USA > Ohio > History of Ohio; the rise and progress of an American state, Volume Two > Part 26
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he eastern part of Ohio would have been Washington, while the northwestern section would have fallen into Metropotamia, the middle western into Saratoga nd the southwestern section into Pelisipia, "Pelisipy being another name discovered for the Ohio River."
The proposed states were to remain forever a part of the United States; and in them slavery should ease after the year 1800. The only persons dwelling n this vast domain at that time were about three housand Louisiana French, mostly on the lower Mississippi, and the scattering French settlers in he northwest among whom were a few slaves. The ettlers of the French towns in the territory taken y George Rogers Clark claimed, after the Revolution, o be citizens of Virginia. The settlers in each of he proposed ten northern states, according to Jeffer- on's plan, were to have a temporary government, hich was to continue until the state reached a popu- ition of twenty thousand; then it could have a delegate 1 Congress and when its population should reach census equal to any of the least numerous of the hirteen original states it might be admitted into the nion on an equality with the original states.
Congress duly considered this Ordinance and after veral modifications, chiefly the rejection of the avery clause and the repudiation of the bounds and assical names of the proposed states, the Ordinance as passed April 23, (1784). It was the end of Jeffer- n's labors in connection with his own Ordinance, any other, for within three weeks after the passage this Ordinance, viz., on May 10, 1784, Jefferson signed his seat in Congress, in order to accept the
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appointment of minister plenipotentiary to act i conjunction with Mr. Adams and Dr. Franklin, negotiating treaties of commerce with foreign nation! On this mission he remained abroad till the close c the year 1789.
The Jefferson Ordinance remained nominally i. force for three years, until the passage of the famou and better one of 1787. The Northwest continue meantime an unorganized wilderness, for the Ordinanc of 1784 "left everything inchoate" and with all it merits was a nullity In the meantime Congres continued to consider the question of the settlemen' and government of this great domain and betwee the adoption of the Ordinance of 1784 and the fina one of 1787, no less than three ordinances, eac differing from the others, were reported to Congres and discussed by that body.
Committees on the subject of the Ordinance wer appointed, by Congress, from time to time, unti on the 19th of September, 1786, a committee which had been selected for the purpose devised a plan fo a temporary government of the Northwest Territory which plan was debated and altered from time to tim until April 26, 1787, when a definite Ordinance wa submitted to Congress. It was read the second time and was amended May 9th, its third readin being assigned for the following day. But on the Ioth further progress was suddenly arrested by a serie of interesting events. On May 9th, General S. H Parsons, of Connecticut, arrived in New York t negotiate the purchase, from Congress, of a tract o land for the "Ohio Company of Associates." Th
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roject presented by Mr. Parsons was referred to a ommittee of five-Edward Carrington, Rufus King, [athan Dane, James Madison and Egbert Benson; nd there the matter rested until renewed some two months later. Action on the Ordinance for the North- est Territory was likewise suspended as from May oth to July 4th, Congress failed to have a quorum ad no session was held during that interval.
On July 5th, the day Congress resumed business, ys William F. Poole, the librarian of the Boston ibrary and later of the Cincinnati Library-in his tonograph on the "Ordinance of 1787," a "dusty aveller, in the garb of a New England clergyman," crived in New York and drove up in his one-horse ilky, to the "Plow and Harrow" tavern in the owery, having left his home in the town of Ipswich, Massachusetts, twelve days before. And now the hio Company purchase, represented by that "dusty aveller"-Manasseh Cutler-becomes the main ictor in the progress of the Ordinance, which on July th, was referred to a new committee-Carrington nd Lee (Richard H.) of Virginia, Dane of Massachu- etts, Kean of South Carolina, and Smith of New York. n the day following Dr. Cutler, in response to an ivitation of the committee, submitted in writing is views touching the Ordinance; on the 11th the ommittee reported and on the 13th, after receiving me amendments, the report was adopted by the nanimous vote of the eight states present and the nanimous vote of the individual members except ates of New York, who opposed the measure. The rdinance of 1787 had become a law. The literature
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concerning its history and provisions is very great the most concise and complete presentation being perhaps, that of Jay A. Barrett, in his "Evolution of the Ordinance of 1787," published by the University of Nebraska.
We briefly summarize the provisions of this Ordi nance. The first clause provides that for a temporary government the territory northwest of the Ohio should be treated as one district, "subject, however, to b divided into two districts, as future circumstance may, in the opinion of Congress, make it expedient.' Regulations are made for the descent and conveyanc of estates; the property of those dying intestat was to be divided equally among the legal heirs; th process of bequeathing property by will was mad very simple, as was the conveyance of realty, bu the French and Canadian inhabitants were permitte to retain their own laws as to descent and conveyanc of property.
As to the government of the territory, Congres was to appoint a governor for three years; he was t reside in the district and must own a thousand acre of land; Congress should appoint a secretary for fou years who must own five hundred acres of land Congress was to appoint a court, consisting of thre judges, who were to have a common law jurisdiction and hold office during good behavior; these judge and the governor were to adopt criminal and civi laws, which were to be binding until a general assembly should be organized.
The governor was to be commander-in-chief of th militia and commission all officers below grade o
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general; the governor also was to lay out the districts, where Indian titles were extinguished, into temporary counties and townships, and had power to appoint the civil officers for these districts.
When there were five thousand free male adult inhabitants, they could for every five hundred such inhabitants elect representatives, from their counties, to serve for two years in a general assembly; such representatives must have been residents of the United States or of the territory for three years and be land holders. The general assembly was to consist of the governor, a house of representatives, and a legislative council of five members, the latter to be chosen by Congress from ten persons nominated by the territorial house of representatives; the members of the council were to serve five years, must be residents of the territory and own five hundred acres of land. A bill in order to become a law must receive a majority vote in both council and house, and have the assent of the governor. The council and house, acting together, had authority to elect a delegate to Congress, who had the privilege of the floor but not the right of voting.
Following those provisions, which were in the nature of a preamble, there follow six articles to complete the Ordinance; they are introduced by a prefatory clause to the effect that these "articles shall be con- sidered a compact between the original states and the people and states in the said territory, and forever remain unalterable unless by common consent."
Article I guaranteed freedom of worship and reli- gious sentiment.
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Article II guaranteed the right of trial by jury anc habeas corpus; bail, except for capital crimes; com- pensation for property taken for public benefit; the inviolability of private contracts.
Article III declared that "religion, morality anc knowledge, being necessary to good government and the happiness of mankind, schools and the means of education shall forever be encouraged"; the rights and property of the Indians were to be protected and war was not to be waged against them except by authority of Congress.
Article IV asserted that "said territory and the states which may be formed therein, shall forever remain a part of this Confederacy of the United States of America" the people residing therein were to pay their share of public debt, taxes, etc .; navigable waters leading from the district to the Mississippi and the St. Lawrence and the carrying-places between the same were to be common highways and free to the citizens of the United States.
Article V provided for the division of the territory into not less than three nor more than five states; the boundaries of these prospective states were designated when any one of these states should contain sixty thousand free inhabitants, such state should be admitted by its delegates into Congress and should be at liberty to form a permanent constitution and state govern- ment; but it must be a republican form of government.
Article VI declared, "there shall be neither slavery nor involuntary servitude in said territory, otherwise than in punishment of crime, whereof the party shall have been duly convicted"; but fugitive slaves escaping into the territory might be reclaimed.
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Such is an epitome of the Ordinance of 1787.
The underlying principles of this great national document, the political and patriotic motives influenc- ing the men who initiated it and framed its completion, it is not our province to discuss. It stands next and almost equal to the Constitution of the United States, which was being wrought out at the same time in the Constitutional Convention then in session in Philadelphia. Of the Ordinance, Mr. Webster declared, in a well-known passage: "We are accus- tomed to praise the law-givers of antiquity; we help co perpetuate the fame of Solon and Lycurgus, but [ doubt whether one single law of any law-giver, ancient or modern, has produced effects of more dis- inct, marked and lasting character than the Ordinance of 1787." The greatest statesmen, political writers ind patriotic orators have lavished their richest encomiums upon it, but we pass directly to the events hat largely under the guidance of Manasseh Cutler und his "associates" brought about the passage of his Magna Charta of the Northwest.
The authorship of this Ordinance has been the ubject of long and spirited controversy. Daniel Vebster in his reply to Senator Hayne, speaking of he Ordinance, said: "That instrument was drawn by Jathan Dane, then and now a citizen of Massachusetts. t was adopted, as I think I have understood, without single alteration." To this Senator Benton at once eplied: "Mr. Dane was no more the author of that Ordinance, Sir, than you or I. That Ordinance and specially the non-slavery clause was not the work f Nathan Dane of Massachusetts, but of Thomas
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Jefferson of Virginia." As to the Ordinance, as whole, probably Nathan Dane had more to do wit its construction than any other one member of Congres for to him was assigned the task of drawing up tl: document in accordance with the various articl; proposed. But he is not entitled to the credit of beir; its author, a credit however he did not hesitate to tal: to himself in letters written by him to Rufus Kir; (1787), to Daniel Webster (1830), and to J. H. Farnhal (1831). The authorship of the anti-slavery clau: has especially evoked discussion. It has been attri- uted respectively to Jefferson, Dane, King ail Cutler. Jefferson's Ordinance of 1784 provided 1 its fifth article, that "neither slavery nor involuntar servitude" should exist in the (Northwestern) stats after the year 1800, except for the punishment f crimes. It did not prohibit slavery immediately fro and after the passage of the Ordinance. On Marı 16, 1785, Rufus King, then member from Massach- setts, who served on several of the committees tht were appointed on the Ordinance, introduced asa proposed article of the Ordinance, a resolution "tht there shall be neither slavery nor involuntary servitue in any of the states described in the resolve of Congres of the 23d of April 1784, otherwise than in the punis- ment of crimes," etc., and "this regulation shall e an article of compact, and remain a fundamentl principle of the Constitutions between the thirten original states and each of the states described in sad resolve of April 23, 1784." This resolution-prohib- ing slavery at the outset- was referred to the comm- tee of the whole-Congress-and was never thereafir
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called up for further action, and before the Ordinance was finally passed, in 1787, Rufus King withdrew from Congress to take part in the proceedings of the Constitutional Convention of which he was elected a member and which convened at Philadelphia in May, 1787. The anti-slavery article, however, with the fugitive slavery reclamation attachment, which was finally incorporated in the Ordinance, was sub- mitted by Mr. Dane, on July 12, 1787. But to Mr. King is due the original introduction of the anti-slavery clause and its resulting insertion in the Ordinance by motion of Mr. Dane. That Manasseh Cutler as the lobbying agent of the Ohio Company and the solicited adviser of Mr. Dane, was most potent not only in securing the passage of the Ordinance but in assisting in the final touches to its construction, there is ample evidence. It is generally acknowledged that Cutler proposed the clauses in the Ordinance relating to religion and education, and he was also an ardent advocate of the anti-slavery clause and probably sug- gested the fugitive slavery reclamation addition in order to thereby secure the votes of the southern members. Mr. Rufus King-grandson of Rufus King of the Ordinance-in his succinct History of Ohio (1891) in the American Commonwealth Series, per- tinently says: "The authorship of this Ordinance has lately been made a subject of curious speculation. It is certain that some eminent men were differing ipon it a year before its passage. But that Nathan Dane had the chief hand in forming it as it ultimately appeared, was never doubted during his life or that of his contemporaries. Mr. Webster asserted it with
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emphasis in both of his speeches in the great debat in January, 1830, concerning the public lands. Chie Justice Chase reiterated it in 1833 in the historica sketch prefixed to his compilation of the statutes c Ohio. Recent discoveries, however, are supposed t displace him, and Dr. Cutler is brought forward a having given the paper its stamp and character. Th subject seems to have fallen under that morbid infirmit in literature which delights in denying Homer an Shakespeare their works, and sometimes has no spared even Holy Writ from its rage." The poter influence of Dr. Cutler in the construction and passag of the Ordinance is convincingly set forth in the "Li: and Journals of Manasseh Cutler," by his grand children, William Parker Cutler and Julia Perk Cutler.
Poole in his monograph puts it that "the Ordinance of 1787 is a condensed abstract of the Massachuset Constitution of 1780; every principle contained the former, either in a germinal or developed forr, except that relating to the obligations of contract and some temporary provisions relating to the orgar- zation of the territorial government, is found in tl: latter, and often in the same phraseology." Undoub- edly the Ordinance was the composite of many mins and the outgrowth, in large measure, of the tentatie documents of Bland and Jefferson. But we leave the Congressional proceedings concerning the gret Ordinance in order that we may take up and follcz the chain of events that brought Manasseh Cutlr into participation in its enactment.
CHAPTER XXI.
THE OHIO COMPANY OF ASSOCIATES
I T was truly said that the colonies achieved their independence "at the price of the lives of many and the fortunes of all its defenders." The newborn republic had no credit; it could not borrow money; had no power to enforce a tax and no property with which to pay its debts. The con- tinental specie certificates with which it bought supplies and paid its soldiers, had depreciated to about one- sixth their par vlaue. The unpaid officers, as we have seen, appealed to Congress at the suggestion of Thomas Pickerington and on the petition drawn up by Rufus Putnam. This latter now becomes the distinguished protagonist about whom revolve the events that lead to the settlement of Ohio.
In the center of Massachusetts, most picturesquely located on the divide between the valleys of the Con- necticut and Merrimac rivers is the historic little village of Rutland, called the "Cradle of Ohio," because there resided Rufus Putnam, in whose house, still standing, was inaugurated the "Ohio Company of Associates. "
Who and what was Rufus Putnam? He descended from the sturdiest Anglo-Saxon stock that came from Old England in the early colonial days. He was born at Sutton, Mass. (1738), in the fifth generation from John Putnam who with his family came to America from their Buckinghamshire home in 1634. When the boy was but seven years of age his father died and the succeeding stepfather, Captain John Sadler, illiter- ate and unsympathetic, denied the boy the most meagre means of education. But it was the familiar story of the irresistible efforts of an ambitious youth to
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learn and succeed. Rufus persistently and eve stealthily mastered the rudiments of the "larnin of his environment. An athlete in size and strengt and with the adventurous blood of youth he entere the colonial ranks in the French and Indian Wa in which he came in touch with the distinguishe cousin of his father, Captain Israel Putnam, from whom the boy learned many lessons of both savag and civilized warfare. He acquitted himself bravely i many a thrilling scene of this war, at the close of whic he returned to his New Braintree home. In the interv: between the French and the Indian War and th Revolution, Putnam pursued the vocations of farming mill-building and surveying, in the latter of whic he became most proficient.
Shortly after the "affair" at Lexington, Putna entered the colonial army as lieutenant-colonel Colonel David Brewer's regiment. We cannot follo in detail the rise to influence and fame of this gallar. and sagacious officer. He is his own best biographe for he kept a complete journal of the events throug which he passed, and these memoirs have been ac mirably compiled and annotated by Miss Rowen Buell and published by the Colonial Dames in th State of Ohio.
Rufus Putnam achieved national distinction i the Revolution by his ingenuity and expertness & a military engineer. It was he who erected the de fenses at Roxbury and proximate points. He ha early attracted the attention and won the confidenc of Washington, and it was his construction of th "chandelier"-timber and bundles of brush-fort:
RUFUS PUTNAM
Called the "Founder and Father of Ohio." Born in Sutton, Mass., 1738. Served in French and Indian War and was one of the most famous military engineers in the American Revolution. With Benjamin Tupper organized the Ohio Company and was its leader in the Marietta settle- ment. Appointed Surveyor-General of the Northwest Territory. Died at Marietta, April 7, 1788. Reproduc- tion of an early engraving from an original portrait.
HOME OF RUFUS PUTNAM
House at Rutland, Mass., owned by Rufus Putnam, and occupied by him at the time he planned the Ohio Company. The house was built in 1760 by Colonel John Murray, a Tory. Colonel Murray fled at the outbreak of the American Revolution; his house was confiscated by the Colonists who sold it to Rufus Putnam. The Home is now owned and cared for by the Rufus Putnam Memorial Association.
THE RISE AND PROGRE
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Shortly after the "affair" at Lexington, Put entered the colonial army os lieutenant-colon Colonel David Brewer's regiment. We cannot fel in detail the rise to influence and fame of this gall Fear. He is his own best biogra; Lu ha lagt . wwwdate journal of the events thro which he paard, and these memoirs have been miniNy ces,do ind canotated by Miss Rom Bodl and published by the Colonial Dames En Stair dil Olia
Rufus Putnam achieved national distinctice the Revolution by bis ingenuity and expertmi a military engineer. It was he who erected the de fenses at Roxbury and proximate points. H early attracted the attention and won the conben of Washington, and it was his construction "chandelier"-timber and bundles of brush- losti
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RUFUS PUTNAM HOUSE RUTLAND MASS
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fications on Dorchester Heights, and their cunning placement in the darkness of night that dumfounded the troops of General William Howe and compelled their evacuation of Boston. This feat led Congress to appoint Putnam an engineer with rank of colonel and he became one of Washington's chief and most trusted confidents; and his adroit resourcefulness and cooperation were constantly in demand wherever the Continental troops were striving for advantage. In the winter of 1780, while serving with the "legion" of Anthony Wayne, the "flower" of the Revolutionary Army, Putnam under leave of absence, visited his family and during this furlough purchased the Rutland homestead which had been confiscated by the colonists from its Tory owner, Colonel John Murray. From now on to the close of the Revolution, Putnam is found amid the vicissitudes of the war, sustaining his reputation for abilty, sagacity, resourcefulness and indubitable courage. He became not only the trusted assistant, but the beloved friend of Washington, and retired from the Revolutionary. service with the rank of brigadier-general. As early as the beginning of 1781, Putnam foresaw the prospective difficulties of providing for the Continental veterans, penniless and homeless as they surely would be at the end of the war. We have already noted that in June (1783) following the peace and before the final disbandment of the army at New Windsor, the officers submitted to Congress, a petition, drawn up by Putnam, asking for a grant of land in the western country. Wash- ngton favored and endorsed this petition, for no one better than Washington knew the needs of the veterans
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nor the opportunities for their relief afforded by th lands of the great west. Washington had been down the Ohio (1770); he had seen the possibilities of the Ohio country and it was from their commander tha the officers of the Continental Army learned, as they sat with him about the camp-fires of the Revolution definite knowledge of the beauty and richness of the west. Washington acknowledged that at times h seriously contemplated removing his home to hi lands washed by the waters of the beautiful river and in the dark hours of the "storm and stress" of the struggle for independence, he looked to the Ohio country as a safe refuge for the colonists, to which they might retreat and where, protected by the natural barriers of lake, river and mountain, they could set up their republic, if the armies of the King should drive the American rebels beyond the Alleghe nies. Washington was therefore in full sympathy with the purposes of the Continental officers, and to him Putnam wrote in April, 1784: "We are growing quite impatient, and the general inquiry now is when are we going to the Ohio?" The following year came the Ohio land survey ordinance; the appoint ment of Putnam as surveyor for Massachusetts and the temporary substitution of Benjamin Tupper in his place. This expedient brings another interesting personage into the chain of events we are following
Benjamin Tupper's life runs singularly paralle to that of Rufus Putnam. Tupper was born at Stough ton, Mass., the same year that saw the birth of Rufu: Putnam. While a mere lad Benjamin's father died and left the plucky boy to get his education in the
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chool of self-support and hard-knocks. He was private soldier in the French and Indian War and ne of the first to enlist in the Colonial ranks at the utbreak of the Revolution. He entered as lieutenant f a company, but for bravery and activity in service e was rapidly promoted until at the close of hostilities, ke Putnam, he bore the title of brigadier-general. ilso like Putnam he became expert as a surveyor nd in his military career came in contact with both 'utnam and Washington. Owing to obstacles which re have noted, the Hutchins surveying party of which 'upper was a member, got no farther west than ittsburg until after the treaty with the savages made by General Parsons and other United States gents on the Miami in July, 1786. General Tupper turned to Massachusetts in the winter of 1785-6, ut left again for the west in June 1786, when the irvey of the seven ranges was completed under is direction. In his first visit to the "Forks of the hio," Tupper obtained full and enthusing knowledge the fertility and beauty of the trans-Allegheny untry. He returned to his New England home to port to his war-impoverished neighbors the prospects the promised land in the West. He most naturally astened to the home of his old friend Rufus Putnam. ccordingly these two military comrades, strength- led and seasoned by the experience of two wars, et in the prime of life and their powers, met on the h of January, 1786, at that historic homestead Rutland. The two projectors of the enterprise t up the entire night discussing and maturing plans at were to result in the founding of a western empire.
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