Ohio History Journal

66       Ohio Arch. and His. Society Publications.

 

SEC. 5. Be it further enacted, That nothing in this act

contained shall be 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 exer-

cise thereof within the Indiana Territory, from and after the

aforesaid fourth of July next; Provided, That 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 an independent

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 States and the

Indiana Territory; anything in this act contained to the con-

trary notwithstanding.

SEC. 6. And be it further enacted, That until it shall be

otherwise ordered by the Legislatures of the said territories re-

spectively, Chillicothe, on Scioto River, shall be the seat of the

government of the territory of the United States northwest of the

Ohio River; and that Saint Vincennes, on the Wabash River,

shall be the seat of the government for the Indiana Territory.

Approved May 7, 1800.

 

 

 

DEED AND ACT OF CESSION OF CONNECTICUT.

 

(MAY 30, 1800, 1 V. L. U. S., p. 485.)

To all who shall see these presents, I, Jonathan Trumbull,

Governor of the State of Connecticut, send greeting:

WHEREAS, The General Assembly of the State of Con-

necticut, at their session holden in Hartford, on the second Thurs-

day of May, one thousand eight hundred, passed an act, entitled

"An act renouncing the claims of this State to certain lands

therein mentioned," in the words following to-wit:

"WHEREAS, The Congress of the United States, at their

session, begun and holden in the City of Philadelphia, on the

first Monday of December, in the year one thousand seven hun-

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Deed and Act of Cession of Connecticut.      67

 

dred and ninety-nine, made and passed an act, in the words

following to-wit: (here follows the act of Congress, of the 28th

of April, 1800) therefore, in consideration of the terms, and in

compliance with the provisions and conditions of the said act,

Be it enacted by the Governor and Council, and House of Repre-

sentatives, in General Court assembled, That the State of Connecti-

cut doth hereby renounce forever, for the use and benefit of the

United States, and of the several individual States, who may be

therein concerned respectively, and of all those deriving claims or

titles from them or any of them, all territorial and jurisdictional

claims, whatever, under any grant, charter or charters whatever, to

the soil and jurisdiction of any and all lands whatever, lying west-

ward, northwestward, and southwestward, of those counties in

the State of Connecticut, which are bounded westerdly by the

eastern line of the State of New York, as ascertained by agree-

ment between Connecticut and New York, in the year one thous-

and seven hundred and thirty-three; excepting only from this

renunciation, the claim of the said State of Connecticut, and of

those claiming from or under the said State of Connecticut, to

the soil of said tract of land, in said act of Congress described

under the name of the Western Reserve of Connecticut; and,

Be it further enacted, That the Governor of this State for the

time being, be, and hereby is empowered, in the name and behalf

of this State, to execute and deliver to the acceptance of the Presi-

dent of the United States, a deed of the form and tenor directed

by the said act of Congress, expressly releasing to the United

States the jurisdictional claims of the State of Connecticut, to all

that territory called the Western Reserve of Connecticut, accord-

ing to the description thereof in said act of Congress, and in as

full and ample manner as therein is required.

Therefore, know ye, that I, Jonathan Trumbull, Governor

of the State of Connecticut, by virtue of the powers vested in me,

as aforesaid, do, by these presents, in the name and for and on

behalf of the said State, remise, release and forever quit-claim,

to the United States, the jurisdictional claim of the State of

Connecticut, to all that tract of land called, in the aforesaid act

of Congress, the Western Reserve of Connecticut, and as the

same therein under that name is particularly and fully described.

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68        Ohio Arch. and His. Society Publications.

 

In witness whereof, I have hereunto subscribed my name,

and affixed my seal, in the council chamber at Hartford, in the

State of Connecticut, this thirtieth day of May, in the year of

our Lord, one thousand eight hundred, and in the twenty-fourth

year of the independence of the United States.

JONATHAN TRUMBULL (L. S.).

 

 

TERRITORIAL ASSENT TO ALTERATION OF BOUND-

ARY OF TERRITORY OF NORTHWEST.

ACT OF DEC. 21, 1801. FIRST SESSION GENERAL ASSEMBLY

NORTHWEST TERRITORY.

An act declaring the assent of the territory northwest of the river Ohio to

an alteration in the ordinance for the government thereof.

SECTION 1. That as soon as the Congress of the United

States shall declare their assent thereto, the aforesaid ordinance for

the government of the territory northwest of the river Ohio, done

by the United States in Congress assembled, on the thirteenth

day of July, in the year of our Lord one thousand seven hundred

and eighty-seven, and of their sovereignty and independence the

twelfth, shall be altered so far as the same relates to the boun-

daries of the three States that are first hereafter to be erected

in the said territory, and in the stead thereof, the boundaries of

the said states shall be fixed and established as follows, to wit:

The western State in the said territory shall be bounded by the

Mississippi, the Ohio, and line beginning at a point on the Ohio

river, where the same is intersected by the western boundary of

the land granted to General George Rogers Clark, and the offi-

cers and soldiers of his regiment; thence running directly to

the head of Chickagua River; thence by the said river to Lake

Michigan; thence by a line drawn due north to the territorial

line between the United States and Canada; and by the said ter-

ritorial line to the Lake of the Woods and the Mississippi.

The middle State shall be bounded by the eastern boundary

of the aforesaid western State, by the Ohio River to the mouth

of the Scioto River, by the Scioto River to the Indian boundary

line, as established in the treaty of Greenville; by a direct line

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Application to Erect the Northwest Ter. into a State.  69

 

drawn from thence to the southwest corner of the Connecticut

Reserve; thence by a line due north to the territorial line, and

by the said territorial line.

The eastern State shall be bounded by the said eastern boun-

dary of the middle State; by the Ohio to the Pennsylvania line;

by the Pennsylvania line to the territorial line, and by the said ter-

ritorial line.

Provided always, That nothing herein contained shall be in-

tended to annul or in any way affect the authority of Congress

to form one or two States in that part of the said territory which

lies north of an east line drawn through the southerly bend of

Lake Michigan.

 

APPLICATION TO ERECT THE NORTHWEST TERRI-

TORY INTO A STATE.

(SEVENTH CONGRESS, FIRST SESSION. NO. 156.)

Communicated to the House of Representatives, March 4,1802.

Mr. Giles made the following report:

The committee to whom was referred the census of the

inhabitants of the territory northwest of the Ohio, with instruc-

tions to report "whether any and what, measures ought at this

time be taken, for enabling the people of the said territory to

form a government for themselves, to be admitted into the Union

upon the same terms with the original States"; to whom were

also referred the representation of sundry inhabitants of the said

territory, complaining of an act passed by the Legislature of the

said territory for altering the boundary lines of the State therein

as established by the ordinance of Congress of the 13th of July,

1787, etc., etc.; and other representations praying that provision

may be made for enabling the people of the said territory to form

for themselves a State government, to be admitted into the Union

upon the same footing with the original States, etc.; after having

bestowed on these interesting subjects all the attention their

importance requires, report:

That it appears to your committee, that the ordinance of

the 13th of July, 1787, between the original States and the people

and State within the territory northwest of the river Ohio, con-

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70        Ohio Arch. and His. Society Publications.

 

tains the following stipulation: that "Whenever any of the said

States shall have sixty thousand free inhabitants therein, such

State shall be admitted by its delegates into the Congress of the

United States, on an equal footing with the original States in

all respects whatever; and shall be at liberty to form a permanent

constitution and State government; provided the constitution

and government so to be formed shall be republican, and in con-

formity to the principles contained in these articles; and, so far

as it can be consistent with the general interest of the confed-

eracy, such admission shall be allowed at an earlier period, and

when there may be a less number of free inhabitants in the State

than sixty thousand." It also appears from the census of the

inhabitants within the eastern division of the said territory, taken

more than twelve months since, in virtue of a law of the United

States for that purpose, that there were then in the said eastern

division forty-five thousand three hundred and sixty-five inhab-

itants, from which are to be deducted three thousand four hun-

dred inhabitants living north and west of the line proposed for

the boundary of the said eastern division.

It appears, that since the time of taking the census, the

United States have sold five hundred and fifty-three thousand

nine hundred and ninety-five acres of lands within the eastern

division of the territory, amounting in value to $1,147,585. It

appears, from the best information to be procured, that, in the

year 1794, the number of inhabitants within the present eastern

division of the territory did not exceed six thousand. From the

progressive increase of population since that period, and the sale

of lands recently made by the United States, it is probable that,

before all the measures necessary for the formation of a consti-

tution, putting into operation a State government, and its admis-

sion into the Union, can be effectuated, the number of inhabitants

will amount to sixty thousand; the number requisite, according

to the terms of the ordinance, for giving them an absolute right

of forming a constitution and State government for themselves,

as well as the absolute right of admission into the Union, upon

the same footing with the original States, in all respects whatever.

It also appears to your committee, that great and increasing

disquietudes exist among the inhabitants within the territory,

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Application to Erect the Northwest Ter. into a State.  71

 

from various occasions, and particularly in consequence of the

act lately passed for altering the boundary lines of the States in

the territory, as established by the ordinance of the 13th of July,

1787.

Your committee, from a due consideration of all the fore-

going circumstances, are of opinion, that it is at this time expe-

dient to make provisions for enabling the people within the east-

ern division of the territory northwest of the river Ohio to form

for themselves a constitution and State government, to be admitted

into the Union upon the same footing with the original States

in all respects whatever; and that such admission, at this time,

is consistent with the general interests of the confederacy, accord-

ing to the said ordinance, although the number of inhabitants

may not amount to sixty thousand. The committee therefore

recommend the following resolutions:

Resolved, 1) That provision ought at this time to be made,

by law, for enabling the inhabitants of the eastern division of

the territory northwest of the river Ohio to form for themselves

a constitution and State government, provided the same be repub-

lican, and not repugnant to the ordinance for the government of

the territory northwest of the river Ohio, of the 13th of July,

1787, nor repugnant to the constitution of the United States;

and also for the admission of such State, when the government

thereof shall be formed, into the Union, upon the same footing

with the original States, in all respects whatever, by the name

of the State of -- -.

Resolved, 2) That the said State of ---------- ought to con-

sist of all the territory included within the following boundaries,

to-wit:Bounded on the east by the Pennsylvania line, running

from the territorial line in Lake Erie to the Ohio; on the south

by the Ohio, to the mouth of the Great Miami; on the west by a

line drawn due north, from the mouth of the Great Miami afore-

said; and on the north by an east and west line, drawn through

the southerly extreme of Lake Michigan, running east, after

intersecting the due north line aforesaid, from the mouth of the

Great Miami, until it shall intersect Lake Erie or the terri-

torial line, and thence with the same through Lake Erie,

to the Pennsylvania line afroesaid, or place of beginning;

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provided, that Congress shall, at any time hereafter, be at

liberty either to attach all the territory lying east of the line to be

drawn due north from the mouth of the Miami aforesaid to the

territorial line, and north of an east and west line drawn through

the southerly extreme of Lake Michigan, running east as afore-

said to Lake Erie, to the aforesaid State, or dispose of it other-

wise, in conformity to the fifth article of compact between the

original States and the people and States to be formed in the

territory northwest of the Ohio.

Resolved, 3) That provision ought to be made, by law, for

calling a convention within the eastern division of the territory,

to be composed of members to be apportioned amongst the

several counties therein, in a ratio of one representative for every

---- inhabitants of the said counties, according to the last

enumeration of inhabitants thereof; also for fixing the time,

place, and mode of making elections of members to compose

such convention, and the time and place for the meeting of the

same; which convention, when met, shall first determine, by a

majority of the members present (provided the number present

shall be a majority of the whole number chosen), whether it be

or be not expedient, at that time, to form a constitution and State

government for the people within the said territory; and if it be

determined to be expedient then, in the next place, the conven-

tion shall be authorized to form a constitution and State govern-

ment; provided the same shall be republican, and not repugnant

to the ordinance of the 13th of July, 1787, between the original

States and the people and the States of the territory northwest

of the river Ohio, nor repugnant to the Constitution of the United

States.

Resolved, 4) That until the next general census shall be taken,

the State of ------ shall be entitled to  --- representatives

in the House of Representatives of the United States.

The committee observed, in the ordinance for ascertaining

the mode of disposing of lands in the western territory of the 20th

of May, 1785, the following section, which, so far as respects

the subject of schools, remains unaltered:

"There shall be reserved for the United States out of every

township, the four lots, being numbered 8, 11, 26, 29, and out

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Application to Erect the Northwest Ter. into a State.  73

 

of every fractional part of a township so many lots of the same

numbers as shall be found thereon for future sale. There shall

be reserved the lot No. 16, of every township, for the maintenance

of public schools within the said township; also one-third part

of all gold, silver, lead, and copper mines, to be sold, or otherwise

disposed of as Congress shall hereafter direct."

The committee also observed, in the third and fourth articles

of the ordinance of the 13th of July, 1787, the following stipula-

tions, to-wit: Article three, "Religion, morality, and knowledge

being necessary to good government and the happiness of man-

kind, schools and the means of education shall forever be en-

couraged," etc.

Article four, "The Legislatures of those districts of the new

States shall never interfere with the primary disposal of the soil

by the United States in Congress assembled, nor with any regu-

lations Congress may find necessary for securing the title in

such soil to the bona fide purchasers. No tax shall be imposed

on lands the property of the United States; and in no case shall

non-resident proprietors be taxed higher than residents."

The committee, taking into consideration these stipulations,

viewing the lands of the United States within the said territory

as an important source of revenue; deeming it also of the highest

importance to the stability and permanence of the union of the

eastern and western parts of the United States, that the inter-

course should, as far as possible, be facilitated, and their interests

be liberally and mutually consulted and promoted, are of opinion

that the provisions of the aforesaid articles may be varied for

the reciprocal advantage of the United States and the State of

--- --- when formed, and the people thereof; they have there-

fore deemed it proper, in lieu of the said provisions, to offer the

following propositions to the convention of the Eastern State

of the said territory, when formed, for their free acceptance or

rejection, without any condition or restraint whatever, which,

if accepted by the convention, shall be obligatory upon the United

States:

1st. That section No. 16, in every township, sold, or

directed to be sold by the United States, shall be granted to the

inhabitants of such township for the use of schools.

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74        Ohio Arch. and His. Society Publications.

 

2d. That the six miles reservation, including the salt

springs, commonly called the Scioto salt springs, shall be granted

to the State of   -   when formed, for the use of the people

thereof; the same to be used under such terms, conditions, and

regulations, as the Legislature of the said State shall direct;

provided the said Legislature shall never sell, nor lease the same

for a longer term than - years.

3d. That one-tenth part of the net proceeds of the lands

lying in the said State, hereafter sold by Congress, after deducting

all expenses incident to the same, shall be applied to the laying

out and making turnpike or other roads, leading from the navi-

gable waters emptying into the Atlantic to the Ohio, and con-

tinued afterwards through the State of ------; such roads to

be laid out under the authority of Congress, with the consent of

the several States through which the road shall pass; provided

that the convention of the State of -     shall, on his part,

assent that every and each tract of land sold by Congress shall

be and remain exempt from any tax laid by order or under

authority of the State, whether for State, county, township, or

any other purpose whatever, for the term of ten years, from and

after the completion of the payment of the purchase money on

such tract to the United States.

 

 

ENABLING ACT FOR OHIO-1802.

 

(SEVENTH CONGRESS, FIRST SESSION.)

 

An act to enable the people of the eastern division of the territory north-

west of the river Ohio to form a constitution and State government

and for the admission of such State into the Union on an equal foot-

ing with the original States, and for other purposes.

SECTION 1. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of

Representatives of the United States of America in Congress as-

sembled, That the inhabitants of the eastern division of the ter-

ritory northwest of the river Ohio, be, and they are hereby,

authorized to form for themselves a constitution and State gov-

ernment, and to assume such name as they shall deem proper,.

and the said State, when formed, shall be admitted into the Union

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