(RETURN TO THE TITLE PAGE) HISTORY OF MORGAN COUNTY, OHIO - 71 CHAPTER V. WASHINGTON COUNTY AND THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY-1788 TO 1803. THE OHIO COMANY INDUCING EMIGRATION-REMARKABLE PREDICTION ABOUT THE OHIO COUNTRY BY DR. CUTLER - OPPOSITION AND RIDICULE-THE COMPANY OF ADVENTURERS-THEIR WINTER JOURNEY ACROSS THE MOUNTAINS- BOAT-BUILDING AT THE YOUGHIOGFIENY-ARRIVAL OF THE MAYFLOWER AT THE MUSKINGUM, APRIL 7, 1788--NAMES OF THE FOUNDERS OF MARIETTA-ORIGIN OF THE TERM BUCKEYE-ERECTION OF CAMPUS MARTIUS-ARRIVAL OF GOVERNOR ST. CLAIR- WASHINGTON COUNTY ESTABLISHED-LATER COUNTIES- FIRST COURTS IN THE TERRITORY-ESTABLISHMENT OF TOWNSHIPS-THE TERRITORIAL GOVERNMENT-THE TERRITORIAL LEGISLATURE - ITS FIRST MEMBERS-THE BIRTH OF A STATE-THE "ENABLING ACT" PASSED BY CONGRESS - TEE OPPOSITION TO A STATE GOVERNMENT IN WASHINGTON COUNTY-THE CONVENTION OF 1802 -ATTEMPT TO LEGALIZE SLAVERY IN OHIO-THE CONSTITUTION FORMED AND THE STATE OF OHIO - ADMITTED INTO THE UNION- PROGRESS OF THE MARIETTA COLONY-SETTLEMENTS AT BELPRE AND WATERFORD-WOLF CREEK MILLS, THE FIRST IN OHIO - THE SETTLEMENT AT BIG BOTTOM. WASHINGTON COUNTY being the parent of Morgan; it is appropriate that some account of her earliest settlement, as well as of other early events, be included in this volume. After the Ohio Company was fairly organized, and appeared likely to be successful in its objects and aims, the subject of colonization naturally became uppermost in the minds of its members. In the work of encouraging emigration from New England to the Ohio country Generals Putnam, Tupper and Parsons, Dr. Cutler and Winthrop Sargent were enthusiastic and energetic. After concluding the purchase Dr. Cutler anonymously published a pamphlet, giving extensive information as to the Northwest, especially the Muskingum region. In this publication Dr. Cutler tool occasion to make some prophecies, which though they were doubtless then received with ridicule, have nearly all been realized. He asserted that in fifty years the population of the northwestern territory would exceed that of New England. The following passage, written in 1787, probably contained the first allusion ever made to the subject of steam navigation upon western rivers : "The current down the Ohio and Mississippi, for heavy articles that suit the Florida and West India markets, such as Indian corn, flour, beef, lumber, etc., will be more loaded than any streams on earth. The distance from the Muskingum to the Mississippi is 1,000 miles ; from thence - to the sea is 900 miles. The whole course is run in eighteen days, and the passage up these rivers is not so difficult as has been represented. It is found by late experiments that sails are used to great advantage against the current of the Ohio; and it- is worthy of observation that in all probability 72 - HISTORY OF MORGAN COUNTY, OHIO. steamboats will be found to do infinite service in all our river navigation." The proprietors of the Ohio Company succeeded, however, in getting together a sufficient number of adventurers to begin the proposed settlement in accordance with their resolutions of November 23, 1787, already given in the preceding chapter. The first party, consisting of twenty-two men, and including the mechanics and boat-builders, left Danvers, Mass., December 1, 1787, in command of Major Haffield White, and on the 23d of January, 1788, arrived at Sum- rill's Ferry, on the Youghiogheny River, in Pennsylvania, where they were expected to begin the construction of boats for completing the journey. The other party, consisting of the surveyors and their assistants and others, left Hartford, Conn., on the 1st of January, under the conduct of Colonel Ebenezer Sproat (they were joined by General Rufus Putnam, superintendent of the colony, at Lauterdale Creek, on the 24th), and after a toilsome winter journey across the Alleghanies arrived at the Youghiogheny in the middle of February. Here they were diappointed to find that very little progress had been made by the advance party in their preparations, and a delay lasting until the first of April resulted. Then, with three canoes, a flat-boat of about three tons' burden (the "Adelphia ") and a galley of about fifty tons' burden (the "Mayflower "), the party embarked upon the " Yough," and proceeded down that stream, the Monongahela and the Ohio to their destination. About noon on Monday, April 7, 1788, the little party, consisting of forty-seven men (increased to forty-eight by the arrival of Colonel Return Jonathan Megs on the 12th), landed on the site of Marietta, where about seventy Indians, warriors, women and children, of the Wyandot and Delaware tribes, received them with manifestations of friendliness. The famous chieftain, Captain Pipe, was among the Indians. The following are the names of the colonists : General Rufus Putnam, superintendent of the colony ; Colonel Ebenezer Sproat, Major Anselm Tupper, and John Mathews, surveyors; Major Haffield White, steward and quartermaster; Captain Jonathan Devol, Captain Josiah Monroe, Captain Daniel Davis, Captain Peregrine Foster, Captain Jethro Putnam, Captain William Gray, Captain Ezekiel Cooper, Phineas Coburn, David Wallace, Gilbert Devol, Jr., Jonas Davis, Hezekiah Flint, Hezekiah Flint, Jr., Josiah Whitridge, Benjamin Griswold, Theophilus Leonard, William Miller, Josiah White, Henry Maxon, William Maxon, William Moulton, Edward Moulton, Benjamin Shaw, Jarvis Cutler, Samuel Cushing, Daniel Bushnell, Ebenezer Corry, Oliver Dodge, Isaac Dodge, Jabez Barlow, Allen Putnam, Joseph Wells, Israel Danton, Samuel Felshaw, Amos Porter, Jr.; John Gardner, Elizur Kirtland, Joseph Lincoln, Earl Sproat, Allen Devol, Simeon Martin, Peletiah White. Regarding the landing of the adventurers, there is a tradition that an incident which then occurred gave rise tp the name " Buckeyes," first applied tp the early settlers, and afterward to all the inhabitants of the State. It is related that two of the pioneers, on springing to the shore, at once began a contest to see who should inaugurate the improvement by felling the first tree. One selected a hardwood his tree and work was consequently difficult. The 73 - WASHINGTON COUNTY AND THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY. other applied his axe to a buckeye, and laid it low before his rival made much progress with his work. Another tradition, better authenticated, is to the effect that Colonel Ebenezer Sproat, a man of large physical proportions, was called by the Indians Hetuck, or Big Buckeye, and from this the name was made to apply to all the colonists. It would carry us far beyond our purpose to write a history of the Marietta colony, but in order that the reader may have a full understanding of subsequent events which are properly included within the scope of this work we make a brief sketch of the more notable occurrences the annals of their work. During the first summer the pioneers made commendable progress, building cabins, clearing land, planting crops, surveying the company's lands, laying out the streets of the new city, etc. As a measure of defense and protection, unfortunately soon rendered necessary, they began the erection of an elaborate fortress or garrison, large enough to afford refuge to the whole colony in times of danger. Much of the work was performed during the first year, but the whole of Campus Martins, as the defense was styled, was not finished till 1791. It was then pronounced the finest pile of buildings west of the Alleghany Mountains - which was doubtless true. During the year the Marietta colony was increased by the arrival of eighty-four men, several of them being accompanied by their families. The wife of James Owen, who came in June, 1788, was the first woman who settled in the Ohio Company's purchase. General Arthur St. Clair, the first territorial governor, arrived July 9th. He was a native of Scotland, born in 1734. He entered the British army, and being sent to America during the French war, was present at the storming of Quebec. In 1764 he settled at Fort Ligonier, afterward in Westmoreland County, Pa., having been appointed to the command of the fort. He figured prominently in the colonial history of Pennsylvania, and was the first prothonotary of Bedford County, which at one time included all of Southwestern Pennsylvania. At the breaking out of the Revolution he joined the patriots and was given command of a regiment. Subsequently he was promoted to a brigadier, then to a major-general. He represented his district in the Continental Congress and was president of that body. In October, 1787, he was commissioned governor of the Northwest Territory, the commission taking effect in February following. He continued to act as territorial governor until within a few months preceding the formation of the State government, in 1803, when he was removed by President Jefferson. He died in Westmoreland County, Pa., August 31, 1818. Preceding Governor St. Clair, two of the judges of the territory, Samuel Holden Parsons and James Mitchell Varnum, and the secretary, Winthrop Sargent, had arrived at Marietta. John Cleve Symmes was the other territorial judge. The governor and judges began the work of organizing the territory by issuing laws for its government, modeled after the laws of the older States of the Union. July 25, 1788, they passed a law regulating and establishing the militia. Other early acts related to the establishment of the general court of quarter sessions of the peace, the, county court of common pleas, and the office of sheriff, the probate court, laws respect- 74 - HISTORY OF MORGAN COUNTY, OHIO. ing crimes and their punishment,* etc. On July 26, 1788, Governor St. Clair issued a proclamation, establishing the first county in the new Territory, to which he gave the name Washington, in honor of the Father of his Country. The order was as follows : " By His Excellency, Arthur St. Clair, Esq., Governor and Commander-in-Chief of the territory of the United States northwest of the Rivei Ohio. " A PROCLAMATION. " To all persons to whom these presents shall come, greeting : Whereas, by the ordinance of Congress of the 13th July, 1787, for the government of the territory of the United States north west 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 ; *The early laws provided for the suppression and prevention of profanity, Sabbath-breaking, etc., punished theft and minor offences by fines, whipping and confinement in the stocks or service at hard labor. Each county had its pillory, stocks and whipping-post. - These "terrors to evil doers" were continued as late as 1812.—Hildreth. 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 of 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 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 elected 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 county of Washington, as above established, then embraced about one-half of the present State of Ohio. It remained the only county in the Territory, and practically was the Territory civilly and judicially, until January 2, 1790, when Hamilton County was erected. Between 1790 and 1796 the WASHINGTON COUNTY AND THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY - 75 following counties were organized in the Territory outside the limits of Ohio: St. Clair, Knox and Randolph. Wayne was erected August 15, 1796, embracing parts of the present States of Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Wisconsin and all of Michigan. Adams, the next county within the State limits, was erected July 10, 1797. Jefferson followed next, being erected July 29, 1797, largely reducing the size of Washington County, which was further curtailed by the formation of Ross, August 20, 1798. Fairfield and Trumbull were erected in 1800, and Belmont in 1801. These were all of the counties formed in Ohio under the territorial government. After the formation of the State government in 1803 new counties multiplied rapidly. Gallia was formed in 1803 ; in 1804 (from Washington and Fairfield) ; Athens in 1805 ; Guernsey in 1810; Monroe in 1815 ; Morgan and Meigs in 1819. The first court held in the Northwest Territory was the court of common pleas, of Washington County, which convened in the Campus Martins at Marietta, on Tuesday, September 2, 1788. The ceremonies were imposing, and no doubt made an impression upon the minds of the few friendly savages who witnessed them. A procession was formed at " the point " of citizens and officers from Fort Harmar, by whom the territorial judges, the governor the judges of the common pleas court were escorted to the blockhouse, which was to serve as the courtroom. At the head marched the sheriff, with drawn sword and wand of office. The session opened with prayer by Rev. Manasseh Cutler, who was then on a visit to the colony whose establishment he had done so much to promote, and after the reading of the commissions of the judges, the clerk and the sheriff, the court was proclaimed open for business by the sheriff, Colonel Ebenezer Sproat. Paul Fearing, Esq., was admitted to practice as an attorney, and was the first in the Territory. Colonel R. J. Meigs was the clerk, and General Rufus Putnam, General Benjamin Tupper and Colonel Archibald Crary the judges. No business being brought before the court, it adjourned sine die. The county court of common pleas consisted of not less than three nor more than five judges, who received their commissions from the governor, and were authorized to keep a court of record. The court was held twice a year in each county. In 1790 the number of terms was changed to four, and the number of judges increased to seven. The court of quarter sessions of the peace under the territorial laws was held four times a year in each county, and was composed of justices of the peace commissioned by the governor. Not less than .three nor more than five justices were especially commissioned for holding this court. Three could hold special courts when required. In 1790 a change in the law increased the number of justices to nine in each county, and gave the court power to divide the county into Townships, appoint constables, overseers of the poor, township clerks, and to establish roads. The first term of this court was held in Washington County, at the Campus Martins, Tuesday, September 9, 1788, before Justices. Rufus Putnam, Benjamin Tupper', Isaac Pierce, Thomas Lord and Return J. Meigs. Then was impaneled the first grand jury in the 76 - HISTORY OF MORGAN COUNTY, OHIO. Territory. No cases were presented, and the court adjoUrned without day. One other court completed the judicial machinery of the Territory. The general court, for the, territory of the United States northwest of the Ohio River, held four sessions a year, for civil and criminal suits, at such points in the territory as the judges deemed advisable, due notice of the session being given. The terms began on the first Monday of February, May, October and December. Process, both civil and criminal, could be returned at any place in the territory where they might be convened. They were not obliged to hold more than one court a year in any one county. In December, 1790, the court of quarter sessions of Washington County established three townships, which included the three settlements which had been made up to that time. Marietta Township included Townships 1, 2 and 3 in the eighth range and Townships 2 and 3 in the ninth range. Belpre contained Townships 1 and 2 in the tenth range and Township 1 in the ninth range. Waterford Township consisted of Townships 7 and 8 in the eleventh range, Townships 4 and 5 in the tenth range, and section 33 of Township 4 in the ninth range. Subsequently Gallipolis Township was established, extending from the eleventh range to the Scioto and bounded on the north by a line drawn west from the northern line of Township 3, Range 11. Two townships included the northern part of the county—Warren, west of Pennslyvania, and extending to the lake, and Middletown, west of Warren. These were taken into Jefferson County at its formation in 1797. Adams and Salem townships were established in December, 1797. Salem was five miles wide and extended from the donation tract to the north line of the county. In December, 1798, the following townships were established: Another Middletown, embracing near all of the present county of Athens; Newton, from the north part Waterford and extending to the northern line of the county ; and Newport Township. Roxbury (a part of which was added to Morgan County in 1845), was organized in 1806. The government of the Territory, with the ordinance of 1787 as its foundation could scarcely be called a "government of the people and for the people," for in reality the people had no voice in it. Its chief officers were appointed by Congress until after the ratification of the constitution and then by the President, and were accountable only to the general government. But, all things considered, perhaps the system was .the best and wisest that could be devised for a vast and remote territory, inhabited only by Indians, traders, hunters and adventurers, with here and there a struggling colony upon its borders. No government free from abuses has ever been formulated by man, and that no arbitrary actions should creep into the administration of affairs in the Northwest no reasonable man could have expected. The nation was fortunate in the choice of the territorial authorities, and the government served its purpose, giving birth to five great, free States. When the time arrived which enabled the inhabitants to adopt a State government they welcomed it with eagerness, as has been the case with the people of all the States of later origin. The first step toward giving the WASHINGTON COUNTY AND THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY - 77 people of the Territory a part in making their laws was taken in 1798. The ordinance of 1787 provided as soon as there should be "5,000 free male inhabitants of full age " in the Territory they should be entitled to a general assembly, to consist of the governor, legislative council and a house of representatives, the representatives to serve for two years and the council for five. The manner of selecting the council was as follows : As soon as the representatives were elected, the governor was required to appoint a time and place for them to meet and nominate ten persons, "residents in the district and each possessed of a freehold in five hundred acres of land," and return their names to Congress ; from this number Congress must choose the five members. Governor St. Clair, having ascertained that the Territory contained the requisite number of voters, issued a call for an election of territorial representatives. The proclamation, issued October 29, 1798, ordered the election to be held on the third Monday of the following December. The representatives elected were Return J. Meigs, Paul Fearing, Washington County ; William Goforth, William McMilan, John Smith, John Ludlow, Robert Benham, Aaron Caldwell, Isaac Martin, Hamilton County ; Shadrach Bond, St. Clair County ; John Small, Knox County ; John Edgar, Randolph County ; Solomon Sibley, Jacob Visger, Charles F. Chabert de Johncaire, Wayne County ; Joseph Darlington, Nathaniel Massie, Adams County; James Pritchard, Jefferson County ; Thomas Worthington, Elias Langham, Samuel Findlay, Edward Tiffin, Ross County. The legislature met at Cincinnati, January 22, 1799, and nominated ten men for the legislative council. The five chosen by the national government were Jacob Burnet, of Cincinnati, Hamilton County; Henry Vandenburg, of Vincennes, Knox County ; Robert Oliver, of Marietta, Washington County ; James Findlay of Cincinnati, and David Vance, of Vanceville, Jefferson County. The first session of the legislature began at Cincinnati, September 16, 1799, and lasted until December 19, 1799, at which ,ime it was prorogued by the governor to meet at Chillicothe kwhich had been made the capital by act of Congress May 7, 1800), on the first Monday in November, 1800. At the Cincinnati session, the legislature passed thirty bills, of which the governor vetoed eleven. William Henry Harrison was elected a delegate to Congress, receiving one more vote than his rival, Arthur St. Clair, Jr. A petition was introduced, from a number of Virginia officers, asking permission to remove their slaves into the Virginia Military District. The ordinance of Freedom rendered their prayer futile. At the November session William McMillan was chosen a delegate to Congress, to fill the vacancy caused by the resignation of General Harrison, who had been appointed governor of Indiana Territory (formed May 7, 1800, and included the present states of Indiana, Illinois, Wisconsin, and a part of Michigan.) The second and last territorial legislature convened at Cincinnati, November 23, 1801. Ephraim Cutler and William Rufus Putnam were the representatives from Washington County. Edward Tiffin, of Ross County, was speaker, and Robert Oliver of Washington 78 - HISTORY OF MORGAN COUNTY, OHIO. County, president of the legislative council. The representatives from Washington County opposed the formation of a State government, which about thiS time began to be discussed. Putnam made. a speech at a supper Cincinnati at which he proposed the toast, " The Scioto—may its waters lave the borders of two great States." . This sentiment aroused the violent opposition of the Chillicothe people, who favored the formation of a State with its present limits, or at least, extending west7 ward to the Miami, with their town as its capital. The boundary proposed by Putnam was generally favored by his constituents, and had it been adopted would have delayed the State organization considerably, as the ordinance of 1787 provided that no part of the territory should become a State until it had a population of 60,000. The opposition to the formation of a State came from a small minority and was strongest in Washington county. On the 17th of June, 1801, a meeting was held at Marietta, attended by delegates from the several townships of the county, who adopted resolutions, afterwards forwarded to their representatives in the general assembly, declaring that, in their opinion, " it would be highly impolitic and very injurious to the inhabitants of this territory to enter into a State government at this time." There were several reasons for this opinion. First, they argued, that taxes would be increased without corresponding benefits ; that the expenses of the State government would fall most heavily upon the inhabitants of the Ohio Company's purchase, while the congressional lands would be exempt from taxation. The expenses of the territorial government were chiefly paid out of the National treasury, and a State government on formed, this aid would cease. Secondly the Washington county people were o the weaker or Federalist side in politi and could hope for no offices under t State. This consideration may hav had no weight, with the majority, bu undoubtedly some were influenced b it. Thirdly, there was the hope th two States might sometime be form of the territory now included in Obi and that Marietta might be the capital of the eastern one. * The discussion of the project reached Congress and the passage of the "ent abling act" was violently opposed by Paul Fearing, of Washington County territorial delegate; but the act became a law April 30, 1802. By it the boundaries of the State were defined and the hold.. ing of a convention for the formation o a State government was authorized. The convention met at Chillicothe in November, 1802. The delegates were as follows : Joseph Darlington, Thomas, Kirker and Israel Donaldson, from Adams County ; James Caldwell, from Belmont County ; Francis Dunlady, John Paul, Jeremiah Morrow, John Wilson, Charles W. Byrd, William Go forth, John Smith and John Reily, from Hamilton County ; Rudolph Pair, John Milligan and George Humphrey, from Jefferson County ; Edward Tiffin, Nathaniel Massie, Thomas Worthington, Michael Baldwin, and James Grubb from Ross County ; Samuel Huntington, from Trumbull County ; Ephraim Cutler, Rufus Putnam, Benjamin Ives Gilman and John McIntire, from Wash ington County. Edward Tiffin was elected president, and Thomas Scott, secretary of the convention. * Alfred Mathews in the History of Washington county. 79 - WASHINGTON COUNTY AND THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY. When the question was put as to whether it was expedient to form a constitution and State government at that time, only Ephraim Cutler, of Washington County, voted in the negative. By the most important work of the convention was the defeat of a provision authorizing slavery in the State. In spite of the ordinance of 1787 such a measure was introduced, and came near being adopted by the committee having charge of preparing a bill of rights. But here Ephraim Cutler, the son of the author of that famous clause in the Ordinance of Freedom, "Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude shall exist in the territory," interposed, and, by the aid of other wise men, defeated the measure. The convention, which met upon the 1st adjourned on the 29th of November, having completed its work and formed that instrument which stood for half a century as the fundamental law of the State of Ohio. The constitution was never submitted to the people either for approval or disapproval, but became a law solely by act of the convention— a fact somewhat remarkable, since the convention had been called by Congress without having taken the opinion of the inhabitants upon the question. Ohio was first recognized as a State by Congress February 19,1803. Its first legislature met on March 1, 1803, and the formal organization of the government took place two days later. The legislature continued to meet at Chillicothe until 1816 (with the exception of two sessions, 1810-11 and 1811-12), which were held at Zanesville), when Columbus became the capital of the State. PROGRESS OF THE MARIETTA COLONY-NEW SETTLEMENTS FOUNDED. The winter of 1788-89 was long and severe. The Ohio River froze up in December and no boats passed either to or from Marietta till March. Provisions were scarce, and the game had been mostly killed off in the surrounding country by the Indians, so that wild meat was procured with difficulty. Before navigation was resumed many of the people lived for weeks with little or no meat .and without bread, their food consisting of boiled corn, or coarse meal, ground in hand-mills. In 1790 the inhabitants of the county suffered again from scarcity of food. Small pox prevailed at Marietta early in 1790, and at Belpre in 1793. But in spite of all drawbacks the settements slowly but surely gained in strength and prosperity. In the winter of 1788-89 an association of about forty members was formed at Marietta for the purpose of forming a new settlement, and the Belpre colony was the result. The settlers began moving to their farms in April, 1789. The outbreak of Indian hostilities found the settlement with but two strongly built log blockhouses. In January, 1791, eleven more were built, making thirteen in all. They were arranged in two rows, along the river, and the whole was inclosed by palisades. The defence when complete was styled- " Farmers' Castle," and the United States flag was raised upon one of the principal blockhouses, where sentries were posted at night, ready to discharge a small cannon in case of alarm. About two hundred and twenty persons inhabited the garrison, seventy of whom were able-bodied men. Later in the war (1793) two other garrissons, known respectively as Goodale's and Stone's, were built in the vicinity of the castle, which had been found too 80 - HISTORY OF MORGAN COUNTY, OHIO. small to accommodate all who required its shelter. Waterford settlement on the Muskingum was begun in April, 1789, by a second association, consisting of thirty- nine members, who in accordance with the Ohio Company's resolutions,* were to receive lands for settling. A part of the company were to locate on Wolf Creek, about a mile above its mouth, for the purpose of erecting mills. " The main body of the donated lands," says Hildreth, "lies on the east side of the Muskingum ; and that portion of it bordering on the river was divided into lots of ten or fifteen acres each, for the purpose of making the settlement more compact, and the inhabitants near to each other for mutual assistance and defense in times of danger from the Indians ; while the other portion of the hundred acres was located at a greater distance." These lots commenced where the town of Beverly now stands, and extended down the river about two miles. On the west side of the Muskingum, in a bend of Wolf Creek known as the peninsula, another village was laid out in lots of five acres each. For the pro tection of the settlement two blockhouses were built, one on the east and the other on the west side of the river. After the commencement of hostilities Fort Frye, on the east side of the Muskingum about half a mile below the site of Beverly, was erected. It was completed in March, 1791. Wolf Creek mills, the first in the territory, according to Dr. Hildreth,- were erected the year the Waterford settle- * See chapter on the Ohio Company. ment was begun, by Colonel Robert Oliver, Major Haffield White and Captain John Dodge. The mills (a gristmill and sawmill) were built during the year 1789, but were not completed and ready for operation until March of the following year. The crank for the sawmill was made at New 'Haven, Conn., transported across the mountains on a packhorse to Sumrill's Ferry, and brought thence by water. The stones, of conglomerate rock, were quarried in Laurel Hill, near Brownsville, Pa., and were used more than fifty years. They were not suitable for grinding wheat, but served well for grinding corn, of which, it is said, the mill' would grind a bushel in four minutes. About the mill there grew up a settlement of about thirty people, all of whom fled to the neighboring blockhouses when the news of the Big Bottom massacre reached them. The mill'was resorted to by the people of Marietta and Waterford both before and after the war, and for many years did a thriving business. During the Indian war it was not suffered to lie idle. Parties of twenty or thirty men sometimes went up with their grain in boats, a part of them marching by land to watch for Indians. While the mill was in operation sentries were posted round about to give warning of danger, but during the whole war the mill was undisturbed by the savages. But one other settlement was founded under the auspices of the Marietta colonists prior to the Indian war—the ill-fated colony at Big Bottom, of which we shall proceed to speak in the following chapter.