Ohio History Journal

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NOTES

NOTES

 

OHIO'S CONGRESSMEN AND THE WAR OF 1812

 

1 John Adams to Benjamin Waterhouse, March 11, 1812, in Worthington C. Ford, ed., Statesman

and Friend: Correspondence of John Adams with Benjamin Waterhouse, 1784-1822 (Boston,

1927), 75.

2 Thomas Worthington Diary, November 5, 1811. Library of Congress (microfilm copy, Ohio

Historical Society, Columbus). For an early reference by Worthington to the possibility of war

with England, see his letter in the Scioto Gazette (Chillicothe, Ohio), February 6, 1806.

3 Two of Campbell's letters to Worthington (April 12 and June 17, 1812) leave little doubt

that his attitude toward war paralleled Worthington's. Rice Collection, Ohio Historical Society;

Thomas Worthington Papers, Ohio State Library, Columbus.

4 Later, in a retrospective speech in the senate, Worthington remarked, "We have had sufficient,

and more than sufficient cause of war with England." Ohio Republican (Dayton), March 22, 1814.

5 Worthington to Return J. Meigs, January 8, 1812, quoted in Alfred Byron Sears, Thomas

Worthington: Father of Ohio Statehood (Columbus, 1958), 167. For Campbell's similar attitude,

see his letter of April 12 to Worthington cited in note 3 above.

6 Worthington to Meigs, November 30, 1811. Thomas Worthington Papers, Ohio Historical

Society.

7 Annals of Congress, 12 cong., 1 sess., 372, 585, 595-596, 32-33; Worthington to Meigs, November

30, 1811, Worthington Papers, Ohio Historical Society; The Fredonian (Circleville, Ohio), July

21, 1812.

8 Annals, 12 cong., 1 sess., 95-97, 111-112, 566-567, 612-613, 691, 701-718, 728-745, 765, 780, 781-

794, 800-801, 1007-1009.

9 Ibid., 12 cong., 1 sess., 211-216, 218-219, 1334-1335, 1342. Campbell, who had returned home

because he thought congress would adjourn in order to give "longer time for the Executive to

have made ready before the 'Word was given, fire,'" wrote Worthington on the day before the

senate voted for war that he hoped the "war step" would not be a "premature one." Alexander

Campbell to Worthington, June 17, 1812. Worthington Papers, Ohio State Library.

10 Worthington Diary, June 14, 1812; senate speech in Ohio Republican, March 22, 1814,

referred to in note 4 above.

11 John C. Calhoun to Patrick Noble, March 22, 1812, in Robert L. Meriwether, ed., The Papers

of John C. Calhoun (Columbia, S. C., 1959), I, 96.

12 Ohio had previously elected its one member of the house of representatives at large.

13 The Supporter (Chillicothe, Ohio), October 24, 1812.

14 John Danner, ed., Old Landmarks of Canton and Stark County, Ohio (Logansport, Ind., 1904),

246-247; Trump of Fame (Warren, Ohio), October 12, 1812.

15 R. S. Dills, History of Greene County (Dayton, Ohio, 1881), 854-855; Nelson W. Evans and

Emmons B. Stivers, A History of Adams County, Ohio (West Union, Ohio, 1900), 300-301.

16 The Supporter, November 28, 1812; Freeman's Chronicle (Columbus, Ohio), October 24,

1812; Western Intelligencer (Worthington, Ohio), November 18, 1812.

17 Western Spy (Cincinnati), September 19, 26, October 10, 17, 1812.

18 Danner, Old Landmarks, 247.

19 Zanesville Express and Republican Standard, April 14, 1813; The Supporter, May 12, 1813.

20 The Supporter, February 13, 1813; Zanesville Express and Republican Standard, February 17,

1813; Western Spy, February 20, 1813.

21 Biographical Directory of the American Congress, 1774-1961 (Washington, 1961), 707; Western

Spy, December 24, 1814.

22 The Supporter, December 17, 1814; American Friend (Marietta, Ohio), December 17, 1814;

The Fredonian (Chillicothe, Ohio), December 20, 1814; Biographical Directory of the American

Congress, 1159-1160. In the election of 1814 all incumbents sought reelection and were easily

returned to office; thus, Alexander, Caldwell, Clendenin, Creighton, Kilbourne, and McLean

continued to represent, respectively, the second, fourth, sixth, third, fifth, and first districts. Ohio

Eagle (Lancaster, Ohio), December 19, 1814; American Friend, October 29, 1814; Western Spy,

October 22, 1814; Ohio Republican, October 24, 1814.

23 Annals, 13 cong., 2 sess., 1037.

24 Quoted in Clarence H. Cramer, "The Career of Duncan McArthur" (unpublished Ph.D.

dissertation, Ohio State University, 1931), 106.

25 In an election broadside, To the Independent Electors of Franklinton, Columbus, and the

Townships Adjacent, dated October 12, 1812. Broadside Collection, Ohio Historical Society.