USA > Ohio > The biographical annals of Ohio, 1906-1907-1908. A handbook of the government and institutions of the state of Ohio. > Part 14
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153
THE BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF OHIO.
The Second Session of the First Territorial Legislature.
the old name and government, and a western part which was given the name of THE TERRITORY OF INDIANA, and a new government of the first grade established therein, the officers of which were to be ap- pointed by the President. This act of Congress was acquiesced in by the Governor and legislature of the territory with great reluctance, and was regarded by the best men in the Territory to be an unwar- ranted assumption of legislative power on the part of Congress. Presi- dent Vanderburgh of the council was thus legislated out of office and became a citizen of the new territory. Representatives Shadrack Bond, of St. Clair County ; John Edgar, of Randolph County, and John Small, of Knox County, also lost their seats in the House of Repre- sentatives for the same reason, and the constituents of these gentle- men were summarily deprived of a voice and a membership in that local territorial government, for which they had but recently voted. The seat of government for the new territory was fixed by Congress at Vincennes, and the same act named the village of Chillicothe, in- stead of the already established capital at Cincinnati, as the seat of government for the old territory. It was charged that this act of Con- gress was urged by two or three ardent and aggressive spirits who hoped to bring about an early state government in Ohio, and were already planning to accomplish the removal of Governor St. Clair and his administration.
Pursuant to the call issued by the Governor under the new order, the members of the legislature met in Chillicothe on the third day of November, 1800. This was almost exactly one hundred years ago, it being an interesting fact that the editor writes these lines on the twenty-sixth of October, 1900. The council met in the house of Joseph Tiffin, the council chamber in the new capitol not being ready for occupancy. As there is no record to the contrary, it is probable that the representatives were better provided for. The composition of the legislature at this second session was as follows :
IN THE COUNCIL.
Jacob Burnet, of Hamilton County (Cincinnati). Robert Oliver, of Washington County (Marietta). David Vance, of Jefferson County (Vanceville). James Findlay, of Hamilton County (Cincinnati).
Mr. Vanderburg, of Vincennes, having for reasons already given, lost his seat in the council, Mr. Oliver was elected president of that body, Mr. William C. Schenck (secretary of the Territory) acting as secretary to the council, and William Rutledge being elected door- keeper. To fill the vacancy in council the Governor requested the House of Representatives to nominate to the President of the United
154
THE BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF OHIO.
The Second Session of the First Territorial Legislature.
States two names from which to make a selection, and on the ninth of November the names of Solomon Sibley, of Detroit, and Samuel Findlay (Finley?), of Cincinnati, were chosen. The seat remained vacant until the session of 1801, owing to the time necessarily con- sumed in forwarding the nominations to the national capitol and in returning the appointment to the Territory.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES.
The following members were present or took their seats at a later day : Benham, Robert, of Hamilton County.
Chobert de Joncaire, Charles F., of Wayne County (Detroit). Darlington, Joseph, of Adams County.
Fearing, Paul, of Washington County.
Findlay, Samuel, of Ross County.
Goforth, William, of Hamilton County.
Kimberly, Zenas, of Jefferson County.
Langham, Elias, of Ross County (contested seat).
Ludlow, John, of Hamilton County (Vice Caldwell, removed from the Territory).
Lytle, William, of Hamilton County.
McMillan, William, of Hamilton County.
Martin, Isaac, of Hamilton County.
Massie, Nathaniel, of Adams County (Seated November 10).
Meigs, Return J., Jr., of Washington County.
Pritchard, James, of Jefferson County.
Sibley, Solomon, of Wayne County (Detroit). Smith, John, of Hamilton County.
Tiffin, Edward, of Ross County.
Visgar, Jacob, of Wayne County (Detroit).
Worthington, Thomas, of Ross County.
Edward Tiffin was elected Speaker of the House.
One of the first duties devolving on the legislature was the elec- tion of a delegate to Congress to succeed Captain William Henry Har- rison, who had resigned to accept the appointment as governor of the territory of Indiana, and also to elect a delegate for the long term be- ginning on the fifth day of March, 1801. On the sixth day of Novem- ber the two houses met in joint session in accordance with a previous resolution to that effect, and elected as delegates to Congress : Will- iam McMillan, of Hamilton County, for the unexpired term ending March 4, 1801, and Paul Fearing, of Washington County, for the term ending on the fourth day of March, 1803.
As will be noticed, the selections were made from the members of the House of Representatives.
155
THE BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF OHIO.
The Second Session of the First Territorial Legislature.
Mr. McMillan at once resigned from the House and proceeded to his new duties.
The work of legislation was begun with mutual expressions of regard between the Governor and the members of the assembly, not- withstanding the differences of the preceding winter. On November 5, the Governor visited the joint assembly and delivered an annual mes- sage of kindly tone in which he spoke of the near approach of the end of his term of office and of their own. He mentioned the efforts of his adversaries only to remark: "The remorse of their own consciences will one day be punishment sufficient. Their acts may, however, suc- ceed. Be that as it may, this I am certain, that, be my successor who he may, he can never have the interests of the people of this Territory more truly at heart than I have had for them, nor labor more assidu- ously for their good than I have done; and I am not conscious that any one act of my administration has been influenced by any other motive than a sincere desire to promote their welfare and happiness."
To this the assembly drafted its formal reply and asked the Gov- ernor to fix an hour when he could receive the committee and hear the same. On receiving an intimation of his convenience, the com- mittee formally waited on him in the executive chamber at 10 o'clock a. m., Monday, November 17, and afterward returned to their respect- ive houses bearing with them the formal reply of his excellency to their address. This second communication from St. Clair is a feeling response to the expressions of confidence in which the House had clothed its message to him.
Governor St. Clair, in a message to the House December 2, 1800, calls to their attention the fact that, as his term of office expires in one week from that day, it will be necessary that the session must end on ·that day, and therefore any business of importance to be transacted should not be too long postponed. He says in this case the Secretary of the Territory cannot supply to the Assembly the place of a Governor.
French ,inhabitants of the County of Wayne presented to the House, December 4, a petition in French language which was referred to Messrs. Kimberly and Visger for translation. (p. 95.) This com- mittee reported later in the day that the petition was for a redress of certain grievances, and it was referred to the Committee on Proposi- tions and Grievances.
A proposition was submitted that the assembly should hold its sessions in rotation as follows: The first session to be held in the town of Marietta, the second in the town of Cincinnati, and the third in the town of Chillicothe. This was agreed to by the House, 10 to 8.
A motion to hold the sessions in Cincinnati was lost, 4 to 14. The bill was finally defeated by striking out the enacting clause, on a vote not given. (p. 109.)
Adjourned by the Governor December 9, 1800. (S. J., p. 77.)
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156
THE BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF OHIO.
The Second Session of the First Territorial Legislature.
ACTS OF THE SECOND SESSION OF THE FIRST TERRITORIAL LEGISLATURE. (1800.)
I. An act defining seals affixed to certain instruments of writing. November 27, 1800.
2. An act to amend the act entitled, "An act allowing compensa- tion to the attorney-general of the Territory," etc. November 27, 1800.
3. An act authorizing the leasing of school lands, and lands for religious purposes, in Washington County. November 27, 1800.
4. An act to revise "an act to establish and regulate ferries." November 27, 1800.
. 5. An act to incorporate the town of Marietta. December 2, 1800.
6. An act to amend the act entitled "An act to create the offices of a territorial treasurer and of an auditor of Public Accounts." De- cember 2, 1800.
7. An act to empower the trustees named in the last will and testament of Doctor William Burnet, the elder, to dispose of certain lands. (PRIVATE-The act is not published in full.)
8. An act to amend the act entitled, "An act to encourage the killing of wolves." December 2, 1800.
9. An act authorizing the judges of the General Court to appoint commissioners to take special bail, and to administer oaths. December 3, 1800.
IO. An act to amend the act entitled "An act allowing and regu- lating prison bounds." December 6, 1800.
II. An act to provide for the recording of town plats. Decem- ber 6, 1800.
12. An act confirming and establishing the town of Athens in the County of Washington. December 6, 1800.
13. An act to provide for the maintenance and support of ille- gitimate children. December 6, 1800.
14. An act to establish and regulate taverns and public houses of entertainment. December 6, 1800.
15. An act to amend the act entitled "An act regulating the ad- mission and practice of attorneys and councillors at law." December 8, 1800.
16. An act to ascertain and defray the traveling expenses of the judges of the General Court, and to dispose of the fees heretofore al- lowed them by law. December 8, 1800.
17. An act for the relief of Lucy Petit. (PRIVATE-Not printed.)
18. An act providing for the trial of homicide committed on In- dians. (To the more effectually insure justice to the Indian tribes.) December 8, 1800.
157
THE BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF OHIO.
The Second Session of the First Territorial Legislature.
19. An act to prevent the abatement of suits in event of the death of a party thereto. December 8, 1800.
20. An act supplementary to the act establishing and regulating the militia. December 8, 1800.
21. An act supplementary to the act entitled "An act to regulate the county levies." December 8, 1800.
22. An act supplementary to the act entitled "An act levying a territorial tax on land," and providing for a territorial tax for the year 1801. December 9, 1800.
23. An act to amend the act entitled "An act to ascertain the number of free male inhabitants of the age of twenty-one, and to regu- late the election of representatives for the same." December 9, 1800.
24. An act regulating circuit courts and allowing appeals from the courts of common pleas in certain cases. December 9, 1800.
25. An act supplementary to the act entitled, "An act establish- ing courts for the trial of small cases." December 9, 1800.
26. An act appropriating monies, etc. December 9, 1800.
The appropriation bill (No. 26) contains the following interesting items connected with the enforced removal of the seat of government from Cincinnati to Chillicothe:
To Brazil Abrams for rent of a house, occupied by the general assembly dur- ing their present session, ninety dollars.
To Thomas Worthington (afterwards United States senator and governor) for repairing the house, providing chairs, etc., for the use of the general assem- bly at their present session, thirty-four dollars and twenty-seven cents.
To John Armstrong, esquire, territorial treasurer, for transporting the books and papers belonging to his office from Cincinnati to Chillicothe, forty dollars.
To Thomas Gibson, esquire, auditor of public accounts, for transporting from Cincinnati to Chillicothe the books and papers belonging to his office, sixty dollars.
To William McMillan and James Findlay, esquires, for their services and expenses in providing a house for the reception of the legislature at the present session, each forty-three dollars.
To William C. Schenck, for transporting the papers belonging to the legis- lative council from Cincinnati to Chillicothe and for traveling expenses, forty dollars.
To John Reily, for transporting the papers belonging to the House of Rep- resentatives from Cincinnati to Chillicothe and for traveling expenses, forty dollars.
The above recited acts were signed by Edward Tiffin, Speaker of the House of Representatives; Robert Oliver, President of the Coun- cil; and approved by Ar. St. Clair, Governor, on the date named.
Winship & Willis, Chillicothe, printers.
Authenticity vouched for by Zenas Kimberly, Committee, Febru- ary 4, '180I.
158
THE BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF OHIO.
THE FIRST SESSION OF THE SECOND TERRITORIAL GENERAL ASSEMBLY.
(Convened at Chillicothe on Monday, the twenty-third day of November, 1801, being the day appointed by proclamation of Governor St. Clair.)
MEMBERSHIP.
THE LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL (SENATE.)
R OBERT OLIVER, who appeared on the twenty-third, and on the twenty-fourth, to find no other member in attendance. David Vance, who appeared on the twenty-fifth, with his col- league, Mr. Jacob Burnet.
Solomon Sibley, from Detroit, in the County of Wayne (now Michi- gan), presented his commission to succeed Mr. Vanderburgh (see notes of previous year) and was sworn and seated.
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THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES.
Chobert, Francoise Joncaire, of Wayne County (now Detroit, Michigan).
Cutler, Ephraim, of Washington County.
Darlington, Joseph, of Adams County.
Dunlavy, Francis, of Hamilton County.
Kimberly, Zenas, of Jefferson County.
Langham, Elias, of Ross County (Seated November 26). Ludlow, John, of Hamilton County.
Massie, Nathaniel, of Adams County.
McCune, Thomas, of Jefferson County.
McDougal, George, of Wayne County (Detroit).
Miller, Moses, of Hamilton County. Milligan, John, of Jefferson County.
Morrow, Jeremiah, of Hamilton County.
Paine, Edward, of Trumbull County.
Putnam, William Rufus, of Washington County. Reeder, Daniel, of Hamilton County.
Schiefflein, Jonathan, of Wayne County (Detroit).
Smith, John, of Hamilton County. (Seated December I.) Tiffin, Edward, of Ross County.
White, Jacob, of Hamilton County.
Worthington, Thomas, of Ross County.
159
THE BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF OHIO.
The First Session of the Second Territorial General Assembly.
The House organized on the twenty-fourth of November by the election of the following officers : Edward Tiffin, Speaker ; John Reilly, Clerk.
The seats of Messrs. Scheifflin and McDougall, of Wayne County, were contested, but they were declared to be entitled to their seats.
The finances of the Territory were in such condition that the governor, who had been reappointed during the adjournment of the assembly, in his address at a joint session of the two houses called to be held in "Mr. Gregg's Hall" for the purpose said: "The Territory is in debt in the sum of $5,419 beyond the whole revenue for the present year. A new emission of bills (of credit) must be made, even to meet the expenses of the present session. A wretched expedient, it is true, because the bills suffer a depreciation in the hands they pass through, and the public pays the full interest."
During this session of the General Assembly, a bill was passed transferring the seat of government to Cincinnati, from which city it had been removed by a provision in the territorial act of 1800, and as an expression of feeling on the part of the local inhabitants, a num- ber of the members of the legislature, and also the governor, were set upon in Chillicothe on the twenty-fifth and twenty-sixth of Decem- ber. The matter was made a subject for official investigation.
At 12 o'clock noon, on January twenty-third, the Council attended the chamber of the House of Representatives in a body, where the joint assembly was addressed by Governor St. Clair, and adjourned by him to meet in second session in Cincinnati on the fourth Monday of the following November (1802). It should be noted here that this proposed second session of the second and last territorial legislature was never held. The reason is given in the following interesting ex- tract from the memoirs of a member of the Council speaking of the first constitutional convention :
"As the territorial legislature was in existence, and stood ad- journed, to meet at Cincinnati on the fourth Monday in November, three weeks after the opening of the convention, a resolution was passed, directing their president to request the governor to dissolve or prorogue that body. Such a precaution was altogether unneces- sary, as no disposition existed among the members, either to embar- rass, or in any way interfere with the movements of the convention. That such a disposition did not exist was verified by the fact that the day for the meeting of the legislature came and passed ; the mem- bers remaining at home as by common consent. No attempt was made by the governor, or by any of the members, to convene that body, till its existence was terminated, and it was succeeded by the
160
THE BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF OHIO.
The First Session of the Second Territorial General Assembly.
General Assembly, under the State Constitution." {Notes on the Northwestern Territory, 1847, by Judge Jacob Burnett, a member of the Territorial Council.)
ACTS OF THE FIRST SESSION OF THE SECOND TERRITORIAL LEGISLATURE. (1801-2.)
I. An act allowing and regulating writs of attachment. January 18, 1802.
2. An act regulating executions. January 19, 1802.
3. An act regulating the fees of civil officers and for other pur- poses. January 23, 1802.
4. An act levying a tax on land for the year 1802 and for other purposes. January 23, 1802.
5. An act requiring public officers to give bond in certain cases. January 19, 1802.
6. An act providing for the execution of real contracts in certain cases. January 4, 1802.
7. An act for the partition of real estate. December 23, 1801.
8. An act providing for the inspection of certain articles of ex- portation therein enumerated. January 9, 1802.
9. An act to encourage the killing of wolves and panthers. Janu- ary 9, 1802.
IO. An act for the assignment of bail bonds. January 22, 1802.
II. An act to remove the seat of government and fix the same at Cincinnati, in the County of Hamilton. January 1, 1802.
12. An act to amend the act entitled "An act establishing and regulating the militia." January 22, 1802.
13. An act to ascertain the boundaries of certain counties. Janu- ary 23, 1802.
14. An act for the distribution of insolvent estates. January 13, 1802.
15. An act to amend the act entitled "An act for opening and reg- ulating public roads and highways." January 20, 1802.
16. An act providing for the appointment of guardians to luna- tics and others. January 4, 1802.
17. An act concerning testimony. January 13, 1802.
18. An act declaring the assent of the Territory to an alteration in the ordinance for the government thereof. December 21, 1802. (There was a vigorous protest against the passage of this act, from its opponents in the assembly.)
19. An act providing for the acknowledgment and recording of deeds in certain cases. January 20, 1802.
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161
THE BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF OHIO.
The First Session of the Second Territorial General Assembly.
20. An act providing for the encouragement of the breed of horses. January 20, 1802.
21. An act to establish and regulate township meetings. January 18, 1802.
22. An act altering the times of holding certain courts in the County of Ross. January 9, 1802.
23. An act appropriating one thousand dollars of the tax levied in Trumbull County to open a road to the south. January 13, 1802.
24. An act providing for the recovery of money secured by mort- gage. January 20, 1802.
25. An act allowing compensation to the assembly and to the treasurer and auditor of the territory. January 1, 1802.
26. An act establishing the "American Western University" at Athens (now the Ohio University). January 9, 1802.
27. An act to postpone the sale of land for taxes in the counties of Trumbull, Jefferson and Wayne. December 12, 180I.
28. An act authorizing the town of Marietta to preserve the banks of the rivers in said town. December 23, 1801.
29. An act repealing that part of a former act which allowed the judges of the General Court two dollars per day. January 20, 1802.
30. " An act appointing trustees for the town of Manchester, Adams. County. January 1, 1802.
31. An act fixing the compensation for attorneys commissioned to practice in the Counties of Washington and Trumbull. January 20, 1802.
32. An act defining and regulating the duties of the Secretary of the territory. January 1, 1802.
33. An act to incorporate the town of Chillicothe. January 4, 1802.
34. An act to incorporate the town of Cincinnati, January I, 1802.
35. An act to incorporate the town of Detroit. January 18, 1802.
36. An act authorizing Zacheus Biggs and Zacheus A. Beatty to erect a bridge over Will's Creek. (On the road leading from Chilli- cothe to Wheeling in Washington County.) January 9, 1802.
37. An act authorizing Jonathan Zane and others to erect a toll bridge over the Muskingum river (near the mouth of Licking Creek). January 23, 1802.
38 .. An act for the relief of Sally Mills. (Divorce.) December 19, 1802.
39. An act for the relief of Jean Wilson. (Divorce.) January 9, 1802.
40. An act making appropriations. January 23, 1802.
11-B. A.
162
THE BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF OHIO.
The First Session of the Second Territorial General Assembly.
The salaries of the governor and territorial judges were paid by the general government until the adoption of the Constitution of Ohio, but the other expenses of the local government were paid by the Territory. This bill appropriates the sum of twelve thousand dollars for what is called a contingent fund, and then provides for its disbursement in detail. Some of the items are interesting as conveying information as to the nature and amount of the territorial expenses a hundred years ago.
The governor is allowed fifty dollars for postage "upon letters of a public nature."
The treasurer is allowed ten dollars for stationery for his office and fifty dollars for the purchase of "an iron chest for the territory."
The private secretary to the governor is allowed three dollars per day for time actually employed, but is not allowed more than thirty days' pay in the year.
The legislature is allowed a total sum of eight thousand five hundred dollars.
From the general fund, the following allowances were ordered:
To Arthur St. Clair, Jr., attorney-general, a salary of $400.
To the auditor of public accounts, a salary of $750.
To the auditor of public accounts, postage for two years, $75.41.
To auditor of public accounts, extra clerk hire, $95.
To the territorial treasurer, a salary of $400.
To Daniel McAllister, fire-wood, $26.
To William Rutledge, repairs two houses, $4.
To James Phillips, three dozen chairs for the legislature, $72.
For repairs to court house for reception of legislature, etc., $16.10.
RESOLUTIONS.
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I. Requesting the governor to appoint a day of Thanksgiving. December 5, 1801.
2. Appointing two trustees to fill certain vacancies, December 5.
3. Directing the auditor to sell the furniture provided for the present and last session of the legislature. January 23, 1801.
4. Extending the election laws to Clermont, Fairfield and Bel- mont Counties and to such counties as may hereafter be laid out. Jan- uary 23, 1802.
5. Directing the disposition of reports on the Cincinnati and Marietta public road. January 23, 1802.
6. Directing certain laws to be reprinted in the appendix to the volume of laws for this session.
The above acts and resolutions were attested by Edward Tiffin, Speaker of the House of Representatives; Robert Oliver, President of the Council; and were approved on the dates above given by Arthur St. Clair, Governor of the Northwest Territory.
The volume from which the above abstract was made was printed by N. Willis, Chillicothe, 1802, and is in possession of the Supreme Court Library, Co- lumbus.
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163
THE BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF OHIO.
THE QUESTION OF THE BOUNDARY OF THE STATE.
T HE question of boundary, though not expressly referred to the convention (The Constitutional Convention of 1802) was one of greater importance than would appear at first view. It is generally known to those who have consulted the maps of the western country extant at the time the Ordinance of 1787 was passed, that Lake Michigan was represented as being very far north of the posi- tion which it has since been ascertained to occupy. On a map in the Department of State (at Washington) which was before the Com- mittee of Congress who formed the ordinance for the government of the Territory, the southern boundary of that lake was laid down as being near the forty-second degree of north latitude, and there was a pencil line passing through the southern bend of the lake, to the Can- ada line, which intersected the strait between the River Raisin and the town of Detroit. The line was manifestly intended by the com- mittee, and by Congress, to be the northern boundary of this state; and that map, and the line marked on it, should have been taken as conclusive evidence of the boundary, without reference to the actual position of the southern extreme of the lake.
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