Carroll County, Indiana - Chapter with an unread heading (no. 11 of those read), 1882

I X D I A iV A T E 11 R I T 0 R Y. When and How Fokmed - Its Boundahies and First Officers- Seat OF Government - Organization and Subsequent Proceedings - Legislature and its Principal Enactments- Delegates IN Congress, their Acts and Influence- General Review of the Tbrritobal Government - Steps

AS has been already shown, the area afterward known as Indiana Territory was set apart from the teiritoiy of the United States northwest of the Ohio River, by act of Congress appi'oved May 7, ISOO. by which it appears that the material portions of the ordinance of July 13, 1787. prescribing a form and regulations for the government of the Ten-itory ceded by the State of Virginia, continued in force and constituted the basis of the oi'ganic law of Indiana Territory, and tlie people residing witliin its limits were invested with all the rights, privileges and advantages granted and secm-ed to the people by the original ordinance. The boundaries of the territorial jiu-isdiction of Indiana were as defined in the concluding portion of the preceding chapter, and in efi'ect the same as now, with the difference in the eastern portion between what was known as the ten-itorial line, extending from the Ohio opposite the mouth of the Kentucky River northward to Fort Recovery, and a line running due north fi-om the mouth of the Great Miami River - the western boundai-y of tlie State of Ohio - which, during the existence of Indiana TeiTitory, was subject to the jurisdiction of Ohio, but, upon the adoption of a State constitution, became a piu't of the State of Indiana. On the 13th of May, 1800, AVilliam H. Hamson, a native of Virginia, was confirmed as Governor of the TeiTitory. and John Gibson, a native of Pemisylvania. and a distinguished pioneer (to ' whom, in 177-t, the Indian chief [a Mingo] Logan, delivered his celebrated speech), was appointed Secretary. Shortly afterward, William Clark, Hem-y Vanderburgh and John Griffin were appointed Territorial Judges. The civilized population of the Territory at that tiin<> was estimated at 4,875. The Secretary pro ceedcd at once to Vincennes, the seat of the Territorial government, where he arrived in the month of July of thatyeai", and pro- ceeded, in the absence of Gov. Harrison, who did not arrive until Jannaiy, 1801, to appoint several of the Territorial oiEcers, and to provide for the administration of the laws. On the 10th of January, Gov. Harrison issued a proclamation requiring the Judges of the Territoi-y to attend at the seat of government for the piu'pose of adopting and publishing " such laws as the exigencies of the times " required, and foi' the performance of other acts conformable to the ordinances and laws of Congi-ess for the government of the Territory." These officers met on the 12th of January, and continued in session until the 20th of the month, when they adjoiu'ned, having, during the session, adopted and published seven laws and thi-ee resolutions. The titles of these laws and resolutions were the following: 1. A law supplemental to a law to regulate county levies. 2. A resolution concerning attorneys and counselors at law. 3. A law to regulate the practice of the General Coirrt on appeals and wi-its of errors. 4. A law respecting amendment and joefail. 5. A law establishing coui'tsof general quarter sessions of the peace in the counties of Knox, Bandolph and St. Clair. 0. An act repealing certain acts. T. A law appointing a Territorial Treasm'er. 8. A resolution respecting the establishment of ferries. 9. A law concerning the fees of officers. 10. A resolution concerning the compensation to the Clerk of the Legislature.

The Judges above named commenced the first session of the General Coiut in the new Ten-itory at Vincennes, on the 3d of March, 1801. The first Grand Jiu'y impaneled was composed of nineteen persons, as follows: Luke Decker, Antoine Marchal, Joseph Baird, Patrick Simpson, Antoine Petit, Andre Montplaisem', John Ochiltree, Jonathan Marney, Jacob Tevebaugh, Alexander Valley, Francois Tui'pin, Fr. Compagnoitte, Charles Languedoc, Louis Severe, Fr. Languedoc, George Catt. Jolm Bt. Barois, Abraham Decker and Philip Catt.

By virtue of the royal ordinance of Louis XV. King of France. in 1721, re-enacting the edict of Louis XIII, of France, dated April 23, 1615, the Company of the Indies was authorized to import negro slaves into the province of Louisiana, which, at one time, extended, on the west side of the Alleghany Mountains, over all the teiTitory watered by the Mississippi and its ti'ibutaries ; hence, some of the early French colonists who settled at Kaskaskia, and certain residents of Post Vincennes, were slaveholders, and, during the period from 1721 to 1784, while the Northwestern Territory was claimed successively by France, Great Britain and Virginia, the right to so hold them was unquestioned by any legislative authority. At the date last mentioned, however, March 1, 1784, that portion of the Ten-itory claimed by Virginia was transferred to the United States, in which, by the ordinance of July 13, 1787, it was declared that neither slavery nor involuntary servitude should exist, otherwise than in the punishment of crimes. This provision extended to and was incorporated in the acts whereby the authority of Indiana Territoiy was transferred to its jiu-isdiction as a State Govermnent.

Gov. Han'ison, on the 22d of November, 1802, in compliance with the request of many of the inhabitants of the Territory, issued a proclamation notifying the people that an election would be held on the 11th of December following, for the pm-pose of choosing delegates to meet iu convention,. at Vincennes, on the 20th of that month, to consider the expediency of repealing or suspending that article of the ordinance which prohibited the holding of slaves. As a result of the deliberation of that convention, a memorial -was presented to Congress to that effect. The committee, of which Mi'. Randolph, of Virginia, was Chairman, wisely foreseeing that involuntary or even voluntary slavei'y would not be conducive to the prosperity of the Territory or futm-e State, reported adversely on the proposition, and Congress, in adopting the report of that committee, refused to suspend the ai'ticle, and left it in full force and effect.

On the 11th day of September, 1804, a majority of 138 of the fi-eeholders of the Territory having declared that they were in favor of organizing a Territorial General Assembly, Gov. HaiTison issued a proclamation declaring that the Territory had passed into the second grade of govermnent, as contemplated by the ordinance of 1787, and fixing Thursday, January 3, 1805, as the time for holding an election in the several counties of the Teiritory , to choose members of a House of Representatives, who would be required to meet at Vincennes, on the 1st of February, for the purpose of adopting measmes for the organization of a Ten-itorial Legislative Council. The meeting was held, in obedience to that proclamation, on the 7th day of Februai-y, 1805, and selected, by ballot, thej names of ten residents of the TeiTitoiy to be forwarded to the President, who would select five out of that number, and commission them as members of the Legislative Coimcil of the Territory of Indiana. The following are the names of the ten persons selected and sent to the President, as provided by the ordinance : John Rice Jones and Jacob Kuykendall, of Knox County; Samuel Gwathmey and Marston Green Clark, of Clai'k County: Benjamin Chambers, of Dearborn Count}'; Jean Francois Berry and John Hay, of St. Clair County: Pierre Menard, of Randolph County; and James Maj' and James Hemy, of Detroit, in the coimty of "Wayne.

President Jefferson, however, waived his right to designate the names of five persons from the list of ten, and forwai-ded to Gov. Hai-rison blank commissions, with authority to make the selections and till the blanks with the names of suitable persons for members of the Legislative Council, rejecting " laud- jobbers, dishonest men, and those who, though honest, might suffer themselves to be wai'ped by party prejudices."

By act of Congress, approved January 11, 1805, a few days after the first meeting of the House of Representatives of In- I diana Territory, and before the organization of the Legislative I Coimcil, the Territory of Indiana was divided, in order to establish the Territory of Michigan, which was separated from the Indiana Territory fi-om and after June 30, 1805. by the following I boundai'y: "All that part of the Indiana Territory which lies north of a line di-awn east from the southerly bend of Lake Michigan, until it shall intersect Lake Erie, and east of a line di-awn fi-om the said southerly bend thi'ough the middle of said lake to its northern extremity, and thence due north to the northern boundary of the ITnited States." This separation transferred the coimty of Wayne, in which Deti'oit was situated, from Indiana to Michigan Territory.

Pursuant to the proclamation of Gov, Harrison, dated Jime 7, 1805, the first General Assembly or Legislatiu-e of Indiana Territory was held, commencing on the 29th of July. The members composing the House of Representatives were Jesse B. Thomas, of Dearborn County: Davis Floyd, of Clark Count}': Benjamin Parke and John Johnson, of Knox County; Shadrach Bond and William Biggs, of St. Clair Couuty; and George Fisher, of Randoljjh County. Gov. Han'ison delivered his first message to " the Legislative Council and House of Representatives of the Indiana Territory on the 30th of July." At this session of the General Assembly, Benj amin Parke, a native of New Jersey, was elected, on joint Ijallot. a delegate to represent the Territoi'y in Congress.

In 1807, the first revision of the laws of the Territory, adopted aud published by Gov. St. Clair and the Judges of the territory northwest of the Ohio, and still in force, with those adopted and published by Gov. Harrison and the Territorial Judges, took })laoe, and were published at Vineennes, by Messrs. Stout & Smoot, " printers to the Territory." The Committee of Revision consisted of John Rice Jones and John Johnson.

On the 14th of December, 1815, the Legislature of Indiana Territory adopted a memorial, which was presented to Congress on the 28th, setting forth that, pursuant to the ordinance for the formation of a Territorial Government, a census had been taken of the fi-ee white inhabitants of the Territory, showing the ag gregate number to be 03,897 - more than the number necessary to authorize the adoption of a State constitution and its admission as such into the sisterhood of States; and asking Congi-ess to order an election for that purpose, on the first Monday in May, 1816, for Representatives to meet in convention and determine whether a State Government be formed, and, if detenuined in favor of the proposition, to fi-ame a constitution and fomi of government. The memorial was presented, reported on January 5 ; the enabling act was passed, and received the President's approval April 19, 1816.