday, March 1, 1786, "then and there to consider and determine upon a general plan 'of association for said company."
The meeting, which was destined to have such an important bearing
1
68
HISTORY OF NOBLE COUNTY, OHIO.
upon the future of the West, came off at the time and place designated. The delegates, among whom were some of the foremost men of the State at that day, were as follows: Manasseh Cutler, of Essex County ; Winthrop Sargent and John Mills, of Suffolk; John Brooks and Thomas Cushing, of Middlesex; Benjamin Tupper, of Hampshire; Crocker Sampson, of Plymouth; Rufus Put- nam, of Worcester; Jelaliel Wood- bridge and John Patterson, of Berk- shire, and Abraham Williams, of Barnstable. General Putnam was chosen chairman and Major Win- throp Sargent, secretary. A com- mittee of five was chosen to draft articles of association, which were unanimously adopted on the 3d of March, and thus the Ohio Company formally entered upon its important mission.
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.