76 - From 1787 to 1796. CHAPTER III. From 1787 to 1796. THEIR purchase being now fully consummated and the Company having been put in immediate possession of seven hundred and fifty thousand acres, they at once began to arrange details and prepare for emigration. A meeting of the directors and agents of the Company was held at Brackett's Tavern, in Boston, on the 21st of November, 1787, at which it was "Resolved, That the lands of the Ohio Company may be alloted and divided in the following manner, anything to the contrary in former resolutions notwithstanding, viz : four thousand acres near the confluence of the Ohio and. Muskingum rivers for a city and commons, and, contiguous to this, one thousand lots of eight acres each, amounting to eight thousand acres. Upon the Ohio, in fractional townships, one thousand lots of one hundred and sixteen acres and 1-4030, amounting to one hundred and sixteen thousand four hundred and eighty acres. In the townships on the navigable rivers, one thousand lots of three hundred and twenty acres each, amounting to three hundred and twenty thousand acres. History of Athens County, Ohio - 77 And in the inland towns, one thousand lots of nine hundred and ninety-two acres each, amounting to nine hundred and ninety-two thousand acres, to be divided and allotted as the agents shall hereafter direct. Resolved, further, That there be the following reservations, viz: one township at the falls of the Great Hockhocking river; one township at the mouth of the Great or Little river of that name; and one township opposite to the mouth of the Great Kanawha river ; which reservations may hereafter be allotted and divided as the directors and agents shall see fit. Resolved, That tbe army bounty rights be considered in part payment of the shares of military associates in the ratio of one dollar to every acre to which they are entitled ; and that this rule be observed by the agents of the subscribers in rendering their returns, and by the agents appointed by the directors for the second payment to the Board of Treasury. Resolved, That no further subscriptions be admitted after the 1st day of January next, and that all interest arising on sums paid since the payment of the first half million to the Board of Treasury, until the second payment be completed, shall accrue to the benefit of the Company's funds ; and that the agents pay all the money they may have in their possession into the treasury of the Company by the 1st day of March next. Resolved, That the eight-acre lots be surveyed and a plat or map thereof be made, with each lot numbered thereon, by the first Wednesday in March next, and that a copy thereof be immediately forwarded to the secretary and the original retainer by the Company's superintendent ; that the agents meet on the same Wednesday in March, at Rice's Tavern, in Providence State of Rhode Island, to draw for said lots in numbers as till same shall be stated upon the plat ; that a list of the drawings be 78 - From 1787 to 1796. transmitted by the secretary to the superintendent, and a copy thereof preserved in the secretary's office. Resolved, That this meeting of the directors and agents of the Ohio Company be and it is hereby adjourned to the first Wednesday in March, 1788, to be then holden at Rice's Tavern in the town of Providence and State of Rhode Island."* Much of the foregoing resolutions relative to the allotments, division, and reservations of land, became of no effect, because, as before stated, the Company finally came in possession of only nine hundred and sixty-four thousand two hundred and eighty-five acres. Prior to the March meeting, above ordered, a meeting was held on the 23d of November at Brackett's Tavern, when it was " Ordered, That four surveyors be employed under the superintendent hereinafter named ; that twenty-two men shall attend the surveyors ; that there be added to this number twenty men, including six boat-builders, four house-carpenters, one blacksmith and nine common workmen : That the boat-builders shall proceed on Monday next, and the surveyors shall rendezvous at Hartford, the 1st day of January next, on their way to the Muskingum : That the boat-builders and men, with the surveyors, be proprietors in the company ; that their tools and one axe and * Journals of the Ohio Company. History of Athens County, Ohio - 79 one hoe to each man and thirty pounds weight of baggage, shall carried in the company's wagons, and the subsistence of the men on their journey be furnished by the company. That upon tbeir arrival at the places of destination, and 'entering on the business of their employment, the men shall be subsisted by the company and allowed wages at the rate of four dollars each, per month, until discharged. That they be held in the company's service until the first day of July next, unless sooner discharged, and that if any of the persons employed shall leave the service, or willfully injure the same, or disobey the orders of the superintendent, or others acting under him, the person so offending shall forfeit all claim to wages. That their wages shall be paid the next autumn, in cash, or lands, upon the same terms as the company purchased them. That each man furnish himself with a good small arm, bayonet, six flints, a powder-horn and pouch, priming-wire and brush, half a pound of powder, one pound of balls, and one pound of buckshot. The men so engaged shall be subject to the orders of the superintendent, and those he may appoint, as aforesaid, in any kind of business they shall be employed in, as well for boat building and surveying, as for building houses, erecting defences, clearing land, and planting, or otherwise, for promoting the settlement ; and, as there is a probability of interruption from enemies, they shall also be subject to orders as aforesaid _ in military command, during the time of their employment. That Col. Ebenezer Sproat, from Rhode Island, Mr. Anselm Tupper and Mr. John Matthews, from Massachusetts, and Col. R. J. Meigs, from Connecticut, be the surveyors. 80 - From 1787 to 1796. That Gen. Rufus Putnam be the superintendent of all the business aforesaid, and he is to be obeyed and respected accordingly ; that he be allowed for his services forty dollars a month and his expenses, to commence from the time of his leaving home." The next meeting was held March 5th, 1788, at Rice's Tavern, in Providence, Rhode Island. At this meeting, the drawing for lots in the new city took place, as had been previously ordered. A committee was also appointed, consisting of the Rev. Dr. Cutler, Col. May, and Gen. Varnum, " to consider and report upon the expediency of employing some suitable person as a public teacher at the settlement now making by the Ohio Company." The committee reported: "That the directors be requested to pay as early attention as possible to the education of youth and the promotion of public worship among the first settlers; and that, for these important services, they employ, if practicable, an instructor eminent for literary accomplishments and the virtue of his character, who shall also superintend the first scholastic institutions and direct the manner of instruction; and to enable the directors to carry into execution the intentions expressed in this resolution, the proprietors, and others of benevolent and liberal minds, are earnestly requested to contribute, by voluntary donation, to the forming of a fund to be solely appropriated thereto." The report being approved, the directors authorized Dr. Cutler to employ some suitable person, who should History of Athens County, Ohio - 81 discharge the double functions of preacher and teacher. Thus early and clearly did the founders of the new state recognize the fact that republican institutions are based on the intelligence and virtue of the people, and that there can be no liberty without light. Dr. Cutler engaged the Rev. Daniel Story, a young minister then preaching at Worcester, Massachusetts; and to him belongs the distinguished honor of being the first regularly ordained Congregational minister in all the territory northwest of the Ohio river.* * See ordination sermon, preached by the Rev. Dr. Cutler, Aug. 15, 1798. Appendix, H. The following extract is from a letter of Dr. Cutler to Gen. Putnam, now before us : " Ipswich, November 18, 1788. " DEAR SIR This will be handed you by Mr. Daniel story, whom I beg leave to introduce to your acquaintance in character of a preacher, and who, I hope, will be very agreeable to you and to the people. He has ever supported a respectable character in private life and as a minister of the Gospel. The terms on which he goes into the country are, that his board be given him ; that he draw from the funds, raised to support preaching four dollars, in silver, per week ; that he be permitted to improve, if he pleases, a part of the lands, near the city, granted for religious purposes; that the people be requested to assist in clearing and cultivating, so far at least as shall render his pay equal to five dollars per week ; and that he be allowed a reasonable compensation for his expenses in going into the country. These were the lowest terms on which he would consent to go. He could have his board and five dollars a week here, and constant employ. As he must lose several Sabbaths in going into the country, he conceived it reasonable that he should have a consideration for his expenses. There was no other person of respectable character, whom I could engage on better terms. This is to be 82 - From 1787 to 1796. Pursuant to the orders of the directors, the boat-builders and mechanics, under the command of Major Haffield White, rendezvoused at Danvers, Massachusetts, in December, 1787. The party consisted of twenty-two men. The arrangements being completed they set out for Sumrill's Ferry, on the Youghiogheny river, about thirty miles above Pittsburg, where it was intended to build boats, and proceed thence by water. After a long and difficult journey, they reached this point toward the laSt of January, and immediately began their work of boat building. Meanwhile, the surveyors with their attendants, and the remainder of the pioneer party, having met at Hartford, Connecticut, early in January, 1788, commenced their march westward, under the command of Gen. Rufus Putnam, assisted by Col. Ebenezer Sproat. When they reached the mountains, it was found that the great depth of snow there rendered the crossing impossible, save by the use of sleds, which were accordingly constructed, and the baggage by this means transported over the Alleghanies, and on to Sumrill's his pay until other terms shall be agreed on between him and the directors, or the people, or till he shall continue no longer to preach to them. * * * * * * * * * I have requested Col. Platt to forward a sum raised for the support of preachers and schoolmasters, to the directors at Muskingum, of two hundred dollars, if he has so much on hand, which will enable you to pay the preacher and schoolmaster for the present. I have advanced to Mr. Story six dollars and two thirds, on account, which you will deduct from his wages." History of Athens County, Ohio - 83 Ferry, the general rendezvous, where Putnam's party arrived about the middle of February. With the working force thus largely increased, and urged on by the energetic superintendence of Gen. Putnam in person, the boat building, which had lagged somewhat, owing to the severity of the weather, now progressed rapidly. On the 2d of April, 1788, the largest boat was launched, and the pioneers left Sumrill's. In addition to the large boat, forty-five feet long and twelve wide, which was roofed over, and had an estimated capacity of fifty tons, there were a flatboat and three canoes. Laden with the emigrants, their baggage, surveying instruments, weapons, and effects, the little flotilla glided down the Youghiogheny into the Monongahela, and finally out upon the broad bosom of the Ohio, which Stream was to bear them to their new home. For several days and nights they pursued their solitary travel, urged along only by the current of the beautiful river, whose banks gave no signs of civilized life, nor of welcome to the pioneers. Occasionally, a flock of wild turkeys in the underbrush, or a startled deer, drinking at the water's edge, would draw the fire of the riflemen from the boats; and now and then the dusky form of an Indian would be seen darting into the forest. But the emigrants met with no interruption. On the fifth day they approached their destination. It was cloudy and raining as they drew near the mouth of the Muskingum, and Capt. Jonathan Devol sug- 84 - From 1787 to 1796. gested to Gen. Putnam that a close look-out be kept as they must be near their landing-place. In a few moments they came within sight of Fort Harmar (a U. S. fort erected in 1785), located at the mouth and on the right bank of the Muskingum. The hanging branches of the trees on the bank of the river, combined with the foggy atmosphere, that day, partially obscured the river's mouth, so that the boat floated almost beyond it before it was discovered. They could not regain the upper bank of the Muskingum, and were obliged to make fast a little way below Fort Harmar. The commander of the fort sent some soldiers to their aid, and the boat was towed back with ropes and across the Muskingum, where it landed, at the upper point, about noon on the 7th of April, 1788, and from that day Ohio dates her existence. The pioneers immediately began to unload their effects. The boards which they had brought with them for the erection of temporary huts were landed and properly disposed, and a comfortable tent was at once set up for the use of Gen. Putnam. In this tent he had his headquarters and transacted the business of the colony for several months, until the block-houses were ready for occupancy. The following is a list of the first party of emigrants to the territory northwest of the Ohio, who became the founders of Marietta, and the first Settlers of Washington and Athens counties, viz: History of Athens County, Ohio - 85 Gen. Rufus Putnam, Superintendent; Col. Ebenezer Sproat, Col. R. J. Meigs, Maj. Anse1m Tupper, and Mr. John Matthews, surveyors; Maj. Haffield White, steward and quartermaster; Capt. Jonathan Devol Capt. Josiah Munroe, Capt. Daniel Davis, Peregrine Foster, Capt. Jethro Putnam, Capt. William Gray, Capt. Ezekiel Cooper, Jervis Cutler, Samuel Felshaw, Hezekiah Flint, Hezekiah Flint, jr., Amos Porter, Josiah Whitridge, John Gardiner, Benjamin Griswold, Elizur Kirkland, Samuel Cushing, Oliver Dodge, ISaac Dodge, Jabez Barlow, Daniel Bushnell, Ebenezer Corry, Phineas Coburn, Allen Putnam, David Wallace, Joseph Wells, Gilbert Devol, jr., Israel Danton, Jonas Davis, Theophilus Leonard, Joseph Lincoln, William Miller, Earl Sproat, Josiah White, Allen Devol, Henry Maxon, William Maxon, William Moulton, Edmund Moulton, Simeon Martin, Benjamin Shaw, and Peletiah White. The situation of the colonists was now interesting and critical. Lodged in the midst of a vast wilderness, many hundred miles from home and from the protecting care of government, surrounded by bands of hostile savages, who, though quiet at present, were apt to become deadly foes at any moment; and but scantily supplied with the means of living, the brave pioneers had need of all their energies to prepare for the future. No time waS lost in providing for the protection and comfortable subsistence of the colony. General Put- 86 - From 1787 to 1796. nam immediately began the erection of a fort, near the Muskingum river, comprising a block-house, and other means of defense, which was afterward, during periods of Indian hostilities, crowded with families, and became of the utmost importance. The gigantic trees of the forest were girdled and deadened, the rich soil easily prepared for seeding, and about one hundred and thirty acres of corn were planted this first spring. The rivers abounded with fish ; game of every sort was found in the greatest plenty ; herds of buffaloes and deer roamed the forests, and innumerable flocks of wild turkeys were added to supply the settlement with fresh meat. The day after their landing, the surveyors commenced laying off lots, and preparing for the expected arrival of other emigrants. The officers of the territory not having yet arrived, a series of regulations or laws for the temporary government of the community was prepared and promulgated by being nailed to the trunk of a large tree on the river bank. This code was rigidly observed till other laws were regularly enacted, and under it the peace of the settlement was never once disturbed. All was energy, industry, prosperity, and hopefulness for the future. Well might Washington write: " No colony in America was ever settled under such favorable auspices as that which has just commenced at the Muskingum. Information, property, and strength will be its characteristics. I know many of the settlers personally, and there History of Athens County, Ohio - 87 never were men better calculated to promote the welfare of such a community." * The little city at the mouth of the Muskingum was first called Adelphia. There were some men of classical education among the directors, and a harmless pedantry was evinced in some of the names adopted by them. Thus the large public square was called Quadranaon, and the smaller one the Capitolium. The wide road, leading up from the river landing to the square, was named Sacra via, and the fort, with its inclosure of blockhouses, etc., was called Campus Martius. At a meeting of the directors, held on the 2d of July, 1788, which was the first convened west of the mountains, the name of the city was changed by the following resolution: t * Sparks's Washington, vol. 9, p. 385. t The original name was suggested by Dr. Cutler. In a letter to Gen. Putnam, dated Ipswich, December 3, 1787, after speaking of the affairs of the company, and the best means of forwarding letters to and from the settlement, Dr. Cutler says: "Saying so much about conveying of letters, reminds me of the necessity of a name for the place where you will reside. I doubt not you will early acquire the meaning of Muskingum ; or you may meet with some other name that will be agreeable. At present, I must confess, I feel a partiality for the name proposed at Boston, and think it preferable to any that has yet been mentioned. I think that Adelpbia will, upon the whole, be the most eligible. 1t strictly means Brethren, and I wish it may ever be characteristic of the Ohio Company." 88 - From 1787 to 1796. "Resolved, That the city near the confluence of the Ohio and Muskingum be called Marietta ; that the directors write to his Excellency, the Count Moustiers (French Minister), informing him of their motives in naming the city, and request his opinion whether it will be advisable to present to her Majesty of France a public square." The name is compounded from that of the unfortunate young queen of France, Marie Antoinette, who had manifested a constant friendship for the United States during the Revolutionary war. While the infant colony of the Ohio Company is being thus auspiciously planted, and the herculean task of subduing the wilderness well begun, let us glance at the measures taken by congress to establish government, law, and order within the territory The settlement at the mouth of the Muskingum was made before the arrival in the territory of the governor and judges. Congress, however, had organized the territorial government soon after the passage of the ordinance of 1787. Gen. Arthur St. Clair was appointed governor, his commission bearing date February z, 1788, and to run for three years. He was a citizen of Pennsylvania, had been a distinguished officer in the Revolutionary army, and president of congress, and stood high in the confidence of Washington. Samuel H. Parsons, of Connecticut, James M. Varnum, of Massachusetts (both of whom were directors History of Athens County, Ohio - 89 in the Ohio Company), and John Cleves Symmes, of New Jersey, were appointed judges; and Winthrop Sargent, of New Hampshire (secretary of the Ohio Company), was appointed secretary of the territory. The judges arrived in June, and on the 9th of July, 1788, Governor St. Clair reached Marietta. He was escorted by a detachment of troops, under Major Doughty, who had gone up to Pittsburg, from Fort Harmar, some days before to meet the governor, and was received at the fort with military honors and salute. Joseph Buell, who was an orderly sergeant at the time, in one of the companies of United States troops in the fort, kept a journal, in which he says: " July 9th.—Governor St. Clair arrived at the garrison. On landing, he was saluted with thirteen rounds from the field piece. On entering the garrison the music played a salute, and the troops paraded and presented their arms. He was also saluted by a clap of thunder and a heavy shower of rain as he entered the fort ; and thus we received our governor of the western frontiers." After a few days of repose, the governor, on the 28th of July, made his first public appearance before the citizens of the territory. At three o'clock in the afternoon he came over from Fort Harmar in the government barge, escorted by the officers of the garrison, and accompanied by Mr. Sargent, the secretary. He was received in the grove by Gen. Putnam, the judges 90 - From 1787 to 1796. of the territory, and the principal inhabitants of the settlement, with congratulations and expressions of welcome. The secretary then proceeded to read the ordinance of July 13, 1787, for the government of the territory, and also the commissions of the governor, the judges, and himself. The governor then delivered an inaugural address, to which a response was made "in the name of all the people," and the ceremonies concluded with cheers and congratulations. We may here digress, a few moments, to remark upon the unique form of civil government thus inaugurated, and formally established in the territory, and which was continued for a period of ten years. It was the first territorial government ever organized by Federal authority, and was, in some respects, crude and anomalous. The people had no part whatever in the government. The governor and judges derived their appointments first from congress, and, after the adoption of the Federal conStitution, in 1789, from the president. There were no elective officers. The whole power, legislative, judicial, and executive was vested in the governor and judges, and in its exercise they were responsible only to the remote central government. A portion of the expenseS of the government were borne by the United States, but the principal part were drawn from the people of the territory by heavy taxes. This temporary system, however, crude as it now History of Athens County, Ohio - 91 ems, worked reasonably well in most respects, and though in some points it was unfriendly to the large liberty of the people, we must never forget the noble principles that were secured to the embryo states of the northwest by the famous ordinance of 1787. In language whose dignity befits the lofty theme, it provides for extending the fundamental principles of civil and religious liberty, which form the basis whereon these republics, their laws and constitutions, are erected; and for fixing and establishing those principles as the basis of all laws, constitutions, and governments, which forever hereafter shall be formed in said territory." It secured for all time civil and religious liberty, habeas corpus, and other fundamental rights. It enacts that, "religion, morality, and knowledge being necessary to good government and the happiness of mankind, schools, and the means of education, shall forever be encouraged." Finally, it provided that, in the vast area over which it extended, slavery should never exist. Thus, perpetual freedom was secured to the states of the northwest. The border: of Ohio were consecrated while the wilderness was yet unbroken, and long before the state was formed and the pioneers who landed at the mouth of the Muskingum trod upon a soil which could bear up none bu free men. By the ordinance of 1787, the governor and judges or a majority of them, were empowered to adopt and 92 - From 1787 to 1796. publish in the district, such laws of the old states, civil and criminal, as they saw fit, and were to report them to congress from time to time. But they did not confine themselves very strictly to the letter of the ordinance in this regard; for when they could not find laws of the old states suited to the wants and condition of the territory, they made enactments of their own— all of which were, a few years later, ratified and confirmed by the first territorial legislature. The first law enacted for the territory was passed July 25th, 1788, and was thus entitled: " A LAW for regulating and establishing the MILITIA in the Territory of the United States northwest of the river Ohio, published at the city of Marietta upon the twenty-fifth day of July, in the thirteenth year of the Independence of the United States, and of our Lord one thousand seven hundred and eighty-eight, by his Excellency, ARTHUR ST. CLAIR, Esquire, Governor and Commander-in-chief, and by the Honorable SAMUEL HOLDEN PARSONS and JAMES MITCHELL VARNUM, Esquires, Judges." * Almost the first public act of the governor, was creating the county of Washington, the first county estab- * Laws passed in the territory of the United States, northwest of the river Ohio, from the commencement of the government to the 31st of December, 1791. Published by authority. Philadelphia, 1792, p. 3. History of Athens County, Ohio - 93 lished in the great northwestern territory, and, as its boundaries were then fixed, comprising about one half of the present State of Ohio. The proclamation is as follows: "By his Excellency, Arthur St. Clair, Esq., Governor and Commander-in-Chief of the territory of the United States, northwest of the river Ohio. "A PROCLAMATION. To all persons to whom these presents shall come, Greeting : WHEREAS, By the ordinance of Congress of the thirteenth of July, 1787, for the government of the territory of the United States northwest of the river Ohio, it is directed that for the due execution of process, civil and criminal, the governor shall make proper divisions of the said territory and proceed from time to time, as circumstances may require, to lay out the part of the same, where the Indian title has been extinguished, into counties and townships, subject to future alterations as therein specified. Now, know ye, that it appearing to me to be necessary, for the purposes above mentioned, that a county should immediately be laid out, I have ordained and ordered, and by these presents do ordain and order that all and singular the lands lying and being within the following boundaries, viz. : 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 the Cuyahoga river ; thence up said river to the portage between that and the Tuscarawas branch of the Muskingum ; thence down the branch to the forks, at 94 - From 1787 to 1796. 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 Shawanese town to the Sandusky ; thence south to the Scioto river, thence with that river to the mouth, and thence up the Ohio river to the place of beginning ; shall be a county, and the same is hereby erected into a county named and to be called hereafter the county of Washington ; and the said county of Washington shall have and enjoy all and singular, the jurisdiction, rights, liberties, privileges and immunities whatever to a county belonging and appertaining, and which any other county, that may hereafter be erected and laid out, shall or ought to enjoy, conformably to the ordinance of Congress before mentioned. In witness whereof; I have hereunto set my hand and caused the seal of the territory to be affixed, this twenty-sixth day of July, in the thirteenth year of the Independence of the United States, and in the year of our Lord, one thousand seven hundred and eighty-eight. [Signed] A. ST. CLAIR." The "Law for establishing General Courts of Quarter Sessions of the Peace," published at Marietta August 23d, 1788,* provided that that court should be held at Marietta four times in every year by justices of the peace appointed and commissioned by the governor. There were to be " a competent number" of these justices in each county, not less * Laws of North West Territory, p. 7. History of Athens County, Ohio. - 95 than three nor more than five of whom (to be specially named by commission), should hold the courts of quarter Sessions. Any three of them, one being of the quorum specifically named, might hold special sessions when occasion required. The county court of common pleas was to be held semi-annually by not less than three nor more than five judges to be appointed in each county and commissioned by the governor. A sheriff was to be appointed in each county by the governor. The " General Court of the Territory of the United States northwest of the river Ohio,"* composed of the judges appointed and commissioned by the Federal authority, was to hold four terms yearly in such counties as the judges should from time to time deem most conducive to the general good. Only one term yearly was to be held in any one county; and all processes, civil and criminal, were returnable to said court wheresoever it might be in the territory. The first judges of the court of common plea; were Rufus Putnam, Benjamin Tupper and Archibald Crary. Return J. Meigs was appointed clerk of the court, and Col. Ebenezer Sproat sheriff which office he held for fourteen years till the formation of the state government. The first judges of th courts of general quarter sessions were Rufus Putnam and Benjamin Tupper (justices of the quorum), an * Laws of North West Territory, p. 11 96 - From 1787 to 1796. Isaac Pierce, Thomas Lord and Return J. Meigs, assistant justices. General Putnam resigned his position as judge of the quorum in 1790, and Joseph Gilman, formerly of New Hampshire, was appointed in his place; and on the death of Judge Tupper, in June 1792, Robert Oliver was appointed judge of the quorum to fill the vacancy. Meanwhile, notwithstanding the difficulties and dangers attending western emigration, and the perils that surrounded the little settlement, there began to be some arrivals from the east. During the month of August, 1788, eight families arrived from New England, which increased the population of the colony to one hundred and thirty-two men, with some women and children. At the beginning of the year 1789, there was not a single white family within the present bounds of Ohio save those in this settlement. The settlement at Cincinnati did not begin till the spring of 1789. Flint, himself a pioneer, in his "Indian Wars of the West," thus speaks of early emigration : "The writer of this distinctly remembers the wagon that carried out a number of adventurers from the counties of Essex and Middlesex in Massachusetts, on the second emigration to the woods of the Ohio. He remembers the black canvas covering of the wagon ; the white and large lettering in capitals 'To Marietta on the Ohio !' He remembers the food which, even History of Athens County, Ohio - 97 then, the thought of such a distant expedition furnished to his imagination. Some twenty emigrants accompanied the wagon. The Rev. Dr. Manasseh Cutler, he thinks, had the direction of this band of emigrants. * * * * * * * * * General Putnam seems to have been the only one who preceded him in claims to be the patriarch of the Marietta settlement. Dr. Cutler, at the time of his being engaged in the speculation of the Ohio Company's purchase, had a feud—it is not remembered whether literary, political, or religious—with the late learned and eccentric Dr. Bentley, of Salem, Massachusetts. Dr. Bentley was then chief contributor to a paper (Salem Register) which he afterward edited. The writer still remembers and can repeat doggerel verses by Dr. Bentley upon the departure of Dr. Cutler on his first trip to explore his purchase on the Ohio. The first travelers to explore Ohio, availed themselves of the full extent of the traveler's privilege in regard to the wonders of this new land of promise, and the unparalleled fertility of the soil. These extravagant representations of the grandeur of the vegetation, and the fertility of the land, at first excited a great desire to emigrate to this new and wonderful region. But some returned with different accounts, in discouragement, and the hostility of the savages was painted in the most appalling colors. A reaction took place in the public mind. The wags of the day exercised their wit in circulating caricatured and exaggerated editions of the stories of the first adventurers, that there were springs of brandy, flax that bore little pieces of cloth on the stems, enormous pumpkins, and melons, and the like. Accounts the most horrible were added of hoop snakes of such deadly malignity that a sting which they bore in their tails, when it punctured the bark of a green tree, instantly caused its 98 - From 1787 to 1796. leaves to become sear and the tree to die. Stories of Indian massacres and barbarities were related in all their horrors. The country was admitted to be fertile ; but was pronounced excessively sickly, and poorly balancing by that advantage all those counterpoises of sickness, Indians, copperheaded and hoop snakes, bears, wolves, and panthers. The tendency of the New England mind to enterprise and emigration thus early began to develop. For all these horrors, portrayed in all their darkness, and with all the dreadful imaginings connected with the thought of such a remote and boundless wilderness, did not hinder the departure of great numbers of the people, following in the footsteps of Gen. Putnam and Dr. Cutler. They were both men of established character, whose words and opinions wrought confidence. Dr. Cutler was a man of various and extensive learning. He was particularly devoted to the study of natural history, and was among the first who began scientifically to explore the botany of our country. He had great efficiency in founding the upper settlement (the Ohio Company's) in Ohio, and his descendants are among the most respectable inhabitants of the country at present." During the year 1789 there were added to the colony one hundred and fifty-two men and fifty-seven families. Thus the love of adventure and the migratory instincts of the New England people, year after year impelled little bands of pioneers to set their faces toward Ohio, and the settlements steadily, though slowly, increased. By long and toilsome journeys, carrying their effects in wagons, camping out at History of Athens County, Ohio - 99 night, and subsisting chiefly on the game which they killed by the way, these brave emigrants crossed the mountains to the head waters of the Ohio, whence they proceeded in large canoes or small flatboats down that iver to their various destinations. Arrived there, they were beset with perils and difficulties of the most serious character. There were perils of famine which they more than once bitterly experienced, perils of flood, of Indians, and exposure of every sort. Yet the resolute New Englanders not only successfully combated all these enemies, but, in the midst of the struggle, found time to secure civil rights, establish law and order, introduce a pure religion, and provide for universal education. " The most exalted sentiments arise on the consideration of the nature of those men who first broke in upon the forest- world of the West, and successfully planted civilization in the midst of the fiercest barbarism. Their like is never to be known again. in the progress and mutations of human affairs such a concourse of circumstances will never arise. There can never he another such revolution as that of 1776. If that was possible, will there be again such patriots, such men ? Then came the weakness of their country and their own impoverishment ; afterward the offer of the western lands in compensation for military service, but requiring the protection of military force. The never-lessening patience, perseverance, and piety of those stern characters have no parallel. With all these traits we 100 - From 1787 to 1796. behold the hourly exercise of courage, the cool contemplation of danger, acuteness of design, and vigor of execution."* By the year 1790 a perceptible current of emigration had began to set from the older states to the western country, and Marietta and Cincinnati, the only two points yet settled, promiSed to become the nuclei of prosperous colonies. The inroad on the wilderness commenced, and, little by little, civilization was making good its advance. The sound of the pioneer's axe was heard, though in but few and widely-separated localities, and the smoke of his cabin chimney ascended from more than one peaceful settlement. Clearings were made, crops and families began to be raised, and the new-comers were taking root in the soil. But from this peaceful dream there came a sudden and terrible awakening, in the Indian war which now burst upon the settlements with great fury. Indian aggressions had been growing in frequency during the past year or more. The Marietta settlers were peaceable men, who desired to treat the natives justly, and, if possible, to avoid warfare. But the frontier population of Virginia, the "Longknives," as they were called by the Indians, and those of Kentucky, were a different class of men. Born and bred hunters, and * Whittlesey's Fugitive Essays, p 24. 101 - History of Athens County, Ohio. always ready for a deadly conflict, they regarded the Indians as vermin, or wild beasts, who were to be shot on sight. This treatment had engendered with the savages a mortal hatred of the whites, and the Ohio Company's settlers were, to Some extent, included in their bitter hostility. They regarded the white men as their natural enemies, and, notwithstanding treaty stipulations, resented their settlement on the ancient hunting grounds as an intrusion, and cause of war. Thus, for a year or two past, the incursions and attacks of the Indians had become so frequent as to cause apprehension of a general war. They had announced their purpose of destroying every settlement, and putting out every white man's fire north of the Ohio river. To avert the impending danger, the government first tried negotiations; but, these proving futile, and the depredations growing more frequent and disastrous, General Harmar was directed to attack their towns. In September, 179o, with thirteen hundred men, he marched from Cincinnati, through the wilderness, to the Indian villages on the Miami, which he burned. On his homeward march he was attacked by a superior force of savages, and, after a desperate battle, was totally defeated. Harmar was barely able to make good his retreat to Cincinnati. His expedition was a failure, and so far from restraining only served to embolden the Indians. 102 - From 1787 to 1796. From this time, for four years, there was uninterrupted war with the Indians, and sad, indeed, were the calamities of the settlers. Wherever the settlements extended, the whole frontier was lighted by the flames of burning cabins and improvements. The first blow struck at the Ohio Company's purchase was on the 2d of January, 1791. On that day, it being a Sunday, the little settlement at Big Bottom, in Washington county, on the Muskingum river, was the scene of one of those bloody episodes, with which pioneer history abounds. We have not space to recount the event in its details; it was characterized by the usual horrible features of stealth and sudden surprise by the savages, of quick massacre and scalping of the victims, and of hasty retreat into the wilderness. In this attack twelve persons were killed, and five carried into captivity. [Hildreth's Pioneer HiStory, pp. 431-439.] The tidings of this bloody affair were borne to Marietta by special messenger, who reached there the morning after the massacre. The general court of quarter sessions was Sitting, and had juSt convened, when the news arrived. The town was at once thrown into the utmost consternation. It was supposed that Marietta would be the next point attacked, and instant measures of safety were taken. The court hurriedly adjourned. Many of the jurors and witnesses in attendance, who were from Waterford, Belpre, and History of Athens County, Ohio - 103 other exposed settlements, hastened at full speed to their homes, each one expecting, or, at least, fearing, to find his dear ones slaughtered, and his cabin reduced to ashes. General Putnam, who was always the master spirit in important crises and whose foresight had prepared for such an emergency as this, instantly put Marietta in a state of defense. All the families within reach were summoned thither, and securely placed in the block-houses of the garrison. The defenses were strengthened, guards doubled, and four sentinels placed at each of the bastions of the fort. The garrison was kept under the strictest discipline. The ammunition was inspected and made accessible at a moment's notice, and four-pounder cannon were placed at two of the corners of the fort. The present safety of the people being secured, Gen. Putnam immediately wrote urgent letters to President Washington and to Gen. Knox, the secretary of war, informing them that the storm of Indian war had burst upon the frontiers, and imploring them, by every consideration, to send troops for the protection of the settlers. At Belpre and at Waterford, the panic caused by the massacre was even greater, as their means of defense were less. Quite a number of families had joined these settlements during the years 1789 and '90, and there were several women and little children. The news was brought to the latter settlement about ten   104 - From 1787 to 1796 o'clock P. m. of January 2d. Men, women, and children were roused from their sleep by the fearful cry of "Indians," and woke to hear the story repeated with numberless exaggerations, to which, in their terror, they gave ready credence. It was believed, and not without reason, that the savages would fall upon them before daylight. All the inhabitants, amounting to about thirty souls, were hurriedly gathered into the largest and strongest cabin. Their most valuable portable property and necessary cooking utensils were brought in. A supply of water was hastily procured. The doors and windows were strongly barred. Interstices were made in the sides of the cabin, by punching out the chinking between the logs, for the men to fire through. Thus prepared, the rest of the night was passed in painful anxiety, and momentary expectation of attack. About daylight the Indians approached the cabin. Their forms were dimly seen by the sentinel, gliding among the trees, as if reconnoitering the position. The alarm was given, and the settlers awaited the onslaught with such firmness and composure as they could. The women and children were huddled into the safest corner of the cabin, and the men stood with finger on the trigger, prepared to fight it out. But the attack did not come. Finding the inhabitants of the settlement awake and prepared for them, the Indians refrained from attacking the place. Having spent some time in reconnoitering, as day fairly History of Athens County, Ohio - 105 dawned, they made off into the woods, and the settlement escaped. Everywhere, throughout the territory, the same consternation prevailed. The exposed out-posts were abandoned, and the people rushed for safety to the block-houses and garrisons. This state of thing filled President Washington with the utmost anxiety for the vigorous prosecution of the Indian war. A second army, in all respects superior to Harmar's, was assembled at Cincinnati. Governor Arthur St. Clair was placed in command. His force consisted of three regiments of infantry, two companies of artillery, one of cavalry, and about six hundred militia. With this army he marched toward the Indian towns on the Maumee. Disaster followed St. Clair from the beginning. 0n the march, a considerable portion of the militia deserted in a body. A whole regiment was detached- a portion to pursue the deserters, and a portion to save the expeditionary stores, which it was feared the deserters intended to plunder. With his force thus weakened by desertion and details, St. Clair advanced into the enemy's country. On the morning of the 4th of November, 1791, just before daylight, he was attacked with great fury by the combined army of the northwestern tribes. The battle was short and the result decisive: St. Clair was totally defeated, with a loss of more than six hundred men.   106 - From 1787 to 1796. The government had hitherto prosecuted the war with little vigor and weak determination. In fact, there was opposition to the Indian war, and reluctance to enter on a difficult and dangerous campaign. The country had, as yet, hardly begun to recover from the prostration that followed the revolutionary struggle. Industry was paralyzed, the debt burdensome, and the currency disordered. But no alternative was now left. The existence of all the western settlements, and, perhaps, even our possession of the territories already acquired from the Indians, depended on a vigorous prosecution of the war. President Washington made new appeals to congress, and, in spite of violent opposition from certain quarters, the necessary supplies were voted, and the Indian war went on. General Anthony Wayne was now appointed to the command. He was an officer of revolutionary experience, great energy, personal enthusiasm, and executive ability. He arrived at Cincinnati in the spring of 1793, and began the work of organizing a third army. It was not, however, till July, 1794, that, with a force of about thirty-five hundred men, he marched against the Indians. They had collected their whole force, amounting to about two thousand men, at the Maumee rapids. Wayne encountered the Indians on the 20th of August. The battle which ensued resulted in the utter defeat of the Indians, and was the beginning of their downfall in the northwestern territory. History of Athens County, Ohio - 107 Wayne followed up his victory, and gathered all its fruits. He burned their villages, destroyed their growing crops, and laid waste their whole country. Fort! were erected in the heart of their territory, and they were made to feel, as they had never felt before, the energy and power of the government. Convinced, at last, of their inability to maintain the contest, of resolved, perhaps, to accept their inevitable doom, they sued for peace. A general council was convene( at Greenville (now in Darke county), at which Gen. Wayne represented the United States, and the following tribes were represented by their chiefs, viz: the Wyandots, Delawares, Shawanese, Ottawas, Chippewas, Putawatomies, Miamis, Eel-rivers, Kickapoos, Weeas, Piankashaws, and KaSkaskias. By the treaty here made, it was declared that " henceforth all hostilities shall cease; peace is hereby established and shall be perpetual; and a friendly intercourse shall take place between the said United States and Indian tribes.' Prisoners were given up, boundary lines established large cessions of land made, annual allowances o money to the Indians assured, certain hunting privileges granted, and provisions for trading agreed upon.* This treaty was signed August 3, 1795, and became * U. S. Stat. at Large, vol. 7, p. 49. 108 - From 1787 to 1796. the basis of a permanent peace in this part of the country. The tomahawk was buried, the Indians gave up their ancient hunting grounds and the graves of their fathers, and the white man's title to the lands of Ohio waS never again seriously contested. The following anecdotes of Gen. Wayne are furnished to the author by the venerable Dr. C. F. Perkins, of Erie, Pennsylvania, formerly a resident of Athens : Some time after the conclusion of the treaty above named, Gen. Wayne was stationed at Erie, Pennsylvania. During his last illness his distress was greatly augmented and his nerves much excited by clouds of smoke from an ill-constructed chimney in his military cabin. Sending for the unfortunate mason who had built the chimney (a worthy man by the name of Hughes), Gen. Wayne berated him with considerable violence, and threatened to severely chastise him on the morrow. But the mason escaped punishment, for the brave general died before the dawn of the next day. The body of Gen. Wayne was interred in the military ground near the block-house at Erie and on the bay of Presque Isle. After it had rested for at least a few years undisturbed, his son came from Wyoming to Erie to look after the body of his deceased parent. It was exhumed and found to be undecayed and almost entire. The son wished to convey the body to Wyoming for interment, but he had traveled on horseback and had no vehicle. Beside, no wheeled vehicle could be drawn through the unbroken forest without the greatest labor. The question was what could be done ? It was solved by an army surgeon, who suggested that if the bones were divested of their covering, the young man might take them home with him in a portmanteau. Though uncongenial to the son's feelings, this proposition was acted upon. The osseous frame work was denuded by cutting away the solid flesh, and finally by boiling it in water and scraping thoroughly. Thus cleansed the bones were separated and carefully placed in the two ends of a large portmanteau and carried on horseback to Wyoming. The above was related to Dr. Perkins by an old citizen of Erie, who held a candle for and saw the entire operation.