ORDINANCE OF 1787.—No. 32. An ORDINANCE FOR THE GOVERNMENT OF THE TERRITORY of THE UNITED STATES, NORTHWEST of THE OHIO RIVER.
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The History of Warren County, Ohio

ORDINANCE OF 1787.—No. 32.
An ORDINANCE FOR THE GOVERNMENT OF THE TERRITORY of THE UNITED STATES, NORTHWEST of THE OHIO RIVER.

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Transcription contributed by Martie Callihan 2 November 2004

Sources:
The History of Warren County Ohio
Part II, The History of Ohio
(Chicago, IL: W. H. Beers Co, 1882; reprint, Mt. Vernon, IN: Windmill Publications, 1992)

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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.

Be it ordained by the authority aforesaid, That the estates of both 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 grandchild to take the share of their deceased parent in equal parts among them. And when 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 parent's share; and there shall in no case be a distribution between kindred of the whole and half blood, saving in all cases to the widow of 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 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 witnesses; and real estate may be conveyed by lease and release, or bargain and sale, signed and sealed, and delivered by the person (being in full age) in whom the estate may be, and attested

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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 Kaskaskias, St. Vincent's 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 a term of three years, unless sooner revoked by Congress. He shall reside in the district and have a freehold estate therein, of a thousand acres of land while in the exercise of his office.

There shall be appointed from time to time by Congress, a Secretary whose commission shall continue in force for two years, unless sooner revoked. He shall reside in the district, and shall have a freehold estate therein in 500 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 Secretery 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 shall reside in the district and have each therein a freehold estate in 500 acres of land, while in the exercise of their office, 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 of the district, and report them to Congress from time to time, which laws shall be in force in the district until the organization of the General Assembly therein, unless disapproved 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 or 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 5,000 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 500 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 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 200 acres of land within the same.

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Provided, Also, that a freehold in 50 acres of land in the district, having been a citizen of one of the States, and being a 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 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 person in a freehold in 500 acres of land, and return their names to Congress, five of whom Congress shall appoint and commission 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 the 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 forms the basis whereon these republics, their laws and constitutions, are created; to fix and establish those principles as the basis of all laws, constitutions and governments, which forever hereafter shall be formed in said Territory. To provide for the establishment of States, and permanent governments therein, and for their admission to a share in the Federal Council on an equal footing with the original States, at as early periods as may be consistent with the general interest.

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 said Territory, and forever remain unaltered unless by common consent, to wit:

ARTICLE II. The inhabitants of said Territory shall always be entitled to the benefits of the writ of habeas corpus, and of the trial by jury; of a proportionate representation of the people in the Legislature, and of judicial procedure according to the course of common law. All persons shall be bailable, except for capital offenses, where the proof shall be evident or the presumption great. All fines shall be moderate, and no cruel or unreasonable punishment 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

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shall be made for the same. And in the just preservation of rights and property, it is understood and declared that no law aught ever to be made or have force in the said Territory, that shall in any manner whatever interfere with or effect private contracts or engagements bona fide and without fraud, previously formed.

ART. III. 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 toward 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. IV. The said Territory and the States which may be formed therein, shall ever remain a part of the 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 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 the 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 directions of the Legislature of the district or districts or new 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 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-residents be taxed higher than residents. The navigable waters leading into the Mississippi and St Lawrence, and the carrying places between the same, shall be 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. V. There shall be formed in 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, the Wabash Rivers; a direct line drawn from the Wabash and Post St. Vincent, due north to the Territorial line between the United States and Canada; and by the said Territorial line lo the Lake of the Woods and Mississippi. The middle State shall be bounded by the said direct line, the Wabash from Post St. Vincent 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. The eastern State shall be bounded by the last-mentioned direct line, the Ohio, Pennsylvania and said territorial line. Provided, however, and it is further understood and declared, that the boundaries of those 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 said 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 60,000 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 represented, 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 there may be a less number of free inhabitants than 60,000.

ART. VI. 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 or service is lawfully

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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.

The passage of this ordinance, since known as the "Ordinance of 1787," was immediately followed by an application to the Government, by John Cleves Symmes, of New Jersey, in behalf of the country, between the Miamis, and a contract was concluded the following year. The Ohio Company were exceedingly energetic in inaugurating settlements. Gen. Putman, with a party of forty-seven men, set out on an exploring expedition, accompanied by six boat builders. On the 1st of January, 1788, twenty-six surveyors followed, from Hartford, Conn. They arrived in Ohio on the 7th of April, 1788, and their active energy founded the permanent beginning of this great Western State. When we review the dangerous experiments that have been made, in this land west of the Alleghanies, the horrors which had overwhelmed every attempt, we can faintly realize the stalwart courage that sent these men on their way, and sustained them in their pioneer hardships. With characteristic vigor, they began their little town. Enthusiastic and happy, they did not rest from their toilsome march over the old Indian roads, but kept busily at work to establish an oasis in this wide expanse of wilderness, before they should take necessary ease to recuperate their strength.

The wise men met on the 2d of May, and the little town was named, Marietta. Situated as it was, in the midst of danger, they had used precaution to build and equip a fortified square, which was designated Campus Martius; Square No. 19 was Capitolium, and Square No. 61 was Cecelia, and the main street was Sacra Via.

Marietta was especially fortunate in her actual "first families." Ten of the forty-eight men had received a thorough college education; the remaining were individuals of sterling merit, honorable, and several had already attained reputations for superior excellence of abilities. Patriotic and brave, the settlement certainly possessed a foundation that promised well for the future. The following 4th of July was an auspicious event, and the Hon. James M. Varnum was the eloquent orator of the occason.

The opening of the court, on the 2d of September, was a solemn ceremonial, the High Sheriff leading with drawn sword, followed by citizens, with an escort of officers from Fort Harmar, the members of the bar, the Governor and Clergymen, the Judges of the Court of Common Pleas—Gen. Rufus Putman and Benjamin Tupper—all these constituted an imposing spectacle, as they progressed over a path which had been cut through the forest to Campus Martius Hall, the edifice of law and order.

The Judges took their seats, a prayer was offered by the Rev. Dr. Cutler, and immediately the Sheriff, Col. Ebenezer Sprout, proclaimed the response, and the court of impartial justice was convened.

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This ceremonial was, perhaps, made all the more impressive by the presence of several powerful Indian chiefs, who had journeyed to Marietta for the purpose of making a treaty.

The settlement now increased rapidly, new cabins were erected constantly. On the 17th of December, a society event occurred, in the form of a grand ball, fifteen ladies being present.

John Cleves Symmes had contracted for 2,000,000 acres of land, and succeeded in obtaining his grant, but circumstances prevented him from meeting his part of the obligations, and the specification was reduced to 1,000,000. After vain attempt to make his payments, a settlement was finally effected for 248,540 acres, and Symmes was prepared to dispose of clear titles to new-comers. In 1788, a town was established within the boundaries of his grant, at the mouth of the little Miami, known as Columbia, and in the early part of 1787 another was formed opposite the mouth of the Licking River, by name Losantiville, analyzed by a frontier scholar—ville, the town; anti, opposite to; os, the mouth of; L, Licking.

Judge Symmes had projected building his main town at North Bend. This plan was frustrated by reason of Ensign Luce—who had been commissioned by Gen. Harmar to erect a fort—deciding that North Bend was not suitable for the purpose. He selected Losantiville for the purpose, and Fort Washington was the result. In 1790, Gov. St. Clair was called to inspect the settlement, and proceeded to organize Hamilton County, at the same time calling the town Cincinnati.

It will be remembered that Connecticut ceded most of her western lands to General Government, retaining, however, a minor portion. As the settlements began to increase on the "Virginia Reserve" and between the Scioto and Miami Rivers, all those holding claims were not disposed to part with them, while others were anxious to secure grants for the purpose of speculation, rather than the advancement of civilization. The Scioto Company was a questionable adherent of the Ohio Company, and began operations, which resulted well, whatever their purpose may have been.
Gen. Putnam cleared the land and directed the building of 100 dwellings and six block-houses. During 1791, the colony arrived, consisting of 500 persons. Only ten of these were tillers of the soil. Viscount Malartie ventured into the wilderness, but instead of settling, joined Gen. St. Clair's army, and was ultimately his aid-de-camp. Indian conquests were not to his taste, and he soon returned to France. This new colony was essentially French, and its location was Gallia County. The name "Gallipolis " was selected.

These settlers, being unaccustomed to severe toil, and disinclined to learn its hard lesson, soon became demoralized, through deprivation and absolute want. Congress came to their aid with a land grant of 24,000 acres, but few of them cared to enter claims, and soon all traces of the old town were lost, and its inhabitants scattered.

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Gen. St. Clair having become unpopular, through repeated failures in Indian campaigns, and Gen. Anthony Wayne having wintered at Fort Washington, the spring of 1793 was opened by a march of the army, well disciplined and led by "Mad Anthony," on a campaign that must crush the rapidly increasing depredations of the Indians, notwithstanding which these new settlements had been made. All winter, Gen. Wayne had dispatched scouts, spies and hardy frontiersmen on errands of discovery, and his plans were, therefore, practically matured. His army cut its way through the forests, gathering horses, provisions, etc., as they marched, and finally came nearly up to the enemy before discovery. They again returned to Fort Washington, as the Commander-in-Chief, under the order of the Executive, had proclaimed inaction until the Northern or British Commissioners and Indians should convene and discuss the situation and prospects. Gen. Wayne, meantime, drilled his men at "Hobson's Choice," a place near Fort Washington.

The Commissioners came from Detroit, and assembled at Capt. Matthew Elliot's house, at the mouth of the Detroit River.

A meeting was called at Sandusky, and twenty Indian representatives were present, to argue the grounds of a treaty. Simon Girty acted as interpreter, and has been vehemently accused of unfaithfulness in this trust, since he did not advocate the adjustment of matters on any grounds. The Indians reiterated their rights and wrongs, and offered to receive the half of the purchase money, provided the actual settlers would accept it as the price of the land, move away, and leave the original owners the proud possessors of their lands." The Government would then expend less money than they would have done in a full Indian purchase, or a long and cruel war. This being out of the question and rejected, a decided specification was made that the Ohio boundary was to be obliterated, and a new one adopted, that encompassed a mere fraction of territory. This was also rejected. The Indians indignantly bade the Americans to go back to their father, and they would return to their tribes.

The council was terminated in confusion. It is highly probable that some settlement might have been made, had it not been for English influence which instigated the savages, in the hope of ultimately making conquests for themselves. The commander at Detroit evinced great uneasiness whenever there was a shadow of an opportunity for a peaceful understanding.

On Christmas Day, 1793, a detachment of the army encamped on the identical ground made memorable by St. Clair's horrible defeat. A reward was offered for every human skull that was found, and 600 were gathered. The bones of the victims were removed from the spot where they built Fort Recovery. This point was left in charge of Alexander Gibson.

Early in the year 1794, Lord Dorchester addressed the Commissioners in behalf of the English. Even at this time, Gen. Wayne, to avoid the terrors of a great war, again made overtures of peace, dispatching Freeman, Trueman and Hardin, all initiated in savage tactics, on errands of mercy—and the three men

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were inhumanly murdered. The English went so far as to order Gov. Simcoe to erect a fort, in April, 1794, on the Rapids of the Maumee, thus rousing the Indians by a bold proof that they had espoused their cause. In May, the Spanish, who were ever jealous of colonial encroachments, were willing to aid in a general raid against the Americans.

In June, a scouting party from Fort Recovery, fell into an Indian ambush and suffered severely, their foes following them to the very entrance. The siege continued for two days. It was plainly evident that white men augmented the Indian force; ounce balls and buck-shot surely came from their rifles. Again, the Indians immediately began a search beneath the logs where pieces of artillery were hidden during the great battle of St, Clair, but fortunately, Fort Recovery had the use of them and they accomplished much.

On July 26, Scott joined Wayne at Greenville, with 1,600 mounted Kentuckians, and on the 28th, the legion took up its line of deadly march. Halting at Girty's Town, they built Fort Mary's, later on Fort Adams. Throwing the enemy off their guard by feints and counter-marching, the troops surprised the Indians, and without the slightest resistance took possession of their villages at the confluence of the Auglaize and Maumee. They found provision in abundance, and tarried a week building Fort Defiance.

Again Gen. Wayne would have made terms of peace, on the principle of the Government to arrest bloodshed, but the Indians were rendered cruelly intent on war by an addition of a body of British militia from Detroit, and by regulars stationed at a fort they had built on the left bank of the river, below the rapids, called Fort Miami. The "Fallen Timber" ground was selected as the field for a battle by the savages, in the expectation that the trees cast down by a tornado and there remaining, would seriously impede American progress.

August 15th, Wayne marched down the river, and at Roche de Boeuf, erected a fortification for their stores and luggage, naming it "Fort Deposit." On the 20th, the American army began the attack. Maj. Price and Maj. Gen. Scott were heroic in their assistance, and after a sharp, deadly conflict, the enemy was routed, fleeing in confusion, and leaving their dead and wounded strewn thickly over the field. The savages were pressed to the front always, and when the carnage was painful, the British troops not engaged looked on coolly from the fort and offered no assistance, aiding their own, however, when possible. Gen. Wayne being an ardent soldier, was apt to forget his position, and impetuously place himself constantly in danger. Lieut. Harrison is reported to have requested the General not to forget to give him field orders, in his own participation in the battle, and to have received the reply that the standing order was always to charge bayonets.

Notwithstanding the treaty of 1783, and the fact that the British were trespassing, they encroached upon the Ohio soil, and essayed to vindicate their action by discarding American claims and recognizing the Indian rights, whereby they might seek their own colonization and make treaties.

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Maj. Campbell was in command at Fort Miami, and when he saw the savages being cut down almost mercilessly, he not only refrained from offering aid, but when, in their desperate retreat, they attempted to enter the fort for protection, he ordered the doors closed in their faces.

On the following day, Campbell sent a message to Wayne, demanding a reason for hostile action, adding that Great Britain was not now at war with the United States. He received a characteristic reply.

During the Revolution, Detroit was an important British point, and the Maumee was its outlet. Therefore, the English clung tenaciously to this possession, giving, as it did, the advantage of the great fur trade. The English Government evidently regretted ceding so much of her territory in the West, and were searching for an excuse to quarrel and attempt to regain at least a part of what they had lost. Their policy was to sustain the bitter hatred between the Indians and the Americans.

The settlement of the Maumee Valley had been rapid, but the very name was an agony of remembrance of frightful massacres and atrocities. Col. McKee, the British Indian agent, and his assistant, Capt. Elliott, were from Pennsylvania, but being Tories, they had assimilated with the Indians. They joined the Shawnee tribe and married Indian wives, and made their fortunes thereby, through British appointments to secure the savage interests. The Indians were directly served by McKee and Elliott, with ammunition and supplies, during the Wayne conflict.

Several skirmishes ensued, but severe weather approaching, the troops moved for quarters, and on the 14th day of September, they attacked the Miami villages, captured them with provisions and stores, and erected a fort, leaving it in charge of Lieut. Col. Hamtramck. With cheers and rifle-shooting, this post was named Fort Wayne. The main army marched into Greenville and went into winter quarters.

Wayne had achieved a brilliant victory, but his success did not overcome his practical reasoning, and he was unwilling to subject his men to a severe winter's campaign unless necessity was peremptory.

Gov. Simcoe, Col. McKee and a few of the most savage Indian chiefs attempted to rally the Indians for a new attack. Gov. Simcoe, of Detroit, was aware that the mounted volunteers under Wayne had been allowed to return home, and that the term of service of a portion of the "Legion " was about to expire.

The British and Indians held a conference, but the latter were weary with fighting for the glory of the Great Father at Detroit, and did not enter into the plan. The winter proved most poverty stricken to them, the English failing to supply them, and their crops and sustenance having been destroyed by Wayne. They were then fully prepared to listen to the faintest signal from Wayne to conciliate affairs, and the Wyandots and Delawares were the first to confer with him on the subject. Their position was exposed and they had suffered severely.

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They soon influenced other tribes to consider the question. As a mass, they were convinced of their inability to overcome the Americans, and had become impatient and disgusted with the duplicity of their British friends, who had not hesitated to sacrifice them in every instance, and who deserted them in their hour of distress. United, they sued for peace. Terms were made, and about the 1st of August, the famous Greenville treaty was ratified and established, and the old Indian war in Ohio terminated.

The Wyandots, Delawares, Shawnees, Chippewas, Ottawas, Pottawatomies, Miamis, Eel Rivers, Weas, Kickapoos, Piankeshaws and Kaskaskias were thus conciliated. The old Indian boundary line, settled upon at the Fort McIntosh treaty, was retained, and the southwestern line was prolonged from old Fort Recovery, southwest of the Ohio River.

"The general boundary lines between the lands of the United States and the lands of the said Indian tribes shall begin at the mouth of the Cuyahoga River, and thence run up the same to the portage between that and the Tuscarawas Branch of the Muskingum ; thence down that branch to the crossing-place above Fort Laurens; thence westerly to a fork of that branch of the Great Miami River (running into the Ohio), at or near which fork stood Laramie's store—Mary's River, which is a branch of the Miami that runs into Lake Erie; thence a westerly course to Fort Recovery, which stands on a branch of the Wabash; thence southwesterly on a direct line to the Ohio, so as to intersect that river opposite the mouth of the Kentucky or Cuttawa River."

This boundary line has, ever since this memorable treaty, been a prominent landmark, and may now be traced as the southern boundary line of Stark, Ashland, Richland and Marion Counties, and the northern line, in part, of Tuscarawas and Knox. Old Fort Recovery was located in Mercer, near the Indiana line. Laramie's store was in Shelby.
Within the Indian Reservation, the United States held sixteen distinct sections of land, for the purpose of military posts, so arranged that the Government had full right of way north and west.

The "Joy treaty" between England and the United States was ratified early in 1796, and the British were obliged to vacate Detroit and Fort Miami, and recall the fact that they had no claim or right to either points. Gen. Wayne received them, and accompanied by Gov. St. Clair, proceeded to Detroit. Here the latter laid out a county, calling it Wayne, and designated Detroit as its seat of justice. This was the fifth county in the Northwest Territory, north of the Ohio River. Washington County, with Marietta as a seat of justice, was first established; next Hamilton, with Cincinnati as a county seat. Wayne County was organized in 1796, and included about twenty-six of the present counties, in the northwest part of the State, covering about a quarter of its area, besides parts of Indiana and Michigan.

In other parts of the State, the population was rapidly increasing. In May, 1795, the Legislature authorized a committee to institute measures for the

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Portrait of Jeremiah Morrow.

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disposal of their Western lands. The Virginia and Connecticut Reservations required some action on the part of Government, inasmuch as ceding a portion and re-selling had in a measure disturbed free titles. Fifty-six persons negotiated and purchased lands, receiving quit-claim titles and entire rights. They re-sold to John Morgan and John Caldwell and Jonathan Bruce, in trust. Thus 3,000,000 acres were prepared for settlement. Upon the quit-claim deeds of these representatives, the full title of lands included within the old Western Reserve rests.

Judge Symmes began his active operations in 1796, and by the close of 1797 all lands east of the Cuyahoga were laid out in townships, five miles square. The agent of the Connecticut Land Company was Gen. Moses Cleveland, and in his honor the leading city in the Reserve was named. Some townships were retained for private sale, and others were disposed of by lottery, in 1798.

Wayne's treaty led to the formation of Dayton, and the peopling of that section. A difficulty arose regarding the original Symmes grant and its modification. Symmes had sold land titles, in good faith, beyond his vested power, and Congress was now called upon to adjust these claims and titles. Seventeen days after the Wayne or Greenville treaty, St. Clair, Wilkinson, Dayton and Ludlow contracted with Symmes for seven and eight ranges, between the Mad and Little Miami Rivers. November 4, 1795, Mr. Ludlow laid out Dayton.

During the years 1790 and 1795, the Governor and Supreme Judges of the Northwest Territory had published sixty-four statutes. Thirty-four of these were ratified at Cincinnati, for the purpose of forming a complete statutory. It was termed the "Maxwell Code."

Mr. Nathaniel Massie founded a town on the Scioto, which was called Chillicothe. The Iroquois treaty had previously invited settlement, and embryo towns had begun as early as 1769, under the protection of the Connecticut Company. A land company was organized in Hartford, Conn., in 1795, sending out forty-three surveyors to divide the townships of that part of the Western Reserve, east of the Cuyahoga, five miles square. The first resident of the town of Cleveland was Mr. Job Stiles and family, and Mrs. Stiles was the mother of the first white child born on the Reserve. Some other parts of the territory progressed more rapidly in population.

Along the Muskingum, Scioto and Miami, towns began to spring up, which might perhaps better be termed farming settlements.

Cincinnati was increasing, and in 1796, had reached 100 cabins, 15 frame houses and 600 persons, with prospects for a firm future.

The Virginia Military Land District was between the Little Miami and Scioto, and was rapidly increasing in population.

Mr. Massie was unceasing in his efforts to advance the West, and laid out Manchester, offering inducements that could not fail to attract settlers.

Ebenezer Zane procured a grant in consideration of opening a bridle path from the Ohio River at Wheeling, over the country via Chillicothe, to Limestone,

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in Kentucky. The year following, the United States mail was taken over this route.

The comparatively tranquil condition of the country and the inducements it had to offer encouraged a rapid settlement of the Territory. A prominent feature of the early growth of Ohio was the general prevalence of reliable, stanch principle. The people were of the good colonial stock.

In 1800, Chillicothe was denominated the seat of the Territorial government, and the first stone edifice in the State was begun in this town, soon after this appointment. About this time, a serious difficulty suddenly occurred to those individuals who had taken lands on the Western Reserve of Connecticut. That Eastern power had, it is true, ceded a part of her claim to the General Government, and had stipulated for the sale of certain other tracts. At the same time, the State had not signed away her jurisdiction over some sections of her claim, and those unfortunate people in and about Dayton found themselves without any government upon which they might depend in a case of emergency. The matter was, accordingly, presented to the Territorial government, which interceded with the Eastern State, and, sanctioned by the Assembly at Congress, Connecticut relinquished her jurisdiction in 1800.

Cleveland was an important point, and was growing in the mean time. However, it had suffered exceedingly from the ravages of fever and ague. For a period of two months, there was not an individual, but a boy thirteen years of age, able to procure food for the others. Flour was out of all rational consideration, and the meal upon which they lived was pounded by hand. In 1799, Williams and Myatt erected a grist-mill at the falls, near Newbury.

A startling agitation occurred in 1801, which in these days would cause but a ripple in the political sea, but happening during a time when legislative dignity and state authority were regarded with reverential awe, it created the most intense feeling. Great indignation was openly expressed.

The Governor and several legislators felt that they had been insulted in the performance of their respective duties, at Chillicothe, while the Assembly was in. session in 1801. No measures being taken by the authorities at the capital to protect the Executive, a law was passed removing the seat of government to Cincinnati.

This circumstance led to a general consideration of the advantages of a State government, and a popular desire was expressed for a change in this respect. Gov. St. Clair had fallen into disfavor through his failure as a military leader and his failures in the Indian campaigns, and from his assuming powers which were not vested in him, especially the subdivision of counties. He was also identified with the Federal party, which was not popular in Ohio. The opposition was strong in the Assembly, but was in the minority in the House of Representatives. The boundary question was agitated at the same time. The intention was to thus effect the limits of Ohio that a State government would necessarily have to be postponed. Against this measure, Tiffin, Worthington,

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Langham, Darlington, Massie, Dunlavy and Morrow strenuously objected. After considerable discussion, Thomas Worthington obtained leave of absence from the session, and journeyed to Washington in behalf of a State government. It was obvious that the Territory, under the ordinance, was not entitled to a change. Massie suggested the feasibility of appointing a committee to address Congress on the subject. This the House refused to pass.

An effort was then made to take a census, but any action on this subject was postponed until the next session.

During all this ineffectual struggle, Worthington was doing his best in Washington, and succeeded so well that on March 4, a report was made to the House in favor of the State government. This report was made on a basis that the census, in 1800, summed up over 45,000 for Ohio.

April 30, Congress passed a law carrying into effect the views expressed on this subject. A convention met on November 1. Its members were generally Jeffersonian in their views. Gov. St. Clair proposed to address them as their chief executive magistrate. Several members resolutely opposed this action, insisting upon a vote, which, through courtesy and not a sense of right, resulted in permitting him to address them. He advised the postponement of the State government until the original eastern portion of the State was sufficiently populated to demand this right. Only one, out of thirty-three, voted to sustain the Governor in these views.

The convention agreed to the views of Congress. November 29, the agreement was ratified and signed, as was the constitution of the" State of Ohio. The General Assembly was ordered to convene the first Tuesday of March, 1803.

This was carried into effect. A constitution was framed for the new State, adhering to the Ordinance of 1787. The rights and duties of citizens were plainly set forth, and general business was transacted. The new State constitution was signed by:

Edward Tiffin, President and Representative from Ross County.
Adams County—Joseph Darlington, Israel Donalson, Thomas Vinker.
Belmont County—James Caldwell and Elijah Woods.
Clermont County—Philip Gatch and James Sargent.
Fairfield County—Henry Abrams and Emanuel Carpenter.
Hamilton County—John W. Brown, Charles Willing Byrd, Francis Dunlavy, William Goforth, John Gitchel, Jeremiah Morrow, John Paul, John Riley, John Smith and John Wilson.
Jefferson County—Rudolph Blair, George Humphry, John Milligan, Nathan Updegraff and Bezaleel Wells.
Ross County—Michael Baldwin, James Grubb, Nathaniel Massie and F. Worthington.
Washington County—Ephraim Cutler, Benjamin Ives Gilman, John McIntyre and Rufus Putnam.
Thomas Scott, Secretary.

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The first Legislature of the State, under the new constitution, created eight new counties, viz., Gallia, Scioto, Franklin, Columbiana, Butler, Warren, Greene and Montgomery.

The first State officers were : Michael Baldwin, Speaker of the House ; Nathaniel Massie, President of the Senate; William Creighton, Secretary of State ; Col. Thomas Gibson, Auditor ; William McFarland, Treasurer ; Return J. Meigs, Jr., Samuel Huntington and William Sprigg, Judges of the Supreme Court; Francis Dunlavy, Willis Silliman and Calvin Pease, Judges of the District Court.

The General Assembly held a second session in December, at which time the militia law was revised, also giving aliens equal proprietary rights with native citizens. The revenue system was modified and improved. Acts authorizing the incorporation of townships were passed, and for the establishment of counties. Furthermore, Jacob White, Jeremiah Morrow and William Ludlow were authorized to locate a township for collegiate purposes, according to previous specified terms of Congress. The Symmes grant and the college specification collided materially, but the irregularity of the former was not to create any inconvenience for the latter. Mr. Symmes had in good faith marked off this township, but circumstances preventing the perfection of his plans, that lapsed with the others, and the original township was now entered by settlers.

Accordingly, thirty-six sections, west of the Great Miami, were selected, and are now held by the Miami University.

Gov. St. Clair, notwithstanding his unpopularity, was re-appointed.

Ohio was under a system of government which guaranteed the best improvements; her Legislature being composed of her best statesmen, and the laws passed having the general interest of the people embodied in them.

A bill was passed, appropriating the net proceeds of the land lying within said State, sold by Congress after the 20th day of June, 1802, after deducting all expenses incident to the same, to be applied to the laying-out of roads, leading from the navigable waters emptying into the Atlantic to the Ohio, to the said State, and through the same; such roads to be laid out under the authority of Congress, with the consent of the several States through which the road shall pass. In conformity with these provisions, steps were taken, in 1805, which resulted in the making of the Cumberland or National road.

Burr, at this time, began an organization for the ostensible purpose of making a settlement on the Wachita, but his party being armed and his plans not being frankly disclosed, an investigation proved that his real design was a mutinous revolt against Governmental powers, and to gratify his ambition by founding his own kingdom in Mexico, and defeating the Spanish. If success crowned his efforts, his ultimate victory was to rupture the Union by forcing the Western States to withdraw from their allegiance. By gaining an influence over the noble but misguided Blennerhasset, he established his headquarters on his island in the Ohio. The history of Burr's expedition is already well known.

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The final capture by Gov. Tiffin, of ten boats loaded with stores, on the Muskingum, and four near Marietta, decided the fate of this scheme, and Burr was finally arrested and put on trial May 22, 1807.

The advancement of the settlement of the State was in no manner impeded, and towns sprang up, farms were laid out, and all other improvements inaugurated which tended to a permanent prosperity.

In 1808, Tecumseh left Greenville to join the Prophet on the banks of the Tippecanoe, a tributary of the Upper Wabash, on a tract of land granted herein by the Pottawatomies.

The Indians were virtually by treaty allowed but a small proportion of land within the boundaries of the State, and were maintaining peaceful attitudes toward the whites, with exceptional border depredations, which were settled by mutual understanding.

Although the United States had gained independence, and was treating with England as with other foreign powers, the British persisted in violating the national rights of the United States, impressing American seamen into the British service, seizing American vessels engaged with France in trade, and otherwise violating the rights of an independent nation, at peace with the British power.

The mission upon which Henry was sent by the British, to create disturbance between the States, and thus broken, to weaken the strength of the General Government, added fuel to the fire, and united indignation cried for war.

British agents again bargained with the Indians of the Wabash and Maumee Valleys, desiring them to inaugurate another war upon the western sections and to make a desperate attack upon the settlements south of the lakes. The British agent at Maiden negotiated in rifles, powder, ball, merchandise, lead, blankets and shirts. The Indians were inspired again with the hope that the whites would be driven back, and that all the country north of the Ohio would again revert to them.

The Canadians in league with the English, gave the savages unlimited quantities of whisky, which naturally aroused their fierce natures to acts of violence and blood. It is highly probable that the use of liquor was the main cause of the deterioration of the best traits of the Indian character, after the Revolution. Again, many unscrupulous men upon the frontier did not hesitate to commit the most merciless crimes against the Indians, such was the prejudice against them, and the courts invariably failed to indict them for these atrocities. This error on the part of the Americans served to influence the savages against them.

At this time, the seats of justice were distant over a hundred miles each from the other, uninhabited tracts frequently extending between them which were absolute wildernesses. The routes were in many cases difficult and circuitous.

As early as 1808, there was a mail communication for the people on the Lower Maumee, many days elapsing between the arrivals and departures of

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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.

FOOTNOTES: [a place to add additional information that you might want to submit]

     

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