USA > Ohio > Wayne County > History of Wayne county, Ohio, from the days of the pioneers and the first settlers to the present time > Part 2
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58 | Part 59 | Part 60 | Part 61 | Part 62 | Part 63 | Part 64 | Part 65 | Part 66 | Part 67 | Part 68 | Part 69 | Part 70 | Part 71 | Part 72 | Part 73 | Part 74 | Part 75 | Part 76 | Part 77 | Part 78 | Part 79 | Part 80 | Part 81 | Part 82
In 1762 the Moravian missionaries, Post and Heckwelder, had established a station upon the Muskingum river. In 1763 the French ceded their possessions in the North-west, and, indeed, in North America, to Great Britain, and from that time forward the English had only the natives with whom to contend. After many sanguinary conflicts, in which valuable lives were sacrificed, the haughty Briton became master of the soil. In 1774, by act of Par- liament of the English government, the whole of the North-west Territory was annexed to, and made part of, the Province of Que- bec.
July 4, 1776, the colonists renounced further allegiance to the British Crown, and each State or Colony then claimed jurisdic- tion over the soil embraced within its charter. The war of the Revolution terminating favorably to the colonists, the King of En- gland, September 3, 1783, ceded all claim to the North-west Ter- ritory to the United States. By charter, Virginia claimed that portion of the territory which was situate north-west of the River
2
-
18
THE NORTH-WESTERN TERRITORY.
Ohio, but in 1784 she ceded all claim to the territory to the United States.
By virtue of this act or deed of cession the General Assembly of Virginia did, through her delegates in Congress, March 1, 1784, "convey (in the name and for and on behalf of the said common- wealth), transfer, assign, and make over unto the United States in Congress assembled, for the benefit of said States, Virginia inclu- sive, all right, title and claim, as well of soil as of jurisdiction, to the territory of said State lying and being to the north-west of the river of Ohio." The deed of cession being tendered by the dele- gates, Congress at once resolved "that it be accepted, and the same be recorded and enrolled among the acts of the United States in Congress assembled."
Title to the vast territory of the north-west having thus been secured to the United States, at an early date the prudent consideration of Congress was directed toward preliminary meas- ures pointing to the permanent organization of civil government in the same, it now being within the legitimate province of its leg- islation. July 13, 1787, that august body, after considerate inves- tigation, deliberate thought, and cautious inquiry into the subject, combined with tedious, dispassionate, and exhaustive analysis of the vital issues involved, proclaimed the outgrowth of their matured action to the civilized world in what they saw proper to denominate, "An ordinance for the government of the territory of the United States north-west of the River Ohio," which is popularly known as "the Ordinance of '87." This ordinance was the supreme law of the territory, and upon it was engrafted and in harmony with it, our entire territorial enactments, and all our sub- sequent State legislation. As we are greatly indebted to that doc- ument, the product of a sound, wise, and far-reaching statesman- ship, for a large share of our greatness, prosperity and happiness, we here reproduce it :
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
19
HISTORY OF WAYNE COUNTY, OHIO.
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 intestate, 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 grand-child 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 parents' 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 witness; and real estate may be conveyed hy 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 appointed, 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 therein, 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 exercise of his office ; it shall be his duty to keep and preserve the acts and laws passed by the legislature, 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 congress. 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 jurisdiction, and reside
20
THE NORTH-WESTERN TERRITORY.
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 publish 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 district until the organization of the general assembly therein, unless disapproved of by congress; but afterward the leg- islature shall have authority to alter them as they shall think fit.
The governor, for the time being, shall be commander-in-chief of the mili- tia, appoint and commission all officers in the same, below the rank of general officers ; all general officers shall be appointed and commissioned by congress.
Previous to the organization of the general assembly, the governor shall ap- point 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 continuance 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, tbe 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, however, 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 elect representatives from their counties, or townships, to represent them in the general assembly : provided, 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 legislature : provided that no person be eligible or qualified to act as a representative unless he shall have been a citizen of one of the United States three years, and be a resident in the dis- trict, 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 freehold in fifty acres of land in the dis- trict, having been a citizen of one of the states, and being resident in the district, or the like freehold 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
21
HISTORY OF WAYNE COUNTY, OHIO.
case of the death of a representative, or removal from office, the governor shall issne 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 elected 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 freehold in five hundred acres of land, and return their names to con- gress, five of whom congress shall appoint and commission to serve as aforesaid ; and whenever a vacancy shall happen in the council, by death or removal from office, the house of representatives shall nominate two persons, qualified as afore- said, for each vacancy, and return their names to congress, one of whom congress shall appoint and commission for the residne of the term. And every five years, four months at least before the expiration of the time of service of the members of council, the said house shall nominate ten persons, qualified as aforesaid, and re- turn 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 act whatever shall be of any force withont his assent. The governor shall have power to convene, prorogue, and dissolve the general assembly when, in his opinion, it shall be expe- dient.
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 assembled, in one room, shall have authority, by joint ballot, to elect a delegate to congress, who shall have a seat in congress, with a right of de- bating, 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 republics, their laws, and constitutions are erected; to fix and establish those 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 establishment of states, and permanent government therein, and for their admission 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 ;
22
THE NORTH-WESTERN TERRITORY.
It is hereby ordained and declared by the authority aforesaid, That the following ar- ticles 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 man- ner, shall ever be molested on account of his mode of worship or religious senti- ments 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 represen- tation 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 offenses, where the proof shall be evident, or the presumption great. All fines shall be mod- erate, 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 necessary, for the common preservation, to take any person's property, or to demand his particular services, full compensation shall be made for the same. And, in the just preservation of rights and property, it is understood and declared that no law ought ever to be made, or have force in the said territory, that shall, in any manner whatever, inter- fere with or affect private contracts or engagements, bona fide, and without fraud, previously formed.
ART. 3. Religion, morality, and knowledge being necessary to good govern- ment and the happiness of mankind, schools and the means of education shall for- ever be encouraged. The utmost good faith shall always be observed towards the Indians ; their lands and property shall never be taken 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 constitu- tionally 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 subject 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 apportion" ments 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 districts, or new states, shall never interfere with the primary disposal of the soil
23
HISTORY OF WAYNE COUNTY, OHIO.
by the United States in congress assembled, nor with any regulations 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 estab- lished 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 Vincents 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 Port 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 ter- ritorial 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 understood and declared, that the boundaries of these three states shall be subject so far to be altered that, if congress shall hereafter find it expedient, they shall have authority to form 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 con- gress 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 their may be a less num- ber of free inhabitants in the state than sixty thousand.
ART. 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 and 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 service as aforesaid.
24
THE NORTH-WESTERN TERRITORY.
PROBABLE POPULATION IN 1787, AND CHARACTERISTICS OF.
It is estimated that at the date of the passage of the Ordinance of '87 the entire and aggregate population of all the villages and settlements of the territory did not exceed three thousand. These settlements were chiefly located in the north-west and western por- tions of it. The paucity of the inhabitants may partially be explained, that for the ends of peace, the government had by the strength of its military arm forestalled and interdicted any dispo- sition of the whites to possess or encroach upon lands occupied by the aborigines. The French were the occupants of the villages and environments, chief among which was Detroit, on the river of that name ; St. Vincents, on the Wabash; Cahokia, the site of the giant tumuli, a few miles below St. Louis ; St. Philip, forty-five miles below St. Louis, on the Mississippi river; Kaskaskia, on Kaskaskia river, six miles above its mouth, which empties into the Mississippi seventy-five miles below St. Louis ; Prairie-du-Rocher, near Fort Chartres ; and Fort Chartres fifteen, miles north-west from Kaskaskia.
Concerning these original prairie-squatters and wilderness insin- uators somebody writes as follows in regard to their peculiar character :
"Their intercourse with the Indians, and their seclusion from the world, de- veloped 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 without much industry, en- ergy 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 cul- tivated the soil. The traders or voyageurs were men fond of adventures, 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 be easily carried across the portages between the 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 enclosed tract for farming purposes. There was also at
25
HISTORY OF WAYNE COUNTY, OHIO.
each village a "common," or large inclosed tract, for pasturage and feed 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 author of the Western Annals says of the inhabitants :
They "were devout Catholics, who, under the guidance of their priests, attended punctually upon all the holidays and fes- tivals, 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 their especial occasion for their games and assemblies. The dance was the pop- ular amusement with them, and all classes, ages, sexes, and condi- tions, 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. Liv- ing 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 comfort- able poverty. Their agriculture was rude, their houses were hum- ble, and they cultivated grain, also fruits and flowers; but they lived on, from generation to generation, without much change or improvement. In some instances they intermarried with the sur- rounding Indian tribes."
These remote villages and settlements were usually protected by military posts-Detroit .especially, which, in 1763, when held by the English, had resisted the assaults of the great Pontiac- and had witnessed the "wrinkled front of grim-visaged war " a century before the adoption of the Ordinance of 1787.
ORGANIZATION OF THE OHIO LAND COMPANY.
Although our data was ample in this direction, we surrender it to the fuller description of Hon. Isaac Smucker, of Newark, Licking county, Ohio, as furnished to the Secretary of State, and
26
THE NORTH-WESTERN TERRITORY.
published in statistics of 1876, whose researches in this field are both thorough and exhaustive, which we here reproduce :
While Congress had under consideration the measure for the organization of a territorial goverment north-west of the Ohio river, the preliminary steps were taken in Massachusetts towards the formation of the Ohio Land Company, for the purpose of mak- ing a purchase of a large tract of land in said territory, and set- tling upon it. Upon the passage of the ordinance by Congress, the aforesaid land company perfected its organization, and by its agents, Rev. Manasseh Cutler and Major Winthrop Sargent, made application to the Board of Treasury July 27, 1787, to become purchasers, said board having been authorized four days before to make sales. The purchase, which was perfected October 27, 1787, embraced a tract of land containing about a million and a half acres, situated within the present counties of Washington, Athens, Meigs and Gallia, subject to the reservation of two townships of land six miles square, for the endowment of a college, since known as Ohio University, at Athens; also every sixteenth section, set apart for the use of schools, as well as every twenty-ninth section, dedicated to the support of religious institutions; also sections eight, eleven and twenty-six, which were reserved for the United States for future sale. After these deductions were made, and that for donation lands, there remained only nine hundred and sixty-four thousand, two hundred and eighty-five acres to be paid for by the Ohio Land Company, and for which patents were issued.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.