Ohio History Journal

30        Ohio Arch. and His. Society Publications.  [VOL. 4

 

 

AN EARLY ABOLITION COLONY, AND ITS FOUNDER.

 

BY A. A. GRAHAM.

 

About nine miles north of the capital of Ohio is a village

the foundation of which marks an important epoch in the history

of Ohio. The conflict between freedom and slavery began be-

fore the successful growth of the young republic was assured.

Thrifty New Englanders were waiting the encroachment of

slavery, and among them were men not afraid to lift up their

voices in loud and earnest warnings, and by their deeds as well

as by their sayings, showed that they were ready for the struggle.

"Make the land worth having," said the portly Dr. Cutler

to the Continental Congress when bargaining for land for the

New England associates. " Unless you do," he continued, "we

do not want it," and the warning meant in plain terms, "exclude

slavery forever from the territory northwest of the Ohio river,

and we will buy your land and help you pay your debts; allow

it to enter and not a penny will we invest." The confederacy,

borne down with its debts, could not allow such an opportunity

to pass, and the constitution of the territory "forever prohibited

slavery or involuntary servitude" from this great and almost un-

known domain. One victory for freedom was won.

Fifteen years afterwards the question arose again. A state

was now to be created in the territory. Should slavery be per-

mitted? It had often endeavored to gain even a temporary

lodgment.  The seeds of liberty had taken deep root, sprung

into active life, and the Constitution of Ohio, adopted in Novem-

ber, 1802, confirmed the old compact, and again guaranteed free-

dom to all who should obey its laws. The deliberations of this

convention were awaited with no little interest in many Eastern

homes. If it decided for freedom they would become citizens

and help to subdue its forests; cultivate its soil; build its cities

and extend its commerce. If not, then another state should

know them and their children.

Among the interested and anxious ones was James Kil-

bourn, a young man, enterprising and energetic, and then about

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An Early Abolition Colony, and its Founder.   31

 

thirty-two years of age. Born of old, sturdy, English stock, he

had inherited much of their pertinacity and their thrift.  He

was born in New Britain, Connecticut, October 19, 1770. His

father, Josiah Kilbourn, a true patriot, suffered the loss of three

members of his family in the War of the Revolution, almost all

his property, and was for a time, thereby, partially bereft of his

reason. In 1783, he was obliged to give up his finely cultivated

farm, and retiring to a more secluded place, purchased thirty

acres, on which he made improvements. Soon after he was

compelled to mortgage the greater part of this, and realizing his

position, advised his son James, then sixteen years of age, to

begin life for himself, as the father was now unable to extend to

him any help whatever. The boy reflected over the matter,

carefully weighing every side of the question. He had health,

youth, courage and resolution. He was without adequate cloth-

ing; could hardly write his name; knew little or nothing of ac-

counts, and was without influential friends. He could see no

prospect of aiding his parents or his own condition while at

home, and after a sleepless night he determined to try the world

as it lay before him. It might perhaps open a way to assist

them and also advance himself. On the morning of September

23, 1786, he bid a tearful farewell to his parental home and

started on his undefined journey. Without coat or shoes, and

poorly clad, the boy, with a heavy heart, that day walked about

thirty miles in his vain search for employment. In the course

of his walk, he found time to reflect on his condition and to

form his plans. He realized that he must have an education,

and that he must be true to every trust. The next day he hired

himself to a farmer for the necessary winter clothing, and soon

after apprenticed himself to a clothier for four years, agreeing to

work seven months in the year, his compensation to be his board

and clothes, and instruction in his trade. The other five months

of the year he was at liberty to use as he saw fit.

He carried out his agreement faithfully. During his sum-

mers he was chiefly employed as a farmer's boy by Mr. Gris-

wold, an excellent man, whose son became the celebrated Bishop

Griswold of the Episcopal Church. At this time Mr. Griswold

was at home and managed the farm. Noticing the industrious

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32        Ohio Arch. and His. Society Publications.  [VOL. 4

 

boy, who used every night to pursue his studies, he became his

instructor, and his most efficient and cordial friend. Under his

instruction he acquired a knowledge of the English, Latin and

Greek languages and all the mathematics he judged would be

useful to him in after life. So industrious had he been that Mr.

Griswold gave him ten shillings more per month than had been

agreed upon, and his employer, the clothier, released him from

his contract at the end of the third year, and gave him entire

charge of the establishment. His advancement was now rapid.

He was known as an excellent and careful workman, and by

adding new machinery to the works, soon greatly increased

their facilities and their trade.

He considered himself somewhat established in life, and

Nov. 19, 1789, when nineteen years old, he was married to Lucy,

daughter of John Fitch, of Philadelphia, who in after years be-

came distinguished as the inventor of a steamboat. His re-

markable success in life began about this time, and seemed

never to have left him. He soon had several mills, and by the

aid of an exclusive knowledge of the permanent dyes used in

England, the secret of which he obtained from an English

dyer, he was enabled to outstrip all his competitors.  In his

twenty-third year, his close attention to business, and his

work over poisonous dyes so told on his rugged frame that a

council of physicians pronounced him a confirmed consumptive.

A change not long after took place. His lungs improved, but a

painful disease of the back confined him to his house for eight

months, and for over a year after he could only move about with

the aid of crutches.

He retained his mills and his knowledge of dyes, tried

farming, but finding he could not pursue that vocation, entered

mercantile business in Granby, Connecticut, in which he soon

amassed a fortune. He became the owner of mills, and stores,

and in addition, five farms, one of which had been his father's,

by whom it was lost in the War of Independence, and from

which, when a boy, he had left in extreme poverty to try his

fortune. He could now realize his hopes and his plans formed

on that September day, when he pursued his weary journey in

search of employment. He placed his parents and the younger

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An Early Abolition Colony, and its Founder.    33

 

members of their family in circumstances of pecuniary ease and

competence. During this time, when a busy merchant, mill owner,

and farmer, he found time to institute a public library, and be the

agent to erect an Episcopal church, to organize a literary society,

build a turnpike road from Hartford to Albany, and deliver many

public addresses on all sorts of subjects. He had now secured the

means of ease and comfort, and determined to relax, somewhat,

his arduous labors. He was all this time a diligent student of

ecclesiastical history, and had been an active and influential

member of the Episcopal church. He often assisted as a lay-

reader, and yielding reluctantly to the requests of numerous

friends, entered the ministry, being ordained by Abraham Jarvis,

D. D., Bishop of Connecticut. His temporal labors were now

superceded by those of a spiritual nature and, for a time, his

recreation was as far away as ever. He declined to settle over

any parish, but officiated acceptably in many. His project for a

western settlement was already forming in his mind. He saw a

vast extent of country as yet unoccupied, but rapidly filling up,

and with a desire to perpetuate his native land to the cause of

liberty, he determined to be among the vanguard of those who

should consecrate the soil of the West to freedom.

He made two exploration tours westward, visiting New York

carefully, at one time thinking of locating within its limits. His

father-in-law advised him to explore the Northwest Territory,

especially that part to be included in the State of Ohio, then

soon to be created. He was now about thirty years of age, very

vigorous in mind and body, and of unflinching courage. He

was tenacious in his views, not easily discouraged, and in spite

of all objections succeeded, in 1800, in convincing his friends of

the practicability of his purpose. It took two years to overcome

all obstacles and form a company to establish his colony. Ohio

was then the "Far West." Much farther in accessibility than

California and Oregon are from Ohio to-day. Many of the men

he wanted were too pleasantly situated to care to make the long,

tiresome journey by wagon over the mountains and by flatboat

down the rivers. Early in 1802, he had formed a company of

eight associates, who, accepting his plans, asked him to explore

the country, and if he found a good locality, select enough land

Vol. IV--3

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34        Ohio Arch. and His. Society Publications.  [VoL. 4

 

for forty families, that number being decided upon to form the

company.

Early in the spring of 1802, Rev. James Kilbourn left his

home for his first exploring trip to the "Ohio country," as it was

then popularly known. He traveled by stage three hundred

miles to Shippensburg, Pennsylvania, ten miles east of the foot

of the Allegheny Mountains. Here the stage route ended, and

here his journey by foot began. Shouldering a heavy pack he

started for Pittsburgh, one hundred and fifty miles away. He

made the journey in less than two weeks. When he could not

find shelter in some wayside tavern, or in the home of a hospit-

able pioneer, he did as all travelers did, camped out. Leaving

Pittsburgh, he crossed the Ohio, and, on foot pursued his way.

The fatigues of the journey, however, brought on his old disease

and necessitated the purchase of a horse, on which he made the

remainder of his journey.

At this date, the principal road west, was by way of Zane's

Nace. Rev. Kilbourn no doubt followed this to some extent.

The most populous part of the Territory was its southern half.

He learned that the temporary seat of government would be at

Chillicothe, then not far from the central part of the proposed

State, which, on this account, might be made the permanent

Capital.

It is hardly to be supposed that Mr. Kilbourn pursued his

journey alone. Emigration was pouring into Ohio. Every

portion of the proposed State was now receiving settlers from

New England. At this date the principal towns were Marietta,

Cincinnati, Chillicothe, Dayton, Steubenville, Zanesville, Lan-

caster and Hamilton in the southern part of the proposed State.

In the northern part, and chiefly near Lake Erie, were Cleveland,

Conneaut and Warren, all small villages, hardly recognizable as

such in the Western Wilderness. The Moravian Missions still

exerted some influence in the eastern part of the State, but aside

from the places mentioned, excepting occasional settlements here

and there in the forest, generally contiguous to some stream of

water, the country was yet in its primeval condition. Indians

and wild beasts roamed the forests. The woods were alive with

game; the streams swarmed with fish. Perhaps no part of the

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An Early Abolition Colony, and its Founder.  35

 

great West afforded the aboriginal inhabitants a more diversified

subsistence. Indian wars were now practically over; immunity

from their midnight attacks assured. Their boundary lines were

clearly defined in "Wayne's Treaty," and the isolated settler

could rest in measured security.

Just how much of Ohio's soil was traversed by Mr. Kilbourn

is not now known. It is safe to conjecture that he visited every

part of the new State which he deemed worthy of examination.

At the towns of Chillicothe, Cincinnati, Dayton and Franklinton

he would meet men who had seen all parts of the country con-

tiguous to their homes, many of whom had been surveyors, and

who had thus a double advantage in obtaining knowledge of the

country.

Mr. Kilbourn remained in the West the entire summer. He

selected a desirable tract of sixteen thousand acres on the east

bank of the Olentangy River, about ten miles north of Franklin

ton, and in the autumn returned home. He did not then pur-

chase the land. The Constitutional Convention for the organi-

zation of a State government did not meet until afterwards, and

he did not care to locate unless the Constitution should prohibit

slavery. True, the compact of 1787, the Constitutional law of

the Northwest Territory, prohibited that evil; but strenuous

efforts, especially on the part of Virginian residents, owners of

Military lands, to secure a foothold in the productive valleys,

allotted to them, and the inactivity of many settlers, caused no

little uneasiness on the part of many who desired that unques-

tioned freedom should be guaranteed to all.

The convention completed its labors November 29, 1802, and

as soon as the limited mail facilities of the times permitted, its

provisions were known in the East.  Mr. Kilbourn and his

associates then made their purchase and completed their organi-

zation of the "Scioto Company." Forty persons in all were ad-

mitted, each of whom was carefully selected, one account stat-

ing that a single negative would exclude any person. Such a

sweeping declaration is hardly probable, however. It would be

extremely difficult, if not impossible, to gather together that

number of persons in any community, and find an entire unani-

mous choice in each and every person proposed.

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36           Ohio Arch. and His. Society Publications.         [VoL 4.

 

The articles of association were signed December 14, 1802.

They confirmed the selection made by Mr. Kilbourn, and its

purchase by their committee, and their preparations were made

to emigrate to their new home.          The land was " in the eigh-

teenth range, first township, first section; second township, sec-

ond and third sections, and third township, second section, gov-

ernment land, containing sixteen thousand acres." The price

was fixed at one dollar and twenty- five cents per acre.

The purchasers agreed that one lot of one hundred acres

should be devoted to school purposes, and a similar lot to be

used for the benefit of a Protestant Episcopal church. Two

roads were to be laid out through the center of the tract, one

running east and west, and one north and south. At their in-

tersection, a town plat of one hundred and sixty acres was left,

to be laid out into lots, each containing one acre. Four of these

lots, lying on the central corners, were to be given as a public

square or green, ornamented with shade trees, and made as at-

tractive as possible. One of the town lots was reserved as a site

for the church, and one as a site for the school house. The fol-

lowing is a list of the original colony, and the village lots appor-

tioned to each one:

James Kilbourn .......................................93, 94, 116, 117

Thomas T. Phelps .........................      ..................5, 6, 156

Abner Pinney.  ........................  ..54, 59, 70, 102, 127, 128, 129, 130

Russell Atwater ..  .........30, 40, 46, 86, 90, 108, 119, 120, 121, 122, 135, 136

Jedediah Norton.. .15, 41, 42, 47, 48, 49, 50, 55, 56, 74, 83, 85, 87, 92,106, 111, 113

Job. Case ......                           ....................................84, 88, 91, 95, 155

Levi Hays .......                        ... ..................................... 13, 14, 19

Levi Buttles .... .            ..................................... 3, 4, 29, 149, 24

Jeremiah Curtis ........................   .....    ............... 68, 69

Zophar Topping  ............................................                                                                                             1, 20, 80

Ebenezer Street .......................   ................   . .                                                                                            .... 57, 81

Nathan Stewart ..................................... 67, 99, 100, 110, 143

Roswell Wilcox .............. ........     ..     ................. 133

Lemuel Kilbourn ....................................................45

Jonas Stausberg ................................  ................. 36

Abner B. Pinney           .... ........................ ........   ......... ......28

Josiah Topping     ..................... .............   .. ........23, 24, 53

Arariah Pinney .... ......... ..  ................................44

Moses Andrews .................................... ...............21, 22

Samuel Sloper  ..... ...................   ................... ......51, 52

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An Early Abolition Colony, and its Founder.               37

 

William Thompson ................63, 77, 82, 103, 115, 141,142, 146, 159, 160

Alexander Morrison, sr ..................    ...............2, 26, 39, 58, 72

Samuel Beach           ................. ...........  ......   ....11, 12, 147, 148

John Gould              .............................. .. ............. ....  18, 109

Alexander Morrison, jr ................. .31, 32, 33, 34, 43, 77, 114, 125, 126

Ezra Griswold ..........................     ..... ..  16, 17, 61, 62, 78

William Vining       ......   ........................104, 105, 123, 124, 131,132

John Topping .................................................131, 132

Israel P. Case ........ .............................................. 27

Israel Case  ............. ......... ....... .................37, 38, 137, 138

David Bristol ...........    .......  ........ ...............7, 8, 60, 61

Glass Cochran ................. 97, 107, 112, 139, 140, 150, 151, 152, 153, 154

Lemuel G. Humphrey, Ambrose Case and Jacob Mills .........       9, 93, 98

James  Allen  ...................................................65, 69, 96

Nathaniel W . Little  ...........................25, 71, 75, 118, 144, 157, 158

Ichabod Plumb  ........................................ ...... ......101

James Kilbourn and others, Committee .................. 10, 35, 64, 76, 134

 

The owner of the lots could erect a dwelling thereon, and

occupy it or sell the lots as he saw fit. The cost of the entire

tract (sixteen thousand acres) was twenty thousand dollars. This

divided among forty persons made each share of purchase money

five hundred dollars.    The preliminaries were all arranged at the

organization of the Company, and show careful consideration on

the part of the owners. Their new home in the wilderness

should be as attractive as their limited means would permit.

They would enjoy, from the first, school and church privileges,

the foundation of all American progress.

During the winter of 1802-3, preparations on the part of

the associates to remove to the West were begun. It was during

his visit of exploration that Mr. Kilbourn made his map of Ohio,

whose boundaries were now known. Its compilation was made

in the office of Colonel, afterwards Governor Worthington, at

Chillicothe, who was then register of the land office for this dis-

trict. The part delineating the Indian Territory, was copied

from  a map compiled by his father-in-law, Mr. Fitch, who had

been, in his youth, a captive among the Indians in the Northwest

Territory. It is worthy of remark here, that the original model

of Mr. Fitch's steamboat is now in the possession of I. N. Whit-

ing, esq., of Columbus, a descendant of Mr. Fitch, who realized

little else save, perhaps, renown, from his invention. He lived,

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38        Ohio Arch. and His. Society Publications.  [VOL. 4

 

however, to see his ideas practically used in steamboats whose

magnificence was far beyond his most brilliant expectations.

The map made by Mr. Kilbourn was the most accurate one of

the time, and was largely used by emigrants in their selections of

land and in their journey westward. It was the guide of the

associates and their families as they wended their way through

pathless forests, to their western home.

By the opening of spring Rev. Kilbourn was ready to go

again. April 7, 1803, a mill-wright, a blacksmith, and nine

other laborers, one of whom was accompanied by his family,

embarked in two wagons, and guided by Mr. Kilbourn, started

for their western home. Before the end of the month the party

reached Pittsburgh, where Mr. Kilbourn purchased mill-stones,

mill-irons, bar-iron, nail-rods, etc., and in a Kentucky boat

shipped them down the Ohio, in care of part of his company,

with food and other necessaries of life, to the mouth of the

Scioto. Here they were to secure a keel-boat in which they

were to complete the journey up that stream to the purchase.

Leaving the balance of the company to come with the wagons,

Mr. Kilbourn proceeded on horseback, arriving at the end of his

journey some time in advance of the others. May fifth, he cut

the first tree on the tract, and began preparations for the colony

he had left. Towards the latter part of the month the wagons

reached the end of the wagon road, probably at Lancaster or

Franklinton, from whence two of the men were sent by an

Indian trail to inform Mr. Kilbourn, and to ask his aid. He at

once returned with the men, and in a few days, by cutting a road

through the forest, the little company safely completed their long

journey, and in united and hearty voices testified their congratu-

lations.

Erecting temporary shelter, they proceeded to clear a large

field of rich bottom land, wherein they planted potatoes, corn

and turnips. They also erected a school house, a log church, a

blacksmith shop and twelve cabins. They began a dam across

the Olentangy, and laid out the town, Mr. Kilbourn being the

surveyor, and began to erect cabins. By this time midsummer

had arrived, and leaving his colony in good condition, Mr.

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An Early Abolition Colony, and its Founder.    39

 

Kilbourn returned East to conduct his own and ten other

families to the purchase.

While these events were transpiring other associates were

preparing for their journey westward. Lemuel Kilbourn, an

older brother, with his family, and accompanied by Levi Pinney,

Alexander Morrison, jr., Abner P. Pinney, William Morrison,

Adna Bristol, E. C. Brown and Israel P. Case. This party

arrived soon after James Kilbourn left for the East, and began

at once the erection of a mill and of cabins. September 15 James

Kilbourn, Ezra Griswold and several others commenced their

western travels. Mr. Griswold was the first to reach the end of

the journey, arriving October 26. The others came soon after.

Mr. Griswold occupied a cabin on village lot seventy-one; Wil-

liam Thompson, on seventy; David Bristol, on sixty; James

Kilbourn, on sixty-one; Samuel Beach, on ninety-two; Zophar

Topping, on eighty-three; Alexander Morrison, on eighty-two;

Nathan Stewart, on one hundred, and Glass Cochran, on one

hundred and one. All used the same well, on the south church

lot. In the log school house, which was ready for use soon after

the arrival of the families, and which stood on the south college

lot; a subscription school was taught during the winter by

Thomas T. Phelps. The next summer he was succeeded by

Clarissa Thompson, and from that day to this, summer and

winter, the means of education have been freely offered to the

youth of the settlement. The first timber cut in the colony

went into the construction of the school house. Education and

religion were the cardinal principles of the promoters of the

colony, and the influence exerted by these men have left their

impress to this day.

Before the snows of the winter of 1803-4 came, one hun-

dred persons were established in the colony. An Episcopal so-

ciety had been formed, and regular divine services held every

Sabbath. Mr. Kilbourn was not only the pioneer minister in

the Protestant Episcopal Church in Ohio, but his church, organ-

ized in the winter of 1803-4, is the pioneer church of the de-

nomination in the Northwest Territory. A postoffice was estab-

lished soon after the settlement was made. William Robe was

appointed postmaster, who held the office ten years. The mail

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40        Ohio Arch. and His. Society Publications.  [VOL. 4

 

was brought from Franklinton. In after years Mr. Robe was a

teacher in the Worthington Academy. Mr. Griswold opened

the first tavern in the colony in his cabin on his arrival in 1803,

and in 1805 built the first frame house in the settlement. In

this cabin was also kept the first store of the colony. The

store-keeper was Nathan Stewart, who was also a distiller.

The colony was well provided for the winter, and, owing to

the foresight of its founders, the people were spared many of

the privations of pioneer life. Most of their supplies could be

obtained at Franklinton, where the mail was secured; or, by go-

ing down the river, if open, to Chillicothe, many of the lux-

uries of life could be obtained.

People are inclined to "link their fortunes" under all condi-

tions of life. February 10, 1804, ere the colony was a year old,

Thomas Stevens, Esq., of Franklinton, in the log school house

in that village, united in marriage Abner P. Pinney and Miss

Polly Morrison, and Levi Pinney and Miss Charlotte Beach,

every one in the village being present.

The spring of 1804 larger clearings were made, and more

extensive crops planted. No new settlers seemed to have ar-

rived, and no deaths occurred, hence the number of inhabitants

remained the same. As the summer advanced, preparations to

celebrate the Fourth of July in the best style possible, were

made. A novel and ingenious plan was evolved by some

patriot. At that time the Union was comprised of seventeen

states, Ohio being the last one admitted. Seventeen gigantic

trees, representing the several states, were simultaneously felled

at sunrise, the crash of their downfall and the cheers of the peo-

ple resounding through the forest. The Declaration of Inde-

pendence was, no doubt, read, and the usual flow of Independ-

ence oratory undoubtedly prevailed. Drunkenness was not

countenanced, and here was held one of the first temperance

Fourth of July celebrations in Ohio. Nearly all adults of this

colony were members of the Protestant Episcopal Church, and

here, in this settlement, was constituted the first church of this

denomination in Ohio. Mr. Kilbourn had charge of the church

and officiated several years as its minister. He also visited other

parts of Ohio, baptized children and performed other duties in-

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An Early Abolition Colony, and its Founder.     41

 

cumbent on him in this office. At one time he was called to

preach in the hall of the General Assembly in Chillicothe, both

houses adjourning to hear him. The growing colony demanded

more and more his attention, and finally, after inducing Bishop

Chase to come to Ohio in 1817, he relinquished all ministerial

duties.

Two years after the colony was started, Mr. Kilbourn built

a grist mill on the Olentangy. Two years after, Preserved

Leonard brought water from Brush Creek in troughs, about one-

fourth of a mile. Water thus brought, turned an overshot

wheel. In 1804, Colonel Kilbourn erected the first brick house

in the settlement, which is yet, I think, standing. In May of

this year he also surveyed the village plat. In 1805, he was ap-

pointed a civil magistrate, and captain of all the militia of the

frontier. The Greenville treaty line was only twenty-eight

miles north of Worthington, and hence, the duties devolving

upon him as guardian of the people's safety, were by no means

light. He opened an Indian trading house, where he became

acquainted with the natives, and wherein he also made money

by their trade.

In 1805, he explored the south shore of Lake Erie, and

selected the site of Sandusky City as a trading point. It was

almost due north from Worthington, and became a great north-

ern depot for trade in the Scioto valley. Soon after he was ap-

pointed by Albert Gallatin, Secretary of the Treasury, Surveyor

of Public Lands, and under his direction, in nine years the sur-

vey was completed. In 1806, he was one of the first trustees

of the Ohio University at Athens, and two years after was also

appointed one of three commissioners to locate the seat of

Miami University. About the same time he was elected major

of the frontier regiment, then lieutenant colonel, and finally,

during his absence, and against his will, colonel, which latter

office he declined to fill, resigning his commission.

Worthington College was chartered in 1817, and Colonel

Kilbourn elected President of the corporation, which office he

filled several terms. This year, he was appointed by the Presi-

dent, the commissioner to settle the boundary line between the

public lands and the great Virginia reservation. This duty was

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42        Ohio Arch. and His. Society Publications.  [VOL. 4

 

performed amid much peril and hardship. Soon after its com-

pletion he was elected to the Thirteenth Congress. During his

absence he was unanimously re-elected colonel, and this time ac-

cepted the office. In 1814, he was re-elected to Congress and

served one term, declining a re-nomination. About this time he

also embarked in the manufacture of woolens, expecting the

war tariff would continue, which, however, was not the case,

and about 1820 he found himself, at the age of fifty years,

almost penniless. His large family was unprovided for; large

unproductive mills at Steubenville and at Worthington were on

his hands, and he must begin life anew. His rod and compass

were resorted to again, and as a result, more roads, townships,

boundary lines, etc., were surveyed by him than by any other

person in this part of Ohio. He soon acquired a comfortable

property, and was soon also engrossed in public affairs.

This company through which his losses occurred, the

Worthington Manufacturing Company, was established by Col-

onel Kilbourn and others. Colonel Kilbourn was President

and general manager.  A large factory was built in 1814 or

1815, on a tract of land west of town, where woolen cloth was

made, leather tanned, cabinet work done, and hats and caps

manufactured. Stores were opened in Franklinton, and in the

new State Capital, then two or three years old, and employment

furnished many people. Paper money was issued and a sort of

banking business carried on. The company failed in 1819 or

1820, with large losses to all investors.

Worthington has the distinction of being the first town in

this part of Ohio to start a newspaper. In 1811, Colonel Kil-

bourn and a few friends started the Western Intelligence, a

small, energetic four page sheet, issued weekly. Two years

later the paper was sold to Columbus parties, who moved it,

with the printing office, to that growing town, where it became

established, and where, to-day, its continuous successor lives as

the Ohio State Journal.

In 1823-4, Colonel Kilbourn was a member of the Ohio

Legislature; again in 1838-39, the latter year being also presid-

ing officer at the ceremonies of laying the corner-stone of Ohio's

present Capitol. The next year he was presiding officer of the

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An Early Abolition Colony, and its Founder.     43

 

great Whig convention, held February 22. Colonel Kilbourn

was, by this time, seventy years of age, and, beginning to feel

the infirmities of life, he declined all public trusts, save that of

assessor for Franklin county, which office he filled until 1845.

During this time he delivered many public addresses on all vari-

eties of national and state questions, his interest in public affairs

continuing to the end of his days.

The decline of life came.about 1848, and two years after,

at the ripe old age of eighty years, he died at his home in

Worthington. He had seen the place a forest-a wilderness;

he left it the homes of affluence, and the dream of his life, the

labor of his body and mind fulfilled.

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