Licking County, Ohio - Chapter 8, 1881 (part 1 of 2)

Chapter 8

in progress, Kentucky was admitted as a State, and Pinckney's treaty with Spain was completed. This last occurrence was of vital importance to the West, as it secured the free navigation of the Mississippi, charging only a fair price for the storage of goods at Spanish ports. This, though not all that the Americans wished, was a great gain in their favor, and did much to stop those agitations regarding a separation on the part of Kentucky. It also quieted affairs further south than Kentucky, in the Georgia and South Carolina Territory, and put an end to French and Spanish intrigue for the Western Territory. The treaty was signed November 24, 1794. Another treaty was concluded by Mr. John Jay between the two governments, Lord Greenville representing the English, and Mr. Jay, the Americans. The negotiations lasted from April to November 19, 1795, when, on that day, the treaty was signed and duly recognized. It decided effectually all the questions at issue, and was the signal for the removal of the British troops from the Northwestern outposts. This was effected as soon as the proper transfers could be made. The second article of the treaty provided that, "His Majesty will withdraw all his troops and garrisons from all posts and places within the boundary lines assigned by the treaty of peace to the United States. This evacuation shall take place on or before the Ist day of June, 1796, and all the proper measures shall be taken, in the interval, by concert, between the Government of the United States and His Majesty's Governor General in | America, for settling the previous arrangements which may be necessary respecting the delivery of the said posts; the United States, in the mean time, at their discretion, extending their settlements to any part within the said boundary line, except within the precincts or jurisdiction of any of the said posts.

"All settlers and all traders within the precincts or jurisdiction of the said posts shall continue to enjoy, unmolested, all their property of every kind, and shall be protected therein. They shall be at full liberty to remain there or to remove with all, or any part, of their effects, or retain the property thereof at their discretion; such of them as shall continue to reside within the said boundary lines, shall not be compelled to become citizens of the United States, or take any oath of allegiance to the Government thereof; but they shall be at full liberty so to do, if they think proper; they shall make or declare their election one year after the evacuation aforesaid. And all persons who shall continue therein after the expiration of the said year, without having declared their intention of remaining subjects to His Britannic Majesty, shall be considered as having elected to become citizens of the United States."

The Indian war had settled all fears from that source; the treaty with Great Britain had established the boundaries between the two countries and secured peace, and the treaty with Spain had secured the privilege of navigating the Mississippi, by paying only anominal sum. It had also bound the people of the West together, and ended the old separation question. There was no danger from that now. Another difficulty arose, however, the home government. There were two parties in the country, known as Federalist and Anti-Federalist. One favored a central government, whose authority should be supreme; the other, only a compact, leaving the States supreme. The worthlessness of the old colonial system became, daily, more apparent. While it existed no one felt safe. There was no prospect of paying the debt, and, hence, no credit. When Mr. Hamilton, Secretary of the Treasury, offered his financial plan to the country, favoring centralization, it met, in many places, violent opposition. Washington was strong enough to carry it out, and gave evidence that he would do so. When, therefore, the excise law passed, and taxes on whisky were collected, an the "Whisky Insurrection." It was put down, finally, by military power, and the malcontents made to know that the United States was a govyernment, not a compact lable to rupture at any time, and by any of its members. It taught the entire nation a lesson. Centralization meant preservation. Should a "compact" form of government prevail, then anarchy and ruin, and ultimate subjection to some foreign power, met their view. That they had just fought to dispel, and must it all go for naught? The people saw the rulers were right, and gradually, over the West, spreada spirit antagonistic to State supremacy. It did not revive till Jackson's time, when he, with an iron hand and iron will, crushed out the evil doctrine of State supremacy. It revived 'again in the late war, again to be crushed. It is to be hoped that ever thus will be its fate. " The Union is inseparable," said the Government, and the people echoed the words.

During the war, and while all these events had been transpiring, settlements had been taking place upon the Ohio, which, in their influence upon the Northwest, and especially upon the State, as soon as it was created, were deeply felt. The Virginia and the Connecticut Reserves .were at this time peopled, and, also, that part of the Miami Valley about Dayton, which city dates its origin from that period.

As early as 1787, the reserved lands of the Old Dominion north of the Ohio were examined, and, in August of that year, entries were made. As no good title could be obtained from Congress at this time, the settlement practically ceased until 1790, when the prohibition to enter them was withdrawn. As soon as that was done, surveying began again. Nathaniel Massie was among the above Maysville. The place was called Manchester, and yet exists. From this point, Massie continued through all the Indian war, despite the danger, to survey the surrounding country, and prepare it for settlers.

Connecticut had, as has been stated, ceded her lands, save a tract extending one hundred and twenty miles beyond the western boundary of Pennsylvania. Of this Connecticut Reserve, so far as the Indian title was extinguished, a survey was ordered in October, 1786, and an office opened for its disposal. Part was soon sold, and, in 1792, half a million of acres were given to those citizens of Connecticut who had lost property by the acts of the British troops during the Revolutionary war at New London, New Haven and elsewhere.

and about the 5th of September quit-claimed the land to the Company. The same day the Company received it, it sold 3,000,000 acres to John Morgan, John Caldwell and Jonathan Brace, in trust. Upon these quit-claim titles of the land all deeds in the Reserve are based. Surveys were commenced in 1796, and, by the close of the next into townships five miles square. The agent of the Connecticut Land Company was Gen. Moses Cleveland, and in his honor the leading city of the Reserve was named. That township and five others were reserved for private sale; the balance were disposed of by lottery, the first drawing occurring

Dayton resulted from the treaty made by Wayne. It came out of the boundary ascribed to Symmes, and for a while all such lands were not recognized as sold by Congress, owing to the failure of Symmes and his associates in paying for them.

Thereby there existed, for a time, considerable uneasiness regarding the title to these lands. In 1799, Congress was induced to issue patents to the actual settlers, and thus secure them in their preemption.

Seventeen days after Wayne's treaty, St. Clairs Wilkinson, Jonathan Dayton and Israel Ludlow contracted with Symmes for the seyenth and eighth ranges, between Mad River and the Little Miami. Three settlements were to be made: one at the mouth of Mad River, one on the Little Miami, in the seventh range, and another on Mad River. On chase, and John Dunlap to run its boundaries, which was completed before October 4. On November 4, Mr. Ludlow laid off the town of Dayton, which, like land in the Connecticut Reserve, was sold by lottery.

A gigantic scheme to purchase eighteen or twenty million acres in Michigan, and then procure a good title from the Government - who alone had such a right to procure land - by giving mem-

'bers of Congress an interest in the investment, appeared shortly after Wayne's treaty. When some of the members were approached, however, the real spirit of the scheme appeared, and, instead of gaining ground, led to the exposure, resulting in the reprimanding severely of Robert Randall, the principal mover in the whole plan, and in its speedy disappearance.

North American Land Company was formed in Philadelphia, under the management of such patriots as Robert Morris, John Nicholson and James Greenleaf. This Company purchased large tracts in the West, which it disposed of to actual settlers, and thereby aided greatly in populating that part of the country.

Before the close of 1795, the Governor of the Territory, and his Judges, published sixty-four statutes. Thirty-four of these were adopted at Cincinnati during June, July and August of that year. They were known as the Maxwell code, from the name of the publisher, but were passed by Governor St. Clair and Judges Symmes and Turner. Among them was that which provided that the common law of England, and all its statutes, made previous to the fourth year of James the First, should be in full force within the Territory. "Of the system as a whole," says Mr. Case, "with its many imperfections, it may be doubted that any colony, at so early a period after its first ' establishment, ever had one so good and applicable to all." '

The Union had now safely passed through its most critical period after the close of the war of independence. The danger from an irruption of its own members; of a war or alliance of its West- ern portion with France and Spain, and many other perplexing questions, were now effectually settled, and the population of the Territory began rapidly to increase. Before the close of the year 1796, the Northwest contained over five thousand inhabitants, the requisite number to entitle it to one representative in the national Congress.

Western Pennsylvania also, despite the various conflicting claims regarding the land titles in that part of the State, began rapidly to fill with emigrants. The "Triangle" and the "Struck District" were surveyed and put upon the market under the act of 1792. Treaties and purchases from the various Indian tribes, obtained control of the remainder of the lands in that part of the State, and, by 1796, the State owned all the land within its boundaries. Towns were laid off, land put upon the market, so that by the year 1800, the western part of the Keystone State was divided into cight counties, viz., Beaver, Butler, Mercer, Crawford, Erie, Warren, Venango and Armstrong.

The ordinance relative to the survey and disposal of lands in the Northwest Territory has already been given. It was adhered to, save in minor cases, where necessity required a slight change. The reservations were recognized by Congress, and the titles to them all confirmed to the grantees. Thus, Clarke and his men, the Connecticut Reserve, the Refugee lands, the French inhabitants, and all others holding patents to land from colonial or foreign governments, were all confirmed in their rights and protected in their titles. '

Before the close of 1796, the upper Northwestern posts were all vacated by the British, under the terms of Mr. Jay's treaty. Wayne at once transferred his headquarters to Detroit, where a county was named for him, including the northwestern part of Ohio, the northeast of Indiana, and the whole of Michigan.

The occupation of the Territory by the Americans gave additional impulse to emigration, and a better feeling of security to emigrants, who followed closely upon the path of the army. Nathaniel Massie, who has already been noticed as the founder of Manchester, laid out the town of Chillicothe, on the Scioto, in 1796. Before the close of the year, it contained several stores, shops, a tavern, and was well populated. With the increase of' settlement and the security guaranteed by the treaty of Greenville, the arts of civilized life began to appear, and their influence upon pioneers, especially those born on the frontier, churches, dress and manners prevailed. began to assume a reality, and lost' much of that recklessness engendered by the habits of a frontier life.

Cleveland, Cincinnati, the Miami, the Muskingum and the Scioto. Valleys were filling with people. Cincinnati had more than one hundred log cabins, twelve or fifteen frame houses and a population of more than six hundred persons. In 1796, the first house of worship for the Presbyterians in that city was built.

Before the close of the same year, Manchester contained over thirty families; emigrants from Virginia were going up all the valleys from the Ohio; and Ebenezer Zane had opened a bridlepath from the Ohio River, at Wheeling, across the country, by Chillicothe, to Limestone, Ky. The next year, the United States mail, for the first time, traversed this route to the West. Zane was given a section of land for his path. The population of the Territory, estimated at from five to eight thousand, was chiefly distributed in lower valleys, bordering on the Ohio River. The French still occupied the Illinois country, and were the principal inhabitants about Detroit.

Carolina in 1790, had so rapidly populated that, in 1793, a Territorial form of government was allowed. The ordinance of 1787, save the clause prohibiting slavery, was adopted, and the Territory named Tennessee. On June 6, 1796, the Territory contained more than seventy-five thousand inhabitants, and was admitted into the Union as a State. Four years after, the census showed a population of 105,602 souls, including 13,584 slaves and persons of color. The same year Tennessee became a State, Samuel Jackson and Jonathan Sharpless erected the Redstone Paper Mill, four miles east. of Brownsville, it being the first manufactory of the kind west of the Alleghanies.

phia, was attacked with sickness and died in a cabin near Erie, in the north part of Pennsylvania. He was nearly fifty-one years old, and was one of

After the death of Wayne, Gen. Wilkinson was appointed to the command of the Western army. While he was in command, Carondelet, the Spanish governor of West Florida and Louisiana, made one more effort to separate the Union, and set up either an independent government in the West, or, what was more in accord with his wishes, effect a union with the Spanish nation. In June, 1797, he sent Power again into the Northwest and into home government was a certainty, the breaches had been healed, and Power was compelled to abandon the mission, not, however, until he had receiveda severe reprimand from many who saw through his plan, and openly exposed it. His mission closed the efforts of the Spanish authorities to attempt the dismemberment of the Union, and showed them the coming downfall of their power in America. They were obliged to surrender the posts claimed by the United States under the treaty of 1795, and not many years after, sold their American possessions to the United States, rather than see a rival European power attain control over them.

On the 7th of April, 1798, Congress passed an act, appointing Winthrop Sargent, Secretary of the Northwest Territory, Governor of the Territory of the Mississippi, formed the same day. In 1801, the boundary between America and the Spanish pos- | sessions was definitely fixed. The Spanish retired from the disputed territory, and henceforward their

The appointment of Sargent to the charge of the Southwest Territory, led to the choice of William Henry Harrison, who had been aid-de-camp to Gen. Wayne in 1794, and whose character stood very high among the people of the West, to the Secretaryship of the Northwest, which place he held until appointed to represent that Territory in Congress.

Further Settlements In The Reserve And Elsewhere

FIRST TERRITORIAL REPRESENTATIVES IN CONGRESS - DIVISION OF THE TERRITORY - FORMATION OF STATES - MARIETTA SETTLEMENT - OTHER SETTLEMENTS - SETTLEMENTS IN THE WESTERN RESERVE - SETTLEMENT OF THE CENTRAL VALLEYS - FURTHER SETTLEMENTS IN THE RESERVE AND ELSEWHERE.

j as there were 5,000 persons in the Territory, | of December, when, having finished their business, it was entitled to a representative assembly. On | they were prorogued by the Governor, by their October 29, 1798, Governor St. Clair gave notice | own request, till the first Monday in N ovember, by proclamation, that the required population ex- | 1800. This being the first session, there was, of isted, and directed that an election be held on the | necessity, a great deal of business to do. The third Monday in December, to choose representa- | transition from a colonial to a semi-independent tives. These representatives were required, when | form of government, called for a general revision assembled, to nominate ten persons, whose names | as well as a considerable enlargement of the statwere sent to the President of the United States, | ute-book. Some of the adopted laws were rewho selected five, and with the advice and consent | pealed, many others altered and amended, and a of the Senate, appointed them for the legislative | long list of new ones added to the code. New council. In this mode the Northwest passed into | offices were to be created and filled, the duties atthe second grade of a Territorial government. tached to them prescribed, and a plan of ways and

The representatives, elected under the proclama- | means devised to meet the increased expenditures, tion of St. Clair, met in Cincinnati, January 22, | occasioned by the change which had now occurred. 1799, and under the provisions of the ordinance As Mr. Burnet was the principal lawyer in the of 1787, nominated ten persons, whose names were | Council, much of the revision, and putting the laws sent to the President. On the 2d of March, he | into proper legal form, devolved upon him. He selected from the list of candidates, the names of | seems to have been well fitted for the place, and Jacob Burnet, James Findlay, Henry Vander- | to have performed the laborious task in an excelburgh, Robert Oliver and: David Vance. The | lent manner. next day the Senate confirmed their nomination, The whole number of acts passed and approved and the first legislative council of the Northwest | by the Governor, was thirty-seven. The most im- Territory was a reality. portant related to the militia, the administration of

The Territorial Legislature met again at Cincin- | justice, and to taxation. During the session, a bill nati, September 16, but, for want of a quorum, | authorizing a lottery was passed by the council, was not organized until the 24th of that month. | but rejected by the Legislature, thus interdicting The House of Representatives consisted of nine- this demoralizing feature of the disposal of lands teen members, of whom seven were from Hamilton | or for other purposes. The example has always been County, four from Ross - erected by St. Clair in | followed by subsequent legislatures, thus honorably 1798 ; three from Wayne - erected in 1796; two | characterizing the Assembly of Ohio, in this refrom Adams - erected in 1797; one from Jeffer- | spect, an example Kentucky and several other son - erected in 1797; one from Washington - | States might well emulate. erected in 1788; and one from Knox - lIndiana Before the Assembly adjourned, they issued a Territory. None seem to have been present from congratulatory address to the people, enjoining St. Clair County (Illinois Territory). them to "Inculeate the principles of humanity,

After the organization of the Legislature, Gov- benevolence. honesty and punctuality in dealing, ernor St. Clair addressed the two houses in the Rep- | sincerity and charity, and all the social affections. resentatives' Chamber, recommending such meas- | At the same time, they issued an cpt the ures as, in his judgment, were suited to the con- President, expressing entire confidence in : sine dition of the country and would advance the safety | dom and purity of his government, pp omnae and prosperity of the people. warm attachment to the American Constitution.

The vote on this address proved, however, that the differences of opinion agitating the Hastern States had penetrated the West. Hleven Representatives voted for it, and five against it.

One of the important duties that devolved on this Legislature, was the election of a delegate to Congress. As soon as the Governor's proclamation made its appearance, the election of a person to fill that position excited general attention. Before the meeting of the Legislature public opinion had settled down on William Henry Harrison, and Arthur St. Clair, Jr., who eventually were the only candidates. On the 3d of October, the two houses met and proceeded to a choice. Hleven votes were cast for Harrison, and ten for St. Clair. The Legislature prescribed the form of a certificate of the | election, which was given to Harrison, who at once resigned his office as Secretary of the Territory, proceeded to Philadelphia, and took his seat, Congress being then in session.

"Though he represented the Territory but one year," says Judge Burnett, in his notes, " he obtained some important advantages for his constituents. He introduced a resolution to sub-divide for sale in smaller tracts; he succeeded in getting that measure through both houses, in opposition to the interest of speculators, who were, and who wished to be, the retailers of the land to the poorer classes of the community. His proposition became a law, and was hailed as the most beneficent act that Congress had ever done for the Territory. It put in the power of every industrious man, however poor, to become a freeholder, and to lay a foundation for the future support and comfort of his family. At the same session, he obtained a liberal extension of time for the pre-emptioners in the northern part of the Miami purchase, which enabled them to secure their farms, and eventually to become independent, and even wealthy."

The first session, as has been noticed, closed December 19. Gov. St. Clair took occasion to enumerate in his speech at the close of the session, eleven acts, to which he saw fit to apply his veto. These he had not, however, returned to the Assembly, and thereby saved a long struggle between the executive and legislative branches of the Territory. Of the eleven acts enumerated, six related to the formation of new counties. These were mainly disproved by St Clair, as he always sturdily maintained that the power to erect new counties was vested alone in the Executive. This free exercise of the veto power, especially in relation to new regarding the Governor, who was never fully able to regain the standing he held before his iplorious defeat in his campaign against the Indians.

While this was being agitated, another question came into prominence. Ultimately, it settled the powers of the two branches of the government, and caused the removal of St. Clair, then very distasteful to the people. The opening of the present century brought it fully before the people, who begam to agitate it in all their assemblies.

The great extent of the Territory made the operations of government extremely uncertain, and the power of the courts practically worthless. Its division was, therefore, deemed best, and a committee was appointed by Congress to inquire into the matter. This committee, the 3d of the three western counties, there has been but one court having cognizance of crimes in five years. The immunity which offenders experience, attracts, as to an asylum, the most vile and abandoned criminals, and, at the same time, deters useful and virtuous e¢itizens from making settlements in such society. The extreme necessity of judiciary attention and assistance is experienced in civil as well as criminal cases. The supplying to vacant places such necessary officers as may be wanted, such as elerks, recorders and others of hike kind, is, from the impossibility of correet notice and information, utterly neglected. This Territory is exposed as a frontier to foreign nations, whose agents ean find sufficient interest in exciting or fomenting insurrection and discontent, as thereby they ean more easily divert a valuable trade in furs from the United States, and also have a part thereof on which they border, which feels so little the cherishing hand of their proper government, or so little dreads its energy, as to render their attachment perfectly uncertain and ambiguous.

"The committee would further suggest, that the law of the 3d of March, 1791, granting land to certain persons in the western part of said Territory, and directing the laying-out of the same, remains unexecuted; that great discontent, in consequence of such neglect, is excited in those who are interested in the provisions of said laws, which require the immediate attention of this Legislature. To minister a remedy to these: evils, that a division of said Territory into two distinct and separate governments should be made; and that such division be made by a line beginning at the mouth of the great Miami River, running directly north until it intersects the boundary between the United States and Canada." * :

The recommendations of the committee were favorably received by Congress, and, the 7th of May, an act was passed dividing the Territory. The main provisions of the act are as follows: westward of a line beginning at the Ohio, opposite to the mouth of the Kentucky River, and running theace to Fort Recovery, and thence north until it intersects the territorial line between the United States and Canada, shall, for the purpose of temporary government, constitute a separate Territory, and be called the Indiana Territory.

**There shall be established within the said Territory a government, in all respects similar to that provided by the ordinance of Congress passed July 13, 1797." + plan as that in force in the Northwest, stipulating that until the number of inhabitants reached five thousand, the whole number of representatives to the General Assembly should not be less than seven, nor more than nine; apportioned by the Governor among the several counties in the new Terri- POL ss | The act further provided that "nothing in the act should be so construed, so as in any manner to affect the government now in force in the territory of the United States northwest of the Ohio River, further than to prohibit the exercise thereof within the Indiana Territory, from and after the aforesaid 4th of July next.

"Whenever that part of the territory of the United States, which lies to the eastward of a line beginning at the mouth of the Great Miami River, and running thence due north to the territorial line between the United States and Canada, shall be erected into am mdependent State, and admitted into the Union on an equal footing with the original States; thenceforth said line shall become and remain permanently, the boundary line between such State and the Indiana Territory."

Of Ohio

Tt was further enacted, "that, until it shall be otherwise enacted by the legislatures of the said territories, respectively, Chillicothe, on the Scioto River, shall be the seat of government of the territory of the United States northwest of the Ohio River; and that St. Vincent's, on the Wabash River, shall be the seat of government for the Indiana Territory." *

Connecticut, in ceding her territory in the West to the General Government, reserved a portion, known as the Connecticut Reserve. When she afterward disposed of her claim in the manner narrated, the citizens found themselves without any government on which to lean for support. At that time, settlements had begun in thirty-five of the townshipsinto which the Reserve had been divided ; one thousand persons had established homes there ; mills had been built, and over seven hundred miles of roads opened. In 1800, the settlers petitioned for acceptance into the Union, as a part of the Northwest ; and, the mother State releasing her judiciary claims, Congress accepted the trust, and granted the request. In December, of that year, the population had so increased that the county of Trumbull was erected, including the Reserve. Soon after, a large number of settlers came from Pennsylvania, from which State they had been driven by the dispute concerning land titles in its western part. Unwilling to cultivate land to which they could only get a doubtful deed, they abandoned it, and came where the titles were sure.

Congress having made Chillicothe the capital of the Northwest Territory, as it now existed, on the 3d of November the General Assembly met at that place. Gov. St. Clair had been made to feel the odium cast upon his previous acts, and, at the opening of this session, expressed, in strong terms, his disapprobation of the censure cast upon him. He had endeavored to do his duty in all cases, he said, and yet held the confidence of the President and Congress. He still held the office, notwithstanding the strong dislike against him.

At the second session of the Assembly, at Chillicothe, held in the autumn of 1801, so much outspoken enmity was expressed, and so much abuse heaped upon the Governor and the Assembly, that a law was passed, removing the capital to Cincinnati again, It was not destined, however, that the Territorial Assembly should meet again anywhere. The unpopularity of the Governor caused many to long for a State government, where they could choose their own rulers. The unpopularity of St. Clair arose partly from the feeling connected with his defeat ; in part from his being connected with the Federal party, fast falling into disrepute; and, in part, from his assuming powers which most thought he had no right to exercise, especially the power of subdividing the counties of the Territory.

The opposition, though powerful out of the Assembly, was in the minority there. During the month of December, 1801, it was forced to protest against a measure brought forward in the Council, for changing the ordinance of 1787 in such a manner as to make the Scioto, and a line drawn from the intersection of that river and the Indian boundary to the western extremity of the Reserve, the limits of the most eastern State, to be formed from the Territory. Had this change been made, the formation of a State government beyond the Ohio would have been long delayed. Against it, Representatives Worthington, Langham, Darlington, Massie, Dunlavy and Morrow, recorded their protest. Not content with this, they sent Thomas Worthington, who obtained a leave of absence, to the seat of government, on behalf of the objectors, there to protest, before Congress, against the proposed boundary. While Worthington was on his way, Massie presented, the 4th of January, 1802, a resolution for choosing a committee to address Congress in respect to the proposed State government. This, the next day, the House refused to do, by a vote of twelve to five. An attempt was next made to procure a census of the Territory, and an act for that purpose passed the House, but the Council postponed the consideration of it until the next session, which would commence at Cincinnati, the fourth Monday of November.

Meanwhile, Worthington pursued the ends of his mission, using his influence to effect that organization, "which, terminating the influence of tyranny," was to "meliorate the circumstances of thousands, by freeing them from the domination of a despotic chief." His efforts were successful, and, the 4th of March, a report was made to the House in favor of authorizing a State convention. This report was based on the assumption that there were now over sixty thousand inhabitants in the proposed boundaries, estimating that emigration had:

| increased the census of 1800, which gave the Territory forty-five thousand inhabitants, to that number. The convention was to ascertain whether it were expedient to form such a government, and to prepare a constitution if such organization were deemed best. In the formation of the State, a change in the boundaries was proposed, by which all the territory north of a line drawn due east from the head of Lake Michigan to Lake Erie was to be excluded from the new government about to be called into existence.

The committee appointed by Congress to report upon the feasibility of forming the State, suggested that Congress reserve out of every township sections numbered 8, 11, 26 and 29, for their own use, and that Section 16 be reserved for the maintenance of schools. The committee also suggested, that, "religion, education and morality being necessary to the good government and happiness of mankind,

Various other recommendations were given by the committee, in accordance with which, Congress, April 30, passed the resolution authorizing the calling of a convention. As this accorded with the feelings of the majority of the inhabitants of the

The convention met the 1st of November. Its members were generally Jeffersonian in their national politics, and had been opposed to the change of boundaries proposed the year before. Before proceeding to business, Goy. St. Clair proposed to address them in his official character. This proposition was resisted by several of the members; but, after a motion, it was agreed to allow him to speak to them as a citizen. St. Clair did so, advising the postponement of a State government until the people of the original eastern division were plainly entitled to demand it, and were not subject to be bound by conditions. This advice, given as it was, caused Jefferson instantly to remove St. Clair, at which time his office ceased.* "When the vote was taken," says Judge Burnet, "upon doing what

* After this, St. Clair returned to his old home in the Ligonier Valley, Pennsylvania, where he lived with his children in almost abject poverty. He had lost money in his public life, as he gave close attention to public affairs, to the detriment of his own business. He presented a claim to Congress, afterward, for supplies furnished to the army, but the claim was outlawed. After trying in vain to get the claim allowed, he returned to his home. Pennsylvania, learning of his distress, granted him an annuity of $350, afterward raised to $690. He lived to enjoy this but a short time, his death ' occurring August 31,1818. He was eighty-four years of age.

"To every person who has attended to this subject, and who has consulted the maps of the Western country extant at the time the ordinance of 1787 was passed, Lake Michigan was believed to be, and was represented by all the maps of that it has since been ascertained to occupy. I have seen the map in the Department of State which was before the committee of Congress who framed and reported the ordinance for the government of the Territory. ary of Michigan was represented as being above the forty-second degree of north latitude. And there was a pencil line, said to have been made by the committee, passing through the southern bend of the lake to the Canada line, which struck the strait not far below the town of Detroit. The line was manifestly intended by the committee and by Congress to be the northern boundary of our State; and, on the principles by which courts of chancery construe contracts, accompanied by plats, it would seem that the map, and the line referred to, should be conclusive evidence of our boundary, without reference to the real position of the lakes.

"When the convention sat, in 1802, the underderstanding was, that the old maps were nearly correct, and that the line, as defined in the ordinance, would terminate at some point on the strait above the Maumee Bay. While the convention was in session, a man who had hunted many years on Lake Michigan, and was well acquainted with its position, happened to be in Chillicothe, and, in conversation with one of the members, told him that the lake extended much farther south than was generally supposed, and that a map of the country which he had seen, placed its southern bend many miles north of its true position. This information excited some uneasiness, and induced the convention to modify the clause describing the north boundary of the new State, so as to guard against its being depressed below the most northern cape of the Maumee Bay."'* their agreement was ratified and signed, as was also the constitution of the State of Ohio - so named from its river, called by the Shawanees Ohio, meaning beautiful - forming its southern boundary. Of this nothing need be said, save that it bore the marks of true democratic feeling - of full faith in the people. By them, however, it was never voted for. It stood firm until 1852, when it was superseded by the present one, made necessary by the advance of time.

The General Assembly was required to meet at Chillicothe, the first Tuesday of March, 1803. This change left the territory northwest of the Ohio River, not included in the new State, in the Territories of Indiana and Michigan. Subsequently, in 1816, Indiana was made a State, and confined to her present limits. Tlinois was made a Territory then, including Wisconsin. In 1818, it became a State, and Wisconsin a Territory attached to Michigan. This latter was made a State in 1837, and Wisconsin a separate Territory, which, in 1847, was made a State. Minnesota was made a Territory the same year, and a State in 1857, and the five contemplated States of the territory were complete.

Preceding pages have shown how the territory north of the Ohio River was peopled by the French and English, and how it came under the rule of the American people. The war of the Revolution closed in 1783, and left ail America in the hands of a new nation. That nation brought a change. Before the war, various attempts had been made by residents in New England to people the country west of the Alleghanies. Land companies were formed, principal among which were the Ohio Company, and the company of which John Cleves Symmes was the agent and chief owner. Large tracts of land on the Scioto and on the Ohio were entered. The Ohio Company were the first to make a settlement. It was organized in the autumn of 1787, November 27. They made arrangements for a party of forty-seven men to set out for the West under the supervision of Gen. Rufus Putnam, Superintendent of the Company. larly in the winter they advanced to the Youghiogheny River, and there built a strong boat, which they named " Mayflower." It was built by Capt. Jonathan Devol, the first ship-builder in the West, and, when completed, was placed under his command. The boat was launched April 2, 1788, and the band of pioneers, like the Pilgrim Fathers, began their voyage. The 7th of the month, they arrived at the mouth of the Muskingum, arrival in possession of a company of soldiers. Under the protection of these troops, the little band of men began their labor of laying out a town,

Bridges, Ebenezer and Thomas Cory, Andrew Mc- Clure, Wm. Mason, Thomas Lord, Wm. Gridley, Gilbert Devol, Moody Russels, Deavens, Oakes, Wright, Clough, Green, Shipman, Dorance, the Masons, and others, whose names are now beyond recall.

ing, where they built large flat-boats, into which they loaded their effects, including their cattle, and | thence passed down the Ohio to their destination. The families were those of Gen. Tupper, Col. Ichabod Nye, Col. Cushing, Maj. Coburn, and

Maj. Goodale. In these titles the reader will observe the preponderance of military distinction. Many of the founders of the colony had served with much valor in the war for freedom, and were well prepared for a life in the wilderness.

They began at once the construction of houses from the forests about the confluence of the rivers, guarding their stock by day and penning it by night. Wolves, bears and Indians were all about them, and, here in the remote wilderness, they were obliged to always be on their guard. From the ground where they obtained the timber to erect their houses, they soon produced a few vegetables, and when the families arrived in August, they were able to set before them food raised for the

*The outlines of Fort Harmar formed a regular pentagon, embracing within the area about three-fourths of an acre. Its walls were formed of large horizontal timbers, and the bastions of large upright timbers aboutfourteen feet in height, fastened to each other by strips. of timber, tree-nailed into each picket. In the rear of the fort Maj. Doughty laid out fine gardens, It continued to be occupied by United States troops until September 1790, when they were ordered to Cincinnati. A company, under Capt. Haskell, continued to make the fort their headquarters during the Indian war, occasionally assisting the colonists at Marietta, Belpre and first time by the hand of American citizens in the Ohio Valley. One of those who came in August, was Mr. Thomas Guthrie, a settler in one of the western counties of Pennsylvania, who brought a bushel of wheat, which he sowed on a plat of ground cleared by himself, and from which that fall he procured a small crop of wheat, the first grown in the State of Ohio.

The Marietta settlement was the only one made that simmer in the Territory. From their arrival until October, when Governor St. Clair came, they were busily employed making houses, and preparing for the winter. The little colony, of which | Washington wrote so favorably, met on the 2d day of July, to name their newborn city and its public sqares. Until now it had been known as " The Muskingum" simply, but on that day the name Marietta was formally given to it, in honor of Marie Antoinette. The 4th of July, an ovation was | held, and an oration delivered by James M. Varnum, who, with S. H. Parsons and John Armstrong, had been appointed Judges of the Territory. Thus, in the heart of the wilderness, | miles away from any kindred post, in the forests of the Great West, was the Tree of Liberty watered and given a hearty growth.

On the morning of the 9th of July, Governor St. Clair arrived, and the colony began to assume form. The ordinance of 1787 had provided for a form of government under the Governor and the three Judges, and this form was at onee put into force. The 25th, the first law relating to the militia was published, and the next day the Goyernor's proclamation appeared, creating all the country that had been ceded by the Indians, east of the Scioto River, into the county of Washington, and the civil machinery was in motion. From that time forward, this, the pioneer settlement in Ohio, went on prosperously. The 2d of September, the first court in the Territory was held, but as it related to the Territory, a narrative of its proceedings will be found in the history of that part of the country, and need not be repeated here.

The 15th of July, Goy. St. Clair had published the ordinance of 1787, and the commissions of himself and the three Judges. He also assembled the people of the settlement, and explained to them the ordinance in a speech of considerable length. Three days after, he sent a notice to the Judges, calling their attention to the subject of organizing the militia. Instead of attending to | this important matter, and thus providing for their | safety should trouble with the Indians arise, the but sent him what they called a "project" of a law for dividing real estate. The bill was so loosely drawn that St. Clair immediately rejected it, and set about organizing the militia himself. He divided the militia into two classes, " Senior"

In the Junior Class, Nathan Goodale and Charles Knowls were made Captains; Watson Casey and Samuel Stebbins, Lieutenants, and Joseph Lincoln and Arnold Colt, Ensigns.

Tupper and Winthrop Sargeant were made Justices of the Peace. The 30th of August, the day the Court of Quarter Sessions was appointed, Archibald Cary, Isaac Pierce and Thomas Lord were also appointed Justices, and given power to hold this court. They were, in fact, Judges of a Court of Common Pleas. Return Jonathan Meigs was appointed Clerk of this Court of Quarter | Sessions. Ebenezer Sproat was appointe Sheriff of Washington County, and also Colonel of the militia; William Callis, Clerk of the Supreme Court; |

Rufus Putnam, Judge of the Probate Court, and R. J. Meigs, Jr., Clerk. Following these appointments, setting the machinery of government in motion, St. Clair ordered that the 25th of December be kept as a day of thanksgiving by the infant colony for its safe and propitious beginning. During the fall and winter, the settlement was greatest difficulty was experienced in finding them lodging. During the coldest part of the winter, when ice covered the river, and prevented navigation, a delay in arrivals was experienced, only to be broken as soon as the river opened to the beams of a spring sun. While locked in the winter's embrace, the colonists amused themselves in various ways, dancing being one of the most prominent. At Christmas, a grand ball was held, at which there were fifteen ladies, "whose grace," says a narrator, "equaled any in the Kast." Though isolated in the wilderness, they knew a brilliant prospect lay before them, and lived on in a joyous hope for the future.

1791. During the interval, fortunately, no hostilities from the Indians were experienced, though they were abundant, and were frequent visitors to

From a communication in the American Pioneer, by Dr. 8. P. Hildreth, the following description of Campus Martius is derived. As it will apply, in a measure, to many early structures for defense in

_ parallelogram, the sides of each being 180 feet. _ At each corner was erected a strong block-house, surmounted by a tower, and a sentry box. _ houses were twenty feet square below and twenty- four feet square above, and projected six feet beyond the walls of the fort. The intermediate walls were made up with dwelling-houses, made of wood, whose ends were whip-sawed into timbers four houses, with the ends nicely dove-tailed together. The whole were two stories high, and covered with shingle roofs. Convenient chimneys were erected number of the dwellings were built and owned by individuals who had families. In the west and south fronts were strong gateways; and over the one in the center of the front looking to the Mus- was occupied by Winthrop Sargeant, as an office, he being Secretary to the Governor, and performing the duties of the office during St. Clair's ab- This room projected over the gateway, like a block-house, and was intended for the protection of the gate beneath, in time of an assault. At the outer corner of each block-house was erected a bastion, standing on four stout timbers. The floor of the bastion was a little above the lower story of the block-house. They were square, and built up to the height of a man's head, so that, when he looked over, he stepped on a narrow platform or "banquet" running around thesides of the bulwark. Port-holes were made, for musketry as well as for the southwest and northeast bastions. In these, the sentries were regularly posted every night, as more convenient than the towers; a door leading into them from the upper story of the block-houses. The lower room of the southwest block-house was occupied as a guard-house.

and resting on stout rails. Twenty feet in advance of these, was a row of very strong and large pickets, set upright in the earth. Gateways through these, admitted the inmates of the garrison, A few feet beyond the row of outer palisades was branches of trees, sharpened and pointing outward, so that it would have been very difficult for an enemy to have penetrated within their outworks. The dwelling-houses occupied a space from fifteen to thirty feet each, and were sufficient for the accommodation of forty or fifty families, and did actually contain from two hundred to three hundred persons during the Indian war.

'Before the Indians commenced hostilities, the block-houses were occupied as follows: The southwest one, by the family of Goy. St. Clair; the northeast one as an office for the Directors of the Company. The area within the walls was one hundred and forty-four feet square, and afforded a fine parade ground. In the center, was a well eighty feet in depth, for the supply of water to the inhabitants, in case of a siege. A large sun-dial stood for many years in the square, placed on a handsome post, and gave note of the march of time.

" After the war commenced, a regular military corps was organized, and a guard constantly kept night and day. The whole establishment formed a very strong work, and reflected great credit on the head that planned it. It was im a manner impregnable to the attacks of Indians, and none but a regular army with cannon could have reduced it. The Indians possessed no such an armament.

"The garrison stood on the verge of that beautiful plain overlooking the Muskingum, on which are seated those celebrated remains of antiquity, erected probably for a similar purpose - the defense of the inhabitants. The ground descends into shallow ravines on the north and south sides; on the west is an abrupt descent to the river bottoms or alluvium, and the east passed out to a level plain. On this, the ground was cleared of trees beyond the reach of rifle shots, so as to afford no shelter to a hidden foe. Extensive fields of corn were grown in the midst of the standing girdled trees beyond, in after years. The front wall of palisades was about one hundred and fifty yards from the Muskingum River. The appearance of the fort from without was imposing, at a little distance resembling the military castles of the feudal ages, Between the outer palisades and the river were laid out neat gardens for the use of Gov. St. Clair and his Secretary, with the officers of the Company. ; 'Opposite the fort, on the shore of the river, was built a substantial timber wharf, at which was moored a fine cedar barge for twelve rowers, built by Capt. Jonathan Devol, for Gen. Putnam; a number of pirogues, and the light canoes of the

' Adventure Galley,' in which the first detachments of colonists were transported from the shores of the ' Yohiogany' to the banks of the Muskingum. In these, especially the canoes, during the war, most of the communications were carried on between the settlements of the Company and the more remote towns above on the Ohio River. Traveling by land was very hazardous to any but the rangers or spies. There were no roads, nor bridges across the creeks, and, for many years after the war had ceased, the traveling was nearly all done by canoes on the river."

Thus the first settlement of Ohio provided for its safety and comfort, and provided also for that of emigrants who came to share the toils of the wilderness.

The next spring, the influx of emigration was so great that other settlements were determined, and hence arose the colonies of Belpre, Waterford and Duck Creek, where they began to clear land, sow and plant crops, and build houses and stockades. At Belpre (French for "beautiful meadow" ), were built three stockades, the upper, lower and middle, the last of which was called " Farmers' Castle," and stood on the banks of the Ohio, nearly opposite an island, afterward famous in Western history as Blennerhasset's Island, the scene of Burr's conspiracy. Among the persons settling at the upper stockade, were Capts. Dana and Stone, Col. Bent, William Browning, Judge Foster, John Rowse, Israel Stone and a Mr. Keppel. At the Farmers' Castle, were Cols. Cushing and Fisher, Maj. Haskell, Aaron Waldo Putnam, Mr. Sparhawk, and, it is believed, George and Israel Putnam, Jr. At the lower, were Maj. Goodale, Col. Rice, Esquire Pierce, Judge Israel Loring, Deacon Miles, Maj. Bradford and Mr. Goodenow. In the summer of

789, Col. Ichabod Nye and some others, built a block-house at Newberry, below Belpre. Col. Nye sold his lot there to Aaron W. Clough, who, with Stephen Guthrie, Joseph Leavins, Joel Oakes, Eleazer Curtis, Mr. Denham J. Littleton and Mr. Brown, was located at that place.

"for men in these circumstances, was made to secure food for future difficulties. Col. Oliver, Maj. Hatfield White and John Dodge, of the Waterford settlement, began mills on Wolf Creck, about three miles from the fort, and got them running; and these, the first mills in Ohio, were never destroyed during the subsequent Indian war, though | the proprietors removed their familes to the fort | at Marietta. Col. E. Sproat and Enoch Shepherd began mills on Duck Creek, three miles from Marietta, from the completion of which they were driven by the Indian war. Thomas Stanley began mills farther up, near the Duck Creek settle | was planted near the mouth of the Little Miami River, on a tract of ten thousand acres, purchased fromSymmes by Maj. Benjamin Stites. Inthe preceding pages may be found a history of Symmes' | purchase. This colony may be counted the second | separate portions of Judge Symmes' purchase, between the Miami Rivers. Three parties were formed for this purpose, but, owing to various delays, chiefly in getting the present colony steadfast and safe from future encroachments by the savages, they did not get started till late in the fall. The first of these parties, consisting of fifteen or twenty men, led by Maj. Stites, landed at the mouth of the Little Miami in November, 1788, and, constructing a log fort, began to lay out a village, called by them Columbia. It soon grew into prominence, and, before winter had thoroughly set in, they were well prepared for a frontier life. In the party were Cols. Spencer and Brown, Majs. Gano and Kibbey, Judges Goforth and Foster, Rey. John Smith, Francis Dunlavy, Capt. Flinn, Jacob White, John Riley, and Mr. Hubbell.

All these were men of energy and enterprise, and, with their comrades, were more numerous than either of the other parties, who commenced their settlements below them on the Ohio. This village was also, at first, more flourishing; and, for two or three years, contained more inhabitants than any other in the Miami purchase.

The second Miami party was formed at Limestone, under Matthias Denham and Robert Patterson, and consisted of twelve or fifteen persons. They landed on the north bank of the Ohio, opposite the mouth of the Licking River, the 24th of December, 1788. They intended to establish a station and Jay out a town on a plan prepared at _ Limestone. Some statements affirm that the town was to be called " L-os-anti-ville," by a romantic school-teacher named Filson. However, be this as it may, Mr. Filson was, unfortunately for himself, not long after, slain by the Indians, and, with him probably, the name disappeared. He was to have one-third interest in the proposed city, which, when his death occurred, was transferred to Israel Ludlow, and a new plan ofa city adopted. Israel

Ludlow surveyed the proposed town, whose lots were principally donated to settlers upon certain conditions as to settlement and improvement, and the embryo city named Cincinnati. Gov. St. Clair very likely had something to do with the naming of the village, and, by some, it is asserted that he changed the name from Losantiville to Cincinnati, when he created the county of Hamilton the ensuing winter. The original purchase of the city's site was made by Mr. Denham. It included about eight hundred acres, for which he paid 5 shillings per acre in Continental certificates, then worth, in specie, about 5 shillings per pound, gross weight. Evidently, the original site was a good investment, could Mr. Denham have lived long enough to see its present condition.

himself. They left Limestone, January 29, 1789, and were much delayed on their downward journey by the ice in the river. They reached the " Bend," as it was then known, early in February. The Judge had intended to found a city here, which, in time, would be the rival of the Atlantic cities. As each of the three settlements aspired to the same position, no little rivalry soon manifested itself. The Judge named his proposed city North Bend, from the fact that it was the most northern bend in the Ohio below the mouth of the Great Kanawha. These three settlements antedated, a few months, those made near Marietta, already described. They arose so soon after, partly from the extreme desire of Judge Symmes to settle his purchase, and induce emigration here instead of on the Ohio Company's purchase. The Judge labored earnestly for this purpose and to further secure him in his title to the land he had acquired, all of which he had so far been unable to retain, owing to his inability to meet his payments.

Judge Symmes found he must provide for the safety of the settlers on his purchase, and, after earnestly soliciting Gen. Harmar, commander of | the Western posts, succeeded in obtaining a de- | tachment of forty-eight men, under Capt. Kearsey, to protect the improvements just commencing on the Miami. This detachment reached Limestone in December, 1788. Part was at once sent forward to guard Maj. Stites and his pioneers. Judge Symmes and his party started in January, and, about February 2, reached Columbia, where the Captain expected to find a fort erected for his use and shelter. The flood on the river, however, defeated his purpose, and, as he was unprepared to erect another, he determined to go on down to the garrison at the falls at Louisville. Judge Symmes was strenuously opposed to his conduct, as it left the colonies unguarded, but, all to no purpose; the Captain and his command, went to Louisville early in March, and left the Judge and his settlement to protect themselves. Judge Symmes immediately sent a strong letter to Maj. Willis, commanding at the Falls, complaining of the conduct of Capt. Kearsey, representing the exposed situation of the Miami settlements, stating the indications of hostility manifested by the Indians, and requesting a guard to be sent to the Bend. This request was at once granted, and Ensign Luce, with seventeen or eighteen soldiers, sent. They were at the settlement but a short time, when they were attacked by Indians, and one of their number killed, and four or five wounded. They repulsed the savages and saved the settlers.

The site of Symmes City, for such he designed it should ultimately be called, was above the reach of water, and sufficiently level to admit of a convenient settlement. The city laid out by Symmes was truly magnificent on paper, and promised in the future to fulfill his most ardent hopes. The plat included the village, and extended across the peninsula between the Ohio and Miami Rivers. Each settler on this plat was promised a lot if he would improve it, and in conformity to the stipulation, Judge Symmes soon found a large number of persons applying for residence. As the number of these adventurers increased, in consequence of this provision and the protection of the military, the Judge was induced to lay out another village six or seven miles up the river, which he called South Bend, where he disposed of some donation

During all the time these various events were transpiring, but little trouble was experienced with the Indians. They were not yet disposed to evince hostile feelings. This would have been their time, but, not realizing the true intent of the whites until it was too late to conquer them, they allowed them to become prepared to withstand a warfare, and in the end wereobliged to suffer their hunting-grounds to be taken from them, and made the homes of a race destined to entirely supersede them in the New World.

By the means sketched in the foregoing pages, were the three settlements on the Miamimade. By the time those adjacent to Marietta were well established, these were firmly fixed, each one striving to become the rival city all felt sure was to arise. For a time it was a matter of doubt which of the rivals, Columbia, North Bend or Cincinnati, would eventually become the chief seat of business.

In the beginning, Columbia, the eldest of the three, took the lead, both in number of its inhabitants' and the convenience and appearance of its dwellings. Fora time it was a flourishing place, and many believed it would become the great business town of the Miami country. That apparent fact, however, lasted but a short time. The garrison was moved to Cincinnati, Fort Washington built there, and in spite of all that Maj. Stites, or Judge Symmes could do, that place became the metropolis: Fort Washington, the most extensive garrison in the West, was built by Maj. Doughty, in the summer of 1789, and from that time the growth and future greatness of Cincinnati were assured.

The first house in the city was built on Front. street, east of and near Main street. It was simply a strong log cabin, and was erected of the forest trees cleared away from the ground on which it stood. The lower part of the town was covered with sycamore and maple trees, and the upper with beech and oak. Through this dense forest the streets were laid out, and their corners marked on the trees.

The settlements on the Miami had become sufficiently numerous to warrant a separate county, and, in January, 1790, Gov. St. Clair and his Secretary arrived in Cincinnati, and organized the county of Hamilton, so named in honor of the illustrious statesman by that name. It included all the country north of the Ohio, between the Miamis, as far as a line running "due east from the

Standing Stone forks" of Big Miami to its intersection with the Little Miami. The erection of the new county, and the appointment of Cincinnati to be the seat of justice, gave tlie town a fresh impulse, and aided greatly in its growth.

Through the summer, but little interruption in the growth of the settlements occurred. The Indians had permitted the erection of defensive works in their midst, and could not now destroy them. They were also engaged in traffic with the whites, and, though they evinced signs of discontent at their settlement and occupation of the country, yet did not openly attack them. The truth was, they saw plainly the whites were always prepared, and no opportunity was given them to plunder and destroy. The Indian would not attack unless success was almost sure. An opportunity, unfortunately, came, and with it the horrors of an Indian war.

In the autumn of 1790, a company of thirtysix men went from Marietta to a place on the Muskingum known as the Big Bottom. Here they built a block-house, on the east bank of the river, four miles above the mouth of Meigs Creek. They were chiefly young, single men, but little acquainted with Indian warfare or military rules. The savages had given signs that an attack on the settlement was meditated, and several of the knowing ones at the strongholds strenuously opposed any new settlements that fall, advising their post- - ponement until the next spring, when the question of peace or war would probably be settled. Even Gen. Putnam and the Directors of the Ohio Company advised the postponement of the settlement until the next spring.

The young men were impatient and restless, and declared themselves able to protect their fort against any number of assailants. They might have easily done so, had they taken the necessary precautions; but, after they had erected a rude block-house of unchinked logs, they began to pass the time in various pursuits; setting no guard, and taking no precautionary measures, they left themselves an easy prey to any hostile savages that might choose to come and attack them.

About twenty rods from the block-house, and a little back from the bank of the river, two men, Francis and Isaac Choate, members of the company, had erected a cabin, and commenced clearing lots. Thomas Shaw, a hired laborer, and James Patten, another of the associates, lived with them. About the same distance below the block-house was an old "Tomahawk Improvement" and a small cabin, which two men, Asa and Eleazur Bullard, had fitted up and occupied. The Indian war-path, from Sandusky to the mouth of the Muskingum, passed along the opposite shore of the river.

"The Indians, who, during the summer," says Dr. Hildreth, "had been hunting and loitering about the Wolf Creek and Plainfield settlements, holding frequent and friendly intercourse with the settlers, selling them venison and bear's meat in exchange for green corn and vegetables, had withdrawn and gone up the river, early in the autumn, to their towns, preparatory to going into winter quarters. They very seldom entered on any warlike expeditions during the cold weather. But they had watched the gradual encroachment of the whites and planned an expedition against them. They saw them in fancied security in their cabins, and thought their capture an easy task. It is said they were not aware of the Big Bottom settlement until they came in sight of it, on the opposite shore of the river, in the afternoon. From a high hill opposite the garrison, they had a view of all that part of the bottom, and could see how the men were occupied and what was doing about the block-house. It was not protected with palisades or pickets,and none of the men were aware or prepared for an attack. Having laid their plans, about twilight they crossed the river above the garrison, on the ice, and divided their men into two parties - the larger one to attack the block-house, the smaller'one to capture the cabins. As the Indians cautiously approached the cabin they found the inmates at supper. Part entered, addressed the whites in a friendly manner, but soon manifesting their designs, made them all prisoners, tieing them with leather thongs they found in the cabin."

At the block-house the attack was far different. A stout Mohawk suddenly burst open the door, the first intimation the inmates had of the presence of the foe, and while he held it open his comrades shot down those that were within. Rushing in, the deadly tomahawk completed the onslaught. In the assault, one of the savages was struck by the wife of Isaac Woods, with an ax, but only slightly injured. The heroic woman was immediately slain. All the men but two were slain before they had time to secure their arms, thereby paying for their failure to properly secure themselves, with their lives. The two excepted were John Stacy and his brother Philip, a lad sixteen years of age. John escaped to the roof, where he was shot by the Indians, while begging for his life. The firing at the block-house alarmed the Bullards in their cabin, and hastily barring the door, and securing their armsand ammunition, they fled to the woods, and escaped. After the slaughter was over, the Indians began to collect the plunder, and in doing so discovered the lad Philip Stacy. They were about to dispatch him, but his entreaties softened the heart of one of the chiefs, whe took him as a captive with the intention of adopting him into his family. The savages then piled the dead bodies on the floor, covered them with other portions of it not needed for that purpose, and set fire to the whole. The bufding, being made of green logs, did not burn, the flames consuming only the floors and roof, leaving the walls standing.

There were twelve persons killed in this attack, all of whom were in the prime of life, and valuable aid to the settlements. They were well provided with arms, and had they taken the necessary precautions, always pressed upon them when visited by the older ones from Marietta, they need not have suffered so terrible a fate.

The Indians, exultant over their horrible victory, went on to Wolf's mills, but here they found the people prepared, and, after reconnoitering the place, made their retreat, at early dawn, to the great relief of the inhabitants. Their number was never definitely known.

The news reached Marietta and its adjacent settlements soon after the massacre occurred, and struck terror and dismay into the hearts of all. Many had brothers and sons in the ill-fated party, and mourned their loss. Neither did they know what place would fall next. The Indian hostilities had begun, and they could only hope for peace when the savages were effectually conquered.

The next day, Capt. Rogers led a party of men over to the Big Bottom. It was, indeed, a melancholy sight to the poor borderers, as they knew not now how soon the same fate might befall themselves. The fire had so disfigured their comrades that but two, Ezra Putnam and William Jones, were recognized. As the ground was frozen outside, a hole was dug in the earth underneath the block-house floor, and the bodies consigned to one grave. No further attempt was made to settle here till after the peace of 1795.

The outbreak of Indian hostilities put a check on further settlements. Those that were established were put in a more active state of defense, and every preparation made that could be made for the impending crisis all felt sure must come. Either the Indians must go, or the whites must retreat. A few hardy and adventurous persons ventured out into the woods and made settlements, but evén these were at the imminent risk of their lives, many of them perishing in the attempt.

The Indian war that followed is given fully in preceding pages. It may be briefly sketched by stating that the first campaign, under Gen Harmar, ended in the defeat of his army at the Indian villages on the Miami of the lake, and the rapid retreat to Fort Washington. St. Clair was next commissioned to lead an army of nearly three thousand men, but these were furiously attacked at break of day, on the morning of November 4, 1791, and utterly defeated. Indian outrages sprung out anew after each defeat, and the borders were in a continual state of alarm. The most terrible sufferings were endured by prisoners in the hands of the savage foe, who thought to annihilate the whites.

The army was at once re-organized, Gen. Anthony Wayne put in command by Washington, and a vigorous campaign inaugurated. Though the savages had been given great aid by the British, in direct violation of the treaty of 1783, Gen. Wayne pursued them so vigorously that they could not withstand his army, and, the 20th of August, 1794, defeated them, and utterly annihilated their forces, breaking up their camps, and laying waste their country, in some places under the guns of the British forts. The victory showed them the hopelessness of contending against the whites, and led their chiefs to sue for peace. The British, as at former times, deserted them, and they were again alone, contending against an invincible foe. <A grand council was held at Greenville the 3d day of August, 1795, where eleven of the most powerful chiefs made peace with Gen. Wayne on terms of his own dictation. The boundary established by the old treaty of Fort McIntosh was confirmed, and extended westward from Loramie's to Fort Recovery, and thence southwest to the mouth of the Kentucky River. He also purchased all the territory not before ceded, within certain limits, comprehending, in all, about four-fifths of the State of Ohio. The line was long kuown as "The Greenville Treaty line." Upon these, and a few other minor conditions, the United States received the Indians under their protection, gave them a large number of presents, and practically closed the war

; The only settlement of any consequence made during the Indian war, was that on the platof Hamilton, laid out by Israel Ludlow in December, 1794. Soon after, Darius C. Orcutt, John Green, William Me- Clennan, John Sutherland, John Torrence, Benjamin F. Randolph, Benjamin Davis, Isaac Wiles, Andrew Christy and William Hubert, located here. The town was laid out under the name of Fairfield, but was known only a short time by that name. Until 1801, all the lands on the west side of the Great Miami were owned by the General Government; hence, until after that date, no improvements were made there. A single log cabin stood there until the sale of lands in April, 1801, when a company purchased the site of Rossville, and, in March, ; 1804, laid out that town, and, before a year had passed, the town and country about it was well settled.

The close of the war, in 1795, insured peace, and, from that date, Hamilton and that part of the 'Miami Valley grew remarkably fast. In 1803, Butler County was formed, and Hamilton made the county seat.

On the site of Hamilton, St. Clair built Fort Hamilton in 1791. For some time it was under the command of Maj. Rudolph, a cruel, arbitrary man, who was displaced by Gen. Wayne, and who, it is said, perished ignobly on the high seas, at the hands of some Algerine pirates, a fitting end to a man who caused, more than once, the death of men under his control for minor offenses.

While the war with the Indians continued, but little extension of settlements was made in the State. It was too perilous, and the settlers preferred the security of the block-house or to engage with the army. Still, however, a few bold spirits ventured away from the settled parts of the Territory, and began life in the wilderness. In tracing the histories of these settlements, attention will be paid to the order in which they were made. They will be given somewhat in detail until the war of 1812, after which time they become too numerous to follow.

have already been given. The settlement at Gallia is also noted, hence, the narration can be resumed where it ends prior to the Indian war of 1795. Before this war occurred, there were three small settlements made, however, in addition to those in Washington and Hamilton Counties. They were in what are now Adams, Belmont and Morgan Counties. They were block-house settlements, and were in a continual state of defense. The first of these, Adams, was settled in the winter of 1790-91 by Gen. Nathaniel Massie, near where Manchester now is. Gen. Massie determined to settle here in the Virginia Military Tract - in the winter of 1790, and sent notice throughout Kentucky and other Western settlements that he would give to each of the first twenty-five families who would settle in the town he proposed laying out, one in-lot, one out-lot and one hundred acres of land. Such liberal terms were soon accepted, and in a short time thirty families were ready to go with him. After various consultations with his friends, the bottom on the Ohio River, opposite the lower of the Three Islands, was selected as the most eligible spot. Here Massie fixed his sta- | tion, and laid off into lots a town, now called Manchester. The little confederacy, with Massie at the helm, went to work with spirit. Cabins were raised, and by the middle of March,

This was the first settlement in the bounds of the Virginia District, and the fourth one in the State. Although in the midst of a savage foe, now inflamed with war, and in the midst of a cruel conflict, the settlement at Manchester suffered less than any of its cotemporaries. This was, no doubt, due to the watchful care of its inhabitants, who were inured to the rigors of a frontier life, and who well knew the danger about them. "These were the Beasleys, Stouts, Washburns, Ledoms, Edgingtons, Denings, Ellisons, Utts, McKenzies, Wades, and others, who were fully equal to the Indians in all the savage arts and stratagems of border war."

As soon as they had completed preparations for defense, the whole population went to work and cleared the lowest of the Three Islands, and planted it in corn. The soil of the island was very rich, and produced abundantly. The woods supplied an abundance of game, while the river furnished a variety of excellent fish. The inhabitants thus found their simple wants fully supplied. Their nearest neighbors in the new Territory were at Columbia, and at the French settlement at Gallipolis; but with these, owing to the state of the country and the Indian war, they could hold little, if any, intercourse.

The'station being established, Massie continued to make locations and surveys. Great precautions were necessary to avoid the Indians, and even the closest vigilance did not always avail, as the everwatchful foe was always ready to spring upon the settlement, could an unguarded moment be observed. During one of the spring months, Gen. Massie, Israel Donalson, William Lytle and James Little, while out on a survey, were surprised, and Mr. Donalson captured, the others escaping at great peril. Mr. Donalson escaped during the march to the Indian town, and made his way to the town of Cincinnati, after suffering great hardships, and almost perishing from hunger. In the spring of 1793, the settlers at Manchester commenced clearing the out-lots of the town. While doing so, an incident occurred, which shows the danger to which they were daily exposed.' It is thus related in Howe's Collections :

"Mr. Andrew Ellison, one of the settlers, cleared an out-lot immediately adjoining the fort. He had completed the cutting of the timber, rolled the logs together, and set them on fire. The next morning, before daybreak, Mr. Ellison opened one of the gates of the fort, and went out to throw his logs together. By the time he had finished the job, a number of the heaps blazed up brightly, and, as he was passing from one to the other, he observed, by the light of the fires, three men walking briskly toward him. This did not alarm him in the least, although, he said, they were dark-skinned fellows; yet he concluded they were the Wades, whose complexions were very dark, going early to hunt. He continued to right his log-heaps, until one of the fellows seized him by the arms, calling out, in broken English, 'How do? how do?' He instantly looked in their faces, and, to his surprise and horror, found himself in the clutches of three Indians. To resist was useless.

"The Indians quickly moved off with him in the direction of Paint Creek. When breakfast was ready, Mrs. Ellison sent one of her children to ask its father home; but he could not be found at the log-heaps. His absence created no immediate alarm, as it was thought he might have started to hunt, after completing his work. Dinner-time arrived, and, Ellison not returning, the family became uneasy, and began to suspect some accident had happened to him. His gun-rack was examined, and there hung his rifles and his pouch. Gen. Massie raised a party, made a circuit around the place, finding, after some search, the trails of fact that Mr. Ellison was a prisoner now became apparent. As it was almost night at the time the trail was discovered, the party returned to the station. Early the next morning, preparations were made by Gen. Massie and his friends to continue the search. In doing this, they found great difficulty, as it was so early in the spring that the vegetation was not grown sufficiently to show plainly the trail made by the savages, who took the precaution to keep on high and dry ground, where their feet would make little or no impression. The party were, however, as unerring as a pack of hounds, and followed the trail to Paint Creek, when they found the Indians gained so fast on them that pursuit was useless.

"The Indians took their prisoner to Upper Sandusky, where he was compelled to run the gantlet. As he was a large, and not very active, man, he received a severe flogging. He was then taken to Lower Sandusky, and again compelled to run the gantlet. He was then taken to Detroit, where he was ransomed by a British officer for $100. The officer proved a good friend to him. He sent him to Montreal, whence he returned home before the close of the summer, much to the joy of his family and friends, whose feelings can only be imagined."

" Another incident occurred about this time," says the same volume, "which so aptly illustrates the danger of frontier life, that it well deserves a place in the history of the settlements in Ohio. John and Asahel Edgington, with a comrade, started out on a hunting expedition toward Brush Creek. They camped out six miles in a northeast direction from where West Union now stands, and near the site of Treber's tavern, on the road from Chillicothe to Maysville. They had good success in hunting, killing a number of deer and bears. Of the deer killed, they saved the skins and hams alone. They fleeced the bears; that is, they cut off all the meat which adhered to the hide, without skinning, and left the bones as a skeleton. They hung up the proceeds of their hunt, on a seaffold out of the reach of wolves and other wild animals, and returned to Manchester for pack-horses. No one returned to the camp with the Edgingtons. As it was late in December, few apprehended danger, as the winter season was usually a time of repose from Indian incursions. When the Edgingtons arrived at their camp, they alighted from their evidently found the results of the white men's labor, and expected they would return for it, and prepared to waylay them. Asahel Edgington fell dead. John was more fortunate. The sharp crack of the rifles, and the horrible yells of the savages as they leaped from their place of ambush, frightened the horses, who took the track for home at full speed. John was very active on foot, and now an opportunity offered which required his utmost speed. The moment the Indians leaped from their hiding-place, they threw down their guns and took after him, yelling with all their power. Edgington did not run a booty race. For about a mile, the savages stepped in his tracks almost before the bending grass could rise. The uplifted tomahawk was frequently so near his heaa that he thought he felt its edge. He exerted himself to his utmost, while the Indians strove with all their might to catch him, Finally, he began to gain on his pursuers, and, after a long race, distanced them and made his escape, safely reaching home. This, truly, was a most fearful and well-contested race. The big Shawanee chief, Capt. John, who headed the Indians on this occasion, after peace was made, in narrating the particulars, fellow. The white man run; andIrun. He run and run; at last, the white man run clear off from me." The settlement, despite its dangers, prospered, and after the close of the war continued to grow rapidly. In two years after peace was declared, Adams County was erected by proclamation of Gov. St. Clair, the next year court was held, and in 1804, West Union was made the county seat. During the war, a settlement was commenced near the present town of Bridgeport, in Belmont County, by Capt. Joseph Belmont, a noted Delaware Revolutionary officer, who, because his State could furnish only one company, could rise no higher than Captain of that company, and hence always maintained that grade. He settled on a beautiful knoll near the present county seat, but erelong suffered from a night attack by the Indians, who, though unable to drive him and his companions from the cabin or conquer them, wounded some of them badly, one or two mortally, and caused the Captain to leave the frontier and return to Newark, Del. The attack was made in the spring of 1791, and a short time after, the Captain, having provided for the safety of his family, accepted a commission in St. Clair's army, and lost his life at the defeat of the General in

November. Shortly after the Captain settled, a fort, called Dillie's Fort, was built on the Ohio, opposite the mouth of Grave Creek. About two hundred and fifty yards below this fort, an old man, named Tato, was shot down at his cabin door by the Indians, just as he was in the act of entering the house. His body was pulled in by his daughter-in-law and grandson, who made an heroic defense. They were overpowered, the woman slain, and the boy badly wounded. He, however, managed to secrete himself and afterward escaped to the fort. The Indians, twelve or thirteen in number, went off unmolested, though the men in the fort saw the whole transaction and could have punished them. Why they did not was never known.

On Captina Creek in this same county, occurred, in May, 1794, the "battle of Captina," a famous local skirmish between some Virginians from Fort Baker, and a party of Indians. Though the Indians largely outnumbered the whites, they were severely punished, and compelled to abandon the contest, losing several of their bravest warriors.

These were the only settlements made until 1795, the close of the war. Even these, as it will be observed from the foregoing pages, were temporary in all cases save one, and were maintained at a great risk, and the loss of many valuable lives. They were madein the beginning of the war,and such were their experiences that further attempts were abandoned until the treaty of Greenville was made, or until the prospects for peace and safety were assured.

No sooner, however, had the prospect of quiet been established, than a revival of emigration began. Before the war it had been large, now it was largely increased.

Wayne's treaty of peace with the Indians was made at Greenville, in what is now Darke County, the 3d of August, 1795. The number of Indians present was estimated at 1,300, divided among the principal nations as follows: 180 Wyandots, 381 Delawares, 143 Shawanees, 45 Ottawas, 46 Chippewas, 240 Pottawatomies, 73 Miamis and Kel River, 12 Weas and Piankeshaws, and 10 Kickapoos and Kaskaskias. The principal chiefs were Tarhe, Buckongahelas, Black Hoof, Blue Jacket and Little Turtle. Most of them had been tampered with by the British agents and traders, but all had been so thoroughly chastised by Wayne, and found that the British only used them as tools, that they were quite anxious to make peace. with the " Thirteen Fires." By the treaty, former ones

In the latter part of September, after the treaty of Greenville, Mr. Bedell, from New Jersey, selected a site for a home in what is now Warren County, at a place since known as " Bedell's Station," about a mile south of Union Village. Here he erected a block-house, as a defense against the Indians, among whom were many renegades as among the whites, who would not respect the terms of the treaty. Whether Mr. Bedell was alone that fall, or whether he was joined by others, is not now accurately known. However that may be, he was not long left to himself; for, ere a year had elapsed, quite a number of settlements were made in this part of the Territory. Soon after his settlement was made, Gen. David Sutton, Capt. Nathan Kelley and others began pioneer' life at Deerfield, in the same locality, and, before three years had gone by, a large number of New Jersey people were established in their homes; and, in 1803, the county was formed from Hamilton. Among the early settlers at Deerfield, was Capt. Robert Benham, who, with a companion, in 1779, sustained themselves many days when the Captain had lost the use of his legs, and his companion his arms, from musket-balls fired by the hands of the Indians. They were with a large party commanded by Maj. Rodgers, and were furiously attacked by an immense number of savages, and all but a few slain. The event' happened during the war of the Revolution, before any attempt was made to settle the Northwest Territory. The party were going down the Ohio, probably to the falls, and were attacked when near the site of Cincinnati. As mentioned, these two men sustained each other many days, the one having perfect legs doing the necessary walking, carrying his comrade to water, driving up game for him to one who had the use of his arms could dress his companion's and his own wounds, kill and cook the game, and perform his share. They were rescued, finally, by a flat-boat, whose occupants, for awhile, passed them, fearing a decoy, but, becoming convinced that such was not the ease, took them on down to Louisville, where they were nursed into perfect health.

Creek. Soon after, he was joined by Ichabod Corwin, John Osbourn, Jacob Vorhees, Samuel Shaw, Daniel Bonte and a Mr. Manning. When Lebanon was laid out, in 1803, the two-story log house built in 1797 by Ichabod Corwin was the only building on the plat. It was occupied by Ephraim Hathaway asa tavern. He had a black horse painted on an immense board for a sign, and continued in business here till 1810. The same year the town was laid out, a store was opened by John Huston, and, from that date, the growth of the county was very prosperous. Three years after, the Western Star was established by Judge John McLain, and the current news of the day given in weekly editions. It was one of the first newspapers established in the Territory, outside of Cincinnati.

As has been mentioned, the opening of navigation in the spring of 1796 brought a great flood of emigration to the Territory. The little settlement made by Mr. Bedell, inthe autumn of 1795, was about the only one made that fall; others made preparations, and many selected sites, but did not settle till the following spring. That spring, colonies were planted in what are now Montgomery, Ross, Madison, Mahoning, Trumbull, Ashtabula and Cuyahoga Counties, while preparations were in turn made to occupy additional territory that will hereafter be noticed.

The settlement made in Montgomery County was begun early in the spring of 1796. As early as 1788, the land on which Dayton now stands was selected by some gentlemen, who designed laying out a town to be named Venice. They agreed with Judge Symmes, whose contract covered the place, for the purchase of the lands. The Indian war which broke out at this time prevented an extension of settlements from the immediate neighborhood of the parent colonies, and the project was abandoned by the purchasers. Soon after the treaty of 1795, a new company, composed of Gens. Jonathan Dayton, Arthur St. Clair, James Wilkinson, and Col. Israel Ludlow, purchased the land between the Miamis, around the mouth of Mad River, of Judge Symmes, and, the 4th of November, laid out the town. Arrangements were made for its settlement the ensuing spring, and donations of lots, with other privileges, were offered to actual settlers. Forty-six persons entered into engagements to remove from Cincinnati to Dayton, but during the winter most of them seattered in different directions, and only nineteen fulfilled their contracts. The first families who made a permanent residence here, arrived on the first day of April, 1796, and at once set about establishing homes. Judge Symmes, however, becoming unable soon after to pay for his purchase, the land reverted to the United States, and the settlers in and about Dayton found themselves without titles to their lands. Congress, however, came to the aid of all such persons, wherever they had purchased land of Symmes, and passed a pre-emption law, under which they could enter their lands at the regular government price. Some of the settlers entered their lands, and obtained titles directly from the United States ; others made arrangements with Daniel C. Cooper to receive their deeds from him, and he entered the residue of the town lands. He had been the surveyor and agent of the first company of proprietors, and they assigned to him certain of their rights of pre-emption, by which he became the titular owner of the land.

that time, owing to the title question, only five families resided in the place, the other settlers haying gone to farms in the vicinity, or to other parts of the country. The increase of the town was gradual until the war of 1812, when its growth was more rapid until 1820, when it was again checked by the general depression of business. It revived in 1827, at the commencement of the Miami Canal, and since then its growth has always been prosperous. It is now one of the best cities in Ohio. The first canal boats from Cincinnati arrived at Dayton January 25, 1829, and the first one from Lake Erie the 24th of June, 1845. In 1825, a weekly line of stages was established between Columbus and Cincinnati, via Dayton. One day was occupied in coming from Cincinnati to Dayton.

On the 18th of September, 1808, the Dayton Repertory was established by William McClure and George Smith. It was printed ona foolscap sheet. Soon after, it was enlarged and changed from a weekly to a daily, and, ere long, found a number of competitors in the field.

In the lower part of Miamisburg, in this county, are the remains of ancient works, scattered about over the bottom. About a mile and a quarter southeast of the village, on an elevation more than one hundred feet above the level of the Miami, is the largest mound in the Northern States, excepting the mammoth mound at Grave Creek, on the Ohio, below Wheeling, which it nearly equals in dimensions. It is about eight hundred feet around the base, and rises to a height of nearly seventy feet. When first known it was covered with forest trees, whose size evidenced great age. The Indians could give no account of the mound. Excavations revealed bones and charred earth, but what was its use, will always remain a conjecture.