THE OHIO
DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE.
CLEMENT L. MARTZOLFF, B. PED.
[By permission of The Ohio Teacher.]
The school histories have always said
much about the Meck-
lenburg Resolutions being the prelude to
the Declaration of Inde-
pendence. Indeed some histories make so
much of it that you
doubt if Thomas Jefferson would ever
have mustered up cour-
age sufficient to pen the immortal lines
beginning, "When in the
course of human events," etc., had
he not had this brave pre-
cedent before him.
Now, a few years ago our esteemed friend
and colleague,
Mr. W. H. Hunter, of Chillicothe, who
has since passed over
the silent river, wrote in that
fascinating, vigorous and facile
manner of his that the Mecklenburg
Resolutions were not the
prelude to the Declaration of
Independence at all. They were
a prelude all right, but when you talk
about the prelude, that
distinction belongs to the Scotch-Irish
members of the Hanover
Presbyterian Church in Dauphin county,
Pennsylvania. In point
of time the Pennsylvania prelude has the
prestige. For it was
on January 4, 1774, that these
Scotch-Irish Presbyterians de-
clared in congregational meeting, that,
"in the event of Great
Britain's attempting to enforce unjust
laws upon us by the
strength of arms, our cause we leave to
heaven and our rifles."
These Scotch-Irish were noted for their
skill with the rifle. It
is said that the long German rifle in
the hands of the Scotch-
Irish conquered the western wilderness.
While these were no
doubt zealous Presbyterians who believed
in the fiats of heaven,
yet from the tone of their declaration
they seem to express the
sentiment of the general who told his
men to pray, "but keep
their powder dry!"
SITE OF FORT GOWER.
The date of the Mecklenburg Declaration
falls on May 20,
1775, nearly a year after the
Hanover Declaration and fourteen
(404)
The Ohio Declaration of
Independence. 405
months before the Liberty Bell
"proclaimed liberty throughout
the land." That a convention of the
inhabitants of Mecklenburg
county, North Carolina, met at this time
and promulgated a
"Declaration" has been
vigorously maintained and as stoutly de-
nied. Those who discount it say that it
was not discovered that
they had such a meeting until 1818 and
if it took that long to
find out they had a meeting it certainly
did not have much moral
influence in sustaining Thomas Jefferson
a year later in Phila-
delphia.
It is not the purpose here to discuss
the merits of either side
of this controversy. It is assumed that
sometime about May
20, 1775, the representatives of the towns of Mecklenburg
county, North Carolina, did meet in
Charlotte and proclaim that
"as the King and Parliament had
annulled and vacated all civil
and military commissions, granted by the
crown, etc., the pro-
vincial congresses directed by the
Continental Congress are in-
vested with all legislative and
executive power independent of
the Crown, and Parliament should resign
its arbitrary preten-
sions."
The time is now about ripe for the
ubiquitous Ohio man
with that insuperable ability of his for
claiming the world and
all that is therein, to bob up serenely
and demand recognition
for a "prelude" on Ohio soil.
The date of Ohio's
"declaration" of independence falls mid-
way of the two preceding, November 5,
1774. The place and the
occasion briefly told are these:
With its source amid the fertile fields
of Fairfield county,
the river Hock-hocking, which in Indian
language means bottle-
necked, meanders, a modest brook,
through the flats and graveled
terraces of its upper valley. Then
suddenly, as if by an insane
desire to reach the sea, it plunges into
the hills through whose
shale and sand beds it has chiseled its
way for seventy miles.
Now curving its way by the fretted
pine-lined rock-walls, now
rippling across its shallows and
plunging adown its cataracts,
now narrowing to squeeze itself between
the hills; then again
broadening and sleeping as it lazily
wanders among its meadows,
passing prosperous farms and thriving
villages; the steeple shad-
ows of three court houses falling upon
its bosom, the cattle bath-
406 Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications.
ing their bodies in its depths, the
Waltons from town and farm
basking on its banks and awaiting
results, the mill-wheel creak-
ing on its axle as the flood sweeps by,
and coal-mines, the Alad-
din's Caves where dross is transmuted
into gold, opening their
ebony portals upon its shores--this is
the panorama you see
from the beginning until it mingles its
waters with the amber
tide of "La Belle Riviere."
It is at the mouth of this picturesque
little river that we
pause for a "Little lingering at a
spot historic in Buckeyedom."
There is a sleepy little village here
and to many of its inhabitants
it was news to be informed that within
its precincts an American
army once camped under the generalship of
a real live English
lord.
Nature has conspired to make this an
attractive spot and
the chronicles of early travelers,
passing up and down the Ohio,
never fail to make mention of it. George
Washington, in his
celebrated journey down the Ohio in
1770, in his journal, under
date of October 27, says:
"Incamped at the mouth of the great
Hock-hocking, dis-
tant from our last incampment about 32
miles." On his return
he reached the same camping grounds on
November 7. The
weather, he adds, was a little
"gloomy in the morning but clear,
still and pleasant afterwards."
"The Indians," he continues, "say
canoes can go up it (the river) 40 or 50
miles."
Four years later almost to the day, this
site was the scene
of some military activity that marks the
spot an historic one.
The story of the murder of Logan's
family has often been
narrated and need not be retold here. It
is known that this ac-
tion precipitated an Indian war upon the
frontier settlements of
Pennsylvania and Virginia. The Shawanese
with their homes
upon the Scioto were the leaders in this
uprising. At last, Lord
Dunmore, the royal governor of Virginia,
resolved to carry the
war into the Indian country. Two armies
of Virginia militia-
men, one under the command of General
Andrew Lewis and
the other under Governor Dunmore
himself, marched for the
Indian country. General Lewis reached
the Ohio river at Point
Pleasant and Lord Dunmore, floating down
the Ohio, landed at
the mouth of the Hocking. That this was
the objective point of
The Ohio Declaration of
Independence. 407
the army is gained from a letter of
Colonel Crawford to George
Washington, dated September 20, 1774:
"I am this day to set out with the
first division for the
mouth of the Hock-hocking and there to
erect a post on your
bottom where the whole of the troops are
to rendezvous."
Washington's Bottom was on the Virginia
side of the river
and when the two divisions of Crawford
and Dunmore reached
the place they crossed to the Ohio side,
commenced cutting the
forest trees and erected a fortified
camp of considerable extent.
There was also built a strong
block-house in which to deposit the
surplus stores of provisions and
ammunition during the absence
of the troops in their march to the
Scioto. This fort, the fifth
one to be erected in Ohio, was named
Fort Gower in honor of
Earl Gower.
While this was transpiring on the
Hock-hocking, the
Indians, under the leadership of
Cornstalk, left their Scioto
homes and suddenly fell upon the
division of the army en-
camped at Point Pleasant. Here on
Sunday, October 10, 1774,
after a desperate battle, the Indians
were defeated and eagerly
turned back to their own villages. Lord
Dunmore after leaving
a small detachment to guard the fort,
started for the Pickaway
Plains. Ascending the Hocking, passing
the sites of the present
cities of Athens and Nelsonville, he at
last came to the falls of
the river where Logan now stands. There
he struck across the
country. Before reaching the Indian town
he was met by am-
bassadors from the Indians, suing for
peace. General Lewis
was approaching from the direction of
Point Pleasant by way of
Jackson. The Indians well knew as they
had failed to overcome
the army divided, it was useless to
attempt a battle when the
enemy was united. A great council was
held, a treaty was made,
the Indians agreed to bury the tomahawk
and the purpose of the
expedition was fulfilled. It will be
remembered that Logan, the
primal cause of the war, refused to
attend the council and when
sought out gave his reasons in that
famous speech of his that
has been recited by schoolboys these
many years.
No doubt there were white men
disappointed with the treaty
also. There were men in both divisions
of the army who had
little faith in Indian promises and who
believed that there were
408 Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications.
no good Indians but dead ones. (Cooper's
Indians had not yet
been created.) At any rate the Virginia
army retraced its steps
and on November 5th found itself again
at Fort Gower. Here
the soldiers learned for the first time
of the action taken by the
first Continental Congress which had
assembled at Philadelphia,
September 5, 1774. Whereupon a meeting
of the officers was
called, with the following results:
At a meeting of the officers under the
command of his ex-
cellency, the Right Honorable the Earl
of Dunmore, convened at
Fort Gower, November 5, 1774, for the
purpose of considering
the grievances of British America, an
officer present addressed
the meeting in the following words:
"GENTLEMEN: Having now concluded the campaign, by the as-
sistance of Providence, with honor and
advantage to the colony and
ourselves, it only remains that we
should give our country the strongest
assurance that we are ready, at all
times, to the utmost of our power,
to maintain and defend her just right
and privileges. We have lived
about three months in the woods without
any intelligence from Boston,
or from the delegates at Philadelphia.
It is possible, from the groundless
reports of designing men, that our
countrymen may be jealous of the
use such a body would make of arms in
their hands at this critical
juncture. That we are a respectable body
is certain, when it is con-
sidered that we can live weeks without
bread or salt; that we can
sleep in the open air without any
covering but that of the canopy of
Heaven; and that pure men can march and
shoot with any in the known
world. Blessed with these talents let us
solemnly engage to one another,
and our country in particular, that we
will use them to no purpose but
for the honor and advantage of America
in general and of Virginia in
particular. It behooves us, then, for
the satisfaction of our country, that
we should give them our real sentiments,
by way of resolves, at this
very alarming crisis."
Whereupon the meeting made choice of a
committee to draw
up and prepare resolves for their consideration, who immediately
withdrew, and after some time spent
therein, reported that they
had agreed to and prepared the following
"resolves," which were
read, maturely considered, and agreed
to, nemine contradiceate,
by the meeting, and ordered to be
published in the Virginia
Gazette:
"Resolved, That we will bear the most faithful allegiance to His
Majesty, King George the Third, whilst
His Majesty delights to reign
The Ohio Declaration of Independence. 409
over a brave and free people; that we will, at the expense of life, and everything dear and valuable, exert ourselves in support of his crown. and the dignity of the British Empire. But as the love of liberty and attachment to the real interests and just rights of America outweigh every other consideration, we resolve that we will exert every power within us for the defense of American liberty, and for the support of her just rights and privileges; not in any precipitate, riotous or tumultuous manner, but when regularly called forth by the unanimous voice of our countrymen. "Resolved, That we entertain the greatest respect for His Excellency, the Right Honorable Lord Dunmore, who commanded the expedition against the Shawnese; and who, we are confident, underwent the great fatigue of this singular campaign from no other motive than the true interest of this country. "Signed by order and in behalf of the whole corps. "BENJAMIN ASHBY, Clerk." [Taken from American Archives, 4th series, Vol. 1, p. 962.] |
|
There has been much discussion as to the motives that prompted these soldiers to make this proclamation. Some argue that they had been disappointed with the expedition; that Dunmore had acted with duplicity; that the whole Indian trouble from the Logan murder at Yellowcreek to the final act on the Pickaway Plains was a part of a general scheme to keep the people's minds away from the idea of inde- pendence, and that the men seeing they had been duped, pro- claimed under the very nose of the royal governor their alle- giance to American liberty. |
410 Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications.
As a matter of fact it doesn't make any difference whether they had been fooled or not. Dunmore may have been guilty of double dealing or he may not. It does not alter the situation one whit, anyway you consider it. There is this to be remem- bered only, that the Hanover Declaration, the Ohio Declaration and the Mecklenburg Declaration were the straws showing which way the wind was blowing. They were all indicative of the rapidly growing spirit of liberty and independence in the colon- ists and this spirit would manifest itself even in the presence of a member of the British aristocracy who at the same time was the King's representative. "Twenty years after this period when the settler of the Ohio Company took possession of their lands at the mouth of |
|
the Big Hock-hocking the outlines of Dunmore's camping ground was easily distinguished. A tract containing several acres had the appearance of an old clearing grown up with stout saplings. In plowing the fields for several years afterwards, mementoes of the former occupants were often found, consisting of hatchets, gun barrels, knives, swords and bullets, brought to light in the upturned furrow. In one place several hundred leaden bullets were discovered lying in a heap as if they had been buried in a keg or box. A tolerably perfect sword is now to be seen in the museum of the Ohio University at Athens, which was found on the west side of the river near the roots of a fallen tree." (Hildreth's Pioneer History.) |
THE OHIO
DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE.
CLEMENT L. MARTZOLFF, B. PED.
[By permission of The Ohio Teacher.]
The school histories have always said
much about the Meck-
lenburg Resolutions being the prelude to
the Declaration of Inde-
pendence. Indeed some histories make so
much of it that you
doubt if Thomas Jefferson would ever
have mustered up cour-
age sufficient to pen the immortal lines
beginning, "When in the
course of human events," etc., had
he not had this brave pre-
cedent before him.
Now, a few years ago our esteemed friend
and colleague,
Mr. W. H. Hunter, of Chillicothe, who
has since passed over
the silent river, wrote in that
fascinating, vigorous and facile
manner of his that the Mecklenburg
Resolutions were not the
prelude to the Declaration of
Independence at all. They were
a prelude all right, but when you talk
about the prelude, that
distinction belongs to the Scotch-Irish
members of the Hanover
Presbyterian Church in Dauphin county,
Pennsylvania. In point
of time the Pennsylvania prelude has the
prestige. For it was
on January 4, 1774, that these
Scotch-Irish Presbyterians de-
clared in congregational meeting, that,
"in the event of Great
Britain's attempting to enforce unjust
laws upon us by the
strength of arms, our cause we leave to
heaven and our rifles."
These Scotch-Irish were noted for their
skill with the rifle. It
is said that the long German rifle in
the hands of the Scotch-
Irish conquered the western wilderness.
While these were no
doubt zealous Presbyterians who believed
in the fiats of heaven,
yet from the tone of their declaration
they seem to express the
sentiment of the general who told his
men to pray, "but keep
their powder dry!"
SITE OF FORT GOWER.
The date of the Mecklenburg Declaration
falls on May 20,
1775, nearly a year after the
Hanover Declaration and fourteen
(404)