Ohio History Journal

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THE HISTORY OF PENAL INSTITUTIONS IN

THE HISTORY OF PENAL INSTITUTIONS IN

OHIO TO 1850*

 

BY CLARA BELLE HICKS, M. A.

 

THE EARLY TERRITORIAL PERIOD

The History of Penal Institutions in Ohio properly

begins with the first settlements in the great North-

west Territory.   The development of institutions in

a frontier colony naturally depends to a large ex-

tent upon the character of the settlers and the need for

such institutions.

The first settlers arrived at Marietta, the first perma-

nent settlement in Ohio, on April 7, 1788.1 They came

under the auspices of the Ohio Company, a company

composed of prominent citizens of New England, or-

ganized expressly for the purpose of establishing a

pioneer settlement in the Northwest Territory.2 The

boundaries of the County of Washington in which

Marietta was located were created July 25, 1788 by

Governor St. Clair and they included nearly half of

Ohio. On July 2, 1788 the town was named Marietta

in honor of Marie Antoinette, Queen of France.3 The

great majority of the settlers were from New England

and brought with them characteristics and ideals of that

section.4 George Washington was personally acquain-

ted with several of the early settlers and he believed

 

* A thesis presented for the degree of Master of Arts in Ohio State

University, prepared under the direction of Professor Carl Wittke, Ph. D.

1 Randall and Ryan, History of Ohio II, 459.

2 Hildreth, Pioneer History of the Ohio Valley, 193-202, 206.

3 Ryan, History of Ohio, ch. III, 43.

4 Ibid., 35, 36

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