USA > Ohio > Noble County > History of Noble County, Ohio: With Portraits and Biographical Sketches of some of its pioneers and prominent men > Part 9
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CHAPTER V. IMPORTANT EVENTS IN TERRITORIAL HISTORY.
THE PLANS AND PURPOSES OF THE OHIO COMPANY - EMIGRATION ENCOURAGED - EXTRACT FROM A PAMPHLET PUBLISHED IN 1787-DR. CUTLER'S PREDICTION CONCERNING THE OHIO COUNTRY - A COLONY ORGANIZED - PRELIMINARY PREPARATIONS - THE JOURNEY ACROSS THE MOUNTAINS- DOWN THE YOUGHIOGHENY AND THE OHIO TO THE MUSKINGUM - ARRIVAL OF THE PARTY AT THE SITE OF MARIETTA, APRIL 7, 1788 - NAMES OF THE FIRST SETTLERS IN OHIO - ERECTION OF CAMPUS MARTIUS - PROGRESS OF THE FIRST SEASON - GOVERNOR ST. CLAIR -ORGANIZATION OF THE TERRITORY - WASHINGTON COUNTY ESTABLISHED - OTHER EARLY COUNTIES -TERRITORIAL COURTS - THE FIRST TOWNSHIPS IN THE TERRITORY - FIRST TERRITORIAL LEGISLATURE, 1799- NAMES OF ITS MEMBERS - ORGANIZATION OF STATE GOVERNMENT - OPPOSITION - THE " ENABLING ACT"-THE CONVENTION OF 1802 -THE STATE CONSTITUTION FORMED- THE STATE ADMITTED INTO THE UNION - PROGRESS OF THE SETTLEMENTS IN WASHINGTON COUNTY - BELPRE AND WATERFORD-THE FIRST MILLS IN OHIO AT WOLF CREEK - THE COL- ONY AT BIG BOTTOM.
T THE pioneer settlement at Mari- etta was an important event in the history of the West. Washing- ton County was for several years the seat of the territorial government ; it is the parent of all the neighbor- ing counties, and its history is insep- arably linked with theirs. It is appropriate, therefore, that some account of its origin and progress, and its part in the events which re- sulted in the formation of the state of Ohio, be included in this volume.
The Ohio Company was the agen- cy through which the first colony was planted northwest of the Ohio River. Among the most active and enthusiastic members of the com- pany were Generals Putnam, Tupper and Parsons, Dr. Cutler and Win- throp Sargent, and it was largely through their influence that the plan of colonization was made successful. After the purchase was concluded
Dr. Cutler anonymously published a pamphlet to advertise the advantages of the Ohio country, and particu- larly those of the Muskingum region. Some of the prophecies made in this publication were no doubt then re- ceived with ridicule, but nearly all of them have proved true. It was asserted that in fifty years the North- western Territory would have a greater population than all New England. Another paragraph read as follows : "The current down the Ohio and Mississippi, for heavy arti- cles 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 Muskingum 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.
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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 steamboats will be found to do infinite service in all our river navigation."
The foregoing was written in 1787 and doubtless contained the first published allusion to the subject of steam navigation upon the waters of western rivers. Its author was a man of ripe scholarship, extensive scientific information, and sound judgment.
The proprietors of the Ohio Com- pany succeeded, however, in getting together a sufficient number of ad- venturers to begin the proposed set- tlement in accordance with their resolutions of November 23, 1787, already given in the preceding chap- ter. The first party, consisting of twenty-two men, and including the mechanics and boat builders, left Danvers, Mass., December 1, 1787, in command of Major Haffield White, and on the 23d of January, 1788, arrived at Sumrill's Ferry, on the Youghiogheny River in Pennsylva- nia, where they were expected to begin the construction of boats for completing the journey. The other party, consisting of the surveyors and their assistants and others, left Hartford, Conn .. on the 1st of Jan- uary, under the conduct of Colonel Ebenezer Sproat (they were joined by General Rufus Putnam, superin- tendent of the colony, at Lauterdale Creek, on the 24), and after a toil- some winter journey across the Alleghenies arrived at the Youghio-
gheny in the middle of February. Here they were disappointed 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 destination.
About noon on Monday, April 7, 1788, the little party, consisting of forty-seven men (increased to forty- eight by the arrival of Colonel Re- turn Jonathan Meigs on the 12th), landed on the site of Marietta, where about seventy Indians, warriors, women and children, of the Wyandot and Delaware tribes, received them with manifestations of friendliness. The famous chieftain, Captain Pipe, was among the Indians.
The following are the names of the colonists :
General Rufus Putnam, superin- tendent of the colony ; Colonel Eben- ezer Sproat, Major Anselm Tupper, and John Mathews, surveyors ; Major Hatfield White, steward and quarter- master; Captain Jonathan Devol, Captain Josiah Monroe, Captain Dan- iel Davis, Captain Peregrine Foster, Captain Jethro Putnam, Captain Wil- liam Gray, Captain Ezekiel Cooper, Phineas Coburn, David Wallace, Gil- bert Devol, Jr., Jonas Davis, Heze- kiah Flint, Hezekiah Flint, Jr., Josiah Whitridge, Benjamin Griswold, The- ophilus Leonard, William Miller,
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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 John Gardner, Elizur Kirtland, Samuel Felshaw, Amos Porter, Jr., Putnam, Joseph Wells, Israel Danton, Joseph Lincoln, Earl Sproat, Allen Devol, Simeon Martin, Peletiah White.
Regarding the landing of the ad- venturers, there is a tradition that an incident which then occurred gave rise to the name "Buckeye," first ap- plied to the early settlers, and after- ward to all the inhabitants of the State. It is related that two of the pioneers, on springing to the shore, at once began a contest to see who should inaugurate the improvement | by felling the first tree. One se- lected a hardwood tree and his work was consequently difficult. The other applied his axe to a buckeye, and laid it low before his rival made much progress with his work. Another tradition, better authenti- cated, is to the effect that Col. Eben- ezer Sproat, a man of large physical proportions, was called by the In- dians Hetuck, or Big Buckeye, and from this the name was made to ap- ply to all the colonists.
It would carry us far beyond our purpose to write a history of the Marietta colony, but in order that the reader may have a full under- standing of subsequent events which are properly included within the scope of this work we make a brief sketch of the more notable occurren- ces in the annals of their work.
During the first summer the pio- neers made commendable progress, building cabins, clearing land, plant- ing crops, surveying the company's lands, laying out the streets of the new city, etc. As a measure of de- fense 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 fin- ished till 1791. It was then pro- nounced the finest pile of buildings west of the Allegheny Mountains- which was doubtless true.
During the year the Marietta col- ony was increased by the arrival of eighty four men, several of them being accompanied by their families. The wife of James Owen, who came in June, 1788, was the first woman who settled in the Ohio Company's pur- chase.
General Arthur St. Clair, the first territorial governor, arrived July 9th. He was a native of Scot- land, born in 1734. He entered the British army, and being sent to Amer- ica during the French war, was pres- ent at the storming of Quebec. In 1764 he settled at Fort Ligonier, af- terward 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 prothonotary of Bedford County, which at one time included all of South western Pennsylvania. At the
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HISTORY OF NOBLE COUNTY, OHIO.
breaking out of the Revolution he joined the patriots, and was given command of a regiment. Subse- quently he was promoted to a brig- adier then to a major-general. He represented his district in the Conti- nental Congress and was president of that body. In October, 1787, he was commissioned governor of the Northwest Territory, the commission taking effect in February following. He continued to act as territorial gov- ' ernor until within a few months pre- ceding the formation of the State government, in 1803, when he was removed by President Jefferson. He died in Westmoreland County, Pa., August 31, 1818.
Preceding Governor St. Clair, two of the judges of the territory, Sam- uel Holden Parsons and James Mit- chell Varnum, and the secretary, Winthrop Sargent, had arrived at Marietta. John ('leves Symmes was the other territorial judge.
The governor and judges began the work of organizing the territory by issuing laws for its government, modeled after the laws of the older States of the Union. July 25, ; order, that all and singular the lands 1788, they passed a law regulating . lying and being within the following and establishing the militia. Other carly acts related to the establish- ment of the general court of quar- ter sessions of the peace, the county court of common pleas, and the office of sheriff, the probate court, laws respecting crimes and their punishment etc.
On July 26, 1788, Governor St. Clair issued a proclamation establish- ing the first county in the new Ter- ritory, 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 Comman- der-in-Chief of the territory of the United States northwest of the River Ohio,
"To all persons to whom these presents shall come, greeting: Where- as, by the ordinance of Congress of 13th July, 1787, for the government of the territory of the United States northwest of the River Ohio, it is directed that for the due execution of process, civil and criminal, the gov- ernor shall make proper divisions of the said territory, 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 town- ships, subject to future alterations as therein specified. Now, know ye, that it appearing to me to be necessary, 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
boundaries, viz .: Beginning on the bank of the Ohio River where the western boundary line of Pennsyl- . vania crosses it, and running with that line to Lake Erie; thence along the southern shore of said lake to the mouth of Cuyahoga River; thence up said river to the portage between that and the Tuscarawas branch of Muskingum; thence down the branch of the forks at the crossing place above Fort Laurens; thence with a
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IMPORTANT EVENTS IN TERRITORIAL. HISTORY.
line to be drawn westerly to the portage 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 San- dusky; 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 erect- ed into a county named and to be called hereafter the County of Wash- ington, and the said County of Wash- ington shall have and enjoy all and singular the jurisdiction, rights, lib- erties, privileges 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 here- unto 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 hun- dred 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 coun- ty in the Territory, and practically was the Territory civilly and judi- cially, until January 2, 1790, when Hamilton County was erected. Between 1790 and 1796 the fol- lowing counties were organized in the Territory, outside the limits of
Ohio: St. Clair, Knox and Randolph. Wayne was erected August 15, 1796, embracing 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. Jeffer- son followed next, being erected July 29, 1797, largely reducing the size of Washington County, which was fur- ther 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 govern- ment in 1803 new counties multiplied rapidly. Gallia was formed in 1803; Muskingum in 1804 (from Washing- ton and Fairfield); Athens in 1805; Guernsey in 1810; Monroe in 1815; Morgan and Meigs in 1819.
The first court held in the North- west Territory was the court of com- mon pleas, of Washington County, which convened in the Campus Mar- tius at Marietta, on Tuesday, Sep- tember 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 Ter- ritorial judges, the governor and the judges of the common pleas court were escorted to the block-house, which was to serve as the court-room.
At the head marched the sheriff, with drawn sword and wand of of- fice. The session opened with prayer by Rev. Manasseh Cutler, who was
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HISTORY OF NOBLE COUNTY, OHIO.
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 Rufus Putnam, General Benjamin Tupper and Colonel Archibald Crary the judges. No business being brought before the court, it ad- journed 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 year in each county. In 1790 the number of terms was changed to four, and the number of judges in- creased 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 espec- ially commissioned for holding this court. Three could hold special courts when required. In 1790 a change in the law increased the num- ber of justices to nine in each county, and gave the court power to divide the county into townships, appoint . 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 Martius, Tuesday, Sep- tember 9, 1788, before Justices Rufus Putnam, Benjamin Tupper, Isaac Pierce, Thomas Lord and Return J. Meigs. Then was impaneled the first grand jury in the Territory. No i cases were presented, and the court 1 adjourned without day.
One other court completed the judicial 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, October and Decem- ber. Process, both civil and crim- inal, 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 quarter sessions of Washington County established three townships, which included 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 town- ship 1 in the ninth range. Water- ford township consisted of townships 7 and 8 in the eleventh range, town- ships 4 and 5 in the tenth range, and section 33 of township 4 in the ninth range.
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Subsequently Gallipolis Township was established, extending from the eleventh range to the Sciota, and bounded on the north by a line drawn west from the northern line of town- ship 3, range 11. Two townships in- cluded the northern part of the county - Warren, west of Pennsyl- vania, 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 established 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 following townships were estab- lished: Another Middletown, em- bracing nearly all of the present County of Athens; Newton, from the north part of Waterford and extend- ing to the northern line of the County ; and Newport Township.
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 constitu- tion, and then by the President, and were accountable only to the general government. But, all things consid- ered, perhaps the system was the best and wisest that could be devised for a vast and remote territory, in- habited 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 rea- sonable man could have expected. The nation was fortunate in the choice of the Territorial authorities, and the government served its pur- pose, giving birth to five great, free States. When the time arrived which enabled the inhabitants to adopt a State government they wel- comed it with eagerness, as has been the case with the people of all the States of later origin.
The first step toward giving the people of the Territory a part in making their laws was taken in 1798. The ordinance of 1787 provided as soon as there should be " 5,000 free male inhabitants 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 representatives, the repre- sentatives to serve two years and the council for five. The manner of selecting the council was as follows : As soon as the representatives were elected, the governor was required to appoint a time and place for them to meet and nominate ten persons, "residents in the district and each possessed of a freehold in five hun- dred acres of land," and return their names to Congress; from this num- ber Congress must choose the five members.
Governor St. Clair, having ascer- tained that the Territory contained the requisite number of voters, issued a call for an election of Territorial representatives. The proclamation, issued October 29, 1798, ordered the
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HISTORY OF NOBLE COUNTY, OHIO.
election to be held on the third Mon- day of the following December. The representatives elected were Return J. Meigs, Paul Fearing, Washington County ; William Goforth, William McMillan, John Smith, John Lud- low, Robert Benham, Aaron Cald- well, Isaac Martin, Hamilton County; Shadrach Bond, St. Clair County ; John Small, Knox County ; John Edgar, Randolph County ; Solomon Sibley, Jacob Visger, Charles F. Chabert de Joncaire, Wayne County; Joseph Darlington, Nathaniel Massie, Adams County ; James Pritchard, Jefferson County ; Thomas Worth- ington, Elias Langham, Samuel Fin- dlay, Edward Tiffin, Ross County.
The legislature met at Cincinnati, January 22, 1799, and nominated ten men for the legislative council. The five chosen by the national govern- ment were Jacob Burnet, of Cincin- nati, Hamilton County ; Henry Van- denburg, of Vincennes, Knox County; Robert Oliver, of Marietta, Wash- ington County ; James Findlay of Cincinnati, and David Vance, of Vanceville, Jefferson County.
The first session of the legislature began at Cincinnati, September 16 1799, and lasted until December 19, 1799, at which time it was prorogued by the governor to meet at Chilli- cothe (which had been made the cap- ital 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 governor vetoed eleven. William Henry Harrison was elected a delegate to Congress, receiving one more vote than his rival, Arthur
St. Clair, Jr. A petition was intro- duced, from a number of Virginia officers, asking permission to remove their slaves into the Virginia Mili- tary District. The Ordinance of Freedom rendered their prayer futile. At the November session William McMillan was chosen a delegate to Congress, to fill the vacancy caused by the resignation of General Harri- son, who had been appointed gover- nor of Indian Territory (formed May 7, 1800, and included the present States of Indiana, Illinois, Wisconsin, and a part of Michigan).
The second and last Territorial legislature convened at Cincinnati, November 23, 1801. Ephriam Cut- ler and William Rufus Putnam were the representatives from Washington County. Edward Tiffin, of Ross County, was speaker, and Robert Oliver of Washington County, pres- ident of the legislative council. The representatives from Washington County opposed the formation of a State government, which about this time began to be discussed. Putnam made a speech at a supper in Cincin- nati 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 present limits, or at least, extending westward 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 organization con- siderably, as the ordinance of 1787
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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 minor- ity and was strongest in Washington County. On the 17th of June, 1801, a meeting was held at Marietta, at- tended by delegates from the several townships of the county, who adopted resolutions, afterwards for- warded to their representatives in the general assembly, declaring that, in their opinion, "it would be highly impolitic and very injurious to the inhabitants of this territory to enter into a State government at this time." There were several reasons for this opinion. First, they argued that taxes would be increased with- out corresponding benefits ; that the expenses of the State government would fall most heavily upon the in- habitants of the Ohio Company's purchase, while the Congressional lands would be exempt from taxa- tion. The expenses of the territorial government were chiefly paid out of the National treasury, and a State government once formed, this aid would cease. Secondly, the Wash- ington 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 major- ity, but undoubtedly some were in- fluenced 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.
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