Preble County, Ohio - Chapter 6: American Occupation - Organization of Counties, 1881

THE occupation of the west by the American, really dates from the campaign of General Clarke in 1778, when he captured the British posts in the Illinois country, and Vincennes on the Wabash. Had he been properly supported, he would have reduced Detroit, then in easy reach, and poorly defended. As it was, however, that post remained in charge of the British till after the close of the war of the Revolution. They also held other lake posts; but these were included in the terms of peace, and came into the possession of the Americans. They were abandoned by the British as soon as the different commanders received notice from their chiefs, and British rule and English occupation ceased in that part of the New World.

'The war virtually closed by the surrender of Lord Cornwallis at Yorktown, Virginia, October 19, 0 The struggle was prolonged, however, by the British, in the vain hope that they could retrieve the disaster, but it was only a useless waste of men and money. America would not be subdued. "If we are to be taxed, we will be represented," said they, *else we will bea free government, and regulate our own taxes." In the end, they were free.

Provisional articles of peace between the United States and Great Britain were signed in Paris on the thirtieth of November, 1782. This was followed by an armistice negotiated at Versailles on the twentieth of January, 1783 ; and finally, a definite treaty of peace was concluded at Paris on the third of the next September, and ratified by Congress on the fourth of January, 1784. By the second article of the definite treaty of 1783, the boundaries of the United States were fixed. A glance at the map of that day shows the boundary to have been as follows: Beginning at Passamaquoddy bay, on the coast of Maine, the line ran north a little above the fortyfifth parallel of latitude, when it diverged southwesterly, irregularly, until it reached that parallel, when it followed it until-it reached the St. Lawrence river. It followed that river to Lake Ontario, down its center; up the Niagara river; through Lake Erie, up the Detroit river and through Lakes Huron and Superior, to the northwest extremity of the latter. Then it pursued another irregular western course to the Lake of the Woods, when it turned southward to the Mississippiriver. The commissioners insisted that should be the western boundary, as the lakes were the northern. It followed the Mississippi south until the mouth of Red river was reached, when, turning east, it followed almost a direct line to the Atlantic coast, touching the coast a little north of the outlet of St. John's river.

At this date, there existed the original thirteen colonies: Virginia occupying all Kentucky and all the northwest, save about half of Michigan and Wisconsin, claimed by Massachusetts; and the upper part of Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois, and the lower part (a narrow strip) of Michigan, claimed by Connecticut. Georgia included all of Alabama and Mississippi. The Spaniards claimed all Florida and a narrow part of lower Georgia. All the country west of the Father of Waters belonged to Spain, to whom it had been secretly ceded when the family compact was made. That nation controlled the Mississippi, and gave no small uneasiness to the youug government. It was, however, happily settled finally, by the sale of. Louisiana to the United States.

Pending the settlement of these questions and the formation of the Federat Union, the cession of the northwest by Virginia again came before Congress. That body found itself unable to fulfil its promises to its soldiers regarding land, and again urged the Old Dominion to cede the territory to the General Government, for the good of all. Congress forbade settlers from occupying tha western lands until a definite cession had been made and the titles to the lands in question made good. But speculation was stronger than law, and without waiting for the slow processes of the courts the adventurous setlers were pouring into the country at a rapid rate, only retarded by the rifle and scalping knife of the savage - a temporary check. The policy of allowing any parties to obtain lands from the Indians was strongly discouraged by Washington. He advocated the idea that only the General Government could do that, and, in a letter to James Duane, in Congress, he strongly urged such a course, and pointed out the danger of a border war, unless some such measure was stringently followed.

Under the circumstances, Congress pressed the claims of cession upon Virginia, and finally induced the Dominion to modify the terms proposed two years before. On the twentieth of December, 1783, Virginia accepted the proposal of Congress, and authorized her delegates to make a deed to the United States of all her right in the territory northwest of the Ohio.

The Old Dominion stipulated in her deed of cession that the territory should be divided into Statés, to be admitted into the Union as any other State, and to bear a proportionate share in the maintenance of that Union ; that Virginia should be re-imbursed for the expense incurred in subduing the British posts in the territory; that the French and Canadian inhabitants should be protected in their rights; that the grant to General George Rogers Clarke and his men, as well as all other similar grants, should be confirmed, and that the lands should be considered as the common property of the United States, the proceeds to be applied to the use of the whole country. Congress accepted these conditions, and the deed was made March 1, 1784. Thus the country came from under the dominion of Virginia, and became common property.

A serious difficulty arose about this time, that threatened for awhile to involve England and America anew in war. Virginia and several other States refused to abide by that part of the treaty relating to the payment of debts, especially so when the British carried away quite a number of negroes claimed by the Americans. This refusal on the part of the Old Dominion and her abettors caused the English to retain her northwestern outposts, Detroit, Mackinaw, etc. She held these till 1786, when the questions were finally settled, and then readily abandoned them.

The return of peace greatly augmented emigration to the west, especially to Kentucky. When the war closed the population of that county (the three counties having made one judicial district, and Danville designated as the seat of government) was estimated to be about twelve thousand. In one year, after the close of the war, it increased to thirty thousand, and steps for a State government were taken. Owing to the divided sentiment among its citizens, its perplexing questions of land titles and proprietary rights, nine conventions were held before a definite course of action could be reached. This prolonged the time till 1792, when in December of that year, the election for persons to form a State constitution. was held, and the vexed and complicated questions settled. In 1783 the first wagons bearing merchandise came across the mountains. Their contents were received on flat-boats at Pittsburgh, and taken down the Ohio to Louisville, which that spring boasted of a store, opened by Daniel Broadhead. The next year James Wilkinson opened one at Lexington.

Pittsburgh was now the principal town in the west. It occupied the same position regarding the outposts that Omaha has done for several years to Nebraska. The-town of Pittsburgh was laid out immediately after the war of 1764, by Colonel Campbell. It then consisted of four squares about-the fort, and received its name from that citadel. The treaty with the Six Wations in 1768, conveyed to the proprietaries of Pennsylvania all the lands of the Allegheny below Kittanning, and all the country south of the Ohio, "within the limits of Penn's charter. This deed of cession was recognized when the line between Pennsylvania and Virginia was fixed, and gave the post to the Keystone State. In accordance with this deed, the manor of Pittsburgh was withdrawn from market in 1769, and was held as the property of the Penn family. When Washington visited it in 1770, it seems to have declined in consequence of the aforementioned act. He mentions it asa "town of about twenty log houses, on the Monongahela, about three hundred yards from the fort." 'The Penns remained true to the king, and hence all their land that had not been surveyed and returned to the land office, was confiscated by the commonwealth. Pittsburgh, having been surveyed, was still left to them, In the spring of 1784, Tench Francis, the agent of the Penns, was induced to lay out the manor into lots and offer them for sale. "Though, for many years, the place was rather unpromising, it eventually became the chief town in that part of the west, a position it yet holds. In 1786, John Scull and Joseph Hall started the Pittsburgh Gazette, the first paper published west of the mountains. In the initial number appeared a lengthy article from the pen of H. H. Brackenridge, afterward one ofthe most prominent members of the Pennsylvania bar. He had located in Pittsburgh in 1781. His letter gives the most hopeful prospect in store for the future city, and is a highly descriptive article of the western country. It is yet preserved in the "Western Annals," and is well worth a perusal.

Nations. The question was ignored by the English, and was made a handle by the Americans in gaining them to their cause before the war had fully closed. The treaties made were regarded by the Indians as alliances only, to assume rather a hostile bearing. This excited the whites, and for a while a war with that formidable confederacy was imminent. Better councils prevailed, and Congress wisely adopted the policy of acquiring their lands. by purchase. In accordance with this policy, a treaty was made' at Fort Stanwix with the Six Wations in October, 1784. By this treaty, all lands west of a line drawn from the mouth of Oswego creek, about four miles east of Niagara, to the mouth of Buffalo creek, and on to the northern boundary of Pennsylvania, thence west along that boundary to its western extremity, thence south to the Ohio river, should be ceded to the United States. (They claimed west of this line by conquest) The Six Wations were to be secured in the lands they inhabited, reserving only six miles square around Oswego fort for the support of the same. By this treaty, the indefinite claim of the Szx Wations to the west was extinguished, and the question of its ownership settled.

It was now occupied by other western tribes, who did not recognize. the Iroquois claim, and who would not yield without a purchase. Especially was this the case with those Indians living in the northern part. To get possession of that country by the same process, the United States, through its commissioners, held a treaty at Fort McIntosh on the twenty-first of January, 1785. 'The Wyandot, Delaware, Chippewa, and Ottawa tribes were present, and, through their chiefs, sold their lands to the Government. The Wyandot and Delaware nations were given a reservation in the north part of Ohio, where they were to be protected. The others were allotted reservations in Michigan. To all was given complete control of their lands, allowing them to punish any white man attempting to settle thereon, and guaranteeing them in their rights.

By such means Congress gained Indian titles to the vast realms north of the Ohio, and, a few months later, that legislation was commenced that should determine the mode of its disposal and the plan of its settlement.

To facilitate the settlement of lands thus acquired, Congress, on May 20, 1785, passed an act for disposing of lands in the Northwest Territory. Its main provisions were: A surveyor or surveyors should be appointed from the States; and a geographer and his assistants to act with them. The surveyors were to divide the territory into townships of six miles square, by lines running due north, and south and east and west. The starting-place was to be on the Ohio river, at a point where the southern and western boundaries of Pennsylvania intersected. This would give the first range and the first township. As soon as seven townships were surveyed, the maps and plats of the same were to be sent to the board of the treasury, who would record them and proceed to place the land in the market, and so on with all the townships as fast as they could be prepared ready for sale. Each township was to be divided into thirty-six sections, or lots. Out of these sections, numbers eight, eleven, twenty-six and twenty-nine were reserved for the use of the government, and lot number sixteen, for the establishment of a common-school fund. One-third of all mines and minerals was also reserved for the United States. Three townships on Lake Erie were reserved for the use of officers, men and others, refugees from Canada land. The Moravian Indians were also exempt from molestation, and guaranteed in their homes. Soldiers' claims, and all others of a like nature, were also recognized, and land reserved for them.

Without waiting for the act of Congress, settlers had been pouring into the country, and, when ordered by Congress to leave undisturbed Indian lands, refused to do so. They went into the Indian country at their peril, however, and when driven out by the Indians could get no redress from the Government, even when life was lost.

"The Indians on the Wabash made a treaty at Fort Finney, on the Miami, January 31, 1786, promising allegiance to the United States, and were allowed a reservation. This treaty did not include the Prankeshaws, as was at first intended. These, refusing to live peaceably, stirred up the Skawnees, who began a series of predatory excursions against the settlements. This led to an expedition against them and other restless tribes. General Clarke commanded part of the army on that expedition, but got no farther than Vincennes, when, owing to the discontent of his Kentucky troops, he was obliged to return. Colonel Benjamin Logan, however, marched, at the head of four or five hundred mounted riflemen, into the Indian country, penetrating as far as the headwaters of Mad river. He destroyed several towns, much corn, and took about eighty prisoners. Among these, was the chief of the nation, who was wantonly slain, greatly to Logan's regret, who could not restrain his men. His expedition taught the Indians submission, and that they must adhere to their contracts.

Meanwhile, the difficulties of the navigation of tbe Mississippi arose. Spain would not relinquish the right to control the entire southern part of the river, allowing no free navigation. She was secretly hoping to cause a revolt of the western provinces, especially Kentucky, and openly favored such a move. She also claimed, by conquest, much of the land on the east side of the river.- 'The slow movements of Congress; the failure of Virginia to properly protect Kentucky, and the inherent restlessness in some of the western men, well-nigh precipitated matters, and, for a while, serious results were imminent. The Kentuckians, and, indeeed, all the people of the west were determined the river should be free, and even went so far as to raise a regiment, and forcibly seize Spanish property in the west. Great Britain stood ready, too, to aid the west should it succeed, provided it would make an alliance with her. But while the excitement was at its height, Washington counseled better ways and patience. The decisive tone of the new Republic, though almost overwhelmed with a burden of debt, and with no credit, debarred the Spanish from too forcible measures to assert their claims, and held back the disloyal-ones from attempting a revolt.

New York, Massachusetts and Connecticut ceded their lands, and now the United States were ready to fulfill their promises of land grants to the soldiers who had preserved the Nation. This did much to heal the breach in the west, and restore confidence there; so that the Mississippi question was overlooked for a time, and Kentucky forgot her animosities. h

The cession of their claims was the signal for the formation of land companies in the east; companies whose object was to settle the western country, and at the same time, enrich the founders of the companies. Some of these companies had been formed in the old colonial days, but the recent war had put a stop to all their proceedings. Congress would not recognize their claims, and new companies, under old names was the result. By such means the Ohio company emerged from the past, and, in 1786, took an active existence.

Benjamin Tupper, a Revolutionary soldier, and since then a government surveyor, who had been west as far as Pittsburgh, revived the question. He was prevented from prosecuting his surveys by hostile Indians, and returned to Massachusetts. He broached a plan to General Rufus Putnam, as to the renewal of their memorial of 1783, which resulted in the publication of a plan, and inviting all those interested to meet in February in their respective counties, and choose delegates to a convention to be held at the *Bunch-of-grapes tavern," in Boston, on the first of March, 1786. On the day appointed, eleven persons appeared, and by the third of March an outline was drawn up, and suscriptions under it began at once. The leading features of the plan were: "A fund of one million dollars, mainly in' continental certificates, was to be raised for the purpose of purchasing lands in the western country; there were to be one thousand shares of one thousand dollars each, and upon each share ten dollars in specie were to be paid for contingent expenses. One year's interest was to be appropriated to the charges of making a settlement, and assisting those unable to move without aid. The owners of every twenty shares were to choose an agent to represent them and attend to their interests, and the agents were to choose the directors. The plan was approved, and in a years time from that date, the company was organized." *

By the time this company was organized, all claims of the colonies in the coveted territory were done away with by their deeds of cession, Connecticut being the last.

While troubles were still existing south of the Ohio river, regarding the navigation of the Mississippi, and many urged the formation of a separate, independent State, and while Congress and Washington were doing what they could to allay the feeling north of the Ohio, the New England associates were busily engaged, now that a company was formed, to obtain the land they wished to purchase. On the eighth of March, 1787, a meeting of the -agents chose General Parsons, General Putnam and the Rev. Mannasseh Cutler, directors for the company. 'The last selection was quite a fitting one for such an enterprise. Dr. Cutler was an accomplished scholar, an excellent gentleman, and a firm believer in freedom. In the choice of him as the agent of the company, lies the fact, though unforeseen, of the beginning of anti-slavery, in America. Through him the famous "compact of 1787," the true corner-stone of the northwest, originated, and by him was safely passed. He was a good "'wire-puller," too, and in this had an advantage. Mr. Hutchins was at this time the geographer for the United States, and was, probably, the best-posted man in America regarding the west. Dr. Cutler learned from him that the most desirable portions were on the Muskingum river, north of the Ohio, and was advised by him to buy there if he could.

Congress wanted money badly, and many of the members favored the plan. The southern members, generally, were hostile to it, as the doctor would listen to no grant which did not embody the New England ideas in the charter. These members were finally won over, some bribery being used, and some of their favorites made officers of the territory, whose formation was now going on. This took time, however, and Dr. Cutler, becoming impatient, declared they would purchase from some of the States,-who held small tracts in various parts of the west. This intimation brought the tardy ones to time, and, on the twenty-third of July, Congress authorized the treasury board to make the contract. On the twenty-sixth, Messrs. Cutler and Sargent, on behalf of the company, stated in writing their conditions; and on the twenty-seventh, Congress referred their letter to the board, and an order of the same date was obtained. Of this Dr. Cutler's journal says:

"By this grant we obtained near five millions acres of land, amounting to three million five hundred thousand dollars; one million five hundred thousand acres for the Ohio company, and the remainder for a private speculation, in which many of the principal characters of America are concerned. Without connecting this peculation, similar terms and advantages for the Ohio company could not have been obtained. "

Messrs. Cutler and Sargent at once closed a verbal contact with the treasury board, which was executed in form on the twenty-seventh of the next October. *

By this contract, the vast region bounded on the south by the Ohio, west by the Scioto, east by the seventh range of townships then surveying, and north by a due west line, drawn from the north boundary of the tenth township from the Ohio, direct to the Scioto, was sold to the Ohio associates and their secret copartners, for one dollar per acre, subject to a deduction of one-third for bad lands and other contingencies.

'The whole tract was not, however, paid for nor taken by the company - even their own portion of a million and a half acres, and extending west to the eighteenth range of townships, was not taken; and in 1792, the boundaries of the purchase proper were fixed as follows: The Ohio on the south, the seventh range of townships on the east, the sixteenth range on the west, and a line on and fifty thousand acres, besides reservations; this grant being the portion which it was originally agreed the company might enter into at once. In addition to this, two hundred and fourteen thousand two hundred and eightyfive acres were granted as army bounties, under the resolutions of 1779 and 1780, and one hundred thousand acres as bounties to actual settlers; both of the latter tracts being within the original grant of 1787, and adjoining the purchase as before mentioned.

While these things were progressing, congress was bringing into form an ordinance for the government and social organization of the Northwest Territory. "Virginia made her cession in March, 1784, and during the month following the plan, for the temporary government of the newly acquired territory came under discussion. On the nineteenth of April Mr. Spaight, of North Carolina, moved to strike from the plan reported by Mr. Jefferson, the emancipationist of his day, a provision for the prohibition of slavery north of the Ohio after the year 1800. The motion prevailed. From that day till the twentythird, the plan was discussed and altered, and finally passed unanimously with the exception of South Carolina. The south would have slavery or defeat every measure. Thus this hideous monster early began to assert himself. By the proposed plan, the territory was to and meridian lines. This division, it was thought, would make ten States, whose names were as follows, beginning at the northwest corner and going southwardly: Sylvania, Michigania, Cheresonisus, Assenispia, Metropo-

A more serious difficulty existed, however, to this plan, than its catalogue of names - the number of States and their boundaries. The root of the evil was in the resolution passed by Congress in October, 1780, which fixed the size of the States to be formed from the ceded lands, at one hundred to one hundred and fifty miles square. The terms of that resolution being called up both by Virginia and Massachusetts, further legislation was deemed necessary to change them. July 7, 1786, this subject came up in Congress, and a resolution passed in favor of a division into not less than three nor more than five States. Virginia, at the close of 1788, assented to this proposition, which became the basis upon which the division should be made. On the twenty-ninth of September, Congress having thus changed the plan for dividing the Northwestern Territory into ten States, proceeded again to consider the terms of an ordinance for the government of that region. At this juncture, the genius of Dr. Cutler displayed itself. A graduate in medicine, law and divinity; an ardent lover of liberty; a celebrated scientist, and an accomplished, portly gentleman, of whom the southern senators said they had never before seen so fine a specimen from the New England colonies, no man was better prepared to form a government for the new Territory, than he. The Ohio company was his real object. He was backed by them, and enough Continential money to purchase more than a million acres of land. This was augmented by other parties until, as has been noticed, he represented over five million acres. This would largely reduce the public debt. Jefferson land Virginia had just ceded to the General Government. Jefferson's policy was to provide for the national credit, and still check the growth of slavery. Here was a good opportunity. Massachusetts owned the territory of Maine, which she was crowding into market. She opposed the opening of the Northwest. 'This stirred Virginia. The South caught the inspiration, and rallied around the Old Dominion and Dr. Cutler. Thereby he gained the credit and good will of the South, an auxiliary he used to good purpose. Massachusetts could not vote against him, because many of the constituents of her members were interested in the Ohio company. Thus the doctor, using all the arts of the lobbyist, was enabled to hold the situation. "True to deeper convictions, he dictated one of the most compact and finished documents of wise statesmanship that has ever adorned any statute-book. Jefferson gave it the term, "Articles of Compact," and rendered him valuable aid in its construction. This *Compact" preceded the Federal constitution, in both of which are seen Jefferson's master-mind. Dr. Cutler followed closely the constitution of Massachusetts, adopted three years before. The prominent features were: The exclusion of slavery from the territory forever; provision for public schools, giving one township for a seminary, and every sixteenth section; (that gave one thirty-sixth of all the land for public education.) a provision prohibiting the adoption of any constitution or the enactment of any law that would nullify pre-existing contracts.

The compact further declared that **Religion, morality, and knowledge being necessary to good government and the happiness of mankind, schools and the means of education shall always be encouraged."

The doctor planted himself firmly on this platform, and would not yield. | It was that or nothing. Unless they could make the land desirable, it was not wanted, and, taking his horse and buggy, he started for the constitutional convention at Philadelphia. His influence succeeded. was put upon its passage and unanimously adopted. Every member of the South voted for it; only one man, Mr. Yates, of New York, voted against the measure; but as the vote was made by States, his vote was lost, and the "Compact of 1787" was beyond repeal. Thus the great States of the Northwest Territory were consecrated to freedom, intelligence, and morality. This act was the opening step for freedom in America. Soon the South saw their blunder, and endeavored, by all their power, to repeal the compact. In 1803 Congress referred it to a committee, of which John Randolph was chairman. He reported the ordinance was a compact and could not be repealed. Thus it stood, like a rock, in the way of slavery, which still, in spite of these provisions, endeavored to plant that infernal institution in the west. Witness the early days of Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois. But the compact could not be violated; New Exgland ideas could not be put down, and her sons stael ready to defend the soil of the west from that curse,

The passage of the ordinance and the grant of land to Dr. Cutler and his associates, were soon followed by a request from John Cleve Symmes, of New Jersey, for the country between the Miamis. Symmes had visited that part of the west in 1786, and, being pleased with the Miamis, had applied to the board of the treasury for their purchase, as soon as they were open to settlement. The board was empowered to act by Congress, and, in 1788, a contract was signed, giving him the country he desired. The terms of his purchase were similar to those of the Ohio company. His application was folfowed by others, whose success or failure will appear in the narrative.

The New England or Ohio ompany was all this time busily engaged in perfecting its arrangements to occupy its lands. The directors agreed to reserve five thousand seven hundred and sixty acres near the confluence of the Ohio and Muskingum for a city and commons, for the old ideas of the English plan of settling a country yet prevailed. A meeting of the directors was held at Bracket's tavern, in Boston, November 23, 1787, when four surveyors and twenty-two attendants, boat-builders, carpenters, blacksmiths, and common workmen, numbering in all forty persons, were engaged. Their tools were purchased, and wagons were obtained to transport them across the mountains. General Rufus Putnam was made superintendent of the company, with Ebenezer Sprout, of

Rhode Island, Anselm Tupper and John Matthews, from Massachusetts, and R. J. Meigs, from Connecticut, as surveyors. At the same meeting, a suitable person to instruct them in religion, and prepare the way to open a school when needed, was selected. "This was Rev. Daniel Storey, who became the first New England minister in the Northwest.

The Indians were watching this outgrowth of affairs, and felt, from what they could learn in Kentucky, that they would be gradually surrounded by the whites. This they did not relish, by any means, and gave the settlements south of the Ohio no little uneasiness. It was thought best to hold another treaty with them. In the meantime, to insure peace, the governor of Virginia and Congress placed troops at Venango, Forts Pitt and McIntosh, and at Miami, Vincennes, Louisville, and Muskingum, and the militia of Kentucky were held in readiness should a sudden outbreak occur. These measures produced no results, save insuring the safety of the whites, and not until January, 1789, was Clarke able to carry out his plans. During that month, he held a meeting at Fort Harmar,* at the mouth of the Muskingum, where the New England colony expected to locate.

The hostile character of the Indians did not deter the Ohio company from carrying out its plans. In the winter of 1787, General Rufus Putnam and forty-seven pioneers advanced to a number of miles above the mouth of the Youghiogheny river, and began building a boat for transportation down the Ohio in the spring. The boat was the largest craft that had ever descended the river, and, in allusion to their Pilgrim fathers, it was called the Mayflower. It was forty-five feet long and twelve feet wide, and estimated at fifty tons burden. Truly a formidable affair for the time. The bows were raking and curved like a galley, and were strongly timbered. The sides were made bullet proof, and it was covered with a deck roof. Captain Devol, the first shipbuilder in the west, was placed in command, On the second of April the Mayflower was launched, and for five days the little band of pioneers sailed down the Monongahela and the Ohio, and on the seventh, landed at the mouth of the Muskingum, There, opposite Fort Harmar, they chose a location, moored their boat for a temporary shelter, and began to erect houses for their occupation.

Thus was begun the first English settlement in the Ohio valley. About the first of July they were reinforced by the arrival of a colony from Massachusetts. It had been nine weeks on the way. It had hauled its wagons and driven its stock to Wheeling, where, constructing flat-boats, it had floated down the river to the settlement.

* Fort Harmar was built in 1785, by a detachment of United States soldiers, under the command of Major John Doughty. It was named in honor of Colonel Josiah Harmar, to whose regiment Major Doughty was attached. It was the first military post erected by the Americans within the limits of Ohio, except Fort Laurens a temporary structure built in 1778. When Marietta was founded it was the military post of that part of the country, and was for many years an important station, had been appointed governor of the territory by Congress, which body also appointed Winthrop Sargent, secretary, and. Samuel H. Parsons, James M. Varnum, and John Armstrong, judges. Subsequently Mr. Armstrong declined the appointment, and Mr. Symmes was given the vacancy. None of these were on the ground when the first settlement was made, though the judges came soon after. One of the first things the colony found necessary to do was to organize some form of government, whereby difficulties might be settled, though to the credit of the colony it may be said, that during the first three months of its existence but one difference : arose, and that was settled by a compromise.* Indeed, hardly a better set of men for the purpose could have been selected. Washington wrote concerning this colony:

'* No colony in America was ever settled under such favorable auspices as that which has commenced at the Muskingum. Information, property, and strength will be its characteristics. I know many of the

On the second of July a meeting of the directors and agents was held on the banks of the Muskingum for the purpose of naming the new born city and its squares. As yet, the city had been merely "the Muskingum;" but the name Marietta was now formally given it, in honor of Marie Antoinette. The square upon which the blockhouses stood was called Campus Martius; square number nineteen, Capitolium; square number sixty-one, Cecelta, and the great road running through the covert-way, Sacra Via.* Surely classical scholars were not scarce in the colony.

On the fourth, an oration was delivered by James M. Varnum, one of the judges, and a public demonstration held. Five days after the governor arrived, and the colony began to assume form. The ordinance of 1787 provided two distinct grades of government, under the first of which the whole power was under the governor and the three judges. This form was at once recognized on the arrival of St. Clair. The first law established by this court was passed on the twenty-fifth of July. It established and regulated the militia of theterritory. The next day after its publication, appeared the governor's proclamation erecting all the country that had been céded by the Indians east of the Scioto river, into the county of Washington. Marietta was, of course, the county seat, and, from that day, went on prosperously. On September 2, the first court was held with becoming ceremonies. It is thus related in the American Pioneer:

"The procession was formed at the Point (where the most of the settlers resided), in the following order: The high sheriff, with his drawn sword ; the citizens; the officers of the garrison at Fort Harmar; the members of the bar; the supreme judges; the governor and clergyman; the newly appointed judges of the court of common pleas, Generals Rufus Putnam and Benjamin Tupper.

"They marched up the path that had been cleared through the forest to Campus Martius Hall (stockade), where the whole countermarched, and the judges (Putnam and Tupper) took their seats. The clergyman, Rev. Dr. Cutler, then invoked the divine blessing. The sheriff, Colonel Ebenezer Sproat, proclaimed with his solemn 'Oh, yes!' that a court is open for the administration of even-handed justice, to the poor and to the rich, to the guilty and to the innocent, without respect of persons ; none to be punished without a trial of their peers, and then in pursuance of the laws and evidence of the case.

principal participators. Many of them belonged to the history of our country in the darkest, as well as the most splendid, period of the Revo?" lutionary war."

Many Indians were gathered at the same time to witness the (to them) strange spectacle, and for the purpose of forming a treaty, though how far they carried this out, the Pioneer does not relate.

"The progress of the settlement is sufficiently rapid for the first year. We are continually erecting houses, but arrivals are constantly coming faster than we can possibly provide convenient covering. Our first ball was opened about the middle of December, at which were fifteen ladies, as wdll accomplished in the manner of polite circles as any I have ever seen in the older States. I mention this to show the progress of society in this New World, where, I believe, we shall vie with, if not excel, the old States in every accomplishment necessary to render life agreeable and happy."

The emigration westward at this time was, indeed, exceedingly large. The commander at Fort Harmar reported four thousand five hundred persons as having passed that post between February and June, 1788, many of whom would have stopped there, had the associates been prepared to receive them. The settlement was free from Indian depredations until January, 1791, during which interval it daily increased in numbers and strength.

Symmes and his friends were not idle during this time. He had secured his contract in October, 1787, and, soon after, issued a pamphlet stating the terms of his purchase and the mode he intended to follow in the disposal of the lands. His plan was, to issue warrants for not less than one-quarter section, which might be located anywhere, save on reservations, or on land previously entered. "The locater could enter an entire section should be desire to do so. The price was to be sixty and twothirds cents per acre until May, 1788; then, until November, one dollar; and after that time to be regulated by the demand for land. Each purchaser was bound to begin improvements within two years, or forfeit one-sixth of the land to whomsoever would settle thereon and remain seven years. Military bounties might be taken in this as in the purchase of the associates. For himself, Symmes reserved one township near the mouth of the Miami. On this he intended to build a great city, rivaling any eastern port. He offered any onea lot on which to build a house, providing he would remain three years. Continental certificates were rising, owing to the demand for land created by these two purchases, and Congress found the burden of debt correspondingly lessened. Symmes soon began to experience difficulty in procuring enough to meet his payments. He had also some difficulty in arranging his boundary with the board of the treasury. These, and other causes, laid the foundation for another city, which is now what Symmes hoped his city would one day be.

took an interest in Symmes' purchase, and located, among other tracts, the sections upon which Cincinnati has since been built. Retaining one-third of this purchase, he sold the balance to Robert Patterson and John Filson, each getting the same share. These three, about August, agreed to lay out a town on their land. It was designated as opposite the mouth of the Licking river, to which place it was intended to open a road from Lexington, Kentucky. These men little thought of the great emporium that now covers the modest site of this town they laid out that summer. Mr. Filson, who had been a schoolmaster, and was of a somewhat poetic nature, was appointed to name the town. In respect to its mixed races that were in after years to dwell there, he named it Losantiville,* "which, being interpreted," says the "Western Annals," "means the town; anti, opposite to; os, the mouth; Z, of Licking. This may well

Meanwhile, Symmes was busy in the east, and, by July, got thirty people and eight four-horse wagons under way for the west. These reached Limestone by September, where they met Mr. Stiles, with several persons from Redstone. All came to Symmes' purchase, and began to look for homes.

Symmes' mind was, however, ill at rest. He could not meet his first payment on so vast a realm, and there also arose a difference of opinion between him and the treasury board regarding the Ohio boundary. Symmes wanted all the land between the two Miamis, bordering on the Ohio, while the board wished him confined to no more than twenty-miles of the river. To this proposal he would not agree, as he had made sales all along the river. Leaving the bargain inan unsettled state, Congress considered itself released from all its obligations, and, but for the representations of many of Symmes' friends, he would have lost all his money and labor. His appointment as judge was not favorably received by many, as they thought that by it he would acquire unlimite power. Some of his associates also complained of him, and, for awhile, it surely seemed that ruin only awaited him. But he was brave and hopeful, and determined to succeed. On a return from a visit to his purchase in September, 1788, he wrote Jonathan Dayton, of New Jersey, one of his best friends and associates, that he thought some of the land near the Great Miami "positively worth a silver dollar the acre in its present state."

A good many changes were made in his original contract, growing out of his inability to meet his payments. At first he was not, to have less than one million acres, under an act of Congress passed in October, 1787, authorizing the treasury board to contract with any one who could pay for such tracts, on the Ohio and Wabash rivers. whose fronts should 'not exceed one-third of their depth.

* Judge Burnett, in his notes, disputes the above account of the origin of the city of Cincinnati. He says the name ''Losantiville" was determined on, but not adopted, when the town was laid out. This version is probably the correct one, and will be found fully given in the detailed history of the settlements.

Dayton and Marsh, Symmes' agents, contracted with the board for one tract on the Ohio, beginning twenty miles up the Ohio from the mouth of the Great Miami, and to run back for quantity between the Miami and a line drawn from the Ohio parallel to the general course of that river. In 1791, three years after Dayton and Marsh made the contract, Symmes found that this would throw the purchase too far back from the Ohio, and applied to Congress to let him have all between the Miamis, running back so as to include one million acres, which that body, on April 12, 1793, agreed to do. When the lands were surveyed, however, it was found that a line drawn from the head of the Little Miami due west to the Great Miami, would include south of it less than six hundred thousand acres. Even this Symmes could not pay for, and when his patent was issued in September, 1794, it gave him. and his associates two hundred and forty-eight thousand five hundred and forty acres, exclusive of the reservations, which amounted to sixty-three thousand one hundred and forty-two acres. This tract was bounded by the Ohio, the two Miamis and a due east and west line run so as to include the desired quantity. Symmes, however, made no further payments, and the rest of his purchase reverted to the United States, who gave those who had bought under him ample pre-emption rights.

The Government was able, also, to give him and his colonists but little aid, and as danger from hostile Indians was, in a measure, imminent (though all the natives were friendly to Symmes), settlers were slow to come. However, the band led by Mr. Stiles arrived before the first of January, 1789, and locating themselves near the mouth of the Little Miami, on a tract of ten thousand acres which Mr. Stiles had purchased from Symmes, formed the second settlement in Ohio. They were soon afterward joined by a colony of twenty-six persons, who assisted them to erect a block-house, and gather their corn. The town was named Columbia. While here, the great flood of January, 1789, occurred, which did much to ensure the future growth of Losantiville, or more properly, Cincinnati. Symmes city which was laid out near the mouth of the Great Miami, and which he vainly strove to make the city of the future, Marietta and Columbia, all suffered severely by this flood, the greatest, the Indians said, ever known. The site of Cincinnati was not overflowed, and hence attracted the attention of the settlers. Denman's warrants had designated his purchase as opposite the mouth of the Licking; and that point escaping the overflow, late in December the place was visited by Israel Ludlow, Symmes' surveyor, Mr. Patterson and Mr. Denman, and about fourteen others, who left Maysville to **form a station and lay off a town opposite the Licking." The-river was filled with ice "from shore to shore;" but, says Symmes, in May, 1789, * Perseverance triumphed over difficulty, and they landed safe on a most delightful bank of the Ohio, where they founded ihe town of Losantiville, which populates considerably." The settlers of Losantiville built a few log huts and block-houses, and proceeded to improve the town.. Symmes, noticing the location, says:

"Though they placed their dwellings in the most marked position, yet they suffered nothing from the freshet." 'This would seem to give credence to Judge Burnett's notes regarding the origin of Cincinnati, who states the settlement was made at this time, and not at the time mentioned when Mr. Filson named the town. It is further to be noticed, that, before the town was located by Mr. Ludlow and Mr. Patterson, Mr. Filson had been killed by the Miami Indians, and, as he had not paid for his one-third of the site, the claim was sold to Mr. Ludlow, who thereby became one of the original owners of the place. Just when the town was laid out is not recorded. All the evidence tends to show it must have been late in 1788, or early in 1789.

While the settlements on the north side of the Ohio were thus progressing, south of it fears of the Indians prevailed, and the separation sore was kept open. The coüntry was, however, so torn by internal factions that no plan was likely to succeed, and to this fact, in a farge measure, may be credited the reason it did not secede, or join the Spanish or French faction, both of which were intriguing to get the commonwealth. During this year the treasonable acts of James Wilkinson came into view. For a while he thought success was in his grasp, but the two governments were at peace with America, and discountenanced any such efforts. Wilkinson, like all traitors, relapsed into nonentity, and became mistrusted by the government he attempted to befriend, Treason is always odious.

It will be borne in mind that in 1778 preparations had been made for a treaty with the Indians, to secure peaceful possession of the lands owned in the west. Though the whites held these by purchase and treaty, yet many Indians especially the Wabash and some of the Miami Indians, objected to their occupation, claiming the Ohio boundary as the original division line. Clarke endeavored to obtain by treaty at Fort Harmar, in 1778, a confirmation of these grants, but was not able to do so till January 1789. Representatives of the Six Wations, and of the Wyandots. Delawares, Ottawas, Chippewas, Pottawatomies and Sacs, met him at this date, and confirmed and extended the treaties of Fort Stanwix and Fort McIntosh, the one in 1784, the other in 1785. This secured peace with most of them, save a few of the Wabash Indians, whom they were compelled to conquer by arms. When this was accomplished, the borders were thought safe, and Virginia proposed to withdraw her aid in support of Kentucky. This opened old troubles, and the separation dogma came out afresh. Virginia offered to allow the erection of a separate State, providing Kentucky would assume part of the old debts. This the young commonwealth would not do, and sent a remonstrance. Virginia withdrew the proposal and ordered a ninth convention, which succeeded in evolving a plan whereby Kentucky took her place among the free States of the Union.

North of the Ohio, the prosperity continued. In 1789, Rev. Daniel Story, who had been appointed missionary to the west, came out as a teacher of the youth «nd a preacher of the gospel. Dr. Cutler had preceded him, not in the capacity of a minister, though he had preached; hence Mr. Story is truly the first missionary from the Protestant church who came to the Ohio valley in that capacity. When he came, in 1789, he found nine associations on the Ohio company's purchase, comprising two hundred and fifty persons in all; and by the close of 1790, eight settlements had been made: two at Belpre (belle prairie), one at Newbury, one at Wolf creek, one at Duck creek, one at the mouth of Meigs' creek, one at Anderson's bottom, and one at Big bottom. An extended sketch of all these settlements will be found farther on in this volume.

Symmes had all this time strenuously endeavored to get his city - called Cleves city - favorably noticed, and filled with people. He saw a rival in Cincinnati. That place, if made military headquarters to protect the Miami valley, would outrival his town, situated near the bend of the Miami, near its mouth. On the fifteenth of June Judge Symmes received news that the Wabash Indians threatened the Miami settlements, and as he had received only nineteen men for defence, he applied for more. Before July, Major Doughty arrived at the "Slaughter House" - as the Miami was sometimes called, owing to previous murders that had, at former times, occurred therein. Through the influence of Symmes, the detachment landed at the north bend, and, for awhile, it was thought the fort would be erected there. This was what Symmes wanted, as it would secure him the headquarters of the military, and aid in getting the headquarters of the civil government. The truth was, however, that neither the proposed city on the Miami - North Bend, as it afterward became known from its location - or South Bend, would compete, in point of natural advantages, with the plain on which Cincinnati is built. Had Fort Washington been built elsewhere, after the close of the Indian war, nature would have asserted her advantages, and insured the growth of a city, where even the ancient and mysterious dwellers of the Ohio had reared the earthen walls of one of their vast temples. Another fact is given in relation to the erection of Fort Washington at Losantville, which partakes somewhat of romance. The major, while waiting to decide at which place the fort should be built, happened to make the acquaintance of a black-eyed beauty, the wife of one of the residents. Her husband, noticing the affair, removed her to Losantiville. The major followed; he told Symmes he wished to see how a fort would do there, but promised to give his city the preference. He found the beauty there, and on his return Symmes could not prevail on him to remain. If the story be true, then the importance of Cincinnati owes its existence to a trivial circumstance, and the old story of the ten years' war which terminated in the downfall of Troy, which is said to have originated owing tothe beauty of a Spartan dame, was re-enacted here. Troy and North Bend fell because of the beauty of a woman ; Cincinnati was the result of the downfall of the latter place.

to Fort Washington. There he established the county of Hamilton; appointed a corps of civil and military officers, and established a court of quarter sessions. Some state that at this time, he changed the name of the village of Losantiville to Cincinnati, in allusion to a society of that name which had recently been formed among the officers of the Revolutionary army, and established it as the seat of justice for Hamilton. This latter fact is certain; but as regards changing the name of the village, there is no good authority for it. With this importance attached to it, Cincinnati began at once an active growth, and from that day Cleves' city declined. "The next summer, frame houses began to appear in Cincinnati, while at the same time forty new log cabins appeared about the fort.

On the eighth of January, the governor arrived at the falls of the Ohio, on his way to establish a government at Vincennes and Kaskaskia. From Clarkesville he dispatched a messenger to Major Hamtramck, commander at Vincennes, with speeches to the various Indian tribes in this part of the Northwest, who had not fully agreed to the treaties. St Clair and Sargent followed in a few days, along an Indian trail to Vincennes, where he organized the county of Knox, comprising all the country along the Ohio, from the Miami to the Wabash, and made Vincennes the county seat. Then they proceeded across the lower part of Illinois to Kaskaskia, where he established the county of St. Clair (so named by Sargent), comprising all the country from the Wabash to the Mississippi. Thus the Northwest was divided into three counties, and courts established therein. St. Clair called on the French inhabitants at Vincennes and in the Illinois country, to show the titles to their lands, and also to defray the expense of a survey. To this latter demand they replied through their pgiest, Pierre Gibault, showing their poverty, and inability to comply. They were confirmed in their grants, and, as they had been good friends to the patriot cause, were relieved from the expense of the survey.

While the governor was managing these affairs, Major Hamtramck was engaged in an effort to conciliate the Wabash Indians. For this purpose, he sent Antoine Gamelin, an intelligent French merchant, and a true friend of America, among them to carry messages sent by St. Clair and the government, and to learn their sentiments and dispositions. Gamelin performed this im- «portant mission in the spring of 1790 with much sagacity, and, as the French were good friends of the natives, he did much to conciliate these half-hostile tribes. He visited the towns of these tribes along the Wabash and as far north and east as the Miami village, Ke-ki-ong-ga - St. Mary's - at the junction of the St. Mary's and St. Joseph's rivers (Fort Wayne).

governor at Kaskaskia. The reports convinced him that the Indians of that part of the Northwest were preparing for a war on the settlements north of the Ohio, intending, if possible, to drive them south of it - that river still being considered by them as the true boundary. St. Clair left the administration of affairs in the western counties to Sargent, and returned at once to Fort Washington to provide for the defence of the frontier.

The Indians had begun their predatory incursions into the country settled by the whites, and had committed some depredations. The Kentuckians were enlisted in an attack against the Scioto Indians. April eighteenth, General Harmar, with one hundred regulars, and General Scott, with two hundred and thirty volunteers, marched from Limestone, by a circuitous route, to the Scioto, accomplishing but little. The savages had fled.