USA > Ohio > Washington County > Marietta > Washington County, and the early settlement of Ohio : being the centennial historical address, before the citizens of Washington County, by Israel Ward Andrews Marietta, Ohio, July 4th, 1876 > Part 2
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The bill was approved April 21st, and on the 10th of May the three patents were issued to Rufus Putnam.
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Centennial Historical Address.
Manasseh Cutler, Robert Oliver, and Griffin Greene, in trust for the Ohio Company of Associates; they were signed by George Washington, President, and Thomas Jefferson, Secretary of State. The three patents for 913,883 acres, (750,000 besides the reservations), for 214,285, and 100,000, bear date the same day, May 10th, 1792. With the exception of one to the State of Penn- sylvania, March 3d, 1792, these are the first land patents issued by our government.'
The first party of emigrants left Danvers, Massa- chusetts, Dec. Ist, 1787, conducted by Major Haffield White. The second left Hartford, Connecticut, Jan. Ist, 1788, under Colonel Ebenezer Sproat, General Putnam overtaking them Jan. 24th. The first party reached the Youghiogheny, Jan. 23d, the second Feb. 14th. There they built boats, in which they embarked, April Ist, reaching the mouth of the Muskingum, April 7th. Forty- eight men landed here on that day, and thus began the settlement of the town of Marietta, the county of Washington, the State of Ohio. During that year there came in all one hundred and thirty-two men. There were fifteen families, among them General Tupper's, Major Cushing's, Major Goodale's, and Major Coburn's. At the close of that year, says General Putnam, there was not a single white family within the present State of Ohio save what belonged to the Ohio Company, for Colonel Harmar and most of his officers were pro- prietors.
In 1762 some Moravian missionaries had gathered a few Indians into a settlement on the Tuscarawas, but it had been broken up by the massacre of the Indians
I. These three patents as well as the original contract of October 2, 1787, are in the library of Marietta College.
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Marietta in 1788.
in 1782. A fort had been built in 1786 by Major John Doughty on the west bank of the Muskingum, and named for Colonel Josiah Harmar, the commander of the regiment. Fort Laurens had been built by General McIntosh in 1778, but it was abandoned the next year. In 1787, Mr. Isaac Williams had settled in Virginia op- posite the mouth of the Muskingum, and the place still bears his name.
This was the situation when General Putnam and his pioneers landed in 1788. And at the close of the year there was no white population in what is now Ohio except that which was here at the mouth of the Muskingum. Yet this little community had distin- guished men among them, and was marked by a high degree of intelligence and culture.
Here was General Arthur St. Clair, the governor of the Territory, who was President of Congress when he received his appointment. Here was General Sam- uel H. Parsons, a distinguished officer of the Revolu- tion and an eminent lawyer and statesman; here also was General James M. Varnum, an officer of distinc- tion, an eloquent lawyer, and a member of the Conti- nental Congress. Both these were judges of the new Territory. These were all men of liberal education, as were Major Winthrop Sargent, secretary of the Terri- tory, Paul Fearing, Return Jonathan Meigs, Jr., Dudley Woodbridge, and various others.
Governor St. Clair was the only governor of the Territory. Winthrop Sargent, the secretary, was ap- pointed governor of Mississippi Territory in 1798, and William Henry Harrison succeeded him as secretary: When Harrison was elected a delegate to Congress in 1799, Charles W. Byrd became secretary.
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Centennial Historical Address.
John Cleves Symmes was one of the three judges of the Territory. He had been a member of Congress, and at the time of his appointment was Chief Justice of the State of New Jersey. He remained in office till Ohio became a State. Judges Parsons and Varnum both died in 1789, and George Turner and Rufus Put- nam were appointed in their stead. When Judge Putnam was appointed Surveyor-General of the United States in 1796, he was succeeded by Joseph Gilman; and R. J. Meigs, Jr., was appointed in place of Judge Turner in 1798. Five of the seven judges were citizens of Marietta-Messrs. Parsons, Varnum, Putnam, Gil- man and Meigs.
The first Territorial legislature met in 1799, Paul Fearing and Colonel R. J. Meigs being the representa- tives from this county.1 Colonel Robert Oliver, a citizen of this county was one of the five members of the Council, or upper house of the legislature. appointed by the President. He continued to be a member of the Council till the State was admitted into the Union in 1803, and for most of the time was the presid- ing officer of the body. In the second Territorial legis- lature this county was represented by Ephraim Cutler and William R. Putnam; and the same two gentlemen were re-elected in October, 1802, for the third legislature. Paul Fearing was the delegate to Congress from the Territory from March ISO1 to March 1803. In the Convention to frame a State constitution which met at Chillicothe in November, 1802, Washington county was represented by Rufus Putnam, Ephraim Cutler, Benjamin Ives Gilman, and John McIntire. All these
t. Colonel R. J. Meizs is often confounded with his son of the same name, who after- ward became Governor of Ohio, U. S. Senator, and Postmaster-General.
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Washington County Established.
were from Marietta except Mr. McIntire, who lived at Zanesville, then a part of this county.
Governor St. Clair reached Fort Harmar, July 9th, 1788, and was formally received at Marietta on the 15th, General Putnam making an address of welcome. The commissions of the Governor, Judges, and Secretary were read, and thus these officers of the new Territory were inducted into office.
One of the first acts of the Governor was to estab- lish the county of Washington, which was done by proclamation on the 26th of July,' with these boundaries :
" Beginning on the bank of the Ohio river where the western boundary line of Pennsylvania crosses it, and running with that line to Lake Erie; thence along the southern shore of said lake to the mouth of Cuyahoga river; thence up said river to the portage between that and the Tuscarawas branch of the Muskingum; thence adown the branch to the forks, at the crossing place above Fort Laurens; thence with a line to be drawn westerly to the portage of that branch of the Big Miami, . on which the fort stood that was taken by the French in 1752, until it meets the road from the lower Shawa- nese town to the Sandusky; thence south to the Scioto river, down that to its mouth, and thence up the Ohio river to the place of beginning." The irregular line from Lake Erie to the Scioto was the boundary be- tween the United States and the Wyandot and Delaware nations, made by the treaty at Fort McIntosh, Jan. 21, 1785.
The county included nearly half of the present State. The next county formed was Hamilton, January 2d,
1. The volume of the Ohio Statutes, printed in 1807, gives July 27th, as the date, and the same is found in the volume of Land Laws, printed in 1825, in Chase's Statutes, and in the Ohio Statistics for 1876 prepared by the Secretary of State. But an examination of the papers in the State Department at Washington shows that the 26th is the correct date.
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Centennial Historical Address.
1790. Later were established, in what is now Ohio, Adams, July 10th, 1797 ; Jefferson, July 29th, 1797; Ross, August 20th, 1798; Trumbull, (all of the Western Re- serve) July 10th, 1800; Clermont, December 6th, 1800; Fairfield, December 9th, 1800; Belmont, September 7th, 1801.
These nine were the counties when Ohio became a State in 1803. At the first session of the State legis- · lature in March, 1803, eight new counties were made, viz: Scioto, Warren, Butler, Montgomery, Greene, Col- umbiana, Gallia, and Franklin. The dates of others near us are, Muskingum, 1804; Athens, 1805; Guernsey, 1810; Monroe, 1813; Jackson, 1816; Morgan, Perry and Hocking, 1818; Meigs, 1819; Vinton, 1850; Noble, 1851.
Immediately after the landing on the 7th of April, General Putnam, the Superintendent of the Company, commenced the survey of the town and the eight-acre lots. He also gave his attention to the subject of de- fense against the Indians. He says: "Besides the pro- priety of always guarding against savages, I had reason to be cautious, for from consulting the several treaties which had been made with the Indians by our Commis- sioners (copies of which I had obtained at the War Office as I came on) and other circumstances, I was fully persuaded that the Indians would not be peaceable very long; hence the propriety of immediately erecting a cover for the emigrants who were soon expected. Therefore the hands not necessary to attend the surveys, were set to work in clearing the ground which I had fixed on for erecting the proposed works of defense."
The stockade thus built was called Campus Mar- tius, and was situated about thirty rods from the Mus- kingum on the north side of what is now Washington
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Early Fortifications.
Street. It was one hundred and eighty feet square, with a block-house at each angle, and contained dwell- ing-houses sufficient for forty or fifty families. In one of these block-houses the first court was held Sept. 2d, 1788, and the same place was used for public worship. After the breaking out of the Indian war in Jan. 1791, a stockade was built at the Point, another at Belpre, and still another at Waterford. That at Belpre was called " Farmers' Castle," and was on the bank of the river opposite the centre of Backus's (now known as Blenner- hassett's) island. The one at Waterford, known as "Fort Frye," was on the east bank of the Muskingum, a short distance below the town of Beverly. Some minor fortifications were subsequently erected at Belpre. These various garrisons, with Campus Martius and Fort Harmar, furnished such protection that the settlers passed through the four years of the Indian war with very little loss of life. There was necessarily much hardship and privation, but the pioneers were resolute and intelligent, fertile to contrive and energetic to execute.
The next settlement after Marietta was at Belpre, early in 1789, and another was made at Waterford the same year. This latter was called Plainfield by the people at first, but soon changed to Waterford. In Dec. 1790, Marietta, Belpre and Waterford were organized as townships by the Court of Quarter Sessions. At the March session of the Court in 1797, the county was divided into townships, with the following boundaries:
" Marietta, from the seventh range to the western boundary of the ninth range, and bounded north by the donation tract, extending south to include township No. 2, in the ninth range.
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Centennial Historical Address.
Adams, all north of Marietta.
Waterford, all in the county west of Adams and Marietta.
Gallipolis, from the bank of the Ohio on the line between the third and fourth townships of the eleventh range to the west line of the county, thence southerly to the Ohio, and up the Ohio to the place of beginning.
Belpre, all south of Waterford and Marietta, and north of Gallipolis."
The part adjoining Pennsylvania was called War- ren, and west of that was Middletown, both running to the north line of the county.
In the summer of 1797 Jefferson county was formed, taking off these two townships, Warren and Middletown.
In June of that year the people on Duck Creek petitioned for a separate township, and Salem was estab- lished at the December term of the court. It was bounded on the cast by the west line of the seventh range, and on the south by the south line of the dona- tion tract, was five miles wide, and extended to the north line of the county.
In December, 1798, Newport was established, and another Middletown, embracing a large region around Athens; also Newtown, formed from the north part of Waterford, and described as bounded east by Adams, south by Waterford, and north and west by the county lines.
In June, 1800, when the census was taken, there were nine townships in the county, three of which, Gal- lipolis, Newtown and Middletown, were outside of the present county: leaving Marietta, Belpre. Waterford. Adams, Salem and Newport.
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Townships in Washington County.
Many changes in the townships have taken place since that time, the present number being twenty-three. A list is given of the whole number that have been cre- ated, with the dates of their establishment. Two of the twenty-five - Roxbury and Jolly -have ceased to exist.
Marietta, Belpre, and Waterford, established in 1790; Adams and Salem, 1797; Newport, 1798; Grand- view, 1802; Watertown' and Roxbury,2 1806; Fearing, 1808; Wesley and Warren, 1810; Union,3 IS12; Law- rence, 1815; Aurelius and Barlow, 1818; Ludlow, 1819: Decatur, 1820; Liberty, 1832 ; Jolly + and Independence. 1840; Fairfield and Palmer, IS51; Dunham, 1856: Muskingum, 1861.
The population in 1870 was 40,609; in 1860, 36, 268; in 1850, 29,540. Seven counties exceed it in pop- ulation by the last census, viz: Cuyahoga. Franklin. Hamilton, Lucas, Montgomery, Muskingum, and Stark.
In 1850, eighteen counties were in advance of Washington. Of the seven counties now in advance of it, all have large cities but two; and of these two, Mus- kingum has one city of more than 10,000 inhabitants. and Stark has two towns larger than Marietta, and one of about the same size. We may say, then. that no ag- ricultural county in the State has a larger population than Washington. The counties exceeding it in IS50 and behind it in 1870 are Belmont, Butler. Clermont. Columbiana, Fairfield, Guernsey, Licking. Richland. Ross. Trumbull, Tuscarawas and Wayne. In the twenty years only one county has outstripped it-Lucas. which contains the thriving city. Toledo.
T. Watertown was called Wooster till 1824.
. A part of Rostury was annexed to Morgan county in 1851, and the rest merged in the new township of Palmer.
3. Union has now 1877 been divided between Adams, Muskingum, Warren and Watertown.
4. A part of Jolly was annexed to Monroe county in 1851, and the rest to Grandview in 1859.
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Centennial Historical Address.
From 1850 to 1870 fourteen counties in Ohio retrograded in population, and twelve of these did the same from 1860 to 1870.
Since 1850 the population of Washington has suf- fered some reduction by the formation of Noble county, and by the annexation of a part of the township of Rox- bury to Morgan county, and of parts of Liberty, Lud- low and Jolly to Monroe county.
It should be noted that the tendency of the popu- lation in the United States is toward the cities in an increasing ratio. Calling those places cities which have a population of 8,000, the census shows that in 1790 the cities had one-thirtieth of the whole population; in 1820, one-twentieth; in 1850, one-eighth; in 1870, one- fifth. This makes the growth of this county more note- worthy.
The movement of the center of population of the United States has been westward about fifty miles a decade, and along a parallel of latitude nearly coinci- dent with the south line of this county. In 1790 the center was a little east of Baltimore, in latitude 39° 16'; in 1870 it was fifty miles easterly from Cincinnati, in latitude 39° 12'. In the eighty years it has not devi- ated more than one-sixth of a degree from its general line of movement westward.
The area of Washington county is about 613 square miles, which is thirty-five per cent. above the average of the counties. The density of population is almost exactly that of the State as a whole, being a fraction above sixty-six to the square mile. A removal of the county-seat to Waterford was suggested in 1817, but the formation of Morgan county the next winter quieted whatever agitation there was.
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Formation of the State.
The ordinance of 1787 provided for the formation of not less than three nor more than five states from the North-west Territory, and the boundaries were given. When any division should have 60,000 inhabitants, it might form a state constitution. The territory of Ind- iana was formed in 1800, and the census of that year showed a population of 42,000 in the eastern division. After the adjournment of the legislature in January, 1802, another census gave 45,028 inhabitants, and an effort was made to secure the admission of Ohio into the Union. In modern times the people of a territory are usually anxious to exchange the territorial for the state government at the earliest day, and most of our new states have been admitted with a population insufficient for a single representative. But the people of Washing- ton county were in no such haste. Almost unanimously they were opposed to the formation of a state when Congress passed the enabling act in April, 1802.
In June, 1801, a convention of delegates from most of the towns of the county was held, at which it was ' unanimously resolved; "That in our opinion, it would be highly impolitic, and very injurious to the inhabi- tants of this territory, to enter into a state government
at this time." Among the delegates were Paul Fearing, Elijah Backus, Isaac Pierce. Silas Bent, Robert Oliver. Gilbert Devol. Joseph Barker and others.
In December of the same year the territorial legis- lature requested Congress to change the western bound- ary of the eastern division from the Miami river to the Scioto. As such a change would diminish the popula- tion as well as the area, its effect would be to postpone the time of admission. The people of this county were in favor of the alteration, and both their representatives
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Centennial Historical Address.
voted for it. But Congress did not consent to the change in boundary, and favored the formation of a state, although the population was only about two-thirds of the number contemplated by the ordinance.
The advocates and opponents of the formation of a state were strong in the expression of their opinions, and prove that party feeling had existence before our day. Thomas Worthington, afterwards Governor of Ohio, in a letter to Col. R. J. Meigs, speaks of the en- deavors "to curb a tyrant," referring to Governor St. Clair; and in another he speaks of "the uncommon pains taken by Arthur the First to show that our treasury is in debt." But he does not regard the change from ter- ritory to state as in itself desirable; "I am by no means an advocate for a state government if we can by any means have tolerable harmony under the present. There are a number of reasons against going into a state gov- ernment, it is true, but can any situation be more disa- greeable than the past has been and the present is." General Joseph Darlinton, a member of the first terri- torial legislature from Adams county, writes to Mr. Fearing in March, 1802, that he thinks the people of his county are unanimous for admission into the Union, " and congratulate themselves on the prospect of having it soon in their power to shake off the iron fetters of aristocracy, and in the downfall of the tory party in this territory," and hope for the day when they shall be "free from the control of an arbitrary chief."
On the other hand, Judge Woodbridge writes to Mr. Fearing in January and March 1802, alluding to the foolish talk about "aristocrats" and " tories," and express- ing his opinion that scarcely a citizen of the county
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Formation of the State.
would wish to come into a state government. Mr. Benjamin Ives Gilman writes warmly, and intimates that those who wished to be in favor with the national administration were advocates of the change. He is "disgusted with politics," and is very severe on the Pres- ident for the change in postmaster at Marietta. "It is the most pitiful measure that ever was taken, and reflects disgrace on all concerned in the removal." Hon. Solo- mon Sibley, formerly of Marietta, but then of Detroit, writes to Judge Burnet in 1802, " I did expect that Con- gress would not readily have interfered in the petty political squabbles of the territory." "We may thank our good friends Judges S. and M., and Sir Thomas for what is done." The allusion is here to the exclusion by Congress of the eastern part of Michigan from the east- ern district of the territory, to which it properly belonged.
But Congress by an act passed April 30th, 1802, authorized a convention to form a constitution. The delegates were elected October 12th, and the convention met November Ist. Business of this character was transacted with promptness in those days; for the con- stitution was completed and the convention had ad- journed before the close of the month. The constitution thus formed was not submitted to the people for ratifi- cation, which is the more remarkable as the convention itself was called by Congress without any request on the part of the legislature, and without the opinion of the inhabitants being taken. The question on submitting the constitution to the people was taken in the conven- tion and lost by a vote of 27 to 7. Those who voted in favor of submitting the constitution to the people
1. Judge Sibley married the daughter of Colonel Ebenezer Sprout, and grand-daughter of Commodore Abraham Whipple. He was a member of the legislative Council of the Territory.
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Centennial Historical Address.
were Messrs. Cutler, Gilman, McIntire and Putnam, of this county, Bezalecl Wells and Nathan Updegraff of Jefferson county, and John Reily of Hamilton. It may be stated that Judge Cutler also cast his vote in the neg- ative, though solitary and alone, on the question of form- ing a constitution at that time.
The convention adjourned on the 29th of Novem- ber and copies of the constitution were forwarded to Congress by Edward Tiffin, president of the convention whose letter is dated "Chillicothe, N. W. Territory, Dec. 4, 1802." On the 7th of January, 1803, the Senate appointed a committee to "inquire whether any, and if any, what legislative measures may be necessary for admitting the State of Ohio into the Union, and extend- ing to that State the laws of the United States." This committee reported on the 19th that the constitution and state government was republican and in uniformity with the principles of the ordinance of 1787, and that it was necessary to establish a District Court within the State to carry into complete effect the laws of the United States. Such a bill was reported on the 27th of Janu- ary, passed the Senate February 7th, passed the House of Representatives February 12th, and was approved by the President, February 19th.
As the constitution of the United States gives to Congress alone the power to admit new states, and as the act of February 19th, was the first recognition of Ohio by Congress, it seems clear that the proper date of the admission of Ohio into the Union is February 19, 1803.1
r. Various other dates for the admission of Ohio have been given, as April 30th, June Both, and November 29th, ISO2: March Ist, and Marched. vep. That of November 20th, Ifvi. is the one most frequently met with. It is the date of the adjournment of the convention which framed the constitution. If the act of a convention could change a territory into a state in the case of Ohio, why not in the case of Indian or Colorado?
1
Marietta incorporated in 1800.
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The constitution provided that an election of gov- ernor, members of the assembly, sheriffs and coroners should take place on the second Tuesday of January, and that the legislature should meet on the first Tuesday of March. Edward Tiffin, president of the constitu- tional convention, was elected the first governor, and was inaugurated March 3d, the legislature having com- menced its session March Ist.
As Washington was the first county established in the North-west Territory, so Marietta was the first town incorporated. As a township it was established by the Court of Quarter Sessions in 1790; as a town it was in- corporated by the territorial legislature December 2d, 1800. The town of Athens was incorporated Decem- ber 6th, of the same year, Cincinnati January Ist, 1802, and Chillicothe, January 4th, 1802.
The act of incorporation of Marietta was amended in 1812; in 1825 a charter was obtained, and another in 1835. The town, as incorporated in 1800, seems to have been identical in boundary with the township, ex- tending north to the donation tract, and being twelve miles east and west. The charter of 1825 erected into a town corporate such parts of the old town as were contained in "the town plat, recorded in the Recorder's office." This act divided the town into three wards: the second ward embracing the part west of the Mus- kingum, and the first and third lying respectively south and north of "Stone Bridge Creek." The act of 1835 gave the same division into wards, but "Stone Bridge Creek" is called "Market Square Run." The same stream in the the days of the early settlers bore the name of " Tyber Creek."
By the act of incorporation of ISoo the town offi-
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Centennial Historical Address.
cers were to be elected in town meeting by ballot, and votes on other subjects were to be taken by holding up the hand. Besides the chairman of the town meeting, the voters were to elect by a majority vote a town clerk. a town treasurer, and " three or five able and discreet persons of good moral character, to be styled the town council."
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