USA > Ohio > The history of the state of Ohio; from the discovery of the great valley, to the present time > Part 59
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There are no documents now remaining to give us the details of his unevent- ful life. The fact of his rising from so humble an origin to such a position, indicates that he was a worthy man, of good abilities, and of commendable industry. Having well performed his part in life, he passed peacefully away to the spirit land.
HON. THOMAS WORTHINGTON.
[See page 343.]
Thomas Worthington was born in what is now Jefferson County, Virginia, on the Ioth of February, 1769. His parents, estimated by the standard of that time and region, were wealthy, and they gave their son an excellent education. But little is known of his early life. At the age of twenty-one he entered upon a large inheritance, consisting mainly of slaves and plantations.
A few years after this, when the United States had fought and won their battle of independence, beneath the banner of equal rights for all men, Thomas Worthington very nobly manumitted his slaves, sold his real estate, and. removed to the free soil north of the Ohio. After visiting Marietta, Cincinnati, and several other infant settlements north of the Ohio River, he decided to take up his residence at Chillicothe, in the fertile valley of the Scioto. Here he pur- chased a large tract of land and erected the first frame house in that section.
This was in the Summer and Autumn of 1797. The next April he removed with his family to his new home. Several of his former slaves accompanied him as hired laborers. To each negro he assigned a portion of land, and all hands went vigorously to work to cut down the forest, to break up the soil, and to cause the desert to bud and blossom as the rose. This Summer he built,
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on a little stream called the Paint, the first saw-mill which was erected in the Valley of the Scioto. This was an inestimable blessing to that rapidly growing community.
His wealth, his public spirit, his moral and social virtues rendered him very popular, and several offices of trust were urged upon him. He became Assist- ant Surveyor of the Public Lands, a member of the Convention to frame a Consti- tution for Ohio, and was elected to represent the new state in the United States Senate. The duties of all these offices he discharged with great fidelity and success. Mr. Worthington was an influential member of the Senate, and took an active part in the debates upon all important questions.
He gave his earnest support to the administration of President Jefferson. Though at first he was opposed to the war with England, hoping by diplomacy to induce that government to cease from its unendurable insults upon our flag, insults which, to-day, would rouse the whole nation to arms from the St. Law- rence to the Gulf. But when he found that England would pay no heed to our remonstrances, he gave his hearty cooperation to the war measures of the gov- ernment. At the close of his senatorial career, Mr. Worthington returned to private life. He then erected for himself, about the year 1808, quite an elegant residence a few miles out from Chillicothe. The mansion occupied a fine site: on the banks of the Scioto River, to which place he gave the name of Adena. It is said that the beautiful property still remains in the hands of one of the sons of this illustrious sire.
In the year 1810 he was again elected to the United States Senate, where he fully sustained his former reputation as an intrepid, conscientious and able statesman. In the 1814 he was elected Governor by a majority of over seven thousand votes. He discharged the duties of this office with such acceptance: he was reelected by a still increased majority. It will be remembered that that Governor Worthington had nobly manumitted his slaves, and had made gen- erous provision for many of them on the free soil of Ohio. During his last term as Governor, quite a serious difficulty arose between the States of Kentucky and Ohio ; the former demanding the enforcement of the fugitive slave law, which law the consciences of the freemen of Ohio repudiated with indignation.
The situation of the Governor was very embarrassing. While he detested slavery, he still felt bound, by his oath, faithfully to administer the laws of the National Government. For many years this unhappy question became an ele- ment of discord throughout all the northern states. It led eventually to the most desolating civil war, and to woes over which angels might weep.
Governor Worthington, upon his retirement from the office of the chief magistracy, returned to the tranquility and the privacy of his beautiful home in the beautiful Valley of the Scioto. He still took a deep interest in all public improvements. His useful life was terminated in 1827, at the age of but fifty- five years. His social virtues won the affection of all who knew him, while his wise and energetic devotion to the public interests, secured for him the homage- of the state and an enviable national reputation.
CHAPTER XXXIX.
LIVES OF THE GOVERNORS-CONTINUED.
ETHAN ALLEN BROWN, ALLEN TRIMBLE, JEREMIAH MORROW.
HON. ETHAN ALLEN BROWN.
[See page 363. ]
On the Connecticut shore of Long Island Sound, about half way between New York and New Haven, there is now a beautiful region whose green- embowered and silent eminences are decorated with the summer mansions of New York merchants, and from whose fertile fields much produce is carried by the thrifty farmers to the great city. A hundred years ago this region was solitary in the extreme, there being but a few farm houses scattered over the wide expanse, which was mostly covered with forest.
Here Roger Brown lived, an intelligent farmer of ample means for that region and those times. On the 4th of July, 1766, a son was born to him, to whom he gave the name of Ethan Allen Brown. This boy early developed a mind of unusual activity and great eagerness for learning. But in that sparsely settled country there were no schools. Mr. Brown, anxious for the welfare of his children, employed a scholarly man to instruct them privately a few hours of each day, the same man probably assisting the remainder of the time in work upon the farm.
Young Ethan proved an apt scholar, and having an unusually retentive mem- ory, became quite a proficient in the French, Latin and Greek languages. With his mind thus excited and his powers enlarged, he became weary of the manual labor of the farm, and, upon attaining his majority, decided to study law. He obtained some books and commenced the study in the farm house, by side of the winter's evening fire, still assisting his father in all those arduous labors which the tillage of New England soil demands. After a time, feeling deeply the need of some intellectual guide, he went to New York and entered the law office of Hon. Alexander Hamilton, who was then at the height of his celebrity as a lawyer, an orator and a statesman.
New York opened to the young and ambitious student a new world. The city then contained but about fifteen thousand inhabitants. But here Brown, fresh from the farm, was introduced to the most refined and cultivated families, and to the ablest men in our land. This intercourse roused to intensity his
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ambition to excel. He soon won the esteem and warm friendship of Mr. Hamilton.
If our information is correct, Mr. Brown was not admitted to the bar until 1802, he being then thirty-six years of age. This indicates protracted studies, many interruptions, and probably the necessity of devoting much time to busi- ness matters, that he might raise funds to meet his expenses as a student. In some way Mr. Brown had, by this time, acquired considerable property. Taking quite a sum of money with him, he set out, in company with a cousin, Captain John Brown, to seek his fortune in the Far West. The two men mounted their horses for this long journey, and, through old Indian roads, traversed the vast solitudes of interior and western Pennsylvania until they reached Brownville, on the east bank of the Monongahela River. The little settlement there, where emigrants usually took boats to float down the river, was then called Sandstone. Here the adventurers purchased two large flat bottom barges which they loaded with flour for the New Orleans market. Having engaged a sufficient number of boatmen, they pushed out from the shore and embarked on their arduous and somewhat perilous enterprise. In that day, such a inland voyage of nearly two thousand five hundred miles must have been full of interest to any one possessed of poetic sensibilities. The barges floated sixty miles down the wind- ing, forest-fringed stream of the Monongahela. Then entering La Belle Riviere, they were borne placidly along over those smooth waters, through enchant- ing scenery, with antlered deer upon the banks, and water fowl of varied plumage sporting upon the mirrored surface of the river, a distance of more than nine hundred and fifty miles, when their boats emerged from the mouth of the Ohio, upon the majestic Father of Waters. There was then still before them a voyage of about one thousand two hundred miles.
As they swept rapidly along they passed forests sublime in solitude and gloom, prairies, ocean-like in their expanse, enameled with the most gorgeous flowers and picturesque bluffs, whose pinnacles, cliffs and towers, seemed fashioned as by a divine hand in shapes of beauty. At one time the river would expand into . an almost shoreless lake. Again, contracted between the bluffs, the mighty volume of water would rush on with accelerated velocity. The Indian's birch canoe, floating like a bubble, would be often seen skimming over the surface of some sheltered cove, while Indian children would be gamboling upon the beach, and a cluster of Indian wigwams would cheer the eye with those charms which distance ever lends to such a view.
About one hundred miles below Cincinnati they came to a rude hamlet of a few log huts, at a place which was called Rising Sun. It was in what is now the State of Indiana, but was then merely a portion of the boundless waste called the Northwestern Territory. Here the voyagers moored their boats for a few hours. They were much impressed with the salubrity of the climate, the fertility of the soil, the grandeur of the forest, and with what is called the lay of the land.
Continuing their voyage for two or three weeks, they at length reached New Orleans in safety. Here they found, much to their disappointment, that so much flour had been brought down the river that they could not sell their cargo but at a loss. With enterprise characteristic of the men, they shipped their
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flour for Liverpool, England ; and took passage themselves, on board the same vessel, for that distant port. Here they sold their flour, we believe to advan- tage, and returned to the United States. They landed at Baltimore, Maryland, after a long and circuitous route, late in the Autumn of that year.
Mr. Roger Brown, of Darien, wrote to his son requesting him to go on an exploring tour down the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers, to select a spot of several thousand acres, to which he wished to remove with his family. Ethan Brown at once embarked on this new enterprise. Having already traversed the whole region, and with a watchful eye, his thought at once reverted to the tract of coun- try which had already so charmed him, around Rising Sun. Here the pur- chase was made, and Mr. Brown, for comparatively a small sum of money, became a large landholder. An'elder brother of Ethan was sent out first to clear the land, prepare it for crops, and make those general arrangements essen- tial for the reception of a family accustomed to all the comforts of life. Mr. Roger Brown did not remove to his new possessions until 1814 just as that portion of the Northwestern Territory was being incorporated into the State of Indiana.
Ten years before the removal of the family, in the year 1804, Ethan Allen Brown took up his residence in Cincinnati, and entered upon the practice of his profession. His energy was crowned with immediate prosperity, and he was soon in receipt of a large income. He at once took a high position among the leading members of the bar. In 1810, he was elected, by the Legislature, Judge of the Supreme Court, and for eight years he performed the duties of that important office with distinguished success.
In the year 1818, Judge Brown was chosen Governor of Ohio. His inaugural address honored the man and his constituents who had the intelligence to elect him. His administration gave a new impulse to internal improvements. In this respect it has been said that Ethan Allen Brown was to Ohio what De Witt Clinton was to New York. He took a very active and efficient interest in the construction of that great work, the Ohio Canal. It was called at the time, by the opponents of the measure, Brown's folly. But it proved, like the great Erie Canal, to be a work of consummate wisdom.
In 1821, Governor Brown was promoted to a seat in the United States Senate. Here again he won high commendation for his ability, and his untiring industry. In 1822, he was appointed Canal Commissioner. In 1830, President jackson entrusted him with the responsible office of Minister to Brazil. At that time there were several important questions pending, which Mr. Brown caused to be settled, much to the satisfaction of both parties.
In 1834, Mr. Brown, then sixty-eight years old, retired from the Brazilian Court, and sought repose, after twenty years of unremitted public labor, in his bachelor home at Cincinnati. But a few months passed ere President Jackson again sought his services, and, inviting him to Washington, urged him to accept the position of Commissioner General of the Land Office. Retiring from these arduous labors two years after this, he repaired to Rising Sun, where was the grave of his father, and where many of his kindred still dwelt. Here, in the gentle employments of agriculture, and in literary pursuits, for which he had a decided taste, he passed the serene evening of his days. He died very suddenly,
MORRISON R.WAITE Chief Justice of the U.S.
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HISTORY OF OHIO.
after the brief sickness of half an hour, on the 24th of February, 1852. He was then attending a Democratic Convention at Indianapolis. He had been remark- ably healthy throughout his life. It is said that all his sickness would not have amounted to one week of time. His remains were conveyed to the beautiful cemetery at Rising Sun. A fine marble shaft rises over his ashes, with this inscription :
" ETHAN ALLEN BROWN.
" A man distinguished during a long life, by devotion to the service of his country, in the office of Judge of the Supreme Court, Governor of the State of Ohio, Senator of the United States, Commissioner of the United States Land Office, Envoy to Brazil, etc., and more highly distinguished as one whose un- blemished character, whose truthfulness, and purity of heart and life, reflected honor on offices which are supposed to confer honor on their incumbents.
" Was born in Connecticut " In the year 1766. "Died at Indianapolis, February 24, 1852."
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HON. ALLEN TRIMBLE.
[See page 399.]
In the north of Ireland there is a community possessing remarkable charac- teristics from the blending in their characters of the peculiarities of the Scotch and Irish. Their ancestors emigrated from Scotland, and they are almost all staunch Protestants. In consequence of their origin they are called the Scotch- Irish. Many of the most valuable emigrants from the Old World to this, are these Scotch-Irish, from the north of Ireland.
Somewhere about the year 1750 a young man of this community named John Trimble crossed the Atlantic, seeking a new home in the wilds of America. We know but very little respecting him save that he was a man of Puritanic integrity and of indomitable energy. About one hundred and fifty miles from the sea-coast of Virginia, there is a range of the Alleghany Mountains called the Blue Ridge. Beyond this ridge there is one of the most beautiful valleys on this globe, bounded still farther west by other ridges of these gigantic mountains.
This magnificent Valley of Virginia had been, from time immemorial, one of the favorite abodes of the Indians. The climate was mild and delightful, the soil fertile, the forests and prairies magnificent in extent and luxuriance, and the game abundant. It was an Indian elysium.
To this remote yet attractive region, John Trimble, with his wife and one or two small children, boldly directed his steps. He reared his log cabin, planted his corn, ranged the streams with his fishing rod, and the fields with his rifle. The Indians were friendly. Other emigrants repaired to the valley, and settled not far from him. Summers and winters came and went with all the vicissitudes of joys and griefs which are the inevitable lot of humanity.
At length an awful storm of darkness and woe descended upon his dwelling.
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The savages became hostile. One night the family was startled from its slum- bers by the awful war whoop. A band of demoniac savages came rushing upon them. The fiend-like deed was soon perpetrated. Mr. Trimble, fighting val- iantly, was killed and scalped. So far as we can learn, all the family perished excepting one son, James, a little boy who was taken captive. The torch was applied, and the cabin, with its murdered inmates, was reduced to ashes. The morning dawned, revealing one of the most cruel of those deeds which man's inhumanity has ever been inflicting upon his brother man.
The neighbors from many miles around rallied, and hotly pursued the retreat- ing band which perpetrated this bloody deed. It was not difficult to follow their trail through meadow and forest. Colonel Maffit, who led this party of avengers, had married a daughter of John Trimble. With tireless energies he pursued them beyond the western ridge of the Alleghanies, struck them by sur- prise when they supposed that they were beyond the reach of danger, shot several of them, dispersed the rest terror-stricken, and recovered James Trimble and several other prisoners whom the Indians had taken.
James grew up to manhood. He never forgot that midnight scene of terror and of blood, in which his father and others of the family perished. The mem- ory of that awful hour often nerved his arm in many a subsequent sanguinary battle with the Indians. In the year 1774, being then twenty-one years of age, he took part in the terrible battle of Point Pleasant, which has been des- cribed in previous pages of this work. It will be remembered that this battle was fought between troops from the Valley of Virginia and a coalition of several Indian tribes, under the renowned chief, Cornstalk.
In the Revolutionary War, when England was hurling the savages against our defenceless frontiers, James Trimble was in command of a company of bor- der troops to range the wilderness, and beat back their fiend-like foes. Heroic- ally he acted his part. At the close of the Revolutionary War, Mr. Trimble married Miss Jane Allen, and in 1784 removed to what is now Kentucky, set- tling upon lands which he received in payment for military services. A com- pany of emigrants was organized to establish a colony in those vast wilds over which countless Indian tribes were roving.
As they were to go beyond the reach of organic laws, or of governmental pro- tection, it was necessary for them to combine for mutual protection, and form themselves into somewhat of an independent community. Major General Henry Knox, who, during the war, had acquired much reputation, not only as a soldier but also as a statesman, was the chosen leader of this band.
This little band of adventurers pressed forward on their long journey through the almost trackless region, until they reached a spot called McConnell's Sta- tion, where the City of Lexington now stands. Mrs. Trimble made this arduous journey on horseback, carrying in her arms her little son Allen, then a babe eleven months old. It was late in the Autumn when they set out. The journey occupied several weeks. There were days of rain, when no shelter could be obtained. It was necessary to camp out every night. Their food had to be cooked on the way, and most of it to be taken by the fishing rod or the rifle. In the month of November they reached their distant home. .
These men, of Scotch-Irish descent, were intelligent, energetic, upright, and
-
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were endowed with that worldly wisdom which was pretty sure to secure for them pecuniary prosperity. Mr. Trimble, in the course of eighteen years, became a wealthy man for that region. He was a large landholder, and owned quite a number of slaves. As there were no schools, he employed a private teacher to instruct his children. Gradually he awoke to the consciousness, not only of the inexpediency, but of the enormous wrong of slavery. Often he wistfully cast his eyes across the Ohio River to the soil beyond, consecrated forever to freedom.
We know not how long or how intense the struggle, but it must have been both long and intense before he fully made up his mind to abandon so much of what the community around him regarded as legitimate property, and again, in his declining years, to seek for a new home. He might have sold his slaves for a large sum of money. But nobly he resolved not to do this, but to give them their freedom.
In the year 1802, he took his son Allen with him, who was then about nine- teen years of age, and explored the Valley of the Scioto, then mostly an unbroken solitude. In this lovely region he purchased a large quantity of land, and following up the Paint River, one of the important tributaries of the Scioto, to its upper waters, he bought, on Clear River, in what is now Highland County, twelve hundred additional acres, in an admirable location. Upon this purchase, on the banks of Clear River, he decided to locate his family.
The next year, in 1803, this noble man presented his slaves with their deeds of manumission. They were handed in to the county court of Woolford County for record. So great was the reluctance of the authorities, at that time, to encourage emancipation, that the record would have been refused but for the powerful interposition of Henry Clay.
In the Autumn of this year, Mr. Trimble, still remaining in the old home- stead, sent his son Allen and his brother in law, Mr. Lewis, to purchase, at the scattered farmhouses, four hundred swine, on speculation. Mr. Allen fur- nished the funds. This herd was to be driven six hundred miles to Central Virginia, two hundred of which were through an uninhabited mountain wilderness. It was a long and tedious journey, for the slow-paced animals could never travel more than fifteen or twenty miles a day. They lived upon such nuts and roots as they could pick up on the route.
This was the first speculation of the kind. It proved eminently successful. The hogs cost in Kentucky two dollars each, or eight hundred dollars for the whole. They were sold in Virginia for nine dollars per head, being three thousand six hundred dollars for the whole. That left a profit of two thousand four hundred dollars. From this was to be deducted only the wages of the drovers, who could be hired for a few dollars a month.
Young Allen Trimble, who went in charge of this herd, spent the Winter with his relatives in Virginia. Upon his return to Lexington, in the Spring, he found that his father had gone to his new purchase on Clear River, where he was erecting a house and planting an orchard. While engaged in these labors the good man died, in the year 1804, at the age of fifty.
Thus Allen, before he had attained his majority, became the responsible head of the family. Through the kind care of his father, he had received a good
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English education, and a thorough knowledge of surveying. Both by nature and education he was a good business man. His Scotch-Irish blood gave him strong self-reliance, great decision of character, and unyielding integrity. He had an intelligent and noble mother, and the intelligent son well knew how to appreciate her virtues.
The success of the speculation with the swine induced young Trimble, in partnership with a Mr. Bell, to make another similar purchase. The enterprise occupied his time for nearly half a year. In the Spring of 1805, the family took possession of the estate in Ohio. Days of tumult, terror, and demoniac war soon came. The exasperated Indians rushed, in frenzies of despair, upon our frontier settlements. The British government supplied them with arms and ammunition, and the savage bands were often led to their most inhuman deeds by British officers.
Allen had two younger brothers, William and Cary. They accompanied General Hull on his disastrous campaign, and at his surrender became prisoners of war. When exchanged, they again joined the army, and proved brave and efficient soldiers. William subsequently became a member of the United States Senate, and also received from Ohio the important appointment of Indian Commissioner.
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