Ohio History Journal

THE MEMORIAL STRUCTURE AT MARIETTA.

 

REPORT OF A COMMITTEE OF THE OHIO ARCHAEOLOGICAL

AND HISTORICAL SOCIETY, MADE APRIL 6, 1888.

 

THE erection of a monumental structure at Marietta, to

commemorate the important historical events that became

a fulfillment of the past, as well as the foundation of the

future, when on the 7th day of April, 1788, the pioneer

band settled down upon the virgin soil of the Northwest

Territory, has been a favorite object in the proceedings of

this Society.

At the first meeting held in the City of Columbus,

March 12, 1885, it was resolved, "that this Society cor-

dially approves of the erection at Marietta of a suitable

monumental structure to commemorate the services of the

patriotic men who obtained a valid title to the North-

western Territory, and established therein the principles

of civil and religious liberty, as expressed in the Ordi-

nance of July 13th, 1787."

At the annual meeting held February 19th, 1886, this

Society memorialized the Ohio Legislature in the follow-

ing words: " In order that the virtues and services of a

most worthy ancestry may be presented to posterity in an

impressive form, that will be best calculated to inspire a

patriotic devotion to institutions and inheritances estab-

lished for their benefit, we ask that a monumental struc-

ture. worthy alike of this great nation and the noble men

who laid these foundations, be erected at the City of Mari-

etta in time to be completed by the 7th of April, 1888."

At its annual meeting held February 2₄th, 1887, this

Society renewed its former expressions of approval of the

monument, and resolved that a cordial invitation be ex-

tended to the "Old Thirteen and the Western States " to

"take such interest in the monumental structure as may

be most convenient and agreeable to each of them respect-

222

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The Memorial Structure at Marietta.   223

ively;" also that "circulars be issued to the State His-

torical Societies, requesting them to furnish such legends

and historical inscriptions as may be properly placed upon

the proposed monumental structure."

A corporation has been formed under the laws of the

State of Ohio for the purpose of erecting this monument.

This corporation has adopted a code of regulations, by

which any person subscribing $100, and paying it in for

the purposes of the Association, may become a member.

Two donations of $500 each have been offered contin-

gent upon raising a fund of $10,000, another donation of

$500 has been paid into the Treasury, and some progress

has been made in the way of memberships.

While this Society has not assumed the pecuniary re-

sponsibility of erecting this monumental structure, the aid

it has already imparted to the enterprise is such that fur-

ther support may well be extended. It is certainly an

object directly in the line of its purposes and highest

aspirations.

The object of the monument is to preserve and per-

petuate history. The libraries of Egypt have crumbled

into ashes or dust. Her monuments stand, and will stand,

as long as enquiring eyes seek to unravel their mysteries.

They stand as sign boards to guide posterity to the past;

the lessons of ages are inscribed upon them.

No better conservatism can be offered to your posterity,

no brighter lights to guide their feet, no purer models to

stimulate their conduct, than the deeds, the services, the

virtues of your own ancestry.

The pageants, displays, and expositions of to-day will

pass away. They may stimulate that pride which " goeth

before a fall." Like the mighty monarch of old, we may

look around over our surpluses of wealth and prosperity

with the fatal boast, "Is not this great Babylon which

I have built?"

The grand historical ideas and events which cluster

around this Centennial occasion, which found practical

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224   Ohio Archaeological and Historical Quarterly.

expression and application on this spot one hundred years

ago, were not wrought by dwellers in palaces, by vain

boasters, or idle schemers. "There were giants in those

days."

The "Old Continental Congress" and the "Old Conti-

nental Army" were competent to turn aside the tide of

ages and mark out new channels for the energies of the

entire human race. They met their giant foe as the strip-

pling Israelite met his Goliah. That Congress of May

26, 1779, have placed it upon record that "America, with-

out arms, without ammunition, discipline, revenue, gov-

ernment, or ally, almost totally stripped of commerce,

and in the weakness of youth, as it were, with 'a sling

and staff only,' dared, in the name of the Lord of Hosts,

to engage a gigantic adversary prepared at all points,

boasting of his strength, and of whom mighty warriors

were greatly afraid." (See Jour. of Congress.)

That old Continental army undertook their first cam-

paign with only nine rounds of powder to the man, and

with two brass cannon, presented by Massachusetts, as

one-half of their arms in that branch of the service. Has

history in any age recorded grander results than were

wrought out with such slender supplies ? The bricks they

moulded without straw are the foundations of our home-

steads.

We are not in concourse here to-day to celebrate an

accident, a mere haphazard adventure. The first perma-

nent occupation of this vast interior was affected upon

wise plans, carefully considered, and deliberately matured.

The great organic law of 1787 embodies the wisdom,

skill, and best judgment of men who were building their

own homes, as well as of those who were invested

with the responsibilities of legislation.

The Ohio Company of Associates, in their outlook for

the future, turned away from homes made desolate by the

war, and wrought in a line of policy that Congress had

marked out for the Northwest Territory. They bought



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The Memorial Structure at Marietta.     225

 

land, and made payments in that which represented

their personal toils, privations and blood.  They sought

civil government, without which land was of no value

to them.

They understood the principles upon which republican

institutions can only be maintained.  They fairly repre-

sented the army-as the originators all held commissions

in that service-but they were competent judges of civil

rights.

They had fought for personal rights, as well as gover-

mental control for their country, through the Revolution-

ary struggle.  With them   personal rights placed every

man who bore the Divine image on an equality before

the law. With them social order could only be maintained

by religion, morality, and knowledge.

From the inception of their plans "distinct government,"

"a new State westward of the Ohio," was at all times kept

in view. They intended to have a government, and that

accounts for the enactment of an organic law before they

converted their military services into lands.  They ven-

tured into this wide wilderness to plant principles as well

as cereals.  They came in the face of dangers as great as

any they had ever encountered. But they came to stay.

Thirty thousand dollars of their own money was ex-

pended in defenses that ought to have been borne by their

government.  They built and held their forts against the

combined force of twenty-one tribes of savages, supported

and encouraged by the emissaries of Great Britain.

Here is an old soiled manuscript in the handwriting of

their leader, General Rufus Putnam-being a statement of

account with the United States of America-showing a bal-

ance against the government, which, if it were paid to-day

with the usual interest, would erect the most costly monu-

ment that now stands on American soil.¹ This is not the

only claim against the United States, growing out of the

services and sacrifices of the men who opened to civil-

1See Note A at the end of this report.

Vol. 11-15

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226    Ohio Archaeological and Historical Quarterly.

 

ization its first gateway to the great valley on April

7th, 1788.

That old veteran Commodore who first defied the power

of Britain on the ocean wave-whose bones rest in yonder

cemetery-advanced large sums to aid American citizens

in foreign ports and in Charleston after its capture. To

these advances were added six years service; all repaid in

final certificates, worth only twenty cents on the dollar.

In old age he was turned off with a scanty pittance

called a pension, to save him from a pauper's grave.l

The Ohio Company invested a large sum of their funds

in Georgia Loan Office Certificates that have never been

honored by the government, because their own agent

failed to comply with some of the technicalities of the

law.²

If these amounts, with annual interest, could be placed

to the credit of rightful owners the large surplus now

puzzling our statesmen would be greatly diminished.

But they are not presented with a view to make a case

of pecuniary liability.  Doubtless they are outlawed by

the statutes of limitations.  Will this generation outlaw

the self-sacrificing services which these historical items

fairly represent? Is ingratitude the law of Republics?

Your Committee deem it eminently proper not only that

these historical items should be preserved, but that the

Society should continue to extend to the erection of a

monumental structure all the encouragement and aid that

falls within its constitutional power, and therefore offer the

following resolutions for adoption.

W. P. CUTLER,

A. W. JONES,

Committee.

RESOLUTIONS AS ADOPTED.

Resolved, That this Society fully recognizes the value

and importance of the historic incidents that preceded and

1 See Note B at the end of this report.

2 See Note C at the end of this report.

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The Memorial Structure at Marietta.      227

 

led to the first organized and permanent settlement of the

Northwest Territory, begun at Marietta, April 7, 1788.

Resolved, That the eminent and patriotic services of the

Congress composed of representatives from the original

thirteen States in maintaining the struggle against their

powerful enemy; in establishing the independence of their

country; in securing quiet possession of the Mississippi

valley, and in giving to it the ordinances for disposing of

lands and governing its inhabitants, demand from this

generation a recognition that will hand their names and

services down to future generations in an instructive and

monumental form.

Resolved, That a like recognition is due to the Conti-

nental Army, by whose valor and endurance these results

were achieved.

Resolved, That this Society will continue to encourage

the erection of a monumental structure at Marietta, and

to this end will co-operate with the Marietta Centennial

Monument Association in their efforts to procure pe-

cuniary aid.

NOTE A.

 

BY W. P. CUTLER.

WHEN the Ohio Company purchased lands of the gov-

ernment, and paid for it in the coin of highest standard-

the service of pure patriotism-they had a right to expect

that protection would be afforded to them in their peaceful

missions of civilization.  They were careful to pursue a

"peace policy" with the Indians. They were not the

dreaded " Long Knives" that had waged savage warfare

with savages.  But their overtures of peace were in vain.

The stern conflict with barbarism was irrepressible. Har-

mar's expedition in 1790 inflamed but did not subdue.

The fearful massacre at Big Bottom, on the Muskingum,

on the 2d day of January, 1791, was a warning to depart,

or defend their infant settlements. The Directors virtually

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228   Ohio Archaeological and Historical Quarterly.

 

proclaimed martial law, called all settlers into the forts,

and armed for defence.     The superintendent, General

Putnam, states the situation in the following extracts of a

letter, dated January 6th, 1791, addressed to Caleb Strong

and Fisher Ames, members of Congress at that time. He

says:

"From the prudence of our people, and the friendship

with which we treated the natives, we remained in a state

of quiet, without any apprehensions from the Delawares,

or other tribes, till the expedition against the Shawnees,

(General Harmar's), and had probably done so to this

time had that expedition never been undertaken. If, there-

fore, we had no claim to the protection of government be-

fore, I trnst we have now. For a parent to invite his chil-

dren to gather plums under a hornet's nest, and then to

beat the nest without giving them notice to get out of the

way, or covering them while he provokes the hornets, has

something so cruel in its nature that the mind revolts at the

idea. Yet, sir, such is our situation at present-nay, the

comparison is not strong enough, for our government

have not only beat the nest but, in order to do it, have re-

moved the troops that before, in some measure, covered us

from those few Indians disposed for mischief, and have

left us without protection.

"We are situated 200 miles from any settled country

sufficiently populous to afford any relief in case of emer-

gency, or any means of obtaining help short of the general

government, (as the Governor and Secretary are both out

of the State).

"I ask, are not allegiance and protection reciprocal?

"Have we not given the most unequivocal proof of our

allegiance and love of our country with constitutional

government, through the Revolution, and ever since?

Why, then, in the name of God, will you not protect us?

Has government no other view than to sell us their lands

and leave the people to protect themselves? If so, it ought

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The Memorial Structure at Marietta.      229

 

to have been made known at the time of sale. Otherwise

there is a cheat, for the purchasers never understood the

matter in this light."  *  *  *  "If government do not

mean to protect this country, I most sincerely wish they

would tell us so. It will be much more kind in them to tell

us plainly that they will not protect the country they have

sold, than to keep us in suspense."

General Putnam made strong representations to the

President of the United States, Washington, on this sub-

ject. In a letter dated December 20, 1790, he says: "But

I trust, sir, that in the multiplicity of public concerns

which claim your attention, our little colony will not be

forgot.

"Whatever may be the opinion of some, I know that

you consider the settlement of this country of utility to

the United States, and I believe you will not think me

vain or presumptuous, when I say that the inhabitants

that compose this settlement have as great a claim to pro-

tection as any under the Federal government. A great

proportion of us served our country through the war.

Our securities are received at par, with which we pur-

chase our lands, and in all other respects we have given

unequivocal proofs of our attachment to constitutional

government."

In another letter to his old friend and Commander-in-

Chief he says: "But however surprising to you, and

painful to me, to relate, the people think that we have

very little to hope from Governor St. Clair. They be-

lieve that both the Governor and Mr. Sargent have, for

some reason or other, conceived a prejudice against them."

He then relates the disposition that the Governor made

of troops, and the disbanding of the militia called out

under Colonel Sproat, showing quite plainly that all

efficient protection had been withdrawn from the Ohio

Company's settlement.

It was under these trying conditions that the Ohio Com-

pany undertook the task of protecting the citizens of the

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230     Ohio Archaeological and Historical Quarterly.

 

United States.    The following is the statement of expense

incurred by the company for that purpose;

ABSTRACT OF MILITIA IN THE PAY OF THE OHIO COMPANY DURING

THE INDIAN WAR.

1790 At Marietta for 1 month, wages and part of

rations  .........    ................. ..               $             135 03

Bellprie for one month ..................         92           00

Waterford for 1 month wages and rations..              70 00

$ 297 03

1791 Marietta for Jan., Feb. and March........ $ 696 00

Marietta for April, May and June..........   839 03

Bellprie, Jan., Feb. and March ............                           613 37

Bellprie, April and May .................                                683 00

Waterford, Jan., Feb. and March........                             395 03

Waterford, April, May and June..........                           498 00

3,724 43

Paid to Spyes, their wages and rations... $ 878 71

Paid to extra Scouts and Guards..........                         183 08

Paid to Surgeons, their wages and rations..              229 71

Paid for medicine and nursing sick ........                     30 21

----  1,321 71

To the amount of rations issued by Com-

missaries  ........ .....................$1,729  52

To the amount of provisions furnished by

Company ............................                                           813 37

To amount of whiskey purchased........                         387 21

To amount of ammunition purchased......                     506 68

3,436 78

EXPENSE OF FORTIFICATIONS ERECTED.

To the amount of labour on the several

works ............................ ....$ 3,888 13

To lumber employed, viz.: boards, brick,

tim ber,  &c  ............................                                       382  39

To Black Smith work, Iron, &c..........                            101 64

To Sundries, viz.: nails, tin, paper, trench-

ing  tools, &c  ..........................  296  68

4,668 84

$13,499 59

TO CHARGES MADE BY THE DIRECTORS.

1791 Viz.: To Rufus Putnam..........          $ 113 00

To Robert Olliver at Marietta. ... $ 351 00

To Robert Olliver, extra services

and expense ..................                                                173 33

To Robert Olliver at Marietta ...                                    90 33   614 33

1791 To Griffin Greene, at Bellprie and

Marietta  ..........  ...........  373  50

1792 To Griffin Greene, at Bellprie and

Marietta .................. ... 118 50  492 00

$ 1,219 33

$ 14,668 92

To goods purchased and applied for the

redemption of prisoners ................             40 00

$ 14,708 92

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The Memorial Structure at Marietta.         231

 

 

Journal Page.          CONTRA CREDIT.

230 By the United States towards the payment

and rations of militia refunded .........$ 2,549 42

250 By the amount of 970 rations, discounted by

Elliot & Williams, per Governor's order..  64 66

By the amount of provisions, whisky, am-

munition, &c., &c., charged to individu-

uals ............  . ......... ......  743 94                                         3,358 02

Balance of clear expense..........                                     $11,350 90

Journal 212. N. B.-Col. Sproat's return of militia, July 5th, 1790, is

246, including officers.

Dr. Hildreth is authority for saying that the above

"clear balance" "was never paid by the United States,

although justly due them."

NOTE B.

 

BY W. P. CUTLER.

THE amount of hard money furnished by Commodore

Whipple to meet obligations justly belonging to the United

States was $16,000. He was forced to accept certificates

of indebtedness on a bankrupt Treasury at par in place of

the gold and silver he paid out. These certificates netted

him  twenty per cent. of their face, so that his loss was

$12,800. General Putnam urges his claim upon the grati-

tude of his country in the following, addressed to Timothy

Pickering:

"MARIETTA, February 2, 1808.

"Dear Sir:- Permit me to recommend to your attention

the circumstances of Commodore Abraham Whipple, late

of Rhode Island, now a neighbor of mine. I presume you

will recollect his character as a naval officer in the Revo-

lutionary war. He is now in his seventy-fifth year, with

an amiable wife of nearly the same age, who have no

means of subsistence but their daily labor in cultivating

an eight acre lot. From various circumstances which at-

tended him while in service, he divers times, and es-

pecially when captured in Charleston in the year 1780

(with General Lincoln), found himself under the necessity

of making large advances from his own property to relieve

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232    Ohio Archaeological and Historical Quarterly.

 

the necessities of the ship's crew under his command; for

which he was paid only the nominal sum in the depreciated

bills of final settlement certificates, which went but little

way in discharging the debts he had contracted, or reim-

bursement of the property he had expended in the service

of his country, hence after the close of the war, on the

settlement of his accounts, he found himself reduced to a

state bordering indigence, and in 1789 removed to Marietta,

since which he has been compelled generally to labor in the

field for a subsistence, and has now no other means than his

own labors to obtain his bread.

"By the mail which carries this letter the Commodore

sends a petition to Congress to be presented by Mr. [name

illegible], a member from Rhode Island, and acquainted

with the Commodore's circumstances previous to his re-

moving to this place.

"I hope Congress will grant some relief to a man in his

last moments, who, it is well known, rendered very essen-

tial service to his country. Yours, &c.,

RUFUS PUTNAM."

"Colonel Pickering."

NOTE C.

 

BY W. P. CUTLER.

THE case of the Georgia Loan Office Certificate may be

briefly stated as follows:

Forty-three Certificates of $400 each were issued by the

Government under an act of February 23d, 1777, through

the loan office of the State of Georgia, and became the

property of the Ohio Company. The Certificates were

dated December 23d, 1777, payable to Thomas Stone, or

bearer, on the 1st of December, 1781; signed by Samuel

Hillegas, Continental Treasurer, and bearing interest at

six per cent., payable annually. On the back of each is

endorsed payment of four years interest up to December

23d, 1781. Suit was brought in the United States Circuit

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The Memorial Structure at Marietta.     233

 

Court, by John A. Rockwell, of Connecticut, attorney, and

judgment obtained for $60,876.99.

The judgment upon being reported back to Congress

was, however, reversed and an appeal taken to the Su-

preme Court.

A judgment was rendered by this Court adverse to the

claimants from which Justice Fields dissented, saying that

he was of the opinion that the demand of the plaintiff was

a just obligation against the United States, as binding as any

part of the public debt of the country.

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