USA > Ohio > Washington County > Marietta > The ninety-fifth anniversary of the settlement of Ohio, at Marietta. Historical address > Part 6
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My father, Israel Putnam, 3d, offered a bounty of a fine broad-cloth coat pattern for every wolf scalp caught between the two Muskingums and the Ohio River and Meigs Creek. Varnum got one, Derol one, and James Dutton (who now lives in this town) three. That left three of the old gang. About the winter of 1825 or '26 these three killed six sheep for us one cold snowy night, and my brother Pascal and my- self determined to get rid of them ; and prepared, each of us, with a good rifle gun and ammunition, started in pursuit (snow about eight inches deep). We pushed them for three days, brother and myself following their tracks ; the third day they separated, one going off by himself, and that one killed a sheep, or found one already killed, and had his fill of good mutton. My brother followed the one, and I the two the fourth day. That night they all came together again, and my brother came home and got four hunters to put them
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through to Canada or kill them in their tracks. When I was relieved by such a strong force, I came home with my brother in his sleigh. These bold hunters followed about a half day and came home, much to our disappointment, giving as an excuse that the wolves had put out for a great laurel-thicket that lay between the forks of Duck Creek, and so ended the six days wolf chase.
I shall always believe that they would have sought a cave or den if there had been one in the county, as they went un- der every ledge of rocks to be found in their route. They crossed the streams many times near the same place. The head waters of Bear Creek, Cat's Creek and Big Run were their tramping grounds. My old friend, Dick Dodge, said that the Putnam blood had too nearly run out for us to be wolf catchers, but I have always believed they would have holed if they had had one. We saw them several times but they were too cunning for us to get a shot.
Well, the remaining ones of the gang came to their final judgment in this way : Winchester Dana and his neighbors had a pack of hounds and a very courageous cur dog, and they determined to rid the country of the last of the murder- ous gang; and started early one morning, when there was a good snow on the ground, in the winter of 1833 or 4. They started them between Coal Run and Cat's Creek, chased them all that day, having a change of dogs.
Next morning they continued the chase, and soon started them near where they left them the night before. They had hardly got a good start when the two old deer hunters, Sa- binas Briggs and James Steed appeared, who gave each a whistle, the wolves stopped and they shot them. The hounds were on them before they were done kicking. That was the last of that gang. Winchester Dana said he would rather have lost $50 than not to have had his dogs caught them.
Mr. Benjamin Dana had been giving a premium for live wolves, brought to him in traps, and letting them loose for his dogs to catch a number of times ; always guaranteeing
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the bounty in case they got away from his dogs, but they never got away.
About the same years, from 1812 to 1826, there was a gang haunting the west side of the Muskingum. At one time they killed a young ox for Wilson Hill. Frank Devol fixed up the carcase of this young ox and set his trap in trapper's style, and caught two of this gang and brought them home to show and then let the dogs fight them.
The last one of this gang killed two sheep for Hill's folks, opposite our house, on the west side of the river. Anthony Hill put the fragments into a hollow tree, where one side had been burned out, leaving a nice place for the purpose, and set his trap. The third morning after he had the whelp fast in my brother Pascal's wolf trap. His big brother, Wilson, got there before Anthony did, and having two very active and ferocious dogs, they got up a dog and wolf fight. The wolf got into the river, in deep water and sank, the trap being too heavy for him; so Hill lost the wolf scalp, and brother, P. P. Putnam, his wolf trap.
In the fall of 1812, the wolves caught a very large buck opposite our house, close to the edge of the water, and ate all up but skin and bones.
One fall a large wolf caught a large calf in our first young orchard, near the Muskingum river, and was tearing great mouthfuls out off his hind legs, in broad day. My mother took a stake and attempted to drive him away, the calf bel- lowing with all his might. The wolf gave a sudden growl and kept on at his murderous work, and Ma, as we all called her, had to let in the great oxen and cows, and they soon drove the wolf away, but it was too late, the calf was ruined. If she had let the bars down when she first got there the oxen would have saved the calf.
And so it is with all of us. When it is too late we can see where we missed it. I know it was so with me the other day, when I called the dog out where the cow stood, and made the cow stand over for him to come by, instead of letting him out where he went in, when she let drive at the dog and hit
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. the left side of my knee and knocked me down. Then I could see where I missed it, and have been laid up six weeks for the want of timely forethought.
So it was with the man trying to catch his horse. The horse wouldn't let him when he had a bridle, so he laid the bridle in the corner of the lot, caught the horse and led him till he got close to the bridle. The old horse saw it and would not go another inch. So he tied the halter to his leg, lay down and reached for the bridle. Just as he got hold of it, the horse started with him, and he had not gone half round the pasture before the old man saw where he had missed it.
Another man, I heard, was hauling saw logs, the chain broke and he put in his forefinger for a toggle. The oxen had not gone 10 rods until he could see where he missed it.
THE EARLY HUNTERS.
The first real game hunters of my recollection was an en- campment of Indians, who had their headquarters on the headwaters of Devol's Run ; six, I believe, four men and two squaws. They came to our log cabin once, befor I was four years old, to trade for cider and apples. They came there often to trade for pork, meal, &c., exchanging venison, little checked baskets, &c. These Indians used to make little wide splint baskets, suitable for children's school baskets, and stain every other square with some kind of paint of their own manufacture." They were very civil and attended to their own business. But the children were all afraid of them, they had heard so many awful stories of their murdering the early settlers that we naturally believed them all to be child and man killers.
The hostile Indians had shot and scalped several white men about, viz : Benoni Hulburt, at Little Hocking ; Sher- man Waterman, near Waterford ; Robert Warth, near Har- mar ; twelve bachelors, at Big Bottom ; Matthew Steer, in a canoe near Duck Creek, and others I don't remember, besides capturing several, viz : Major Goodale of Farmer's Castle ; Grosvenor Converse, of Waterford, and others. I knew only
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one of the Indian scouts personally, that was my mother's brother, John Wiser. Adam Poe, Lewis Wetzel, Peter Neise- wanger, John and George Warth, rangers for Harmar, John Fleehart, Neal McGuffy, Wm. McCullow and Capt. King I know only from history and hearsay.
HUNTERS OF MY RECOLLECTION.
There was a whole family of hunters living on and about Devol's Run by the name of Hill, named James, John, Thomas, William, George, Anthony and Wilson. The latter is the one who set the dogs on the wolf for fun and did not get him.
This family were all hunters and target shooters in winter, and keel-boatmen in warm weather. Anthony was the best target shot in the county, in his day, always kept a good gun and in good order and much practice. That is where he had the advantage of other marksman.
There was also a family, of Willises, on the same side of the Run, that were good, named James, Warden and Samp- son. Warden and Sampson were gunsmiths, and made ve y good rifles ; the price of a gun barrel was always "sex dollars," as Samp. pronounced it.
There was Gid. and Bob. Gibson who were hunters and keel-boatmen, on the same side of the river. Sometimes these families would have eight and ten carcasses of deer meat on hand. Our folks used to barter for their venison with pork, flour, meal, apples, cider, etc.
I have already mentioned some of the Indian scouts. One of them was John Wiser, my mother's brother. I also men- tioned some of the early hunters as wolf catchers, viz : Fran- cis Devol, James Dutton, Anthony Hill. Mr. Allen, of Waterford, was the man who caught wolves in that neighbor- hood and took them alive to Mr. Benjamin Dana.
Barker Devol, older than Frank, while out hunting one cold, snowy day, came across Luther Barker, who was also hunting, and got lost in the woods near March Run, and had wandered about near the same place until completely be- wildered and exhausted. Devol said he had hard work to rouse him sufficiently to get him to go towards home. Devol was sure Barker would have perished if he had not found him.
Leonard Foster and Joseph Hildebrand, Hugh Hill and his son, Hugh, Charles Foster, Sabinas Briggs and many others were deer and turkey hunters in my earlier days, and much depended upon their good luck for their future meals.
I shot one deer.
L. J. P. PUTNAM, aged 75.
68 SELECTIONS FROM CORRESPONDENCE.
From Ex-President Hayes.
SPIEGEL GROVE, FREMONT, OHIO, 26 March, 1883.
My Dear Sir: You are very fortunate in having secured Mr. Loring as your orator on Pioneer Day, and I congratulate you upon it. Mrs. Hayes and I would be glad to hear him, and to enjoy with you and our Marietta friends generally the interesting occasion. We are not how- ever able to do so.
With all good wishes, sincerely, R. B. HAYES. President I. W. Andrews.
From Dr. G. S. B. Hempstead.
PORTSMOUTH, O., March 12th, 1883. R. E Harte, Esq.,
Dear Sir-Yours of 2d inst. received. Should be much pleased to at- tend the next annual meeting of the Pioneers of Marietta, and I may say of the whole North West ; for wherever we go the New England charac- teristics are unmistakably impressed, and give a kind of Yankee expres- sion to everything we see.
Until the last two years my health and locomotive powers have been very satisfactory, but of late my general health has failed, (caused by a call- cer on my right ear, which has progressed until the whole right side of my face has become paralyzed; and talking and eating are extremely difficult performances-two important faculties at such a celebration as you propose.) This will compel me to deny myself the pleasure of meet- ing the early settlers on that occasion.
Sincerely yours, G. S. B. HEMPSTEAD.
From Mrs. John P. Mayberry, daughter of Hon. Paul Fearing, Delegate to Congress from the N. W. Territory 1801 to 1803.
Mrs. Mayberry, now living at an advanced age at Parkersburg, W. Va., commissioned her grandson by marriage to acknowledge the invitation to be present at the Pioneer Anniversary on the seventh of April, and to express her regret that the infirmities of age would not permit her to at- tend.
From Hon. John Sherman, U. S. Senator from Ohio.
WASHINGTON, March 26th, 1883.
My Dear Sir-Your kind note of the 23d inviting me to meet with you to celebrate the 95th anniversary of the Settlement at Marietta is received.
It would give me great pleasure to do so, but that week I have agreed to spend at Mansfield and Columbus, and cannot now change this ar- rangement.
Very truly yours, JOHN SHERMAN.
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From Hon. B. F. Stone, grandson of Cupt. Israel Stone.
CHILLICOTHE, OHIO, April 5th, 1883.
My Dear Sir-Yours of the 2d touching the Pioneer Celebration of the 7th ensuing, is at hand. Many thanks to you for your kind remembrance of me as one of the sons of the Pioneers.
I shall try to be present, though official business may prevent. Thos. J. Nye, a Marietta boy, and one of the college graduates, as you will re- member, will, I think, come with me.
With thanks again for your remembrance, I am yours very truly,
BENJ. F. STONE.
From Mrs. C. M. Bland, granddaughter of Hon. R. J. Meigs, Jr. WESTON, W. VA., April 4th, 1883.
President Andrews.
Dear Sir: The courteous invitation which you as " Chairman of Com- mittee of Pioneer Association," exten.l to Dr. Bland and to me, as a descendant of Gov. Meigs, is very highly appreciated. Please accept our sincere thanks and our regrets that we cannot be with you on the "Seventh of April." My husband and sons are familiar, through me, with the " time honored custom" of celebrating that day in Marietta, and it is most gratifying to know that those "Pioneers" in the settlement of the noble and prosperous State of Ohio are remembered, and their names revered. I shall bear this celebration in mind and I hope, if we live, to attend your next with my husband and sons.
Our family have strong attachments to Marietta. I have often told them how intently we, as children, listened to Grandma Meigs's descrip- tion of "Pioneer life."
She told of Grandpa Meigs graduating at Yale Co'lege, and that after their marriage in New Haven, Conn., he decided to seek his fortune in the "far West," rather than accept a situation of teacher offered him at Colchester, Conn.
She described the long and fatiguing journey by land and water to Marietta, no railroads and no steamboats and of their taking from Phil- adelphia the staple provisions, flour, groceries, &c, sufficient to last for months, and told us of their life in the fort, the frequent attacks of the Indians when they (the men) were in their fields at work. On one occa- sion Grandpa Meigs was in his corn field where Harmar now is, and both his farm hands lost their lives, one from a tomahawk thrown by an Indian and the other from drowning in attempting escape by swimming across the Muskingum river My mother had the tomahawk in her possession. The colored man killed, whom they had brought from Cou- necticut, was the uncle of Daphne, who still lives there.
With thanks and high regards of Dr. Bland and myself, and with the hope that you may have a pleasant time and an intellectual feast from your distinguished speakers, I am very truly yours,
COLUMBIA M. BLAND.
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From Mrs. F. C. Duncan, granddaughter of Gov. Meigs.
CLARKSBURG, W. VA .. April 5th, 1883.
. Dear Sir: I have waited a day before replying to your kind favor of the 2nd, hoping it might be in my power to accept the favor with which you honor me.
Marietta, as the home of my childhood, has only bright and happy associations. It would be a pleasure to be there at any time, much more on this auspicious occasion, but I regretfully find that I will be denied that pleasure.
With my best wishes for a happy reunion, and grateful appreciation of the kindness with which you write to me, I remain
Very respectfully yours,
FLORIDE C. DUNCAN.
President Andrews, Marietta College.
From Mrs. C. M. Jackson, Clarksburg, W. Va., granddaughter, by marriage, of Gor. Meigs.
Mrs. J. wrote expressing her interest in the anniversary, and kindly offering to loan for the occasion various old manuscripts, if the plan con- templated any such exhibition. Among these papers were several com- missions to Gov. Meigs :
One appointing him U. S. Attorney for Washington County, by Gov. St. Clair, 1788.
One to him as Commander-in-chief of the Territory, by Acting Gov- ernor Sargent.
A commission as Judge of the North West Territory, by President John Adams, 1798.
Also his proclamation for Thanksgiving as Governor, 1812.
Fais message to the Legislature, 1813.
Address to the Ohio troops, 1812.
A letter written by him from Richmond, Va., giving account of the trial of Aaron Burr, 1807.
From Ex-Gov. W. E. Stevenson, of West Virginia.
PARKERSBURG, W. VA., March 24, 1883.
President I. W. Andrews, Chairman, etc.,
Esteemed Sir-Yours of yesterday inviting me to attend the celebra- tion of the 95th anniversary of the first settlement of Ohio, &c., is to hand. Permit me to say in reply that if the condition of my health will at all permit I will certainly be present and do anything I can to revive the thrilling memories of the Olden Time, and to impress upon the liv- ing the importance of imitating the sturdy virtues of the pioneers long since gone to their reward.
Accept thanks for kindness, and believe me-
Yours truly,
W. E. STEVENSON.
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Later Gov. Stevenson sent this letter :
PARKERSBURG, April 4, 1883.
Esteemed Sir-You kind note of the 2nd inst. received. I regret to say that the condition of my health is such as to render it impossible for me to attend your anniversary celebration on the 7th inst. I am exceed- ingly disappointed, as I anticipated a full share of the enjoyment which I am sure will be realized on the occasion. The best I can do now is to wish abundant success to the commemoration; that in calling up the remembrances of the virtues and struggles of the Pioneer Fathers, all who hear them may resolve on more devoted loyalty to those institutions and that liberty which the heroism of these noble men insured to posterity. Very truly yours, W. E. STEVENSON.
From Rev. Dr. Eliphaz Perkins Pratt.
PORTSMOUTH, O., Mch. 27, 1883.
Dear Sir-Your very kind invitation to be present at the meeting of the Pioneer Association at Marietta on the 7th prox , has been received with thanks. I have never attended one of their annual meetings, al- though descended on both my father's and mother's side from pioneers who came to Marietta before the beginning of this century. But it will be out of my power to be present on the approaching anniversary, owing to other engagements previously made.
My grandfather, Dr. Eliphaz Perkins, was a graduate of Yale College, and had five sons to whom he wished to afford a liberal education This induced him to locate at Athens, which he did in 1802, with his family, as there was to be the seat of the Ohio University. He engaged in the practice of his profession in Athens Co., and often had to swim rivers or creeks, to reach his patients. His bed was a bear skin spread on the floor, and his saddle bags for his pillow, occupying the soft side of an oak puncheon, after a ride of ten or a dozen miles, through the mud, and snow, and rain. The people were kind and hospitable, and would give him the best they had ;- but they had very little money ; and could not pay money for his services. Once, on his way, with two other gentlemen from Marietta to Athens, they stopped for dinner at the halfway house. The man had gone away to mill some dozen miles, and the gude house- wife had nothing in the way of bread or meat to set before her guests. Flour and meal all out, and last flitch of bacon gone, and no venison in the house. What could the poor woman do? Here were three hungry men, two lawyers and one doctor, and they wanted their dinner. She set on a huge dish of bonny clabber, and cut up yellow seed cucumbers in it, and gave each of the guests an iron spoon as they sat around the table with which to eat these slippery slices. They had to eat some of 1 course as a compliment to the good landlady ; and they had a good deal of sport in balancing the pieces of cucumber on their spoons, and bearing them safely to their mouths.
Hoping you may have a better dinner than this, and a good time generally, I am yours truly, E. P. PRATT.
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From Gen. C. P. Buckingham, son of Ebenczer Buckingham, and grandson of General Rufus Putnam.
CHICAGO, March 31, 1883.
My Dear Sir: I have your letter of 27th inst. kindly inviting me to be present on the 7th prox., at the celebration of the "landing of the pil- grims" at Marietta, April 7, 1788. I should be exceedingly happy to do so, but my business engagements make it impossible.
I have always felt a great interest in everything that relates to the early history of Marietta, not merely as a descendant of Gen. Putnam, but especially as I spent the summer of 1816 there in my grandfather's family ; and although but eight years old I well remember some of the old settlers then living, among whom were David Putnam, Ichabod Nye, Dr. Hildreth. I also remember Douglas Putnam as a schoolmate with me that summer at the school house [Muskingum Academy] that stood in the same enclosure with the "two horned" Congregational Church. The great mound, the elevated square and the covered way have always been the subjects of my admiration, as well as the beautiful grassy streets, so suitable for boys to play in. In common with all others 1 should be greatly interested in the story of the emigration and settlement by the grand old heroes, who braved the cold and snows of winter to find a new home beyond the mountains, and I regret exceedingly that this enjoyment I must forego.
Very truly yours,
C. P. BUCKINGHAM.
From Gen. Rufus Putnam, son of Judge Edwin Putnam, and grand- son of Gen. Rufus.
CHILLICOTHE, March 21, 1883.
Dear Sir: Your invitation to attend the 95th anniversary of the set- tlement of Marietta and the North West on the seventh of April next, was duly received, and highly appreciated. But I am sorry to say that the Pioneers of Ross and adjoining counties hold one here, and. engaged me to speak before I received your invitation. Marietta, the name is dear to me-my native home. I well remember when the sad news reached there of the entire surrender of the Northwest Army by Gen. Hull to Gen. Proctor, that Col. Barber by the proclamation of Gov. Meigs ordered out his militia regiment.
[Gen. P. gives various personal reminiscences as a drummer boy in the war of 1812; of his living with his grandfather who sent him to school at the Muskingum Academy under "Professor Slocomb;" of the friendly Indians who often came down the Muskingum in their bark canoes hunting and fishing and sure to visit old Gen. Putnam; of his eseapes from Indians not so friendly, etc., etc.]
" I recollect very well a majority of the first prominent pioneers at Marietta and their descendants. Among my favorites were R. J. Meigs, John Mathews, Major Haskell, Col. Flint, Col. Israel Putnam, David Putnam, Josiah Munro, Capt. Stone, and others. # # I have seen the elm tree the emigrants boat was tied to. I have helped gather apples from the first orchard set out in Ohio by my grandfather."
RUFUS PUTNAM.
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From Ex-Gov. Boreman, of West Virginia.
PARKERSBURG, W. VA., April 2, 1883. Rev. I. W. Andrews, Ch. of Com., Marietta, O.
Dear Sir: Your note of this date has been received. I regret to be compelled, on account of prior engagements, to forego the pleasure of meeting the members of the Pioneer Association of you county at the 95th anniversary of the first settlement of Marietta and the N. W. Terri- tory on Saturday, the seventh. Please accept for yourself, and convey to the members of the Association, my thanks for extending to me this kind invitation.
Very truly yours,
A. J. BOREMAN.
From Wm. M. Farrar, Esq.
CAMBRIDGE, OHIO, April 3d, 1883. Pres. Andrews, Marietta, O.
Dear Sir-I regret that I cannot attend the annual celebration of the Marietta settlement at your city on the 7th instant, which I have for some time been expecting and hoping to do. I therefore take the liberty of suggesting, whether it is not time the preliminary steps were being taken looking to the centennial celebration in 1888, now only five years distant. That will be an event of unusual interest throughout the great Northwest, and I hope to live to see it properly celebrated; and to render it a success the matter should be deliberately considered and carefully planned; therefore it may not be too early to appoint a committee looking to that end.
Yours very respectfully,
W. M. FARRAR.
From Hon Isaac Smucker.
NEWARK, O., March 20, 1883. President I. W Andrews, Marietta, Ohio.
Many thanks, my dear friend, for the cordial invitation in your letter of February 28, to join you in " the celebration of the ninety-fifth anni- versary of the first landing of the New England Colony," under the superintendence of Gen. Rufus Putnam, at the mouth of the Muskingum, April 7th, 1788. The commencement of that first permanent settlement inaugurated by white men within the present limits of the great State of Ohio, made in pursuance of the provisions of the memorable Ordinance of Freedom passed by the Continental Congress, July 13, 1787, was a grand event in the history of the Great North-West. That eminently successful initial movement which resulted in establishing a prosperous and enduring settlement, as well as civil government based on popular Liberty, in the "Territory North-West of the River Ohio," ninety-fire years ago, was an achievement that ought to be regarded with intense interest by every citizen of Ohio. It was an event worthy of a place not less in song and story than in the records of the annalist, or in'the more
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stately pages of the historiai, and should be celebrated by Ohio anniver- sary gatherings on each annually recurring 7th of April, to the end of time.
The men that composed the colony of 1788, were heroes-revolutionary heroes who had acted well the parts assigned them during the "times that tried men's souls" - Ohio's heroes they were, fit to found a State- men whose valor, manhood and virtues entitled them to be held perpet- ually in grateful remembrance by their descendants. They were hero- emigrants whose memory should be held in great veneration by their countrymen through all the ages of the future.
The history, especially the early-time history of the "North-West of the River Ohio," has always been of romantic interest to me, several facts contributing to make it so. One of those facts has intimate relation to the circumstance of my personal acquaintance, in early life, with Louisa, the somewhat eccentric but accomplished daughter of the terri- torial Governor, Gen. St. Clair, whose confidential Secretary she was during a few of the early years of the Territory. The brilliant Louisa and I were acquaintances-friends-for a time members of the same household-long enjoyed the comforts and pleasures of the same fireside- "many a time and oft broke bread " together at the same table-and for months in succession, during the years of 1829-30, quite frequently in- dulged in mutual friendly converse on early time frontier incidents and events, as well as on the current topics of the day. The intellectual Louisa was then a highly entertaining conversationalist, and I can readily concede that she must have been an attractive central figure in the young society of the Territory, at and around Campus Martius, where, when she was forty years younger, she was known as a superior equestrienne, as an elegant skater, an excellent rifle shot, an expert huntress; as an ac- complished young lady, who, sylph-like, moved through the mazes and intricacies of the figures of the dance, with the lightness of "the queen of the fairies;" and as a pedestrian, graceful as the wood-nymph, in her perambulations through the wild woodlands bordering on the Ohio; and where also she was conspicuous as the romantic heroine of the interest- ing " Legend of the Muskingum." My friendship for Governor St. Clair's favorite daughter, while I was in early manhood and she in advanced age and in widowhood, together with my unabated regard for her descendants, has quite naturally intensified my interest in that por- tion of western history with which the Governor was so early, and for so long a period conspicuously identified.
In addition I may be permitted further to say that I was early led to cultivate a more than ordinary degree of interest in the classic locality about the mouth of the Muskingum, and its romantic history, as well as in our territorial history generally, by the late distinguished Pioneer and Jurist, Judge Burnet, of Cincinnati, who was one of the leading Attorneys and Statesmen of the North West Territory, with whose writings I had become familiar, and with whom I had the honor, in his old age, of a
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personal acquaintance, on one occasion spending hours in association with him. His graphic recitals of the numerous " hair-breadth escapes and moving accidents by flood and field," and in wilderness and prairie too, during territorial times and in the earlier years of our State history, when he and other lawyers, and the judges too, "rode the circuit," which em- braced Chillicothe, Marietta, Detroit, Vincennes, Kaskaskia, Cahokia, and Cincinnati, often of necessity "camping out of nights," were well calculated to excite the romantic and the marvellous, and give one in- creased interest in the valorous deeds and tragic events that characterized the heroic age of the North West.
[Mr. S. speaks of a visit to Marietta in 1827, floating down the Mus- kingum in a flat boat, or " broad horn," loaded with flour at Zanesville for the New Orleans market. He visited it again in 1853. His letter concludes as below :]
"I feel assured that Marietta is still attractive, because of its an- tiquities and not less so by reason of the hospitality of its citizens. It would afford me much pleasure to visit it once more in response to your invitation ; but the infirmities of age will not permit. I thank you for your kind remembrance of me, and would gladly join you in your ap- proaching anniversary. Yours fraternally, ISAAC SMUCKER.
Letters were also received from Samuel S. Spencer, Esq., Vienna, W. Va., grandson of Dr. Joseph Spencer; from John T. Cotton, M. D., Charleston, W. Va., a native of Marietta ; from Hon. J. N. Camden, U. S. Senator from West Virginia; and from Colonel Charles Whittlesey, Cleveland, President of the. Western Reserve Historical Society.
Interesting reminiscenses of Hon. Benjamin Ruggles were furnished by his son, resident at St. Clairsville. Judge Ruggles came from Connecti- cut to Marietta in 1807 and began the practice of law. In 1810 he was appointed one of the President Judges of Ohio. Five years later he was elected to the Senate of the U. S. He was twice re-elected, and served eighteen years consecutively as Senator. After this long and honorable public service, he lived for the most part in retirement on his farm near St. Clairsville.
After parts of the above correspondence had been read, President An- drews, who had been requested to speak upon the educational and re- ligious character of the pioneers, spoke briefly of the men prominently engaged in the formation of the Ohio Company, and who were also asso- ciated in the management of affairs during the first period of the terri- torial government ;- referring specially to the fact that their varied and great experience, (and, in the case of many, their advantages of special training, ) had well fitted them for the places of executive and judicial responsibility which they filled with so much honor to themselves and so great usefulness to the country. He also made mention of the numerous
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descendants of the pioneer families who have been educated at Marietta College during the last forty-five years.
Rev. B. W. Chidlaw, of Hamilton County, related what his father told him about America, when a little boy in Wales, and gave an interesting account of his first visit to this county, made when a student at Athens, more than fifty years ago. He closed his short but very stirring speech with kindly and pleasant allusions to Marietta's early history, and his recollections of many of its citizens.
, Mention should here be made of the vocal music-most appropriately introduced at the opening and closing exercises of the day, and between the remarks of speakers. The selections were well made, and were ex- ceedingly well sung by a small choir of ladies and gentlemen, led by a piano. Among the pieces, once familiar to the oldest persons present, may be named Sherburne, Montgomery, Denmark, Song of the Old Folks, Oft in the Stilly Night, and Auld Lang Syne. The closing piece was the dosology in long metre, sung to Old Hundred ;- after which the benediction was pronounced, and the audience then dispersed.
This 95th anniversary meeting was decided upon, and arranged for, as the preparatory step towards the Centennial Celebration in ISSS. It was an interesting and satisfactory meeting to those who were present, and the members of the Pioneer Association hope that a report of the pro- ceedings will likewise interest all who may read these pages.
Prominent among the portraits hanging from the walls of the stage during the meeting, were those of Rufus Putnam, Israel Putnam, Ma- nasseh Cutler, Ephraim Cutler, Ichabod Nye, Anselm T. Nye, and Griffen Greene and his wife. The last named were presented to the as- sociation by Mrs. Joseph Hutchinson, grand-daughter of Esq. Greene. Portraits of the Judges of the first Court were also to be seen in an oil painting representing "The First Court held in Ohio." Many photographs and ancient legal documents were also exhibited, and the stage was dec- orated with flowers and flags.
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