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 34
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 34
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The States which owned western unappropriated lands, with a single exception, redeemed their respective pledges by ceding them to the United States. The State of Virginia, in March, 1784, ceded the right of soil and jurisdiction to the district of country embraced in her char- ter, situated to the northwest of the Ohio River. In September, 1786, the State of Connecticut also ceded her claim of soil and jurisdiction to the district of country within the limits of her charter, situated west of a line beginning at the completion of the forty-first point degree of north latitude, one hundred and twenty miles west of the western boundary of Pennsylvania, and from thence by a line drawn north parallel to and one hundred and twenty miles west of said line of Pennsylvania, and to con- tinue north until it came to forty-two degrees and two minutes north latitude. The State of Connecticut, on the 30th of May, 1801, also ceded her jurisdictional claims to all that territory called the " Western Re- serve of Connecticut." The States of New York and Massachusetts also ceded all their claims.
The above were not the only claims which had to be made prior to the commencement of settlements within the limits of Ohio. "umerous tribes of Indian savages, by virtue of prior possession, asserted their re- spective claims, which also had to be extinguished. A treaty for this purpose was accordingly made at Fort Stanwix, October 27, 1784, with the sachems and warriors of the Mohawks, Onondagas, Senceas, Cayu- gas, Oneidas, and Tuscaroras, by the third article of which treaty the said Six Nations ceded to the United States all claims to the country west of a line extending along the west boundary of Pennsylvania, from the mouth of the Oyounayea to the Ohio River.
Washington County was formed July 27, 1788, by proclamation of Governor St. Clair, being the first county formed within the limits of Ohio. Its original boundaries were as follows : Beginning on the bank of the Ohio River, where the western boundary line of Pennsylvania crosses it, and running with that line to Lake Erie; thence along the southern shore of said lake to the mouth of Cuyahoga River; thence up the said river to the portage between it and the Tuscarawas branch of the Muskingum; thence down that branch to the forks at the crossing place above Fort Laurens; thence with a line to be drawn westerly to the portage on that brauch of the Big Miami, on which the fort stood that was taken by the French in 1752, until it meets the road from the lower Shawnee Town to Sandusky ; thence south to Scioto River, and thence with that river to the mouth, and thence up the Ohio River to the place of beginning.
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Hamilton was the second county established in the Northwest Terri- tory; it was formed January 2, 1790, by proclamation of Governor St. Clair, and named from General Alexander Hamilton. Its original boun- daries were thus defined: Beginning on the Ohio River at the confluence of the Little Miami, and down the said Ohio to the mouth of the Big Miami, and up said Miami to the standing stone forks or branch of said river, and thence with a line to be drawn due east to the Little Miami, and down said Little Miami River to the place of beginning
Wayne County was established by proclamation of General St. Clair, August 15, 1796, and was the third county formed in the Northwest Territory. Its original limits were very extensive, and were thus de- fined in the act creating it : Beginning at the mouth of Cuyahoga River upon Lake Erie, and with the said river to the portage between it and the Tuscarawas branch of the Muskingum ; thence down the said branch to the forks at the crossing place above Fort Laureny; thence by a west line to the east boundary of Hamilton County, which is a due north line from the lower Shawnee Town upon the Scioto River ; thence by a line west-northerly to the south part of portage between the Miamis of Ohio
and the St. Marys River; thence by a line also west-northerly to the southwestern part of the portage between the Wabash and Maumis of Lake Erie, where Fort Wayne now stands ; thence by a line west-north- erly to the south part of Lake Michigan ; thence along the western shores of the same to the northwest part thereof, including lands upon the streams emptying into said lake ; thence by a due north line to the territorial boundary in Lake Superior, and with the said boundary through Lakes Huron, St. Clair, and Erie to the mouth of Cuyahoga River, the place of beginning. These limits embrace what are now party of Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Wisconsin, and all of Michigan, and the towns of Ohio City, Chicago, St. Marys, Mackinaw, cte. Since then States and counties have been organized out of this territory.
It will be observed in the Virginia Military Districts in Ohio, which comprise the lands between the Scioto and Little Miami rivers, that when the State of Virginia, in 1783, ceded to the United States all hier right of soil and jurisdiction to all the tract of country she then claimed northwest of the Ohio River, it was provided that the Virginia troops of the Continental establishment should be paid their legal bounties from these lands (and here it may not be amiss to define these land denomi- nations). The United States Military Lands were so called from the fact that they were appropriated by an act of Congress, in 1796, to satisfy certain claims of the officers and soldiers of the Revolution. The patent to the soldiers or purchasers of these lands, as well as of all other Ohio lands, is derived from the general government. The district was not surveyed into ranges and townships, or any regular form, and hence the irregularity in the shape of the townships as established by the county commissioners for civil purposes ; any individual holding a Virginia Military Land warrant might locate it wherever he desired within the district, and in such shape as he pleased, whenever the land had not been previously located.
We now turn to a chronological review of these circumstances and events.
By the treaties with the Indians of 1785-6, Congress acquired the lands watered by the Muskingum, Scioto, and Little and Great Miami rivers.
Territory Northwest of the Ohio .- By ordinance of July 13, 1787. formed out of the cession of Virginia, being that part of the territory south of the 41st parallel, and out of other territory acquired from Great Britain by the treaty of 1783, being the part of the territory north of the 41st parallel. Article 5 of this ordinance provided that there should be formed from this territory not less than three nor more than five States; that three of the States should extend from the Ohio River northward-that the boundaries between these three States should be established as in the ordinance described-and that Congress should have authority to form one or two other States out of that part of the territory which lay north of an east and west line drawn through the southernmost extremity of Lake Michigan.
The provisions of this article have been carried into effect by the erec- tion, on the Ohio River, of the States of Ohio; Indiana, and Illinois, separated by the boundaries prescribed by the ordinance, and out of the Jand north of them, of the States of Michigan, Wisconsin, and that part of the State of Minnesota which lies cast of the Mississippi River.
Territory South of the Ohio Rirer .- By the act of May 26, 1790, de- clared to be "one district" for the purpose of temporary government. and its government constituted like that of the territory northwest of the river Ohio, except as otherwise provided in the act of April 2. 1790. accepting from North Carolina the cession of the State of Tennessee. The district included the territory comprehended in the present States of Kentucky and Tennessee and the territory ceded to the United States by the State of South Carolina. It was limited on the south by the original State of Georgia, and which were ceded by the State of Georgia, in 1802 and which by act of March 27, 1804, became a part of the Mis- sissippi territory.
In 1788 another treaty was made by which the country was purchased from the mouth of the Cuyahoga River to the Wabash, lying south and cast of a certain line mentioned in the treaty. The Indians were dis- satisfied with this treaty and it was not relied on by our Government. In 1795 twelve tribes attended on Gen. Wayne and treated with him for the sale of a considerable portion of the territory, included within the
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HISTORY OF VAN WERT AND MERCER COUNTIES, OHIO.
limits of Ohio. In 1805 seven tribes sold to the United States all that part of New Connecticut lying west of the Cuyahoga River. In this treaty the Connecticut people joined, and paid four thousand dollars to the Indians and agreed to pay them twelve thousand dollars additional. In 1807 that part of this which lies north of the Maumee and east of a me- ridian line, passing through the mouth of the Auglaize River was pur- chased of the Indians. In 1808 a strip of territory two miles wide was acquired by treaty, running from the western boundary of the Western Reserve to the Maumee River at the rapids. In the same treaty another strip one hundred and twenty feet in width was acquired, running along the bank of the Maumee. By these treaties the United States acquired the four-fifths of the State of Ohio.
That portion of the ceded tracts above latitude 41ยบ north, extending from Pennsylvania on the east, to the western limits of Sandu-ky and Seneca counties, was given by Congress to Connecticut, and is called the Western Reserve, or New Connecticut. It extends one hundred and twenty miles from east to west, and on an average is fifty miles in width from north to south. Its area contains about three millions eight hun- dred thousand acres. Five hundred thousand acres of this tract, off the west end, the State of Connecticut gave to certain sufferers by fire in the Revolutionary War. A part of the ceded lands lying along the Ohio River, including the mouths of the Muskingum and Hockhocking rivers, was sold by the old Congress to the Ohio Company. This was the first sale of lands before the present Constitution of the United States was adopted. It was sold for one dollar per acre, payable in Congress notes, at twenty shillings in a pound, whereas the interest on those notes made them worth twenty-eight shillings and six pence on the pound at that time. These securities were funded under the Constitution of t ... United States, and became a part of the national debt. Benjamin Stites, Esq., of old Redstone Fort (now Brownsville, Pa ), who had examined the valley of the Shawnese soon after the treaty of 1786, by his statement induced John Cleves Symmes to visit that region. Symmes found them all and more than all they had been represented to be, and upon the 29th of August, 1787, wrote to the President of Congress asking that the Treas- nry Board might be empowered to contract with them for the country between the Miamis.
John Cleves Symmes of New Jersey was the next purchaser of land in Ohio, as he bought of the old Congress land lying between the mouths of the two Miamis and extending northerly so as to contain six hundred thousand acres ; he gave sixty-six cents an acre for this land.
In addition to the above facts, let us detail the circumstances which led to the cession of the Northwestern Territory, and the States which relinquished their lands for the common benefit of the United States.
In September, 1750, the Congress of the Confederation passed a reso- lution, stating that, if these unappropriated lands were ceded to the United States, they should be formed into distinet republican States, and become members of the Federal Union and have the same rights as the thirteen original States; that each State shall contain a suitable extent of territory, not less than one hundred nor more than one hundred and fifty miles square, and that the necessary and reasonable expenses which any State shall have incurred since the commencement of the Revolu- tionary War, in acquiring any part of the territory that may be ceded or relinquished to the United States, shall be reimbursed.
In pursuance of this resolution, the following States made cession of territory to the United States at the date specified: New York, March 1, 1781; Virginia, March 1, 1781, and December 30, 1788; Massachu- setts, April 19, 1785; Connectient, September 14, 1786, and confirmed May 30, 1900; South Carolina, August 9, 1787; North Carolina, Feb- ruary 25, 1791; and Georgia, April 24, 1820.
These lands were designated and situated as follows: Virginia land . lay between the Scioto and Little Miami rivers, which was given to her soldiers of the Revolution as a reward for their services, and was called . the Virginia Military Tract. The United States had promised lands to the soldiers of the Revolution, and so Congress laid off a tract for that purpose, lying south of New Connecticut, extending from the Ohio River on the east to the Scioto on the west, and called the United States Military Tract. There were some refugees during the Revolutionary War from Nova Scotia, to whom Congress gave a strip of land extending from the Muskingum, opposite Zanesville, to the Scioto at Columbus.
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It is several miles in width. The remaining part of the State was sur- veyed and sold by Congress, In the United States lands, the Virginia military, and Symmes's purchase, the original owner obtained his patent from the United States Land Office, while land ceded to Ohio by Con- gress on condition of making certain canals, were deeded to purchasers by the Governor and Secretary of State.
The act of Congress of December 30, 1788, provided that the territory of the United States shoukl be divided into not more than five, nor lesy than three States; but on August 7, 1789, the act was modified, and by a subsequent act of May 7, 1:00, the Northwestern Territory was di- vided into two separate governments.
The people of the eastern division petitioned Congress, which passed an act April 30, 1-02, authorizing thein to form a constitution; and in addi- tion thereto Congress offered the people of the State, after it should be organized, the one thirty-eighth part of their whole territory for the use of schools; also certain lands on which they supposed salt water might be procured; five per cent. of all the net proceeds of sales of lands owned by Congress, three per cent. of which was to be laid out in making roads in the State, and two per cent. on a road to be made from Cumberland, in Maryland, to the State of Ohio. This road is familiarly known as the National Turnpike.
These offers were all made on condition that the people of the terri. tory would adopt a constitution founded on republican principles, which would harmonize with the ordinances of 1787, so far as being consistent with their being a separate State, and to be in strict accordance with the Constitution of the United States. Such were the requirements of the act of 30th of April, 1802. The convention met November 1, 1802, and finally adopted the constitution November 29, 1802, making Chilli- cothe the seat of government for the new State. Edward Tiflin, Esq., had the honor of being president of the convention, and Thomas Scott, secretary.
On February 19, 1803, Congress passed an act, admitting Ohio as a State into the Union, with one representative in Congress, although the constitution had never been submitted to the people for their approval or disapproval. The counties in existence before the adoption of the constitution were Hamilton, Ross, Wayne, Adams, Knox, Jefferson, Washington, Trumbull, and Belmont. These counties constituted the Northwestern Territory, now embracing the States of Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, and Wisconsin.
We now cast a glance at the territorial government before reviewing the affairs of the State.
Gen. Arthur St. Clair was appointed Governor of the Northwestern Territory in 1791. In the session of Congress of 1800 the Northwestern Territory was divided into two territories, Ohio and Indiana. Ohio em- braced the present States of Ohio and Michigan, while Indiana com- prised Indiana, Illinois, and Wisconsin. Ohio Territory contained eighty thousand square miles, whereas Indiana contained one hundred and eighty thousand square miles. Gen. St. Clair was the commissioned Governor of Ohio Territory, while Gen. Wm. Henry Harrison was Gov- ernor of Indiana.
On October 29, 1738, Governor St. Clair issued his proclamation, di- recting the electors, who then numbered five thousand free white males, to elect representatives to a General Assembly to be held at Cincinnati, September 16, 1799, of which Edward Tillin was speaker. This was the first Legislature of the whole Northwest Territory before its division. and by which Gen. William Henry Harrison was elected the delegate to Congress.
The 1st Constitutional Convention convened at Chillicothe, Nov. 1. 1802. Constitution adopted. The 2d met at Columbus, May 6, 1850 The 3d assembled at Columbus, May 13, 1873. Constitution rejected, leaving the constitution of 1852 in full force and effect.
CONSTITUTION OF THE STATE OF OHIO.
We, the people of the State of Ohio, grateful to Almighty God for our freedom, to seeme its blessings and promote our common welfare, do establish this Constitution :
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HISTORY OF VAN WERT AND MERCER COUNTIES, OHIO.
ARTICLE I .- BILL OF RIGHTS.
Section 1. All men are, by nature, free and independent, and have cer- tain inalienable rights, among which are those of enjoying and defending life and liberty, acquiring, possessing, and protecting property, and seek- ing and obtaining happiness and safety.
Sec. 2. All political power is inherent in the people. Government is instituted for their equal protection and benefit, and they have the right to alter, reform, or abolish the same, whenever they may deem it neces- sary; and no special privileges or immunities shall ever be granted, that may not be altered, revoked, or repealed by the General Assembly.
Sec. 3. The people have the right to assemble together, in a peaceable manner, to consult for their common good; to instruet their Repre- sentatives; and to petition the General Assembly for the redress of grievances.
Sec. 4. The people have the right to bear arms for their defence and security ; but standing armies, in time of peace, are dangerous to liberty, and shall not be kept up; and the military shall be in strict subordina- tion to the civil power.
Sec. 5. The right of trial by jury shall be inviolate.
Sec. 6. There shall be no slavery in this State; nor involuntary servi- tude, unless for the punishment of crime.
Sec. 7. All men have a natural and indefeasible right to worship Almighty God according to the dictates of their own conscience. No person shall be compelled to attend, erect, or support any place of wor- ship, or maintain any form of worship, against his consent; and no pref- erence shall be given, by law, to any religious society ; nor shall any interference with the rights of conscience be permitted. No religious test shall be required, as a qualification for office, nor shall any person be incompetent to be a witness on account of his religious belief; but nothing herein shall be construed to dispense with oaths anu aflirma- tions. Religion, morality, and knowledge, however, being essential to good government, it shall be the duty of the General Assembly to pass suitable laws, to protect every religious denomination in the peaceable enjoyment of its own mode of public worship, and to encourage schools and the means of instruction.
Sec. 8. The privilege of the writ of habeas corpus shall not be sus- pended, unless, in cases of rebellion or invasion, the public safety re- quire it.
Sec. 9. All persons shall be bailable by sufficient sureties, except for capital offences where the proof is evident, or the presumption great. Excessive bail shall not be required; nor excessive fines imposed ; nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted.
Sec. 10. Except in cases of impeachment, and cases arising in the army and navy, or in the militia when in actual service in time of war or public danger, and in cases of petit larceny and other inferior offences, no person shall be held to answer for a capital or otherwise infamous crime, unless on presentinent or indictment of a grand jury. In any trial, in any court, the party accused shall be allowed to appear and de- fend in person and with counsel; to demand the nature and cause of the accusation against him, and to have a copy thereof; to meet the wit- nesses face to face; and to have compulsory process to procure the attendance of witnesses in his behalf, and a speedy public trial by an impartial jury of the county or district, in which the offence is alleged to have been committed; nor shall any person be compelled, in any criminal case, to be a witness against himself, or be twice put in jeop- ardy for the same offence.
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Sec. 11. Every citizen may freely speak, write, and publish his senti- ments on all subjects, being responsible for the abuse of the right ; and no law shall be passed to restrain or abridge the liberty of speech, or of the press. In all criminal prosecutions for libel, the truth may be given in evidence to the jury, and if it shall appear to the jury, that the matter charged as libellous is true, and was published with good motives, and for justifiable ends, the party shall be acquitted.
Sec. 12. No person shall be transported out of the State, for any offence committed within the same; and no conviction shall work cor- ruption of blood, or forfeiture of estate.
See. 13. No soldier shall, in time of peace, be quartered in any house, without the consent of the owner; nor, in time of war, except in the manner prescribed by law.
Sec. 14. The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and possessions, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated ; and no warrant shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by oath or affirmation, particularly describing the place to be searched, and the person and things to be seized.
Sec. 15. No person shall be imprisoned for debt in any civil action, on mesne or final process, unless in cases of fraud.
See. 16. All courts shall be open, and every person, for an injury done him in his land, goods, person, or reputation, shall have remedy by due course of law ; and justice administered without denial or delay.
Sec. 17. No hereditary emoluments, honors, or privileges shall ever be granted or conferred by this State.
Sec. 18. No power of suspending laws shall ever be exercised, except by the General Assembly.
Sec. 19. Private property shall ever be held inviolate, but subservient to the public welfare. When taken in time of war or other public ex- igeney, imperatively requiring its immediate seizure, or for the purpose of making or repairing roads, which shall be open to the public without charge, a compensation shall be made to the owner in money; and in all other cases, where private property shall be taken for public use, a com- pensation therefor shall first be made in money, or first secured by a deposit of money ; and such compensation shall be assessed by a jury, without deduction for benefits to any property of the owner.
Sec. 20. This enumeration of rights shall not be construed to impair or deny others retained by the people ; and all powers not herein dele- gated remain with the people.
ARTICLE II .- LEGISLATIVE.
Section 1. The legislative power of this State shall be vested in a General Assembly, which shall consist of a Senate and House of Repre- sentatives.
Sec. 2. Senators and Representatives shall be elected biennially, by the electors in the respective counties or districts, on the second Tues- day of October. Their own term of office shall commence on the first day of January next thereafter, and continue two years.
Sec. 3. Senators and Representatives shall have resided in their re- spectives counties or districts one year next preceding their election, unless they shall have been absent on the public business of the United States, or of this State.
Sec. 4. No person holding office under the authority of the United States, or any lucrative office under the authority of this State, shall be eligible to, or have a seat in, the General Assembly; but this provision shall not extend to township officers, justices of the peace, notaries pub- lic, or officers of the militia.
Sec. 5. No person hereafter convicted of an embezzlement of the public funds, shall holdt any office in this State; nor shall any person, holding public money for disbursement, or otherwise, have a seat in the General Assembly, until he shall have accounted for, and paid such money into the treasury.
See. G. Each House shall be judge of the election, returns, and quali- fications of its own members ; a majority of all the members elected to each House shall be a quorum to do business ; but a less number may adjourn from day to day, and compel the attendance of absent members. in such manner, and under such penalties, as shall be prescribed by law
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