USA > Ohio > Muskingum County > Zanesville > Past and present of the city of Zanesville and Muskingham County, Ohio > Part 2
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The first actual movement to cede the western land to the United States came from New York, whose claims were the least defensible, as no citi- zen of that commonwealth lived in the region al- leged to be owned. It claimed the territory as the heir of the Iroquois tribes, under treaties with the Six Nations and their conquered tributaries, and for land extending from the lakes to the Cum- berland mountains, including Kentucky which was also claimed by Virginia under charter rights and conquest.
February 19, 1780, the legislature of New York gave proof of its national sentiments by author- izing the cession of all its claims to the United States on certain conditions, and March 1, 1781. Congress accepted the proposition. Further, the western limits were voluntarily fixed on the me- ridian of the extreme western end of Lake On- tario, which left the "Erie Triangle" at the north- west corner of Pennsylvania ; this small portion was also claimed by Massachusetts and included in its later cession, and 1792 the United States
sold it to Pennsylvania to give that state a front- age on Lake Erie.
September 6, 1780, a committee of Congress expressed the opinion, which was adopted, that "It appears more advisable to press upon these states which can relieve the embarrassments re- specting the western country, a liberal surrender of a portion of their territorial claims since they cannot be preserved entire without endangering the stability of the general confederacy" and Oc- tober 10 it was determined, as the first step in the administration of the public domain, that all west- ern land ceded to the general government should be disposed of for the common advantage, sav- ing only that the reasonable expense of any state thus ceding her rights might be allowed her, in case she had been at the cost of defending the ceded parts during the war.
July 31, 1782, Congress took steps for a survey and disposition of vacant lands, and a committee reported September 5 "that it is their opinion that the western land, if ceded to the United States, might contribute towards a fund for paying the debts of the states," and on motion of Mr. With- erspoon it was amended to read, "for the dis- charge of the national debt.'
July 3. 1783, the first draft of an ordinance for the government of the Northwest Territory was presented by Theodorick Bland, in which it was proposed to accept the land from Virginia conditionally, and ultimately divide it into states as soon as such sections of it should contain 20,- 000 people.
Virginia made the largest claim of any of the states to western land based on chartered rights and conquest, and her assertion of title had early. in the Revolutionary war, been questioned by those states which had no chartered extensions to the west ; the disputants alleged that common cause was being made for independence and that unsettled land should be shared in common by all the states, and Maryland had blocked the forma- tion of the Confederation by refusing to join un- less the question was settled. Maryland's protest was laid before Congress, May 21, 1779. when Virginia rather arrogantly told the remonstrants that she could manage her own affairs, and, disre- garding the growing conviction that all western land should belong to the nation as a whole, pro- ceeded to arrange to open an office for the sale of lands south of the Ohio, although New York. under treaties with the Indians, and Massachu- setts and Connecticut under charters, disputed her claims.
Certain land companies, holding tracts in the territory, memorialized Congress to arrest the sale of all land until Virginia and the companies could be heard and October 30. 1779, Congress passed a resolution, for which all but Virginia and North Carolina voted, which earnestly recommended to
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"the said state, and all other states similarly cir- cumstanced, to forbear selling or issuing warrants for such unappropriated lands, or granting the same during the continuance of the present war." Virginia replied December 14, 1779, and stated she desired to give every satisfaction in her power, consistent with her rights, and had enacted a law to prevent settlements north of the Ohio but protested against any claims by the contend- ing companies ; she argued her title and ex- pressed her willingness to furnish land north of the Ohio, without money, as bounty to the sol diers of such states as had no lands for the pur- pose.
In 1780 Thomas Paine attacked Virginia's claim in a pamphlet styled "Public Good" and urged that a new state be formed of the western land and the proceeds of the land sales be used to pay the debts of the war, and September 6, 1780, Congress recommended to the several states having claims to western laids to cede the same to the United States.
January 2, 1781, Virginia yielded to Congress the lands north of the Ohio on condition that Con- gress would guarantee to Virginia all her other claims south of that stream, but the price was re- garded too great and Congress declined, and Vir- ginia lost the opportunity of taking the lead in the movement which began March 1, 1781, when New York ceded its claims to the general govern- ment.
September 13, 1783, Congress prescribed the conditions upon which it would accept a cession from Virginia, which was agreed to by all the states excepting Maryland and New Jersey, and December 20, 1783, Virginia authorized her dele- gates in Congress to convey to the United States all rights to the territory northwest of the Ohio, which cession was signed March 1, 1784, by Thomas Jefferson, Arthur Lee, James Monroe and Samuel Hardy.
The cession contained a reservation that in case the quantity of good land in Virginia's territory south of the Ohio was insufficient for the boun- ties to Virginia's soldiers, the deficiency should be made in good land lying between the Scioto and Little Miami rivers in Ohio, and 4,204,800 acres were so reserved and known as the Virginia Mili- tary Lands. The Federal Government was also to confirm the possession and title of the French Canadians and other villager citizens of Virginia, and satisfy the land bounty claim of George Rog- ers Clarke and soldiers to an aggregate of 150,- 000 acres.
The cession stipulated that all land within the territory ceded, and not reserved for an appropri- ation to any specific purpose or disposed of in bounties to the officers and soldiers of the Amer- ican army, should be considered as a common fund for the use and benefit of such of the United
States as have become or may become members of the Confederation, or federal alliance of the said states, Virginia inclusive, according to the respec- tive proportion in the general charge and expendi- ture, and for no other purpose or use whatsoever.
April 5. 1784, a committee of Congress re- ported that "Congress still considers vacant terri- tory as a capital resource," and the Virginia ces- sion having been made, on April 23, 1784, the act, known as the Ordinance of 1784, was passed for the temporary government of the ceded territory, and it was provided that ten small states should be created to be known as Sylvania, Michigania, Chersoneus, Illinoia, Assenisipia, Metropotamia, Saratoga, Washington, Polypotamia and Pele- sipia. This Ordinance was inoperative and noth- ing was done under it.
Massachusetts claimed charter rights to a strip of territory between Lakes Huron and Erie, bounded on the east by the St. Clair and Detroit rivers and Lake St. Clair, and extending west- ward, in parallel lines, across Michigan, Lake Michigan, Illinois and Wisconsin, to the Missis- sippi river ; this territory was beyond the country in which her title had been extinguished by later grants, was a wilderness occupied by the British and Indians, and in which no citizen of Massa- chusetts resided or could go: April 19, 1785, it was ceded to the United States without reserve.
May 20, 1785, Congress passd the first Ordi- nance respecting the method of disposing of west- ern lands, and while the final cessions were pend- ing the future of the vast domain was discussed, at intervals, but little progress was made until May 10, 1786, when a committee reported that the number of states should not be less than two nor more than five, but the question of slavery in them was left open ; nothing further was done until April 26, 1787, when another committee re- ported "An Ordinance for the government of the western Territory" which, after various amend- ments, was marked, May 10, for a third reading, and further consideration was deferred until July 9.
In the light of experience, every plan proposed from September 6, 1780, when the resolution was passed asking the states to cede land, until July 6, 1787. when the Ohio proposition was made, would have been harmful had it been carried out.
At the beginning of the Revolutionary war, Connecticut claimed a strip of land lying between her charter limits, 41 degrees and 42 degrees and 2 minutes north latitude, extending from the Del- aware river to the Mississippi river; Pennsylva- nia also claimed the strip lying within her charter limits and the bitter controversy was decided by the federal court sitting at Trenton, New Jersey, in 1782, in favor of Pennsylvania, which left Con- necticut claiming that part west of the western boundary of Pennsylvania, and which lay south of
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the Massachusetts claim across Michigan, Illinois and Wisconsin to the Mississippi.
In October, 1780, Connecticut agreed to cede the territory to the United States with retained jurisdiction which Congress declined, and in January, 1783, Connecticut instructed her dele- gates to proceed no further ; May 20, 1786, the legislature authorized the delegates in Congress to cede the western lands, after New York, Virginia and Massachusetts had ceded theirs, but shrewdly retained a proprietary right in 4,300,000 acres in Ohio, along the shore of Lake Erie. September 13, 1786, the cession was made of all the land claimed except that portion lying between the western boundary of Pennsylvania and a meridian 120 miles west thereof, which reservation was known as the Western Reserve of Connecticut, and sometime as New Connecticut, the soil and jurisdiction being reserved. This concession was strongly opposed and Washington was not in favor of accepting it, but Congress was extremely anxious to obliterate all claims by the states to the western lands, and acceded to the agreement. The title to the land was not so good as in the other portion of the territory, where Federal war- rants were given, and April 28, 1800, Congress passed an act agreeing to issue Federal warrants for the western reserve land on condition that Connecticut would quit claim its title to the United States : the legislature having authorized this, on May 30, 1800, the Governor executed the document.
In October, 1786, one month after the cession, the legislature of Connecticut resolved to put the reserve land on the market, at not less than three shillings per acre, and $27 per township of six miles square was paid in specie for the survey. May 10, 1792, the legislature donated 500,000 acres in the reserve for the citizens of Connecticut whose property and homes had been destroyed by the British during the war ; the aggregate number of such persons was 1,870 and their losses amounted to 161,548 pounds sterling ; this reser- vation was known as the Fire or Sufferer's lands.
In May, 1793, the legislature appointed a com- mittee to sell the land, and in October they re- ported an act to sell the land to establish a fund for the support of the ministry and public schools, which was adopted, but the ecclesiastical feature gave such dissatisfaction it was repealed. In May, 1795, another enactment was agreed on for the sale of the land and a committee appointed to carry it into execution. Propositions for the pur- chase were advertised in June, and in August a meeting was held to consider the bids, which ran from $1,000,000 to $1,250,000, the highest being from a citizen of New York ; this aroused the peo- ple of Connecticut and the bidder proposed to give them a half interest in the tract : a counter proposition caused the withdrawal of the New
York proposition ; as nearly every person in Con- necticut was interested in one or more of the numerous land companies, a proposition was fin- ally accepted to sell the tract for $1,200,000, pay- able in five years. The sale was made August 12, and September 2, 1795, the deeds were made but no money was paid, and the purchasers had con- siderable difficulty in giving security, and later had to give the land as collateral. The school fund of Connecticut amounts to more than $2,- 000,000, and yields the state annually about $120,- 000 from the sale of the western reserve lands.
July 9, 1787, Congress referred the Ordinance to a new committee, which reported on the 11th ; on the 12th the anti-slavery clause was added and July 13, 1787, the famous Ordinance became a law with only one dissenting vote and July 27, 1787, the terms of sale to the Ohio company passed the Congress.
The Ordinance of 1787 has been pronounced "the Ordinance of Freedom" and "Next to the Federal Constitution, the greatest of all legislative acts." Daniel Webster declared that no single law, or any law giver, ancient or modern, has pro- duced effects of more distinct and lasting charac- ter. In his address at the Centennial celebration, of the landing of the Pilgrims at Marietta, Sena- tor George F. Hoar said :
"Here was the first human government under which absolute civil and religious liberty has always prevailed. Here no witch was ever hanged or burned. No heretic was ever molested. Here no slave was ever born or dwelt. When older states or nations, where the chains of human bondage have been broken, shall utter the proud boast, 'With a great sum obtained I this free- dom,' each sister of this imperial group-Ohio, Michigan, Indiana, Illinois, Wisconsin-may lift her queenly head, with the yet prouder answer, 'But I was free born.'"
TERRITORIAL GOVERNMENT.
In November, 1785, a detachment of United States' troops, under Major Doughty, was sent to the mouth of the Muskingum river, where they erected Fort Harmar on the west bank : July 13. 1787, the famous ordinance creating the Terri- tory Northwest of the river Ohio was adopted by the Congress of the Confederation, and Octo- ber 5, 1787. Gen. Arthur St. Clair was appointed Governor, but did not proceed to his post until the succeeding summer. April 7. 1788. the first set- tlement in the Territory was established at Marietta, and as there was no government the settlers, on the next day, voluntarily adopted a code of regulations and nailed a copy to a tree on the river bank. These rules were to govern
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the dealings of the people with each other and meet the exigencies of the community until the officers of the Territory should arrive and insti- tute regular government.
The Governor and party arrived July 9, 1788, and rested until the 15th when the Governor pub- licly appeared before the assembled settlers, read the commissions of himself and colleagues, de- livered his inaugural and began the government. His first official act for the establishment of local government was the erection of Washington County, which was proclaimed July 27, 1788, and embraced all that portion of the present state of Ohio lying east of Cuyahoga river and its port- age to the Tuscarawas, and the course of the latter to Fort Laurens (or Lawrence) ; thence west to the Scioto river and by its course to the Ohio, the area embracing nearly one half the present state.
The ordinance of 1787 provided for a gover- nor to serve three years, to be appointed by the Congress, as the government of the United States under the Constitution had not yet been formed ; a secretary to be likewise appointed to serve four vears, and a court of three judges to serve during good behavior, two of whom should constitute a court and have common law jurisdiction.
The governor and judges, or a majority of them, had authority to adopt and publish "such laws of the original states, criminal and civil, as may be necessary and best suited to the cir- cumstances in the district, and report them to Congress :" and such enactments were to remain in force until the organization of a general as- sembly and their repeal, unless disapproved by the Congress.
The only participation the people had in the government was to yield a blind obedience to the directions of the governor and judges, and Na- than Dane, the reputed author of the Ordinance of 1787, said it was "made unfriendly to liberty" in order to induce the early formation of states to become a part of the Federal union.
The first assumption of local government, by the people, occurred at Marietta, February 4, 1789, during the absence of the governor and judges, when a town meeting was held to make some police regulations for the village, and apol- ogies were made to the Territorial authorities for the action on the plea of urgent necessity.
The first local government was established by publication, November 6, 1790, which directed "the justices of the court of general quarter ses- sions of the peace" in the several counties "to di- vide the counties into townships" and creating the offices of constable, overseer of the poor and township clerk, who were to be appointed by the justices and not elected by the people. The judges in each county were empowered to ap- point assessors and June 19, 1795, the first power
conferred on the people was given by an act pro- viding that the assessors should be chosen by the electors in each township, and the first officers chosen by them were the ones that imposed the tax.
Town meetings were established January 18, 1802, and persons elected to office were required to serve or pay a fine of $5.00, but were not obliged to serve two consecutive years.
It was stipulated in the Ordinance that when there should be 5,000 free male inhabitants in the Territory they should have authority to elect rep- resentatives from their counties or townships to a General Assembly, to serve two years, on the basis of one representative for every 500 frec male inhabitants, until there were 25 representa- tives, after which the ratio should be fixed by the legislature, but every representative was required to be a citizen of the United States for three years and a resident of the district, or a resident of the district for three years, and in either case must own, in his own right, 200 acres of land in the same ; a voter was required to have fifty acres of land in the district and be a citizen and resi- dent, or a like freehold and two years' residence.
The General Assembly consisted of the Gov- ernor, Legislative Council and a House of Rep- resentatives. The Legislative Council consisted of five members to serve five years, unless sooner removed by Congress, and three of whom should be a quorum, to be chosen in the following man- ner: When the representative had been elected the Governor was to name a time and place for them to meet and nominate ten persons, resident in the district, and each possessed of a freehold in 500 acres of land, and return their names to the Congress, five of whom the Congress was to select and commission as such Council ; when a vacancy occurred the House of Representatives was to name two persons, one of whom the Con- gress was to select and commission for the re- mainder of the term; and every five years the House was to nominate ten persons from whom the Congress was to choose five.
The Governor, Legislative Council and House of Representatives had authority to make laws in all cases for the government of the Territory not repugnant to the principles and articles of the Ordinance, and when a legislature had been formed the Council and House, by joint ballot, were permitted to choose a Delegate to the Con- gress, with a voice but no vote.
Preceding the formation of a Territorial Legis- lature the following counties had been formed by proclamation of the Governor :
Hamilton, in Ohio, January 2, 1790; enlarged February II, 1792 ; again enlarged June 22, 1798, by a part of Knox. St. Clair, in Illinois, April 27, 1790. Knox, in Indiana, June 20, 1790. Randolph, in Illinois, October 15, 1795. Wayne,
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in Ohio, Indiana and Michigan, August 15, 1796. Adams, in Ohio, taken from Hamilton, July 10, 1797. Jefferson, in Ohio, taken from Washing- ton, July 29, 1797. Ross, in Ohio, taken from Adams, August 20, 1798 and a strip taken off the east side of Hamilton and added to Adams.
Nine counties therefore existed in the North- west Territory when, in 1798 it was ascertained there were enough male inhabitants to entitle them to enter upon the second grade of territorial government, and Governor St. Clair issued a proclamation directing the electors to choose Representatives to the first General Assembly ; the election was held in December, 1798, and as the legislature could not convene until the Legis- lative Council was commissioned the Representa- tives elect were directed to assemble at Cincin- nati, February 4, 1799, to nominate ten persons from whom the selection by the Congress should be made.
The original Ordinance was enacted by the Congress of the Confederation but the govern- ment of the United States, under the Constitution, had meantime been formed and at the first session of the first Congress an act had been passed di- recting that "in order that the Ordinance of the United States, in Congress assembled, for the government of the Territory Northwest of the river Ohio, may continue to have full effect, it is requisite that certain provisions should be made to adapt the same to the present Constitution of the United States" and it was provided that in all cases wherein the Governor of the Territory was directed to report to the Congress of the Confederation he should communicate with the President of the United States, who would nom- inate, and by and with the consent of the Senate, appoint all officers which the Ordinance stip- ulated should be appointed by the Congress.
Of the ten men selected by the Representa- tives the President commissioned two from Ham- ilton county, and one each from Washington and Jefferson counties in Ohio and Indiana.
The First General Assembly of the Territory convened at Cincinnati, September 16, 1799, and adjourned December 19. An idea of the popula- tion of the territory now covered by the states of Ohio, Indiana, Illinois and Michigan, may be had by considering the representation to this body : Hamilton county had 7; Ross, 4; Adams and Washington, 2 each ; Jefferson, 1; or 16 in all from the Ohio counties ; St. Clair and Randolph, I each, or 2 from Illinois ; Knox, I from Indiana ; and Wayne, I, from the combined Ohio, Indiana and Michigan counties ; a total of 22 members.
From the beginning of the Territorial govern- ment, differences of opinions had prevailed be- tween the Executive and the judges respecting the scope of their legislative authority. In "Win- ning of the West," Theodore Roosevelt says of
St. Clair : "He was an autocrat both by military training and by political principles. He was a man of rigid honor, and he guarded the interests of the Territory with jealous integrity, but he exercised such a vigorous supervision over the acts of his subordinate colleagues, the judges, that he became involved in wrangles at the very beginning of his administration." The Governor contended that he and the judges could adopt only such laws as were in force in some state, but the judges outvoted him, and when the ques- tion was referred to the Congress the Governor was sustained. Other causes of friction had arisen while the Governor had considerable in- fluence and a large following the opposition was powerful as was manifested when the General Assembly selected a Delegate to Congress.
Although the Governor was a part of the leg- islature he was excluded from participating in the selection of the Delegate, and Captain W. H. Harrison, Secretary of the Territory, was named in opposition to Arthur St. Clair, Jr., son of the Governor, and Attorney General of the Territory, and October 3, 1799, Harrison received one ma- jority as a Delegate.
When Harrison resigned the secretaryship to go to Congress, the office remained vacant a couple of months and a young Virginian, Charles Willing Byrd, an earnest Jeffersonian Republi- can, was appointed, and as he was ex-officio Gov- ernor, in the absence of that officer, he exercised his ad interim authority to advance his party in- terests, a practice as common in those days as the present. The greater part of the Representatives were Federalists and as they had the selection of the Legislative Council that body was entirely of that political faith, and had been appointed by President Adams.
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