USA > Ohio > Ohio's progressive sons; a history of the state; sketches of those who have helped to build up the commonwealth > Part 3
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vegetables for me and my brother to subsist on, give me or any other person a claim to your land." Post, having retired, to give the chiefs and council time to deliberate, was addressed as follows at a second interview: "Brother! Now as you have spoken more distinctly, we may perhaps be able to give you some advice. You say you are come at the instigation of the Great Spirit to teach and to preach to us. So, also, say the priests at Detroit, whom our father, the French, has sent among his Indian children. Well, this being the case, you, as a preacher, want no more land than they do; who are content with a garden lot to plant vege- tables and pretty flowers in, such as the French priests also have, and of which the white people are all fond. Brother! As you are in the same station and employ with those preach- ers we allude to, and as we never saw any one of those cut down trees and till the ground to get a livelihood, we are inclined to think, especially as those men without laboring. hard look well, that they have to look to another source than that of hard labor for their main- tenance. And we think that if, as you say, the Great Spirit urges you to preach to the Indians, he will provide for you in the same manner as he provides for those priests we have seen at Detroit. We are agreed to give you a garden spot, even a larger spot than those have at Detroit-it shall measure fifty steps each way, and if it suits you, you are at liberty to plant therein what you please." Post agreed, as there was no remedy, the boundaries of the lot were stepped off, stakes were driven at the corners, and Post told that now he might go on. (Heckewelder's narrative.)
But Post's activity among the Indians was only of short duration. Pontiac was at this time secretly maturing his formidable conspiracy and the missionaries were soon ordered to return to the settlements. No further attempt was made to Christianize the Indians for several years. Finally, in the spring of 1768, the Moravian Zeisberger established himself among them. The suspicious savages saw nothing "but evil in the white man's eye," and sought by secret conspiracies and open threats, to compel him to abandon his mission. But Zeisberger labored on, and bore with patient serenity the indignities to which he was exposed.
The conversion of a few of the principal Indians animated him to persevere. After some time he was encouraged to settle with his associates on the banks of the Big Beaver, and, not long after, the Delawares and Wyandots proposed that his little Christian community should take up its abode on the banks of the Muskingum. This invitation was finally accepted and resulted in founding the village of Schoenbrunn, on the 3rd of May, 1772. Being joined, the year following, by other converts, from the banks of the Susquehannah and Big Beaver, the little Moravian colony in the depth of the wilderness, though occasionally regarded with suspicion by the surrounding tribes, slowly increased in numbers, and, for a considerable period, escaped molestation.
Zeisberger's first settlement consisted of twenty-eight persons. The emigration from the Susquehannah amounted to two hundred and forty-one persons, and the one from Beaver Creek to about one hundred. A part of the new arrivals, Mohicans, founded the village of Gnadenhuetten, ten miles below Schoenbrunn. When the pilgrimage from the distant Big Beaver was happily ended, and the Indians in council had welcomed their brethren, David Zeisberger and John Heckewelder summoned the congregation together. John Ettwein, about to invoke the blessing of heaven and depart to Bethlehem, stood near while the rules of the congregation (the phrase is Heckewelder's in his narrative), as agreed to and ap- proved by the national assistants, were read and accepted by the whole congregation. It was a scene not wholly unlike the first compact of the Puritan community in the cabin of the Mayflower. An August sky was above them, the waters of the Elk Eye glided gently by,
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the "beautiful spring" reflected the motionless group and the voice of prayer and praise hallowed the adoption of the following homely frame of civil and religious obligation, the first act of Ohio legislation, the constitution of 1772:
I. We will know of no other God, nor worship any other but Him who has created us and redeemed us with his most precious blood.
2. We will rest from all labor on Sundays, and attend the usual meetings on that day for divine service.
3. We will honor father and mother, and support them in age and distress.
4. No thiefs, murderers, drunkards and adulterers shall be suffered among us.
5. No one shall be permitted to dwell with us without the consent of our teachers.
6. No one that attends dances, sacrifices or heathenish festivals can live among us.
7. No one using Trchappich (witchcraft) in hunting shall be suffered among us.
8. We will renounce all juggles, lies and deceits of Satan.
9. We will be obedient to our teachers, and to the helpers who are appointed to see that good order be kept, both in and out of town.
10. We will not be idle and lazy-nor tell lies of one another-nor strike each other- we will live peaceably together.
II. Whosoever does any harm to another's cattle, goods or effects, etc., shall pay the damage.
12. A man shall have only one wife-love her and provide for her and the children. Likewise a woman shall have but one husband, and be obedient to him; she shall also take care of the children and be cleanly in all things.
13. We will not permit any rum or spirituous liquor to be brought into our town. If strangers or traders happen to bring any, the helpers are to take it in their possession, and take care not to deliver it to them until they set off again.
14. None of the inhabitants shall run in debt with traders, nor receive goods on com- mission for traders, without consent of the national assistants.
15. No one is to go on a journey or long hunt without informing the minister or steward about it.
16. Young people are not to marry without the consent of their parents, and take their advice.
17. If the stewards or helpers apply to the inhabitants for assistance, in doing work for the benefit of the place, such as building meeting and school houses, clearing and fencing land, etc., they are to be obedient.
18. All necessary contributions for the public ought cheerfully to be attended to.
The above rules were made and adopted at a time when there was a profound peace ; when, however, six years later, during the Revolutionary War, individuals of the Delawares took up the hatchet to join in the conflict, the national assistants proposed and insisted on having the following additional rules added, namely :
19. No man inclining to go to war-which is the shedding of blood, can remain among us.
20. Whosoever purchases goods or articles of warriors, knowing at the time that such have been stolen or plundered, must leave us. We look upon this as giving encouragement to murder and theft.
When the battles of Bunker Hill and Lexington had been fought, the preparations made by Great Britain and her revolted colonies to gather strength for a prolonged struggle, led the
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emissaries of both to court the assistance of the red man which jeopardized the peaceful seclusion of the Muskingum Village.
To break down the influence of British agents in the West, Colonel Morgan, an honest, energetic and popular trader, was appointed Indian Superintendent for the middle depart- ment, and in the spring of 1776, he took up his residence at Pittsburg. The Pottowattamies and Ottawas, influenced by Governor Hamilton, of Detroit, sought to bring the Delawares and Shawanese into alliance with the British, and for some time their intrigues threatened a general Indian war. Congress becoming alarmed, despatched three commissioners to con- ciliate the tribes in that territory, but it was with the greatest difficulty the chiefs could be prevailed upon to attend a council proposed to be held at Pittsburg. Finally, however, dur- ing the month of October, the commissioners were met by delegates from the Delawares, Senecas and a part of the Shawanese; but very little good resulted from the conference. The Shawanese speedily joined the Northern Indians; and though a portion of the Delawares wavered for a time in their fidelity to Great Britain, they finally followed the council of Cap- tain Pipe, one of the principal chiefs, and flocked under the royal banner.
Although a dubious neutrality was maintained by the various Indian tribes during the year 1776, it is well known that the majority of them were in the British service, and that a renewal of the war upon the frontiers might be expected at any moment. Colonel Morgan exerted himself to keep the Indians quiet as long as possible, but his efforts, although not altogether unsuccessful, were destined to be frustrated by the treacherous murder of Corn- stalk, a brave Shawanese chief, at Fort Randolph, a military post erected at the mouth of the Great Kanawha.
Already the threatening aspect of affairs on the Ohio River had led Congress to prepare for the breaking out of hostilities. Thirty large batteaux, forty feet long and nine feet wide, were constructed in the Monongahela. ready to be used in an invasion of the Indian country ; but notwithstanding the Mingos were harassing the frontiers of Virginia and other savage bands were constantly crossing the Ohio to attack the settlements in Kentucky, Morgan, justly dreading the effects of a general Indian war, earnestly remonstrated against the sending of an expedition at this time, and recommended instead that the borderers should themselves be firmly restrained from encroaching upon Indian territory, and that an attempt should be made to avert the danger by forbearance and conciliation. This judicious advice being well received by the federal authorities, the proposed expedition was aban- doned for the season, but the clamorous outcry for protection on the frontiers, led to its revival shortly after, on a more imposing scale.
During the spring of 1778, General Lachlan McIntosh crossed the mountains at the head of five hundred men and commenced building a fort, which was subsequently known by his name, on the banks of the Ohio, near the mouth of the Big Beaver Creek. As the bands of Indian braves who persevered in maintaining a constant warfare upon the border stations were encouraged by Hamilton, the commander of Detroit, the reduction of that post was made the principal object of the expedition. In the month of October one thousand men were assembled at the new fort, but the season was then so far advanced that the original design was abandoned, and a treaty of peace having been concluded with the Delawares, the army was thrown forward to erect a military post on the banks of the Tuscarawas, prepara- tory to marching against the Wyandots and other hostile tribes in the neighborhood of San- dusky. A stockade work, called Fort Laurens, was built, and leaving it in garrison of one hundred and fifty men, under the command of Colonel Gibson, McIntosh returned with the main body of his troops to Fort Pitt. Left alone, and unsupported, deep in the wilderness, Fort Laurens was speedily invested by a large force of Shawanese and Wyandot warriors,
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who cut off all communication with the Ohio, slew a number of the garrison and reduced the remainder to great straits for want of food. The post was, however, relieved by McIntosh, early in 1779, but it was subsequently found so difficult and dangerous to maintain a proper connection with a military station in the heart of an enemy's country that the fort was finally evacuated during the following August. Later the fort was again occupied, at least so far as to conclude an Indian treaty there, in the fall of 1785. There was another campaign against the Indians in the spring of 1782. The American expedition was commanded by Colonel Williamson, and it was in this campaign that the settlements of Christian Indians on the Muskingum were destroyed and nearly all the peaceful Indians were either murdered or driven away by Colonel Williamson and his men. Another expedition immediately after- wards started from Wheeling under Colonel Crawford. It pressed forward to Upper San- dusky, but was finally defeated by the Indians. Colonel Crawford was taken prisoner and burnt to death at the stake, within the limits of the county which bears his name.
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OLD MAP OF THE INDIAN SETTLEMENTS
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CHAPTER III
Creation of the Northwestern Territory
The Birth of a New Empire .- Ordinance of 1787 .- The Ohio Land Company .- First Settlements of Marietta and Cincinnati .- The "Miami Slaughter House."- Unfortunate Warfare against Murderous Indians .- St. Clair's Defeat by the Red Warriors .- General "Mad" Anthony Wayne. The Battle of Fallen Timbers .- Treaty of Greenville .- Settlements in the Western Reserve and the Founding of Cleveland .--- Ohio's Admission into the Union as a State.
HEN the treaty of peace with England in 1783 fixed the Mississippi as the western boundary of the United States, the land north of the Ohio River was practically an unknown country ; but several States claimed that old grants from England gave them large tracts of land in those parts. The real value of those claims was not appreciated, but their claimants held to them, and, when peace with England brought the erstwhile colonies relief from war and its horrors, some of the States paid their soldiers in deeds to lands west of the Alleghenies. This brought on a scattering exodus to the West, and the far-seeing men of the day were not long in SHIP IMPERIO discovering that the wealth and importance of the frontier had long been underestimated. This fact soon was realized as keenly by the States which had no western lands as by those that did. It was argued-and wisely, too - that the growing value of those holdings would enrich the fortunate States so rapidly that other States could not hope to keep pace with them. And such a condition of affairs would in the end endanger the future of the new Republic. This was not an imaginary alarm, for the United States was then in a chaotic condition. It could scarcely be said to be a nation. The old articles of confederation had held the colonies together during the struggle with England, but proved insufficient when the common danger was removed. Each colony was left practically to pursue its own course. The need for a firmer union was felt, but what form it should take was uncertain. In fact, the statesmen of the day were not unanimous in the belief or hope that the colonies would eventually evolve into a country with a stable gov- ernment. There was, however, a universal sentiment for union, and, strange as it may seem, the Western land question, the first bone of contention, proved the solution of the critical situation. The smaller States, headed by Maryland, demanded that the unsettled territory west and north of the Ohio River be made the property of the country at large, to be held and administered under the direction of Congress for the benefit of the nation at large. The proposition was, of course, at first opposed by the States most interested, but when it was seen that their neighbors would enter no further alliance until they consented, one by one, with many reservations, conditions and stipulations, Virginia, Con- necticut, New York and Massachusetts surrendered their claims. The Northwest Terri- tory was created-the first government ever erected by a document that recognized the absolute equality of all men! Three great fundamental principles that were embodied in the original law of the territory by the Confederate Congress have remained to this day the guiding stars of Ohio's men. "First: Religion, morality and knowledge being necessary to good government and the happiness of mankind, schools and the means of education shall forever be encouraged. Second: The said territory and the States that may be formed therein shall remain forever a part of this Confederacy of the United States of America ; and, Third: There shall be neither slavery nor involuntary servitude in said territory." The historic ordinance which created the Northwest Territory is as follows :
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An Ordinance for the Government of the Territory of the United States Northwest of the Ohio River:
"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 intestate, shall descend to and be distributed among their children, and the descendants of a deceased child in equal parts; the descend- ants 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 parent's 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 estates 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, pro- vided 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, Saint Vincents, and the neighboring villages, who have heretofore pro- fessed 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 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 of the district, and report them to Congress, from time to time, which
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laws shall be in force in the district until the organization of the general assembly therein, unless disapproved of by Congress; but afterwards 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 commissioned 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 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, 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, 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 representative unless he shall have been a citizen of one of the United States three years, and be a resi- dent 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 freehold in fifty acres of land in the district, having been a citi- zen 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 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 Gov- ernor, 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, towit: 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, resident in the district, and each possessed of a freehold in five hun- dred acres of land, and return their names to Congress ; 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 aforesaid, for each vacancy, and return their names to Congress; one of whom Congress shall appoint and commission for the residue of the term; and every five years,
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