History of Van Wert and Mercer counties, Ohio, with illustrations and biographical sketches of some of its prominent men and pioneers, Part 25

Author: Sutton, R., & Co., Wapakoneta, Ohio, pub
Publication date: 1882
Publisher: Wapakoneta, Ohio : R. Sutton
Number of Pages: 878

USA > Ohio > Mercer County > History of Van Wert and Mercer counties, Ohio, with illustrations and biographical sketches of some of its prominent men and pioneers > Part 25
USA > Ohio > Van Wert County > History of Van Wert and Mercer counties, Ohio, with illustrations and biographical sketches of some of its prominent men and pioneers > Part 25

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- NORTHWEST TERRITORY.

THE TITLE OF VIRGINIA, AND HER DEED OF CESSION.

Virginia acquired title to the great Northwest by its several charters, granted by James I., hearing dates respectively April 10, 1606; May 23, 1609; March 12, 1611. The Colony of Virginia first attempted to ex- ercise authority in, or jurisdiction over, that portion of its extensive domains that was organized by the Ordinance of '87 into "the Territory Northwest of the River Ohio," when in 1769, the House of Burgess of said Colony passed an act establishing the county of Botetourt, with the Mississippi River as its western boundary. The aforesaid act recited that, " Whereas, the people situated on the Mississippi, in the said county of Botetourt, will be very remote from the court-house, and must necessarily become a separate county, as soon as their numbers are suf ficient, which, probably, will happen in a short time, be it therefore enacted, by the authority aforesaid, that the inhabitants of that part of the said county of Botetourt which lies on the said waters shall be exempted from the payment of any levies to be laid by the said county court for the purpose of building a court-house and prison for the said county."

Civil government, however, between the Ohio and Mississippi rivers

was more in name than reality, until in 1778, after the conquest of the country by General George Rogers Clark, when the Virginia Legislature organized the county of Illinois, embracing within its limits all the territory owned by Virginia west of the Ohio River. Col. John Todd served, under appointment received from the Governor of Virginia, as civil commandant, and lieutenant of the county, until his death, at the battle of Blue Licks, in 1782, less than two years before Virginia ceded the country to the United States. Timothy de Montbrun was his suc- cessor.

In 1783 " the General Assembly of Virginia passed an act authorizing the Virginia delegates in Congress to convey to the United States ali the right of that Commonwealth to the territory northwestward of the river Olio."

Pursuant to the foregoing action of the General Assembly of Virginia, Thomas Jefferson, Samuel Hardy, Arthur Lee, and James Monroe, Vir- ginia's delegates in Congress, did, as per deed of cession, ou the first day of March, 1784, it being the eighth year of American Independence. "convey (in the name, and for and on behalf of, the said Commonwealth ), transfer, assign, and make over unto the United States in Congress assembled, for the benefit of said States, Virginia inclusive, all right.

HISTORY OF VAN WERT AND MERCER COUNTIES, OHIO.

title, and claim, as well of soil as of jurisdiction, to the territory of said State lying and being to the northwest of the river Ohio." Upon the presentation of said deed of cession, Congress resolved, on the same day, " that it be accepted, and the same be recorded and enrolled among the acts of the United States in Congress assembled."

The United States having thus secured title to the "Great Northwest," Congress soon deemed it advisable to take the preliminary steps looking to the permanent establishment of civil government in the new and ex- tensive territory of which that body had just become the legal custodian. Accordingly, after much mature deliberation and careful consideration of the subject, as well as prolonged discussion of the important questions involved, they, on the 13th of July, 1757, gave to the world the results of their deliberations in " An ordinance for the government of the Ter- ritory of the United States Northwest of the river Ohio," which has come to be best known as " The Ordinance of '87," sometimes also called " The Ordinance of Freedom." As said ordinance was the fundamental law, the Constitution, so to speak, of the great Northwest, upon which were based, and with which harmonized, all our territorial cuactments, as well as all our subsequent State legislation, and, moreover, as it is to that wise, statesmanlike document that we are indebted for much of our prosperity and greatness, we give it entire, as follows :-

ORDINANCE OF 1787.

Be it ordained by the United States in Congress assembled, That the said territory, for the purpose of temporary government, be one district, subject, however, to be divided into two districts, as future circumstances may, in the opinion of Congress, make it expedient.

Be it ordained by the authority aforesaid, That the estates both of resident and non-resident proprietors in the said territory, dying intes- tate, shall descend to and be distributed among their children, and the descendants of a deceased child, in equal parts; the descendants of a deceased child or grandchild to take the share of their deceased parent in equal parts among them; and where there shall be no children or descendants, then in equal parts to the next of kin, in equal degree ; and among collaterals, the children of a deceased brother or sister of the intestate shall have, in equal parts among them, their deceased pa- rents' share; and there shall, in no case, be a distinction between kindred of the whole and half blood; saving in all cases to the widow of the intestate her third part of the real estate for life, and one-third part of the personal estate; and this law, relative to descents and dower, shall remain in full force until altered by the legislature of the district. And until the governor and judges shall adopt laws, as hereinafter mentioned, estates in the said territory may be devised or bequeathed by wills, in writing, signed and sealed by him or her, in whom the estate may be (being of full age), and attested by three witnesses; and real estate may be conveyed by lease and release, or bargain and sale, signed, sealed, and delivered by the person, being of full age, in whom the estate may be, and attested by two witnesses, provided such wills be duly proved, and such conveyances be acknowledged, or the execution thereof duly proved, and be recorded within one year after proper magistrates, courts, and registers shall be appointed for that purpose; and personal property may be transferred by delivery ; saving, however, to the French and Canadian inhabitants, and other settlers of the Kaskaskies, St. Vincents, and the neighboring villages, who have heretofore professed themselves citizens of Virginia, their laws and customs now in force among them, relative to the descent and conveyance of property.

Be it ordained by the authority aforesaid, That there shall be appoint- ed, from time to time, by Congress, a governor, whose commission shall continue in force for the term of three years, unless sooner revoked by Congress; he shall reside in the district, and have a freehold estate there- in, in one thousand acres of land, while in the exercise of his office.

There shall be appointed, from time to time, by Congress, a secretary, whose commission shall continue in force for four years, unless sooner revoked; he shall reside in the district, and have a freehold estate therein in five hundred acres of land, while in the exeretse of his office ; it shall be his duty to keep and preserve the aets and laws passed by the legis- Jature, and the public records of the district, and the proceedings of the governor in his executive department ; and transmit authentic copies of such acts and proceedings, every six months, to the Secretary of Con-

gress. There shall also be appointed a court, to consist of three judges, any two of whom to form a court, who shall have a common law juris- diction, and reside in the district, and have each therein a freehold estate in five hundred acres of land, while .in the exercise of their offices; and their commissions shall continue in force during good behavior.

The governor and judges, or a majority of them, shall adopt and pub- lish in the district such laws of the original States, criminal and civil, as may be necessary and best suited to the circumstances, and report them to Congress from time to time ; which laws shall be in force in the dis- triet until the organization of the General Assembly therein, unless dis- approved of by Congress; but afterward the legislature shall have authority to alter them as they shall think fit.

The Governor, for the time being, shall be commander-in-chief of the militia, appoint and commission all officers in the same, below the rank of general officers; all general officers shall be appointed and commis- sioned by Congress.

Previous to the organization of the General Assembly, the Governor shall appoint such magistrates and other civil officers, in each county or township, as he shall find necessary for the preservation of the peace and good order in the same. After the General Assembly shall be organized, the powers and duties of magistrates and other civil officers shall be regulated and defined by the said Assembly ; but all magistrates and other civil officers, not herein otherwise directed, shall, during the con- tinnance of this temporary government, be appointed by the Governor.

For the prevention of crimes and injuries, the laws to be adopted or made shall have force in all parts of the district, and for the execution of process, criminal and civil, the Governor shall make proper divisions thereof; and he shall proceed, from time to time, as circumstances may require, to lay out the parts of the district in which the Indian titles shall have been extinguished, into counties and townships, subject, how- ever, to such alterations as may thereafter be made by the legislature.

So soon as there shall be five thousand free male inhabitants, of full age, in the district, upon giving proof thereof to the Governor, they shall receive authority, with time and place, to cleet representatives from their counties or townships, to represent them in the General Assembly: pro- vided, that for every five hundred free male inhabitants there shall be one representative, and so on, progressively, with the number of free male inhabitants, shall the right of representation increase, until the number of representatives shall amount to twenty-five; after which the number and proportion of representatives shall be regulated by the legis- lature : provided that no person be eligible or qualified to act as a rep- resentative unless he shall have been a citizen of one of the United States three years, and be a resident in the district, or unless he shall have resided in the district three years; and, in either case, shall likewise hold in his own right, in fee simple, two hundred acres of land within the same: provided, also, that a frechold in fifty acres of land in the district, having been a citizen of one of the States, and being resident in the dis- triet, or the like frechold and two years' residence in the district, shall be necessary to qualify a man as an elector of a representative.

The representatives thus elected shall serve for the term of two years; and, in case of the death of a representative, or removal from office, the Governor shall issue a writ to the county or township for which he was a member to elect another in his stead, to serve for the residue of the term.

The General Assembly, or Legislature, shall consist of the Governor, Legislative Council, and a House of Representatives. The Legislative Council shall consist of five members, to continue in office five years, unless sooner removed by Congress, any three of whom to be a quorum, and the members of the Council shall be nominated and appointed in the following manner, to wit: as soon as representatives shall be electe.I the Governor shall appoint a time and place for them to meet together, and, when met, they shall nominate ten persons, residents in the district, and each possessed of a frechold in five hundred acres of land, and return their names to Congress, five of whom Congress shall appoint and com- mission to serve as aforesaid : and whenever a vacancy shall happen in the Council, by death or removal from office, the House of Representa- tives shall nominate two persons, qualified as aforesaid, for each vacancy, and return their names to Congress, one of whom Congross shall appoint and commission for the residue of the term. And every five years, four months at least before the expiration of the time of service of the mem-

HISTORY OF VAN WERT AND MERCER COUNTIES, OHIO.

bers of Conneil, the said House shall nominate ten persons, qualified as aforesaid, and return their names to Congress, five of whom Congress shall appoint and commission to serve as members of the Council five years, unless sooner removed. And the Governor, Legislative Council, and House of Representatives shall have authority to make laws, in all cases, for the good government of the district, not repugnant to the principles and articles in this ordinance established and declared. And all bills, having passed by a majority in the House, and by a majority in the Council, shall be referred to the Governor for his assent; but no bill or legislative aet whatever shall be of any force without his assent. The Governor shall have power to convene, prorogue, and dissolve the Gen- cra! Assembly when, in his opinion, it shall be expedient.

The governor, judges, legislative council, secretary, and such other officers as Congress shall appoint in the district, shall take an oath or affirmation of fidelity, and of office; the governor before the president of Congress, and all other officers before the governor. As soon as a Legislature shall be formed in the district, the council and house assem- bled in one room, shall have authority, by joint ballot, to elect a dele- gate to Congress, who shall have a seat in Congress, with a right of debating, but not of voting, during this temporary government.

And for extending the fundamental principles of civil and religious liberty, which form the basis whereon these republies, their laws, and constitutions are erected ; to fix and establish these principles as the basis of all laws, constitutions, and governments, which forever hereafter shall be formed in the said territory ; to provide, also, for the establish- ment of States, and permanent government therein, and for their admis- sion to a share in the federal councils on an equal footing with the original States, at as early periods as may be consistent with general interest,

It is hereby ordained and declared by the authority aforesaid, That the following articles shall be considered as articles of compact between the original States and the people and States in the said territory, and forever remain unalterable, unless by common consent, to wit:

ARTICLE 1. No person, demeaning himself in a peaceable and orderly manner, shall ever be molested on account of his mode of worship or religious sentiments in the said territory.

ART. 2. The inhabitants of the said territory shall always be entitled to the benefits of the writ of habeas corpus and of trial by jury ; of a proportionate representation of the people in the Legislature, and of judicial proceedings according to the course of the common law. All persons shall be bailable, unless for capital offences, where the proof shall be evident, or the presumption great. All fines shall be moderate, and no cruel or unusual punishments shall be inflicted. No man shall be deprived of his liberty or property but by the judgment of his peers, or the law of the land ; and, should the public exigencies make it neces- sary, for the common preservation, to take any person's property, or to demand his particular services, full compensation shall be made for the game. And, in the just preservation of rights and property, it is under- stood and declared that no law ought ever to be made, or have force in the said territory, that shall, in any manner whatever, interfere with or affect private contracts or engagements, bona fide, and without fraud, previously formed.

ART. 3. Religion, morality, and knowledge being necessary to good government and the happiness of mankind, schools and the means of education shall forever be encouraged. The utmost good faith shall always be observed towards the Indians ; their lands and property shall never be taken away from them without their consent ; and in their property, rights, and liberty, they shall never be invaded or disturbed, unless in just and lawful wars authorized by Congress; but laws founded in justice and humanity shall, from time to time, be made for preventing wrongs being done to them, and for preserving peace and friendship with them.

ART. 4. The said territory, and the States which may be formed therein, shall forever remain a part of this confederacy of the United States of America, subject to the articles of confederation, and to such alterations therein as shall be constitutionally made, and to all the acts and ordinances of the United States in Congress assembled, conformable thereto. The inhabitants and settlers in the said territory shall be sub- ject to pay a part of the federal debts, contracted or to be contracted,

and a proportional part of the expenses of government, to be apportioned on them by Congress, according to the same common rule and measure by which apportionments thereof shall be made on the other States; and the taxes for paying their proportion shall be laid and levied by the authority and direction of the Legislatures of the district or districts, or new States, as in the original States, within the time agreed upon by the United States in Congress assembled. The Legislatures of those dis- tricts, or new States, shall never interfere with the primary disposal of the soil by the United States in Congress assembled, nor with any regu- lations Congress may find necessary for securing the title in such soil to the bona fide purchasers. No tax shall be imposed on lands the property of the United States; and in no case shall non-resident proprietors be taxed higher than residents. The navigable waters leading into the Mississippi and St. Lawrence, and the carrying places between the same, shall be common highways, and forever free, as well to the inhabitants of the said territory as to the citizens of the United States, and those of any other States that may be admitted into the confederacy, without any tax, impost, or duty therefor.

ART. 5. There shall be formed in the said territory not less than three nor more than five States; and the boundaries of the States, as soon as Virginia shall alter her act of cession, and consent to the same, shall become fixed and established as follows, to wit: The western State in the said territory shall be bounded by the Mississippi, the Ohio, and Wabash rivers ; a direct line drawn from the Wabash and Port Vin- cents due north to the territorial line between the United States and Canada; and by the said territorial line to the Lake of the Woods and Mississippi. The middle State shall be bounded by the said direct line, the Wabash from Point Vincents to the Ohio, by the Ohio, by a direct line drawn due north from the mouth of the Great Miami to the said territorial line, and by the said territorial line. The eastern State shall be bounded by the last-mentioned direct line, the Ohio, Pennsylvania, and the said territorial line : provided, however, and it is further under- stood and declared, that the boundaries of these three States shall be subject so far to be altered that, if Congress shall hereafter find it expe- dient, they shall have authority to forin one or two States in that part of the territory which lies north of an east and west line drawn through the southerly bend or extreme of Lake Michigan. And whenever any of the said States shall have sixty thousand free inhabitants therein. such State shall be admitted, by its delegates, into the Congress of the United States on an equal footing with the original States in all respects whatever, and shall be at liberty to form a permanent constitution and State government : provided the constitution and government so to be formed shall be republican, and in conformity to the principles contained in these articles; and, so far as it can be consistent with the general interest of the confederacy, such admission shall be allowed at an earlier period, and when there may be a less number of free inhabitants in the State than sixty thousand.

Anr. 6. There shall be neither slavery nor involuntary servitude in the said territory otherwise than in the punishment of crimes, whereof the party shall have been duly convicted: provided, always, that any person escaping into the same from whom labor or service is lawfully claimed in any one of the original States, such fugitive may be lawfully reclaimed, and conveyed to the person claiming his or her labor or ser- vice as aforesaid.

PROBABLE NUMBER AND CHARACTERISTICS OF THE POPULATION IN 1787.

Up to the time of the passage of the above ordinance there had been no permanent settlements by white men established upon territory em- braced within the boundaries given to the Northwest Territory, except the few French villages and their immediate vicinities, in the western and northwestern portions of it. If any such existed within the pre- sent limits of Ohio, they must have been situated along the Maumee River, and were of small extent. The Government had hitherto, for the sake of peace, discouraged, and by military force prevented, all attempt+ of white settlers to occupy lands belonging to the Indians. The chief of those French villages were Detroit, on the Detroit River; St. Vincents. on the Wabash ; Cahokia, five miles below St. Louis; St. Philip, forty- eight miles below St. Louis, on the Mississippi ; Kaskaskia, on Kaskashia

HISTORY OF VAN WERT AND MERCER COUNTIES, OHIO.

River, six miles above its mouth, which empties into the Mississippi seventy-five miles below St. Louis; Prairie-du-Rocher, near Fort Char- tres; and Fort Chartres, fifteen miles northwest from Kaska-kia. These were all small settlements or villages, whose aggregate inhabitants pro- bably did not exceed three thousand.

The inhabitants of these remote settlements in the wilderness and on the prairies, says a late writer, "were of a peculiar character. Their intercourse with the Indians, and their seclusion from the world, devel- oped among them peculiar characteristics. They assimilated themselves with the Indians, adopted their habits, and almost uniformly lived in harmony with them. They were illiterate, careless, contented, but with- out much industry, energy, or foresight. Some were hunters, trappers, and anglers, while others run birch-bark canoes by way of carrying on a small internal trade, and still others cultivated the soil. The traders, or voyageurs, were men fond of adventure, and of a wild, unrestrained, Indian sort of life, and would ascend many of the long rivers of the West almost to their sources in their birch-bark canoes, and load them with furs bought of the Indians. The canoes were light, and could easily be carried across the portages between streams."

There was attached to these French villages a "common field," for the free use of the villagers, every family, in proportion to the number of its members, being entitled to share in it. It was a large inclosed tract for farming purposes. There was also at each village a "common." or large inclosed tract, for pasturage and fuel purposes, and timber for building. If a head of a family was sick, or by any casualty was unable to labor, his portion of the "common field" was cultivated by his neighbors, and the crop gathered for the use of his family. " The French villagers," says the author of Western Annals, "were devout Catholics, who, under the guidance of their priests, attended punctually upon all the holidays and festivals, and performed faithfully all the outward duties and cere- monies of the Church. Aside from this, their religion was blended with their social feelings. Sundays, after mass, was the especial occasion for their games and assemblies. The dance was the popular amusement with them, and all classes, ages, sexes, and conditions, united by a common love of enjoyment, met together to participate in the exciting pleasure. They were indifferent about the acquisition of property for themselves or their children. Living in a fruitful country, which, moreover, abounded in fish and game, and where the necessaries of life could be procured with little labor, they were content to live in unambitious peace and comfortable poverty. Their agriculture was rude, their houses were humble, and they cultivated grain, also fruits and flowers; but they lived on from generation to generation without much change or im- provement. In some instances they intermarried with the surrounding Indian tribes."

Most of these far-off western villages were protected by military posts, and some of them (notably Detroit, which for months had successfully resisted, in 1763, when in possession of the English, the attacks of the great Pontiac) had realized something of the "pride, pomp, and circum- stances of glorious war." The morning guns of these forts had sounded the merry reveille upon the early breeze, waking the slumbering echoes of the forest, daily, for a century or more; the boom of their loud mid- day cannon across the broad prairies, and its reverberations from the cliffs beyond, had been heard for generations; and their evening bugle had wailed plaintively its long-drawn, melancholy notes along the shores of the "Father of Waters"-the mighty river of the West-for more than a hundred years before the adoption of "freedom's ordinance."

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History of Van Wert and Mercer counties, Ohio, with illustrations and biographical sketches of some of its prominent men and pioneers, Part 25

Author: Sutton, R., & Co., Wapakoneta, Ohio, pub Publication date: 1882 Publisher: Wapakoneta, Ohio : R. Sutton Number of Pages: 878

Author: Sutton, R., & Co., Wapakoneta, Ohio, pub
Publication date: 1882
Publisher: Wapakoneta, Ohio : R. Sutton
Number of Pages: 878