History of Preble County, Ohio, with Illustrations and Biographical Sketches, Part 94

Author: H. Z. Williams & Brothers
Publication date:
Publisher:
Number of Pages: 559

USA > Ohio > Preble County > History of Preble County, Ohio, with Illustrations and Biographical Sketches > Part 94

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with this deed, the manor of Pittsburgh was withdrawn from market in 1769, and was held as the property of the Penn family. When Washington visited it in 1770, it seems to have declined in consequence of the afore- mentioned act. He mentions it as a "town of about twenty log houses, on the Monongahela, about three hundred yards from the fort." The Penns remained true to the king, and hence all their land that had not been surveyed and returned to the land office, was confiscated by the commonwealth. Pittsburgh, having been surveyed, was still left to them, In the spring of 1784, Tench Francis, the agent of the Penns, was induced to lay out the manor into lots and offer them for sale. Though, for many years, the place was rather unpromising, it eventually became the chief town in that part of the west, a position it yet holds. In 1786, John Scull and Joseph Hall started the Pittsburgh Gazette, the first pa- per published west of the mountains. In the initial number appeared a lengthy article from the pen of H. H. Brackenridge, afterward one of the most promi- nent members of the Pennsylvania bar. He had located in Pittsburgh in 1781. His letter gives the most hope- ful prospect in store for the future city, and is a highly descriptive article of the western country. It is yet pre- served in the "Western Annals," and is well worth a perusal.

Under the act of peace in 1783, no provision was made by the British for their allies, especially the Six Nations. The question was ignored by the English, and was made a handle by the Americans in gaining them to their cause before the war had fully closed. The treat- ies made were regarded by the Indians as alliances only, and when the English left the country the Indians began to assume rather a hostile bearing. This excited the whites, and for a while a war with that formidable con- federacy was imminent. Better councils prevailed, and Congress wisely adopted the policy of acquiring their lands by purchase. In accordance with this policy, a treaty was made at Fort Stanwix with the Six Nations in October, 1784. By this treaty, all lands west of a line drawn from the mouth of Oswego creek, about four miles east of Niagara, to the mouth of Buffalo creek, and on to the northern boundary of Pennsylvania, thence west along that boundary to its western extremity, thence south to the Ohio river, should be ceded to the United States. (They claimed west of this line by con- quest). 'The Six Nations were to be secured in the lands they inhabited, reserving only six miles square around Oswego fort for the support of the same. By this treaty, the indefinite claim of the Six Nations to the west was extinguished, and the question of its ownership settled.

It was now occupied by other western tribes, who did not recognize the Iroquois claim, and who would not yield without a purchase. Especially was this the case with those Indians living in the northern part. To get possession of that country by the same process, the United States, through its commissioners, held a treaty at Fort McIntosh on the twenty-first of January, 1785. The Wyandot, Delaware, Chippewa, and Ottawa tribes

were present, and, through their chiefs, sold their lands to the Government. The Wyandot and Delaware nations were given a reservation in the north part of Ohio, where they were to be protected. The others were allotted reservations in Michigan. To all was given complete control of their lands, allowing them to punish any white man attempting to settle thereon, and guaranteeing them in their rights.

By such means Congress gained Indian titles to the vast realms north of the Ohio, and, a few months later, that legislation was commenced that should determine the mode of its disposal and the plan of its settlement.

To facilitate the settlement of lands thus acquired, Congress, on May 20, 1785, passed an act for disposing of lands in the Northwest Territory. Its main provisions were: A surveyor or surveyors should be appointed from the States; and a geographer and his assistants to act with them. The surveyors were to divide the territory into townships of six miles square, by lines running due north, and south and east and west. The starting-place was to be on the Ohio river, at a point where the southern and western boundaries of Pennsylvania intersected. This would give the first range and the first township. As soon as seven townships were surveyed, the maps and plats of the same were to be sent to the board of the treasury, who would record them and proceed to place the land in the market, and so on with all the townships as fast as they could be prepared ready for sale. Each township was to be divided into thirty-six sections, or lots. Out of these sections, numbers eight, eleven, twenty-six and twenty-nine were reserved for the use of the government, and lot number sixteen, for the estab- lishment of a common-school fund. One-third of all mines and minerals was also reserved for the United States. Three townships on Lake Erie were reserved for the use of officers, men and others, refugees from Canada and from Nova Scotia, who were entitled to grants of land. The Moravian Indians were also exempt from molestation, and guaranteed in their homes. Soldiers' claims, and all others of a like nature, were also recog- nized, and land reserved for them.

Without waiting for the act of Congress, settlers had been pouring into the country, and, when ordered by Congress to leave undisturbed Indian lands, refused to do so. They went into the Indian country at their peril, however, and when driven out by the Indians could get no redress from the Government, even when life was lost.

The Indians on the Wabash made a treaty at Fort Finney, on the Miami, January 31, 1786, promising al- legiance to the United States, and were allowed a reser- vation. This treaty did not include the Piankeshawes, as was at first intended. These, refusing to live peaceably, stirred up the Shawnees, who began a series of predatory excursions against the settlements. This led to an ex- pedition against them and other restless tribes. Gen- eral Clarke commanded part of the army on that expe- dition, but got no farther than Vincennes, when, owing to the discontent of his Kentucky troops, he was obliged to return. Colonel Benjamin Logan, however, marched, at the head of four or five hundred mounted riflemen,

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into the Indian country, penetrating as far as the head- waters of Mad river. He destroyed several towns, much corn, and took about eighty prisoners. Among these, was the chief of the nation, who was wantonly slain, greatly to Logan's regret, who could not restrain his men. His expedition taught the Indians submission, and that they must adhere to their contracts.

Meanwhile, the difficulties of the navigation of the Mississippi arose. Spain would not relinquish the right to control the entire southern part of the river, allowing no free navigation. She was secretly hoping to cause a revolt of the western provinces, especially Kentucky, and openly favored such a move. She also claimed, by con- quest, much of the land on the east side of the river. The slow movements of Congress; the failure of Virginia to properly protect Kentucky, and the inherent restless- ness in some of the western men, well-nigh precipitated matters, and, for a while, serious results were imminent. The Kentuckians, and, indeeed, all the people of the west were determined the river should be free, and even went so far as to raise a regiment, and forcibly seize Spanish property in the west. Great Britain stood ready, too, to aid the west should it succeed, provided it would make an alliance with her. But while the excitement was at its height, Washington counseled better ways and patience. The decisive tone of the new Republic, though almost overwhelmed with a burden of debt, and with no credit, debarred the Spanish from too forcible measures to assert their claims, and held back the disloyal ones from attempting a revolt.

New York, Massachusetts and Connecticut ceded their lands, and now the United States were ready to fulfill their promises of land grants to the soldiers who had preserved the Nation. This did much to heal the breach in the west, and restore confidence there; so that the Mississippi question was overlooked for a time, and Kentucky forgot her animosities.

The cession of their claims was the signal for the for- mation of land companies in the east; companies whose object was to settle the western country, and at the same time, enrich the founders of the companies. Some of these companies had been formed in the old colonial days, but the recent war had put a stop to all their pro- ceedings. Congress would not recognize their claims, and new companies, under old names was the result. By such means the Ohio company emerged from the past, and, in 1786, took an active existence.

Benjamin Tupper, a Revolutionary soldier, and since then a government surveyor, who had been west as far as Pittsburgh, revived the question. He was prevented from prosecuting his surveys by hostile Indians, and re- turned to Massachusetts. He broached a plan to Gen- eral Rufus Putnam, as to the renewal of their memorial of 1783, which resulted in the publication of a plan, and inviting all those interested to meet in February in their respective counties, and choose delegates to a con- vention to be held at the "Bunch-of-grapes tavern," in Boston, on the first of March, 1786. On the day ap- pointed, eleven persons appeared, and by the third of March an outline was drawn up, and suscriptions under

it began at once. The leading features of the plan were: " A fund of one million dollars, mainly in continental certificates, was to be raised for the purpose of purchas- ing lands in the western country; there were to be one thousand shares of one thousand dollars each, and upon each share ten dollars in specie were to be paid for con- tingent expenses. One year's interest was to be appro- priated to the charges of making a settlement, and assisting those unable to move without aid. The owners of every twenty shares were to choose an agent to repre- sent them and attend to their interests, and the agents were to choose the directors. The plan was approved, and in a year's time from that date, the company was organized." *

By the time this company was organized, all claims of the colonies in the coveted territory were done away with by their deeds of cession, Connecticut being the last.

While troubles were still existing south of the Ohio river, regarding the navigation of the Mississippi, and many urged the formation of a separate, independent State, and while Congress and Washington were doing what they could to allay the feeling north of the Ohio, the New England associates were busily engaged, now that a company was formed, to obtain the land they wished to purchase. On the eighth of March, 1787, a meeting of the agents chose General Parsons, General Putnam and the Rev. Mannasseh Cutler, directors for the company. The last selection was quite a fitting one for such an enterprise. Dr. Cutler was an accomplished scholar, an excellent gentleman, and a firm believer in freedom. In the choice of him as the agent of the company, lies the fact, though unforeseen, of the begin- ning of anti-slavery, in America. Through him the famous "compact of 1787," the true corner-stone of the northwest, originated, and by him was safely passed. He was a good "wire-puller," too, and in this had an ad- vantage. Mr. Hutchins was at this time the geographer for the United States, and was, probably, the best-posted man in America regarding the west. Dr. Cutler learned from him that the most desirable portions were on the Muskingum river, north of the Ohio, and was advised by him to buy there if he could.

Congress wanted money badly, and many of the members favored the plan. The southern members, generally, were hostile to it, as the doctor would listen to no grant which did not embody the New England ideas in the charter. These members were finally won over, some bribery being used, and some of their favorites made officers of the territory, whose formation was now going on. This took time, however, and Dr. Cutler, be- coming impatient, declared they would purchase from some of the States, who held small tracts in various parts of the west. This intimation brought the tardy ones to time, and, on the twenty-third of July, Congress authorized the treasury board to make the contract. On the twenty-sixth, Messrs. Cutler and Sargent, on behalf of the company, stated in writing their conditions; and

*Historical Collections.

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on the twenty-seventh, Congress referred their letter to the board, and an order of the same date was obtained. Of this Dr. Cutler's journal says :

"By this grant we obtained near five millions acres of land, amount- ing to three million five hundred thousand dollars; one million five hundred thousand acres for the Ohio company, and the remainder for a private speculation, in which many of the principal characters of America are concerned. Without connecting this peculation, similar terms and advantages for the Ohio company could not have been ob- tained."

Messrs. Cutler and Sargent at once closed a verbal contact with the treasury board, which was executed in form on the twenty-seventh of the next October. *

By this contract, the vast region bounded on the south by the Ohio, west by the Scioto, east by the seventh range of townships then surveying, and north by a due west line, drawn from the north boundary of the tenth township from the Ohio, direct to the Scioto, was sold to the Ohio associates and their secret copartners, for one dollar per acre, subject to a deduction of one-third for bad lands and other contingencies.

The whole tract was not, however, paid for nor taken by the company-even their own portion of a million and a half acres, and extending west to the eighteenth range of townships, was not taken; and in 1792, the boundaries of the purchase proper were fixed as follows: The Ohio on the south, the seventh range of townships on the east, the sixteenth range on the west, and a line on the north so drawn as to make the grant seven hundred and fifty thousand acres, besides reservations; this grant being the portion which it was originally agreed the com- pany might enter into at once. In addition to this, two hundred and fourteen thousand two hundred and eighty- five acres were granted as army bounties, under the res- olutions of 1779 and 1780, and one hundred thousand acres as bounties to actual settlers; both of the latter tracts being within the original grant of 1787, and ad- joining the purchase as before mentioned.

While these things were progressing, congress was bringing into form an ordinance for the government and social organization of the Northwest Territory. Virginia made her cession in March, 1784, and during the month following the plan, for the temporary government of the newly acquired territory came under discussion. On the nineteenth of April, Mr. Spaight, of North Carolina, moved to strike from the plan reported by Mr. Jefferson, the emancipationist of his day, a provision for the pro- hibition of slavery north of the Ohio after the year 1800. The motion prevailed. From that day till the twenty- third, the plan was discussed and altered, and finally passed unanimously with the exception of South Caro- lina. The south would have slavery or defeat every measure. Thus this hideous monster early began to as- sert himself. By the proposed plan, the territory was to have been divided into States by parallels of lattitude and meridian lines. This division, it was thought, would make ten States, whose names were as follows, begi- nning at the northwest corner and going southwardly: Sylvania, Michigania, Cheresonisus, Assenispia, Metropo-

tamia, Illinoia, Saratoga, Washington, Polypotamia, and Pelisipia .*

A more serious difficulty existed, however, to this plan, than its catalogue of names-the number of States and their boundaries. The root of the evil was in the resolu- tion passed by Congress in October, 1780, which fixed the size of the States to be formed from the ceded lands, at one hundred to one hundred and fifty miles square. The terms of that resolution being called up both by Virginia and Massachusetts, further legislation was deemed necessary to change them. July 7, 1786, this subject came up in Congress, and a resolution passed in favor of a division into not less than three nor more than five States. Virginia, at the close of 1788, assented to this proposition, which became the basis upon which the division should be made. On the twenty-ninth of Sep- tember, Congress having thus changed the plan for divid- ing the Northwestern Territory into ten States, proceeded again to consider the terms of an ordinance for the government of that region. At this juncture, the genius of Dr. Cutler displayed itself. A graduate in medicine, law and divinity; an ardent lover of liberty ; a celebrated scientist, and an accomplished, portly gentleman, of whom the southern senators said they had never before seen so fine a specimen from the New England colonies, no man was better prepared to form a government for the new Territory, than he. The Ohio company was his real object. He was backed by them, and enough Con- tinential money to purchase more than a million acres of land. This was augmented by other parties until, as has been noticed, he represented over five million acres. This would largely reduce the public debt. Jefferson and Virginia were regarded as authority concerning the land Virginia had just ceded to the General Government. Jefferson's policy was to provide for the national credit, and still check the growth of slavery. Here was a good opportunity. Massachusetts owned the territory of Maine, which she was crowding into market. She op- posed the opening of the Northwest. This stirred Vir- ginia. The South caught the inspiration, and rallied around the Old Dominion and Dr. Cutler. Thereby he gained the credit and good will of the South, an auxiliary he used to good purpose. Massachusetts could not vote against him, because many of the constituents of her members were interested in the Ohio company. Thus the doctor, using all the arts of the lobbyist, was enabled to hold the situation. True to deeper convictions, he dictated one of the most compact and finished docu- ments of wise statesmanship that has ever adorned any statute-book. Jefferson gave it the term, "Articles of Compact," and rendered him valuable aid in its construc- tion. This "Compact" preceded the Federal constitu- tion, in both of which are seen Jefferson's master-mind. Dr. Cutler followed closely the constitution of Massachu- setts, adopted three years before. The prominent feat- ures were: The exclusion of slavery from the territory forever; provision for public schools, giving one town- ship for a seminary, and every sixteenth section; (that

* Land laws.

+ Park's Washington.

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gave one thirty-sixth of all the land for public education.) a provision prohibiting the adoption of any constitution or the enactment of any law that would nullify pre-exist- ing contracts.

The compact further declared that "Religion, moral- ity, and knowledge being necessary to good government and the happiness of mankind, schools and the means of education shall always be encouraged."

The doctor planted himself firmly on this platform, and would not yield. It was that or nothing. Unless they could make the land desirable, it was not wanted, and, taking his horse and buggy, he started for the con- stitutional convention at Philadelphia. His influence succeeded. On the thirteenth of July, 1787, the bill was put upon its passage and unanimously adopted. Every member of the South voted for it; only one man, Mr. Yates, of New York, voted against the measure; but as the vote was made by States, his vote was lost, and the "Compact of 1787" was beyond repeal. Thus the great States of the Northwest Territory were consecrated to freedom, intelligence, and morality. This act was the opening step for freedom in America. Soon the South saw their blunder, and endeavored, by all their power, to repeal the compact. In 1803 Congress referred it to a committee, of which John Randolph was chairman. He reported the ordinance was a compact and could not be repealed. Thus it stood, like a rock, in the way of slavery, which still, in spite of these provisions, endeav- ored to plant that infernal institution in the west. Wit- ness the early days of Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois. But the compact could not be violated; New England ideas could not be put down, and her sons stood ready to de- fend the soil of the west from that curse.

The passage of the ordinance and the grant of land to Dr. Cutler and his associates, were soon followed by a request from John Cleve Symmes, of New Jersey, for the country between the Miamis. Symmes had visited that part of the west in 1786, and, being pleased with the Miamis, had applied to the board of the treasury for their purchase, as soon as they were open to settlement. The board was empowered to act by Congress, and, in 1788, a contract was signed, giving him the country he desired. The terms of his purchase were similar to those of the Ohio company. His application was fol- fowed by others, whose success or failure will appear in the narrative.

The New England or Ohio ompany was all this time busily engaged in perfecting its arrangements to occupy its lands. The directors agreed to reserve five thousand seven hundred and sixty acres near the confluence of the Ohio and Muskingum for a city and commons, for the old ideas of the English plan of settling a country yet prevailed. A meeting of the directors was held at Bracket's tavern, in Boston, November 23, 1787, when four surveyors and twenty-two attendants, boat-builders, carpenters, blacksmiths, and common workmen, number- ing in all forty persons, were engaged. Their tools were purchased, and wagons were obtained to transport them across the mountains. General Rufus Putnam was made superintendent of the company, with Ebenezer Sprout, of

Rhode Island, Anselm Tupper and John Matthews, from Massachusetts, and R. J. Meigs, from Connecticut, as surveyors. At the same meeting, a suitable person to instruct them in religion, and prepare the way to open a school when needed, was selected. This was Rev. Dan- iel Storey, who became the first New England minister in the Northwest.

The Indians were watching this outgrowth of affairs, and felt, from what they could learn in Kentucky, that they would be gradually surrounded by the whites. This they did not relish, by any means, and gave the settle- ments south of the Ohio no little uneasiness. It was thought best to hold another treaty with them. In the meantime, to insure peace, the governor of Virginia and Congress placed troops at Venango, Forts Pitt and McIntosh, and at Miami, Vincennes, Louisville, and Muskingum, and the militia of Kentucky were held in readiness should a sudden outbreak occur. These meas- ures produced no results, save insuring the safety of the whites, and not until January, 1789, was Clarke able to carry out his plans. During that month, he held a meet- ing at Fort Harmar,* at the mouth of the Muskingum, where the New England colony expected to locate.

The hostile character of the Indians did not deter the Ohio company from carrying out its plans. In the win- ter of 1787, General Rufus Putnam and forty-seven pioneers advanced to a number of miles above the mouth of the Youghiogheny river, and began building a boat for transportation down the Ohio in the spring. The boat was the largest craft that had ever descended the river, and, in allusion to their Pilgrim fathers, it was called the Mayflower. It was forty-five feet long and twelve feet wide, and estimated at fifty tons burden. Truly a formidable affair for the time. The bows were raking and curved like a galley, and were strongly tim- bered. The sides were made bullet proof, and it was covered with a deck roof. Captain Devol, the first ship- builder in the west, was placed in command. On the second of April the Mayflower was launched, and for five days the little band of pioneers sailed down the Monongahela and the Ohio, and on the seventh, landed at the mouth of the Muskingum. There, opposite Fort Harmar, they chose a location, moored their boat for a temporary shelter, and began to erect houses for their occupation.

Thus was begun the first English settlement in the Ohio valley. About the first of July they were re- inforced by the arrival of a colony from Massachusetts. It had been nine weeks on the way. It had hauled its wagons and driven its stock to Wheeling, where, con- structing flat-boats, it had floated down the river to the settlement.

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History of Preble County, Ohio, with Illustrations and Biographical Sketches, Part 94

Author: H. Z. Williams & Brothers Publication date: Publisher: Number of Pages: 559

Author: H. Z. Williams & Brothers
Publication date:
Publisher:
Number of Pages: 559