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
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
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
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
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
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.
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
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,
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.
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
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-
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
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
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.