Ohio History Journal

THE PURITANIC INFLUENCE IN THE

NORTHWEST TERRITORY

1788-1803

BY WINFRED B. LANGHORST

After the close of the Revolutionary War the rapid

movement of settlers over the Appalachian range

brought the frontier to eastern Tennessee and Kentucky,

and to the Monongahela and the Ohio Rivers. East of

this ever-shifting frontier, land values were rising, and

land speculators and emigrants were searching the West

for cheap and fertile lands.¹ The reports of the Indian

traders had acted as a stimulating influence among the

people along the coast, and every bit of fresh informa-

tion served not only to bring the West nearer, but also

to arouse a feeling of restlessness in the East.

As yet the opening of the region that was roughly

bounded by the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers and the

Great Lakes had not taken place. This great triangle

of exceedingly fertile soil, covered by enormous forests

of pine, oak, and walnut, and inhabited by numerous

tribes of Indians, was the Old Northwest of 1788. With

the interest in the West increasing yearly, the thousands

of acres of untouched soil in the Old Northwest natur-

ally attracted attention. By 1788 definite plans were

under way for the settlement and exploitation of this

region.

1 L. K. Mathews, The Expansion of New England, (New York, 1909)

p. 259.

(409)

410      Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications

The year 1788 marks the historic opening of the Old

Northwest by the land companies.    The Ohio and

Scioto Land companies, and later private speculators

like Symmes and Massie, carved out holdings in this

country. From 1788 on, under the guidance of these

land-companies and speculators, thousands of settlers--

New England Puritans, Scotch-Irish Presbyterians,

Quakers, and Methodists--streamed through the gaps

in the Appalachian range and converged upon the Old

Northwest by way of Kentucky, western Pennsylvania,

and western New York. There was thus poured into

this region a complex mass of humanity that in the fu-

ture would be changed, in this melting pot of the West,

from heterogeneous units into a homogeneous whole.

It is the purpose of this study to show how the lives

of these peoples in the Old Northwest between the years

1788 to 1803 were shaped and moulded by Puritanic in-

fluence; how this Puritanic influence originated in the

West; why it spread; and how it came to dominate ter-

ritorial thought both politically and socially.

Conditions were ripe in 1788 in New England and

other sections along the Atlantic coast for a westward

movement. The land bounties promised by Congress,

to bolster up the volunteer system of recruiting the Con-

tinental Armies, had produced a class which looked upon

the West as the basis of its reward. Then, too, the pur-

chasers of government bonds and certificates of indebt-

edness had no market for their securities and naturally

wished to invest on more favorable terms than the gen-

eral market offered. Still others who looked to the West

2 L. K. Mathews, Op. cit., p. 259; F. J. Turner, The Frontier in

American History, (New York, 1920) pp. 100-125.

Puritanic Influence in Northwest Territory  411

were those whose lands along the coast, especially in

New England, had lost their fertility, and whose yearly

returns had accordingly become less and less, until the

owner was no longer a marginal producer. Either he

must restore the fertility of his land, or sell and join the

innumerable mass of tenant farmers, or else he must

move westward.² By 1788 the western lands, which had

come into the possession of Congress, were being bar-

gained away to liquidate a part of the national indebted-

ness, and a great opportunity for investor, speculator,

and emigrant seemed to have arrived.

The Ohio and Scioto Companies, which had organized

before 1788, were ready to make enormous purchases of

western lands and were prepared to lead settlers into a

new land, the Old Northwest. The Scioto Company

proved to be another "South Sea Bubble" and speedily

collapsed. It was the Ohio Company in the spring of

1788, when the first advance guard arrived at the Mus-

kingum, which entered the wedge that was to throw open

the Northwest to settlement.

Such men as Samuel Parsons, the Reverend Manas-

seh Cutler, Winthrop Sargent, and Rufus Putnam were

among the directors of the Ohio Company. Over ninety-

five per cent of the members of the company were from

New England, and as high a percentage of the settlers

and emigrants sent West had Puritan antecedents.³ It

was men of this stamp that led the first Ohio-bound con-

tingent across the Hudson River.  Slowly it trekked

across New York and into Pennsylvania. Even the

3 A. B. Hulbert, ed., "Records of the Ohio Company", Marietta Col-

lege Historical Collections. (2 volumes, Marietta, 1917) Vol. 1, pp. 4, 21,

22, 24, 26, 37, 43-44; L. K. Mathews, Op. cit., p. 175.

412      Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications

rigors of winter could not stop them from pushing on.

Finally, on May 7, 1788, forty-eight settlers arrived

opposite Fort Harmar, at the mouth of the Muskingum,

and viewed their "Canaan." It was this little body of

settlers that was to form the nucleus of a future society

in the West. These pioneers that founded Marietta in

1788 were imbued with certain ideals. Being either Pu-

ritan or of Puritan descent they would naturally at-

tempt to reproduce the dominant features of the New

England political and social system, but more important

still, its philosophy of life.

This philosophy is best revealed by a study of seven-

teenth century New England society. As Massachusetts

expanded in the seventeenth century, villages and towns

grew up about the church, since it was the real heart of

the community. It became customary to set aside por-

tions of land and taxes for the use of the church and the

support of its clergy, and thus the church became the

foundation of New England society. Since the eccle-

siastical organization closely controlled the lives of its

members, their education and instruction also came

within its purview.⁴ As in the case of the church, land

was allotted by the towns for education. Indeed, so

firmly did this society believe in the value of education,

that by 1650 every New England town of fifty families

was by law required to maintain a grammar school,

and every town of one hundred families a Latin school.⁵

In short, universal education became an end to be

achieved.

4 H. L. Osgood, The American Colonies in the Seventeenth Century,

(3 volumes, New York, 1904) Vol. 1, pp. 200-221.

5 T. J. Wertenbaker, The First Americans, (New York, 1927) pp.

55-56, 245-246.

Puritanic Influence in Northwest Territory  413

The school and the church, with their all inclusive

control over the individual and his affairs, were the chief

aspects of the Puritan civilization, but of more signifi-

cance with respect to the Northwest was the peculiar

philosophy that produced this society. The Puritan, ac-

cording to his conception of things, was God's elect. He

therefore stood apart from the rest of humanity as a

living example of human perfection, and viewed the rest

of the world as submerged in sin. What the Puritan

thought and did was supposed to be the manifestation of

a divinely revealed religion. Since these things were so,

he was not alone concerned with the guidance and direc-

tion of the social and political activities of his own

group, but became more and more interested in adjust-

ing the lives of the non-Puritans to his ways of think-

ing and doing.

The word "conform" thus took on a new significance

in the Puritan vocabulary. Had not Roger Williams

and Anne Hutchinson been banished because they dared

to differ from Puritan concepts? When the latter

bravely demanded the reason for the summary judg-

ment, this answer was given, "the court knows whereof

and is satisfied." The feeling of Puritan superiority

thus produced a compact and unified society which

tended to engulf and to dominate other classes, and to

force by law its conceptions of right living on this

society.⁶ In other words, stating it differently, the Puri-

tan Church was truly the positive answer to the age-old

question, "Am I my brothers' keeper?"

It followed naturally from this state of mind that the

6 H. L. Osgood, Op. cit., vol. 1, pp. 224-287; J. T. Adams, The Found-

ing of New England, (New York, 1921) pp. 146-175.

414      Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications

society of the time of John Cotton, John Winthrop, and

Richard Mather would mainly be concerned with re-

ligion and politics and the two became intertwined.

The church was the dominating force in this society,

with the Puritan clergy guiding and directing all politi-

cal and social activity. All phases of life were regu-

lated in New England. Sumptuary legislation was en-

acted. Not only habits, food, drink, and industry were

regulated, but particularly the thoughts and practices of

the people with respect to their religion and morality

were controlled.⁷ In short, Puritanism became a form

of government whose influences and ramifications ex-

tended to the minutiae of life, and whose central point

was the Calvinistic worship of the Deity and the educa-

tion of its citizenry. During the eighteenth century this

philosophy of life, which had been erected with such zeal

and patience by the leaders of the Massachusetts Bay

Company, with some slight modification, still dominated

and colored New England society. It was this state of

mind that the Ohio Company brought into the West.

How it subsequently came to affect the territorial life

after 1788 and to be indelibly impressed upon it is of

primary interest.

The New Englander had come into the West,

according to Judge Jacob Burnet, with "a veneration for

institutions of religion, literature, and morality."⁸

Naturally, the religion and education, and the political

measures of these people would reflect the Puritanic in-

fluence, and during the years 1788 to 1790 the New

7 H. L. Osgood, Op. cit., vol. 1, pp. 177-178, 200-287.

8 Jacob Burnet, Notes on the Early Settlement of the Northwestern

Territory, (Cincinnati, 1847) p. 44.

Puritanic Influence in Northwest Territory  415

England element completely dominated all territorial

activity.

In a study of this period one naturally turns first to

the influences of Puritanism on education and religion

in the Northwest Territory. The beginnings of educa-

tion are found in the Ordinance of 1785 and in its more

famous successor, the Ordinance of 1787. The former

"reserved lot sixteen, of every township, for the main-

tenance of Public Schools," while the latter contained

the significant phrase that, "schools and the means of

education shall forever be encouraged."⁹ When the

agents of the Ohio Company struck their bargain with

Congress, it was also provided that section sixteen of

each township should be set aside for education, and it

was significantly stated that section twenty-nine of each

township should be reserved for religious purposes. It

was also arranged that two complete townships might be

laid off by the Ohio Company, as near the center of the

grant as possible, for a university.10 These educational

provisions of the Ordinances and the later provisions in

the grant paved the way for the foundation of education

and religion in the Northwest Territory.

The Ohio Company, chiefly through the painstaking

efforts of Manasseh Cutler, had secured these liberal

concessions from Congress, but it remained to be seen

what would be done with them. Almost immediately re-

ligion and education became a center of interest. In

March, 1788, a committee was named to secure a suit-

able teacher "of religious and educational training" and

9 W. R. Dunn, "Education in Territorial Ohio", Ohio Archaological

and Historical Publications, (Columbus, 1926) vol. XXXV, p. 323.

10 Ibid., p. 324.

416      Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications

the directors were requested "to pay as early attention

as possible to the education of the youth and the promo-

tion of public worship * * *."11  Cutler in a letter to

Putnam expressed the opinion of the majority of the

company, "I can in truth declare that I know of no sub-

ject which lies with so much weight on my mind as that

(our) settlement may be furnished with a number of

able and faithful ministers.¹² As a result, Daniel Story

was employed by the Company as itinerant preacher for

the settlements of Marietta, Belpre, and Waterford. In

August, 1788, provision was made for leasing lot sixteen

of each township for a ten-year period. In the following

year, however, a more active interest was taken in edu-

cation.13 Money was appropriated by the company, and

a committee was named in each settlement to receive and

expend the funds, and no town was to receive its share

unless it maintained a school a designated length of

time.14

While these provisions practically end the official

acts of the Ohio Company dealing with education, their

importance lies not in the fact that there was so little,

but that there was any education. The New Englanders,

having been steeped in a philosophy that placed the

greatest emphasis on religion and education, almost in-

stinctively stressed these aspects of society in a wilder-

ness. In the Symmes Purchase during the early years,

1789 and 1790, the Scotch-Irish Presbyterians had made

their appearance, and some progress had been made in

the way of education, both secular and spiritual, but the

11 Hulbert, ed., Op. cit., vol. 1, p. 40.

12 T. J. Summers, History of Marietta, (Marietta, 1903) p. 199.

13 Hulbert, ed., Loc. cit., vol. 1, pp. 39-40.

14 Ibid., vol. II, pp. 50, 65, 91, 121.

Puritanic Influence in Northwest Territory  417

advance made by the New Englanders during the same

period was much more rapid.15

During the early years to 1790 the basis for educa-

tion and religion had been laid in the Ohio Company

and the Symmes' grants, and in the rest of the Territory

by the Ordinances. As yet, the Puritanic influence with

respect to education and religion was confined to Wash-

ington County, even though some beginning had been

made by the Scotch-Irish Presbyterians in the Symmes

Purchase, and it was not until the turn of the century

with the spread of the influence that education took on a

more general character. What, therefore, is noteworthy,

is the great emphasis that was placed by the New Eng-

landers and to a lesser extent by the Scotch-Irish Pres-

byterians on religion and education, as a means of laying

the basis of morality.

Since the Puritanic influences came to dominate the

territorial life through their control of the machinery

of government, it is of immediate importance to see how

this was brought about, first in the Ohio Company's

tract and later in the Northwest Territory. By May,

1788, St. Clair had not yet arrived in the Northwest to

take up his duties as governor. Since the fringe of

civilization always has its unruly elements16 and the

problem of protecting frontier property is an ever-

present one, the New England pioneers who founded

Marietta very soon began to erect such forms of society

as had been customary in New England.¹⁷ The old New

15 W. R. Dunn, Loc. cit., vol. XXXV, p. 328; C. T. Greve, Centennial

History of Cincinnati and Representative Citizens, (2 volumes, Chicago,

1904) Vol. I, pp. 340-344, 358-362, 363.

16 F. J. Turner, Op. cit., pp. 39-66.

17 L. K. Mathews, Op. cit., pp. 175-176.

Vol. XLII--27

418       Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications

England towns had solved this very problem by the

erection of a body of officials--the selectmen and the

tithing men--whose duty it was to enforce the laws and

bring offenders to justice.¹⁸ What was more natural for

these New Englanders than to create a similar body of

officials in Marietta under the name of the "Board of

police ?"19

None of the prohibitions and laws subsequently en-

acted by the "Board" were new. The old New Eng-

land town regulations were borrowed and adapted to

frontier conditions. It was these rules that enabled Put-

nam and Cutler to control and regulate almost all aspects

of life in Marietta. All persons coming within the set-

tlement of Marietta were to report themselves within

twenty-four hours, no one was to go beyond the limits

of the fields without leave of the officer of the day, and

all discharge of firearms in or near the town was strictly

prohibited.²⁰  The "Board" was also given judicial

powers. All minor crimes, such as profaning the Sab-

bath, came within its purview, but grave offenses against

society were to be tried by the Federal judges upon their

arrival in the Territory.²¹ The Marietta "Board" from

the time of the founding of Marietta until the establish-

ment of territorial government, a period of two months,

proved an efficient organization by executing the neces-

sary regulations for the protection of life and property.

In its regulation of society it revealed a Puritanic spirit

18 H. L. Osgood, Op. cit., vol. I, pp. 213-218.

19 Hulbert, ed., Loc. cit., vol. I, pp. 44-46.

²⁰ Hulbert, ed., Loc. cit., vol. I, p. 45; J. May. "Selections from the

John May Papers," Western Reserve Historical Society, (Cleveland, 1917)

Tract #97, pp. 110-111.

21 Hulbert, ed., Loc. cit., vol. I, p. 45.

Puritanic Influence in Northwest Territory  419

that desired to force its point of view upon all indi-

viduals.²²

By the time the Northwest Territory had been for-

mally opened and a government erected, the New Eng-

land emigrants on the Ohio Company's land had founded

a society whose influence and philosophy was destined

to color St. Clair's government in the West. The bases

for church and school had been laid, and the beginnings

had been made in their organization. All other issues

seemed of minor importance in comparison with the

question: What would St. Clair's attitude be toward

the New Englander? What if St. Clair proved to be

hostile to the Puritanic influence and its philosophy?

These questionings and forebodings disappeared with

the arrival of the Governor in the summer of 1788.

Arthur St. Clair, born in Scotland, was reared a good

Scotch Presbyterian. By the time of the outbreak of

hostilities in 1775 he had married into the Bowdoin fam-

ily of Massachusetts, and was quietly living on his es-

tate in the Ligonier Valley. During the Revolutionary

War St. Clair's trustworthiness, patriotism, and ability

produced rapid advancement for him in the Continental

Army. In 1780 he was singularly honored by promotion

to the rank of general. Though he conducted his cam-

paigns with no great brilliance, his whole attitude was

that of a man who once having decided upon a course

of action is determined to carry it out. He later served

as president of the Continental Congress where he be-

came identified with the later Federalist cause and the

²² T. C. Pease, ed., "The Laws of the Northwest Territory," Collections

of the Illinois State Historical Library, (Springfield, Ill., 1925) Vol. XVII,

pp. XIX-XXI.

420      Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications

political beliefs of John Adams. It was such a man

that was sent west in 1788 as governor of the New

Northwest Territory.²³

Three judges, Parsons, Varnum, and Symmes, and

a secretary, Winthrop Sargent, completed the Gover-

nor's entourage. Parsons, Varnum, and Sargent were

New England men. They had been reared and schooled

in New England and were in hearty accord with the

Puritanic concept of society.²⁴ Symmes was a Presby-

terian from New Jersey, but readily threw in his lot

with his Puritan colleagues. The men that were thus to

form the government of the Northwest Territory were

in sympathy with the leaders of the Ohio Company. It

is not strange then that the government of the territory

from 1788 on, but particularly during the first eighteen

months when a majority were Puritan, should reflect

the personalities and political theories of a group whose

ideals are best summed up in the word Puritan.

Between May and July, 1788, the law and order that

had been matters of purely local concern were taken

over by the territorial government. In the first territor-

ial code, adopted in 1788, it was evidently the purpose of

the governor and judges to control the conduct of men.

It is significant to note that since the Ordinance of 1787

provided that laws for the territory must be taken from

the original states, the territorial laws with regard to

personal life were adopted both from Pennsylvania and

the New England states because the judges were more

23 W. H. Smith, The Life and Public Services of Arthur St. Clair--

St. Clair Papers, (2 volumes, Cincinnati, 1882) vol. I, pp. 2, 3, 7, 14-16,

112-117; J. Burnet, Op. cit., pp. 370-373.

24 Smith, ed., Op. cit., vol. I, p. 135.

Puritanic Influence in Northwest Territory   421

familiar with them.²⁵ Perjury was punishable by a fine

not exceeding sixty dollars, or thirty-nine lashes, dis-

franchisement, and a two-hour use of the pillory.²⁶ Lar-

ceny was punished by whipping or fine, and if the ac-

cused were unable to pay the fine, it was lawful for the

sheriff to sell him at "public outcry" for a period of

not more than seven years.²⁷ For the first offense of

drunkenness a fine of fifty cents was imposed, and for the

second and every successive breach, a fine of one dollar

was levied, or the pillory was imposed for one hour.²⁸

Even more significant were the statements denounc-

ing "idle, vain, and obscene conversation, profane curs-

ing and swearing," and all "servile labor" on the Sab-

bath, "works of necessity and charity only excepted."²⁹

The Puritanic influence as represented by the New Eng-

landers and governor and judges not only had passed

"personal liberty" laws, but also had introduced a warn-

ing note of "Blue Law" legislation. When this legis-

lation is viewed in the light that the majority of settlers

in the Northwest, between 1788 and 1790 in the Symmes

Purchase and in the Ohio Company's lands, leaned

towards Puritanism,30 and that the majority of the fed-

eral judges were Puritan, and that St. Clair was a dyed-

in-the-wool conservative and an ardent admirer of New

England, it is not strange that the early code was Puri-

tanic, but rather that it was of such a mild character.

25 R. E. Chaddock, Ohio Before 1850, (New York, 1908) p. 134.

26 Pease, ed., Loc. cit., p. 18.

27 Ibid., p. 18.

28 Pease, ed., Loc. cit., p. 20.

29 Ibid., p. 21.

30 E.O. Randall, and D. J. Ryan, History of Ohio, (6 volumes, New

York, 1912) Vol. II, pp. 458, 471-482; F. J. Turner, Op. cit., pp. 132-134,

164, 223; F. A. Ogg, The Old Northwest, (New Haven, 1921) pp. 97-109.

422      Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications

The code of 1788, in the light of later events, did not

prove entirely satisfactory. By 1790 the Old Northwest

was monthly receiving hundreds of settlers. The ma-

jority of these came not from New England, but from

the Middle and Southern states.³¹ These people natur-

ally seemed to threaten the dominance of the Puritanic

influence. The New England element, since it con-

trolled the government, sought to shut out the democrat-

izing influence of the newcomers. In 1790 a number

of laws were enacted by the governor and judges. Gam-

ing, for example, which had become a popular frontier

pastime, was carefully restricted.³² Gaming in a tavern

or ordinary brought fines from one hundred to two

hundred dollars and the revocation of the inn-keeper's

license.³³

Thus, between 1788 and 1790, the New England

element had forced its opinions and philosophy upon

the territory. The governor and judges were in har-

mony with them, and the early laws passed during the

first three years gave form and substance to the Puri-

tanic influence. With the coming in larger numbers of

the emigrants in 1790 and after from Pennsylvania and

Virginia and Kentucky, the Puritan hegemony was en-

dangered. Since the Puritans, however, controlled the

legislative machinery of the territory, its leadership could

not seriously be contested until the second stage of ter-

ritorial government had been granted, which meant the

calling of a popular assembly. Though this little oli-

garchy of Puritans securely held the reins of govern-

3l Randall and Ryan, Op. cit., vol. II, pp. 472-476, 481, 495.

32 Pease, ed., Loc. cit., pp. 30-32.

33 Ibid., pp. 30, 31.

Puritanic Influence in Northwest Territory  423

ment from 1788 to 1799, when the popular assembly

convened, yet it managed in spite of the entry of new

settlers to continue to spread its philosophy over the

Northwest Territory in an even more prominent fash-

ion. How this was possible, and how the Puritanic

influences grew in strength after 1790, even though the

New England element was outnumbered by pioneers

from other sections of the country, is an interesting

development in the territory.

In 1790 and the following years, Scotch-Irish Pres-

byterians, Quakers, Germans, and Methodists from Ken-

tucky, Virginia, and Pennsylvania made their appear-

ance in the Old Northwest.³⁴ After 1790 the numerical

superiority of the New Englanders declined rapidly in

the face of these infiltrations.³⁵ Yet, during the period,

1790-1799, but particularly during the life of the terri-

torial assembly, 1799-1803, the Puritanic influence

showed itself even more strongly in the territory. How

is this apparent paradox to be explained? Surely, the

explanation lies not in any matter of race or custom, but

in a careful analysis of the social philosophies of these

various groups, which prepared the popular assembly

in 1799 to accept Puritanic views. It has been shown

how the Puritan mind was primarily concerned in dis-

tinguishing right from wrong and how it also believed

that it, and it alone, possessed the right to determine

good from evil, and to force society to its way of think-

ing and doing.36 Just what the philosophies of the new

34 J. Burnet, Op. cit., pp. 31-32.

35 Randall and Ryan, Op. cit., vol. II, pp. 590-599; F. J. Turner, Op.

cit., p. 164.

36 H. L. Osgood, Op. cit., vol. I, pp. 207-242; J. T. Adams, Op. cit.,

pp. 146-175

424      Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications

comers in the west were, and how they interacted one

upon the other, and thus either hindered or increased the

Puritanic influence in the territory is of vital interest

to this study.

The Scotch-Irish Presbyterians, one of the leading

groups in the Northwest, had been following, since the

close of the Revolutionary War, the path of the setting

sun into the region around Pittsburgh and Lexington.

This class was, in the main, one of small farmers, who

either had been displaced by adverse economic condi-

tions, or had sold their holdings to avoid competition

with the great planters. It was, then, the poorer, more

democratic, non slave-holding class of Pennsylvania and

the South which furnished the bulk of the Scotch-Irish

now moving west and north of the Ohio river.37

This Scotch-Irish element rather generously scattered

itself along the counties facing the river. Those from

Virginia and Kentucky centered to a great extent in the

Virginia Military Tract. Chillicothe became their chief

center.³⁸ The Pennsylvania Scotch-Irish, on the other

hand, dispersed themselves over the lands of the Ohio

Company, the Symmes Purchase, and the Seven Ranges.

These Scotch-Irish had received a rich heritage from

Calvin. They firmly believed in a militant Christianity,

and since they also believed that they were numbered

among the chosen of God, they felt it to be their mission

to implant their ideas of right living on others. In this

respect they differed but little from the New England

Puritan. There was, however, one noteworthy differ-

37 F. J. Turner, The Rise of the New West, (New York, 1906) pp.

54, 77.

38 R. E. Chaddock, Op. cit., p. 15.

Puritanic Influence in Northwest Territory  425

ence. The Scotch-Irish did not as a rule believe quite

so firmly in an educated ministry and in education for

the masses. As long as one knew enough to speak co-

herently, the Scotch-Irish frontiersman was satisfied.

Thus the Scotch-Irish mind emphasized a conformity

to a standard as much as the Puritan, but did not re-

gard education in quite as favorable a light.³⁹

At the same time that the Scotch-Irish Presbyterians

were entering the Northwest, another group, the Meth-

odists, was also making its appearance. Methodism had

been an attempt on the part of the Wesleys to reform

the Church of England during the eighteenth century.

In this endeavor they had been unsuccessful, but they

did, as a result, create a new sect. Many of the time-

honored customs of the Church of England were surren-

dered, and its rather easy-going, but highly involved

theology was revamped into a simpler faith. Great em-

phasis was placed on morals, right living, and the re-

lationship of individual to individual. Charles Wesley

keenly saw the evils of eighteenth century England

and hoped to reform humanity by means of a militant

religion, which could say "Thou shalt not," and thus

this "new method" would become society's "brother's

keeper." It was this faith that before and after the

Revolution took such a hold on men's imaginations. By

a unique system of "circuits" and itinerant preachers--

the "circuit-riders," the Methodist Church spread into

Kentucky and Pennsylvania, and thence into the Old

Northwest.⁴⁰

39 R. E. Thompson, A New History of the Presbyterians in the United

States, (New York, 1893) pp. 1-53.

⁴⁰ W. W. Sweet, The Rise of Methodism in the West, (Cincinnati,

1920) p. 14; J. M. Barker, History of Ohio Methodism, (Cincinnati, 1898)

pp. 51-77.

426      Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications

The Quakers, like the Puritans, were a fourth sect

to be found in the Territory.  St. Clair in his annual

message to the legislature in 1801 remarked that many

Quakers had entered the country and had settled at Con-

cord, Miami, Stillwater, Plainfield, Fairfield, Center,

and Salem.⁴¹ The Quakers were a non-proselyting and

unaggressive sect, and their outlook on life had much in

common with the Scotch-Irish Presbyterians, the New

England Puritans, and the Methodists. They believed

in a divinely inspired religion.  The Bible was taken

literally, and as a consequence the "thou shalt not's" were

reshaped into a series of well-defined "Blue Laws." They

also favored education, as it was only by that means

that the individual could understand God's Word.⁴²

From 1790 on there were thus present in the North-

west Territory four dominant religious groups--the

Puritans from New England, the Scotch-Irish Presby-

terians, the Methodists, and the Quakers--which dif-

fered from one another in their interpretation of the

Holy Scripture, but they all favored to a greater or

lesser degree a strait-laced morality and viewed with

intolerance, the Quakers alone excepted, the slightest

deviation from such a code. Education was considered

as the necessary complement of religion. The Method-

ists, however, placed the least emphasis on secular edu-

cation, and in this respect they greatly differed from

the other groups. It was natural, then, that these groups

should work together in supplementing the work of the

41 Jacob Burnet, Op. cit., p. 328.

42 R. M. Jones, The Quakers in the American Colonies, (New York,

1923) pp. 26-44, 136-170; R. M. Jones, The Later Periods of Quakerism,

(2 volumes, New York, 1921) vol. I, pp. 194, 377-434.

Puritanic Influence in Northwest Territory  427

Puritans, and so directly foster the spread of the Puri-

tanic influence in the old Northwest.

It was not until the formation of the territorial legis-

lature in 1799 that the influence of these sects is re-

vealed. From 1790 to 1799 the Puritans still enjoyed

their undisputed control. Governor St. Clair, the sec-

retary, and the judges, five of whom out of a total of

seven appointees between 1788 and 1799 were Puritan,

still remained the instruments of Puritanic expression.

The officials of the Ohio Company together with the

governor dominated the political life of the Territory,

but new blood had been introduced with the rise of such

men as Worthington, Tiffin, Massie, and Burnet as rec-

ognized leaders. These men, who were either Scotch-

Irish Presbyterians or Methodists, were by 1795 heartily

in accord with St. Clair and the judges who favored a

revision of the territorial laws.

The Maxwell Code became the basic territorial code.

It was one of the last important groups of laws enacted

by St. Clair and Judges Symmes and Turner. The

judges that passed these laws were non-Puritan, but

through their association with St. Clair and Sargent

had readily surrendered to the Puritanic influence. The

expansion of the Northwest Territory had given rise

to new conditions and problems, and the earlier laws were

revised and new ones added.⁴³ For example, gambling

was defined at greater length and the laws against it

made more stringent.44 The tavern, also, came in for

its share of regulation.⁴⁵ Such details as the quantity of

43 Pease, ed., Loc. cit., pp. 131-290.

44 Ibid., pp. 276-278.

45 Ibid., pp. 191-196.

428      Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications

liquor that could be sold by an innkeeper, the credit that

could be extended to a customer, and the variety of en-

tertainment that could be provided, were enumerated.⁴⁶

Thus by this unique state of mind in the Territory cer-

tain aspects of life were made unlawful for every settler

whether or not he was in sympathy with this Puritanic

influence.

Into this already surcharged atmosphere of Puritan-

ism there was injected between 1796 and 1799 the in-

fluence of the settlers of the Western Reserve. In 1796

Moses Cleaveland, in the employ of the Connecticut

Land Company, led a band of emigrants to the Reserve.

Soon the influx of homeseekers became a steady stream.

It was a hardy New England Congregational stock that

set up homes in the West, and within an incredibly

short length of time laid the foundation for modern

Cleveland, Warren, and Youngstown. As these folk

were of the same social stock and possessed a similar

cultural heritage as those in the Ohio Company's lands,47

the two sections pooled their interests.

By 1798 there was a population of over five thou-

sand adult settlers in the Old Northwest, which war-

ranted the establishment of the second stage of terri-

torial government. In December, 1798, representatives

were chosen for the legislature, and by September, 1799,

they were ready to assemble for the first meeting of

the legislature at Cincinnati. Puritans from Washing-

ton County and the Western Reserve, Scotch-Irish Pres-

byterians, Quakers, and Methodists were all represented,

but it remained to be seen how these groups would in-

46 Ibid., pp. 194-195.

47 Randall and Ryan, Op. cit., vol. II, pp. 580-582, 584-588.

Puritanic Influence in Northwest Territory         429

fluence one another in the assembly and how            their pe-

culiar state of mind would give a Puritanic tinge to

their legislation.

The representatives of the different groups in the

legislature were of great significance.          In  1799 over

forty per cent of the judges and members of the legis-

lative council were Puritans or Scotch-Irish Presby-

terians.⁴⁸ Judge Putnam, Winthrop Sargent, and Rob-

ert Oliver were staunch Puritans, while Jacob Burnet

and James Finley were equally staunch Presbyterians.

A  Puritan and Methodist clique in the popular assembly

contained as many as thirty-five per cent of the legisla-

ture.⁴⁹ Edward Tiffin, who was speaker of the House,

was also a preacher in the Methodist Church. Thomas

Worthington and Nathaniel Massie were other influ-

ential Methodists. Among the Puritans were such men

as Paul Fearing and R. J. Meigs.           The whole judicial

and legislative structure was thus in the hands of groups

that had much in common. It is easily perceived how

the territorial assembly would be able, if it so desired,

to pass legislation that would even more strongly regu-

48 J. A. Caldwell, History of Belmont and Jefferson Counties, Ohio,

(Wheeling, West Virginia, 1880) ; C. A. Hanna, Ohio Valley Genealogies,

(New York, 1900) ; History of Hamilton County, Ohio, (Cleveland, Ohio,

1881); History of Washington County, Ohio, (Cleveland, Ohio, 1881);

History of Wayne County, Ohio, (2 vols. Indianapolis, 1910); A. B. Nor-

ton, A History of Knox County, Ohio, (Columbus, 1862); Randall and

Ryan, Op. cit., vol. III, pp. 36, 38; See also Dictionary of American Biog-

raphy and Appleton's Biographical Encyclopedia.

49 J. A. Caldwell, History of Belmont and Jefferson Counties, Ohio;

C. A. Hanna, Ohio Valley Genealogies; History of Hamilton County, Ohio;

History of Washington County, Ohio; History of Wayne County, Ohio;

A. B. Norton, A History of Knox County, Ohio; Randall and Ryan, Op.

cit., vol. III, p. 37; See also Dictionary of American Biography and Ap-

pleton's Biographical Encyclopedia.

430      Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications

late society. The basis for a common understanding

existed, but it yet remained for the various elements to

feel the need for strait-lacing Northwestern society.

This feeling was not long in coming.

With the Puritans, Methodists, and Presbyterians

controlling the territorial assembly it is then not strange

that among the first acts passed by them was one for the

Prevention of Vice and Immorality. The title is ex-

tremely significant. Here, apparently, for the first time

was an act that dealt exclusively with the relationship

of individual to individual, and of the individual to

society. Heavy fines were placed on cock-fighting and

card playing.⁵⁰ Dueling, the usual frontier way of set-

tling an argument, became anathema.⁵¹ Even the posses-

sor of such an innocent piece of furniture as a billiard

table was liable to a fine of fifty dollars.⁵²

More exacting and more in accord with the Puritanic

influence were the statements respecting the observance

of the Sabbath and the use of profane language. A Sab-

bath breaker, i.e. "(any person) found reveling, fighting,

or quarreling, doing or performing any worldly employ-

ment or business whatsoever on the first day of the

week" could be fined for the first offense.53 Any person

above sixteen years of age apprehended "profaning,

cursing, damning or swearing by the name of God,

Christ Jesus, or the Holy Ghost * * * (was assessed)

for every oath a sum not exceeding two dollars."⁵⁴ The

code of 1788 had only issued warnings, but now Sab-

50 Pease, ed., Loc. cit., p. 379.

51 Ibid., pp. 382-383.

52 Ibid., p. 380.

53 Ibid., p. 377.

54 Ibid., pp. 377-378.

Puritanic Influence in Northwest Territory  431

bath-breaking and profanity became crimes of signifi-

cance.

The Vice and Immorality Act was enacted by groups

that hoped to make society conform to their social

standards and individuality. The attitude of the various

elements in the legislature with respect to this act is

perhaps more clearly shown by the vote in the lower

branch of the territorial assembly. It was the Method-

ists who voted most ardently in its favor. The New Eng-

land Congregationalists and Presbyterians also voted

in the affirmative, but not with the same crusading spirit

that was manifested by their Methodist colleagues. Such

men as Fearing, Goforth, Massie, Worthington, and

Meigs voted for it. Tiffin, who was speaker of the

House, was undoubtedly one of its most ardent advo-

cates. When the final vote was taken it read fourteen

ayes and four nays.⁵⁵

From 1799 to 1803 it was possible, through the in-

fluence of the different sects, for the Puritanic influence

to gain a firm foothold in the Northwest Territory. This

combination of sects was thus able to obstruct legislation

which to it seemed incompatible with its philosophy, and

to encourage such measures as would be more in har-

mony with its principles. In 1800 an Act was passed

which more carefully regulated taverns.     A  fine of

twenty dollars was placed on any innkeeper for retailing

liquors without a license; for permitting such games as

bowls, shovel-board, fives, and betting; and for harbor-

55 Journal of the House of Representatives and Legislative Council of

the Territory of the United States, Northwest of the River Ohio, at the

First Session of the General Assembly 1799, (Cincinnati, 1800) vol. I, pp.

110-111, 113, 129, 141.

432       Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications

ing servants and minors.⁵⁶ Again, the groups that were

the embodiment of the Puritanic influence forced the

passage of the acts after much debate. During the de-

bate, however, the question was not whether such an act

should be passed, but what its character should be. The

Methodists under Tiffin and Worthington, and the Con-

gregationalists under Meigs, were for a stringent act

regulating the tavern. They thought as did the Puritans

of the seventeenth century, that the hostelry was the

breeding-place of vice and disrepute.    Hence they rea-

soned: If these places must exist they must be carefully

regulated. Their Scotch-Irish comrades felt differently

on the subject. They welcomed the spirit of camarad-

erie that such places offered, and failed to vision the

inn as a bugbear of society. In the end, the Scotch-

Irish Presbyterian influence succeeded in winning the

New England and Methodist elements over to a series of

regulations that were less exacting than those previously

advocated.⁵⁷

From 1799 to the time when the eastern portion of

the Northwest Territory entered the union as a State in

1803, the Puritanic influence was indelibly stamped on

the Territory through the Vice and Immorality Act and

subsequent legislation. Thus, the Puritanic influence,

which was first introduced in 1788, expanded, between

1790 and 1799, under the dominant influence of the sects.

56 Laws of the Territory of the United States Northwest of the River

Ohio, Passed at the Second Session of the First General Assembly, Nov.

3, 1800 to Feb. 4, 1801, (Chillicothe, 1801) vol. II, pp. 52-56.

57 Journal of the House of Representatives and Legislative Council of

the Territory of the United States, Northwest of the River Ohio, at the

Second Session of the First General Assembly 1800, (Chillicothe, 1800)

Vol. II, pp. 72, 73, 81, 83, 88, 96; (Chillicothe, 1801) Vol. III, pp. 107, 108,

113, 114.

Puritanic Influence in Northwest Territory  433

After 1799, this influence not only became stronger, but

also showed itself even more clearly in the territorial

enactments. In all of the Puritanic legislation initiated

by the House, the Governor and his Council were po-

litically allied with the Assembly. It was therefore the

similar philosophies of the New Englanders, of the

Scotch-Irish Presbyterians, of the Quakers, and of the

Methodists that resulted in a combination in the terri-

torial legislature to force Puritanic ideas upon the

Northwest Territory, and finally, it became more and

more evident between 1799 and 1803 that the life and

morality of the individual in the Territory would be

guided and directed, and in a measure controlled, by

these groups at the head of the territorial government.

One of the most vexatious problems which arose in

1799 was the attitude of the Territory and, subsequently,

the stand that the state would take toward slavery. It

is here that the interplay of forces in the territorial leg-

islature can be visioned and that the influence of Puri-

tanism was most severely threatened.

Any discussion of slavery in the Northwest Terri-

tory must be prefaced by a review of the Ordinance of

1787. This act forbade the introduction of slavery

into the Territory. The subsequent clash over the negro

question was a struggle between a pro-slavery group,

which, after 1795, was appearing in larger numbers on

the southern shores of the Ohio, from Virginia, and was

settling in the Virginia Military Tract; and an anti-

slavery group, which was composed of New England

Puritans, Scotch-Irish Presbyterians, Quakers, and

Methodists. The advocates of slavery were united in

their efforts to extend the institution of slavery north of

Vol. XLII--28

434      Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications

the Ohio. The anti-slavery group was firmly united in

their opposition to the institution of slavery, but about

the question of the ultimate status of the negro much

disagreement arose. This disagreement, in the anti-

slavery group, was between one element inspired with a

humanitarian spirit, and another faction which strove

at any cost to prevent the entry of negroes into the Ter-

ritory under any conditions.⁵⁸

The New Englanders of Washington County, and

as a rule those of the Western Reserve, were opposed

to slavery on moral and humanitarian grounds. The

negro was to be given all the rights and privileges of

the dominant race. The Quakers were an interesting

group. They were divided into a northern and southern

branch. The former migrated principally from Pennsyl-

vania and the latter from Virginia and the Carolinas.

Regardless of the section from which they came, the

Quakers as a whole opposed slavery on the same grounds

as the New England element. It was the Quakers and the

New Englanders who made up a majority that at first

was disposed to accord the negro fair treatment.⁵⁹

The Scotch-Irish Presbyterians and the Methodists

felt differently on the subject. Those from Kentucky

and Virginia who represented the poorer, more demo-

cratic non slave-holding class, settled to a great extent

in the Virginia Military Tract. The Pennsylvania

Scotch-Irish spread out over the Old Northwest. While

the Scotch-Irish Presbyterians and to a large extent the

Methodists were for the most part united in their oppo-

58 C. R. Wilson, "The Negro in Early Ohio," Ohio Archaeological and

Historical Publications, (Columbus, 1930) Vol. XXXIX, p. 719.

59 Ibid., pp. 724-725, 726.

Puritanic Influence in Northwest Territory  435

sition to slavery, their reason tended to be economic

rather than moral. They were interested in bettering

their own economic condition, and this seemed impossi-

ble so long as they were competing with slave labor. The

Southern elements in part had been attracted by the

prohibition of slavery, and it became their wish to ex-

clude the negro altogether from the Territory. Thomas

Worthington and Edward Tiffin, both of whom were

later governors of Ohio, are outstanding examples of

settlers from Virginia who freed their slaves and then

came to the Old Northwest.60

Between 1795 and 1799, however, settlers of a differ-

ent class, from Virginia and other sections along the

coast, were making their appearance on the banks of

the Ohio. They were small slave-holders. The reports

of the fertility of Kentucky land and the soil north of

the Ohio had stirred their imaginations, and they mi-

grated westward primarily for economic reasons. Al-

ready by 1798 they had settled in the Virginia Military

Tract side by side with neighbors who held anti-slavery

views.⁶1 It is then little wonder that the members of

this pro-slavery group soon sought to introduce their

"peculiar institution" in the Northwest Territory.

By September, 1799, when the first legislature con-

vened in Cincinnati, petitions had already been drawn

up by the pro-slavery element praying that settlers should

be permitted to settle with their slaves in the Virginia

Military Tract. This petition bore directly on the fu-

ture of the Territory. But the members of the legisla-

60 Randall and Ryan, Op. cit., vol. III, p. 119.

61 R. E. Chaddock, Op. cit., pp. 30-35; C. R. Wilson, Loc. cit., vol.

XXXIX, pp, 718, 721-723.

436       Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications

ture, under the leadership of the New Englanders, as

voiced in the committee report, felt that the petition

was incompatible with the Ordinance of 1787.62      The

question was again raised on November 15, but in a

different form. A committee was requested to draw up

bills on the subject of "persons escaping into this Terri-

tory from whom labor or service is lawfully claimed

by any other persons" and on the admission of people of

color by indenture. In both cases the Quakers and the

New Englanders joined forces in the endeavor to pass

the bills in the affirmative. They hoped by this means

to bring about more rapidly the downfall of the institu-

tion of slavery, by throwing open the Territory to es-

caped fugitives. Their action availed them nothing. The

Presbyterians and Methodists, commanding a majority,

passed upon both the Fugitive Slave Bill and its amend-

ment, in the negative.⁶³ The legislature of 1799 had

adopted no definite policy except watchful waiting, and

subsequent legislatures apparently avoided taking any

positive action on the matter. It seems logical that the

matter should have been decided one way or the other

in the Constitutional Convention, whenever the Terri-

tory should be entitled to statehood. In the Convention

of 1802 the control still rested with the Presbyterians

and the Methodists from Virginia and Kentucky. It

was this majority that agreed upon one thing, that they

62 C. R. Wilson, Loc. cit. vol. XXXIX, p. 733; Journal of the House of

Representatives and Legislative Council of the Territory of the United

States, Northwest of the River Ohio, at the First Session of the General

Assembly 1799. Vol. 1, pp. 19-20.

63 Journal of the House of Representatives and Legislative Council of

the Territory of the United States, Northwest of the Ohio River, at the

First Session of the General Assembly 1799. Vol. 1, pp. 139-140.

Puritanic Influence in Northwest Territory  437

did not wish slavery in the State. As usual, this group

stood opposed to the negro on all questions, while the

New Englanders and the Quakers favored him. Follow-

ing upon this action, the results of the Convention, in

so far as the negro was concerned, can be summed up

with the statement that slavery was definitely prohibited.

The framers of the Constitution of 1802 evidently in-

tended the negro to occupy the same position in relation

to the State as the Indian does to the Federal Govern-

ment today.64

Thus, while both factions in the anti-slavery group,

the New Englanders and Quakers, and the Scotch-Irish

Presbyterians and Methodists, opposed the institution

of slavery, yet the latter faction was definitely unfavor-

able to the entry of the black man into the Northwest

Territory. It was the majority of Scotch-Irish Pres-

byterians and Methodists in both the territorial assembly

and the Convention that defeated the humanitarian

measures of their opponents. Though these factions

were opposed on the smaller issues, yet the Puritanic

influence, which was definitely anti-slavery, was pres-

ent in these groups, and it was that influence which de-

feated an insistent pro-slavery group in the Territory.

It was not until the 1830's and the 1840's that the ideal-

ized humanitarianism of the New Englanders took root

in the State in the form of the underground railroad.

The discussion of slavery in the Territory reveals

the Puritanic influence. The development and progress

of religion and education, however, between 1791 and

1803, presents another phase of this powerful influence.

From 1790 to 1799 religion and education, as previously

64 C. R. Wilson, Loc. cit. vol. XXXIX, p. 753.

438       Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications

had been the case, were matters of purely local concern.

But in this respect the Ohio Company and the Symmes

Purchase led the rest of the Territory in the provision

for the regulation of church and school.65 Elsewhere,

spiritual and secular education were provided through

the ardent activity of the sects that were entering the

Northwest.    In the Western Reserve were to be found

Congregational missionaries. By 1802 Congregational

churches had been formed at Austinburgh and Hudson,

and the Presbyterians boasted of congregations at War-

ren and Youngstown.⁶⁶       The Methodist circuit-riders,

by 1799, were also to be found in the Western Reserve,

and it is in no small measure due to the work of these

denominations that the opportunity for mastering the

"three R's" was offered.⁶⁷

In the Symmes Purchase the Presbyterians were

perhaps in the majority, with the Methodists running a

close second. Schools and churches were early erected

at Cincinnati, Columbia, South Bend, and Dayton.⁶⁸ The

Virginia Military District by 1800 was almost evenly

divided between the Methodists and Presbyterians. In

the Ohio Company's lands the Presbyterians and Meth-

odists crowded the New Englanders, while to the north-

east and on the Seven Ranges, Quakers and Scotch-

65 Hulbert, ed., Loc. cit., vol. III, pp. 6-7, 90, 224; T. J. Summers, Op.

cit., p. 200.

66 W. E. Barton, "Early Ecclesiastical History of the Western Reserve,"

Papers of the Ohio Church History Society, (Oberlin, 1890) Vol. 1, pp.

23-25; C. E. Dickinson, "The Early History of Congregationalism in Ohio,"

Papers of the Ohio Church History Society, (Oberlin, 1896) Vol. VII, pp.

36-37.

67 Joseph Badger, Memoirs of Reverend Joseph Badger, (Hudson, Ohio,

1851) p. 98; J. M. Barker, Op. cit., pp. 84-96; R. E. Chaddock, Op. cit., p.

113.

68  C. T. Greve, Op. cit., vol. 1, pp. 340-344, 358-362, 363.

Puritanic Influence in Northwest Territory     439

Irish Presbyterians from Pennsylvania had established

homes.⁶⁹

The years following 1790 saw       the acceleration of

the westward expansion.      Marietta grew    by leaps and

bounds. The land which had been set aside for re-

ligious purposes in that township was settled, and the

question immediately arose in the minds of the mem-

bers of the company of taxing these lands for the sup-

port of the church.⁷⁰   With the calling of the territorial

assembly in 1799, these various sects felt that means for

education and religion should be provided in the Ter-

ritory and they readily fell in with the New Englanders

of Marietta. A law was passed that authorized the

taxing of lands granted for religious purposes.⁷1 But

of more significance was the act of November 27, 1800,

which created a corporation to manage the school lands

within the Ohio Company's purchase in Washington

County.⁷²   The purpose of this law      was to make the

land more productive and thus provide means for fulfill-

ing the objects for which such lands were dedicated.

The act, however, dealt more with religious lands than

with school lands. The fact that one section, number

twenty-nine, which had been set aside for religion, was

in the town of Marietta and hence desirable land for

69 J. M. Barker, Op. cit., pp. 94-103; R. E. Chaddock, Op. cit., pp. 37,

112-113; C. E. Dickinson, Loc. cit., vol. VII, p. 36; W. W. Sweet, Op. cit.,

pp. 14, 17, 23-30; F. J. Turner, Op. cit., p. 223.

70 W. E. Barton, Loc. cit., vol. 1, pp. 79-80.

71 W. E. Barton, Ibid., pp. 80-81; Laws of the Territory of the United

States Northwest of the River Ohio, Passed at the First Session of the

General Assembly, Vol. 1, pp. 58-59.

72 Laws of the Territory of the United States Northwest of the River

Ohio, Passed at the Second Session of the First General Assembly, Nov. 3,

1800 to Feb. 4, 1801. Vol. II, pp. 8-19.

440      Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications

immediate settlement, and also that the New England-

ers wished to put their ecclesiastical system on a firmer

economic basis, might account for this. It provided that

three-fourths of the clear profits from section twenty-

nine was to be used to support "such public teachers of

piety, religion, and morality as shall be employed," and

further stipulated that the other one-fourth should be

held at interest until it was sufficient to build one or

more houses of public worship.⁷³

This act did not pass the House without opposition.

This might possibly have been due to the feeling that the

people of the Ohio Company's tract would possess

greater educational and religious advantages. No evi-

dence has been found to support this contention one way

or the other, but what is known is that mainly through

the efforts of Fearing, Goforth, Massie, and Worthing-

ton, the bill became law.⁷⁴

Among the last, and perhaps the most notable of the

acts of the territorial legislature, was the act in 1802

establishing a university in Washington County. As

far back as 1800 Rufus Putnam and other associates

of the Ohio Company had petitioned the territorial as-

sembly for a university for which certain lands, namely,

two townships had been set aside. In this case, the New

England Congregationalists were able to push the act

through without much opposition because the leading

Methodist and Presbyterians in the Legislature fa-

⁷3 Ibid.

74 Journal of the House of Representatives and Legislative Council of

the Territory of the United States, Northwest of the River Ohio, at the

Second Session of the First General Assembly 1800. Vol. II, pp. 33, 43, 44.

Puritanic Influence in Northwest Territory    441

vored the New Englanders' petition.⁷⁵ What is sig-

nificant is that a university was incorporated at such an

early date. In less than fifteen years the Puritan dream

of a great institution of learning in the West had been

realized.

The period from 1788 to 1803, when the eastern por-

tion of the Northwest Territory was finally admitted

under the name of Ohio into the sisterhood of states,

was of great significance. It was during these years that

the Puritan conception of education was planted in the

Old Northwest, particularly in the minds of the legis-

lators. The Ohio Company, imbued with Puritan ideals,

had early provided for education in its grants. Gram-

mar schools and private schools were early established

in the southern portions of the Old Northwest. The Con-

gregational missionaries from Connecticut and Massa-

chusetts, the Virginia and Kentucky Methodist circuit

riders, and the Scotch-Irish Presbyterian missionaries

had entered the Western Reserve and the southern por-

tions of the Territory and disseminated their principles

of religion.   Lastly, these groups were determined to

bring the settlers of the Northwest under the spell of

their respective religious doctrines, and they sincerely

believed that the church was the most vital force which

should influence and control the thoughts and actions

of men. They cooperated to bring about the incorpora-

tion of a university for which land had been set aside

75 Journal of the House of Representatives and Legislative Council of the

Territory of the United States, Northwest of the River Ohio, at the Second

Session of the First General Assembly 1800. Vol. II, pp. 28, 86; Laws of the

Territory of the United States Northwest of the River Ohio, Passed at the

First Session of the Second General Assembly, Nov. 3, 1801 to Jan. 23, 1802,

(Chillicothe, 1802) Vol. III, pp. 161-171.

442      Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications

in the Ohio Company's Grant, and it was this Puritanic

influence that definitely planted the seed for a system of

education that would in the future bear a rich harvest.

Thus, between 1788 and 1803 the character of the

Northwest Territory was unmistakably shaped by Puri-

tanic influences. Beginning with the entry of settlers

from New England into the country north of the Ohio

River, the story has been told how the New Englanders,

in the years 1788 to 1790, impressed their peculiar

philosophy of life upon territorial society. The pro-

Puritan tendencies of Governor Arthur St. Clair, to-

gether with the fact that the Secretary of the Territory

and the majority of the judges were Puritan, early en-

abled the Puritanic influence to dominate the govern-

ment of the Old Northwest. With the control of the

territorial government resting in Puritan hands, it is

easy to understand the consequent passage of laws that

sought to control the thoughts, actions, and practices of

the individual.

Scotch-Irish Presbyterians, Quakers, and Methodists

from the Middle and Southern states formed the ma-

jority of the settlers that staked out holdings in the Old

Northwest. During the period 1790 to 1799, when the

New England element undoubtedly represented a minor-

ity of the population, the Puritanic influence still con-

tinued to give form and substance to legislation. Of

this legislation the Maxwell Code of 1795 and the sub-

sequent acts regulating the tavern are outstanding ex-

amples. Yet, when the first territorial assembly, in

which the New England Puritan was in the minority,

convened in 1799, the Puritan state of mind was even

more perceptible that it previously had been. The simi-

Puritanic Influence in Northwest Territory    443

lar philosophies of the New England Puritans, the

Scotch-Irish Presbyterians, the Quakers, and the Meth-

odists, had produced a coalition of these groups in the

territorial assembly that sought by "Blue Law" legis-

lation to force upon society a peculiar morality.

Another aspect of the Puritanic influence was the

emphasis that was placed on religion and education.

Schools and churches were early established, and per-

haps most significant as a harbinger of the future was

the incorporation of a university on the lands of the

Ohio Company. Still another example of the influence

of Puritanism is revealed in the clash over the question

of slavery. It was Puritanism that finally said, "Slavery

shall forever be prohibited." Thus it is not strange that,

with the transfer of the Puritanic influence to the West,

the society of the Old Northwest was destined to be

profoundly affected by Puritanism between 1788 and

1803, and that a legacy was established whose effects

are still perceptible in present-day Ohio.

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