BOOK REVIEWS
The Territorial Papers of the United
States. Compiled and
edited by Clarence Edwin Carter. (Washington, United
States Government Printing Office, 1934.
Vol. I (preliminary
printing) $.15, Vols. II and III,
$2.00 each.)
Of the projected volumes of this
monumental work, the ones
now published are especially important
to those interested in the
history of Ohio. The series deals with
certain western tracts of
land which were governed by Congress and
the National Execu-
tive as colonies or territories.
Congress created out of these lands
some twenty-eight organized territories
which, after an average
existence of nearly twenty years in the
territorial form, have
entered the Union as states.
Affairs in the territories were under
the direction of the
Department of State until 1873, when
their administration was
transferred to the Department of the
Interior. When the Con-
stitution was formed in 1787 the
Northwest Territory was al-
ready in existence and its government,
which had been organized
under the Articles of Confederation, was
continued by an act
approved August 7, 1789.
The papers which form the basis of the
history of the terri-
tories are in the Department of State,
Department of War, Post
Office files, General Land Office, House
and Senate files, Manu-
script Division of the Library of
Congress, in the collections of
certain historical societies and in
other depositories. The editor,
of necessity, had to be selective in the
publication of documents
and it seemed desirable to select those
dealing chiefly with ad-
ministrative matters. As a general rule
papers which had been
published were omitted from the work
unless they were defectively
printed or printed in editions now
inaccessible. This is true with
reference to excluding materials
embodying territorial laws, which
(301)
302
OHIO ARCHAEOLOGICAL AND HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
frequently became part of the national
archives, and were printed
as such. Papers relating to Indian
affairs were largely excluded
because they were too numerous and
because Indian relations
generally transcended territorial
boundaries. In the case of the
Northwest Territory, however, where
Indian relations were
coterminous with the Territory, and
where one man was, at the
same time governor and Indian agent, the
two functions were so
closely united that exclusion was not
feasible. A relatively large
number of documents on Indian affairs
are included especially for
the early years of the Territory and the
years 1790-1796. These
papers also served the editor as
vehicles for carrying citations to
collateral and subsidiary sources. The
military phase has received
similar treatment with papers included
which are illustrative of
campaigns closely impinging on the civil
administration.
Reference citations to materials which
have been omitted,
because of previous printing, are
appended to the corresponding
documents. The originals of many letters
found in various de-
positories were used by Carter, rather
than relying on copies
which often exist in the federal
archives.
The territories are treated as units and
the papers pertaining
to them have been arranged
chronologically. Papers of a general
or miscellaneous nature will be
published later in Volume I which
will contain, in addition to the
materials in the present preliminary
edition, a general bibliography. Volume
I now contains a chron-
ological list of territories and a list
of territorial officials, 1789-
1872. Volumes II and III relate to the
Northwest Territory and
"occupy much more space than do
certain of its contemporaries,"
which volumes will immediately follow.
The textual incompetence of certain
early editions which have
contained papers bearing on the
Territory made it necessary for
Carter to republish relevant documents
such as the Ordinance of
1787, the Treaties of Greenville, Fort
Harmar, etc. Another rea-
son for the sizeableness of the edition
for the Northwest Territory
is the publication, for the first time,
of the "Journal of the Ex-
ecutive Proceedings in the Territory
Northwest of the River
Ohio," which comprises 272 pages of
Volume III. The original,
BOOK REVIEWS 303
long believed to have been lost, and now
in the possession of the
Ohio State Archaeological and Historical
Society, was presented
by Mr. John H. James, of Urbana, Ohio,
in 1931.
Volume II contains correspondence and
other papers, passing
between the governor and secretaries,
respectively, of the Terri-
tory and the President of the United
States, the secretaries of state,
treasury, and war, the attorney general,
and the postmaster gen-
eral and radiating from these principal
lines are selected papers of
lesser officials such as judges,
registers of land, and petitions or
an occasional statute. Since the editor
intended to print the
entire "Journal" of the
Territory in Volume III, he found it
desirable to include in Volume II, a
large number of papers which
embody relevant and fundamental
documents essential to an un-
derstanding of the "Journal."
It is not his intention to print
similar papers for other territories to
the same extent, but the
experimental character of the Northwest
Territory reflected in a
number of laws enacted by Congress
embodying principles which
contributed to the future territorial
and public-land policies of
the Government, required the inclusion
of large portions of the
correspondence and other papers of the
Northwest Territory.
Approximately five per cent of the
papers in these volumes
had been previously printed although
about one-half of the St.
Clair letters, which were edited by
William Henry Smith, have
been included due to the incompetence of
the earlier edition and
to make the present one more complete. A
cursory study of the
number of documents reproduced here may
lead the reader to
believe that there are many important
documents and letters
omitted but the editor's policy was to
exclude those which have
been published through state or
semi-private agencies which
often embody a whole or a part of a
series. Carter has included
citations to documents which he has
omitted and which appear
in such publications.
There are three kinds of annotations:
cross references, de-
signed along with an adequate index, to
facilitate the use of
documents; references to the location of
papers referred to but
not incorporated in the text; and brief
identifications of less
304
OHIO ARCHAEOLOGICAL AND HISTORICAL
QUARTERLY
obscure persons and places.
Interpretations of the text are seldom
offered, "though an explanation of
a document is occasionally
submitted, as in the case of the
Ordinance of 1787, which, it is
believed, has heretofore rarely been
correctly printed."
Volumes II and III contain five parts:
papers relating to the
foundation of the Northwest Territory,
1781-1787; to the period
of the first stage, 1787-1791; to the
period, 1792-1798; the second
stage, 1799-1802; and the "Journal" of the Territory,
1788-1803.
It will be of interest to those who
concern themselves with
the problem of the date of Ohio's
admission as a state to read in
Volume III, 535, note 17, that by an act
of Congress approved
February 21, 1806 (2 Stat. 350), the
Treasury of the United
States was directed to pay the salaries
of the governor, secretary,
and judges of the Territory from
November 29, 1802, to the first
Tuesday of March, 1803. W. D. O.
The Laws of Indiana Territory,
1809-1816. Edited by Louis B.
Ewbank and Dorothy L. Riker, with an
introduction by Paul
V. McNutt. Indiana Historical
Collections, XX. (Indiana-
polis, 1934. 923p.)
In 1925 the Illinois Historical Society
published the Laws of
the Northwest Territory, 1788-1800, with an introduction by
Theodore C. Pease, and (in 1930) the
same Society published
The Laws of Indiana Territory, 1801-1809, with an introduction
by Francis S. Philbrick. To these two
volumes is now added
the Laws of Indiana Territory,
1809-1816, which completes the
modern reprinting of the laws enacted by
the territorial govern-
ments which maintained jurisdiction over
the area comprising the
present state of Indiana or of which it
was a part.
By presenting this volume and others of
a similar nature in
the Indiana Historical Collections, Indiana
is setting a good ex-
ample for Ohio, which has had too few of
its historic documents
published. The volumes of territorial
laws mentioned above,
together with the Territorial Papers,
edited by Clarence Edwin
Carter and published by the United
States Department of State,
will be a boon to students of the early
history of Indiana.
BOOK REVIEWS 305
The editors of this volume have
reprinted the laws of the
General Assembly of Indiana Territory
during the period from
March 1, 1809, the date of the
separation of the western part
of the territory and its creation into
Illinois Territory, to August
5, 1816, when members of the first
General Assembly of the
State of Indiana were elected, as prescribed by the Constitution
adopted on June 29 of that year. The
session laws were reprinted
from original editions found in the
Indiana State Library, sup-
plemented by those in the private
collection of John H. Rauch,
and by the collection in the Supreme
Court Library. No effort
was made to duplicate the original fonts
of type used in these
early editions but they have been
carefully edited.
The editors have prefaced the 725 pages
of laws with a
"review of legislation" in
Indiana, embracing eighty-five pages
with adequate notes and references. Private acts ("any act
containing a charter of incorporation,
or any act, the object of
which is local and confined to any
particular person or per-
sons . . .") which were passed by
the territorial assemblies,
1810-1814, constitute Appendix I.
Memorials and joint resolu-
tions, 1809-1815, are to be found in
Appendix II, and a roster of
territorial officers, delegates to
Congress, circuit judges, mem-
bers of the general assemblies, and
county officials, 1800-1816,
constitutes Appendix III. There is an
index.
In accordance with the regulations under
which the Histor-
ical Bureau of Indiana operates their
publications are available
outside the state only at a stated
price. The price which has
been fixed for this volume is $3.00 for
copies printed on sulphide
paper and $4.50 for copies printed on
rag paper, cloth bound.
W. D. O.
Early Architects and Builders of
Indiana. By Lee Burns. Indiana
Historical Society Publications, Vol.
XI, no. 3. (Indian-
apolis, Indiana, Indiana Historical
Society, 1935. [36p.],
illus. $.50.)
Lee Burns has traced the architectural
history of Indiana
from its log cabin beginnings to the
period of the Civil War.
306
OHIO ARCHAEOLOGICAL AND HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
At first there were no architects. For
houses and buildings of
any pretentions, builders depended on
plans from works on archi-
tecture, such as The Builder's
Companion, by William Pain
(London, 1762), The Builder's Jewel,
by Batty Langley (1740),
and Civil Architecture, by
Edward Shaw (Boston, 1840). The
skill and art of these early builders
is well illustrated by White
Hall, built at Vincennes in 1811, and
in the Ewbank House, built
in Dearborn County in 1829, as well as
in many old homes
throughout the state, a few of which
are described and shown
pictorially in this slender volume.
Architects of note began to make their
way in the 1830's,
and among these pioneer architects who
have produced commend-
able work, are John Elder who made the
plans for the Hospital
for the Insane in 1846; Joseph Curzon,
who planned and built
the Second Presbyterian Church of
Indianapolis in 1864, and
Francis Costigan who planned and built
the Institute for the Blind
in 1852.
This monograph is a fine contribution
to an often neglected
aspect of the history of a community.
C. L. W.
Crusader and Feminist: Letters of
Jane Grey Swisshelm, 1858-
1865. Edited with introduction and notes by Arthur J. Lar-
sen. Minnesota Historical Society Publications:
Narratives
and Documents, II. (Saint Paul, Minnesota Historical So-
ciety. 1934. 327p. illus.)
A thirty-two page introduction briefly
outlines the active life
of the very much alive Jane Grey
Swisshelm and serves as a
backdrop on which is focused a
panoramic view of personages,
places and events, presented through
the medium of the entirely
readable newspaper letters of Mrs.
Swisshelm which make up
the larger portion of the volume. The
historical value of these
letters is considerable as their author
attained fame in the pro-
fessional world at a time when few
women ventured out of their
homes, and the field of her activities
brought her in contact with
the burning questions of the day.
Newspaper editor in Pennsyl-
BOOK REVIEWS 307
vania and later in Minnesota, inspired
lecturer, government clerk
in the war office at Washington, nurse
in the Civil War, she was
a fire-brand crusader against slavery,
a determined champion for
the rights of her sex and a proficient
reporter of the colorful and
significant events of her time.
C. L. W.
Arms Fabricators, Ancient and
Modern; a Compilation . . .
[By] Robert Edward Gardner. (Columbus,
Ohio, The F. J.
Heer Printing Co., 1934. 337p. $6.50.)
This compilation, a labor of love by a
collector of arms who
lives in Columbus, Ohio, contains the
"names and dates of gun-
smiths, bladesmiths, armourers, bowyers
and cannoniers offered
with such pertinent data upon their
lives and activities as is dis-
coverable together with three hundred
sixty-eight identified poin-
cons," arranged alphabetically
under country or section of the
world. In other words this book is of
great value to arms col-
lectors and museum curators.
There is an excellent bibliography.
C. L. W.