USA > Ohio > Auglaize County > History of western Ohio and Auglaize County, with illustrations and biographical sketches of pioneers and prominent public men > Part 13
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"The lands at all other places, in possession of the French people, and other white settlers among them, of which the Indian title has been extinguished, as mentioned heretofore.
"The post of Fort Massac, toward the mouth of the Ohio. To which several parcels of land, so excepted, the said tribes re- linquish all the title and claim which they, or any of them, may have.
"And for the same consideration, and with the same views as above mentioned, the United States now deliver to the said In- dian tribes a quantity of goods to the value of twenty thousand dollars, the receipt whereof they do hereby acknowledge, and henceforth, every year, forever, the United States will deliver, at some convenient place northward of the Ohio river, like useful goods, suited to the circumstances of the Indians, of the value of nine thousand five hundred dollars, reckoning that value at the first cost of the goods, in the city or place in the United States where they shall be procured. The tribes to which those goods are to be annually delivered, and the proportions in which they are to be delivered, are the following: To the Wyandots, the amount of one thousand dollars. To the Shawnees, the amount of one thousand dollars. To the Miamis, the amount of one thousand dollars. To the Ottawas, the amount of one thousand dollars. To the Chippewas, the amount of one thousand dollars. To the Pot- tawottomies, the amount of one thousand dollars. And to the Kickapoos, Wea, Eel River, Piankeshaw and Kaskaskia tribes, the amount of five hundred dollars each.
"Provided, that if either of the said tribes shall hereafter, at an annual delivery of their share of the goods aforesaid, desire that a part of their annuity should be furnished in domestic animals, implements of husbandry, and other utensils, convenient for them, and in compensation to useful artificers who may reside with or near them, and be employed for their benefit, the same shall, at the subsequent annual deliveries be furnished accordingly.
"To prevent any misunderstanding about the Indian lands re-
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linquished by the United States, in the fourth article, it is now ex- plicitly declared, that the meaning of that relinquishment is this : tlre Indian tribes who have a right to these lands, are quietly to enjoy them, hunting, planting, and dwelling thereon, so long as they please, without any molestation from the United States; but wlien those tribes, or any of them, shall be disposed to sell their lands, or any part of them, they are to be sold only to the United States; and until such sale, the United States will protect the said Indian tribes, in the quiet enjoyment of their lands, against all citizens of the United States, and against all other white persons who intrude upon the same, and the said Indians again acknowl- edge themselves to be under the protection of the said United States, and no other power whatever.
"The Indians or United States may remove and punish in- truders on Indian lands.
"Indians may hunt within ceded lands.
!! "Trade shall be opened in substance, as by the provisions in treaty of Fort Harmar.
"All injuries shall be referred to law ; not privately avenged ; and all hostile plans known to either, shall be revealed to the other party.
"All previous treaties annulled.
"In testimony whereof, the said Anthony Wayne, and the Sachems and War Chiefs of the before-mentioned Nations and Tribes of Indians, have hereunto set their hands and affixed their seals. Done at Greenville, in the Territory of the United States, northwest of the river Ohio, on the 3d day of August, one thou- sand seven hundred and ninety-five.
This great and abiding document was signed by the various nations named in the fourth article, and dated August the 3d, 1795. It was laid before the Senate, December 9th, and ratified December 22d. So closed the old Indian wars of the West."
In the mean time Jay's treaty, to the surprise of nearly every- body, was signed in 1794 and ratified in 1795. In 1796 General Wayne was commissioned by President Washington to take formal possession of the British posts on the lakes and rivers of the North- west, as nominally established by the treaty of Versailles, which was the actual line of demarkation between the American and the British possessions.
There can be no doubt that the design of the British agents
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up to this time, in their long intrigue with the Indians of the Northwest, was to unite the Indians into a great confederacy, to whom the United States would ultimately be compelled to con- cede the Ohio river as the boundary line between the Indian terri- tory and the states bordering on that river.
The British were influenced by no philanthropic desire to pro- tect the rights of the savages, in the attempt to secure them against the encroachments of the American settlers ; on the contrary, they sought through that policy to establish a British protectorate over the northwestern tribes, and thus, in effect, to remove the line of Canada to the Ohio, and to extend the authority of the British crown over the whole region covered by the ordinance of 1787.
General Wayne did not receive, during his lifetime, the hon- ors due to him for the services he rendered to his country. In addition to the statements made in the first part of this chapter with regard to the envy and jealousy of officers of the Revolution- ary War, who aspired to the command that Washington saw fit to give to General Wayne, we add the following taken from Judge Burnet's Notes :
"One of the miotives which induced General Wayne to pro- ceed from Detroit, on his way to Philadelphia, after the surrender of the posts, was to meet and refute, a set of charges exhibited against him, by General Wilkinson, a copy of which he had re- ceived, from the War Department, though it was not generally known, that anything of the kind existed. He had just con- quered the Indians - compelled them to sue for peace, and receive it on his own terms and had redeemed the character of the nation, from the reproach cast on it, by the defeat, and almost total annihi- lation of one army, and by heavy losses, and an unexpected failure, in the anticipated results of another. Thus covered with laurels, and hailed by the nation as a hero and a conqueror, it would seem incredible, that he was going to the seat of government, to answer accusations, implicating his character, and his military fame; yet such was the fact.
"It was said, that in conversation with his friends and others, with whom he conversed, he spoke of the charges as being un- founded, and malicious ; as they were in the estimation of every person who knew his character, and knew also, that he prized it more highly than he did his life. No attempt was ever made to sustain any one of them - but few persons ever heard of their
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existence ; and, at the War Department, they were entirely dis- · regarded.
·"General Wilkinson, who was one of the most accomplished men of his day, either in, or out of the army, and had acquired the character of a brave officer, had unfortunately contracted an early prejudice against General Wayne; which commenced dur- ing the Revolutionary War, in which they both served with repu- tation, from its commencement to its close. That state of mind predisposed him to pursue an unfriendly course toward General Wayne, and to avail himself of every opportunity to diminish the respect and confidence in him, which military officers ought al- ways to feel toward their Commander-in-chief.
"The opportunity General Wilkinson had, of making im- pressions on the minds of the army, unfriendly to General Wayne, may be learned from the fact, that he received the appointment of a Brigadier General in the spring of 1792, and being then a Col- onel at Fort . Washington, immediately assumed the command of the army; and that General Wayne, although appointed Com- mander-in-chief previous to that time, did not arrive at Cincinnati till September, 1793, the arrangements necessary for the coming campaign, having detained him at Philodalphia and Pittsburgh. In October, 1792, we find him at the latter place, perfecting those arrangements ; and also taking testimony to elucidate the facts, connected with the assassination of Colonel Hardin and Major Truman, who had been sent from Fort Washington, with a flag to the Indians."
In March following, the negotiations for peace with the Northwestern Indians commenced at Niagara, and were continued till late in August ; during that time, the officers of the army were ordered to remain in statu quo, and not permit any military move- ment whatever to be made. This order detained the General at Pittsburgh, and at Legionville, till the close of the summer of 1793, when he repaired to Cincinnati. During this interval, Gen- eral Wilkinson had the chief command at Fort Washington, and at all the outposts of that region, where his talents were success- fully employed in winning over and concentrating on himself, the confidence and esteem of the officers, and others connected with the army -an undertaking for which no person could be better quali- fied than himself. His deportment was easy and graceful; and in his general intercourse, he manifested great suavity of manners.
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In these respects, he differed, very much, from the Commander-in- chief, who, though an accomplished, well-educated gentleman, pos- sessed a firmness, decision, and bluntness of character, which, at times, had the appearance of roughness, if not rudeness, and oc- casionally gave offense.
Most men, whose achievements have distinguished them above their fellows, have had some striking peculiarity, not com- mon to others. This was the case with General Wayne, and must have induced the Indians, who were very acute in discriminating and drawing comparisons, to select for him the name of the "Big Wind," meaning the tornado; there being no single word in their language to express that idea. The fitness of the name they se- lected, will readily occur to those, who have a knowledge of his character ; and of the promptness, energy and unflinching boldness of his movements. His official letter to General Washington, com- municating the successful result of his desperate assault on Stony Point, has been referred to, as being somewhat peculiar and as affording some indication of his cast of mind, and general deport- ment. It is in these words :
STONY POINT, July 16th, 1779. Two O'Clock.
DEAR GENERAL : -
The fort and garrison, with Colonel Johnson, are ours - our officers and men behaved like men determined to be free.
Yours most sincerely,
ANTHONY WAYNE.
GENERAL WASHINGTON.
"The contrast between the two men was very striking; and the efforts which had been made by General Wilkinson, and those who were most warmly attached to his person, had induced a very large majority of the officers to arrange themselves under the banner of one or the other of those distinguished men. This un- pleasant state of feeling prevailed during the whole of the event- ful campaigns of 1793-4; and until the lamented death of General Wayne. There were a few who kept aloof from the quarrel, and exhibited no appearance of bad feeling towards either of the parties. Their number, however, was small; and it speaks well for the Commander-in-chief, that the officers most intimately con- nected with him, were of that number."
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The writer of this note, though wholly unconnected with the army, was an admirer of the Commander-in-chief ; and was also on terms of the most friendly intercourse with General Wilkinson and his staff, which afforded an opportunity of ascertaining their feelings toward General Wayne.
After the decisive battle of August, 1794, the personal friends of General Wilkinson, particularly the officers attached to his fam- ily, resorted to every expedient in their power, to undervalue the results of the victory, and to ascribe it to accident, or to any- thing, other than the talents and skill of the commanding General. It was alleged, that the fate of the day was to be attributed, in a great measure, to the want of concert among the chiefs, of the tribes, engaged in the battle - that the attack made on the Ameri- can troops was premature ; that not more than half of the Indians had arrived on the ground, when the firing commenced; that Blue Jacket, the Shawnee, who had ben chosen Commander-in-chief of the Indians, rejected the plan of attack recommended by Little Turtle, who afterwards became the confidential friend of General Wilkinson, and was one of the most talented of the Indian chiefs. It was also said, in the circle of the General's friends, that if the counsel of Little Turtle had prevailed, there would have been a simultanous attack, of the entire Indian force; in which case, the American troops could not have outflanked them, as they did; which maneuver alone, it was affirmed, settled the fate of the day.
That General Wayne was a man of splendid talents, both nat- ural and acquired, no one can doubt for a moment who reads his history. Every action of his life, from youth to age, shows this fact ; and no panegyric of the historian can render it plainer or make his character shine brighter. Political demagogues may treat him with contumely and base ingratitude, but they cannot obliterate a single syllable which records his brilliant actions.
At the close of the year 1796, whilst on his way to Philadel- phia, General Wayne was taken sick at Presque Isle, on the shore of Lake Erie, now Erie, Pennsylvania. At that time it was a little hamlet in the wilderness.
Here, after a short illness, he died, and at his request was buried under the flag-staff of the fort. Subsequently his son re- moved his remains to Radnor Churchyard, Delaware County, Pennsylvania.
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CHAPTER VIII.
TERRITORIAL EVENTS FROM 1791 TO 1812.
After the Indian War commenced Governor St. Clair gave his attention to mobilizing an army, and the management of his campaign. During that year and for a few years afterward, very little was done in the way of civil government. His defeat, and his arrogant manner in the conduct of the civil affairs of the territory, alienated his friends, and resulted in much bitter oppo- sition to his official acts.
For eleven years the people of the Northwestern Territory were governed by laws made by the governor and judges, or by proclamations of the governor. St. Clair claimed the right, under the act of Congress which created the territory, to organize counties, to create offices, and to fill them, to license keepers of taverns and ferries, to license attorneys at law, and commission all the military officers. For every license and every commis- sion he exacted large fees from those who received them. With this despotic administration of the civil affairs of the territory, the people became greatly dissatisfied. At times they were almost at the point of open rebellion. Especially so was it the case when he created the office of attorney general, for the whole ter- ritory, and appointed his son, Arthur St. Clair, junior, to that office. This officer, and the clerk of the supreme court, went around the territory, from county to county, holding courts. But this despotic form of government received a check in 1799, when the population of the Northwest Territory became suf- ficiently great to enable the people to elect a territorial legisla- ture. A census having been taken, Governor St. Clair, on the 29th day of October, 1798, issued a proclamation, directing the electors to elect representatives to a general assembly, the as- sembly to be held at Cincinnati, on the 22d day of January, 1799.
Much interest was manifested in the election, and the repre- sentatives assembled at Cincinnati, in conformity to the time pre -. scribed in the proclamation.
The first territorial legislature began its session at Cincin-
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nati on Monday the 16th day of September, 1799, by electing Henry Vanderburg President of the Council, and Edward Tiffin Speaker of the House.
This first legislature 'of the Northwestern Territory repre- sented a territory that included what are now the states of Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, and Wisconsin.
After being fully organized, both Houses were addressed by Governor St. Clair, in a speech, in which he presented his peculiar views of governing the territory. This legislature continued to sit until the 19th of December, when the Governor, in true British style prorogued them. "During the term of three months they passed about thirty public acts, many of them long and complicated ones."
"As soon as the governor's proclamation made its appear- ance, the election of a delegate to Congress excited general at- tention. Before the meeting of the legislature, public opinion had settled down on William Henry Harrison, and Arthur St. Clair, Jr., who were eventually the only candidates. On the 3d of October, the two houses met in the representatives' chamber, according to a. joint resolution, and proceeded to the election. The ballots being taken and counted, it appeared that William Henry Harrison had eleven votes, and Arthur St. Clair, Jr., ten votes; the former, therefore, was declared to be duly elected. The legislature, by joint resolution, prescribed the form of a certificate of his election; and having received that certificate, he resigned the office of Secretary of the territory-proceeded forthwith to Philadelphia, and took his seat, Congress being then in session."
During the one year that he sat in Congress, he rendered an important service to the Territory by securing from Congress, in spite of opposition from land speculators, a law subdividing the surveys of the public lands, and offering them for sale in small tracts. The law was hailed as the most beneficent act that Congress had ever done for the territory. It put it in the power of every industrious man, however poor, to become a free- holder, and to lay a foundation for the future support and com- fort of his family. "At the same session, he obtained a liberal extension of time for the pre-emptioners in the northern part of the Miami purchase, which enabled them to secure their farms. and eventually to become independent, and even wealthy."
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The great extent of country lying northwest of the Ohio river, made the ordinary operation of government uncertain, and the efficient action of courts almost impossible. A committee of Congress was appointed to investigate these judicial deficiencies, and to formulate plans for the better administration of justice in the territory.
On the 3d of March, 1800, the committee presented a lengthy report, from which the following extracts are taken: "The com- mittee would suggest, that the law of the 3d of March, 1791, granting land to certain persons in the western part of said ter- ritory, and directing the laying out of the same, remains un- eecuted ; that great discontent, in consequence of such neglect, is excited in those who were interested in the provisions of said law, and which require the immediate attention of this legis- lature. To minister a remedy to these evils, it occurs to this committee that it is expedient that a division of said territory, into two distinct and separate governments should be made; and that such division be made, by a line beginning at the mouth of the Great Miami river, running directly north, until it inter- sects the boundary between the United States and Canada."
In accordance with the spirit of this resolution an act was passed, and approved upon the 7th of May, from which the fol- lowing provisions are taken :
"That from and after the 4th day of July next (1800), all that part of the territory of the United States northwest of the Ohio river, which lies to the westward of a line beginning at the Ohio, opposite the mouth of the Kentucky river, and running thence to Fort Recovery, and thence north, until it shall inter- sect the territorial line between the United States and Canada, shall, for the purpose of temporary government, constitute a sep- arate territory, and be called the Indiana Territory.
"And be it further enacted, that nothing in this act con- tained, shall be construed so as in any manner to affect the gov- ernment now in force in the territory of the United States, north- west of the Ohio river, further than to prohibit the exercise thereof within the Indiana Territory, from and after the afore- said fourth of July next; Provided, That whenever that part of the territory of the United States which lies to the east- ward of a line beginning at the mouth of the Great Miami river, and running thence, due north, to the territorial line between
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the United States and Canada, shall be enacted into an indepen- dent State, and admitted into the Union on an equal footing with the original States, thenceforth said line shall become and remain permanently the boundary line between such State and the Indian Territory, anything in this act contained to the con- trary notwithstanding.
"And be it further enacted, That until it shall be otherwise ordered by the Legislatures of the said territories, respectively, Chillicothe, on the Scioto river, shall be the seat of the gov- ernment of the territory of the United States northwest of the Ohio river; and that St. Vincennes, on the Wabash river, shall be the seat of the government for the Indiana Territory."
As has already been stated, St. Clair was unpopular, and the citizens of the territory had become weary of his arbitrary manner of doing business. By the census of 1800, it was shown that there were forty-two thousand inhabitants in the territory. Application was, therefore, made at the next session of Con- gress for admission into the Union as a state. The application, for partisan reasons, met with serious opposition. But by the influence of President Jefferson, DeWitt Clinton and Brecken- ridge in the Senate, and Giles in the House, an Act of Congress was passed, April 30th, 1802, authorizing a convention of dele- gates to be elected in September, by the votes of that part of the North-west Territory bounded east by Pennsylvania, south by the Ohio river, west by a line drawn from the mouth of the Great Miami river due north to an east and west line passing through the southern extremity of Lake Michigan, and by this line and the Canadian line through Lake Erie to the west line of Pennsylvania.
"A condition of peculiar form was annexed. If the con- vention would provide, in a manner irrevocable except by the consent of Congress, that all public lands in the new state should be exempt from all tax for five years after they should be sold, Congress offered to give it section sixteen in every township for schools; also, all the reservations of salt springs; and, be- sides all this, one twentieth of the net proceeds of all sales of public lands in the state, to be applied by Congress in making roads between tide-water and the Ohio river in the state."
The convention met at Chillicothe, in November and adopted
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a State Constitution in conformity to the Act of Congress of April 30th, 1802.
The utter disregard by the convention, of St. Clair's views, filled him with irritation. He watched with anger the move- ments of the delegates, and in the bitterness of his feelings de- clared, within the hearing of unfriendly listeners, that repub- lican institutions no longer gave him confidence; that without a stronger form of government anarchy seemed inevitable. When these words were reported to President Jefferson, St. Clair was at once removed from office.
As already stated, the North-West Territory was divided in the spring of 1800. Soon after the passage of the law, Pres- ident Adams appointed William Henry Harrison governor of the western division, known as Indiana Territory.
The population of Indiana territory, at the period when Harrison was appointed governor, did not exceed five thousand and was in the main confined to three settlements - the first on Clark's grant, near the falls of the Ohio, the second at Vin- cennes; and the third on the Mississippi river, extending from Cahokia to Kaskaskia. The region to the north and northwest of these points were either occupied by the Indians, or consti- tuted their hunting grounds. Notwithstanding the treaty of Greenville, a spirit of restless hostility toward the United States prevailed among the Indian tribes, which was constantly fo- mented by British agents, who visited their villages, and did not hesitate to misrepresent the policy of the American govern- ment ; and, by presents of merchandise and spirituous liquors, to stimulate the Indians to annoy the white settlements, and re- sist their further extension to the northwest. Such were the limits of the Indiana Territory, and such the temper of the In- dians residing within, when Governor Harrison entered upon his duties.
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