USA > Ohio > The biographical annals of Ohio, 1906-1907-1908. A handbook of the government and institutions of the state of Ohio. > Part 13
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August 1-An act regulating the opening and care of Highways.
August 1-An act directing the building of a court house, jail, - pillory, whipping post and stocks in every county.
August I-An act regulating prisons.
August 1-An act regulating strays.
August 1-An act repealing so much of the law creating the office of clerk of the legislature, as required him to furnish certain public officers with manuscript copies of all acts of the territorial council. (Congress having provided for the printing of the territorial laws in Philadelphia.)
August I-An act supplementary to the law of November 23, 1788, regulating marriages.
August I-An act to regulate the admission of attorneys.
August 1-An act to empower the judge of the Probate Court to appoint guardians to minors.
August I-An act prescribing forms of writs and mode of pro- cedure in civil cases.
August 1-An act establishing the fee of judges of the Probate Court, of the Common Pleas Court, clerk of the Common Pleas, Pro- bate, Orphans' and Sessions' Courts, of the Court of Quarter Sessions, General or. Supreme Court, clerk of the same, attorneys, attorneys for the United States, witnesses, constables, coroners, sheriffs, criers, jail- ers, grand jurors, etc.
These laws are found in a published volume of the date of 1792, Philadel- phia, and certified by Winthrop Sargent, Secretary.
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THE BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF OHIO.
THE LAWS OF 1795.
T HE council sitting in 1795, in the town of Cincinnati, devoted the months of June, July and August to a careful revision of the code laws then in use in the territory, and by an act of repeal (See law of July 14 in list below) eliminated those laws to which, as exceeding the authority of the council, the Congress had objected, at the same time putting into operation new laws in their stead, which, by careful citation of the authority of some one of the original states, attested the propriety of such act by council.
The sitting members of the council at this time were Governor St. Clair and Judges Symmes and Turner, who certified, and caused to be published at Cincinnati, on the dates mentioned in each case, the following, which, being printed by William Maxwell, printer of Cin- cinnati, came to be known as "The Maxwell Code :"
Cincinnati, June 1, 1795-An act subjecting real estate to execu- tion for debt. Effective August 15. Signatures : St. Clair, Symmes and Turner.
Same day and same signers-An act allowing domestic attach- ments. Effective August 15. An act regulating domestic attachments. Effective August 15.
June 3-A law for the easy and speedy recovery of small debts. Effective October I.
June 3-A law concerning defalcation. Effective October I.
June 5-A law for the trial and punishment of larceny under a dollar and a half. Effective August 15.
June 5-An act to prevent unnecessary delays in causes, after is- ste is joined. Effective August 15.
June 6-Establishing courts of judicature. Effective August 15.
June 10-For the limitation of actions. Effective October I.
June II-Prescribing form of affirmation for those opposed to the common form of oath. Effective October I.
June II-For the recovery of fines and forfeitures. Effective August 25.
June 16-Ascertaining and regulating fees of the officers and persons named. (From New York and Pennsylvania Codes.) Effect- ive October I.
June 16-A law for establishing orphans' courts (Pennsylvania). Effective October I.
June 16-A law for the settlement of intestates' estates (Penn- sylvania). Effective August 15.
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THE BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF OHIO.
Laws of 1795.
June 17-A law to license and regulate taverns (Pennsylvania). Effective August 15.
June 18-Establishing the recorder's office (Pennsylvania). Ef- fective August I.
June 19-Raising county rates and levies (Pennsylvania). Effect- ive October I.
June 19-For the relief of the poor (Pennsylvania). Effective October I.
June 19-Concerning the probate of wills (Pennsylvania). Ef- fective October I.
June 25-Regulating enclosures (Pennsylvania). Effective Octo- ber I.
June 26-As to the order of paying the debts of persons deceased (Pennsylvania). Effective one year from date.
June 26-Concerning trespassing animals (Pennsylvania). Ef- fective in one year.
June 26-Directing how husband and wife may convey their es- tates (Pennsylvania). Effective August 15.
July 14-For the speedy assignment of dower (Massachusetts). Effective in one year.
July 14-Giving remedies in equity (Massachusetts). Effective October I.
July 14-Against forcible entry and detainer (Massachusetts). Effective September I.
July 14-Annulling the distinction between petit treason and murder (Massachusetts). Effective in one year.
July 14-Declaring what laws shall be in force (Virginia). Ef- fective October I.
"Common law of England, acts of Parliament prior to the fourth year of King James I," not local in character, etc.
(This led to endless confusion in the territory, from the fact that no one had the English acts, and all were at sea as to the real nature of the laws put in force by this enactment.)
July 14-To prevent trespass in the cutting of timber (Pennsyl- vania). Effective August 15.
July 14-An act of general repeal of earlier territorial laws. Ef- fective August 14.
This law repeals so much of the militia law as required the as- sembling on Sunday with arms, at the usual place of worship; the law respecting clerk of probate; fixing terms of the General Court; for the trial of larceny under a dollar and a half; appointing coroners ; limiting the times of commencing civil actions; the acts of 1790 at Vincennes; to alter the terms of the General Court; to augment the
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THE BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF OHIO.
Laws of 1795.
terms of the county Courts of Common Pleas, relating to the appoint- ment of township clerks; creating the office of clerk of the legislature; abolishing the distinction between the crimes of murder and petit treason ; enclosures of grounds ; granting licenses to inerchants, etc .; creating the office of treasurer general; directing the manner of rais- ing money to defray the charges in the counties; so much of the act regulating and opening highways as relates to bridges; for the dispo- sition of strays ; amending the clerk of the legislature act; to regulate the admission of attorneys; empowering the judges of probate to ap- point guardians for minors; prescribing the forms of writs. and the mode of procedure in civil cases, and the act establishing the fees of the several officers and persons named therein.
July 15-A law respecting divorce (Massachusetts). Effective October I.
July 17-A law for the partition of lands (New York). Effective October I.
July 15-A law allowing foreign attachments (New Jersey). Ef- fective October I.
July 16-Concerning the duties and powers of coroners (Massa- chusetts). Effective August 15.
July 18-For continuing suits if judge is unable to attend, in the General and Circuit Courts (Virginia). Effective October I.
July 16-A law to suppress gambling (Virginia). Effective Oc- tober I.
.
July 17-As to proceedings in ejectment, etc. (Pennsylvania). Effective October I.
August 15-Limiting imprisonment for debt, etc. (Pennsylvania). Effective October I.
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RESOLUTIONS BY THE GOVERNOR AND JUDGES.
August 7-Ordering certain printing.
August 13-Authorizing the Governor to establish ferries, in the Territory, at his discretion.
August 18-Declaring that commissions issued by the Governor to Judges of the Court of Common Pleas, are subject to revocation at his pleasure.
August 20-Directing the Governor to dissolve the District of Prairie du Rocher, and divide the said district between the district of Kahokia and the district of Kaskaskia.
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THE BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF OHIO.
THE FOURTH LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL.
(1797.)
I N December, 1796, Judge Putnam, who had been appointed a briga- dier general by President Washington in May, 1792, while a member of the territorial court, was again honored by the Presi- dent and nominated for surveyor general of the United States. This appointment led to the resignation of Judge Putnam, who was suc- ceeded on the bench by Joseph Gilman, of Point Harmar. -
This council has left no record of new legislation in this year.
10-B. A.
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THE BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF OHIO.
THE FIFTH LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL.
(1798.)
J UDGE TURNER, who had served the territory with distinguished zeal since his appointment (September 8, 1797) to succeed to the
chair made vacant by the death of Chief Justice Parsons, resigned in the winter of 1797-8 and was succeeded by Return Jonathan Meigs, Jr., of Marietta. The council, as thus formed, met in Cincinnati, April 23, 1798, and on the first day of May published the following new laws for the territory :
May I-A law concerning corporations of bodies politic (Penn- sylvania).
May I-A law for the punishment of maiming or disfiguring (Kentucky).
May I-Vesting certain powers in justices of the peace, in crim- inal cases (Massachusetts).
May I-For the equal division and distribution of insolvent es- tates (Connecticut).
May I-To provide for the improvement of the breed of horses (Kentucky).
May I-Directing the mode of proceeding in civil cases (Massa- chusetts).
May 1-An addition to the law ascertaining the fees of certain officers.
May I-Method of taxing all unsettled and unimproved parcels of land (Kentucky).
May I-Rendering the acknowledgment of deeds more easy (Con- necticut).
May I-Establishing a land office (Kentucky).
May I-Repealing the 28th section of the law regulating fees; and so much of the law raising county rates and levies as relates to the duties of justices as to wild animals killed.
These laws are severally signed by Winthrop Sargent, acting Governor; John Cleves Symmes, Joseph Gilman, Return Jonathan Meigs, Junior, and their correctness attested by Winthrop Sargent, Secretary.
This was the last legislative act of the Territorial Council.
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THE BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF OHIO.
THE FIRST SESSION OF THE FIRST TERRITORIAL LEGISLATURE.
I N the year 1798, Governor St. Clair, having by personal visits to the several settlements become satisfied of the presence of the necessary five thousand white male inhabitants in the territory, issued a proclamation to the people calling for the election of repre- sentatives to a general assembly to be convened at Cincinnati on the fourth day of February, 1799. This general assembly, under the ordi- nance of 1787, must consist of a House of Representatives, together with a Legislative Council of five members to be appointed by the President of the United States, from a list of ten names to be sub- mitted to him by the House of Representatives when so elected. The representatives were chosen in accordance with the proclamation of the Governor, and on assembling at Cincinnati on the day named in the proclamation, February 4, nominated the members of council and adjourned to meet in Cincinnati on the sixteenth of the following September, in order that the President would have an opportunity to act. Of the ten names submitted for his inspection and approval, the President nominated to the United States Senate as members of the Territorial Council (or upper house) : Jacob Burnet and James Findlay of Cincinnati; Henry Vanderburgh of Vincennes; Robert Oliver of Marietta, and David Vance of Vanceville.
These nominations were promptly confirmed by the Senate and transmitted to Cincinnati, where they were announced to the people by proclamation of the Governor.
On the sixteenth day of September, 1799, the First Territorial Legislature met in Cincinnati, the two houses being composed of the following gentlemen :
IN THE COUNCIL (APPOINTED).
Jacob Burnett, of Cincinnati.
James Findlay, of Cincinnati.
Henry Vanderburgh, of Vincennes.
Robert Oliver, of Marietta.
David Vance, of Vanceville.
Mr. Vanderburgh was elected President of the Council.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES (ELECTED).
Benham, Robert, of Hamilton County (Cincinnati).
Bond, Shadrack, of St. Clair County.
Chobert de Joncaire, Charles F., of Wayne County (Detroit).
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THE BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF OHIO.
The First Session of the First Territorial Legislature.
Caldwell, Aaron, of Hamilton County (Cincinnati).
Darlington, Joseph, of Adams County.
Edgar, John, of Randolph County.
Fearing, Paul, of Washington County (Marietta).
Findlay, Samuel, of Ross County (Chillicothe).
Goforth, William, of Hamilton County (Cincinnati).
Ludlow, John, of Hamilton County (Cincinnati).
Langham, Elias, of Ross County (Chillicothe).
McMillan, William, of Hamilton County (Cincinnati).
Martin, Isaac, of Hamilton County (Cincinnati).
Massie, Nathaniel, of Ross County (Chillicothe).
Meigs, Return Jonathan, Jr., of Washington County (Marietta).
Pritchard, James, of Jefferson County.
Sibley, Solomon, of Wayne County (Detroit).
Small, John, of Knox County (Vincennes).
Smith, John, of Hamilton County (Cincinnati).
Tiffin, Edward, of Ross County (Chillicothe).
Viscar, Jacob, of Wayne County (Detroit).
Worthington, Thomas, of Ross County (Chillicothe).
The two houses having met and organized by the election of their officers, on the sixteenth day of September, on the following day Gov- ernor St. Clair addressed the legislature in eloquent terms, congratu- lating the body and the Territory on the new form of legislative gov- ernment in which the people now had a direct voice in the conduct of affairs. Jacob Burnet, a member of the council, writing after the lapse of a half a century, says in his "Notes on the Northwest Terri- tory" (Cincinnati, 1847) :
"He laid before them a full and faithful view of the condition and the wants of the Territory, and recommended to their attention such measures as he believed were proper to advance the prosperity and happiness of the people" (p. 300).
Governor St. Clair had been in active discharge of the duties of the chief executive of the Territory continuously since he had super- vised the dispatch of the first settlers to the then unsettled west in 1788; he had joined the first colony at Marietta within three months of its arrival (July, 1788), and had been one of the legislators for the colonies up to the time of the meeting of this first territorial as- sembly ; out of the experience of over eleven pioneer years, the Governor spoke to the legislators of the work before them, as no better equipped man could speak, for there was no man of better equipment for the duty. Of Governor St. Clair's influence at this time Mr. Burnet says (p. 378) : "And it may be said with great truth, that at the time.he
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THE BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF OHIO.
The First Session of the First Territorial Legislature.
addressed the First Territorial Legislature in 1799, he possessed as great, if not a greater share of the confidence and respect of the people of the Territory than any other individual residing in it."
This being the first session of any representative legislative body in the Territory, the transition from the first to the second grade of government involved a general revision of the laws in force; new laws to meet the changed conditions; new officers and new duties for those already established ; and a plan must be conceived by which to meet the increased expenditures of a semi-independent government. Many of the members being inexperienced in legislative matters, the active work of the session fell on a few of the men who had been most closely identified with the previous history of the settlements.
On the third of October the two houses in joint session elected William Henry Harrison as delegate from the Territory in the Con- gress of the United States, his election being contested by Arthur St. Clair, Jr., who was beaten by one vote. Captain Harrison was secre- tary of the Territory at the time of his election, -Mr. St. Clair, son of the Governor, being its attorney. Mr. Harrison resigned his position as secretary and at once proceeded to his duties in the Congress.
It is hard to present the history of this session of the legislature in the limits allowed in a publication of this nature. The existing laws were a poor apology for a code; the Ordinance of 1787 formed a broad and liberal basis for the government which has since grown up under its provisions, but there was much legislation needed to supplement and make practical its several declarations. The governor and the judges had selected or made laws, from time to time, neglecting many important interests, and imperfectly providing for others which were touched upon ; one of the statutes of Virginia had been adopted which put in operation the English common law and certain English statutes of a date prior to the fourth year of the reign of James l .; statutes from the original states had been called upon to supply, in whole or in part, contributions to the code of statute law in the Territory, and there fell upon the legislature at this first session the duty of "repealing, amending, enacting and supplementing," in such manner as appealed to the best judgment of the pioneers who composed the body, until on their adjournment on the nineteenth day of December, 1799, there had been laid the foundation for much of the subsequent public law in the Territory and in those states which have been carved out of it.
Following is a summary of the acts of this assembly :
ACTS OF THE FIRST SESSION OF THE FIRST TERRITORIAL LEGISLATURE (1799).
I. An act to confirm and give force to certain laws enacted by the Governor and Judges of the Territory. (Their validity having been called in question on divers occasions.) .October 28, 1799.
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THE BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF OHIO.
The First Session of the First Territorial Legislature.
2. An act regulating the admission and practice of attorneys and counselors at law. October 29, 1799.
3. An act regulating enclosures. October 29, 1799.
4. An act providing for the service and return of process in certain cases. (Repealed February 14, 1805.) October 29, 1799.
5. An act regulating the interest of money, fixing the same at six per cent., and for preventing usury. (Repealed February 14, 1805.) November 15, 1799.
6. An act authorizing and regulating arbitrations. ( Repealed February 14, 1805.) November 15, 1799.
7. An act to establish and regulate ferries. November 15, 1799.
8. An act making promissory notes and inland bills of exchange negotiable. (Repealed February 21, 1805.) November 15, 1799.
9. An act to prevent trespass by cutting of timber. November 15,'1799.
IO. An act supplementary to above. December 19, 1799. (Both acts repealed January II, 1805.)
II. An act regulating grist mills and millers. December 2, 1799.
12. An act to regulate the disposition of water crafts of certain description found gone or gone adrift, and of estray animals. Decem- ber 2, 1799.
I3. An act for the prevention of vice and immorality. December 2, 1799. (Repealed February 14, 1805.) 14. An act to create the offices of a territorial treasurer, and of an auditor of public accounts. December 2, 1799.
15. An act establishing courts for the trial of small causes. De- ceniber 2, 1799. (Repealed February 15, 1804.)
16. An act providing for the appointment of constables. De- cember 2, 1799.
17. An act to ascertain the number of free male inhabitants of the age of twenty-one, in the territory of the United States northwest of the River Ohio, and to regulate the election of representatives for the same. December 6, 1799.
18. An act to prevent the introduction of spirituous liquors into certain Indian towns. December 6, 1799.
19. An act regulating the firing of woods, prairies and other lands. December 6, 1799. (Repealed, February II, 1805.)
20. An act establishing and regulating the militia. December 13, 1799.
2[. An act defining and regulating privileges in certain cases. December 6, 1799.
22. An act allowing compensation for the session of February, 1799, called to put in nomination the members of the legislative coun- cil. December 13, 1799.
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THE BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF OHIO.
The First Session of the First Territorial Legislature.
23. An act for the relief of poor persons imprisoned for debt. December 13, 1799. (Repealed February 2, 1805.)
24. An act for opening and regulating public roads and high- ways. December 13, 1799. (Amended January 20, 1802; repealed February 17, 1804.)
25. An act levying a territorial tax on land. December 19, 1799.
26. An act to regulate county levies. December 19, 1799.
27. An act for the appointment of county treasurers. December 19, 1799.
28. An act allowing compensation to the members of the terri- torial legislature. December 19, 1799.
29. An act to regulate the enclosing and cultivation of common fields. December 19, 1799.
30. An act regulating the fees of the constables in the several counties within this territory. December 19, 1799. (Repealed Febru- ary 21, 1805.)
31. An act to encourage the killing of wolves. December 19, 1799. (Repealed January 9, 1802.)
32. An act for the punishment of arson. December 19, 1799.
33. An act to alter the boundary line between the counties of Jefferson and Washington. December 19, 1799.
34. An act allowing the compensation to the attorney-general of the Territory, and to the persons prosecuting pleas in behalf of the Territory in the several counties. December 19, 1799.
35. An act to authorize the freeholders of Marietta township to levy a certain tax for religious purposes. December 19, 1799.
36. An act supplementary to the act entitled "an act for the re- lief of the poor." (Paupers, when and how to be farmed out.) De- cember 19, 1799. (Repealed February 22, 1805.)
37. An act appropriating monies and making appropriations for the ensuing year. December 19, 1799.
38. An act repealing certain laws and parts of laws. December 19, 1799.
The above was taken from the printed laws of the territorial legislature, as printed by Carpenter & Findlay at Cincinnati, 1800. The book is now in pos- session of the Supreme Court Library in Columbus. The clerk of the House certifies in this book that Solomon Sibley was appointed a committee to su- perintend the printing of the laws of the session, on December 5. Mr. Sibley certifies, May 7 following, that he has carefully compared the printed laws with the original enrolled bills, and finds them to agree. The act bears the signatures of Edward Tiffin, Speaker of the House of Representatives; H. Vanderburgh, President of the Council, and are approved by Ar. St. Clair, Governor.
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THE BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF OHIO.
THE SECOND SESSION OF THE FIRST TERRITORIAL LEGISLATURE.
(CHILLICOTHE, NOVEMBER 3, 1800.)
I T was in connection with the work of this first session of the legis- lature that the signs of approaching disagreement with the gov- ernor made their appearance. Governor St. Clair assumed that he was a branch of the assembly and that he had an absolute right to veto the acts of the two houses. He claimed the right, as governor, to lay out and change the boundaries of counties under the Ordinance of 1787, regardless of the expressions from the legislature, and was no doubt sincere in his efforts to perform that which he looked upon as his sworn duty. The result of his action was, however, to bring about a strained relation which only grew in force as time went on. Judge Burnet says, in the book already quoted: "The effect of the construc- tion he gave of his own power may be seen in the fact that of thirty bills passed by the two houses during the first session, and sent to him for his approval, he refused assent to eleven, some of which were supposed to be of much importance, and all of them calculated, more or less, to advance the public interest. Some of them he rejected be- cause they related to the establishment of new counties ; others because he thought they were unnecessary or inexpedient. Thus, more than a third of the fruits of the labor of that entire session was lost by the exercise of the arbitrary discretion of one man." (p. 376.)
In this connection it may be well to add that the governor was not sustained in his position when he submitted to tlie Senate of the United States his report of new counties laid out after the legislature of the territory had come into existence. It was held that the gover- nor of the Territory had exhausted his authority when he had once laid out the whole territory into counties (which Governor St. Clair had done early in his administration) and that subsequent rearrange- ments or divisions vested solely in the territorial legislature. This decision was not reached in time to prevent a recurrence of the dif- ferences between the governor and the legislature at its second session in 1800, but was gratifying to those members who had been engaged on the legislative side of the question during the first two sessions.
The legislature stood prorogued to meet at Cincinnati on the first Monday in November, 1800. By reference to an act of Congress of the United States May 7 of that year (See Part One), it will be noticed that after the adjournment of the first session of the legislature, the Northwest Territory was divided by a line running due north from the mouth of the Kentucky River, into an eastern part which retained
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