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Section 2. That the care and control of
the site of Fort Laurens,
located in Tuscarawas county, Ohio, and
being the first fort established
west of the Ohio river, shall be vested
in the board of trustees of the
Ohio archaeological and historical
society, who shall hold the lands and
property thereon subject to such use as
the general assembly may by law
direct.
Section 3. That for the purpose of
carrying out the provisions
of this act, and defraying the expenses of
the committee, there is hereby
appropriated out of any moneys in the
state treasury, to the credit of
the general revenue fund and not
otherwise appropriated, a sum not to
exceed five thousand five hundred
dollars.
Passed April 27, 1915.
CAMPUS MARTIUS SECURED.
It was on April 7, 1788, that the
immortal forty-eight New Eng-
land pilgrims led by Rufus Putnam,
disembarked from the "Adventure
Galley," afterwards named and
better known as the "Mayflower," at the
mouth of the Muskingum, opposite Fort
Harmer, and laid out and in-
augurated the first settlement in the
newly created North West Terri-
tory. It was to be called Marietta, and
was the first official capital of
the trans-Allegheny empire. The first
clearing was at the "point," on
the east side of the Muskingum, and
there the first houses were erected.
As Mr. Summers states in his
"History of Marietta," there was need
of some protection against possible
attacks of the neighboring hostile
Indians. A fortification known as
"Campus Martius," field of Mars, was
erected for the defensive purpose.
"The location of Campus Martius is
best described by stating that it was
built upon the ground with 'Wash-
ington street as the southern boundary,
and Second street the eastern
boundary, and fronting the Muskingum
river.' The defense was three-
fourths of a mile from the 'point' and
connected with it by the narrow
path which had been cleared. Here was
built the stockade which was
for five years to be the dwelling place
and refuge of a large part of the
colony. The sides were formed by a
continuous line of dwelling houses
two stories in height. They were made of
timber four inches thick
sawed by hand, and fitted at the corners
in the same manner as those
of a log house. At the corners were
block-houses, a trifle higher than
the houses, and projected out six feet
beyond the sides of the stockades."
This Campus Martius was not only the
"fortification" of the new settle-
ment, but the official building of the
new western government. Besides
being the residence of many families
including the offices of the ter-
ritorial governor and commissioners.
Governor Arthur St. Clair and
his secretary, Winthrop Sargent, here
resided. The site of these build-
298 Ohio Arch. and
Hist. Society Publications.
ings, is, therefore, in some sense, the
most interesting spot in the North-
west territory. Nothing, of course,
remains of the original buildings.
The only relic of those ancient days is
an antique two story frame-
house, the beams and timbers of which
are those taken from portions of
the original fortifications. It has long
been desired by not only the
citizens of Marietta but by historical
devotees throughout the state that
this "site" embracing the
location of the original Campus Martius be pur-
chased by the state, and be forever
preserved with proper memorial
markings. In this purpose the Society
for Ohio of the Daughters of the
American Revolution became actively
engaged and through the efforts of
the members of this patriotic
organization and the especial efforts of the
D. A. R. committee on legislation, Mrs.
L. C. Laylin chairman, in the
past session of the 82nd General
Assembly a bill was introduced and
energetically championed by Hon. G. F.
Reed, representative from Wash-
ington county, providing for the
purchase of this property by the state
and its retention under the
custodianship of the Ohio State Archaeological
and Historical Society. This bill passed
the House and Senate without
opposition. It was duly approved by the
Governor. The citizens of Ohio,
the members of the Ohio State
Archaeological and Historical Society
and particularly the Daughters of the
American Revolution, are to be
congratulated upon the consummation of
this long desired attainment.
Following is the Bill in question:
To provide for the purchase and
preservation of the site of Cam-
pus Martius.
Be it enacted by the General Assembly
of the State of Ohio:
Section 1. For the purpose of purchasing
and preserving the his-
toric site of Campus Martius in the city
of Marietta, Ohio, the mem-
bers of the committee under House Joint
Resolution No. 24, Senators
George S. Crawford and W. B. Tremper and
Representatives L. F.
Cain and Charles M. Gordon, are hereby
authorized in behalf of the
state to purchase for the state a plot
of land one hundred and sixty
feet square, at the corner of Second and
Washington streets, known as
the site of Campus Martius in the city
of Marietta, Ohio. Such pur-
chase and deeds therefor shall be
approved by the governor and the
attorney general. When so approved and
presented, the auditor of
state shall issue his warrants on the
treasurer of state in payment of
the purchase price herein authorized.
Such deeds shall be duly recorded
and deposited with the auditor of state.
Section 2. For the purpose of carrying
out the provisions of this
act there is hereby appropriated out of
any moneys in the treasury not
otherwise appropriated, to the credit of
the general revenue fund, the
sum of sixteen thousand dollars, or so
much thereof as may be necessary
to purchase the interests of the owners.
Section 3. The board of trustees of the
Ohio Archaelogical and
Historical society shall have the care
and control of said plot of land
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known as Campus Martius and shall hold
the same and the property
thereon subject to such use as the
General Assembly may direct.
E. J. HOPPLE,
Speaker of the House of
Representatives.
EARL D. BLOOM,
President of the Senate.
Passed March 21, 1917.
Approved March 29, 1917.
JAMES M. Cox, Governor.
Filed in office of Secretary of State,
April 2, 1917.
STEPHEN D. PEET.
IN MEMORIAM.
It was in one of the early months of the
year 1875 that Isaac
Smucker, of Newark, and Stephen D. Peet,
then resident of Ashtabula,
met at the home of Roeliff Brinkerhoff
in Mansfield, for the purpose
of organizing the Ohio Archaeological
Association. This triumvirate of
kindred scholarly spirits recognized the
great field and opportunity in
Ohio for an organization, the object of
which should be the study and
preservation of the remains of the
pre-historic race, commonly called
the Mound Builders; a race shrouded in
mystery, that populously occu-
pied Ohio before the invasion of the
European people; yes, before the
historic Indian, possibly before the red
man had existed in the Ohio or
Mississippi Valley. It was the opportune
moment for the institution of
such a society, and its immediate
intention was the gathering of a
suitable collection of the relics of
this vanished empire, and its display
as an "Ohio exhibit" in the
National Centennial Exhibit to be held at
Philadelphia in the year 1876. To the
purpose of the illustrious trio,
Brinkerhoff, Peet and Smucker, there
rallied with sympathy and en-
thusiasm Rutherford B. Hayes, Governor
of the state; John H. Klip-
pert, the distinguished state geologist;
C. C. Baldwin and Charles Whit-
tlesey, respectively president and
secretary of the Western Reserve His-
torical Society, and Professor M. C.
Read, a distinguished writer on
Ohio archaeology. General Brinkerhoff
was made president of the "Ohio
Archaeological Association," and
Professor John T. Short of the Agri-
cultural and Mechanical College, now the
Ohio State University, a most
noted scholar and author of
"Prehistoric Man in America," was made
secretary. The legislature made an
appropriation of $2,500.00 to the
association for the promotion of its
exhibit at Philadelphia, which ex-
hibit remarkably fulfilled its mission,
ranking only second in extent and
scholarly value to the archaeological
display of the Smithsonian Insti-
tute. The Ohio Archaeological
Association under the guidance of its
protagonists, continued its work, under
adverse circumstances, until