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 5
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The citizens of the county have had broad views Í as to public improvements. The letter of General Put- nam to General Washington in 1783 showed careful study of the subject of routes of travel and transportation.
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Centennial Historical Address.
In 1804, when measures were agitated in Congress for a road from the seaboard to the Ohio river, a com- mittee of gentlemen issued a circular showing reasons for bringing the road to a point opposite Marietta. The circular is signed by R. J. Meigs, Jr., Joseph Buell. Rufus Putnam, Matthew Backus, David Putnam, Benj. I. Gilman, Paul Fearing and Dudley Woodbridge. >
In 1831 a letter, signed by S. P. Hildreth, Arius Nye, A. V. D. Joline, Augustus Stone, and Levi Bar- ber, was addressed to Judge Cutler, requesting him to prepare a statement as to a road from Winchester to the Ohio river, to be laid before the legislature of Virginia.
A public meeting was held at the court-house January 3d, 1835, to consider the question of the im- provement of the Muskingum river, and a memorial was prepared and laid before the legislature. A bill was introduced the following winter by Isaac Hum- phries, representative from this county, ordering the work and appropriating $400,000 for the purpose. The bill passed the House February 5th, and the Senate March 4th.
In 1837 a committee appointed at a county meet- ing commissioned Judge Cutler to go to Baltimore to confer with Mr. McLane, the president of the Balti- more and Ohio Railroad, with regard to the route of that road, which had then been built about eighty miles. The letter to Judge C. bears the signatures of Nahum Ward, Caleb Emerson, John Mills, David Barber, Augustus Stone, and Joseph Barker.
These early efforts show the active interest felt by our citizens in the works of public improvement. It is not necessary to call attention to what Washington county men have done for railroads in Ohio. It was
63
Flour Mills and Ship-building.
their energy that carried through the road to Cincinnati against obstacles that seemed insurmountable. Messrs. W. P. Cutler, N. L. Wilson, John Mills, Douglas Put- nam, Beman Gates, and Wm. S. Nye were connected with the road, some of them from its beginning. The Hocking Valley road was projected in good part by Marietta men, and we all know the energy which General A. J. Warner has exerted in pushing forward the Marietta, Pittsburg and Cleveland road.
The first flour mills in Ohio were on Wolf Creek about a mile from its mouth, erected in 1789, by Col. Robert Oliver, Major Haffield White, and Captain John Dodge. Mills were commenced soon after on Duck Creek by Enoch Shepherd with Colonel E. Sproat and Thomas Stanley, but the Indian war and the flood in- terrupted. In 1798 a floating mill was built five miles up the Muskingum by Captain Jonathan Devol, which, says Dr. Hildreth, for some years did nearly all the grinding for the inhabitants on the Ohio and Muskin- gum for fifty miles above and below the mill. The " Marietta Steam Mill" (in Harmar), was completed in 18II.
The first tannery was established by Colonel Ichabod Nye in 1791. In 1813 a cotton factory was built for a company, of which William Woodbridge, Joseph Holden, and S. P. Hildreth were directors. Dr. N. McIntosh was the contractor, and his son, our ven- erable fellow citizen Colonel E. S. McIntosh, says, he himself laid the brick. The building was on Putnam street, between Fourth and Fifth, and twenty years after was converted into the old " Academy." ( Ship-building was commenced at Marietta in ISO1 by B. I. Gilman. It was prosecuted by him and others
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Centennial Historical Address.
with vigor and success till the passage of the embargo act in December, 1807. Marietta suffered greatly in consequence of that measure. "No town in the United States suffered so much in proportion to its capital," (Hildreth). This branch of business was afterwards revived, and ships and steamboats have been built.) About thirty years ago some eight or ten ocean vessels were built here; one of which, the "John Farnum," built by A. B. & I. R. Waters, was sent to Ireland with a cargo of corn in charge of Asa B. Waters.
In January, 1829, Dobbins and McElfresh started an iron foundry, called the "Washington Foundry," a little north of the Steam Mill in Harmar. A year later it was bought by A. T. Nye. A few years since the foundry was moved to the building erected for a woolen factory, where it is still carried on by A. T. Nye & Son. The foundry of Mr. Owen Franks, on Second street, was established about 1840 by Franks & Hendrie.
Efforts to establish cotton and woolen manufactures at Marietta have not been very successful though at Beverly there are woolen establishments in a prosperous condition.
While it is difficult to see why these and other manufactures should not flourish here, the best success thus far has been attained in the departments of iron and wood. There have been various foundries and ma- chine-shops, and establishments for the manufacture of buckets and tubs have given employment to many per- sons. The largest establishment in the place at present is the Marietta Chair Company, of which John Mills is president.
For Agricultural statistical purposes the State is di- vided into three districts: northern, central and southern,
Statistics-Agriculture and Petroleum. 65
the latter embracing twenty-two counties. Taking the statistics of the last six years reported, 1869-1874. Washington county holds the eighth place in the num- ber of bushels of wheat raised to the acre-ranging from the eleventh place in 1873 to the fifth in 1874. The yield in 1873 was 9.13 bushels to the acre, and in 1874 it was 13.85. Thus in 1874-the last year whose statistics have been received-of the twenty-two counties. four had a higher average to the acre, and seventeen had a lower; and our county was 14 per cent. above the average of the district.
There is one product in which this county has de- cided pre-eminence-petroleum. For the years 1873, 1874, the Secretary of State reports for Washington county an aggregate of 2,209,928 gallons, and for the rest of the State 185,280 gallons. Thus this county produces about twelve times as much petroleum as all the other counties combined. From statements kindly furnished by gentlemen engaged in the oil trade the whole production may be given as follows: Cow Run, 5 10,000 barrels; Macksburgh, 104,000; Newell's Run, Pawpaw, and Fifteen Mile, 6,000; total 620,000 barrels. At three dollars a barrel, the probable average price, we have $1.860.000, as the value of the oil product for about sixteen years. A few of the wells at Macks- burgh are over the Noble county line, but the result will not be much diminished.
In a brief account of this county published at New York in 1834, by John Delafield, Jr., mention is made of petroleum-called "spring oil," or " seneca oil,"- as having been known to the hunters and early inhabi- tants of the county since its first settlement. "It can be used," he says, "in lamps as it affords a brilliant
.
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Centennial Historical Address.
light. It is very useful and therefore much employed in curing the diseases of and injuries done to horses. It is perhaps the best substance known for the preven- tion of friction in machinery." Most of the oil used by druggists through the different States is sold by a Ma- rietta firm-Bosworth, Wells & Co. This, which is a heavy oil, comes principally from the neighborhood of Hughes river in West Virginia.
An Agricultural Society was formed in 1819, April 28th, styled " The Agricultural and Manufacturing So- ciety of Washington and Wood' Counties." The first meeting for the choice of officers was appointed for November 10th, and Ephraim Cutler, Joseph Barker, and Alexander Henderson were appointed to issue an address to the people of the two counties. The meet- ing was held at the court-house, but was adjourned to the 17th, at the academy. At this adjourned meeting, of which Paul Fearing was chairman and Dr. S. P. Hildreth clerk, the following officers were chosen; Ben- jamin I. Gilman, president; Christian Schultz, Ist vice- president; Wm. R. Putnam, 2d vice-president; S. P. Hildreth, recording secretary; Nahum Ward, corres- ponding secretary; David Putnam, treasurer. The board of managers consisted of the president and vice- president, ex-officio, with Ebenezer Battelle, George Neale, John Griffith, Ephraim Cutler, J. B. Regnier, Benjamin Dana, A. W. Putnam, Paul Fearing, A. Henderson.
It is probable that from that time to the present the county has not been without an organization for these general purposes. In 1826 a county fair was held; the committee of arrangements being Nahum Ward, S. P. Hildreth, and John Mills, with Joseph Barker, Jr., pres-
I. Wood County in Virginia.
.
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Agricultural and Mechanical Association.
sident, and WV. B. Barnes, secretary. In June 1834, the county commissioners voted the sum of fifty dollars to the Agricultural Society " to buy seed wheat from New York."
The present organization was made in 1846, since which time the records are complete. The following gentlemen have been presidents: for 1846, Joseph Bar- ker; 1847, George Dana; 1848, Joseph Barker; 1849. William R. Putnam, Jr .; 1850, George W. Barker: 1851, William Devol; 1852, Seth Woodford; 1853, 1854, George W. Barker; 1855-1857, A. B. Battelle : 1858, 1859, L. J. P. Putnam; 1860, George W. Barker; 1861-1867, George Dana, Jr .; 1868, John Newton; 1869, Augustine Dyar; 1870, John D. Barker; 1871, William F. Curtis; 1872, 1873, John Newton; 1874, William R. Putnam, (declined); 1875, 1876, Thomas W. Moore; 1877, P. B. Buell; 1878, Pemberton Palmer.
The society has occupied the present grounds a little more than twenty years. Before that time the court-house served as the floral hall, and the streets ad- jacent, or some convenient vacant lots, were used for the display of stock. In 1852 subscriptions were com- menced for the purchase of grounds and the erection of buildings. Subsequently a company of gentlemen made the purchase, and transferred to the society when a sufficient sum had been raised.
The large mineral resources with which this coun- ty abounds have scarcely begun to be developed. It may be that the region included in the purchase by the Ohio Company will prove to be more valuable on ac- count of its mineral wealth than any fertility of soil could make it.
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Centennial Historical Address.
C The Bank of Marietta was chartered February Ioth, 1808. This was the first bank incorporated as such in the State. (The Miami Exporting Company, incorporated in 1803, exercised banking powers.) The directors named in the act were Rufus Putnam, pres- ident, Benjamin Ives Gilman, William Skinner, Paul Fearing, Dudley Woodbridge, Earl Sproat, and David Putnam. The charter was for ten years, but in 1816 the time was extended to January Ist, 1843. The presi- dents in succession after General Putnam were B. I. Gilman, D. Woodbridge, Levi Barber, and John Mills. The cashiers were David Putnam. David S. Chambers, Alexander Henderson, Benjamin P. Putnam, Wm. B. Barnes, Arius Nye, and Anselm T. Nye.
The State Bank of Ohio was chartered in 1845, and a branch was established at Marietta. John Mills, Noah L. Wilson, and Douglas Putnam, were the succes- sive presidents, and N. L. Wilson, J. R. Crawford, and Is- rael R. Waters, the cashiers. In 1863 this bank became the Marietta National, with Douglas Putnam, president, and I. R. Waters, cashier. Afterwards Mr. Waters be- came president and F. E. Pearce, cashier. It is now a private bank.
The First National Bank of Marietta was organized in 1863, with Beman Gates, president, who still holds the office. William F. Curtis was the first cashier, and subsequently Daniel P. Bosworth, and Edward R. Dale.
The First National Bank of Beverly, was started in 1863. Its presidents have been George Bowen. Wm. McIntosh, E. S. McIntosh; the cashiers, Win. McIn- tosh, S. R. McIntosh, C. W. Reynolds. This is now a private bank.
The first and only Savings Bank in the county was
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Money and Accounts.
established January, 1872-The Dime Savings Society- with John L. Mills, president. W. H. Johnson, treasurer.
It is interesting to note the usages of the pioneers as to money terms and the mode of keeping accounts. In 1785 the Continental Congress had established the decimal system, with the dollar as the unit, and in 1786 they provided for the issue of the gold eagle and half- eagle. While the terms used by the Governor and Judges in the laws were restricted to our decimal nota- tion, the people were slow to give up the pounds, shillings, and pence; and the first fifteen or twenty years after 1788 show a great variety of customs. An account made out by D. Woodbridge, Jr., & Co., in 1799, is in the English currency, and an account book of Joshua Shipman, extending from 1796 to February, 1804, is also in pounds, shillings, and pence. The very last entry shows a change. "Nathan McIntosh, Dr. to 231/2 days of the boy James, 23.50." The dollar was equal to six shillings, unless otherwise specified.
A curious use of the decimal system appears in the inventory of the effects of the estate of General Varnum, made January 24th, 1789, by Winthrop Sar- gent, Charles Greene, and Isaac Pierce, appraisers. The sums are entered in five columns, headed E. D. d. c. m. Thus, one item is - -
d 3
C m
I
3 3
E
D
d c
Another is - -
- -
-
I 4 7 6 We should write the two sums $1.3313 and $14.76. A bill of Dr. Thos. Farley against General V's estate is " D 16 8 2, ($16.82)." In 1789 a fine of " six dimes and six cents," with costs of " one dollar and five dimes." was imposed for failure in road work. And in the same year the fine and costs of two others were "three dollars and thirty-six ninetieths." A bill of lumber
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Centennial Historical Address.
sold to General Putnam by John White amounted to " 9 dollars #." The same mode of reckoning is found in a paper of General Putnam's, drawn up in 1780, when he was in the army.
The following extract is worthy of quotation at a time when the various forms of money, and the values it represents, are so much discussed. It is from a law enacted in 1792 by Winthrop Sargent, acting governor, and John Cleves Symmes and Rufus Putnam, judges, regulating the fees of public officers. "And whereas a dollar varies in its real value in the several counties of the territory, some provision in kind ought to be made, therefore: Be it enacted: That for every cent allowed by this act one quart of Indian corn may be demanded and taken by the person to whom the fee is coming, as an equivalent for the cent, always at the election of the person receiving the same, whether to accept of his fee in Indian corn or in specie, at the sum affixed by the foregoing table of fees; one quart of In- dian corn being always equal to one cent and so at that rate for a greater or a less sum."
It has been seen that Mr. Joshua Shipman in 1804 charged one dollar a day for his boy James, (at carpen- ter work). In 1808 the county commissioners ordered that the judges and clerks of the presidential election should receive twenty-five cents a day.
The citizens of this county have not been slow to respond to calls for military service, as is shown by their history from the time of the Indian wars of the last century, down to the great rebellion of 1861-1865. Some of the original papers of enlistment are still in existence, with the signatures of those who volunteered in December, 1806, at the call of the Governor of Ohio to aid in suppressing the Burr insurrection: of those
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Military Record.
who responded to the call of President Jefferson for 100,000 men in August, 1807; and of those who volun- teered in the war with England 1812-14. The name of Captain Timothy Buell appears on each of these oc- casions, and in the war with England we find the names of Major Alexander Hill, Captain John Thorniley, Captain E. B. Dana, and Captain J. Ford.
In the late civil war this county furnished over four thousand men, as stated by General T. C. H. Smith in his address at the dedication of the Soldiers' Monu- ment. Besides the many gallant men that went direct- ly from the county, there were in the Union army many others, descendants of the early settlers of Marietta. Among those who held high command were Generals John Pope, Irwin McDowell, and D. C. Buell, who were severally the grandsons of Elijah Backus, Abner Lord, and Timothy Buell.
Such is a brief outline of the history of Washing- ton county. Personal incidents could not be dwelt upon, and there was the less occason as so many have been preserved in the valuable works of the late Dr. S. P. Hildreth. The materials for a full history of the county are abundant, and its preparation should not longer be delayed.
While this county cannot claim pre-eminence in any of the great departments of human industry, yet from the 7th of April, 1788 to the present time there has been no lack of intelligent, capable men in the va- rious vocations of life. High intelligence has been a characteristic from the beginning. None of the vil- lages in the best parts of New England could show a larger proportion of liberally educated men than Ma- ricetta, Belpre, and Waterford, in the first twenty years of their history. And within the present generation the
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Centennial Historical .Address.
public spirit and intelligent liberality of some of the citizens of this place have made their names and the name of Marietta household words in the best circles of the land.
In early times many came to Marietta to sojourn for a while and from here went out to their permanent homes. This was their temporary residence; and plea- sant recollections of it and its inhabitants seem always to have remained with them. So now we often meet with those who have made Marietta a place of educa- tional sojourn; who have spent here a portion of their youth in intellectual training, and have then gone forth to do the work assigned them. But. unlike those who in the early days made this the gateway to the great west, and who have now all passed away, their number will increase year by year. Even now you will find them scattered from Maine to Georgia, from Texas to
Oregon. Whatever may be the future of this town as a mart of trade or a manufacturing point, there is every probability that it will become more and more an important educational center. In beauty of situation and the intelligence and refinement of its people it can compare favorably with the most noted seats of learn- ing, while the remarkable generosity of the founders and friends of the College cannot fail to stimulate others here and elsewhere to provide the means for its con- tinued increase in efficiency and usefulness.
May the people of Washington county be pros- pered in all that pertains to their highest well-being. May her future, for the next century, and for all coming centuries, be worthy of the noble men who here laid the foundations of this State and the great north-west- worthy of the illustrious citizen whose name the county bears.
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APPENDIX.
-
Lists of the various Civil Officers have been prepared, and are appended to the discourse. These embrace the judges of the Territory, judges of the Court of Common Pleas, members of Con- gress, senators and representatives in the General Assembly, post- masters at Marietta, and the various county officers.
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Appendix.
APPENDIX.
-
JUDGES OF THE TERRITORY.
The Territorial Court was composed of three Judges, appointed at first by Congress, and afterwards by the President. John Armstrong and William Barton were appointed but declined. The following is the list with the dates of appointment:
Samuel II. Parsons. Oct. 16, 1787 .. Nov. 17, 1789: died.
James M. Varnum Oct. 16, 1787 .. Jan. 10, 1789: died.
John Cleves Symmes . Feb. 19, 17SS .. IS03: State formed.
George Turner Sept. 12, 1789 .. 1798: resigned.
Rufus Putnam . Mar. 31, 1790 .. Dec. 22. 1796: resigned.
Joseph Gilman Dec. 22, 1796 .. 1803: State formed.
Return J. Meigs, Jr. Feb. 12, 1798 .. 1803, State formed.
COURT OF COMMON PLEAS.
Such a court existed prior to the State; it was composed of not less than three nor more than five judges. The following gentlemen were judges, though their exact terms of service cannot be given.
Rufus Putnam, Benjamin Tupper, Archibald Crary, Joseph Gilman Dudley Woodbridge, Robert Oliver, Daniel Loring, John G. Petit, Isaac Pierce, Griffin Greene, Ephraim Cutler, Peregrine Foster.
The constitution of 1So2 provided for a Court of Common Pleas to con- sist of one president judge and two or three associate judges, all to be appointed by the legislature and to hold office for seven years. There were to be three president judges for the State, but the associate judges were appointed in each county.
PRESIDENT JUDGES FOR THE CIRCUIT.
Calvin Pease .. ISO3 .. I SOS
William Wilson ISOS .. IS19
Ezra Osborne. ISI9 .. IS26
Thomas Irwin. IS26 .. IS40
John E. Hanna, IS40 .. IS47
Arius Nve,. IS47 .. IS50
Archibald G. Brown .. IS50 .. IS52
ASSOCIATE JUDGES FROM 1803 to 1852.
Griffin Greene ISO3 .. ISOS
Joseph Buell .. 1 803 .. ISIO
Joseph Wood ISO3 .. I SOS
Ezekiel Deming I SOS .. IS24
John Cotton IS25 .. 1847
William Hempstead ISOS .. 1810
Joseph Barker 1830 .. 1843
Paul Fearing ISIO .. 1817
Oliver R. Loring 1837 .. 1847
Thomas Lord ISTO .. IS17
Isaac Humphreys IS43 .. 1843
Ilenry Jolly 1817 .. IS24
Ebenezer Gates. IS43-1844
Joseph Barker, Jr. IS44 .. IS52
Bial Steadman. 1847-1852
William R. Putnam, Jr. IS47-1852.
1
John Sharp ISI7 .. IS23
Judah M. Chamberlain .. IS23 .. 1824
Walter Curtis IS24 .. IS37
Henry P. Wilcox IS24 .. 1825
Anaxamander Warner 1824 .. 1830
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Appendix.
By the constitution of IS51 the State for judicial purposes is divided into districts and sub-districts. A judge is elected in each sub-district for five years. This county is united with Gallia, Meigs and Athens, constituting the third sub-district of the seventh district. Since IS6S there have been two judges in this sub-district.
JUDGES OF THE COURT OF COMMON PLEAS FROM 1852.
Simeon Nash IS52 .. IS62
John Welch 1 862 .. 1865
Erastus A. Guthrie 1865 .. 1874 J. P. Bradbury, Oct. 1875 .. Feb. '77
William B. Loomis ISOS .. IS73
Tobias A. Plants. 1873-1875
David B. Hebard, Jan. 1875 .. Oct. '75 John Cartwright, Feb. 1875 .. Oct. '75
Sam'l S. Knowles, Oct. IS75 .. Feb. "7S
J. P. Bradbury, Feb. 1877 .. Feb. 'S2 Samuel S. Knowles, ...... Feb. 187S .. Feb. ISS3
Judge Welch was elected to the Supreme Court, Judges Guthrie and Plants resigned, and Judges Hebard and Cartwright were appointed by the Governor. Judges Bradbury and Knowles are the present incumbents.
PROBATE JUDGES.
A Probate Court was established in the first year of the Territory, the Governor appointing the judge. The first state constitution abolished the court, but the second restored it. The judge is elected by the people for three years.
Rufus Putnam Oct. 17SS .. Dec. 1789, (resigned.)
Joseph Gilman Dec. 1789 .. Dec. 1796, (resigned.)
Paul Fearing
Mar. 1797 .. Mar. ISO3.
Thomas W. Ewart Feb. 1852 .. Oct. IS52, (resigned.)
Davis Green Oct. IS52 .. Feb. IS55.
William Devol. Feb. 1855 .. Feb. IS5S.
Charles R. Rhodes. Feb. 185S .. Feb. 1861.
Charles F. Buell
Feb. 1861 .. Feb. 1864.
Luman W. Chamberlain Feb. 1864 .. Feb. 1870.
A. W. McCormick. Feb. 1870 .. Feb. 1876.
C. T. Frazyer Feb. IS76 .. Feb. 1879.
COURT OF GENERAL QUARTER SESSIONS OF THE PEACE.
Such a court was established in 17SS, and was continued in each county till IS03. The duties were partly judicial and partly executive. The court established townships, laid out new roads, appointed overseers of the poor for the townships, granted licenses for houses of entertainment, &c.
The following Justices were members of the court at different times: Joseph Gilman, Isaac Pierce, Robert Oliver. Dudley Woodbridge, Josiah Munro, John G. Petit, Griffin Greene, William R. Putnam, Samuel William- son, Joseph Barker, Ephraim Cutler, Henry Smith, Phillip Whitten, Alvin Bingham, Thomas Stanley, Seth Carhart, Robert Safford, William Harper. William Burnham, Joseph Buell.
MEMBERS OF STATE CONSTITUTIONAL CONVENTIONS.
1802. Ephraim Cutler, Benjamin Ives Gilman, John McIntire, Rufus Putnam.
IS50-51. Thomas W. Ewart, William P. Cutler. IS73-74. Harlow Chapin.
The constitution of ISO2 was not submitted to the vote of the people ; that of IS74 was rejected by a large majority.
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Appendix.
MEMBERS OF THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY.
The first election of representatives to the territorial legislature was in 179S. Paul Fearing and Return Jonathan Meigs, Senior, were elected from Washington county. Colonel Robert Oliver was appointed by the President one of the five members of the Council, or upper house, and subsequently became its president. The legislature met for its first session September 16th, 1799; and for its second, November 3d, 1Soo.
Ephraim Cutler and William R. Putnam were elected representatives to the second legislature, which met November 24th, 1801. These gentlemen were also re-elected in October, 1So2, to the third territorial legislature: which, however, was never convened, as Ohio was admitted into the Union February 19th, 1803. Nor did the second legislature hold a second sesssion.
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