| THEIR purchase
being now fully consummated and the Company
having been put in immediate possession of
seven hundred and fifty thousand acres, they
at once began to arrange details and prepare
for emigration. A meeting of the
directors and agents of the Company was held
at Brackett's Tavern, in Boston, on the 21st
of November, 1787, at which it was
"Resolved,
That the lands of the Ohio Company may be
allotted and divided in the following
manner, anything to the contrary in former
resolutions notwithstanding, viz: four
thousand acres near the confluence of the
Ohio and Muskingum rivers for a city and
commons, and, contiguous to this, one
thousand lots of eight acres each, amounting
to eight thousand acres.
Upon the Ohio, in financial townships, one thousand
lots of one hundred and sixteen acres and
42/100, amounting to one hundred and sixteen
thousand four hundred and eighty acres.
In the townships on the navigable rivers, one thousand
lots of three hundred and twenty acres each,
amounting to three hundred and twenty
thousand acres.
[Pg. 77]
And in the inland towns, one thousand lots of nine
hundred and ninety-two thousand acres, to be
divided and allotted as the agents shall
hereafter direct.
Resolved, further, That there be the following
reservations, viz: one township at the falls
of the Great Hockhocking river; one township
at the mouth of the Great or Little river of
that name; and one township opposite to the
mouth of the Great Kanawha river; which
reservations may hereafter be allotted and
divided as the directors and agents shall
see fit.
Resolved, That the army bounty rights he
considered in part payment of the shares of
military associates in the ratio of one
dollar to every acre to which they are
entitled; and that this rule be observed by
the agent of the subscribers in rendering
their returns, and by the agents appointed
by the directors for the second payment to
the Board of Treasury.
Resolved, That no further subscriptions be
admitted after the 1st day of January next,
and that all interest arising on sums paid
since the payment of the first half million
to the Board of Treasury, until the second
payment be completed, shall accrue to the
benefit of the Company's funds, and that the
agents pay all the money they may have in
their possession into the treasury of the
Company by the 1st day of March next.
Resolved, That the eight-acre lots be surveyed
and a plat or map thereof be made, with each
lot numbered thereon, by the first Wednesday
in March next, and that a copy thereof be
immediately forwarded to the secretary and
the original retained by the Company's
superintendent; that the agents meet on the
same Wednesday in March, at Rice's Tavern,
in Providence, State of Rhode Island, to
draw for said lots in numbers as the same
shall be stated upon the plat; that a list
of the drawings be
[Pg. 78]
transmitted by the
secretary to the superintendent, and a copy
thereof preserved in the secretary's office.
Resolved, That this meeting of the directors and
agents of the Ohio Company be and it is
hereby adjourned to the first Wednesday in
March, 1788, to be then holden at Rice's
Tavern in the town of Providence and State
of Rhode Island."*
Much of the
foregoing resolutions relative to the
allotments, division, and reservations of
land, became of no effect, because, as
before stated, the Company finally came in
possession of only nine hundred and
sixty-four thousand two hundred and
eighty-five acres.
Prior to the March meeting, above ordered, a meeting
was held on the 23d of November at
Brackett's Tavern, when it was
"Ordered,
That four surveyors be employed under the
superintendent hereinafter named; that
twenty-two men shall attend the surveyors;
that there be added to this number twenty
men, including six boat-builders, four
house-carpenters, one black smith and nine
common workmen:
That the
boat-builders shall proceed on Monday next,
and the surveyors shall rendezvous at
Hartford, the 1st day of January next, on
their way to the Muskingum :
That the boat-builders and men, with the surveyors, be
proprietors in the company ; that their
tools and one axe and
---------------
*Journals of the Ohio Company
[Pg. 79]
one hoe to each man
and thirty pounds weight of baggage, shall
be carried in the company's wagons, and the
subsistence of the men on their journey be
furnished by the company.
That upon their arrival at the places of destination,
and entering on the business of their
employment, the men shall be subsisted by
the company and allowed wages at the rate of
four dollars each, per month, until
discharged.
That they be held in the company's service until the
first day of July next, unless sooner
discharged, and that if any of the persons
employed shall leave the service, or
willfully injure the same, or disobey the
orders of the superintendent, or others
acting under him, the person so offending
shall forfeit all claim to wages.
That their wages shall be paid the next autumn, in
cash, or lands, upon the same terms as the
company purchased them. That each man
furnish himself with a good small arm,
bayonet, six flints, a powder-horn and
pouch, priming-wire and brush, half a pound
of powder, one pound of balls, and one pound
of buckshot. The men so engaged shall
be subject to the orders of the
superintendent, and those he may appoint, as
aforesaid, in any kind of business they
shall be employed in, as well for boat
building and surveying, as for building
houses, erecting defences, clearing land,
and planting, or otherwise, for promoting
the settlement; and, as there is a
probability of interruption from enemies,
they shall also be subject to orders as
aforesaid in military command, during the
time of their employment.
That Col. Ebenezer Sproat, from Rhode Island,
Mr. Anselm Tupper and Mr. John
Matthews, from Massachusetts, and
Col. R. J. Meigs, from Connecticut, be
the surveyors.
[Pg. 80]
That Gen. Rufus Putnam be the superintendent of
all the business aforesaid, and he is to be
obeyed and respected accordingly; that he be
allowed for his services forty dollars a
month and his expenses, to commence from the
time of his leaving home."
The next meeting
was held March 5th, 1788, at Rice's
Tavern, in Providence, Rhode Island. At this
meeting, the drawing for lots in the new
city took place, as had been previously
ordered. A committee was also
appointed, consisting of the Rev. Dr.
Cutler, Col. May, and Gen.
Varnum, "to consider and report upon the
expediency of employing some suitable person
as a public teacher at the settlement now
making by the Ohio Company." The
committee reported:
"That
the directors be requested to pay as early
attention as possible to the education of
youth and the promotion of public worship
among the first settlers; and that, for
these important services, they employ, if
practicable, an instructor eminent for
literary accomplishments and the virtue of
his character, who shall also superintend
the first scholastic institutions and direct
the manner of instruction; and to enable the
directors to carry into execution the
intentions expressed in this resolution, the
proprietors, and others of benevolent and
liberal minds, are earnestly requested to
contribute, by voluntary donation, to the
forming of a fund to be solely appropriated
thereto."
The report being
approved, the directors authorized Dr.
Cutler to employ some suitable person, who
should
[Pg. 81]
discharge the double functions of
preacher and teacher. Thus early and
clearly did the founders of the new state
recognize the fact that republican
institutions are based on the intelligence
and virtue of the people, and that there can
be no liberty without light. Dr.
Cutler engaged the Rev.
Daniel Story, a young minister
then preaching at Worcester, Massachusetts;
and to him belongs the distinguished honor
of being the first regularly ordained
Congregational minister in all the territory
northwest of the Ohio river.*
---------------
* See ordination sermon, preached by the Rev. Dr.
Cutler, Aug. 15, 1798. Appendix,
H.
The following
extract is from a letter of Dr. Cutler to
Gen. Putnam, now before us:
"Ipswich, November 18, 1788.
DEAR SIR: This will be handed you by Mr.
Daniel Story, whom I beg leave to
introduce to your acquaintance is character
of a preacher, and who, I hope, will be very
agreeable to you and to the people. He
has ever supported a respectable character
in private life and as a minister of the
gospel. The terms on which he goes
into the country are, that his board be
given him; that he draw from the funds,
raised to support preaching four dollars, in
silver, per week; that he be permitted to
improve, if he pleases a part of the lands,
near the city, granted for religious
purposes; that the people he requested to
assist in clearing and cultivating, so far
at least as shall render his pay equal to
five dollars per week; and that he be
allowed a reasonable compensation for his
expenses in going into the country.
Theses were the lowest terms on which he
would consent to go. He could have his
board and five dollars a week here, and
constant employ. As he must lose
several Sabbaths in going into the country,
he conceived it reasonable that he should
have a consideration for his expenses.
There was no other person of respectable
character, when I could engage on better
terms. This is to be
[Pg. 82]
Pursuant to the orders of the directors, the
boat-builders and mechanics, under the
command of Major Haffield
White, rendezvoused at Danvers,
Massachusetts, in December, 1787. The
party consisted of twenty-two men. The
arrangements being completed they set out
for Sumrill's Ferry, on the Youghiogheny
river, about thirty miles above Pittsburg,
where it was intended to build boats, and
proceed thence by water. After a long
and difficult journey, they reached this
point toward the last of January, and
immediately began their work of boat
building.
Meanwhile, the surveyors with their attendants, and the
remainder of the pioneer party, having met
at Hartford, Connecticut, early in January,
1788, commenced their march westward, under
the command of Gen. Rufus Putnam,
assisted by Col. Ebenezer Sproat.
When they reached the mountains, it was
found that the great depth of snow there
rendered the crossing impossible, save by
the use of sleds, which were accordingly
constructed, and the baggage by this means
trans ported over the Alleghanies, and on to
Sumrill's
---------------
his pay until
other terms shall be agreed on between him
and the directors, or the people, or till he
shall continue no longer to preach to them.
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
I have requested Col. Platt to forward a sum
raised for the support of preachers and
schoolmasters, to the directors at
Muskingum, of two hundred dollars, if he has
so much on hand, which will enable you to
pay the preacher and schoolmaster for the
present. I have advanced to Mr.
Story six dollars and two thirds, on
account, which you will deduct from his
wages."
[Pg. 83]
Ferry, the general rendezvous,
where Putnam's party arrived about
the middle of February.
With the working force thus largely increased, and
urged on by the energetic superintendence of
Gen. Putnam in person, the
boat building, which had lagged somewhat,
owing to the severity of the weather, now
progressed rapidly.
On the 2d of April, 1788, the largest boat was
launched, and the pioneers left Sumrill's.
In addition to the large boat, forty-five
feet long and twelve wide, which was roofed
over, and had an estimated capacity of fifty
tons, there were a flatboat and three
canoes. Laden with the emigrants,
their baggage, surveying instruments,
weapons, and effects, the little flotilla
glided down the Youghiogheny into the
Monongahela, and finally out upon the broad
bosom of the Ohio, which stream was to bear
them to their new home. For several
days and nights they pursued their solitary
travel, urged along only by the current of
the beautiful river, whose banks gave no
signs of civilized life, nor of welcome to
the pioneers. Occasionally, a flock of
wild turkeys in the underbrush, or a
startled deer, drinking at the water's edge,
would draw the fire of the riflemen from the
boats ; and now and then the dusky form of
an Indian would be seen darting into the
forest. But the emigrants met with no
interruption.
On the fifth day they approached their destination.
It was cloudy and raining as they drew near
the mouth of the Muskingum, and Capt.
Jonathan Devol sug-P
[Pg. 84]
gested to Gen.
Putnam .that a close look-out be kept
as they must be near their landing-place.
In a few moments they came within sight of
Fort Harmar (a U. S. fort erected in 1785),
located at the mouth and on the right bank
of the Muskingum. The hanging branches
of the trees on the bank of the river,
combined with the foggy atmosphere, that
day, partially obscured the river's mouth,
so that the boat floated almost beyond it
before it was discovered. They could
not regain the upper bank of the Muskingum,
and were obliged to make fast a little way
below Fort Harmar. The commander of
the fort sent some soldiers to their aid,
and the boat was towed back with ropes and
across the Muskingum, where it landed, at
the upper point, about noon on the 7th of
April, 1788, and from that day Ohio dates
her existence.
The pioneers immediately began to unload their effects.
The boards which they had brought with them
for the erection of temporary huts were
landed and properly disposed, and a
comfortable tent was at once set up for the
use of Gen. Putnam. In
this tent he had his headquarters and
transacted the business of the colony for
several months, until the block-houses were
ready for occupancy.
The following is a list of the first party of emigrants
to the territory northwest of the Ohio, who
became the founders of Marietta, and the
first settlers of Washington and Athens
counties, viz:
[Pg. 85]
Gen. Rufus Putnam, superintendent; Col.
Ebenezer Sproat, Col. R. J. Meigs, Maj.
Anselm Tupper, and Mr. John Matthews,
surveyors; Maj. Haffield White,
steward and quartermaster; Capt. Jonathan
Devol, Capt. Josiah Munroe, Capt. Daniel
Davis, Peregrine Foster, Capt. Jethro
Putnam, Capt. William Gray, Capt. Ezekiel
Cooper, Jervis Cutler, Samuel Felshaw,
Hezekiah Flint, Hezekiah Flint, jr., Amos
Porter, Josiah Whitridge, John Gardiner,
Benjamin Griswold, Elizur Kirkland, Samuel
Cushing, Oliver Dodge, Isaac Dodge, Jabez
Barlow, Daniel Bushnell, Ebenezer Corry,
Phineas Coburn, Allen Putnam, David Wallace,
Joseph Wells, Gilbert Devol, jr., Israel
Danton, Jonas Davis, Theophilus Leonard,
Joseph Lincoln, William Miller, Earl Sproat,
Josiah White, Allen Devol, Henry Maxon,
William Maxon, William Moulton, Edmund
Moulton, Simeon Martin, Benjamin Shaw,
and Peletiah White.
The situation of the colonists was now interesting and
critical. Lodged in the midst of a
vast wilderness, many hundred miles from
home and from the protecting care of
government, surrounded by bands of hostile
savages, who, though quiet at present, were
apt to become deadly foes at any moment; and
but scantily supplied with the means of
living, the brave pioneers had need of all
their energies to prepare for the future.
No time was lost in providing for the
protection and comfortable subsistence of
the colony. General
Put-
[Pg. 86]
nam immediately began the erection of
a fort, near the Muskingum river, comprising
a block-house, and other means of defense,
which was afterward, during periods of
Indian hostilities, crowded with families,
and became of the utmost importance.
The gigantic trees of the forest were
girdled and deadened, the rich soil easily
prepared for seeding, and about one hundred
and thirty acres of corn were planted this
first spring. The rivers abounded with
fish; game of every sort was found in the
greatest plenty; herds of buffaloes and deer
roamed the forests, and innumerable flocks
of wild turkeys were added to supply the
settlement with fresh meat.
The day after their landing, the surveyors commenced
laying off lots, and preparing for the
expected arrival of other emigrants.
The officers of the territory not having yet
arrived, a series of regulations or laws for
the temporary government of the community
was prepared and promulgated by being nailed
to the trunk of a large tree on the river
bank. This code was rigidly observed
till other laws were regularly enacted, and
under it the peace of the settlement was
never once disturbed. All was energy,
industry, prosperity, and hopefulness for
the future. Well might Washington
write:
"No colony in America was ever settled
under such favor able auspices as that which
has just commenced at the Muskingum.
Information, property, and strength will be
its characteristics. I know many of
the settlers personally, and there
[Pg. 87]
never were men better
calculated to promote the welfare of such a
community." *
The little city
at the mouth of the Muskingum was first
called Adelphia. There were some men
of classical education among the directors,
and a harmless pedantry was evinced in some
of the names adopted by them. Thus the
large public square was called Quadranaon,
and the smaller one the Capitolium.
The wide road, leading up from the river
landing to the square, was named Sacravia,
and the fort, with its inclosure of block
houses, etc., was called Campus Martius.
At a meeting of the directors, held on the
2d of July, 1788, which was the first
convened west of the mountains, the name of
the city was changed by the following
resolution:
†
---------------
*
Sparks's Washington, vol. 9, p. 385.
† The original name was suggested by Dr.
Cutler. In a letter to Gen.
Putnam, dated Ipswich, Dec. 3, 1787,
after speaking of the affairs of the
company, and the best means of forwarding
letters to and from the settlement, Dr.
Cutler says:
"Saying so much about conveying of letters,
reminds me of the necessity of a name for
the place where you will reside. I
doubt not you will early acquire the meaning
of Muskingum; or you may meet with some
other name that will be agreeable. At
present, I must confess, I feel a partiality
for the name proposed at Boston, and think
it preferable to any that has yet been
mentioned. I think that Adelphia
will, upon the whole, be the must eligible.
It strictly means Brethren, and I
wish it may ever be characteristic of the
Ohio Company."
[Pg. 88]
" Resolved, That the city near the confluence of
the Ohio and Muskingum be called Marietta;
that the directors write to his Excellency,
the Count Moustiers (French Minister),
informing him of their motives in naming the
city, and request his opinion whether it
will be advisable to present to her Majesty
of France a public square."
The name is
compounded from that of the unfortunate
young queen of France, Marie
Antoinette, who had manifested a
constant friendship for the United States
during the Revolutionary war.
While the infant
colony of the Ohio Company is being thus
auspiciously planted, and the herculean task
of subduing the wilderness well begun, let
us glance at the measures taken by congress
to establish government, law, and order
within the territory.
The settlement at the mouth of the Muskingum was made
before the arrival in the territory of the
governor and judges. Congress, however, had
organized the territorial government soon
after the passage of the ordinance of 1787.
Gen. Arthur St. Clair was appointed
governor, his commission bearing date
February 1, 1788, and to run for three
years. He was a citizen of
Pennsylvania, had been a distinguished
officer in the Revolutionary army, and
president of congress, and stood high in the
confidence of Washington.
Samuel H. Parsons, of Connecticut, James M.
Varnum, of Massachusetts (both of whom
were directors
[Pg. 89]
in the Ohio Company), and John Cleves
Symmes, of New Jersey, were appointed
judges; and Winthrop Sargent,
of New Hampshire (secretary of the Ohio
Company), was appointed secretary of the
territory. The judges arrived in June,
and on the 9th of July, 1788, Governor
St. Clair reached Marietta. He was
escorted by a detachment of troops, under
Major Doughty, who had gone up to
Pittsburg, from Fort Harmar, some days
before to meet the governor, and was
received at the fort with military honors
and salute. Joseph Buell, who
was an orderly sergeant at the time, in one
of the companies of United States troops in
the fort, kept a journal, in which he says:
"July
9th.—Governor St. Clair arrived
at the garrison. On landing, he was
saluted with thirteen rounds from the
fieldpiece. On entering the garrison
the music played a salute, and the troops
paraded and presented their arms. He
was also saluted by a clap of thunder and a
heavy shower of rain as he entered the fort;
and thus we received our governor of the
western frontiers."
After a few days
of repose, the governor, on the 18th of
July, made his first public appearance
before the citizens of the territory.
At three o'clock in the afternoon he came
over from Fort Harmar in the government
barge, escorted by the officers of the
garrison, and accompanied by Mr.
Sargent, the secretary. He was
received in the grove by Gen.
Putnam, the judges
[Pg. 90]
of the territory, and the principal
inhabitants of the settlement, with
congratulations and expressions of welcome.
The secretary then proceeded to read the
ordinance of July 13, 1787, for the
government of the territory, and also the
commissions of the governor, the judges, and
himself. The governor then delivered
an inaugural address, to which a response
was made "in the name of all the people,"
and the ceremonies concluded with cheers and
congratulations.
We may here digress, a few moments, to remark upon the
unique form of civil government thus
inaugurated, and formally established in the
territory, and which was continued for a
period of ten years. It was the first
territorial government ever organized by
Federal authority, and was, in some
respects, crude and anomalous. The
people had no part whatever in the
government. The governor and judges
derived their appointments first from
congress, and, after the adoption of the
Federal constitution, in 1789, from the
president. There were no elective
officers. The whole power,
legislative, judicial, and executive was
vested in the governor and judges, and in
its exercise they were responsible only to
the remote central government. A
portion of the expenses of the government
were borne by the United States, but the
principal part were drawn from the people of
the territory by heavy taxes.
This temporary system, however, crude as it now
[Pg. 91]
seems, worked reasonably well in most
respects, and though in some points it was
unfriendly to the large liberty of the
people, we must never forget the noble
principles that were secured to the embryo
states of the northwest by the famous
ordinance of 1787. In language whose
dignity befits the lofty theme, it provides
"for extending the fundamental principles of
civil and religious liberty, which form the
basis whereon these republics, their laws
and constitutions, are erected; and for
fixing and establishing those principles as
the basis of all laws, constitutions, and
governments, which forever hereafter shall
be formed in said territory." It
secured for all time civil and religious
liberty, habeas corpus, and other
fundamental rights. It enacts that,
"religion, morality, and knowledge being
necessary to good government and the
happiness of mankind, schools, and the means
of education, shall forever be encouraged."
Finally, it provided that, in the vast area
over which it extended, slavery should never
exist. Thus, perpetual freedom was
secured to the states of the northwest.
The borders of Ohio were consecrated while
the wilderness was yet unbroken, and long
before the state was formed; and the
pioneers who landed at the mouth of the
Muskingum trod upon a soil which could bear
up none but free men.
By the ordinance of 1787, the governor and judges, or a
majority of them, were empowered to adopt
and
[Pg. 92]
publish in the district, such laws of the
old states, civil and criminal, as they saw
fit, and were to report them to congress
from time to time. But they did not
confine themselves very strictly to the
letter of the ordinance in this regard; for
when they could not find laws of the old
states suited to the wants and condition of
the territory, they made enactments of their
own - all of which were, a few years later,
ratified and confirmed by the first
territorial legislature.
The first law enacted for the territory was passed July
25th, 1788, and was thus entitled:
"
A LAW for regulating and establishing the
Militia in the Territory of the United
States northwest of the river Ohio,
published at the city of Marietta upon the
twenty-fifth day of July, in the thirteenth
year of the Independence of the United
States, and of our Lord one thousand seven
hundred and eighty-eight, by his Excellency,
Arthur St. Clair, Esquire, Governor
and Commander-in-chief, and by the
Honorable Samuel Holden Parsons and
James Mitchell Varnum, Esquires,
Judges." *
Almost the first public act of the governor, was
creating the county of Washington, the first
county estab-
---------------
* Laws passed in the territory of the
United States, northwest of the river Ohio,
from the commencement of the government to
the 31st of December, 1791. Published by
authority. Philadelphia, 1792, p. 3.
[Pg. 93]
lished in the .great northwestern territory,
and, as its boundaries were then fixed,
comprising about one half of the present
state of Ohio. The proclamation is as
follows:
"By his Excellency, Arthur St. Clair, Esq.,
Governor and Commander-in-Chief of the
territory of the United States, north west
of the river Ohio.
" A PROCLAMATION.
To all
persons to whom these presents shall come,
Greeting:
WHEREAS, By the ordinance of
Congress of the thirteenth of July, 1787,
for the government of the territory of the
United States northwest of the river Ohio,
it is directed that for the due execution of
process, civil and criminal, the governor
shall make proper divisions of the said
territory and proceed from time to time, as
circumstances may require, to lay out the
part of the same, where the Indian title has
been extinguished, into counties and
townships, subject to future alterations as
therein specified. Now, know ye, that
it appearing to me to be necessary, for the
purposes above mentioned, that a county
should immediately be laid out, I have
ordained and ordered and by these presents
do ordain and order that all and singular
the lands lying and being within the
following boundaries, viz.: Beginning
on the bank of the Ohio River, where the
western boundary line of Pennsylvania
crosses it, and running with that line to
Lake Erie; thence along the southern shore
of said lake to the mouth of the Cuyahoga
river; thence up said river to the portage
between that and the Tuscarawas branch of
the Muskingum; thence down the branch to the
forks, at
[Pg. 94]
the crossing place above Fort
Laurens; thence with a line to be drawn
westerly to the portage of that branch of
the Big Miami, on which the fort stood that
was taken by the French in 1752, until it
meets the road from the lower Shawanese town
to the Sandusky; thence south to the Scioto
river, thence with that river to the mouth,
and thence up the Ohio river to the place of
beginning; shall be a county, and the same
is hereby erected into a county named and to
be called hereafter the county of
Washington; and the said county of
Washington shall have and enjoy all and
singular, the jurisdiction, rights,
liberties, privileges and immunities
whatever to a county belonging and
appertaining, and which any other county,
that may hereafter be erected and laid out,
shall or ought to enjoy, conformably to the
ordinance of Congress before mentioned. In
witness whereof, I have hereunto set my hand
and caused the seal of the territory to be
affixed, this twenty-sixth day of July, in
the thirteenth year of the Independence of
the United States, and in the year of our
Lord, one thousand seven hundred and
eighty-eight.
[Signed]
A. ST. CLAIR."
The "Law for
establishing General Courts of Quarter
Sessions of the Peace," published at
Marietta August 23d, 1788,* provided that
that court should be held at Marietta four
times in every year by justices of the peace
appointed and commissioned by the governor.
There were to be "a competent number" of
these justices in each county, not less
---------------
* Laws of North West Territory, p. 7.
[Pg. 95]
than three nor more than five of whom (to be
specially named by commission), should hold
the courts of quarter sessions. Any three of
them, one being of the quorum specifically
named, might hold special sessions when
occasion required.
The county court of common pleas was to be held
semi-annually by not less than three nor
more than five judges to be appointed in
each county and commissioned by the
governor. A sheriff was to be
appointed in each county by the governor.
The "General Court of the Territory of the United
States northwest of the river Ohio,"*
composed of the judges appointed and
commissioned by the Federal authority, was
to hold four terms yearly in such counties
as the judges should from time to time deem
most conducive to the general good.
Only one term yearly was to be held in any
one county; and all processes, civil and
criminal, were returnable to said court
wheresoever it might be in the territory.
The first judges of the court of common pleas were
Rufus Putnam, Benjamin
Tupper and Archibald Crary.
Return J. Meigs was appointed clerk
of the court, and Col. Ebenezer
Sproat sheriff, which office he held
for fourteen years till the formation of the
state government. The first judges of
the courts of general quarter sessions were
Rufus Putnam and Benjamin
Tupper (justices of the quorum), and
---------------
*Laws of North West Territory, p. 11.
[Pg. 96]
Isaac Pierce, Thomas
Lord and Return J. Meigs,
assistant justices.
General Putnam resigned his position as
judge of the quorum in 1790, and Joseph
Gilman, formerly of New Hampshire,
was appointed in his place; and on the death
of Judge Tupper, in June 1792,
Robert Oliver was appointed
judge of the quorum to fill the vacancy.
Meanwhile, notwithstanding the difficulties and dangers
attending western emigration, and the perils
that surrounded the little settlement, there
began to be some arrivals from the east.
During the month of August, 1788, eight
families arrived from New England, which
increased the population of the colony to
one hundred and thirty-two men, with some
women and children. At the beginning
of the year 1789, there was not a single
white family within the present bounds of
Ohio save those in this settlement.
The settlement at Cincinnati did not begin
till the spring of 1789. Flint,
himself a pioneer, in his "Indian Wars of
the West," thus speaks of early emigration:
"The writer of this distinctly remembers the
wagon that carried out a number of
adventurers from the counties of Essex and
Middlesex in Massachusetts, on the second
emigration to the woods of the Ohio.
He remembers the black canvas covering of
the wagon ; the white and large lettering in
capitals 'To Marietta on the Ohio!'
He remembers the food which, even
[Pg. 97]
then, the thought of such a
distant expedition furnished to his
imagination. Some twenty emigrants
accompanied the wagon. The Rev. Dr. Manasseh
Cutler, he thinks, had the direction of this
band of emigrants.
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
General Putnam seems to have been
the only one who pre ceded him in claims to
be the patriarch of the Marietta settlement.
Dr. Cutler, at the time of his
being engaged in the speculation of the Ohio
Company's purchase, had a feud—it is not
remembered whether literary, political, or
religious—with the late learned and
eccentric Dr. Bentley, of
Salem, Massachusetts. Dr.
Bentley was then chief contributor to a
paper [Salem Register) which he afterward
edited. The writer still remembers and
can repeat doggerel verses by Dr.
Bentley upon the departure of Dr.
Cutler on his first trip to explore
his purchase on the Ohio.
The first travelers to explore Ohio, availed themselves
of the full extent of the traveler's
privilege in regard to the wonders of this
new land of promise, and the unparalleled
fertility of the soil. These
extravagant representations of the grandeur
of the vegetation, and the fertility of the
land, at first excited a great desire to
emigrate to this new and wonderful region.
But some returned with different accounts,
in discouragement, and the hostility of the
savages was painted in the most appalling
colors. A reaction took place in the
public mind. The wags of the day
exercised their wit in circulating
caricatured and exaggerated editions of the
stories of the first adventurers, that there
were springs of brandy, flax that bore
little pieces of cloth on the stems,
enormous pumpkins, and melons, and the like.
Accounts the most horrible were added of
hoop snakes of such deadly malignity that a
sting which they bore in their tails, when
it punctured the bark of a green tree,
instantly caused its
[Pg. 98]
leaves to become sear and the tree to die.
Stories of Indian massacres and barbarities
were related in all their horrors. The
country was admitted to be fertile ; but was
pronounced excessively sickly, and poorly
balancing by that advantage all those
counterpoises of sickness, Indians,
copperheaded and hoop snakes, bears, wolves,
and panthers.
The tendency of the New England mind to enterprise and
emigration thus early began to develop.
For all these horrors, portrayed in all
their darkness, and with all the dreadful
imaginings connected with the thought of
such a remote and boundless wilderness, did
not hinder the departure of great numbers of
the people, following in the footsteps of
Gen. Putnam and Dr.
Cutler. They were both men of
established character, whose words and
opinions wrought confidence. Dr.
Cutler was a man of various and
extensive learning. He was
particularly devoted to the study of natural
history, and was among the first who began
scientifically to explore the botany
of our country. He had great
efficiency in founding the upper settlement
(the Ohio Company's) in Ohio, and his
descendants are among the most respectable
inhabitants of the country at present."
During the year
1789 there were added to the colony one
hundred and fifty-two men and fifty-seven
families.
Thus the love of adventure and the migratory instincts
of the New England people, year after year
impelled little bands of pioneers to set
their faces toward Ohio, and the settlements
steadily, though slowly, increased. By
long and toilsome journeys, carrying their
effects in wagons, camping out at
[Pg. 99]
night, and subsisting chiefly on the game
which they killed by the way, these brave
emigrants crossed the mountains to the head
waters of the Ohio, whence they proceeded in
large canoes or small flatboats down that
river to their various destinations.
Arrived there, they were beset with perils
and difficulties of the most serious
character. There were perils of famine
which they more than once bitterly
experienced, perils of flood, of Indians,
and exposure of every sort. Yet the
resolute New Englanders not only
successfully combated all these enemies,
but, in the midst of the struggle, found
time to secure civil rights, establish law
and order, introduce a pure religion, and
provide for universal education.
"The most exalted sentiments arise on the
consideration of the nature of those men who
first broke in upon the forest world of the
West, and successfully planted civilization
in the midst of the fiercest barbarism.
Their like is never to be known again.
In the progress and mutations of human
affairs such a concourse of circumstances
will never arise. There can never be
another such revolution as that of 1776.
If that was possible, will there be again
such patriots, such men? Then came the
weakness of their country and their own
impoverishment; afterward the offer of the
western lands in compensation for military
service, but requiring the protection of
military force. The never-lessening
patience, perseverance, and piety of those
stern characters have no parallel.
With all these traits we
[Pg. 100]
behold the hourly exercise of courage, the
cool contemplation of danger, acuteness of
design, and vigor of execution." *
By the year 1790 a perceptible current of emigration
had began to set from the older states to
the western country, and Marietta and
Cincinnati, the only two points yet settled,
promised to become the nuclei of prosperous
colonies. The inroad on the wilderness
commenced, and, little by little,
civilization was making good its advance.
The sound of the pioneer's axe was heard,
though in but few and widely-separated
localities, and the smoke of his cabin
chimney ascended from more than one peaceful
settlement. Clearings were made, crops
and families began to be raised, and the
new-comers were taking root in the soil.
But from this peaceful dream there came a sudden and
terrible awakening, in the Indian war which
now burst upon the settlements with great
fury. Indian aggressions had been
growing in frequency during the past year or
more. The Marietta settlers were peace
able men, who desired to treat the natives
justly, and, if possible, to avoid warfare.
But the frontier population of Virginia, the
" Longknives," as they were called by the
Indians, and those of Kentucky, were a
different class of men. Born and bred
hunters, and
---------------
*Whittlesey's Fugitive Essays, p. 24.
[Pg. 101]
always ready for a deadly conflict, they
regarded the Indians as vermin, or wild
beasts, who were to be shot on sight.
This treatment had engendered with the
savages a mortal hatred of the whites, and
the Ohio Company's settlers were, to some
extent, included in their bitter hostility.
They regarded the white men as their natural
enemies, and, notwithstanding treaty
stipulations, resented their .settlement on
the ancient hunting grounds as an intrusion,
and cause of war. Thus, for a year or
two past, the incursions and attacks of the
Indians had become so frequent as to cause
apprehension of a general war. They
had announced their purpose of destroying
every settlement, and putting out every
white man's fire north of the Ohio river.
To avert the impending danger, the
government first tried negotiations; but,
these proving futile, and the depredations
growing more frequent and disastrous,
General Harmar was directed to
attack their towns.
In September, 1790, with thirteen hundred men, he
marched from Cincinnati, through the
wilderness, to the Indian villages on the
Miami, which he burned. On his
homeward march he was attacked by a superior
force of savages, and, after a desperate
battle, was totally defeated.
Harmar was barely able to make good his
retreat to Cincinnati. His expedition
was a failure, and so far from restraining
only served to embolden the Indians.
[Pg. 102]
From this time, for four years, there was uninterrupted
war with the Indians, and sad, indeed, were
the calamities of the settlers.
Wherever the settlements extended, the whole
frontier was lighted by the flames of
burning cabins and improvements. The
first blow struck at the Ohio Company's
purchase was on the 2d of January, 1791.
On that day, it being a Sunday, the little
settlement at Big Bottom, in Washington
county, on the Muskingum river, was the
scene of one of those bloody episodes, with
which pioneer history abounds. We have
not space to recount the event in its
details; it was characterized by the usual
horrible features of stealth and sudden
surprise by the savages, of quick massacre
and scalping of the victims, and of hasty
retreat into the wilderness. In this
attack twelve persons were killed, and five
carried into captivity. [Hildreth's Pioneer
History, pp. 431 - 439.]
The tidings of this bloody affair were borne
to Marietta by special messenger, who
reached there the morning after the
massacre. The general court of quarter
sessions was sitting, and had just convened,
when the news arrived. The town was at
once thrown into the utmost consternation.
It was supposed that Marietta would be the
next point attacked, and instant measures of
safety were taken. The court hurriedly
adjourned. Many of the jurors and
witnesses in attendance, who were from
Waterford, Belpre, and
[Pg. 103]
other exposed settlements, hastened at full
speed to their homes, each one expecting,
or, at least, fearing, to find his dear ones
slaughtered, and his cabin reduced to ashes.
General Putnam, who was always the master
spirit in important crises and whose
foresight had prepared for such an emergency
as this, instantly put Marietta in a state
of defense. All the families within
reach were summoned thither, and securely
placed in the block-houses of the garrison.
The defenses were strengthened, guards
doubled, and four sentinels placed at each
of the bastions of the fort. The
garrison was kept under the strictest
discipline. The ammunition was
inspected and made accessible at a moment's
notice, and four-pounder cannon were placed
at two of the corners of the fort. The
present safety of the people being secured,
Gen. Putnam immediately wrote
urgent letters to President
Washington and to Gen. Knox,
the secretary of war, informing them that
the storm of Indian war had burst upon the
frontiers, and imploring them, by every
consideration, to send troops for the
protection of the settlers.
At Belpre and at Waterford, the panic caused by the
massacre was even greater, as their means of
defense were less. Quite a number of
families had joined these settlements during
the years 1789 and '90, and there were
several women and little children. The
news was brought to the latter settlement
about ten
[Pg. 104]
o'clock p. m. of January 2d. Men,
women, and children were roused from their
sleep by the fearful cry of "Indians," and
woke to hear the story repeated with
numberless exaggerations, to which, in their
terror, they gave ready credence. It
was believed, and not without reason, that
the savages would fall upon them before
daylight. All the inhabitants,
amounting to about thirty souls, were
hurriedly gathered into the largest and
strongest cabin. Their most valuable
portable property and necessary cooking
utensils were brought in. A supply of
water was hastily procured. The
doors and windows were strongly barred.
Interstices were made in the sides of the
cabin, by punching out the chinking between
the logs, for the men to fire through.
Thus prepared, the rest of the night was
passed in painful anxiety, and momentary
expectation of attack. About daylight
the Indians approached the cabin.
Their forms were dimly seen by the sentinel,
gliding among the trees, as if
reconnoitering the position. The alarm
was given, and the settlers awaited the
onslaught with such firmness and composure
as they could. The women and children
were huddled into the safest corner of the
cabin, and the men stood with finger on the
trigger, prepared to fight it out.
But the attack did not come. Finding the inhabit
ants of the settlement awake and prepared
for them, the Indians refrained from
attacking the place. Having spent some
time in reconnoitering, as day fairly
[Pg. 105]
dawned, they made off into the woods, and
the settlement escaped.
Everywhere, throughout the territory, the same
consternation prevailed. The exposed
out-posts were abandoned, and the people
rushed for safety to the block-houses and
garrisons. This state of things filled
President Washington with the
utmost anxiety for the vigorous prosecution
of the Indian war. A second army, in
all respects superior to Harmar's,
was assembled at Cincinnati. Governor
Arthur St. Clair was placed in
command. His force consisted of three
regiments of infantry, two companies of
artillery, one of cavalry, and about six
hundred militia. With this army he
marched toward the Indian towns on the
Maumee.
Disaster followed St. Clair from the beginning. On the
march, a considerable portion of the militia
deserted in a body. A whole regiment
was detached - a portion to pursue the
deserters, and a portion to save the
expeditionary stores, which it was feared
the deserters intended to plunder. With his
force thus weakened by desertion and
details, St. Clair advanced into the enemy's
country. On the morning of the 4th of
November, 1791, just before daylight, he was
attacked with great fury by the combined
army of the northwestern tribes. The
battle was short and the result decisive:
St. Clair was totally defeated, with a loss
of more than six hundred men.
[Pg. 106]
The government had hitherto prosecuted the war with
little vigor and weak determination.
In fact, there was opposition to the Indian
war, and reluctance to enter on a difficult
and dangerous campaign. The country
had, as yet, hardly begun to recover from
the prostration that followed the
revolutionary struggle. Industry was
paralyzed, the debt burdensome, and the
currency disordered. But no
alternative was now left. The
existence of all the western settlements,
and, per haps, even our possession of the
territories already acquired from the
Indians, depended on a vigorous prosecution
of the war. President
Washington made new appeals to congress,
and, in spite of violent opposition from
certain quarters, the necessary sup plies
were voted, and the Indian war went on.
General Anthony Wayne was now
appointed to the command. He was an officer
of revolutionary experience, great energy,
personal enthusiasm, and executive ability.
He arrived at Cincinnati in the spring of
1793, and began the work of organizing a
third army. It was not, however, till
July, 1794, that, with a force of about
thirty-five hundred men, he marched against
the Indians. They had collected their
whole force, amounting to about two thousand
men, at the Maumee rapids. Wayne
encountered the Indians on the 20th of
August. The battle which ensued
resulted in the utter defeat of the Indians,
and was the beginning of their downfall in
the northwestern territory.
[Pg. 107]
Wayne followed up his victory, and
gathered all its fruits. He burned
their villages, destroyed their growing
crops, and laid waste their whole country.
Forts were erected in the heart of their
territory, and they were made to feel, as
they had never felt before, the energy and
power of the government. Convinced, at
last, of their inability to maintain the
contest, or resolved, perhaps, to accept
their inevitable doom, they sued for peace.
A general council was convened at Greenville
(now in Darke county), at which Gen.
Wayne represented the United States,
and the following tribes were represented by
their chiefs, viz.: the Wyandots, Delawares,
Shawanese, Ottawas, Chippewas, Putawatomies,
Miamis, Eel-rivers, Kickapoos, Weeas,
Piankashaws, and Kaskaskias. By the
treaty here made, it was declared that
"henceforth all hostilities shall cease;
peace is hereby established and shall be
perpetual; and a friendly intercourse shall
take place between the said United States
and Indian tribes." Prisoners were
given up, boundary lines established, large
cessions of land made, annual allowances of
money to the Indians assured, certain
hunting privileges granted, and provisions
for trading agreed upon.*
This treaty was signed Aug. 3, 1795, and became
---------------
* U. S. Stat. at Large, vol. 7, p. 49.
[Pg. 108]
the basis of a permanent peace in this part
of the country. The tomahawk was
buried, the Indians gave up their ancient
hunting grounds and the graves of their
fathers, and the white man's title to the
lands of Ohio was never again seriously
contested.
The following anecdotes of Gen. Wayne are
furnished to the author by the venerable
Dr. C. F. Perkins, of Erie,
Pennsylvania, formerly a resident of Athens:
Some time after
the conclusion of the treaty above named,
Gen. Wayne was stationed at Erie,
Pennsylvania. During his last
illness his distress was greatly augmented
and his nerves much excited by clouds of
smoke from an ill-constructed chimney in his
military cabin. Sending for the
unfortunate mason who had built the chimney
(a worthy man by the name of Hughes),
Gen. Wayne berated him with
considerable violence, and threatened to
severely chastise him on the morrow.
But the mason escaped punishment, for the
brave general died before the dawn of the
next day.
The body of Gen. Wayne was interred in
the military ground near the block-house at
Erie and on the bay of Presque Isle.
After it had rested for at least a few years
undisturbed, his son came from Wyoming to
Erie to look after the body of his deceased
parent. It was exhumed and found to be
undecayed and almost entire. The son
wished to convey the body to Wyoming for
interment, but he had traveled on horseback
and had no vehicle. Beside, no wheeled
vehicle could be drawn through the unbroken
forest without the greatest labor. The
question was what could be done? It
was solved by an army surgeon, who suggested
that if the bones were divested of their
covering, the young man might take them home
with him in a portmanteau. Though
uncongenial to the son's feelings, this
proposition was acted upon. The
osseous frame work was denuded by cutting
away the solid flesh, and finally by boiling
it in water and scraping thoroughly. Thus
cleansed the bones were separated and
carefully placed in the two ends of a large
portmanteau and carried on horseback to
Wyoming. The above was related to
Dr. Perkins by an old citizen of
Erie, who held a candle for and saw the
entire operation.
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