It is not our province in a volume of this
description, to delineate the chronology of
prehistoric epochs, or to dwell at length upon
those topics pertaining to the scientific causes
which tended to the formation of a continent,
undiscovered for centuries, by the wisdom and
energy of those making a history of the Old
World by the advancement of enlightenment
in the Eastern Hemisphere.
Naturally, the geological formation of the State of
Ohio cannot be entirely separated from facts
relative to the strata, which, in remote ages
accumulated one layer above the other, and
finally constituted a "built-up" America, from a
vast sea. The action of this huge body of
water washed sediment and whatever came in its
way upon primitive rocks, which were subjected
to frequent and repeated submersions, emerging
as the water subsided, thus leaving a stratum or
layer to solidify and mark its number in the
series - a system of growth repeated in trees of
the forest - in those discernible rings that
count so many years. The southeastern part
of North America emerging a second time from the
Silurian Sea, which extended west to the Rocky
Mountains and north to the primitive hills of
British America, a succession of rock-bound,
salt-water lakes remained. These covered a
large portion of the continent, and their water
evaporating, organic and mineral matter remained
to solidify. This thick stratum has been
designated by geologists as the water-lime
layer. This constitutes the upper layer of
rock in the larger portion of the west half of
Ohio. In other sections it forms the bed
rock.
Following the lime-rock deposit, must have been more
frequent sweeps of the great sea, since the
layers are comparatively thin, proving a more
speedy change. During this scientific
rising and falling of the sea, other actions
were taking place, such as volcanic and other
influences which displaced the regularity of the
strata, and occasionally came out in an upheaval
or a regular perpendicular dip. A
disturbance of this character formed the low
mountain range extending from the highlands of
Canada to the southern boundary of Tennessee.
This "bulge" is supposed to be the consequence
of the cooling of the earth and the pressure of
the oceans on either side of the continent.
Geologists designate this as the Cincinnati
arch. This forms a separation between the
coal fields of the Alleghanies and those of
Illinois.
Passing over several periods, we reach the glacial,
during which the topography of the continent was
considerably modified, and which is among the
latest epochs of geology, though exceedingly
remote as compared with human
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history. Previously, a torrid beat
prevailed the entire Northern hemisphere.
Now the temperature of the frigid zone crept
southward until it reached Cincinnati . A vast
field of ice, perhaps hundreds of feet thick,
extended from the north pole to this point.
As this glacial rigor came southward, the flow
of the St. Lawrence River was stopped, and the
surplus water of the great lake basin was turned
into the Ohio and Mississippi. This
glacial sea was by no means stationary even
after its southern limit had been reached.
It possessed the properties of a solid and a
fluid. Its action was slow but powerful,
grinding mountains to powder and forming great
valleys and basins. Separating into two
glacial portions, one moved toward the watershed
north of the Ohio River; and, continuing
westerly, it hollowed out the basin of Lake Erie
and crushed the apex of the Cincinnati arch.
From this point, it turned southward and swept
with a regular course through the Maumee and
Miami Valleys to the Ohio River. The
southern border constantly melting, and flowing
toward the Gulf of Mexico, the great field was
pressed forward by the accumulation of ice in
the northern latitudes. Thus for ages,
this powerful force was fitting the earth for
the habitation of man. The surface was
leveled, huge rocks broken and reduced to
pebbles, sand, clay, etc., other soil and
surface-material - while the debris was embedded
at the bottom. In some sections, as the
ice melted and freed the bowlders and rocks, the
lighter material was swept away. The
glacier moving forward, and the forces proving
an "equilibrium," the «dge of this ice-field was
held in a solid stronghold, and the material
thus deposited forms a ridge, called by
geologists "terminal moraine," first exemplified
in Ohio by the "Black Swamp," in the Maumee
Valley.
The most extreme rigor of this period beginning to
wane, the ice of the Maumee and Miami Valleys
began to move slowly forward, toward the north,
reaching the points now termed Hudson, Mich.;
Fort Wayne, Ind., and Kenton, Ohio - reaching
somewhat further south than Lima and Van Wert.
The edge of the glacier was defined in outline
by the present western border of Lake Erie, and
parallel with it. Climatic influences "acting
and counteracting," the glacial force was
concentrated, the Maumee Valley being subjected
to a grinding process, and a deposit of material
going on, which now forms the boundary of the
"Black Swamp." As our readers are aware,
the waters of the St. Joseph and St. Mary's meet
at Fort Wayne, and their united waters form the
Maumee; thence the turn is northwest, and,
wearing an outlet through the ridge, it reaches
the head of Lake Erie.
The torrid zone yet gaining the ascendency, the
ice-fields continuing their reverse motion, and
retreating toward the north, the basin of the
great lakes was formed; and the blocks of ice
melting therein, a vast sea of fresh water was
formed, which gradually overflowed a portion of
Canada and Michigan. But the St. Lawrence,
that important outlet, was under the restraint
of an ice blockade, and the surplus water of the
fresh sea was turned into the Ohio and and
Mississippi.
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Later, mountains of ice-float were drifted from
the north by winds and currents, into temperate
latitudes, and melting, deposited rocks, stones
and general debris. Following the
iceberg-drift, came the permanent elevation
above the ocean level. The St. Lawrence
outlet was formed. The inland sea was
assuming its division into lakes. The
united waters of Erie and Huron flowed through
the Wabash Valley and into the Ohio, until,
through some agency, that section was dry, and
the lakes drained in another direction.
The action of the glacial period in the Erie
basin vicinity created what is known as the
"Niagara lime- stone," by grinding upper strata
and drifting the debris elsewhere. This
seems to have occurred at intervals, exposures
being made in Seneca, Sandusky and Wood
Counties, and beneath the axis of the Cincinnati
arch. Oriskany limestone is also available
in another stratum, which has been brought to
the surface. Again, there is a
carboniferous stratum of limestone, and along
the Maumee is a thin exposure of the Hamilton
limestone and shale.
A glacier having both fluid and solid properties, it
will readily be compre-hended that obdurate
projections of rock resisted its action, and
created currents in other directions, for its
forces. When this specified epoch had
ceased to be, Ohio was a rough, irregular and
crude mixture of ridges and knobs and pinnacles,
which were "leveled up" and finished by
iceberg-drift and inland-sea deposits.
This settled and accumulated, and the work of
hundreds of years produced a beautiful surface,
its inequalities overcome, the water having
receded and "terra firma" remaining. A
deep bed of clay, sufficiently compact to hold
the germs of organic matter, and sufficiently
porous to absorb moisture, was especially
adapted to encourage the growth of vegetation.
These seeds had been brought by the winds and
waves and natural agencies, and now began to
produce plants and shrubs, which withered to
enrich the soil, after scattering broadcast
seeds that would again perpetuate verdure.
Worms, land crabs and burrowing animals assisted
in the creation of soil, while the buffalo, deer
and bear followed, as soon as forestry appeared.
Decomposed foliage and fallen timber aided in
the great work of preparing the present State of
Ohio for the habitation of man, Prairie, marsh,
forest, rivers and lakes were formed, which, in
turn, were modified and prepared for a grand
destiny by other influences.
In glancing over the compiled histories of Ohio, those
containing details of her early struggles,
afflictions and triumphs, we are especially
impressed with its near and sympathetic relation
with the great Northwest, and the republic of
the United States of America. From the
early years when white men built their rude
cabins in the then tangled wilderness, to the
opulent and magnificent present of this united
nation, Ohio has been stanch, loyal and earnest,
both in action and principle.
We shall endeavor to trace the history of the State
concisely and accurately, according to the data
given by the most reliable historians. We are
obliged to glean the prominent events only, our
space being limited, compared with the
multitudinous interests connected with this
important part of the United States.
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FRENCH HISTORY
All
through early French history, is the fact
especially prominent, that in their explorations
and expeditions, they united piety and business.
They were zealous in sending out their
missionaries, but they were always attended by
traders and those who were as skilled in the
world's profit and loss, as their companions
were in propagating Christianity.
Prior to the landing of the Pilgrim Fathers upon
Plymouth Rock, the Upper Lakes were visited by
the French, and records prove that during the
first half of the seventeenth century, a
vagabondish set, working in the interests of the
fur company of New France, understood the
geographical position of the lakes and their
tributary streams. M. Perrot, an
intelligent explorer, made overtures of peace to
the Indian tribes around these bodies of water,
and effected a treaty, which, it is claimed,
established the right for the French, in the
name of their king, to hold the place near St.
Mary's Falls. They further assert that the
Mississippi was discovered by the French from
Lake Superior, but this is not authenticated,
and Father Marquette and M. Joliet
are accepted as the first who found this large
stream, in 1763. The good missionary won
his way with his patient and sympathetic nature.
Ohio was, like the other portions of the West,
originally in the possession of aborigines or
Indians. Of their origin, many
suppositions are advanced, but no certainties
sustained. From practical evidences, the
Mound-Builders were active in Ohio, and here as
elsewhere, their work marked retrogression
rather than advancement. The territory of
Ohio was claimed by the French, and included in
that wide tract between the Alleghanies and the
Rockies, held by them under the name of
Louisiana. Before the year 1750, a French
trading-post was established at the mouth of the
Wabash, and communication was established
between that point and the Maumee, and Canada.
Between the years 1678 and 1682, the intrepid
La Salle and Father
Hennepin, assisted by Fondi, an
Italian, with a small band of followers,
inaugurated a series of explorations about the
great lakes and the Mississippi, building forts
on their way and planting the French priority.
In 1680, La Salle erected a
stockade at the foot of the rapids of the
Maumee, which was a general rendezvous for
missionaries, traders and explorers, besides
constituting a primitive "stock exchange."
The English colonies were at this time east of the
Alleghanies, while the French were establishing
themselves west of this range, gaining an
entrance north and south, the two portions
separated by hostile and barbarous foes.
La Salle's spirit of adventure led him into new
fields, but Father Hennepin was
detailed to investigate that part of the world
now known as the State of Ohio. The
records assert that he published a volume
containing an account of his observations "in
the country between New Mexico and the frozen
ocean," in 1684, together with maps of Lakes
Erie, Huron and Michigan, and a plat of the
larger streams in Ohio.
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ORDINANCE OF 1787. - No.
32.
AN ORDINANCE
FOR THE GOVERNMENT OF THE TERRITORY OF THE
UNITED STATES, NORTHWEST OF THE OHIO RIVER.
Be it ordained by the United States in
Congress assembled, That the said Territory,
for the purpose of government, be one district;
subject, however, to be divided into two
districts, as future circumstances may, in the
opinion of Congress, make it expedient.
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claimed in one of the original States, each
fugitive may be lawfully claimed and conveyed to
the person claiming his or her labor or services
as aforesaid.
Be it ordained by the authority aforesaid, That
the resolutions of the 23d of April, 1784,
relative to the subject of this ordinance, be
and the same are hereby repealed and declared
null and void.
COMMENT BY
S. P. CHASE 1833.
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INFLUENCE OF
THE ORDINANCE OF 1787.
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the same, however. Horace Gunn was the carrier.
Benoni Adams brought the news from Cleveland to
the same point, his trip requiring a fortnight.
It must be remembered that this journey was
mostly made on foot. The Black Swamp could not
be traversed in any other manner.
THE
WAR OF 1812.
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