THE PURITANIC INFLUENCE IN THE
NORTHWEST TERRITORY
1788-1803
BY WINFRED B. LANGHORST
After the close of the Revolutionary
War the rapid
movement of settlers over the
Appalachian range
brought the frontier to eastern
Tennessee and Kentucky,
and to the Monongahela and the Ohio
Rivers. East of
this ever-shifting frontier, land
values were rising, and
land speculators and emigrants were
searching the West
for cheap and fertile lands.1 The
reports of the Indian
traders had acted as a stimulating
influence among the
people along the coast, and every bit
of fresh informa-
tion served not only to bring the West
nearer, but also
to arouse a feeling of restlessness in
the East.
As yet the opening of the region that
was roughly
bounded by the Ohio and Mississippi
Rivers and the
Great Lakes had not taken place. This
great triangle
of exceedingly fertile soil, covered by
enormous forests
of pine, oak, and walnut, and inhabited
by numerous
tribes of Indians, was the Old Northwest
of 1788. With
the interest in the West increasing
yearly, the thousands
of acres of untouched soil in the Old
Northwest natur-
ally attracted attention. By 1788
definite plans were
under way for the settlement and
exploitation of this
region.
1 L. K. Mathews, The Expansion of New
England, (New York, 1909)
p. 259.
(409)
410
Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications
The year 1788 marks the historic
opening of the Old
Northwest by the land companies. The Ohio and
Scioto Land companies, and later
private speculators
like Symmes and Massie, carved out
holdings in this
country. From 1788 on, under the
guidance of these
land-companies and speculators,
thousands of settlers--
New England Puritans, Scotch-Irish
Presbyterians,
Quakers, and Methodists--streamed
through the gaps
in the Appalachian range and converged
upon the Old
Northwest by way of Kentucky, western
Pennsylvania,
and western New York. There was thus
poured into
this region a complex mass of humanity
that in the fu-
ture would be changed, in this melting
pot of the West,
from heterogeneous units into a homogeneous
whole.
It is the purpose of this study to show
how the lives
of these peoples in the Old Northwest
between the years
1788 to 1803 were shaped and moulded by
Puritanic in-
fluence; how this Puritanic influence
originated in the
West; why it spread; and how it came to
dominate ter-
ritorial thought both politically and
socially.
Conditions were ripe in 1788 in New
England and
other sections along the Atlantic coast
for a westward
movement. The land bounties promised by
Congress,
to bolster up the volunteer system of
recruiting the Con-
tinental Armies, had produced a class
which looked upon
the West as the basis of its reward.
Then, too, the pur-
chasers of government bonds and
certificates of indebt-
edness had no market for their
securities and naturally
wished to invest on more favorable
terms than the gen-
eral market offered. Still others who
looked to the West
2 L.
K. Mathews, Op. cit., p. 259; F. J. Turner, The Frontier in
American History, (New York, 1920) pp. 100-125.
Puritanic Influence in Northwest
Territory 411
were those whose lands along the coast,
especially in
New England, had lost their fertility,
and whose yearly
returns had accordingly become less and
less, until the
owner was no longer a marginal
producer. Either he
must restore the fertility of his land,
or sell and join the
innumerable mass of tenant farmers, or
else he must
move westward.2 By 1788 the
western lands, which had
come into the possession of Congress, were
being bar-
gained away to liquidate a part of the
national indebted-
ness, and a great opportunity for
investor, speculator,
and emigrant seemed to have arrived.
The Ohio and Scioto Companies, which
had organized
before 1788, were ready to make
enormous purchases of
western lands and were prepared to lead
settlers into a
new land, the Old Northwest. The Scioto
Company
proved to be another "South Sea
Bubble" and speedily
collapsed. It was the Ohio Company in
the spring of
1788, when the first advance guard
arrived at the Mus-
kingum, which entered the wedge that
was to throw open
the Northwest to settlement.
Such men as Samuel Parsons, the
Reverend Manas-
seh Cutler, Winthrop Sargent, and Rufus
Putnam were
among the directors of the Ohio
Company. Over ninety-
five per cent of the members of the
company were from
New England, and as high a percentage
of the settlers
and emigrants sent West had Puritan
antecedents.3 It
was men of this stamp that led the
first Ohio-bound con-
tingent across the Hudson River. Slowly it trekked
across New York and into Pennsylvania.
Even the
3 A. B. Hulbert, ed., "Records of
the Ohio Company", Marietta Col-
lege Historical Collections. (2 volumes, Marietta, 1917) Vol. 1, pp. 4, 21,
22, 24, 26, 37, 43-44; L. K. Mathews, Op.
cit., p. 175.
412
Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications
rigors of winter could not stop them
from pushing on.
Finally, on May 7, 1788, forty-eight
settlers arrived
opposite Fort Harmar, at the mouth of
the Muskingum,
and viewed their "Canaan." It
was this little body of
settlers that was to form the nucleus
of a future society
in the West. These pioneers that
founded Marietta in
1788 were imbued with certain ideals.
Being either Pu-
ritan or of Puritan descent they would
naturally at-
tempt to reproduce the dominant
features of the New
England political and social system,
but more important
still, its philosophy of life.
This philosophy is best revealed by a
study of seven-
teenth century New England society. As
Massachusetts
expanded in the seventeenth century,
villages and towns
grew up about the church, since it was
the real heart of
the community. It became customary to
set aside por-
tions of land and taxes for the use of
the church and the
support of its clergy, and thus the
church became the
foundation of New England society.
Since the eccle-
siastical organization closely
controlled the lives of its
members, their education and
instruction also came
within its purview.4 As in
the case of the church, land
was allotted by the towns for
education. Indeed, so
firmly did this society believe in the
value of education,
that by 1650 every New England town of
fifty families
was by law required to maintain a
grammar school,
and every town of one hundred families
a Latin school.5
In short, universal education became an
end to be
achieved.
4 H. L. Osgood, The American Colonies
in the Seventeenth Century,
(3 volumes, New York, 1904) Vol. 1, pp.
200-221.
5 T. J. Wertenbaker, The First
Americans, (New York, 1927) pp.
55-56, 245-246.
Puritanic Influence in Northwest
Territory 413
The school and the church, with their
all inclusive
control over the individual and his
affairs, were the chief
aspects of the Puritan civilization,
but of more signifi-
cance with respect to the Northwest was
the peculiar
philosophy that produced this society.
The Puritan, ac-
cording to his conception of things,
was God's elect. He
therefore stood apart from the rest of
humanity as a
living example of human perfection, and
viewed the rest
of the world as submerged in sin. What
the Puritan
thought and did was supposed to be the
manifestation of
a divinely revealed religion. Since
these things were so,
he was not alone concerned with the
guidance and direc-
tion of the social and political
activities of his own
group, but became more and more
interested in adjust-
ing the lives of the non-Puritans to
his ways of think-
ing and doing.
The word "conform" thus took
on a new significance
in the Puritan vocabulary. Had not
Roger Williams
and Anne Hutchinson been banished
because they dared
to differ from Puritan concepts? When
the latter
bravely demanded the reason for the
summary judg-
ment, this answer was given, "the
court knows whereof
and is satisfied." The feeling of
Puritan superiority
thus produced a compact and unified
society which
tended to engulf and to dominate other
classes, and to
force by law its conceptions of right
living on this
society.6 In other words,
stating it differently, the Puri-
tan Church was truly the positive
answer to the age-old
question, "Am I my brothers'
keeper?"
It followed naturally from this state
of mind that the
6 H. L. Osgood, Op. cit., vol. 1,
pp. 224-287; J. T. Adams, The Found-
ing of New England, (New York, 1921) pp. 146-175.
414 Ohio Arch. and Hist.
Society Publications
society of the time of John Cotton,
John Winthrop, and
Richard Mather would mainly be
concerned with re-
ligion and politics and the two became
intertwined.
The church was the dominating force in
this society,
with the Puritan clergy guiding and
directing all politi-
cal and social activity. All phases of
life were regu-
lated in New England. Sumptuary
legislation was en-
acted. Not only habits, food, drink, and
industry were
regulated, but particularly the
thoughts and practices of
the people with respect to their
religion and morality
were controlled.7 In short,
Puritanism became a form
of government whose influences and
ramifications ex-
tended to the minutiae of life, and
whose central point
was the Calvinistic worship of the
Deity and the educa-
tion of its citizenry. During the
eighteenth century this
philosophy of life, which had been
erected with such zeal
and patience by the leaders of the
Massachusetts Bay
Company, with some slight modification,
still dominated
and colored New England society. It was
this state of
mind that the Ohio Company brought into
the West.
How it subsequently came to affect the
territorial life
after 1788 and to be indelibly
impressed upon it is of
primary interest.
The New Englander had come into the
West,
according to Judge Jacob Burnet, with
"a veneration for
institutions of religion, literature,
and morality."8
Naturally, the religion and education,
and the political
measures of these people would reflect
the Puritanic in-
fluence, and during the years 1788 to
1790 the New
7 H.
L. Osgood, Op. cit., vol. 1, pp. 177-178, 200-287.
8 Jacob
Burnet, Notes on the Early Settlement of the Northwestern
Territory, (Cincinnati, 1847) p. 44.
Puritanic Influence in Northwest
Territory 415
England element completely dominated
all territorial
activity.
In a study of this period one naturally
turns first to
the influences of Puritanism on
education and religion
in the Northwest Territory. The
beginnings of educa-
tion are found in the Ordinance of 1785
and in its more
famous successor, the Ordinance of
1787. The former
"reserved lot sixteen, of every
township, for the main-
tenance of Public Schools," while
the latter contained
the significant phrase that,
"schools and the means of
education shall forever be
encouraged."9 When the
agents of the Ohio Company struck their
bargain with
Congress, it was also provided that
section sixteen of
each township should be set aside for
education, and it
was significantly stated that section
twenty-nine of each
township should be reserved for
religious purposes. It
was also arranged that two complete
townships might be
laid off by the Ohio Company, as near
the center of the
grant as possible, for a university.10
These educational
provisions of the Ordinances and the
later provisions in
the grant paved the way for the
foundation of education
and religion in the Northwest
Territory.
The Ohio Company, chiefly through the
painstaking
efforts of Manasseh Cutler, had secured
these liberal
concessions from Congress, but it
remained to be seen
what would be done with them. Almost
immediately re-
ligion and education became a center of
interest. In
March, 1788, a committee was named to
secure a suit-
able teacher "of religious and
educational training" and
9 W. R. Dunn, "Education in
Territorial Ohio", Ohio Archaological
and Historical Publications, (Columbus, 1926) vol. XXXV, p. 323.
10 Ibid., p. 324.
416
Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications
the directors were requested "to
pay as early attention
as possible to the education of the
youth and the promo-
tion of public worship * * *."11
Cutler in a letter to
Putnam expressed the opinion of the
majority of the
company, "I can in truth declare
that I know of no sub-
ject which lies with so much weight on
my mind as that
(our) settlement may be furnished with
a number of
able and faithful ministers.12 As
a result, Daniel Story
was employed by the Company as
itinerant preacher for
the settlements of Marietta, Belpre,
and Waterford. In
August, 1788, provision was made for
leasing lot sixteen
of each township for a ten-year period.
In the following
year, however, a more active interest
was taken in edu-
cation.13 Money was
appropriated by the company, and
a committee was named in each
settlement to receive and
expend the funds, and no town was to
receive its share
unless it maintained a school a
designated length of
time.14
While these provisions practically end
the official
acts of the Ohio Company dealing with
education, their
importance lies not in the fact that
there was so little,
but that there was any education. The
New Englanders,
having been steeped in a philosophy
that placed the
greatest emphasis on religion and
education, almost in-
stinctively stressed these aspects of
society in a wilder-
ness. In the Symmes Purchase during the
early years,
1789 and 1790, the Scotch-Irish
Presbyterians had made
their appearance, and some progress had
been made in
the way of education, both secular and
spiritual, but the
11 Hulbert, ed., Op. cit., vol.
1, p. 40.
12 T. J. Summers, History of
Marietta, (Marietta, 1903) p. 199.
13 Hulbert, ed., Loc. cit., vol.
1, pp. 39-40.
14 Ibid., vol. II, pp. 50, 65, 91, 121.
Puritanic Influence in Northwest
Territory 417
advance made by the New Englanders
during the same
period was much more rapid.15
During the early years to 1790 the
basis for educa-
tion and religion had been laid in the
Ohio Company
and the Symmes' grants, and in the rest
of the Territory
by the Ordinances. As yet, the
Puritanic influence with
respect to education and religion was
confined to Wash-
ington County, even though some
beginning had been
made by the Scotch-Irish Presbyterians
in the Symmes
Purchase, and it was not until the turn
of the century
with the spread of the influence that
education took on a
more general character. What,
therefore, is noteworthy,
is the great emphasis that was placed
by the New Eng-
landers and to a lesser extent by the
Scotch-Irish Pres-
byterians on religion and education, as
a means of laying
the basis of morality.
Since the Puritanic influences came to
dominate the
territorial life through their control
of the machinery
of government, it is of immediate
importance to see how
this was brought about, first in the
Ohio Company's
tract and later in the Northwest
Territory. By May,
1788, St. Clair had not yet arrived in
the Northwest to
take up his duties as governor. Since
the fringe of
civilization always has its unruly
elements16 and the
problem of protecting frontier property
is an ever-
present one, the New England pioneers
who founded
Marietta very soon began to erect such
forms of society
as had been customary in New England.17
The old New
15 W. R. Dunn, Loc. cit., vol.
XXXV, p. 328; C. T. Greve, Centennial
History of Cincinnati and
Representative Citizens, (2 volumes,
Chicago,
1904) Vol. I, pp. 340-344, 358-362, 363.
16 F. J. Turner, Op. cit., pp.
39-66.
17 L. K. Mathews, Op. cit., pp.
175-176.
Vol. XLII--27
418 Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications
England towns had solved this very
problem by the
erection of a body of officials--the
selectmen and the
tithing men--whose duty it was to
enforce the laws and
bring offenders to justice.18 What
was more natural for
these New Englanders than to create a
similar body of
officials in Marietta under the name of
the "Board of
police ?"19
None of the prohibitions and laws
subsequently en-
acted by the "Board" were
new. The old New Eng-
land town regulations were borrowed and
adapted to
frontier conditions. It was these rules
that enabled Put-
nam and Cutler to control and regulate
almost all aspects
of life in Marietta. All persons coming
within the set-
tlement of Marietta were to report
themselves within
twenty-four hours, no one was to go
beyond the limits
of the fields without leave of the
officer of the day, and
all discharge of firearms in or near
the town was strictly
prohibited.20 The "Board" was also given
judicial
powers. All minor crimes, such as
profaning the Sab-
bath, came within its purview, but
grave offenses against
society were to be tried by the Federal
judges upon their
arrival in the Territory.21 The
Marietta "Board" from
the time of the founding of Marietta
until the establish-
ment of territorial government, a
period of two months,
proved an efficient organization by
executing the neces-
sary regulations for the protection of
life and property.
In its regulation of society it
revealed a Puritanic spirit
18 H. L. Osgood, Op. cit., vol.
I, pp. 213-218.
19 Hulbert, ed., Loc. cit., vol.
I, pp. 44-46.
20 Hulbert, ed., Loc. cit., vol. I, p. 45; J. May.
"Selections from the
John May Papers," Western Reserve
Historical Society, (Cleveland, 1917)
Tract #97, pp. 110-111.
21 Hulbert, ed., Loc. cit., vol.
I, p. 45.
Puritanic Influence in Northwest
Territory 419
that desired to force its point of view
upon all indi-
viduals.22
By the time the Northwest Territory had
been for-
mally opened and a government erected,
the New Eng-
land emigrants on the Ohio Company's
land had founded
a society whose influence and
philosophy was destined
to color St. Clair's government in the
West. The bases
for church and school had been laid,
and the beginnings
had been made in their organization. All
other issues
seemed of minor importance in
comparison with the
question: What would St. Clair's
attitude be toward
the New Englander? What if St. Clair
proved to be
hostile to the Puritanic influence and
its philosophy?
These questionings and forebodings
disappeared with
the arrival of the Governor in the
summer of 1788.
Arthur St. Clair, born in Scotland, was
reared a good
Scotch Presbyterian. By the time of the
outbreak of
hostilities in 1775 he had
married into the Bowdoin fam-
ily of Massachusetts, and was quietly
living on his es-
tate in the Ligonier Valley. During the
Revolutionary
War St. Clair's trustworthiness,
patriotism, and ability
produced rapid advancement for him in
the Continental
Army. In 1780 he was singularly honored
by promotion
to the rank of general. Though he
conducted his cam-
paigns with no great brilliance, his
whole attitude was
that of a man who once having decided
upon a course
of action is determined to carry it
out. He later served
as president of the Continental
Congress where he be-
came identified with the later
Federalist cause and the
22 T. C. Pease, ed., "The Laws of the Northwest
Territory," Collections
of the Illinois State Historical
Library, (Springfield, Ill., 1925)
Vol. XVII,
pp. XIX-XXI.
420
Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications
political beliefs of John Adams. It was
such a man
that was sent west in 1788 as governor
of the New
Northwest Territory.23
Three judges, Parsons, Varnum, and
Symmes, and
a secretary, Winthrop Sargent,
completed the Gover-
nor's entourage. Parsons, Varnum, and
Sargent were
New England men. They had been reared
and schooled
in New England and were in hearty
accord with the
Puritanic concept of society.24 Symmes
was a Presby-
terian from New Jersey, but readily
threw in his lot
with his Puritan colleagues. The men
that were thus to
form the government of the Northwest
Territory were
in sympathy with the leaders of the
Ohio Company. It
is not strange then that the government
of the territory
from 1788 on, but particularly during
the first eighteen
months when a majority were Puritan,
should reflect
the personalities and political
theories of a group whose
ideals are best summed up in the word Puritan.
Between May and July, 1788, the law and
order that
had been matters of purely local
concern were taken
over by the territorial government. In
the first territor-
ial code, adopted in 1788, it was
evidently the purpose of
the governor and judges to control the
conduct of men.
It is significant to note that since
the Ordinance of 1787
provided that laws for the territory
must be taken from
the original states, the territorial
laws with regard to
personal life were adopted both from
Pennsylvania and
the New England states because the
judges were more
23 W. H. Smith, The Life and Public
Services of Arthur St. Clair--
St. Clair Papers, (2 volumes, Cincinnati, 1882) vol. I, pp. 2, 3, 7,
14-16,
112-117; J. Burnet, Op. cit., pp.
370-373.
24 Smith, ed., Op. cit., vol. I,
p. 135.
Puritanic Influence in Northwest
Territory 421
familiar with them.25 Perjury
was punishable by a fine
not exceeding sixty dollars, or
thirty-nine lashes, dis-
franchisement, and a two-hour use of
the pillory.26 Lar-
ceny was punished by whipping or fine,
and if the ac-
cused were unable to pay the fine, it
was lawful for the
sheriff to sell him at "public
outcry" for a period of
not more than seven years.27 For
the first offense of
drunkenness a fine of fifty cents was
imposed, and for the
second and every successive breach, a
fine of one dollar
was levied, or the pillory was imposed
for one hour.28
Even more significant were the
statements denounc-
ing "idle, vain, and obscene
conversation, profane curs-
ing and swearing," and all
"servile labor" on the Sab-
bath, "works of necessity and
charity only excepted."29
The Puritanic influence as represented
by the New Eng-
landers and governor and judges not
only had passed
"personal liberty" laws, but
also had introduced a warn-
ing note of "Blue Law"
legislation. When this legis-
lation is viewed in the light that the
majority of settlers
in the Northwest, between 1788 and 1790
in the Symmes
Purchase and in the Ohio Company's
lands, leaned
towards Puritanism,30 and
that the majority of the fed-
eral judges were Puritan, and that St.
Clair was a dyed-
in-the-wool conservative and an ardent
admirer of New
England, it is not strange that the
early code was Puri-
tanic, but rather that it was of such a
mild character.
25 R. E. Chaddock, Ohio Before 1850, (New
York, 1908) p. 134.
26 Pease, ed., Loc. cit., p. 18.
27 Ibid., p. 18.
28 Pease, ed., Loc. cit., p. 20.
29 Ibid., p. 21.
30 E.O. Randall, and D. J. Ryan, History
of Ohio, (6 volumes, New
York, 1912) Vol. II, pp. 458, 471-482;
F. J. Turner, Op. cit., pp. 132-134,
164, 223; F. A. Ogg, The Old
Northwest, (New Haven, 1921) pp. 97-109.
422
Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications
The code of 1788, in the light of later
events, did not
prove entirely satisfactory. By 1790
the Old Northwest
was monthly receiving hundreds of
settlers. The ma-
jority of these came not from New
England, but from
the Middle and Southern states.31 These
people natur-
ally seemed to threaten the dominance
of the Puritanic
influence. The New England element,
since it con-
trolled the government, sought to shut
out the democrat-
izing influence of the newcomers. In
1790 a number
of laws were enacted by the governor
and judges. Gam-
ing, for example, which had become a
popular frontier
pastime, was carefully restricted.32
Gaming in a tavern
or ordinary brought fines from one
hundred to two
hundred dollars and the revocation of
the inn-keeper's
license.33
Thus, between 1788 and 1790, the New
England
element had forced its opinions and
philosophy upon
the territory. The governor and judges
were in har-
mony with them, and the early laws
passed during the
first three years gave form and
substance to the Puri-
tanic influence. With the coming in
larger numbers of
the emigrants in 1790 and after from
Pennsylvania and
Virginia and Kentucky, the Puritan
hegemony was en-
dangered. Since the Puritans, however,
controlled the
legislative machinery of the territory,
its leadership could
not seriously be contested until the
second stage of ter-
ritorial government had been granted,
which meant the
calling of a popular assembly. Though
this little oli-
garchy of Puritans securely held the
reins of govern-
3l Randall and Ryan, Op. cit., vol.
II, pp. 472-476, 481, 495.
32 Pease, ed., Loc. cit., pp.
30-32.
33 Ibid., pp. 30, 31.
Puritanic Influence in Northwest
Territory 423
ment from 1788 to 1799, when the
popular assembly
convened, yet it managed in spite of
the entry of new
settlers to continue to spread its
philosophy over the
Northwest Territory in an even more
prominent fash-
ion. How this was possible, and how the
Puritanic
influences grew in strength after 1790,
even though the
New England element was outnumbered by
pioneers
from other sections of the country, is
an interesting
development in the territory.
In 1790 and the following years,
Scotch-Irish Pres-
byterians, Quakers, Germans, and
Methodists from Ken-
tucky, Virginia, and Pennsylvania made
their appear-
ance in the Old Northwest.34 After
1790 the numerical
superiority of the New Englanders
declined rapidly in
the face of these infiltrations.35
Yet, during the period,
1790-1799, but particularly during the
life of the terri-
torial assembly, 1799-1803, the
Puritanic influence
showed itself even more strongly in the
territory. How
is this apparent paradox to be
explained? Surely, the
explanation lies not in any matter of
race or custom, but
in a careful analysis of the social
philosophies of these
various groups, which prepared the
popular assembly
in 1799 to accept Puritanic views. It
has been shown
how the Puritan mind was primarily
concerned in dis-
tinguishing right from wrong and how it
also believed
that it, and it alone, possessed the
right to determine
good from evil, and to force society to
its way of think-
ing and doing.36 Just what
the philosophies of the new
34 J. Burnet, Op. cit., pp.
31-32.
35 Randall
and Ryan, Op. cit., vol. II, pp. 590-599; F. J. Turner, Op.
cit., p. 164.
36 H. L. Osgood, Op. cit., vol.
I, pp. 207-242; J. T. Adams, Op. cit.,
pp. 146-175
424
Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications
comers in the west were, and how they
interacted one
upon the other, and thus either
hindered or increased the
Puritanic influence in the territory is
of vital interest
to this study.
The Scotch-Irish Presbyterians, one of
the leading
groups in the Northwest, had been
following, since the
close of the Revolutionary War, the
path of the setting
sun into the region around Pittsburgh
and Lexington.
This class was, in the main, one of
small farmers, who
either had been displaced by adverse
economic condi-
tions, or had sold their holdings to
avoid competition
with the great planters. It was, then,
the poorer, more
democratic, non slave-holding class of
Pennsylvania and
the South which furnished the bulk of
the Scotch-Irish
now moving west and north of the Ohio
river.37
This Scotch-Irish element rather
generously scattered
itself along the counties facing the
river. Those from
Virginia and Kentucky centered to a
great extent in the
Virginia Military Tract. Chillicothe
became their chief
center.38 The Pennsylvania
Scotch-Irish, on the other
hand, dispersed themselves over the
lands of the Ohio
Company, the Symmes Purchase, and the
Seven Ranges.
These Scotch-Irish had received a rich
heritage from
Calvin. They firmly believed in a
militant Christianity,
and since they also believed that they
were numbered
among the chosen of God, they felt it
to be their mission
to implant their ideas of right living
on others. In this
respect they differed but little from
the New England
Puritan. There was, however, one
noteworthy differ-
37 F.
J. Turner, The Rise of the New West, (New York, 1906) pp.
54, 77.
38 R. E. Chaddock, Op. cit., p. 15.
Puritanic Influence in Northwest
Territory 425
ence. The Scotch-Irish did not as a
rule believe quite
so firmly in an educated ministry and
in education for
the masses. As long as one knew enough
to speak co-
herently, the Scotch-Irish frontiersman
was satisfied.
Thus the Scotch-Irish mind emphasized a
conformity
to a standard as much as the Puritan,
but did not re-
gard education in quite as favorable a
light.39
At the same time that the Scotch-Irish
Presbyterians
were entering the Northwest, another
group, the Meth-
odists, was also making its appearance.
Methodism had
been an attempt on the part of the
Wesleys to reform
the Church of England during the
eighteenth century.
In this endeavor they had been unsuccessful,
but they
did, as a result, create a new sect.
Many of the time-
honored customs of the Church of
England were surren-
dered, and its rather easy-going, but
highly involved
theology was revamped into a simpler
faith. Great em-
phasis was placed on morals, right
living, and the re-
lationship of individual to individual.
Charles Wesley
keenly saw the evils of eighteenth
century England
and hoped to reform humanity by means
of a militant
religion, which could say "Thou
shalt not," and thus
this "new method" would
become society's "brother's
keeper." It was this faith that
before and after the
Revolution took such a hold on men's
imaginations. By
a unique system of "circuits"
and itinerant preachers--
the "circuit-riders," the
Methodist Church spread into
Kentucky and Pennsylvania, and thence
into the Old
Northwest.40
39 R. E. Thompson, A New History of
the Presbyterians in the United
States, (New York, 1893) pp. 1-53.
40 W. W. Sweet, The Rise of Methodism in the West, (Cincinnati,
1920) p. 14; J. M. Barker, History of
Ohio Methodism, (Cincinnati, 1898)
pp. 51-77.
426
Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications
The Quakers, like the Puritans, were a
fourth sect
to be found in the Territory. St. Clair in his annual
message to the legislature in 1801
remarked that many
Quakers had entered the country and had
settled at Con-
cord, Miami, Stillwater, Plainfield,
Fairfield, Center,
and Salem.41 The Quakers
were a non-proselyting and
unaggressive sect, and their outlook on
life had much in
common with the Scotch-Irish Presbyterians,
the New
England Puritans, and the Methodists.
They believed
in a divinely inspired religion. The Bible was taken
literally, and as a consequence the
"thou shalt not's" were
reshaped into a series of well-defined
"Blue Laws." They
also favored education, as it was only
by that means
that the individual could understand
God's Word.42
From 1790 on there were thus present in
the North-
west Territory four dominant religious
groups--the
Puritans from New England, the
Scotch-Irish Presby-
terians, the Methodists, and the
Quakers--which dif-
fered from one another in their
interpretation of the
Holy Scripture, but they all favored to
a greater or
lesser degree a strait-laced morality
and viewed with
intolerance, the Quakers alone
excepted, the slightest
deviation from such a code. Education
was considered
as the necessary complement of
religion. The Method-
ists, however, placed the least
emphasis on secular edu-
cation, and in this respect they
greatly differed from
the other groups. It was natural, then,
that these groups
should work together in supplementing
the work of the
41 Jacob Burnet, Op. cit., p.
328.
42 R.
M. Jones, The Quakers in the American Colonies, (New York,
1923) pp. 26-44, 136-170; R. M. Jones, The
Later Periods of Quakerism,
(2 volumes, New York, 1921) vol. I, pp.
194, 377-434.
Puritanic Influence in Northwest
Territory 427
Puritans, and so directly foster the
spread of the Puri-
tanic influence in the old Northwest.
It was not until the formation of the
territorial legis-
lature in 1799 that the influence of
these sects is re-
vealed. From 1790 to 1799 the Puritans
still enjoyed
their undisputed control. Governor St.
Clair, the sec-
retary, and the judges, five of whom
out of a total of
seven appointees between 1788 and 1799
were Puritan,
still remained the instruments of
Puritanic expression.
The officials of the Ohio Company
together with the
governor dominated the political life
of the Territory,
but new blood had been introduced with
the rise of such
men as Worthington, Tiffin, Massie, and
Burnet as rec-
ognized leaders. These men, who were
either Scotch-
Irish Presbyterians or Methodists, were
by 1795 heartily
in accord with St. Clair and the judges
who favored a
revision of the territorial laws.
The Maxwell Code became the basic
territorial code.
It was one of the last important groups
of laws enacted
by St. Clair and Judges Symmes and
Turner. The
judges that passed these laws were
non-Puritan, but
through their association with St.
Clair and Sargent
had readily surrendered to the
Puritanic influence. The
expansion of the Northwest Territory
had given rise
to new conditions and problems, and the
earlier laws were
revised and new ones added.43 For
example, gambling
was defined at greater length and the
laws against it
made more stringent.44 The tavern,
also, came in for
its share of regulation.45 Such
details as the quantity of
43 Pease, ed., Loc. cit., pp.
131-290.
44 Ibid., pp. 276-278.
45 Ibid., pp. 191-196.
428
Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications
liquor that could be sold by an
innkeeper, the credit that
could be extended to a customer, and
the variety of en-
tertainment that could be provided,
were enumerated.46
Thus by this unique state of mind in
the Territory cer-
tain aspects of life were made unlawful
for every settler
whether or not he was in sympathy with
this Puritanic
influence.
Into this already surcharged atmosphere
of Puritan-
ism there was injected between 1796 and
1799 the in-
fluence of the settlers of the Western
Reserve. In 1796
Moses Cleaveland, in the employ of the
Connecticut
Land Company, led a band of emigrants
to the Reserve.
Soon the influx of homeseekers became a
steady stream.
It was a hardy New England
Congregational stock that
set up homes in the West, and within an
incredibly
short length of time laid the
foundation for modern
Cleveland, Warren, and Youngstown. As
these folk
were of the same social stock and
possessed a similar
cultural heritage as those in the Ohio
Company's lands,47
the two sections pooled their
interests.
By 1798 there was a population of over
five thou-
sand adult settlers in the Old
Northwest, which war-
ranted the establishment of the second
stage of terri-
torial government. In December, 1798,
representatives
were chosen for the legislature, and by
September, 1799,
they were ready to assemble for the
first meeting of
the legislature at Cincinnati. Puritans
from Washing-
ton County and the Western Reserve, Scotch-Irish
Pres-
byterians, Quakers, and Methodists were
all represented,
but it remained to be seen how these
groups would in-
46 Ibid., pp. 194-195.
47 Randall and Ryan, Op. cit.,
vol. II, pp. 580-582, 584-588.
Puritanic Influence in Northwest
Territory 429
fluence one another in the assembly and
how their pe-
culiar state of mind would give a
Puritanic tinge to
their legislation.
The representatives of the different
groups in the
legislature were of great
significance. In 1799 over
forty per cent of the judges and
members of the legis-
lative council were Puritans or
Scotch-Irish Presby-
terians.48 Judge Putnam,
Winthrop Sargent, and Rob-
ert Oliver were staunch Puritans, while
Jacob Burnet
and James Finley were equally staunch
Presbyterians.
A
Puritan and Methodist clique in the popular assembly
contained as many as thirty-five per
cent of the legisla-
ture.49 Edward Tiffin, who
was speaker of the House,
was also a preacher in the Methodist
Church. Thomas
Worthington and Nathaniel Massie were
other influ-
ential Methodists. Among the Puritans
were such men
as Paul Fearing and R. J. Meigs. The whole judicial
and legislative structure was thus in
the hands of groups
that had much in common. It is easily
perceived how
the territorial assembly would be able,
if it so desired,
to pass legislation that would even
more strongly regu-
48 J. A. Caldwell, History of Belmont
and Jefferson Counties, Ohio,
(Wheeling, West Virginia, 1880) ; C. A.
Hanna, Ohio Valley Genealogies,
(New York, 1900) ; History of
Hamilton County, Ohio, (Cleveland, Ohio,
1881); History of Washington County,
Ohio, (Cleveland, Ohio, 1881);
History of Wayne County, Ohio, (2 vols. Indianapolis, 1910); A. B. Nor-
ton, A History of Knox County, Ohio, (Columbus,
1862); Randall and
Ryan, Op. cit., vol. III, pp. 36,
38; See also Dictionary of American Biog-
raphy and Appleton's Biographical
Encyclopedia.
49 J. A. Caldwell, History of
Belmont and Jefferson Counties, Ohio;
C. A. Hanna, Ohio Valley Genealogies;
History of Hamilton County, Ohio;
History of Washington County, Ohio;
History of Wayne County, Ohio;
A. B. Norton, A History of Knox
County, Ohio; Randall and Ryan, Op.
cit., vol. III, p. 37; See also Dictionary of American
Biography and Ap-
pleton's Biographical Encyclopedia.
430
Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications
late society. The basis for a common
understanding
existed, but it yet remained for the
various elements to
feel the need for strait-lacing
Northwestern society.
This feeling was not long in coming.
With the Puritans, Methodists, and
Presbyterians
controlling the territorial assembly it
is then not strange
that among the first acts passed by
them was one for the
Prevention of Vice and Immorality. The title is ex-
tremely significant. Here, apparently,
for the first time
was an act that dealt exclusively with
the relationship
of individual to individual, and of the
individual to
society. Heavy fines were placed on
cock-fighting and
card playing.50 Dueling, the
usual frontier way of set-
tling an argument, became anathema.51
Even the posses-
sor of such an innocent piece of
furniture as a billiard
table was liable to a fine of fifty
dollars.52
More exacting and more in accord with
the Puritanic
influence were the statements
respecting the observance
of the Sabbath and the use of profane
language. A Sab-
bath breaker, i.e. "(any person)
found reveling, fighting,
or quarreling, doing or performing any
worldly employ-
ment or business whatsoever on the
first day of the
week" could be fined for the first
offense.53 Any person
above sixteen years of age apprehended
"profaning,
cursing, damning or swearing by the
name of God,
Christ Jesus, or the Holy Ghost * * *
(was assessed)
for every oath a sum not exceeding two
dollars."54 The
code of 1788 had only issued warnings,
but now Sab-
50 Pease, ed., Loc. cit., p. 379.
51 Ibid., pp. 382-383.
52 Ibid., p. 380.
53 Ibid., p. 377.
54 Ibid., pp. 377-378.
Puritanic Influence in Northwest
Territory 431
bath-breaking and profanity became
crimes of signifi-
cance.
The Vice and Immorality Act was enacted
by groups
that hoped to make society conform to
their social
standards and individuality. The
attitude of the various
elements in the legislature with
respect to this act is
perhaps more clearly shown by the vote
in the lower
branch of the territorial assembly. It
was the Method-
ists who voted most ardently in its favor.
The New Eng-
land Congregationalists and
Presbyterians also voted
in the affirmative, but not with the
same crusading spirit
that was manifested by their Methodist
colleagues. Such
men as Fearing, Goforth, Massie,
Worthington, and
Meigs voted for it. Tiffin, who was
speaker of the
House, was undoubtedly one of its most
ardent advo-
cates. When the final vote was taken it
read fourteen
ayes and four nays.55
From 1799 to 1803 it was possible,
through the in-
fluence of the different sects, for the
Puritanic influence
to gain a firm foothold in the
Northwest Territory. This
combination of sects was thus able to
obstruct legislation
which to it seemed incompatible with
its philosophy, and
to encourage such measures as would be
more in har-
mony with its principles. In 1800 an
Act was passed
which more carefully regulated
taverns. A fine of
twenty dollars was placed on any
innkeeper for retailing
liquors without a license; for
permitting such games as
bowls, shovel-board, fives, and
betting; and for harbor-
55 Journal of the House of
Representatives and Legislative Council of
the Territory of the United States,
Northwest of the River Ohio, at the
First Session of the General Assembly
1799, (Cincinnati,
1800) vol. I, pp.
110-111, 113, 129, 141.
432 Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications
ing servants and minors.56 Again,
the groups that were
the embodiment of the Puritanic
influence forced the
passage of the acts after much debate.
During the de-
bate, however, the question was not
whether such an act
should be passed, but what its
character should be. The
Methodists under Tiffin and
Worthington, and the Con-
gregationalists under Meigs, were for a
stringent act
regulating the tavern. They thought as
did the Puritans
of the seventeenth century, that the
hostelry was the
breeding-place of vice and
disrepute. Hence they rea-
soned: If these places must exist they
must be carefully
regulated. Their Scotch-Irish comrades
felt differently
on the subject. They welcomed the
spirit of camarad-
erie that such places offered, and
failed to vision the
inn as a bugbear of society. In the
end, the Scotch-
Irish Presbyterian influence succeeded
in winning the
New England and Methodist elements over
to a series of
regulations that were less exacting
than those previously
advocated.57
From 1799 to the time when the eastern
portion of
the Northwest Territory entered the
union as a State in
1803, the Puritanic influence was
indelibly stamped on
the Territory through the Vice and
Immorality Act and
subsequent legislation. Thus, the
Puritanic influence,
which was first introduced in 1788,
expanded, between
1790 and 1799, under the dominant
influence of the sects.
56 Laws of the Territory of the United States Northwest of the River
Ohio, Passed at the Second Session of
the First General Assembly, Nov.
3, 1800 to Feb. 4, 1801, (Chillicothe, 1801) vol. II, pp. 52-56.
57 Journal of the House of
Representatives and Legislative Council of
the Territory of the United States,
Northwest of the River Ohio, at the
Second Session of the First General
Assembly 1800, (Chillicothe, 1800)
Vol. II, pp. 72, 73, 81, 83, 88, 96;
(Chillicothe, 1801) Vol. III, pp. 107, 108,
113, 114.
Puritanic Influence in Northwest
Territory 433
After 1799, this influence not only
became stronger, but
also showed itself even more clearly in
the territorial
enactments. In all of the Puritanic
legislation initiated
by the House, the Governor and his
Council were po-
litically allied with the Assembly. It
was therefore the
similar philosophies of the New
Englanders, of the
Scotch-Irish Presbyterians, of the
Quakers, and of the
Methodists that resulted in a
combination in the terri-
torial legislature to force Puritanic
ideas upon the
Northwest Territory, and finally, it
became more and
more evident between 1799 and 1803 that
the life and
morality of the individual in the
Territory would be
guided and directed, and in a measure
controlled, by
these groups at the head of the
territorial government.
One of the most vexatious problems
which arose in
1799 was the attitude of the Territory
and, subsequently,
the stand that the state would take
toward slavery. It
is here that the interplay of forces in
the territorial leg-
islature can be visioned and that the
influence of Puri-
tanism was most severely threatened.
Any discussion of slavery in the
Northwest Terri-
tory must be prefaced by a review of
the Ordinance of
1787. This act forbade the introduction
of slavery
into the Territory. The subsequent
clash over the negro
question was a struggle between a
pro-slavery group,
which, after 1795, was appearing in
larger numbers on
the southern shores of the Ohio, from
Virginia, and was
settling in the Virginia Military
Tract; and an anti-
slavery group, which was composed of
New England
Puritans, Scotch-Irish Presbyterians,
Quakers, and
Methodists. The advocates of slavery
were united in
their efforts to extend the institution
of slavery north of
Vol. XLII--28
434
Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications
the Ohio. The anti-slavery group was
firmly united in
their opposition to the institution of
slavery, but about
the question of the ultimate status of
the negro much
disagreement arose. This disagreement,
in the anti-
slavery group, was between one element
inspired with a
humanitarian spirit, and another
faction which strove
at any cost to prevent the entry of
negroes into the Ter-
ritory under any conditions.58
The New Englanders of Washington
County, and
as a rule those of the Western Reserve,
were opposed
to slavery on moral and humanitarian
grounds. The
negro was to be given all the rights
and privileges of
the dominant race. The Quakers were an
interesting
group. They were divided into a
northern and southern
branch. The former migrated principally
from Pennsyl-
vania and the latter from Virginia and
the Carolinas.
Regardless of the section from which
they came, the
Quakers as a whole opposed slavery on
the same grounds
as the New England element. It was the
Quakers and the
New Englanders who made up a majority
that at first
was disposed to accord the negro fair
treatment.59
The Scotch-Irish Presbyterians and the
Methodists
felt differently on the subject. Those
from Kentucky
and Virginia who represented the
poorer, more demo-
cratic non slave-holding class, settled
to a great extent
in the Virginia Military Tract. The
Pennsylvania
Scotch-Irish spread out over the Old Northwest.
While
the Scotch-Irish Presbyterians and to a
large extent the
Methodists were for the most part
united in their oppo-
58 C. R. Wilson, "The Negro in
Early Ohio," Ohio Archaeological and
Historical Publications, (Columbus, 1930) Vol. XXXIX, p. 719.
59 Ibid., pp. 724-725, 726.
Puritanic Influence in Northwest
Territory 435
sition to slavery, their reason tended
to be economic
rather than moral. They were interested
in bettering
their own economic condition, and this
seemed impossi-
ble so long as they were competing with
slave labor. The
Southern elements in part had been
attracted by the
prohibition of slavery, and it became
their wish to ex-
clude the negro altogether from the
Territory. Thomas
Worthington and Edward Tiffin, both of
whom were
later governors of Ohio, are
outstanding examples of
settlers from Virginia who freed their
slaves and then
came to the Old Northwest.60
Between 1795 and 1799, however,
settlers of a differ-
ent class, from Virginia and other
sections along the
coast, were making their appearance on
the banks of
the Ohio. They were small
slave-holders. The reports
of the fertility of Kentucky land and
the soil north of
the Ohio had stirred their
imaginations, and they mi-
grated westward primarily for economic
reasons. Al-
ready by 1798 they had settled in the
Virginia Military
Tract side by side with neighbors who
held anti-slavery
views.61 It is then little
wonder that the members of
this pro-slavery group soon sought to
introduce their
"peculiar institution" in the
Northwest Territory.
By September, 1799, when the first
legislature con-
vened in Cincinnati, petitions had
already been drawn
up by the pro-slavery element praying
that settlers should
be permitted to settle with their
slaves in the Virginia
Military Tract. This petition bore
directly on the fu-
ture of the Territory. But the members
of the legisla-
60 Randall and Ryan, Op. cit., vol.
III, p. 119.
61 R. E. Chaddock, Op. cit., pp.
30-35; C. R. Wilson, Loc. cit., vol.
XXXIX, pp, 718, 721-723.
436 Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications
ture, under the leadership of the New
Englanders, as
voiced in the committee report, felt
that the petition
was incompatible with the Ordinance of
1787.62 The
question was again raised on November
15, but in a
different form. A committee was
requested to draw up
bills on the subject of "persons
escaping into this Terri-
tory from whom labor or service is
lawfully claimed
by any other persons" and on the
admission of people of
color by indenture. In both cases the
Quakers and the
New Englanders joined forces in the
endeavor to pass
the bills in the affirmative. They
hoped by this means
to bring about more rapidly the
downfall of the institu-
tion of slavery, by throwing open the
Territory to es-
caped fugitives. Their action availed
them nothing. The
Presbyterians and Methodists,
commanding a majority,
passed upon both the Fugitive Slave
Bill and its amend-
ment, in the negative.63 The
legislature of 1799 had
adopted no definite policy except
watchful waiting, and
subsequent legislatures apparently
avoided taking any
positive action on the matter. It seems
logical that the
matter should have been decided one way
or the other
in the Constitutional Convention, whenever
the Terri-
tory should be entitled to statehood.
In the Convention
of 1802 the control still rested with
the Presbyterians
and the Methodists from Virginia and
Kentucky. It
was this majority that agreed upon one
thing, that they
62 C. R. Wilson, Loc. cit. vol.
XXXIX, p. 733; Journal of the House of
Representatives and Legislative
Council of the Territory of the United
States, Northwest of the River Ohio,
at the First Session of the General
Assembly 1799. Vol. 1,
pp. 19-20.
63 Journal of the House of
Representatives and Legislative Council of
the Territory of the United States,
Northwest of the Ohio River, at the
First Session of the General Assembly
1799. Vol. 1, pp. 139-140.
Puritanic Influence in Northwest
Territory 437
did not wish slavery in the State. As
usual, this group
stood opposed to the negro on all
questions, while the
New Englanders and the Quakers favored
him. Follow-
ing upon this action, the results of
the Convention, in
so far as the negro was concerned, can
be summed up
with the statement that slavery was
definitely prohibited.
The framers of the Constitution of 1802
evidently in-
tended the negro to occupy the same
position in relation
to the State as the Indian does to the
Federal Govern-
ment today.64
Thus, while both factions in the
anti-slavery group,
the New Englanders and Quakers, and the
Scotch-Irish
Presbyterians and Methodists, opposed
the institution
of slavery, yet the latter faction was
definitely unfavor-
able to the entry of the black man into
the Northwest
Territory. It was the majority of
Scotch-Irish Pres-
byterians and Methodists in both the
territorial assembly
and the Convention that defeated the
humanitarian
measures of their opponents. Though
these factions
were opposed on the smaller issues, yet
the Puritanic
influence, which was definitely
anti-slavery, was pres-
ent in these groups, and it was that
influence which de-
feated an insistent pro-slavery group
in the Territory.
It was not until the 1830's and the
1840's that the ideal-
ized humanitarianism of the New
Englanders took root
in the State in the form of the
underground railroad.
The discussion of slavery in the
Territory reveals
the Puritanic influence. The
development and progress
of religion and education, however,
between 1791 and
1803, presents another phase of this
powerful influence.
From 1790 to 1799 religion and
education, as previously
64 C. R. Wilson, Loc. cit. vol.
XXXIX, p. 753.
438 Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications
had been the case, were matters of
purely local concern.
But in this respect the Ohio Company
and the Symmes
Purchase led the rest of the Territory
in the provision
for the regulation of church and
school.65 Elsewhere,
spiritual and secular education were
provided through
the ardent activity of the sects that
were entering the
Northwest. In the Western Reserve were to be found
Congregational missionaries. By 1802 Congregational
churches had been formed at Austinburgh
and Hudson,
and the Presbyterians boasted of
congregations at War-
ren and Youngstown.66 The Methodist circuit-riders,
by 1799, were also to be found in the
Western Reserve,
and it is in no small measure due to
the work of these
denominations that the opportunity for
mastering the
"three R's" was offered.67
In the Symmes Purchase the
Presbyterians were
perhaps in the majority, with the
Methodists running a
close second. Schools and churches were
early erected
at Cincinnati, Columbia, South Bend,
and Dayton.68 The
Virginia Military District by 1800 was
almost evenly
divided between the Methodists and
Presbyterians. In
the Ohio Company's lands the
Presbyterians and Meth-
odists crowded the New Englanders,
while to the north-
east and on the Seven Ranges, Quakers
and Scotch-
65 Hulbert, ed., Loc. cit., vol.
III, pp. 6-7, 90, 224; T. J. Summers, Op.
cit., p. 200.
66 W. E. Barton, "Early
Ecclesiastical History of the Western Reserve,"
Papers of the Ohio Church History
Society, (Oberlin, 1890) Vol. 1, pp.
23-25; C. E. Dickinson, "The Early
History of Congregationalism in Ohio,"
Papers of the Ohio Church History
Society, (Oberlin, 1896) Vol. VII, pp.
36-37.
67 Joseph Badger, Memoirs of Reverend
Joseph Badger, (Hudson, Ohio,
1851) p. 98; J. M. Barker, Op. cit., pp.
84-96; R. E. Chaddock, Op. cit., p.
113.
68
C. T. Greve, Op. cit., vol. 1, pp. 340-344, 358-362, 363.
Puritanic Influence in Northwest
Territory 439
Irish Presbyterians from Pennsylvania
had established
homes.69
The years following 1790 saw the acceleration of
the westward expansion. Marietta grew by leaps and
bounds. The land which had been set
aside for re-
ligious purposes in that township was
settled, and the
question immediately arose in the minds
of the mem-
bers of the company of taxing these
lands for the sup-
port of the church.70 With the calling of the territorial
assembly in 1799, these various sects
felt that means for
education and religion should be
provided in the Ter-
ritory and they readily fell in with
the New Englanders
of Marietta. A law was passed that
authorized the
taxing of lands granted for religious
purposes.71 But
of more significance was the act of
November 27, 1800,
which created a corporation to manage
the school lands
within the Ohio Company's purchase in
Washington
County.72 The purpose of this law was to make the
land more productive and thus provide
means for fulfill-
ing the objects for which such lands
were dedicated.
The act, however, dealt more with
religious lands than
with school lands. The fact that one
section, number
twenty-nine, which had been set aside
for religion, was
in the town of Marietta and hence
desirable land for
69 J. M. Barker, Op. cit., pp.
94-103; R. E. Chaddock, Op. cit., pp. 37,
112-113; C. E. Dickinson, Loc. cit., vol.
VII, p. 36; W. W. Sweet, Op. cit.,
pp. 14, 17, 23-30; F. J. Turner, Op.
cit., p. 223.
70 W. E. Barton, Loc. cit., vol.
1, pp. 79-80.
71 W. E. Barton, Ibid., pp.
80-81; Laws of the Territory of the United
States Northwest of the River Ohio,
Passed at the First Session of the
General Assembly, Vol. 1, pp. 58-59.
72 Laws of the Territory of the
United States Northwest of the River
Ohio, Passed at the Second Session of
the First General Assembly, Nov. 3,
1800 to Feb. 4, 1801. Vol. II, pp. 8-19.
440
Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications
immediate settlement, and also that the
New England-
ers wished to put their ecclesiastical
system on a firmer
economic basis, might account for this.
It provided that
three-fourths of the clear profits from
section twenty-
nine was to be used to support
"such public teachers of
piety, religion, and morality as shall
be employed," and
further stipulated that the other
one-fourth should be
held at interest until it was sufficient
to build one or
more houses of public worship.73
This act did not pass the House without
opposition.
This might possibly have been due to
the feeling that the
people of the Ohio Company's tract
would possess
greater educational and religious advantages.
No evi-
dence has been found to support this
contention one way
or the other, but what is known is that
mainly through
the efforts of Fearing, Goforth,
Massie, and Worthing-
ton, the bill became law.74
Among the last, and perhaps the most
notable of the
acts of the territorial legislature,
was the act in 1802
establishing a university in Washington
County. As
far back as 1800 Rufus Putnam and other
associates
of the Ohio Company had petitioned the
territorial as-
sembly for a university for which
certain lands, namely,
two townships had been set aside. In
this case, the New
England Congregationalists were able to
push the act
through without much opposition because
the leading
Methodist and Presbyterians in the
Legislature fa-
73 Ibid.
74 Journal of the House of
Representatives and Legislative Council of
the Territory of the United States,
Northwest of the River Ohio, at the
Second Session of the First General
Assembly 1800. Vol. II, pp. 33, 43,
44.
Puritanic Influence in Northwest
Territory 441
vored the New Englanders' petition.75
What is sig-
nificant is that a university was
incorporated at such an
early date. In less than fifteen years
the Puritan dream
of a great institution of learning in
the West had been
realized.
The period from 1788 to 1803, when the
eastern por-
tion of the Northwest Territory was
finally admitted
under the name of Ohio into the
sisterhood of states,
was of great significance. It was
during these years that
the Puritan conception of education was
planted in the
Old Northwest, particularly in the
minds of the legis-
lators. The Ohio Company, imbued with
Puritan ideals,
had early provided for education in its
grants. Gram-
mar schools and private schools were
early established
in the southern portions of the Old
Northwest. The Con-
gregational missionaries from
Connecticut and Massa-
chusetts, the Virginia and Kentucky
Methodist circuit
riders, and the Scotch-Irish Presbyterian
missionaries
had entered the Western Reserve and the
southern por-
tions of the Territory and disseminated
their principles
of religion. Lastly, these groups were determined to
bring the settlers of the Northwest
under the spell of
their respective religious doctrines,
and they sincerely
believed that the church was the most
vital force which
should influence and control the
thoughts and actions
of men. They cooperated to bring about
the incorpora-
tion of a university for which land had
been set aside
75 Journal of the House of
Representatives and Legislative Council of the
Territory of the United States,
Northwest of the River Ohio, at the Second
Session of the First General Assembly
1800. Vol. II, pp. 28, 86; Laws of
the
Territory of the United States
Northwest of the River Ohio, Passed at the
First Session of the Second General
Assembly, Nov. 3, 1801 to Jan. 23, 1802,
(Chillicothe, 1802) Vol. III, pp.
161-171.
442
Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications
in the Ohio Company's Grant, and it was
this Puritanic
influence that definitely planted the
seed for a system of
education that would in the future bear
a rich harvest.
Thus, between 1788 and 1803 the
character of the
Northwest Territory was unmistakably
shaped by Puri-
tanic influences. Beginning with the
entry of settlers
from New England into the country north
of the Ohio
River, the story has been told how the
New Englanders,
in the years 1788 to 1790, impressed
their peculiar
philosophy of life upon territorial
society. The pro-
Puritan tendencies of Governor Arthur
St. Clair, to-
gether with the fact that the Secretary
of the Territory
and the majority of the judges were
Puritan, early en-
abled the Puritanic influence to
dominate the govern-
ment of the Old Northwest. With the
control of the
territorial government resting in
Puritan hands, it is
easy to understand the consequent
passage of laws that
sought to control the thoughts,
actions, and practices of
the individual.
Scotch-Irish Presbyterians, Quakers,
and Methodists
from the Middle and Southern states
formed the ma-
jority of the settlers that staked out
holdings in the Old
Northwest. During the period 1790 to
1799, when the
New England element undoubtedly
represented a minor-
ity of the population, the Puritanic
influence still con-
tinued to give form and substance to
legislation. Of
this legislation the Maxwell Code of
1795 and the sub-
sequent acts regulating the tavern are
outstanding ex-
amples. Yet, when the first territorial
assembly, in
which the New England Puritan was in
the minority,
convened in 1799, the Puritan state of
mind was even
more perceptible that it previously had
been. The simi-
Puritanic Influence in Northwest
Territory 443
lar philosophies of the New England
Puritans, the
Scotch-Irish Presbyterians, the
Quakers, and the Meth-
odists, had produced a coalition of
these groups in the
territorial assembly that sought by
"Blue Law" legis-
lation to force upon society a peculiar
morality.
Another aspect of the Puritanic
influence was the
emphasis that was placed on religion
and education.
Schools and churches were early
established, and per-
haps most significant as a harbinger of
the future was
the incorporation of a university on
the lands of the
Ohio Company. Still another example of
the influence
of Puritanism is revealed in the clash
over the question
of slavery. It was Puritanism that
finally said, "Slavery
shall forever be prohibited." Thus
it is not strange that,
with the transfer of the Puritanic
influence to the West,
the society of the Old Northwest was
destined to be
profoundly affected by Puritanism
between 1788 and
1803, and that a legacy was established
whose effects
are still perceptible in present-day
Ohio.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
SOURCES
Badger, Joseph. Memoirs of Reverend
Joseph Badger. Hudson,
Ohio, 1851.
Burnet, Jacob. Notes on the Early
Settlement of the North-
western Territory. Cincinnati, 1847.
Hulbert, A. B. ed. "Records of the
Ohio Company," Marietta
College Historical Collections. 2 volumes, Marietta, 1917.
Journal of the House of
Representatives and Legislative Council
of the Territory of the United
States, Northwest of the
River Ohio, at the First Session of
the General Assembly
1799. Vol. I. Cincinnati, 1800.
Journal of the House of
Representatives and Legislative Council
of the Territory of the United
States, Northwest of the
River Ohio, at the Second Session of
the First General
Assembly 1800. Vol. II. Chillicothe, 1800.
444 Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications
Journal of the House of
Representatives and Legislative Council
of the Territory of the United
States, Northwest of the
River Ohio, at the First Session of
the Second General
Assembly 1801. Vol. III. Chillicothe, 1801.
Laws of the Territory of the United
States Northwest of the
River Ohio, Passed at the First
Session of the General
Assembly, Sept. 16, 1799 to Dec. 19, 1799. Vol. 1.
Cin-
cinnati, 1800.
Laws of the Territory of the United
States Northwest of the
River Ohio, Passed at the Second
Session of the First General
Assembly, Nov. 3, 1800 to Feb. 4,
1801. Vol. II. Chillicothe.
Laws of the Territory of the United
States Northwest of the
River Ohio, Passed at the First
Session of the Second General
Assembly, Nov. 3, 1801 to Jan. 23,
1802. Vol. III. Chilli-
cothe, 1802.
May, John. "Selections from the
John May Papers," Western
Reserve Historical Society, Tract Number 97. Cleveland,
1917.
Pease, T. C. ed., "The Laws of the
Northwest Territory," Col-
lections of the Illinois State
Historical Library. Vol. XVII,
Springfield, Ill., 1925.
Smith, W. H. ed. The Life and Public
Services of Arthur St.
Clair--The St. Clair Papers. 2 volumes. Cincinnati, 1882.
SECONDARY AUTHORITIES
Adams, J. T. The Founding of New
England. New York, 1921.
Barker, J. M. History of Ohio
Methodism. Cincinnati, 1898.
Caldwell, J. A. History of Belmont
and Jefferson Counties, Ohio.
Wheeling, W. Va., 1880.
Chaddock, R. E. Ohio Before 1850. New York, 1908.
Drury, A. W. History of the City of
Dayton and Montgomery
County, Ohio. 2 volumes. Chicago, 1909.
Greve, C. T. Centennial History of
Cincinnati and Representa-
tive Citizens. 2 volumes. Chicago, 1904.
Hanna, C. A. Ohio Valley Genealogies.
New York, 1900.
Hildreth, S. P. Pioneer History. Cincinnati,
1848.
History of Hamilton County, Ohio. Cleveland, 1881.
History of Ross and Highland
Counties, Ohio. Cleveland,
1880.
History of Washington County, Ohio. Cleveland, 1881.
History of Wayne County, Ohio. 2 volumes. Indianapolis,
1910.
Jones, R. M. The Later Periods of Quakerism. 2
volumes.
New York, 1921.
Puritanic Influence in Northwest
Territory 445
Jones, R. M. The Quakers in the
American Colonies. New
York,
1923.
Mathews, L. K. The Expansion of New
England, 1620-1865.
Boston, 1909.
Norton, A. B. A History of Knox
County, Ohio. Columbus,
1862.
Ogg, F. A. The Old Northwest. New
Haven, 1921.
Osgood, H. L. The American Colonies
in the Seventeenth Cen-
tury. 3 volumes. New York, 1904.
Randall, E. 0., and Ryan, D. J. History
of Ohio. 6 volumes.
New York, 1912.
Summers, T. J. History of Marietta. Marietta,
1903.
Sweet, W. W. The Rise of Methodism in
the West. Cincinnati,
1920.
Thompson, R. E. A History of the
Presbyterians in the United
States. New York, 1893.
Turner, F. J. The Frontier in
American History. New York,
1920.
Turner, F. J. The Rise of the
New West. New York, 1906,
Wertenbaker, T. J. The First
Americans. New York, 1927.
PERIODICALS
Barton, W. E. "Early Ecclesiastical
History of the Western Re-
serve." Papers of the Ohio
Church History Society. Vol.
1, pp. 14-42. Oberlin, 1890.
Dickinson, C. E. "The Early History
of Congregationalism in
Ohio." Papers of the Ohio Church History Society. Vol.
VII, pp. 31-56. Oberlin, 1896.
Dickinson, C. E. "A History of the
First Religious Society in
Marietta." Papers of the Ohio Church History
Society.
Vol. 1, pp. 78-97. Oberlin, 1890.
Dunn, W. R. "Education in
Territorial Ohio." Ohio
Archaeo-
logical and Historical Publications. Vol. XXXV, pp. 322-
373. Columbus, 1926.
Geiser, K. T. "New England and the
Western Reserve." Mis-
sissippi Valley Historical
Association's Proceedings. Vol.
VI, pp. 62-78. Cedar Rapids,
Iowa, 1913.
Mitchell, M. J. "Religion as a
Factor in the Early Develop-
ment of Ohio." Mississippi
Valley Historical Association's
Proceedings. Vol.
IX, pp. 75-89. Cedar Rapids, Iowa,
1916.
Wilson, C. R. "The Negro in Early Ohio." Ohio
Archaeo-
logical and Historical Publications. Vol. XXXIX, pp. 717-
768. Columbus, 1930.
THE PURITANIC INFLUENCE IN THE
NORTHWEST TERRITORY
1788-1803
BY WINFRED B. LANGHORST
After the close of the Revolutionary
War the rapid
movement of settlers over the
Appalachian range
brought the frontier to eastern
Tennessee and Kentucky,
and to the Monongahela and the Ohio
Rivers. East of
this ever-shifting frontier, land
values were rising, and
land speculators and emigrants were
searching the West
for cheap and fertile lands.1 The
reports of the Indian
traders had acted as a stimulating
influence among the
people along the coast, and every bit
of fresh informa-
tion served not only to bring the West
nearer, but also
to arouse a feeling of restlessness in
the East.
As yet the opening of the region that
was roughly
bounded by the Ohio and Mississippi
Rivers and the
Great Lakes had not taken place. This
great triangle
of exceedingly fertile soil, covered by
enormous forests
of pine, oak, and walnut, and inhabited
by numerous
tribes of Indians, was the Old Northwest
of 1788. With
the interest in the West increasing
yearly, the thousands
of acres of untouched soil in the Old
Northwest natur-
ally attracted attention. By 1788
definite plans were
under way for the settlement and
exploitation of this
region.
1 L. K. Mathews, The Expansion of New
England, (New York, 1909)
p. 259.
(409)