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HISTORY OF WAYNE COUNTY, OHIO - 15 CHAPTER II. THE NORTH-WESTERN TERRITORY. AT the time Sebastian Cabot discovered North America, in 1498, the print of the foot of the white man was not upon its soil. He had traversed wide, billowy and "hilly seas," and peopled waste and desert places of the earth, but here, on the sun-down side of the Western Hemisphere, he was not found. It was the empire of the native American, barbaric hordes who roamed like untamed beasts over its extensive domain and secreted themselves in its shady groves and cloistered valleys, unrestrained and ungoverned by any of the rules which regulate civilized life. Cabot's discovery paved the way, as also did that of Columbus, for European immigration. Soon Spain, France and England vied with each other for the ascendancy in the New World. Spain had the honor of establishing the first colony in North America, which was done at St. Augustine, Florida, in 1565, and is now the oldest city, by forty years, within the limits of the Republic. The French planted the second in 1604, at Port Royal, in Acadia, the original name of Novia Scotia, and the English the third, at Jamestown, in April, 1607, which was the first permanent settlement of the English in America. England, becoming alarmed at the encroachments of the French in the northern part of the New World, divided that portion of the country which lies between the thirty-fourth and forty-fifth degrees of north latitude into two grand divisions, and then James I., by 16 - THE NORTH-WESTERN TERRITORY. grant, disposed of that portion of the country included between the thirty-fourth and forty-first degrees to an association of merchants, called the London Land Company, and to the Plymouth Company, which subsequently settled New England, the territory between the thirty-eighth and forty-fifth degrees. These grants crossing over each other, to some extent, became a fertile source of trouble to the Crown. The Cabots had visited Nova Scotia as early as 1498, though there was no European colony established until the year above named, but Henry IV. of France, had, as early as 1603, granted Acadia to DeMonts, a Frenchman, and his followers, and some Jesuits, who, for several years, endeavored to form settlements in Port Royal and St. Croix, but who were finally expelled from the country by the English governor and colonists of Virginia, who claimed the country by right of the discovery of Sebastian Cabot. This grant to DeMonts comprised the lands between the fortieth and forty-sixth degrees of north latitude, and hence included the lands at present composing the State of Ohio. The grant of James I. of England to the London Company also embraced Ohio, and the grant of the same monarch to the Plymouth Company compassed a portion of it. France, alive to the importance of seizing and holding the sway over the much-coveted Foundling of the western sun, equipped and sent out her boldest adventurers to explore and possess the country, prominent among whom appeared LaSalle, Champlain and Marquette. Forts were erected by them on the lakes and on the Mississippi, Illinois and Maumee rivers, and the whole North-western Territory was included by them in the province of Louisiana; in fact our entire country, according to their geographers, was New France, except that east of the great ranges of mountains, whose streams flow into the Atlantic ; and of this portion they even claimed the basin of the Kennebec, and all of Maine to the east of that valley. As early as 1750 they had strong and well-guarded fortifications erected at the mouth of the Wabash river, and a line of communication opened to Acadia, by way of this stream, the lakes and the St. Lawrence. The English not only claimed the North-western Terri- HISTORY OF WAYNE COUNTY, OHIO - 17 tory by reason of discovery, and by grant of the King of England, but by virtue of the purchase of the same, from the Indians by treaty, at Lancaster, in 1744. By that treaty the Six Nations ceded the lands or territory to the English, as they claimed. For the purpose of formally possessing it and vying with the French in its settlement, a company denominated the Ohio Company was organized in 1750, and obtained a grant in that year from the British Parliament for six hundred thousand acres of land on or near the Ohio river ; and in 1750 the English built and established a trading-house at a place called Loramie's Store, on the Great Miami river, and which was the first English establishment erected in the North-west Territory, or the great valley of the Mississippi. In the early part of 1752 the French demolished this trading-house, and carried the inhabitants off to Canada. Its destruction involved something of a conflict, and the Ottawas and Chippewas assisting the French, fourteen of the red warriors were killed and several wounded before it succumbed. In 1762 the Moravian missionaries, Post and Heckwelder, had established a station upon the Muskingum river. In 1763 the French ceded their possessions in the North-west, and, indeed, in North America, to Great Britain, and from that time forward the English had only the natives with whom to contend. After many sanguinary conflicts, in which valuable lives were sacrificed, the haughty Briton became master of the soil. In 1774, by act of Parliament of the English government, the whole of the North-west Territory was annexed to, and made part of, the Province of Quebec. July 4, 1776, the colonists renounced further allegiance to the British Crown, and each State or Colony then claimed jurisdiction over the soil embraced within its charter. The war of the Revolution terminating favorably to the colonists, the King of England, September 3, 1783, ceded all claim to the North-west Territory to the United States. By charter, Virginia claimed that portion of the territory which was situate north-west of the River 18 - THE NORTH-WESTERN TERRITORY Ohio, but in 1784 she ceded all claim to the territory to the United States. By virtue of this act or deed of cession the General Assembly of Virginia did, through her delegates in Congress, March I, 1784, "convey (in the name and for and on behalf of the said commonwealth), transfer, assign, and make over unto the United States in Congress assembled, for the benefit of said States, Virginia inclusive, all right, title and claim, as well of soil as of jurisdiction, to the territory of said State lying and being to the north-west of the river of Ohio." The deed of cession being tendered by the delegates, Congress at once resolved "that it be accepted, and the same be recorded and enrolled among the acts of the United States in Congress assembled." Title to the vast territory of the north-west having thus been secured to the United States, at an early date the prudent consideration of Congress was directed toward preliminary measures pointing to the permanent organization of civil government in the same, it now being within the legitimate province of its legislation. July 13, 1787, that august body, after considerate investigation, deliberate thought, and cautious inquiry into the subject, combined with tedious, dispassionate, and exhaustive analysis of the vital issues involved, proclaimed the outgrowth of their matured action to the civilized world in what they saw proper to denominate, "An ordinance for the government of the territory of the United States north-west of the River Ohio," which is pppularly known as "the Ordinance of '87." This ordinance was the supreme law of the territory, and upon it was engrafted and in harmony with it, our entire territorial enactments, and all our subsequent State legislation. As we are greatly indebted to that document, the product of a sound, wise, and far-reaching statesmanship, for a large share of our greatness, prosperity and happiness, we here reproduce it : ORDINANCE OF 1787. Be it Ordained by the United States in Congress Assembled, That the said territory, for the purpose of temporary government, be one district, subject, however, to be HISTORY OF WAYNE COUNTY OHIO - 19 divided into two districts, as future circumstances may, in the opinion of Congress, make it expedient. Be it ordained by the authority aforesaid, That the estates both of resident and non-resident proprietors in the said territory, dying intestate, shall descend to and be distributed among their children, and the descendants of a deceased child, in equal parts ; the descendants of a deceased child or grand-child to take the share of their deceased parent in equal parts among them; and where there shall be no children or descendants, then in equal parts to the next of kin, in equal degree ; and among collaterals, the children of a deceased brother or sister of the intestate shall have, in equal parts among them, their deceased parents' share ; and there shall, in no case, be a distinction between kindred of the whole and half blood ; saving in all cases to the widow of the intestate her third part of the real estate for life, and one-third part of the personal estate ; and this law, relative to descents and dower, shall remain in full force until altered by the legislature of the district. And until the governor and judges shall adopt laws, as hereinafter mentioned, estates in the said territory may be devised or bequeathed by wills, in writing, signed and sealed by him or her, in whom the estate may be (being of full age), and attested by three witness; and real estate may be conveyed by lease and release, or bargain and sale, signed, sealed, and delivered by the person, being of full age, in whom the estate may be, and attested by two witnesses, provided such wills be duly proved, and such conveyances be acknowledged, or the execution thereof duly proved, and be recorded within one year after proper magistrates, courts, and registers shall be appointed for that purpose; and personal property may be transferred by delivery ; saving, however, to the French and Canadian inhabitants, and other settlers of the Kaskaskies, St. Vincents, and the neighboring villages, who have heretofore professed themselves citizens of Virginia, their laws and customs now in force among them, relative to the descent and conveyance of property. Be it ordained by the authority aforesaid, That there shall be appointed, from time to time, by congress, a governor, whose commission shall continue in force for the term of three years, unless sooner revoked by congress; he shall reside in the district, and have a freehold estate therein, in one thousand acres of land, while in the exercise of his office. There shall he appointed, from time to time, by congress, a secretary, whose commission shall continue in force for four years, unless sooner revoked ; he shall reside in the district, and have a freehold estate therein, in five hundred acres of land, while in the exercise of his office ; it shall be his duty to keep and preserve the acts and laws passed by the legislature, and the public records of the district, and the proceedings of the governor in his executive department ; and transmit authentic copies of such acts and proceedings, every six months, to the secretary of congress. There shall also be appointed a court, to consist of three judges, any two of whom to form a court, who shall have a common law jurisdiction, and reside 20 - THE NORTH-WESTERN TERRITORY. in the district, and have each therein a freehold estate, in five hundred acres of land, while in the exercise of their offices ; and their commissions shall continue in force during good behavior. The governor and judges, or a majority of them, shall adopt and publish in the district such laws of the original states, criminal and civil, as may be necessary and best suited to the circumstances, and report them to congress, from time to time ; which laws shall he in force in the district until the organization of the general assembly therein, unless disapproved of by congress; but afterward the legislature shall have authority to alter them as they shall think fit. The governor, for the time being, shall be commander-in-chief of the militia, appoint and commission all officers in the same, below the rank of general officers ; all general officers shall be appointed and commissioned by congress. Previous to the organization of the general assembly, the governor shall appoint such magistrates and other civil officers, in each county or township, as he shall find necessary for the preservation of the peace and good order in the same. After the general assembly shall be organized, the powers and duties of magistrates and other civil officers shall be regulated and defined by the said assembly ; but all magistrates and other civil officers, not herein otherwise directed, shall, during the continuance of this temporary government, be appointed by the governor. For the prevention of crimes and injuries, the laws to be adopted or made shall have force in all parts of the district, and for the execution of process, criminal and civil, the governor shall make proper divisions thereof ; and he shall proceed, from time to time, as circumstances may require, to lay out the parts of the district, in which the Indian titles shall have been extinguished, into counties and townships, subject, however, to such alterations as may thereafter be made by the legislature. So soon as there shall be five thousand free male inhabitants, of full age, in the district, upon giving proof thereof to the governor, they shall receive authority, with time and place, to elect representatives from their counties, or townships, to represent them in the general assembly : provided, that for every five hundred free male inhabitants there shall be one representative, and so on, progressively, with the number of free male inhabitants, shall the right of representation increase, until the number of representatives shall amount to twenty-five; after which the number and proportion of representatives shall be regulated by the legislature : provided that no person be eligible or qualified to act as a representative unless he shall have been a citizen of one of the United States three years, and be a resident in the district, or unless he shall have resided in the district three years; and, in either case, shall likewise hold in his own right, in fee simple, two hundred acres of land within the same : provided, also, that a freehold in fifty acres of land in the district, having been a citizen of one of the states, and being resident in the district, or the like freehold and two years' residence in the district, shall be necessary to qualify a man as an elector of a representative. The representatives thus elected shall serve for the term of two years; and, in HISTORY OF WAYNE COUNTY, OHIO - 21 case of the death of a representative, or removal from office, the governor shall issue a writ to the county or township for which he was a member to elect another in his stead, to serve for the residue of the term. The general assembly, or legislature, shall consist of the governor, legislative council, and a house of representatives. The legislative council shall consist of five members, to continue in office five years, unless sooner removed by congress, any three of whom to be a quorum, and the members of the council shall be nominated and appointed in the following manner, to-wit : As soon as representatives shall be elected the governor shall appoint a time and place for them to meet together, and, when met, they shall 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, five of whom congress shall appoint and commission to serve as aforesaid ; and whenever a vacancy shall happen in the council, by death or removal from office, the house of representatives shall nominate two persons, qualified as aforesaid, for each vacancy, and return their names to congress, one of whom congress shall appoint and commission for the residue of the term. And every five years, four months at least before the expiration of the time of service of the members of council, the said house shall nominate ten persons, qualified as aforesaid, and return their names to congress, five of whom congress shall appoint and commission to serve as members of the council five years, unless sooner removed. And the governor, legislative council, and house of representatives shall have authority to make laws, in all cases, for the good government of the district, not repugnant to the principles and articles in this ordinance established and declared. And all bills, having passed by a majority in the house, and by a majority in the council, shall be referred to the governor for his assent ; but no bill or legislative act whatever shall be of any force without his assent. The governor shall have power to convene, prorogue, and dissolve the general assembly when, in his opinion, it shall be expedient. The governor, judges, legislative council, secretary, and such other officers as congress shall appoint in the district, shall take an oath or affirmation of fidelity, and of office; the governor before the president of congress, and all other officers before the governor. As soon as a legislature shall be formed in the district, the council and house assembled, in one room, shall have authority, by joint ballot, to elect a delegate to congress, who shall have a seat in congress, with a right of debating, but not of voting, during this temporary government, And for extending the fundamental principles of civil and religious liberty, which form the basis whereon these republics, their laws, and constitutions are erected; to fix and establish those principles as the basis of all laws, constitutions, and governments, which forever hereafter shall be formed in the said territory; to provide, also, for the establishment of states, and permanent government therein, and for their admission to a share in the federal councils on an equal footing with the original states, at as early periods as may he consistent with general interest ; 22 - THE NORTH-WESTERN TERRITORY. It is hereby ordained and declared by the authority aforesaid, That the following articles shall be considered as articles of compact between the original states and the people and states in the said territory, and forever remain unalterable, unless by common consent, to wit: ARTICLE I. No person, demeaning himself in a peaceable and orderly manner, shall ever be molested on account of his mode of worship or religious sentiments in the said territory. ART. 2. The inhabitants of the said territory shall always be entitled to the benefits of the writ of habeas corpus and of trial by jury ; of a proportionate representation of the people in the legislature, and of judicial proceedings according to the course of the common law. All persons shall be bailable, unless for capital offenses, where the proof shall be evident, or the presumption great. All fines shall be moderate, and no cruel or unusual punishments shall be inflicted. No man shall be deprived of his liberty or property but by the judgment of his peers, or the law of the land ; and, should the public exigencies make it necessary, for the common preservation, to take any person's property, or to demand his particular services, full compensation shall be made for the same. And, in the just preservation of rights and property, it is understood and declared that no law ought ever to be made, or have force in the said territory, that shall, in any manner whatever, interfere with or affect private contracts or engagements, bona fide, and without fraud, previously formed. ART. 3. Religion, morality, and knowledge being necessary to good government and the happiness of mankind, schools and the means of education shall forever be encouraged. The utmost good faith shall always be observed towards the Indians ; their lands and property shall never be taken from them without their consent ; and in their property, rights, and liberty, they shall never be invaded or disturbed, unless in just and lawful wars authorized by congress ; but laws founded in justice and humanity shall, from time to time, be made for preventing wrongs being done to them, and for preserving peace and friendship with them. ART. 4. The said territory, and the states which may be formed therein, shall forever remain a part of this confederacy of the United States of America, subject to the articles of confederation, and to such alterations therein as shall be constitutionally made, and to all the acts and ordinances of the United States in congress assembled, conformable thereto. The inhabitants and settlers in the said territory shall be subject to pay a part of the federal debts, contracted or to be contracted, and a proportional part of the expenses of government, to be apportioned on them by congress, according to the same common rule and measure by which apportionments thereof shall be made on the other states ; and the taxes for paying their proportion shall be laid and levied by the authority and direction of the legislatures of the district or districts, or new states, as in the original states, within the time agreed upon by the United States in congress assembled, The legislatures of those districts, or new states, shall never interfere with the primary disposal of the soil HISTORY OF WAYNE COUNTY, OHIO - 23 by the United States in congress assembled, nor with any regulations congress may find necessary for securing the title in such soil to the bona fide purchasers. No tax shall be imposed on lands the property of the United States ; and in no case shall non-resident proprietors be taxed higher than residents. The navigable waters leading into the Mississippi and St. Lawrence, and the carrying places between the same, shall he common highways, and forever free, as well to the inhabitants of the said territory as to the citizens of the United States, and those of any other states that may be admitted into the confederacy, without any tax, impost, or duty therefor. ART. 5. There shall be formed in the said territory not less than three nor more than five states; and the boundaries of the states, as soon as Virginia shall alter her act of cession, and consent to the same, shall become fixed and established as follows, to wit : The western state in the said territory shall be bounded by the Mississippi, the Ohio, and Wabash rivers ; a direct line drawn from the Wabash and Port Vincents due north to the territorial line between the United States and Canada ; and by the said territorial line to the Lake of the Woods and Mississippi. The middle state shall be bounded by the said direct line, the Wabash from Port Vincents to the Ohio, by the Ohio, by a direct line drawn due north from the mouth of the Great Miami to the said territorial line, and by the said territorial line. The eastern state shall be bounded by the last-mentioned direct line, the Ohio, Pennsylvania, and the said territorial line : provided, however, and it is fnrther understood and declared, that the boundaries of these three states shall be subject so far to be altered that, if congress shall hereafter find it expedient, they shall have authority to form one or two states in that part of the territory which lies north of an east and west line drawn through the southerly bend or extreme of Lake Michigan. And whenever any of the said states shall have sixty thousand free inhabitants therein, such state shall be admitted, by its delegates, into the congress of the United States on an equal footing with the original states in all respects whatever, and shall be at liberty to form a permanent constitution and state government : provided, the constitution and government so to be formed shall be republican, and in conformity to the principles contained in these articles ; and so far as it can be consistent with the general interest of the confederacy, such admission shall be allowed at an earlier period, and when their may be a less number of free inhabitants in the state than sixty thousand. ART. 6. There shall be neither slavery nor involuntary servitude in the said territory otherwise than in the punishment of crimes, whereof the party shall have been duly convicted : provided, always, that any person escaping into the same from whom labor and service is lawfully claimed in any one of the original states, such fugitive may be lawfully reclaimed, and conveyed to the person claiming his or her labor or service as aforesaid. 24 - THE NORTH-WESTERN TERRITORY. PROBABLE POPULATION IN 1787, AND CHARACTERISTICS OF. It is estimated that at the date of the passage of the Ordinance of '87 the entire and aggregate population of all the villages and settlements of the territory did not exceed three thousand. These settlements were chiefly located in the north-west and western portions of it. The paucity of the inhabitants may partially be explained, that for the ends of peace, the government had by the strength of its military arm forestalled and interdicted any disposition of the whites to possess or encroach upon lands occupied by the aborigines. The French were the occupants of the villages and environments, chief among which was Detroit, on the river of that name ; St. Vincents, on the Wabash ; Cahokia, the site of the giant tumuli, a few miles below St. Louis ; St. Philip, forty-five miles below St. Louis, on the Mississippi river ; Kaskaskia, on Kaskaskia river, six miles above its mouth, which empties into the Mississippi seventy-five miles below St. Louis ; Prairie-du-Rocher, near Fort Chartres ; and Fort Chartres fifteen, miles north-west from Kaskaskia. Concerning these original prairie-squatters and wilderness insinuators somebody writes as follows in regard to their peculiar character : "Their intercourse with the Indians, and their seclusion from the world, developed among them peculiar characteristics. They assimilated themselves with the Indians, adopted their habits, and almost uniformly lived in harmony with them. They were illiterate, careless, contented, but without much industry, energy or foresight. Some were hunters, trappers and anglers, while others run birch-bark canoes by way of carrying on a small internal trade, and still others cultivated the soil. The traders or voyageurs were men fond of adventures, and of a wild, unrestrained, Indian sort of life, and would ascend many of the long rivets of the West, almost to their sources, in their birch-bark canoes, and load them with furs bought of the Indians. The canoes were light, and could be easily carried. across the portages between the streams." There was attached to these French villages a " common field " for the free use of the villagers, every family, in proportion to the number of its members, being entitled to share in it. It was a large enclosed tract for farming purposes. There was also at HISTORY OF WAYNE COUNTY, OHIO - 25 each village a " common," or large inclosed tract, for pasturage and feed purposes, and timber for building. If a head of a family was sick, or by any casualty was unable to labor, his portion of the " common field" was cultivated by his neighbors and the crop gathered for the use of his family. The author of the Western Annals says of the inhabitants : They " were devout Catholics, who, under the guidance of their priests, attended punctually upon all the holidays and festivals, and performed faithfully all the outward duties and ceremonies of the church. Aside from this, their religion was blended with their social feelings. Sundays after mass, was their especial occasion for their games and assemblies. The dance was the popular amusement with them, and all classes, ages, sexes, and conditions, united by a common love of enjoyment, met together to participate in the exciting pleasure. They were indifferent about the acquisition of property for themselves or their children. Living in a fruitful country, which, moreover, abounded in fish and game, and where the necessaries of life could be procured with little labor, they were content to live in unambitious peace and comfortable poverty. Their agriculture was rude, their houses were humble, and they cultivated grain, also fruits and flowers ; but they lived on, from generation to generation, without much change or improvement. In some instances they intermarried with the surrounding Indian tribes." These remote villages and settlements were usually protected by military posts—Detroit especially, which, in 1763, when held by the English, had resisted the assaults of the great Pontiac— and had witnessed the " wrinkled front of grim-visaged war " a century before the adoption of the Ordinance of 1787. ORGANIZATION OF THE OHIO LAND COMPANY. Although our data was ample in this direction, we surrender it to the fuller description of Hon. Isaac Smucker, of Newark, Licking county, Ohio, as furnished to the Secretary of State, and 26 - THE NORTH-WESTERN TERRITORY. published in statistics of 1876, whose researches in this freld are both thorough and exhaustive, which we here reproduce : While Congress had under consideration the measure for the organization of a territorial goverment north-west of the Ohio river, the preliminary steps were taken in Massachusetts towards the formation of the Ohio Land Company, for the purpose of making a purchase of a large tract of land in said territory, and settling upon it. Upon the passage of the ordinance by Congress, the aforesaid land company perfected its organization, and by its agents, Rev. Manasseh Cutler and Major Winthrop Sargent, made application to the Board of Treasury July 27, 1787, to become purchasers, said board having been authorized four days before to make sales. The purchase, which was perfected October 27, 1787, embraced a tract of land containing about a million and a half acres, situated within the present counties of Washington, Athens, Meigs and Gallia, subject to the reservati0n of two townships of land six miles square, for the endowment of a college, since known as Ohio University, at Athens ; also every sixteenth section, set apart for the use of schools, as well as every twenty-ninth section, dedicated to the support of religious institutions ; also sections eight, eleven and twenty-six, which were reserved for the United States for future sale. After these deductions were made, and that for donation lands, there remained only nine hundred and sixty-four thousand, two hundred and eighty-five acres to be paid for by the Ohio Land Company, and for which patents were issued. At a meeting of the directors of the company, held November 23, 1787, General Rufus Putnam was chosen superintendent of the company, and he accepted the position. Early in December six boat-builders and a number of other mechanics were sent forward to Simrall's Ferry (now West Newton), on the Youghiogheny river, under the command of Major Hatfield White, where they arrived in January, and at once proceeded to build a boat for the use of the company. Colonel Ebenezer Sproat, of Rhode Island, Anselm Tupper and John Matthews, of Massachusetts, and Colonel Return J. Meigs, of Connecticut, were appointed surveyors. HISTORY OF WAYNE COUNTY, OHIO - 27 Preliminary steps were also taken at this meeting to secure a teacher and chaplain, which resulted in the appointment of Rev. Daniel Story, who some time during the next year arrived at the mouth of the Muskingum, in the capacity of the first missionary and teacher from New England. Early in the winter the remainder of the pioneers, with the surveyors, left their New England homes and started on their toilsome journey to the western wilderness. They passed on over the Alleghenies, and reached the Youghiogheny about the middle of February, where they rejoined their companions who had preceded them. The boat, called the " Mayflower," that was to transport the pioneers to their destination, was forty-five feet long, twelve feet wide, and of fifty tons burden, and was placed under the command of Captain Devol. " Her bows were raking, or curved like a galley, and strongly timbered ; her sides were made bullet proof, and she was covered with a deck roof," so as to afford better protection against the hostile savages while floating down towards their western home, and during its occupancy there, before the completion of their cabins. All things being ready, they embarked at Simrall's Ferry, April 2, 1788, and passed down the Youghiogheny into the Monongahela, and thence into the Ohio, and down said river to the mouth of the Muskingum, where they arrived April 7, and then and there made the first permanent settlement of civilized men within the present limits of Ohio. These bold adventurers were re-enforced by another company from Massachusetts, who, after a nine weeks' journey, arrived early in July, 1788. Many of these Yankee colonists had been officers and soldiers in the Revolutionary army, and were, for the most part, men of intelligence and character, and of sound judgment and ability. In short, they were just the kind of men to found a State in the wilderness. They possessed great energy of character, were enterprising, fond of adventure and daring, and were not to be intimidated by the formidable forests nor by the ferocious beasts sheltered therein, nor by the still more to be dreaded savages, who 28 - THE NORTH-WESTERN TERRITORY. stealthily and with murderous intent roamed throughout their length and breadth. Their army experience had taught them what hardships and privations were, and they were quite willing to encounter them. A better set of men could not have been selected for pioneer settlers than were these New England colonists — those brave-hearted, courageous hero-emigrants to the great north-west, who, having triumphantly passed the fiery ordeal of the Revolution, volunteered to found a State and to establish American laws, American institutions, and American civilization in this the wilderness of the uncivilized West. THE FIRST SETTLEMENT UNDER THE ORDINANCE OF 1787. Of course no time was lost by the colonists in erecting their habitations, as well as in building a stockade fort, and in clearing land for the production of vegetables and grain for their subsistence, fifty acres of corn having been planted the first year. Their settlement was established upon the point of land between the Ohio and Muskingum rivers, just opposite and across the Muskingum from Fort Harmar, built in 1786, and at this time garrisoned by a small military force under command of Major Doughty, At a meeting held on the banks of the Muskingum, July 2, 1788, it was voted that Marietta should be the name of their town, it being thus named in honor of Marie Antoinette, Queen of France. SURVEYS AND GRANTS OF THE PUBLIC LANDS. The first survey of the public lands north-west of the Ohio river was the seven ranges of Congress lands, and was done pursu ant to an act of Congress of May 2o, 1785. This tract of the seven ranges is bounded by a line of forty-two miles in length, running due west from the point where the western boundary line of Pennsylvania crosses the Ohio river ; thence due south to the Ohio river, at the south-east corner of Marietta township, in Washington county ; thence up said river to the place of beginning. The present counties of Jefferson, Columbiana, Carroll, Tuscarawas, HISTORY OF WAYNE COUNTY, OHIO - 29 Harrison, Guernsey, Belmont, Noble, Monroe and Washington are, in whole or in part, within the seven ranges. The second survey was that of the Ohio Company's purchase, made in pursuance of an act of Congress of July 23, 1785, though the contract was not completed with the Ohio Company until October 27, 1787. Mention of its extent, also the conditions, reservations, and circumstances attending the purchase, have already been given. One hundred thousand acres of this tract, called donation lands, were reserved upon certain conditions as a free gift to actual settlers. Portions of the counties of Washington, Athens and Gallia are within this tract, also the entire county of Meigs. The donation lands were in Washington county. The next survey was the " Spumes purchase" and contiguous lands, situated to the north and west of it, and was made soon after the foregoing. The " Symmes purchase" embraced the entire Ohio river front between the Big Miami and Little Miami rivers, a distance of twenty-seven miles, and reaching northward a sufficient distance to include an area of one million of acres. The contract with Judge Symmes, made in October, 1787, was subsequently modified by act of Congress bearing date of May 5, 1792, and by an authorized act of the President of the United States, of September 30, 1794, so as to amount to only 311,682 acres, exclusive of a reservation of 15 acres around Fort Washington, of a square mile at the mouth of the Great Miami, of sections sixteen and twenty-nine in each township, the former of which Congress had reserved for educational and the latter for religious purposes, exclusive also of a township dedicated to the interests of a college ; and sections eight, eleven and twenty-six, which Congress reserved for future sale. The tract of land situated between the Little Miami and Scioto rivers, known as the Virginia military lands, was never regularly surveyed into townships, but patents were issued by the President of the United States to such persons (Virginians) as had rendered service on the continental establishment in the army of the United States (hence the name), and in the quantities to which they were 30 - THE NORTH-WESTERN TERRITORY. entitled, according to the provisions of an act of Congress of August 10, 1790. " It embraces a body of 6,570 square miles, or 4,204,800 acres of land. The following counties are situated in this tract, namely : Adams, Brown, Clermont, Clinton, Fayette, Highland, Madison and Union entirely ; and greater or less portions of the following, to wit : Marion, Delaware, Franklin, Pick-away, Ross, Pike, Scioto, Warren, Greene, Clarke, Champaign, Logan and Hardin." Connecticut ceded all lands in the North-west to which she claimed title to the United States (except the tract which has been known as the " Western Reserve"), by deed of cession bearing date September 14, 1786 ; and in May, 1800, by act of the Legislature of said State, renounced all jurisdictional claim to the " territory called the Western Reserve of Connecticut." That tract of land was surveyed in 1796, and later into townships of five miles square, and in the aggregate contained about 3,800,000 acres, being one hundred and twenty miles long, and lying west of the Pennsylvania State line, all situated between forty-one degrees of north latitude and forty-two degrees and two minutes. Half a million of acres of the foregoing lands were set apart by the State of Connecticut, in 1792, as a donation to the sufferers by fire (during the Revolutionary war) of the residents of Greenwich, New London, Norwalk, Fairfield, Danbury, New Haven, and other Connecticut villages whose property was burned by the British ; hence the name "Firelands " by which this tract taken from the western portion of the Reserve has been known. It is situated chiefly in Huron and Erie counties, a small portion only being in Ottawa county. The entire Western Reserve embraces the present counties of Ashtabula, Cuyahoga, Erie, Geauga, Huron, Lake, Lorain, Medina, Portage and Trumbull ; also the greater portion of Ma-honing and Summit, and very limited portions of Ashland and Ottawa. French grant is a tract of 24,000 acres of land bordering on the Ohio river, within the present limits of Scioto county, granted by Congress in March, 1795, to certain French settlers of Gallipolis, HISTORY OF WAYNE COUNTY, OHIO - 31 who, through invalid titles, had lost their lands there. Twelve hundred acres were added to this grant in 1798, making a total of 25,200 acres. The United States military lands were surveyed under the provisions of an Act of Congress of June 1, 1796, and contained 2,560,000 acres. This tract was set apart to satisfy certain claims of the officers and soldiers of the Revolutionary war, hence the title by which it is known. It is bounded by the seven ranges on the east, by the Greenville treaty line on the north, by the Congress and Refugee lands on the south, and by the Scioto river on the west, including the county of Coshocton entire, and portions of the counties of Tuscarawas, Guernsey, Muskingum, Licking, Franklin, Delaware, Marion, Morrow, Knox, and Holmes. The Moravian lands are three several tracts of 4,000 acres each, situated respectively at Shoenbrun, Gnadenhutten, and Salem, all on the Tuscarawas river, now in Tuscarawas county. These lands were originally dedicated by an ordinance of Congress dated September 3, 1788, to the use of the Christianized Indians at those points, and by act of Congress of June 1, 1796, were surveyed and patents issued to the Society of the United Brethren, for the purposes above specified.
The Refugee tract is a body of land containing 100,000 acres, granted by Congress February 18, 1801, to persons who fled from the British provinces during the Revolutionary war and took up arms against the mother country and in behalf of the colonies, and thereby lost their property by confiscation. This tract is four and one-half miles wide, and extends forty-eight miles eastward from the Scioto river, at Columbus, into Muskingum county. It includes portions of the counties of Franklin, Fairfield, Perry, Licking, and Muskingum. Dohrman' s grant is a township of land six miles square, containing 13,040 acres, situated in the south-eastern part of Tuscarawas county. It was given to Arnold Henry Dohrman, a Portuguese merchant of Lisbon, by act of Congress o f February 27, 1801, "in consideration of his having, during the Revolutionary 32 - THE NORTH-WESTERN TERRITORY. war, given shelter and aid to the American cruisers and vessels of war." The foregoing is a list of the principal land grants and surveys during our territorial history, in that portion of the north-west that now constitutes the State of Ohio. There were Canal land grants, Maumee Road grants, and various others, but they belong to our State, and not to our Territorial history. TREATIES MADE WITH THE INDIANS. By the terms of the Treaty of Fort Stanwix, concluded with the Iroquois or Six Nations (Mohawks, Onondagas, Senecas, Cayugas, Tuscaroras, and Oneidas), October 22, 1784, the indefinite claim of said confederacy to the greater part of the valley of the Ohio was extinguished. The commissioners of Congress were Oliver Wolcott, Richard Butler, and Arthur Lee. Cornplanter and Red Jacket represented the Indians. This was followed in January, 1785, by the Treaty of Fort McIntosh, by which the Delawares, Wyandots, Ottawas and Chippewas relinquished all claim to the Ohio Valley, and established the boundary line between them and the United States to be the Cuyahoga river, and along the main branch of the Tuscarawas to the forks of said river, near Fort Laurens, thence westwardly to the portage between the head waters of the Great Miami and the Maumee or Miami of the Lakes, thence down said river to Lake Erie, and along said lake to the mouth of the Cuyahoga river. This treaty was negotiated by George Rogers Clark, Richard Butler and Arthur Lee, for the United States, and by the chiefs of the afore- named tribes. A similar relinquishment was effected by the Treaty of Fort Finney (at the mouth of the Great Miami), concluded with the Shawanese, January 31, 1786, the United States Commissioners being the same as the foregoing, except the substitution of Samuel H. Parsons for Arthur Lee. The Treaty of Fort Harmar, held by General St. Clair January 9, 1789, was mainly confirmatory of the treaties previously made. THE NORTH-WESTERN TERRITORY - 33 So also was the Treaty of Greenville, of August 3, 1795, made by General Wayne, on the part of the United States, and the chiefs of eleven of the most powerful tribes of the north-western Indians, which re-established the Indian boundary line through the present State of Ohio, and extended it from Loramie to Fort Recovery, and from thence to the Ohio river, opposite the mouth of the Kentucky river. The rights and titles acquired by the Indian tribes under the foregoing treaties were extinguished by the General Government, by purchase, in pursuance of treaties subsequently made. The Western Reserve tract west of the Cuyahoga river was secured by a treaty formed at Fort Industry, in 1805. The lands west of Richland and Huron counties and north of the boundary line to the western limits of Ohio were purchased by the United States in 1818. The last possession of the Delawares was purchased in 1829, and by a treaty made at Upper Sandusky, March 17, 1842, by Colonel John Johnston and the Wyandot chiefs, that last remnant of the Indian tribes in Ohio sold the last acre they owned within the limits of our State to the General Government, and retired, the next year, to the Far West, settling at and near the mouth of the Kansas river. FIRST OFFICERS OF THE TERRITORY. Congress, in October, 1787, appointed General Arthur St. Clair, Governor ; Major Winthrop Sargent, Secretary ; and James M. Varnum, Samuel H. Parsons and John Armstrong, Judges of the Territory, the latter of whom, however, having declined the appointment, John Cleves Symmes was appointed in his stead in February, 1788. On the 9th of July, 1788, Governor St. Clair arrived at Marietta, and finding the Secretary and a majority of the judges present proceeded to organize the Territory. The Governor and judges (or a majority of them) were the sole legislative power during the existence of the first grade of territorial government. Such laws as were in force in any of the States, and 34 - HISTORY OF WAYNE COUNTY, OHIO. 1were deemed applicable to the condition of the people of the Territory could be adopted by the Governor and judges, and, after publication, became operative, unless disapproved of by Congress, to which body certified copies of all laws thus adopted had to be forwarded by the Secretary of the Territory. The further duty of the judges, who were appointed to serve during good behavior, was to hold court four times a year, whenever the business of the territory required it, but not more than once a year in any one county. THE SECOND GRADE OF TERRITORIAL GOVERNMENT. After it shall have been ascertained that five thousand free male inhabitants actually resided within the territory, the second grade of territorial government could, of right, be established, which provided for a Legislative Council, and also an elective House of Representatives, the two composing the law-making power of the territory, provided always that the Governor's assent to their acts was had. He possessed the absolute veto power, and no act of the two houses of the Legislature, even if passed by a unanimous vote in each branch, could become a law without his consent. The conditions that authorized the second grade of territorial government, however, did not exist until 1798, and it was not really put into operation until September, 1799, after the first grade of government had existed for eleven years. EARLY LAWS OF THE TERRITORY. The first law was proclaimed July 25, 1788, and was entitled "An act for regulating and establishing the militia." Two days thereafter the Governor issued a proclamation establishing the county of Washington, which included all of the territory east of the Scioto river to which the Indian title had been extinguished, reaching northward to Lake Erie, the Ohio river and the Pennsylvania line being its eastern boundary ; Marietta, the seat of the territorial government, also becoming the county seat of Washington county. THE NORTH-WESTERN TERRI7ORY - 35 Quite a number of laws were necessarily adopted and published during 1788 and the following year. From 1790 to 1795 they published sixty-four, thirty-four of them having been adopted at Cincinnati during the months of June, July, and August of the last named year, by the Governor and Judges Symmes and Turner. They are known as the "Maxwell Code," from the name of the publisher, and were intended, says the author of " Western Annals," to form a pretty complete body of statutory provisions." In 1798 eleven more were adopted. It was the published opinion of the late Chief-Justice Chase, "that it may be doubted whether any colony, at so early a period after its first establishment, ever had so good a code of laws." Among them was that " which provided that the common law of England, and all statutes in aid thereof, made previous to the fourth year of James I., should be in full force within the territory." Probably four-fifths of the laws adopted were selected from those in force in Pennsylvania ; the others were mainly taken from the statutes of Virginia and Massachusetts. LOCAL COURTS AND COURT OFFICERS. Among the earliest laws adopted was one which provided for the institution of a county court of common pleas, to be composed of not less than three nor more than five judges, commissioned by the governor, who were to hold two sessions in each year. Pursuant to its provisions, the first session of said court was held in and for Washington county, September 2, 1788. The judges of the court were General Rufus Putnam, General Benjamin Tupper and Colonel Archibald Crary. Colonel Return Jonathan Meigs was clerk, and Colonel Ebenezer Sproat was sheriff. Elaborate details of the opening of this, the frrst court held in the North-west Territory, have come down to us, showing it to have been a stylish, dignified proceeding. Briefly, "a procession was formed at the Point (the junction of the Muskingum with the Ohio river) of the inhabitants and the officers from Fort Harmar, who escorted the judge of the court, the governor of the Territory and the terri- 36 - HISTORY OF WAYNE COUNTY, OHIO. torial judges to the hall appropriated for that purpose, in the northwest block-house in "Campus Martius." "The procession," says Mitchener, "was headed by the sheriff, with drawn sword and baton of office." "After prayer by Rev. Manasseh Cutler, the court was organized by reading the commissions of the judges, clerk and sheriff; after which the sheriff proclaimed that the court was open for the administration of even-handed justice to the poor and the rich, to the guilty and the innocent, without respect of persons ; none to be punished without a trial by their peers, and then in pursuance of the laws and evidence in the case." On the 23d day of August, 1788, a law was promulgated for establishing " general courts of quarter sessions of the peace." This court was composed of not less than three nor more than five justices of the peace, appointed by the governor, who were to hold four sessions in each year. The first session of this court was held at "Campus Martius," September 9, 1788. The commission appointing the judges thereof was read. General Rufus Putnam and General Benjamin Tupper, says Mitchener, constituted the justices of the quorum, and Isaac Pearce, Thomas Lord and Return Jonathan Meigs, Jr., the assistant justices ; Colonel Return Jonathan Meigs, Sr., was clerk. Colonel Ebenezer Sproat was sheriff of Washington county fourteen years. The first grand jury of the North-west Territory was empanneled by this court, and consisted of the following gentlemen : William Stacey (foreman), Nathaniel Cushing, Nathan Goodale, Charles Knowles, Anselm Tupper, Jonathan Stone, Oliver Rice, Ezra Lunt, John Matthews, George Ingersoll, Jonathan Devol, Jethro Putnam, Samuel Stebbins and Jabez True. ORGANIZATION OF COUNTIES. Washington county, embracing the eastern half of the present State of Ohio, was the only organized county of the North-west Territory until early in 1790, when the governor proclaimed. Hamilton county, which included all the territory between the Big and Little Miami rivers, and extended north to the " Standing Stone Forks," on the first named stream. THE NORTH-WESTERN TERRITORY - 37 The following is a list of all the Territorial counties organized ; also the date of organization, with their respective county seats :
It will be observed that Hamilton was the second county organized. There were situated within its limits, when organized, several flourishing villages, that had had their origin during the closing months of 1788 and early in 1789. Columbia, situated at the mouth of the Little Miami, was the first of these laid out, its early settlers being Colonel Benjamin Stites, of " Redstone Old Fort" (proprietor); William Goforth, John S. Gano, John Smith (a Baptist minister, who afterwards became one of Ohio's first United States Senators), and others, numbering in all twenty-five persons or more, though some of them arrived a little later. Cincinnati was the next in order of time, having been laid out early in 1789, by Colonel Robert Patterson, Matthias Denman, and Israel Ludlow. Several not very successful attempts had also been made at various points between Cincinnati and the mouth of the Great Miami by Judge Symmes. The early settlers of Hamilton county were principally from New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Virginia, and Kentucky. Judges Symmes and Burnet were representative men in the Miami Valley from New Jersey ; Jeremiah Morrow and Judge Dunlavy from Pennsylvania ; Wm. H. Harrison and Wm. McMillan, from Virginia ; and Colonel Robert Patterson and Rev. James Kemper, from Kentucky. 38 - HISTORY OF WAYNE COUNTY, OHIO. The Scioto Valley, the next in order of time, was settled chiefly by Virginians and Kentuckians, represented by Colonel Thomas Worthington and General Nathaniel Massie, two of its prominent settlers. And the early settlements along Lake Erie, during the closing years of the eighteenth century, whose representative men were Governor Samuel Huntington and Hon. Benjamin Tappan, were established by men not a whit inferior to those above named. And the good that General Washington said of the New England colony that settled Marietta could, with very slight modifications, be said of most of the settlers and pioneers of the aforesaid settlements. EARLY TERRITORIAL VILLAGES AND TOWNS. The following is a list of the principal villages and towns of the North-west Territory, started and built up during Territorial rule, with the time of the first survey of lots, together with the names of their proprietors : Marietta—laid out in 1788 by Rufus Putnam and the Ohio Land Company. Columbia—laid out in 1788 by Benjamin Stites, Major Gano, and others. Cincinnati—laid out in 1789 by Robert Patterson, Matthias Denman, and Israel Ludlow. Gallipolis—laid out in 1791 by the French settlers. Manchester—laid out in 1791 by Nathaniel Massie, Hamilton—laid out in 1794 by Israel Ludlow. Dayton—laid out in 1795 by Israel Ludlow and Generals Dayton and Wilkinson. Franklin—laid out in 1795 by William C. Schenck and Daniel C. Cooper. Chillicothe—laid out in 1796 by Nathaniel Massie. Cleveland—laid out in 1796 by Job V. Styles. Franklinton—laid out in 1797 by Lucas Sullivant. Steubenville—laid out in 1798 by Bazaleel Wells and James Ross. Williamsburg—laid out in 1799. Zanesville—laid out in 1799 by Jonathan Zane and John McIntire. New Lancaster—laid out in 1800 by Ebenezer Zane. Warren—laid out in 1801 by Ephraim Quinby. St. Clairsville—laid out in 1801 by David Newell. Springfield—laid out in 1801 by James Demint. Newark—laid out in 1802 by Wm. C. Schenck, G. W. Burnet, and John N. Cummings. THE NORTH-WESTERN TERRITORY - 39 Cincinnati at the close of the territorial government was the largest town in the territory, containing about one thousand inhabitants. It was incorporated in 1802, with tbe following as first officers : President—David Zeigler. Recorder—Jacob Burnet. Trustees—Wm. Ramsay, David E. Wade, Charles Avery, Wm. Stanley, John Reily, Samuel Dick, Wm. Ruffner. Assessor—Joseph Prince. Collector—Abram Cary. Town Marshal—James Smith. TERRITORIAL OFFICERS. The following exhibit gives a full list of the officers of tbe territory, with the date of service, including the delegates to Congress : Governor—General Arthur St. Clair, served from 1788 to 1802. Secretaries—Winthrop Sargent, served from 1788 to 1798; William H. Harrison, served from 1798 to 1799; Charles Willing Byrd, served from 1799 to 1803. The latter gentleman was also acting Governor during the closing months of the territorial government, Governor St. Clair having been removed from office, in 1802, by President Jefferson. Treasurer—John Armstrong, served from 1792 to 1803. Territorial Delegates in Congress—William H. Harrison, served from 1799 to 1800; William McMillan, served from 1800 to 1801; Paul Fearing, served from 1801 to 1803. Territorial judges.-James Mitchell Varnum, Samuel Holden Parsons, and John Armstrong were appointed judges for the North-west Territory, by Congress, in October, 1787 ; the latter, however, declined, and John Cleves Symmes was appointed to the vacancy in February, 1788, and he accepted. Judge Varnum died in January, 1789, and William Barton was appointed his successor, but declined the appointment ; George Turner, however, in 1789, accepted it. On the loth of November, 1789, Judge Parsons was drowned in attempting to cross Big 40 - HISTORY OF WAYNE COUNTY, OHIO. Beaver creek, and Rufus Putnam became his successor, March 31, 1790. In 1796 he resigned, and Joseph Gilman succeeded him. The territorial court was composed of three judges, two of whom constituted a quorum for judicial purposes, and also for the exercise of legislative functions, in co-operation with the Governor.
Return Jonathan Meigs, Jr., was appointed (says Judge Bur-. net) after the first session of the Territorial Legislature, of which he was a member, and probably continued in office to the close of the territorial government, but I have not been able to verify said conjecture. HOSTILITY OF THE INDIAN TRIBES-MILITARY EXPEDITIONS. From the time of the organization of the government of the " North-west Territory," in 1788, until the ratification of the "treaty of Greenville," sometimes called " Wayne's treaty," in 1795, the attitude of many of the western Indian tribes towards the white settlers in the North west Territory was that of extreme, unrelenting hostility. The military organization which had marched against them, before the establishment of civil government in the great North-west, had signally failed to subjugate them, or secure a permanent cessation of hostilities. The disastrous expedition of General Braddock in 1755, of Major Wilkins in 1763, of Colonel Bradstreet in 1764, of Colonel Lochry in 1781, and of Colonel Crawford in 1782, and the disgraceful and murderous expedition against the Moravian Indians on the Tuscarawas, in the last named year, only tended to inflame the hostile Indian THE NORTH-WESTERN TERRITORY - 43 tribes, and inspire them with greater courage in their hostile movements and aggressive measures against the white settlers. The fruitless, if not abortive campaigns of Colonel McDonald in 1774, of General McIntosh in 1778, and of General Broadhead in 1781, of course led to no salutary results. Even the successful campaigns of Colonel Boquet in 1763-4, of Lord Dunmore and General Lewis in 1774, and of General George Rogers Clark in 1788, failed to secure a permanent peace with the western Indian tribes. The inhabitants of the North-west Territory were, therefore, from the 7th of April, 1788, when the first immigrants arrived at the mouth of the Muskingum, until the treaty of Greenville was concluded in August, 1795, constantly liable to the stealthy but deadly attacks of the perfidious, merciless savage tribes of the North-west. But they met their dastardly, cruel, relentless foes in the spirit of genuine manhood—of true, determined, unflinching heroism ! They were men worthy of the heroic age of the West! Bravely did they bear themselves during those seven years of toil and privations, of dread and apprehension, of suffering and sorrow, of blood and carnage. To secure the speedy termination of those savage atrocities the National Government early organized a number of military expeditions, the first of which being that of General Harmar, in 1790, who was then commander-in-chief of the military department of the West. He had a few hundred regular troops under his command, stationed chiefly at Fort Harmar and at Fort Washington, which served as the nucleus of his army. The great body of his troops, however, numbering in all above fourteen hundred, were Pennsylvania and Kentucky volunteers, the former being under the immediate command of Colonel John Hardin, and the latter of Colonel Trotter. The expedition left Fort Washington and marched to the junction of the St, Joseph and St. Mary's rivers (now Fort Wayne, Indiana), where detachments of the army, under command of Colonel Hardin, on the 19th and 22d days of October, encountered the enemy and suffered mortifying defeats. 42 - HISTORY OF WAYNE COUNTY, OHIO Of course the campaign failed to give peace or relief from apprehended barbarities. The next year General St, Clair, the Governor of the territory, who had a Revolutionary record of patriotism and ability, organized an expedition, whose strength somewhat exceeded that of General Harmar's. It met with a most disastrous defeat, November 4, 1791, near the head waters of the Wabash, now in Mercer county, Ohio, the battle-field being known as Fort Recovery. Of fifteen hundred men in the battle more than half of them were either killed or wounded, and it was indeed a great calamity to the disheartened and greatly harassed pioneers of the North-west Territory. Immediately after the defeat of General St. Clair, the Federal Government took the preliminary steps to raise a large army to operate against the hostile tribes, for the purpose of finally and permanently subjugating them. Military preparations, however, progressed slowly, and the summer of 1794 had nearly passed before the confederated hostile Indian tribes were met in battle array by General Wayne's army. The battle was fought at the Maumee Rapids, near Perrysburg and Fort Meigs, in Wood county, Ohio, and is known as the battle of "Fallen Timbers," though sometimes called the "Battle of the Maumee." Wayne's army numbered more than three thousand men, well disciplined, and ably officered, sixteen hundred of whom being mounted volunteer troops from Kentucky, commanded by General Charles Scott, of said State, who was the second ranking officer in the army, and who, as well as General Henry Lee (the " Light Horse Harry " of the Revolution) and General William Darke, had been favorably considered by President Washington in connection with the chief command of the expedition. The choice, however, fell upon General Wayne, the old companion in arms of the President, and to him is justly ascribed the honor of defeating the Indian tribes commanded by the celebrated Shawnee chief, Blue Jacket, on the Maumee, August 20,1794, and of permanently breaking the power of a very formidable Indian confederacy. Cessation of THE NORTH-WESTERN TERRITORY - 43 hostilities followed this victory, and a peace, which the general Government had vainly sought by friendly negotiation, was secured—a peace which continued for many years, even until after the North-west Territory had "ceased to be," and the important incidents and events connected therewith had passed into history. ORGANIZATION OF THE SECOND GRADE OF TERRITORIAL GOVERNMENT. The Governor having satisfactorily ascertained that the conditions existed entitling the Territory to the second grade of government, that is, that there were " five thousand free male inhabitants, of full age," within the Territory, he, on the 29th day of October, 1798, took the preliminary steps to effect that object, by issuing his proclamation, directing the qualified voters to hold elections for Territorial Representatives on the third Monday of December, 1798. The election was held in pursuance of said proclamation, which resulted in the following gentlemen being chosen to constitute the popular branch of the Territorial Legislature for the ensuing two years : MEMBERS OF TERRITORIAL LEGISLATURE OF 1799-1800. Return Jonathan Meigs, Washington county. Paul Fearing, Washington county. William Goforth, Hamilton " William McMillan, " John Smith, “ John Ludlow, “ Robert Benham, “ Aaron Caldwell, “ Isaac Martin, “ Shadrack Bond, St. Clair “ John Small, Knox “ John Edgar, Randolph county. Solomon Sibley, Wayne " Jacob Visgar, " Charles F. Chabert de Joncaire, Wayne county. Joseph Darlinton, Adams county. Nathaniel Massie, " " James Pritchard, Jefferson “ Thomas Worthington, Ross “ Elias Langham, “ ” Samuel Findlay, “ ” Edward Tiffin, “ ” The above named gentlemen met at Cincinnati on the 22d of January, 1799, and nominated ten men, whose names they forwarded to the United States Congress, five of whom were to be selected by that body to constitute the Legislative Council of the Territory. They then adjourned to meet on the 16th of September, 1799. 44 - HISTORY OF WAYNE COUNTY, OHIO. On the 22d of March, 1799, either the United States Senate, the United States House of Representatives, or the President of the United States (authorities are not agreed), chose from among those whose names had been suggested to them the following gentlemen, to compose the first Legislative Council of the North-west Territory, their term of office to continue five years, any three of whom to form a quorum : Jacob Burnet, of Cincinnati, Hamilton county. Henry Vandenburg, of Vincennes, Knox county. Robert Oliver, of Marietta, Washington county. James Findlay, of Cincinnati, Hamilton county. David Vance, of Vanceville, Jefferson county. The Ordinance of 1787 named Congress as the authority in whom was vested the right to select five from the list of ten persons to constitute the Territorial Council. But it will be borne in mind that said Ordinance was passed by a Congress that legislated in pursuance of the Articles of Confederation, while yet we had neither President nor United States Senate, hence authority was given to Congress to make the selection. But it is highly probable that the aforesaid authority was subsequently transferred to the President, or to the Senate, or to them jointly, FIRST COUNCIL AND HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES. Both the Council and House of Representatives met at Cincinnati, September 16, 1799, and effected a permanent organization. The Council perfected its organization by the election of the following officers : President—Henry Vandenburg. Secretary—William C. Schenck. Door-keeper—George Howard. Sergeant-at-Arms—Abraham Cary. The House of Representatives completed its organization by electing, as its officers, the following gentlemen : Speaker sf the House—Edward Tiffin. Clerk—John Riley. Door-keeper—Joshua Rowland. Sergeant-at-Arms—Abraham Cary. THE NORTH-WESTERN TERRITORY - 45 Thirty bills were passed at the first session of the Territorial Legislature, but the Governor vetoed eleven of them. They also elected William H. Harrison, then Secretary of the Territory, a delegate to Congress, by a vote of eleven to ten that were cast for Arthur St. Clair, Jr., son of the Governor, then a promising young lawyer of Cincinnati, and who then held the office of Attorney General of the Territory. The first session of the Territorial Legislature was prorogued by the Governor, December 19, 1799, until the first Monday of November, 1800, at which time they reassembled and held the second session at Chillicothe, which, by an act of Congress of May 7, 1800, was made the seat of the Territorial Government until otherwise ordered by the Legislature. This, the second session of the Territorial Legislature, was of short duration, continuing only until December 9, 1800. On May 9, 1800, Congress passed an act establishing the Indiana Territory, with boundaries including the present States of Indiana and Illinois, and William H. Harrison, having accepted the office of Governor of said Territory, it devolved upon the Territorial Legislature, at its second session, not only to elect a delegate to fill the vacancy occasioned by his resignation, but also to elect a delegate to serve during the succeeding Congress. William McMillan, of Cincinnati, was elected to fill the vacancy, and Paul Fearing, of Marietta, was elected to serve from the 4th of March, 1801, to the 4th of March, 1803. They were both reputed to be men of ability. By the organization of the Indiana Territory, the counties of St. Clair, Knox and Randolph were taken out of the jurisdiction of the North-west Territory, and with them, of course, Henry Vandenburg, of Knox county, President of the Council ; also, Shadrack Bond, of St. Clair county ; John Small, of Knox county, and John Edgar, of Randolph county, members of the popular branch of the Legislature, On the 23d of November, 1801, the third session of the Terri torial Legislature was commenced at Chillicothe, pursuant to adjournment. The time for which the members of the House o 46 - HISTORY OF WAYNE COUNTY, OHIO. Representatives were elected, having expired, and an election having been held, quite a number of new members appeared. The Council remained nearly as it was at the previous sessions, there being not more than two changes, perhaps only one, that of Solomon Sibley, of Detroit, Wayne county, who took the place of Henry Vandenburg; thrown into the new Territory. Robert Oliver, of Marietta, Washington county, was chosen President of the Council, in place of Henry Vandenburg. The House of Representatives, at the third session of the Territorial Legislature, was composed of the following gentlemen : Edward Paine, of Trumbull county. Ephraim Cutler, of Washington county. William Rufus Putnam, " " Moses Miller, of Hamilton county. Francis Dunlavy, " “ Jeremiah Morrow, " “ John Ludlow, “ ” John Smith, " Jacob White, “ ” Daniel Reeder, “ " Joseph Darlington, of Adams county. Nathaniel Massie, “ ” Zenas Kimberly, of Jefferson county. John Milligan, “ ” Thomas McCune, “ ” Edward Tiffin, of Ross county. Elias Langham, " " Thomas Worthington, of Ross county. Francois Joncaire Chabert, of Wayne county. George McDougal, of Wayne county. Jonathan Schieffelin, “ " The officers of the House during the third session were as follows : Speaker of the House—Edward Tiffin. Clerk—John Reily. Door-keeper—Edward Sherlock. The third session of the Legislature continued from the 24th of November, 1801, until the 23d of January, 1802, when it adjourned to meet at Cincinnati on the fourth Monday of November following, but that fourth session was never held, for reasons made obvious by subsequent events. Congress, on the 30th of April, 1802, had passed an " act to enable the people of the eastern division of the Territory northwest of the River Ohio to form a constitution and State government, and for the admission of such State into the Union on an equal footing with the original States, and for other purposes." In pursuance of the aforesaid enactment, an election had been ordered and held throughout the eastern portion of the Territory, and members of a Constitutional Convention chosen, who met at THE NORTH-WESTERN TERRITORY - 47 Chillicothe on the first day of November, 1802, to perform the duty assigned them. When the time had arrived for commencing the fourth session, of the Territorial Legislature, the aforesaid Constitutional Convention was in session, and had evidently nearly completed its labors, as it adjourned on the 29th of said month. The members of the Legislature (eight of whom being also members of the Convention), therefore, seeing that a speedy termination of the Territorial government was inevitable, deemed it inexpedient and unnecessary to hold the proposed session. The Territorial government was ended by the organization of the State government, March 3, 1803, pursuant to the provisions of a constitution formed at Chillicothe, November 29, 1802, by the following named gentlemen : Joseph Darlinton, Israel Donal- son and Thomas Kirker, of Adams county ; James Caldwell and Elijah Woods, of Belmont county ; Philip Gatch and James Sargent, of Clermont county ; Henry Abrams and Emanuel Carpenter, of Fairfield county ; John W. Browne, Charles Willing Byrd,. Francis Dunlavy, William Goforth, John Kitchel, Jeremiah Morrow, John Paul, John Reily, John Smith and John Wilson, of Hamilton county ; Rudolph Bair, George Humphrey, John Milligan, Nathan Updegraff and Bazaleel Wells, of Jefferson county ; Michael Baldwin, Edward Tiffin, James Grubb, Thomas Worthington and Nathaniel Massie, of Ross county ; David Abbot and Samuel Huntington, of Trumbull county ; Ephraim Cutler, Benjamin Ives Gilman, Rufus Putnam and John McIntire, of Washington county. Joseph Darlinton, of Adams county ; Francis Dunlavy, Jeremiah Morrow and John Smith, of Hamilton county ; John Milligan, of Jefferson county ; Edward Tiffin and Thomas Worthington, of Ross county, and Ephraim Cutler, of Washington county, were the eight gentlemen of the last Territorial Legislature that were also elected members of the Constitutional Convention. |