458 Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications
(Inscription on tablet placed by U. S.
D. 1812
on the Ross County
Court House, Chillicothe, Ohio, May 17,
1933.)
CHILLICOTHE
CAPITAL OF THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY AND
FIRST CAPITAL
OF OHIO
The State of Ohio was made possible by
the Treaty of Paris,
1783, which made the Great Lakes the
northern boundary of the
new United States. In 1787 Congress
established the Northwest
Territory, dedicated to freedom and
public education. with Gen-
eral Arthur St. Clair its first
Governor. In 1800 Congress made
CHILLICOTHE the seat of government of
the Northwest Ter-
ritory.
Here met the Territorial Legislature in
1800 and 1801. Upon
this site was built in 1800 the first
State House of Ohio. Here
met in November, 1802, the Convention
that framed and adopted
the first Constitution of Ohio. Here
began the state government
of Ohio on March 1, 1803. Edward Tiffin,
of Chillicothe, was
Ohio's first governor. Other Ohio
Governors from Chillicothe
were Thomas Worthington, Duncan
McArthur, and William
Allen.
CHILLICOTHE was platted by Nathaniel
Massie in 1796.
Presbyterians from Kentucky with their freed slaves, led by
Rev. Robert Finley, were its first
settlers. Its first church was
organized by them in 1797. The
first Ohio Conference of the
Methodist Episcopal Church met in
Chillicothe in 1812. St.
Paul's P. E. Church was dedicated in
1821. An A. M. E. church
was established here in 1821; and an African
Baptist church in
1824. The Circuit Riders traveled here
through the wilderness.
Chillicothe was the birthplace of Lucy
Webb Hayes and of many
of Ohio's distinguished sons and daughters.
Near CHILLICOTHE are 450 prehistoric
sites, relics of the
Mound Builders. To the east rises Mt.
Logan, inspiration for the
State Seal of Ohio. Nearby is Camp Bull,
a stockade of the
War of 1812, a drill ground of the Civil
and Spanish-American
wars, and now a part of Camp Sherman.
British prisoners were
confined here in the War of 1812.
PLACED IN HONOR OF
CHILLICOTHE, "THE
CRADLE OF OHIO'S STATEHOOD," by the
GENERAL
DUNCAN McARTHUR CHAPTER U. S. D. 1812,
and by the
NATIONAL SOCIETY UNITED STATES DAUGHTERS
OF 1812, STATE OF OHIO.
MCMXXXIII.