OHIO'S SQUATTER GOVERNOR: WILLIAM
HOGLAND OF HOGLANDSTOWN
BY RANDOLPH C. DOWNES
What student of Ohio history would have
dreamed
that it would eventually be proved that
Arthur St. Clair
was not the first resident governor to
exercise the duties
of that high office over the white
inhabitants of the
territory that now forms the domain of
the Buckeye
State? Who would have thought that for
almost one
hundred and fifty years there has
existed in the columns
of the Pittsburgh Gazette a
paragraph that is convinc-
ing evidence of the fact that for
probably two or more
years before St. Clair arrived at
Marietta in July, 1788
there lived, a few miles below what is
now Steubenville,
a governor of a nameless commonwealth
elected to that
office by the popular voice of his
squatter constituents?
Consider this strange note taken from
the Pittsburgh
Gazette of September 29, 1787:
[Marriages.] Mr. Henry Hogland, son of governor William
Hogland, west of the Ohio, was married
to the highly amiable
Elizabeth Carpenter, eldest daughter of
John Carpenter, esq.
landlord of Norristown, west of the
Ohio. The marriage was
celebrated at the governor's hall, on
Friday, the twenty-seventh
day of May, at twelve o'clock, and the
evening was most agree-
ably spent in dancing, firing of guns,
and drinking of toasts for
the success of the new state, and
prosperity to the new and first
married couple in it. . . . Capt.
Swearingen and the governor
were seated at the head of the
table."
The history of this squatter
commonwealth and its
squatter governor is most elusive. Only
here and there
Vol. XLIII--18 (273)
274 Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications
before 1787 are there to be found
furtive allusions to
their existence. It must be remembered,
however, that
as early as 1776, the birth-year of
American independ-
ence, evidence of squatters' claims had
begun to appear
on the west side of the Ohio River in
the general vicinity
of Wheeling and of what is now
Steubenville. Thus
late in 1776 or early in 1777, a
memorial to Congress
of the "Inhabitants of the Country
West of the Alle-
ghany Mountains" was drawn up that
sought to call
the attention of Congress to certain
violations of the
Indian right to the land west of the
Ohio. The inhabi-
tants declared in their petition that
land jobbers had
"of late proceeded so far as . . .
to make encroachments
on the Indian Territorial Rights by
improving, laying
Warrants & Officers Claims on &
Surveying some of
the Islands in the Ohio and Tomahawking
(or as they
term it) improving in a variety of
places on the Western
side of said River, to the great
imminent & manifest
danger of involving the Country in a
Bloody, ruinous,
and destructive War with the
Indians."1
The next time that squatters are heard
of west of
the Ohio is in the year 1779. On
October 26 of that
year Colonel Daniel Brodhead,
continental command-
ant at Fort Pitt reported to General
Washington:
"I rec'd a letter from Col. [David]
Shepherd, Lieut., of Ohio
County [Virginia], informing me
that a certain Decker, Cox &
Comp'y with others had crossed the Ohio river
and committed
trespasses on the Indians' lands
wherefore I ordered sixty Rank
and File to be equipped, & Capt. [John]
Clarke of the 8t Pen'
Reg't proceeded with this party to
Wheeling, with orders to cross
the River at that part, & to
apprehend some of the principal Tres-
1 Boyd Crumrine, ed., History of
Washington County, Pennsylvania,
187 (Philadelphia, 1882).
Ohio's Squatter Governor 275
passers and destroy the Hutts.--He
returned without finding any
of the Trespassers, but destroyed some Hutts. He writes
me the
inhabitants have made small improvements
all the way from the
Muskingum River to Fort McIntosh &
thirty miles up some of
the Branches."2
It is evident that in 1779 the
population west of the
Ohio was extremely numerous. It is
further evident
that it was as useless for military
officers to destroy
their cabins as it would have been to
attempt to stem
the flow of the Ohio River. Cabins
could be rebuilt
almost as quickly as they were
destroyed. Thus with
the close of the Revolutionary War the
tide surged up
with increasing force. General William
Irvine at Pitts-
burgh reported to President
William Moore of Penn-
sylvania on December 3, 1781,
"There have been sundry
meetings of people at different places,
for the purpose
of concerting plans to emigrate into
the Indian country,
there to establish a government for
themselves."3
This is the first mention of the
establishment of
squatter governments in connection with
the trans-Ohio
migration. It gradually took on more
definite form. On
April 20, 1782, General Irvine
wrote to Washington,
"Emigrations and new states are
much talked of. Ad-
vertisements are set up, announcing a
day to assemble
at Wheeling, for all who wish to become
members of a
new state on the Muskingum. A certain
Mr. J--is
at the head of this party."
According to Irvine this
Mr. J., who was an Englishman, had
actually drawn up
2 Pennsylvania Archives, first series, 12: 176 (Philadelphia, 1856)
at least one and probably two more
detachments were sent squatter-hunting
later in the fall of 1779. Ibid 188.
3 C. W. Butterfield, ed., Washington-Irvine
Correspondence, 231 (Mad-
ison, Wis., 1882).
276
Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications
a constitution and was engaged in
purchasing artillery
and other stores in the East for the
venture.4
This is the last that appears in the
record concerning
this particular enterprise. Indian
hostilities were not
yet over in the West and it is probable
that the terrible
toll of the bloody year of 1782 on the
frontiers put an
effective end to Mr. J's political
aspirations. But the
lesson of the butcheries of the
Moravian massacre, of
Crawford's defeat, and of the Battle of
the Blue Licks
was quickly forgotten when, in October
of 1782, the
news reached the upper Ohio that
preliminary peace
terms had been agreed upon with Great
Britain. On
October 30, Lieutenant Edward Cook of
Westmoreland
county in Pennsylvania informed General
Irvine, "I
hear of a great many more going to
improve lands on the
north of the Ohio. It is a matter of
speculation among
some gentlemen learned in the law
whether those im-
provements may not make a title, or
rather lay the
foundation for one; as there is no
express law prohibit-
ing the settlement, and no retrospect
laws can be made.
If it be so, I think your officers and
soldiers ought to go
and mark by thousands; as the only way
to fight a
rascal is by his own weapons."5
It is evident that serious attempts
were being made
to justify legally this squatter
invasion, and that Con-
tinental authorities were making no
effort to stop the
emigrants. On September 22, 1783,
Congress, having
been officially informed by General
Irvine of what was
going on, issued a proclamation
forbidding "all persons
4 Butterfield, Washington-Irvine
Correspondence 109, 244, 267. "Mr.
J." referred to in the article is
"Mr. Johnson."
5 Butterfield, Washington-Irvine
Correspondence, 339.
Ohio's Squatter Governor 277
from making settlements on lands
inhabited or claimed
by Indians, without the jurisdiction of
any particular
state."6
But this proclamation had no more
effect than King
Cnut's fabled command to the waves.
During 1784 emi-
gration proceeded so rapidly that in
the spring of 1785
a new movement for the erection of a
state appeared that
eventually led to the election of
William Hogland as
governor. By January, 1785, settlement
had spread
down the Ohio as far as the mouth of
the Wabash.7
Hence on March 12, under the signature
of John Emer-
son a notice was "given to the
inhabitants of the west
side of the Ohio River" of an
election for the "choosing
of members of the convention for the
framing a consti-
tution for the governing of the
inhabitants." The elec-
tion was to be held on April 10 at four
places, the mouth
of the Great Miami, the mouth of the
Scioto River, "on
the Muskingum," and at "the
dwelling-house of Jonas
Menzons" in what is now Belmont
county, Ohio. The
convention was to meet at the mouth of
the Scioto on
April 20. The whole procedure was based
on the as-
sumption that "all mankind,
agreeable to every consti-
tution formed in America, have an
undoubted right to
pass into every vacant country, and
there to form their
constitution, and that from the
confederation of the
whole United States, Congress is not
empowered to for-
bid them, neither is Congress empowered
from that con-
federation to make any sale of the
uninhabited lands to
pay the public debts, which is to be by
a tax levied and
6 United States Continental Congress Journal
25: 602.
7 Butterfield, Washington-Irvine
Correspondence, 196.
278 Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications
lifted [collected] by authority
of the Legislature of each
State."8
Before the day set for the meeting of
this squatter
constitutional convention, Continental
troops, operating
from Fort McIntosh had endeavored to
disperse some
of the squatters. Continental
commissioners Richard
Butler, Arthur Lee and George Rogers
Clark had as-
sembled at Fort McIntosh on December 2,
1784, to nego-
tiate a land cession from the Indians.
On January 21,
1785, their work had been completed by
the well-known
treaty of Fort McIntosh, and the land
on the west side
of the Ohio was thus ready for
Continental survey pre-
paratory to sale and settlement. Hence
on January 24
orders were issued by the commissioners
to Colonel
Josiah Harmar to "employ such
force as he might judge
necessary in driving off persons
attempting to, settle on
the lands of the United States."9
But the result is but another
demonstration of the
truth of the statement of Edmund Burke,
"If you drive
the people from one place, they will
carry on their annual
tillage, and remove with their flocks
and herds to an-
other." The agent entrusted by
Harmar with this task
of destruction was Ensign John Armstrong,
who, with
a party of twenty infantry and fifteen
days' supply,
set out on March 31 from Fort McIntosh.
He was able
on this tour to get as far down the
Ohio as a point across
the river from Wheeling. He encountered
six settle-
ments: two in what is now Columbiana
County at Little
Beaver Creek and Yellow Creek, two in
what is now
8 William Henry Smith, The St. Clair
Papers, 2:5 (Cincinnati, 1882).
9 Commissioners for Indian Affairs to
Harmar, January 24, 1785,
Harmar Papers, Draper Collection, State
Historical Society of Wisconsin,
vol. 1, p. 40.
Ohio's Squatter Governor 279
Jefferson County at Mingo Bottom and
"Norris's
Town"; and two in what is now
Belmont County at
"Haglins [Hoglands] Town"
and "at a point opposite
Wheeling." It is not likely that
he destroyed many
cabins, but left those standing whose
occupants would
promise to leave within a reasonable
time. At several
places, notably at Norristown, the
squatters had or-
ganized to resist him with fire-arms.
If he had begun
to burn cabins it is possible he would
have had a battle
on his hands. What probably happened in
all six set-
tlements was the same as what happened
at Norristown.
When Armstrong entered he found waiting
for him
forty armed men, to whom he read his
instructions and
who thereupon agreed to move off by
April 19. A series
of petitions were sent to Congress
asking for indulgence.
In the meantime Armstrong turned back
to Fort McIn-
tosh where he arrived on April 12.10
Armstrong was thoroughly disillusioned
about the
whole affair. He was quite conscious of
the futility of
attempts to restrain squatter
settlement. He reported
to Harmar on April 13,
"It is the opinion of many
sensible men (with whom I con-
versed on my return from Wheeling) that
if the honorable the
Congress do not fall on some speedy
method to prevent people
from settling on the lands of the
United States west of the Ohio,
that country will soon be inhabited by
a banditti whose actions
are a disgrace to human nature. . . .
"I have . . . taken some pains to
distribute copies of your
instructions, with those from the
honorable the Commissioners
for Indian Affairs with almost every
settlement west of the Ohio,
and had them posted up at most public
places on the east side
of the river, in the neighborhood
through which these people pass.
10 Armstrong to Harmar, April 12, 1785,
Harmar Papers, Draper
Collection, vol. 1, p. 44-47; Smith, St. Clair Papers, 2: 3, 4.
280 Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications
"Notwithstanding they have seen and
read those instructions,
they are moving to the unsettled
countries by forties and fifties.
"From the best information I could
receive, there are at the
falls of the Hawk Hawkin [Hockhocking]
upwards of three hun-
ded families, at the Muskingum a number
equal.
"At Meravens [Moravian?] Town
there are several families
and more than fifteen hundred on the
rivers Miami and Scioto.
From Wheeling to that place there is
scarcely one bottom on the
river but has one or more families
living thereon."11
It is evident from this that Armstrong
had visited but
a small fraction of the squatters west
of the Ohio.
Did the constitutional convention ever
meet ? It can-
not be said with positive certainty
that it did, and it is
to be hoped that somewhere, possibly in
the files of the
papers of the Continental Congress, a
definitive state-
ment may some day be found. For the
present there is
available only indirect evidence that
it met. Armstrong,
in his letter to Harmar just quoted,
said, "In conse-
quence of the advertisement by John
Amberson [Emer-
son], I am
assured meetings will be held at the times
therein mentioned. That at Menzon's or Haglins
[Hog-
lands] Town . . . the inhabitants had come to a resolu-
tion to comply with the requisitions of
the advertise-
ment." The other evidence is the
marriage notice already
quoted from the Pittsburgh Gazette of September 29,
1787, with its reference to the
existence of Governor
Hogland and of the State over which he
governed. It
seems likely that some kind of a
convention met although
at what time cannot be said. Following
the creation of
the state at the convention an election
of state officials
was probably held and William Hogland
chosen for that
office. How long he ruled, whether he
had a legislature
11 Smith, St. Clair Papers, 2:4.
Ohio's Squatter Governor 281
and a cabinet, where his capital was
located, must for
the present remain a mystery.12
One thing is certain. The squatters
could not be
permanently dispersed by Continental
troops. Expedi-
tion followed expedition during 1785
and 1786 but still
the cabins reappeared. First there was
Ensign Ebenezer
Denny in August of 1785. Then there was
Commis-
sioner Richard Butler, who, on October
4, 1785, wrote
from
Wheeling that he had warned the squatters off,
but had given them permission to save
their crops. "I
observe," wrote Butler "it is
with a degree of reluctance
[that they comply], and that they are fond of construing
every indulgence in the most favorable
and extensive
manner for themselves, and seem to hint
that saving
their crops includes feeding their
cattle on the ground
the ensuing winter, and of course give
them a footing
in the Spring, and so on." Next
there came Major John
Doughty in November who reported to
Harmar from
the mouth of the Muskingum, "I
destroyed by fire every
house I could meet with on the Federal
territory,
amounting to forty in all.
Notwithstanding which I am
firmly of opinion that many will be
re-built, for the poor
devils have nowhere to go. Many of the
houses that
were destroyed last spring, I found
re-built and inhab-
12 Two other evidences of William
Hogland's residence in this squat-
ter commonwealth have been found. One is
an entry in Commissioner
Richard Butler's Journal for October 2,
1785. On this day Butler, who
was on his way to hold a treaty at Fort
Finney, called at the settlement
of "one Capt. Hoglan" a few
miles above Wheeling and warned him off.
"Journal of General Butler" in
The Olden Time, 2:438 (October, 1847).
The other is a petition to Harmar by
"William Hoagland" and John
Nixon on August 30, 1785 "in behalf
of the inhabitants on the western
side of the Ohio" asking for
permission to stay on their lands long
enough to gather their crops. Harmar
Papers, Draper Collection, vol. 1,
p. 88-91.
282 Ohio Arch. and Hist.
Society Publications
ited." And in the summer of 1786
Captain John Francis
Hamtramck was stationed at Mingo Bottom
with one
hundred and sixty men "to make
diligent search for"
squatters and to "destroy their
dwellings." On August 5
one of Hamtramck's officers reported
the destruction of
one corn-house, twelve hundred rails,
over twenty five
acres of corn and nine houses.13
There was only one thing that could
disperse the
squatters of the upper Ohio. That was
the Indian war
that was brewing in these years and
that finally broke
upon the country after the treaty of
Fort Harmar in
1789. Then and then only did this
nameless state cease
to exist as its citizens fled, some
back to Pennsylvania
and Virginia, others down the Ohio to
the fertile lands
of Kentucky. Perhaps upon the return of
peace some
returned to their former dwellings to
become citizens of
a new state and constituents of a new
governor.
But this and other facts in this
strange mystery must
be determined by another chronicler who
can trace the
details of this lost commonwealth and
its forgotten gov-
ernor through that near oblivion into
which they have
long since disappeared.
13 Ensign Ebenezer Denny to Harmar,
August 23, 1785, Harmar Pa-
pers, Draper Collection, vol 1,
p. 85-87; Richard Butler to Harmar, Octo-
ber 4, 1785, Harmar Papers, Draper
Collection, vol. 1, p. 99; Major John
Doughty to Harmar, November 30, 1785,
Harmar Papers, Draper Collec-
tion, vol 1, p. 105; Harmar's Diary, entry for July 19, 1786,
Harmar
Papers, Draper Collection, vol.
1, p. 161; Captain Mercer to Captain J.
F. Hamtramck, August 5, 1786, Harmar
Papers, Draper Collection, voL
1, p. 181; Smith, St. Clair Papers, 2:14.