USA > Ohio > History of Ohio; the rise and progress of an American state, Volume Three > Part 3
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Mart mitinge ceron y there was a substantial As which great Iclarity prevailed. Dancing Aten lasted through the night. It missled dl podle, sipaire sets and jigs, which continued anul the company in weariness concluded to go home. The dcommlia given hy an old chronicler is much more In detail, a prominent feature of which was the frequent omol cino af the fax, or "brown betty" as it was
De wyall (kiwi from the constancy with which the inred in the varied features of early Ins sur these people were given generally to we of whiskey and intoxicants. Such means the case. In many of the early Wie prevailing forme of hospitality could ww without them. Many men rook a M wopstixer before meals, but druckenness AN ef w disgrace then as it is now, and less
To any Minister of the Gospel, on to am other Person authoring to solimning the Bands of matrimony in the north
This is to license and permet
you to join together in the Bands of holy matrimony, Mil's Elizabeth Cowen and MI camel growing both of the Country of thematton, and for so doing this shall be your authority. Given under my hand and heal the 24th Days of January in the year of our Lord IST3, and of the Indepen Dence of the United States the 27 th
Charles Willing Byrd. Acting as Governor -
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frequent. Whiskey was very cheap, and in those days of constant wearing toil in the wilderness, it was often a refreshing and needful stimulant. It frequently took the place of medicine and was supposed to lessen the severity of the dreaded "ague."
But the life of the pioneer was not all work and frolic. He had a decided reverential and serious religious tone to his character. He believed in living earnestly and righteously. There was, as a rule, not much of the sanctimonious about him, but his religion was near to him and he was tenacious of its rights. Those under his control he required to observe the duties imposed by his religious convictions and maintain the moral standing of his home. The pioneer life was a rural one and church going and Sunday observance were imperative duties. He and his family went regularly in the wagon or horseback to the rude log church, in a clearing in the woods or possibly near a settlement of which he was a part. He with many others hitched his horses to the trees that surrounded the church, and if the day was wet, the harness and saddles were brought inside. The church had a big fireplace with a broad hearth and it roared cheerfully on the cold wintry days. The minister was provided with an old chair and table which contrasted dimly with the rough benches used by the humble audience on Sunday, and by the school children on week days, for the school- house and church were the same. The sermon was of the stern, lurid, dogmatic nature suited to their solitary lives. A morning and afternoon service with Sunday school intervening consumed most of the day. Prayer meetings were held "when the sun was an hour
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high, or at early candle light," and in the winter when the roads were bad and the nights dark, some lighted themselves to prayer meeting, through the woods, by torches made of long strips of hickory bark which they held aloft and brightened occasionally by knocking the burnt end against a tree.
The camp meeting marked the crisis of the religious excitement especially in Methodist communities, and was a familiar feature of pioneer life all over this country and varied only in intensity. It was a cere- mony that brought the people together, fired by a spirit of strong earnestness and reduced many a turbu- lent faction to quiet contemplation.
But the camp meeting in Ohio was as it was else- where as picturesque as it was earnest. Great prepara- tions were made in anticipation of it. Great quantities of food were provided by whole communities, for most of them camped in tents or improvised huts while the meeting lasted, sometimes for a week or more. It was a season of hospitality and rejoicing as well as of religious revival and the people threw their whole souls into its celebration.
The scene presented to one approaching the camp consisted of a great number of horses tied to the rail fences and trees; the wagons partly dismantled among the tents and huts; the hustle of the crowd in all phases of loading and unloading camp utensils, and the prepar- ing of meals. In the midst of the congregation sitting on log benches, the voice of the preacher could be heard as he exhorted them to religious awakening. As the agitation grew stronger and the passions and the emotions arose, those who sat on the mourners' bench
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became uncontrollable. The loud voice of the preacher was drowned amidst the shouting, screaming, clapping of hands, leaping, jerking, falling and swooning of those who had "got religion." High above the hubbub arose the sweet voiced melodies of old familiar hymns that stirred the sternest hearts and filled the more tender ones with ecstasy. Then dinner was served, to which every stranger and wayfarer was welcome. Indeed there was no stranger, for such distinction was blotted out in the fervency of religious fellowship. At the opening of the afternoon service another orator arose. Amidst the profound silence, an earnest and pathetic prayer was poured forth broken only by the low murmuring "Amens" of the responsive listeners. Then midst singing and exhortation the excitement again arose and again died away.
At night large fires were kindled. The busy campers, the swaying of the excited crowd, the gyrations of the preacher on his high platform, all gleamed and glared in the fitful light. The white tents peered like ghosts from out of the dusky woods whose tall trunks were like a lofty colonnade in the romantic gloom. It was, altogether, with the accompanying screams and shouts, a gruesome scene, worthy the Druids of old.
In the year 1800, and for several years following, an intense and widespread religious excitement prevailed in Ohio, principally in the southern and eastern portions. This feeling was publicly manifested in the camp meet- ings and in the astonishing and powerful revivals of that time. Both historically and psychologically this movement forms the basis for an interesting study of the social conditions of the pioneer community. The
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THE RISE AND PROGRESS
camp meeting undoubtedly raised the moral tone of that period, did much to repress and redeem the lawless element, and contributed largely to that persistent religious and virtuous life of these old pioneers to which is due much of the high reputation of Ohio.
James B. Finley, a pioneer Methodist preacher, has left in his writings the most vivid and detailed descrip- tion of the camp meeting of these days. Finley was one of the most forceful characters of his time; he was of giant form, of belligerent, yet benevolent disposition and of courageous spirit. He was born in North Carolina in 1781 and spent his lifetime of seventy-five years in wondrous activity, closing it by writing valuable contributions to the pioneer literature of Ohio. As a result we have his "History of the Wyandott Mission at Upper Sandusky, Ohio" (1840); "Memorials of Prison Life" (1851); "Life Among the Indians" (1852) ; "Autobiography" (1853); and "Sketches of Western Methodism" (1854). No other Ohio writer has left us such a mass of informing and instructive facts con- cerning the religious life and the social manners of the pioneers. He had opportunity to witness every phase. He labored for many years as a missionary to the Indians, who called him "Ra-wah-wah, " or "The Old Chief." He was a tireless circuit rider,-one whom no labor weakened, no scenes disgusted, and no danger frightened in the discharge of his duties.
In his "Autobiography" he has pictured the camp meeting from the standpoint both of a mental philos- opher and a moral teacher. Concerning one of these events he writes: "We will now try to give something in reference to the manner and the exercise of mind
JAMES B. FINLEY
Born in North Carolina, July 1, 1781; a pioneer Metho- dist missionary of Ohio; a copious contributor to the early literature of the State regarding its pioneer life and history; was a missionary to the Wyandot Indians for many years; died at Cincinnati, September 6, 1856.
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YAINIC a ZAMAL aled the moral tone of -offtoM 199noiq s : 18TI , I vlut .shifotso Hofffamathe lawless Art of Torino amigo sa:oide to visnoiseim taiDersistent
tonect Methodist preacher, has mont vivid and detailed descrip- ting of these days. Finley was lovdu chamasters of his time; he was os amos, yet benevolent disposition He was born in North nimmt his lifetime of seventy-five ivity.closing it by writing valuable Hier' Siteranite b/ Ofifo, As a Hauwy of the Wyasdnts Mission
00, "1.Je Among the Indians" (1852); 1 4]; and "Sketches of Western No other Ohio writer has left fleming and instructive facts con- le and the social manners of the wally to witness every phase. M & a missionary to the Indre Ra-wah-wah," or "The Old Cafe puisiveuit rider, -one whom no wu Hosted, and no danger inpotruol mildaberge of his duties.
In bi " Wutoblow aby " he has pictured the camp meeting From the staadpoint both of a mental philos- opher and 4 moral teacher. Concerning one of these events he writes: "We will now try to give something in reference to the mummer and the exercise of mind
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of those who were the subjects of this work. Imme- diately before they became totally powerless, they were sometimes seized with a general tremor, and often uttered several piercing shrieks in the moment of falling. Men and women never fell when under this jerking exercise till they became exhausted. Some were unable to stand, and yet had the use of their hands and could converse with companions. Others were unable to speak. The pulse became weak, and they drew a difficult breath about once a minute. In many instances they became cold. Breathing, pulsation, and all signs of life forsook them for hours; yet I never heard of one who died in this condition, and I have conversed with persons who have laid in this situation for many hours, and they have uniformly testified that they had no bodily pain, and that they had the entire use of their reason and powers of mind. From this it appears that their falling was neither common fainting nor a nervous affection. Indeed, this strange work appears to have taken every possible turn to baffle the conjectures and philosophizing of those who were unwilling to acknowledge it was the work of God. Persons have fallen on their way home from meeting, some after they had arrived at home, others pursuing their common business on their farms, and others when they were attending to family or secret devotions. Numbers of thoughtless, careless sinners have fallen as suddenly as if struck by lightning. Professed infidels, and other vicious characters, have been arrested, and sometimes at the very moment when they were uttering their blasphemies against
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THE RISE AND PROGRESS
God and the work, and have, like Saul, declared that to be God's work which they so vehemently persecuted."
He also recites the following as showing the sur- roundings of camp meeting life: "During the religious exercises within the encampment, all manner of wicked- ness was going on without. So deep and awful is man's depravity, that he will sport while the very fires of perdition are kindling around him. Men, furious with the effects of the maddening bowl, would outrage all decency by their conduct; and some, mounted on horses, would ride at full speed among the people. I saw one, who seemed to be a leader and champion of the party, on a large, white horse, ride furiously into the praying circle, uttering the most horrid impreca- tions. Suddenly, as if smitten by lightning, he fell from his horse. At this a shout went up from the religious multitude, as if Lucifer himself had fallen. I trembled, for I feared God had killed the bold and daring blasphemer. He exhibited no signs whatever of life; his limbs were rigid, his wrists pulseless, and his breath gone. Several of his comrades came to see him, but they did not gaze long till the power of God came upon them, and they fell like men slain in battle. I was much alarmed, but I had a great desire to see the issue. I watched him closely, while for thirty hours he lay, to all human appearance, dead. During this time the people kept up singing and praying. At last he exhibited signs of life, but they were fearful spasms, which seemed as if he were in a convulsive fit, attended by frightful groans, as if he were passing through the intensest agony. It was not long, how- ever, till his convulsions ceased, and springing to his
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feet, his groans were converted into loud and joyous shouts of praise. The dark, fiend-like scowl which overspread his features, gave way to a happy smile, which lighted up his countenance."
These were the days when hunting and fishing were not only a pastime but a vocation. In the woods abounded deer, bear and wild turkey. The raccoon, chipmunk and squirrel, and other small game could be had for the shooting. The beaver could still be trapped along the shallow streams. Furs and peltries were valuable and a source of considerable revenue to the frontiersman. Fish were plentiful in the streams and furnished the substance of many a refreshing meal.
The schoolhouse was as necessary an accessory to the most primitive settlement as the church, and its furnishings were on the usual rough and simple scale afforded by the times. The log schoolhouse with its "puncheon" benches along which dangled the legs of the urchins, was in harmony with the primitive table and the three-legged stool of the schoolmaster. He, mayhap, lank and lean, looked gravely over his spec- tacles, enforced discipline with the rod and dispensed knowledge of reading, writing and arithmetic with stern demeanor. Yet the log schoolhouse was the cradle in which was nurtured that comprehensive and effective system of education which the Ohio youth now enjoys.
Politics was an important factor in the social life of the pioneer. In this relation, as in his religious life, he was strenuous and obstinate. His spirit of freedom asserted itself in his politics, and upon opposition his nature bristled and stood guard to his convictions.
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The whole strength of his rugged nature was exerted in giving vent to his political predilections; these he undertook to impress upon others with vigor, and the result led to acrimonious discussions, and often blows. Persuasion seldom convinced him, and his course was only bent when impressed that right and justice demanded the change. He subdued his political opponents with the same vigorous strokes with which he felled the forest trees, and the result was quite as speedy and complete. This nature and disposition of the pioneer will account for much of the political bitterness and rancor evident in the early politics of the State of Ohio; and as its history develops the reader will find that politics formed one of the greatest influences in the life of its people.
The laws under which these early pioneers lived were remarkably drastic, and seemed more for a bar- baric people than American citizens. The Ordinance of 1787 vested all powers of the Territory of the North- west, legislative, executive and judicial, in the Governor and the Territorial Judges. These officers promulgated at Marietta, September 6, 1788, "A law respecting crimes and punishments." It is a curious study in legislation. If it proves anything, it demonstrates that while the great body of the citizenship of the Territory was good, those that were bad and lawless must have been very bad; and that only the most certain and cruel punishment would restrain them. The sparse and isolated population made it essential that all offences against the peace, order, property and person should be remorselessly stamped out or pre- vented.
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For instance, the law punished mob violence with a fine of three hundred dollars, and a flogging of not to exceed thirty-nine stripes, and the culprit had to find security for good behavior for a term not exceeding one year. Burglary was severely dealt with. For breaking into a building with intention of stealing the penalty was thirty-nine stripes and security for good behavior, and in default of security imprisonment in jail for not exceeding three years. If any violence to the person was used or attempted in committing the burglary, upon conviction, the offender's property, real and personal, was forfeited to the Territory, out of which the injured party should be recompensed, and a jail sentence not to exceed forty years followed.
Parental authority was vigorously sustained, for the law provided that any child or servant that refused to obey the lawful commands of his superiors, could on conviction be sent to a jail or house of correction until "he, she or they shall humble themselves to the said parent's or master's satisfaction"; and if a child or servant presumed to strike his parent or master he was whipped ten stripes. For larceny, the penalty of the first offense was the restitution of two-fold value the things stolen, or if not recovered whipped not exceeding thirty-nine lashes. But if the offender had no property the sheriff could "bind such person to labor" for a term not exceeding seven years to any one who would discharge the sentence. A person convicted of drunkenness was fined "in the sum of five dimes" for the first offense, and a dollar for each additional one. Failing to pay the fine and costs the offender was "set in the stocks for the space of one hour."
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Such were some of the provisions of the first criminal law of the Territory. It was not very generally enforced owing to the lack of the means of punishment, so we find on August I, 1792 an act was passed "direct- ing the building and establishing of a court house, county jail, pillory, whipping posts and stocks in every county." These were actually built, and adorned the village squares of the county seats for some years, and a number of offenders were tied up to the whipping posts and lashed on their bare backs with a raw-hide whip until the blood flowed freely, and others were placed in the stocks and pillory. In Highland County before the whipping post was erected, or the jail built, a tree to which the offender was tied was used as a whipping post, and a dry well, the top covered with rails, the ends secured by logs, to prevent escape, was used as a jail.
Notwithstanding that the Ordinance of 1787 pro- vided that, "there shall be neither slavery nor involun- tary servitude in said Territory, otherwise than in punishment of crimes whereof the party shall have been duly convicted," there was an attempt to establish a slavery for debt, which resembled very much the peonage system of Mexico. On August 15, 1795, the Governor and Judges adopted a law providing for the selling of debtors to personal and reasonable servitude under certain conditions. When the plaintiff in a case for debt required it, the judgment of the court could decree the debtor to servitude to his creditor for a period not exceeding seven years if such debtor was unmarried and under the age of forty years. On May I, 1798, a law was adopted providing that if one was
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convicted of maiming or disfiguring and could not pay his fine and costs "the offender should be sold to service by the court before which he is convicted for any time not exceeding five years, the purchaser finding him food and raiment during the term."
These laws were never in force as they were not approved by Congress, which was required by the Ordinance before they became effective. They were adopted from the legislation of Pennsylvania and Kentucky and were repulsive to the people of the new Territory.
Frequently the pioneers took the law into their own hands and dealt out to persistent and flagrant violators their own rough justice. They often tarred and feathered an offender and then rode him on a rail. At Cincinnati, ducking in the Ohio River was resorted to. These and other methods more severe were used to rid a community of chronic criminals.
The judges and justices of that early day were, as a class, men of ability, integrity and sterling common sense. In doing justice the latter quality had often to supplement the written law which had not yet become adjusted to the new order of things, and the effective way in which the law was adjusted and formulated under the guidance of these men is a worthy tribute to their capabilities.
The duties of these pioneer judges were arduous and ill rewarded. They shared their discomfort with the lawyers in traveling by the primitive methods from one county seat to another, and often had to accept any manner of entertainment that came to hand. Law books were few and precedents rare. Oratory
3
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was marked by directness and force, and was largely relied upon to wield the juries. Rough and incisive wit and bald logic readily penetrated to the truth and exposed fallacy. Results were reached much more rapidly, and, doubtless, with as much justice as they are today.
This training must have been fruitful of talent, for the bench and bar of that early period furnished a very considerable percentage of the most eminent men in Ohio's history.
The passing of the cabin has brought new scenes, new struggles and new joys. The comforts, complica- tions and responsibilities of life have increased. The strife for fortune has refined but narrowed the career of men. The gulf that has broadened between him who has attained, and him who has not, has drowned that generous hospitality and the joy of the pioneer. This age has grown nothing to take their place; nothing that so generally warms the heart of one man for another.
CHAPTER II. THE BEGINNING OF REPRESENTATIVE GOVERNMENT IN THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY
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T HE inauguration of representative govern- ment in the Northwest Territory was com- plete when the First General Assembly met for its first session at Cincinnati on September 16, 1799.
Prior to this date, the government of the Territory had been in the hands of Governor Arthur St. Clair and three Judges; these four had for ten years exercised executive, legislative and judicial powers under the "Ordinance of 1787," the organic law of the Territory. The Governor was commander-in-chief of the military forces; he appointed magistrates and other civil officers, and was the Chief Executive in the enforcement of law. The Governor and the Judges, or a majority of them, made the laws both civil and criminal. The Judges formed a court that had common law jurisdic- tion, and constituted the judicial power of the Territory.
Under this form of government there was a decade of satisfactory administration of law. It was a period of trials, successes, disasters and progress. The people generally were pleased, and they acquiesced in the conditions, although it gave them no voice in their government or in the making of their laws. There was friction, at times, between Governor St. Clair and the Judges over the exercises of their respective powers, each claiming rights and authority that the other denied. But beyond this, it can be said, that the primary stage of the territorial government was well adapted to the times and conditions. Arbitrary exercise of power was necessary in the wilderness, and stringent laws, even if drastically enforced, were essential in a sparsely settled country, and for a mixed population.
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This order was now about to change. Under the provision of the Ordinance, when the Territory con- tained the population of "five thousand free male inhabitants of full age, " and this fact was made known to the Governor, he was authorized to take the pre- liminary steps towards the transition into the secondary or representative form of government. Accordingly on the 29th day of October, 1798, Governor St. Clair issued his proclamation to the qualified voters, directing an election to be held for Territorial Representatives on the third Monday of December, 1798. No one not a freeholder of fifty acres was allowed to vote at this election; and only freeholders of two hundred acres were eligible to the office of Representative.
In this way the most substantial and thrifty were vested with the privileges of government. It was a fair assumption that the man who lacked the energy and ambition to own fifty acres at a time when land was plenty and cheap and could be had almost for the clearing, was not oppressed by refusing him the ballot.
The Ordinance also provided for a Council of five members, corresponding to a Senate, to be appointed by Congress out of a list of ten names submitted by the Territorial House of Representatives. This power was exercised by President Adams as the Congress of the Confederation went out of existence on the adoption of the Federal Constitution.
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