Ohio History Journal
THE OHIO PROSPECTUS
FOR THE YEAR 1775.
BY A. J. MORRISON, TOLEDO.
The extended advertisement given below
in part,1 although
not strictly applicable to the whole of
the territory of Ohio today,
is of interest for several reasons. This statement, skilfully
colored as it is, brings out very well
the idea of the Ohio country
as it must have been in many minds at
the beginning of the
Revolution. The imagination is afforded
material - what would
have been the result if either the Old
Company [Ohio Land
Company] or the Walpole Company had
accomplished solid
things before the Revolution? In the
retrospect we can see that
there was a Divinity shaping our ends at
that time.
And quite apart from the statements here
made of fact and
fancy-conditions of transportation, the
possibility of sending
ocean-going vessels down the Ohio, the
suggestion of an agri-
cultural experiment station for the Ohio
Valley, specifications for
an Ohio farmstead - the authorship of
this pleasing work is an
item of moment, and it is to be
regretted that the authorship
cannot be fixed with certainty. Sabin
did not live long enough
to reach the letter Y, and to give his
grounds for assigning this
"American Husbandry, by an
American" to Arthur Young. It is
at least probable that Arthur Young was
the author. From 1767
to 1776, when he went to Ireland, not a
year passed (but one) in
which Arthur Young did not publish a
work or works on the
subject of agriculture. In the
bibliographies the year that is
missing is 1775. It is hardly to
be supposed that Young stopped
writing for a year; and it is known that
he was interested in
America from his first youth, and
several times thought of going
there. If he wrote himself down
"American" on the title page of
1Drawn
from American Husbandry. Containing an Account of the
Soil, Climate, Production, and
Agriculture of the British Colonies. By
An American. London, 1775. Vol. II.,
Chapter, "The Ohio."
(232)
The Ohio Prospectus for the Year 1775. 233
his book, it may have been because he
was of the American party.
He had been a friend of John Wilkes.
After the separation of
the Colonies Arthur Young is on record
as believing that the
loss to England "north of
tobacco" was a good outcome. The
author of American Husbandry emphasizes
the importance of
the tobacco colonies, he spells Bordeaux
after the manner of
Young in his Travels in France, and
several of his crop rotations
were favorites with Arthur Young.2
On the whole, Sabin's conjecture may be
taken as very nearly
capable of proof, and it is gratifying
to reflect that Arthur Young,
of the "Travels in France"
(and of how many other good
books?), the correspondent of General
Washington, gave his at-
tention for a time to The Country of the
Belle Riviere.
THE OHIO.
This immense country, which in our maps
is laid down as a
part of Virginia, reaches from the
eastward of lake Erie, on the
frontiers of New York, in latitude 43°,
to its junction with the
Mississippi, in latitude 361/2o ; the length of
this tract, in a straight
line, is not less than 800 miles. For
300 miles it bounds on the
mountains, which are the limits of
Pennsylvania, from which to
lake Erie is an oblong of 200 miles long, by
about 100 broad,
which space is one of the finest parts
of North America. But
the territory which is here principally
to be considered, is to the
south of this, from the neighborhood of
Fort Pitt, to the Chero-
kee river,3 which falls into the Ohio,
near the Mississippi, to the
south of the former river, most of the
country to the north of it
belonging to the Six Nations, partly
inhabited by them, and part
their hunting ground.
The want of fresh land in Virginia, for
the tobacco plants
to spread themselves over, occasioned
many settlers to pass the
Alligany mountains, and fix themselves
on the rivers that fall into
the Ohio; this was so early as from 1750
to 1755. The French
had in 1748 and 1749 partly usurped and
secured all this tract of
2See M. Betham-Edwards, Introduction to Young's Travels
in France
(Bohn's Popular Library, 1913); and Dictionary
of National Biography,
sub. Arthur Young.
3The Tennessee River.
234 Ohio Arch. and Hist.
Society Publications.
back country, by their forts; a plan
which they afterwards brought
fully into execution; and when they were
informed of the step
taken by the British Settlers, they
warned them from what they
called their master's territory, and
soon after by force drove them
back. This was the origin of the late
war; the events of which
relating to this country need no
recapitulation here.
Upon the conquest of Fort du Quesne, the
back settlers of
Virginia and Pennsylvania, renewed their
emigration, and in
great numbers once more passed the
mountains, and settled them-
selves on the Ohio and its branches.
Here they cleared ground and
began their plantations; but in the
latter end of 1763, a proclama-
tion appeared, which forbid all
settlements beyond the rivers,
which fall into the Atlantic Ocean. But
the people who had fixed
themselves on the fertile lands of the
Ohio, were too well pleased
with their situation to obey this
proclamation, while others con-
tinued daily to join them.
The territory in which they planted
themselves being without
the bounds of the provinces of Virginia
and Pennsylvania, the
people who had settled there became soon
a lawless set, among
whom a licentious spirit prevailed;
living without government,
they had continued quarrels with the
Indians, and the whole
aspect of their affairs foreboded no
good. The country in which
they settled belonged to the Six
Nations, who complained repeat-
edly of this invasion of their property,
offering to the governor
of Virginia to sell their right in all
the country to the south of the
river Ohio.
Their remonstrances were too much
slighted, for it was
several years before any measures were
taken to give them satis-
faction; from remonstrating they
proceeded to threaten in terms
severe, though not departing from
respect. Then it was that
a conference was held with the chiefs of
these nations, and a
bargain was struck: for the sum of
something more than ten
thousand pounds paid by the government
to the Six Nations, they
made over all their right to the tracts
of country south of the
Ohio.
This purchase was made, not with a view
to encourage any
settlements beyond the mountains, but
only to satisfy the Indians;
the tenor of the proclamation of 1763
was adhered to, and the
The Ohio Prospectus for the Year
1775. 235
governor of Virginia ordered to admit of
no colonization within
the specified limits. But such orders
could not be obeyed; for the
country was found so fertile and
pleasant, that fresh numbers
every day thronged thither; and the
expediency of establishing a
government over them, was found daily
greater.
In this situation of affairs it was,
that an association of
gentlemen, principally of America,
formed the plan of establishing
a new colony in the lands thus purchased
of the Indian; they
brought into the idea some respectable
merchants of London, at
the head of whom was a member of the
House of Commons, Mr.
Walpole. They petitioned the treasury
for leave to execute their
plan, offering to pay to government the
ten thousand pounds the
whole country had cost, for the
possession of only a part of it,
and to be at the whole expence of the
civil government of the new
province.
This petition was referred from the
treasury to the board of
trade, which board made a report upon
the petition, in which they
strongly condemned the project, offering
the reasons on which
they founded their opinion; reasons
which were by no means
satisfactory to the understanding of
those who were well ac--
quainted with the state of the colonies.
The affair then came before the Privy
Council, in which it
was debated, and a difference of opinion
found, which occasioned
a debate; it ended in the petition being
granted; after which Mr.
Walpole and his associates took such
measures as they thought
necessary for the establishment of their
new colony.
This is the history of the transaction
brought down to the
present time;4 the latter part
is too recent to know upon what
terms the proprietors portion out the
lands, nor yet are the exact
limits known: but the accounts we have
had of the country before
it was thought of establishing a colony
in it, are such as will
enable us to form a pretty clear idea of
it. In the observations
on the report of the board of trade on
the petition of Mr. Walpole
and his associates, the following
circumstances are drawn up.
First, The lands in question are
excellent, the climate tem-
perate, the native grapes, silk worms,
and mulberry-trees are
4 Since this was written, it has been
reported that some interruption
has happened to the grant.
236
Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society
Publications.
every where; hemp grows spontaneously in
the vallies and low
grounds; iron ore is plenty in the
hills, and no soil is better
adapted for the culture of tobacco,
flax, and cotton, than that
of the Ohio.
Second, The country is well watered by
several navigable
rivers, communicating with each other;
and by which and a short
land carriage of only forty miles, the
produce of the lands of the
Ohio can, even now, be sent
cheaper to the sea-port town of
Alexandria, on the river Potomack,
(where General Braddock's
transports landed his troops), than any
kind of merchandize is at
this time sent from Northampton to
London.
Third, The river Ohio is, at all seasons
of the year navigable
for large boats like the west country
barges, rowed only by four
or five men; and from the month of
January to the month of April
large ships may be built on the Ohio,
and sent laden with hemp,
flax, silk, etc., to this Kingdom.
Fourth, Flour, corn, beef, ship-plank,
and other necessaries
can be sent down the stream of the Ohio
to West Florida, and
from thence to the islands, much cheaper
and in better order, than
from New York or Philadelphia.
Fifth, Hemp, tobacco, iron, and such
bulky articles, can also
be sent down the stream of
the Ohio to the sea, at least 50 per
cent. cheaper than these articles were
ever carried by a land-car-
riage of only sixty miles in Pennsylvania;- where waggonage
is cheaper than in any other part of
North America.
Sixth, The expence of transporting
British manufactures
from the sea to the Ohio colony will not
be so much as is now
paid, and must ever be paid to a great
part of the countries of
Pennsylvania, Virginia and Maryland.
That we may more particularly elucidate
this important point,
we shall take the freedom of observing
-that it is not disputed,
but ever acknowledged, by the very
report now under considera-
tion, that the climate and soil of the
Ohio are as favorable as we
have described them; and as to the native
silk-worms- it is a
truth, that above 10,000 weight of
cocoons was, in August 1771,
sold at the public filature in
Philadelphia, and that the silk pro-
duced from the native worm is of
a good quality, and has been
The Ohio Prospectus for the Year
1775. 237
much approved of in this city. As to
hemp, we are ready to
make it appear that it grows, as we have
represented, sponta-
neously, and of a good texture on the
Ohio. In the report itself
it is urged - "every
advantage derived from an established gov-
ernment would naturally tend to draw the
stream of population;
fertility of soil, and temperature of
climate, offering superior
incitements to settlers, who, exposed to
few hardships, and strug-
gling with few difficulties, could with
little labour earn an
abundance for their own wants."
This is the state of the intelli-
gence which is to be gained from the
parties concerned; from
those who petitioned, and from those who
wanted the petition to
be rejected, both agree as to the
fertility and healthiness of the
territory. But I remarked before, that
the same accounts were
current before a colony was thought of.
Upon occasion of the last war Dr.
Mitchel5 was employed
by the ministry to take an accurate
survey of all the back countries
of North America, most of them being but
little known, except
to the French, who were in possession of
a line of forts through
all North America. No person could have
been more properly
appointed, for he was not only able to
lay down the country with
exactness, but being well acquainted
with practical agriculture in
Virginia and Pennsylvania, he was able
to understand the nature
and value of those countries he should
traverse. This was the
origin of his map of North America, the
best general
one we have had: at the time it was
published, it was
accompanied by a bulky pamphlet, written
by the Doctor, and
entitled, The Contest in America, in
which he enters into a full
elucidation of the importance of the
back countries, and of the
fatal effects which must flow from
leaving the French in posses-
sion of their encroachments. Among
others he considers par-
ticularly the territory of the Ohio, and
shews of how much im-
portance it is to the planters of
Virginia; he there mentions the
want of fresh lands for planting
tobacco, and the necessity of
their being able to extend themselves
for that purpose beyond the
mountains. The country is described as
one of the finest and
most fruitful in all America, and
abounding greatly in deer, wild
5Dr. John Mitchel, F. R. S., who lived
for some years at Urbanna.
in Virginia, died in England in 1768.
238 Ohio Arch. and Hist.
Society Publications.
cows, and wild oxen; and at the same
time situated in one of the
finest and most healthy climates in all
that country.
This account agrees also with another
which was given near
an hundred years ago by La Hontan, who,
speaking of the
country to the south of lake Erie,
mentions its being one of the
finest on the globe, both in respect of
climate and soil; it is a tract,
he observes, of vast meadows, full of
wild bees and deer, and
the woods of vines and wild turkeys.6
Dr. Mitchel, in another work published
in 1767, (The Present
State) gives other particulars concerning this territory,
which
deserve attention; and especially in the
point of affording that
fresh land which is so much wanted in
the tobacco colonies, where
their plantations (as was shewn in the
article of Virginia) are
exhausted by continual crops of that
product: "They will,"
says he, "be in a short time worn
out, and when that happens,
there must be an end of the tobacco
trade, without a supply of
fresh lands, fit to produce that
exhausting weed, as well as to
maintain cattle to manure them, with
convenient ports and an
inland navigation to ship off such a
gross and bulky commodity;
of which there are none in all the
British dominions in North
America, but the rich lands on the
Mississippi and the Ohio:
whoever are possessed of these must soon
command the tobacco
trade, the only considerable branch of
trade in all North America,
and the only one that this nation has
left." In other passages
the same writer describes these lands as
being of considerable
depth and fertility, having a natural
moisture in them, and being
excellently adapted for hemp, flax, and
tobacco; also that no
country can produce better for silk,
wine, and oil, the climate
being dry, which is the contrary of the
maritime parts of Amer-
ica, where the rains are almost
continual. And from the natural
plenty of grass in meadows of great
extent, with the general fer-
tility of the soil, the maintenance of
all sorts of cattle would be
perfectly easy, and consequently
provisions would be raised with
scarcely any trouble; a point of great
importance when a staple
commodity is cultivated; for the planter
ought to be able to give
all his attention to the principal
article: but if he is forced to
divide his strength for providing food
for cattle, etc., he cannot
6La Hontan, New Voyages to North
America. London, 1703.
The Ohio Prospectus for the Year
1775. 239
raise such a quantity of his staple as
if more favorably
circumstanced.
In a word, this territory of the Ohio
enjoys every advantage
of climate and soil which is to be found
in the back parts of
Virginia, but in a much higher degree,
the soil being far more
fertile, and the climate more pleasant
and more wholesome. The
assertions in the observations on the
report of the board of trade
are strong to this point and may be
depended on, as several of
the gentlemen in the association for
establishing this colony have
lived long in Virginia and Pennsylvania,
and appointed persons
to gain intelligence of all the material
circumstances concerning
it. From these, and the other
authorities I have mentioned, it is
plain, that this new colony will
probably be found of the highest
consequence in the production of the
following commodities:
TOBACCO.
This valuable staple is cultivated in
Virginia upon the freshest
and most fertile lands; none can be too
rich for it: a newly broken
up woodland is what it most affects, and
is what the planters
choose for it, whenever it is in their
power. I before observed that
such new land was no longer in plenty in
the tobacco colonies,
which makes this acquisition of country
of the more importance:
here are immense forests upon a soil the
most fertile that can be
imagined, and consequently such a field
for enlarging our tobacco
plantations as the nation has long
wanted. Such a soil may well
prove an inducement to many to purchase
great numbers of
negroes, in order to employ them on
staple productions, which in
such fresh and fertile lands may safely
be expected to pay them
better than in the old colonies, where
the good land has been for
some time scarce; that is private
property: there is in several of
our colonies great tracts that are
excellent, but this is like the
wastes in Britain; plenty of land is of
no effect, if it is not to be
had by the new settlers without paying a
large price for it. But
the value of the lands on the Ohio is
not disputed, the great point
for tobacco is that of carriage; for it
is so bulky, that if carriage
is expensive, it cannot be brought cheap
enough to market. The
proprietors give the following account
of the communication with
the Atlantic. "During the last
French war, when there was no
240 Ohio
Arch. and Hist. Society Publications.
back
carriage from the Ohio to Alexandria, the expence of car-
riage was
only about a half-penny a pound, as will appear from
the
following account, the truth of which we shall fully ascertain,
viz.:
From
Alexandria to Port Cumberland
1. s. d.
by water
...................................... 0
1 7 per cwt.
From Port
Cumberland to Red Stone Creek, at four-
teen dollars
per waggon load, each waggon carry-
ing fifteen
cwt ..................................
0 4 2
0 5 9
NOTE-The
distance was then seventy miles, but by a new waggon
road lately
made, it is now but forty miles -a saving, of course,
of above
one-half of
the 5s. 9 d. is at present experienced. If it is considered
that this
rate of carriage was in time of war, and when there were no
inhabitants
on the Ohio, we cannot doubt but every intelligent mind will
be satisfied
that it is now less than is daily paid in London for the
carriage of coarse
woollens, cutlery, iron ware, &c. from several counties
in
England." And in the enumeration of advantages quoted above, it
is asserted,
that large ships may be built on the Ohio, and sent loaded,
from January
to April, to Britain; also that provisions and lumber may
be sent from
thence cheaper to the West Indies, than from New York
or
Philadelphia.
These
accounts call for several material observations: as to
the truth of
them, they are advanced in such a manner, and by
such
persons, that we have no reason to doubt it; nor should I
omit to
remark that the account coincides with others, particularly
with the
exportation which the French are well known to have
carried on
from the 7Illinois, and do
at present carry on from
thence. But
it was never known that the mouth of the Mississippi
was
navigable for large ships; Captain Pittman, who surveyed the
river, says,
a thirty-six gun frigate has gone over with her guns
out; but after you are on the bar, he acknowledges there is depth
of water,
all the way up, for any ship whatever. The proprietors
remark, that
half the 5s. 9d. is saved; but that does not appear,
as the price
from Alexandria to Fort Cumberland is not changed;
but
supposing instead of 4s. 2d. from Fort Cumberland to Red-
7 See
Appendix.
The Ohio Prospectus for the Year 1775. 241
stone Creek, that it should be only 2s.
then the total price per cwt.
would be 3s. 7d. or per ton 3l. IIs. 8d.
Now two hogsheads of
tobacco make a ton, which at 81. are
I61. from which price the
deduction of 31. IIs. 8d. more than is
paid by the planters near
Alexandria, is too high to be submitted
to, if any cheaper method
can be found of conveying that product
to shipping; and this
cheaper method must surely be by the
Mississippi, to the gulf
of Florida; for if lumber and provisions
can be sent by that
channel cheaper than from New York or
Philadelphia, as the
proprietors assert, it must plainly be a
cheaper way than a car-
riage which comes to 31. IIs. 8d. per
ton, which can never be
supported by a commodity, the value of
which at shipping is only
I61. a ton. The reason of this carriage
being so dear, must be
the number of falls above Alexandria. As
to wheat and other
provisions, they could never be sent by
such a conveyance, five
quarters of wheat are a ton, which at 20s. a quarter come
only
to 51. a sum that will never bear 31.
IIs. 8d. carriage before it
gets to the shipping; and if it is
reckoned at 30s. or 71. IOS. still
31. IIs. 8d. is far more than it would
bear.
Relative to the mother country, it is of
very little consequence
whether wheat and provisions can be
exported from a colony or
not, because staple commodities alone
are valuable to Britain; but
to settlers it is an object to know if
all the surplus of their prod-
ucts can be exported to advantage. What
they may be by the
Mississippi is not the point at present,
but certainly they cannot
be to the Atlantic. By the accounts of
the proprietors it is clear,
that no commodity scarcely can be
raised, but what may be sent
from the Ohio to the West Indies. This
concern of navigation is
of great consequence to the tobacco
planter, whose product is one
of the most bulky staples of America;
and in Virginia and Mary-
land the convenience of water-carriage
is so great, that many
planters had ships at their own doors;
but this is not in common
to be expected, though it seems that it
might be the case along the
Ohio, if once the navigation of the
Mississippi be well understood
from practice.
In respect of the advantages for tobacco
planting, that result
from a great plenty of land, enabling
the planter to keep what-
ever stocks of cattle he wants, and to
raise provisions for the
Vol. XXIII -16.
f
242 Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications.
plantation, no country in America is
comparable to the territory
in question, where a country is now
settling more than 500 miles
long, by from 2 to 300 broad,
possessing, in the utmost luxuriance
of plenty, every necessity of life.
HEMP.
As tobacco requires for yielding great
crops a rich woodland
that is rather dry; hemp on the
contrary, loves a large degree of
moisture, in rich low lands. Such are
found in great plenty in all
the valleys, between the hills, in the
new colony, where the soil
is natural to this production, as we may
judge from the circum-
stance of such quantities of wild hemp
being found in almost all
the low lands. This circumstance shews
also how well the climate
may be expected to agree with it. There
is every reason in the
world to think that the nation's
expectations of having hemp from
the colonies will at least, after so
many disappointments, be
answered by the lands on the Ohio. They
are, it is universally
agreed, of that nature which is
peculiarly adapted to the produc-
tion; the vales are rich, deep, moist,
and so fertile that it will be
many years before they are exhausted.
This is precisely what has
been so long wanted; for if hemp will
not pay for the employment
of negroes, it will never be made an
article of culture in large:
Secondary objects are always neglected;
it is only those of the
first importance which enjoy that degree
of attention necessary to
make anything succeed. The only thing to
be feared, upon this
principle, is the neglect of the
planter, who, used to tobacco, may
be so eager in raising that staple as to
neglect every other. Neglect
of this sort sometimes gives rise to
ideas of incapacity in a
country, when the fault is only in the
cultivator: for this reason
I cannot but regret, that the
proprietors' offer of ten thousand
pounds should have been accepted; they
ought to have been bound
to supply the navy with a given quantity
of hemp, the growth of
the colony, annually: this would have
forced them to give a de-
gree of attention to this important
article, which in the present
case may not be thought of. Nothing is
more common in the es-
tablishment of colonies, than
proprietors to make large promises
at first, and afterwards to forget that
ever such things were
thought of. The territory of the Ohio is
in no want of encour-
The Ohio Prospectus for the Year 1775. 243
agement from the proprietors; but people are so apt to move
only
in their accustomed line, and so averse
from all useful trials and
experiments, that they should in some
cases be driven to do that
which is equally for the interest of
their country and themselves.
VINES.
Of all North America, this is the tract
which bids fairest for
yielding wine: the native vines are in
greater plenty and variety,
than in any other part; the country at
some distance from the
Ohio is hilly and very dry, and in some
places even rocky; but
these plants do not require the rocky
soil near so much as
European ones; for they thrive and bear
well on rich deep soils.
"We have seen," says Dr.
Mitchel, "fifteen different sorts of
native grapes there, the like of which
growing wild are certainly
not to be found in any part of the
world. The ordinary sorts of
these in Virginia, yield a wine so like
the common Bourdeaux
wine, that it is difficult to distingush
the one from the other; and
from another sort, some wine has been
made which was compared
by good judges, both here and there, to
the best that is drank.
Other sorts yield wine exactly like the
Lisbon. But instead of
these they have transplanted grapes from
the hills of Normandy
to the maritime parts of Virginia and
Carolina, where no one could
expect them to thrive nigh so well as
they do. They ripen there
in the beginning and middle of August,
when no one can expect
to make good wine; although they yield a
very good wine for
present drinking. But this is the most
improper for their climate
of any grape that grows; neither is it
the true Burgundy grape
for which they got it." From hence
it is easy to be gathered, if
the fact was not well known, that these
territories on the Ohio
must be well adapted to vineyards; much
more so than any mari-
time part of that continent; for near
the sea the rains are almost
incessant, whereas upon the Ohio the
climate is very dry, and on
the Mississippi it rarely rains. This is
a circumstance extremely
favorable to the vineyard culture, which
never does well in a
country where much rain falls: all the
fine wines come from
countries which enjoy upon the whole, a
climate dry on com-
parison with others, and some remarkably
so.
Wine is another commodity which will
bear no long land
244 Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications.
carriage, since to become an object of
exportation from America
to Britain, it must be afforded at a low
price; wines upon the par
of the red port of Portugal ought not to
exceed 10 or 12l. a pipe,
prime cost, and perhaps not so much;
this is 20 or 24l. a ton; so
that hemp is, in proportion of weight,
as valuable a commodity.
It will certainly be found that the
Mississippi must be the convey-
ance of both tobacco, hemp, and wine, to
the sea; land-carriage
will add too much to the expences: a
fresh reason for the naviga-
tion of the Mississippi being
immediately and accurately examined.
If ships of only 100 tons could (as the
proprietors assert large
ones can) be built on the Ohio, and sent
at a certain season of the
year, laden to Britain with hemp,
tobacco, and wine, the advantage
would be the most profitable application
of the timber in the
world; as well as casks for the wine and
tobacco.
SILK.
All this territory abounds with mulberry
trees, in an extraor-
dinary manner; and it is very well
known, that people in the new
colony will soon be in plenty; the
surplus of population in
Pennsylvania, New York, Jersey,
Virginia, and Maryland; a sur-
plus which is great, as is well known
from various circumstances
before mentioned, such as numerous
petitions to settle in the
northern parts of New England; repeated
ones for lands on the
Ohio; and 30,000 people already settled
there, even without the
advantage of a government being
established; also the well known
want of fresh lands for tobacco.
If the accounts we have had
from all parts of the central colonies
be well considered, there
can be no doubt remain that 500,000
persons at least will, in a
few years, be found in this colony,
since it is that tract of country
which has for so many years been the
object of their ardent
desires. Silk therefore certainly
promises to become an article
of no slight consequence, in case the
people will be persuaded to
give due attention to it; and in such cases I have often remarked,
that the only sensible persuasions are
examples and rewards.
Every person might make a pound of silk,
without interruption of
their agriculture, which would be to
themselves, as well as to
Britain, an object of consequence; but
if the business was well
attended to by whole families, who
understood the conduct of it,
The Ohio Prospectus for the Year
1775. 245
then much larger quantities might be
produced: and in such case
it would be found, for the time it
required, one of the most valu-
able staples in the world.
COTTON.
This plant grows spontaneously from the
southern parts of
Pennsylvania to Florida; in Virginia
they have some that is excel-
lent, and in some respects superior to
that of the West Indies,
particularly for mixing with wool. Upon
the Ohio, the soil, after
being exhausted by tobacco, would yield
large crops of this for
ever; the climate is better adapted to
it, and the quantity gained
would be greater. Cotton is not an
article of sufficient value to
be the sole product of a plantation; but
as a secondary object it
might be cultivated with good profit.
This part of husbandry
is not sufficiently attended to in our
colonies; the planters bestow
all their time and attention to their
grand staple, so as to overlook
all inferior articles; but this [is] a
mistaken conduct; they can
have no crop in this latitude that will
employ them the whole
year; the sensible management would be
to have several, so as
to employ their slaves on them in
succession. Wheat may be the
most valuable product of a British farm;
but this does not prevent
the farmer from sowing barley, oats,
pease, and beans; nor does
corn in general prevent his cultivating
turneps, carrots, and pota-
toes, which again leave time for clover
and grasses: and it is to
this various application of his land,
that he is as much obliged
for his profit, as to any other
circumstance. Sawing lumber does
not equal (except in the lands that must
be cleared for the crops)
the culture of any staple: Among these
secondary objects, cotton
will here be found of no slight
importance.
INDIGO.
The finest indigo is that of Guatemala,
the climate exceeding
hot; in St. Domingo the French raise
large quantities that is excel-
lent; and in Carolina it is become a
staple of great consequence:
the profit depends much on the heat of
the climate, as may be
judged from its being cut five times in
St. Domingo in a season,
three or four in Carolina, and two or
three in Virginia; for there
is some indigo planted in that province,
notwithstanding its
making no figure in the exports. On the
Ohio there is great
246 Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications.
reason to suppose it may be cultivated
to good advantage, the
soil being admirably rich, and the
climate superior to Virginia;
but a strong proof is its having long
been an article of export
from the Illinois settlements, which are
full as northerly as any
part of the colony of the Ohio. In
Carolina they plant it on their
dry sands; but this is for want of such
a rich, deep, black mould
as is found through the new colony,
where soil may make good
amends for want of so hot a sun; a point
which seems almost
proved by St. Domingo so much exceeding
Carolina though the
summers (notwithstanding the difference
of latitude) are hotter
in Carolina than in that island; but in
the latter it is planted on
fresh woodlands to prepare them for
sugar, and in the former on
a poor sand. This article is perfectly
well adapted to the Ohio in
another respect, which is that of its
great value in proportion to
its weight, which is so high that the
price of an expensive carriage
would be scarcely felt. This is a
product which might (as well as
silk) be sent over the mountains to be
shipped in Virginia.
* * *
Under the articles tobacco and Indian
corn, I have before
remarked, that the reason the planters
in America did not, on a
given quantity of land, equal the profit
of the farmers in Britain,
was their executing much work by hand
labour, which might as
well and better be done by horse work.
In Virginia, a negroe
pays about 161. in tobacco, and 4l. in
sundry articles. It will
admit of no doubt, that the sums will be
higher on the Ohio; but
at the same time they ought by
management to be carried as high
as possible; which can only be done by
substituting the plough and
horse-hoes, instead of the spade and
hand-hoe: the expence of
horses on the Ohio, or in Virginia, is
not what it is here, for the
price of the beast is not more than a
third or fourth, and his keep-
ing not a tenth of what it is in
Britain. If these ideas were
adopted their profit would rise greatly.
* * * However, without supposing any
such good
management, it would be a very moderate
supposition to calculate
the produce per working hand [in the
Ohio], at 5l. more than in
Virginia, or Maryland, which the great
superiority of fresh lands,
so extraordinary for their fertility,
may well allow; and with the
advantage of so large a range as the
planters will have here, and
The Ohio Prospectus for the Year
1775. 247
have not generally in the old tobacco
colonies, a point of vast con-
sequence, would justify a higher idea.
If madder was under-
taken, a much larger sum should be
named; and yet how easy to
introduce this upon a plantation, and
extend the culture by
degrees. Silk, madder, and indigo, of
each but a small quantity,
or only madder and silk, being so
valuable, would pay the extra
expence of carriage and freight on the
other commodities; but
I shall suppose, by adopting these
articles in part, each working
hand to pay 25 1. and the extra expence
of carriage of some articles
more than is felt in Virginia. Upon this
footing I shall calculate
the expences of establishing a capital
plantation on the Ohio;
previous to which it may not be amiss to
point out to the first
settlers some signs whereby they are to
judge of the soil, not only
here, but through all these central
colonies, and also those to the
southward.
The trees, which are the spontaneous
product of the land,
should in general be first attended to;
if they abound with fine
tall, red hiccories, white oaks, chesnut
oaks, scarlet-oaks, tulip
trees, black walnuts, locusts, mulberry
trees, etc., they may be
pronounced good, and the value will
usually be in proportion to
the size and straitness of those trees;
pines, live oaks, laurels, bays,
liquid amber, and water oaks are, among
others, signs of bad land;
and in general that soil will be best
which is free from under-
wood: nor should the planter take a few
trees of any sort as his
guide, but a predominancy of them in
whole woods. This rule
of judging must be united with that of
the appearance of the
soil when dug into, particularly colour
and depth; the black mould
on a bed of loam is best; that on clay,
good, but the light sandy
tracts are in general bad, unless they
are of a dark colour, and
moist, with good trees growing from
them; in that case they may
be excellent; for sands differ as well
as loams; the misfortune is,
that in America the sands are generally
white and dry, and pro-
duce little besides pines.
Besides tracts which may come under this
description, he
is farther to examine the meadows which are
composed of similar
soils, but without any trees, being
covered with grass; these are
to be judged by the height, thickness,
and luxuriance of that
grass. These tracts are common on the
Ohio, and prove how
248 Ohio
Arch. and Hist. Society Publications.
valuable the country should be esteemed:
they, like the woodlands,
should be examined with the spade, in
order to know the appear-
ance of the soil. Besides these there
are marshes or swamps, but
not in great quantities, as in the
maritime parts of America:
the value of these depend on two
circumstances, the richness of
the soil, and the ease of being drained:
the former is seen by the
products; cedars are good signs, though
not very common;
cypresses generally are found in them,
from the tallness, size, and
beauty of their stems: as to draining,
it depends on the situation,
and on examining the means of carrying
off the water, as in all
other countries. These swamps and
marshes when drained, if
the soil is stiff, are the proper lands
for hemp, not that it will
not thrive as well on fertile uplands;
but they may be applied to
other crops. There are besides these,
hilly tracts, and the sides
of mountains, generally of a gradual
ascent, but sometimes sharp
and rocky; on the latter vineyards may
be planted, and also olives;
on the former indigo, tobacco, madder,
if rich, if indifferent,
cotton, etc.
These are the soils and sort of tracts
which are to be met
with in the new colony; and I should
observe that every kind of
land here is equal to any in the world
for the growth of wheat,
maize, barley, oats, pease, beans, etc.,
all sorts of roots, and
every kind of garden-stuff and fruit
known in Europe. Of this
no doubts can be entertained, when it is
considered how well all
these thrive in Maryland and Virginia,
in the same latitude;
whereas the Ohio is more fertile in
soil, and far more temperate
and regular in climate, being free from
excessive heats, and
those violent colds which are found in
the maritime parts of the
continent.
In the disposition of new plantations it
is of consequence
that the planters give some attention to
the situations of their
house and offices, a point which, in the
hurry of the first build-
ing, is seldom thought of enough, not
only as a matter of con-
venience and agreeableness, but also of
health. In this continent
the north-west wind brings the severe
weather, and the worst
seasons; a house should be well
sheltered from it by wood, but
instead of having any idea of shelter,
planters in general attack
all the timber around their houses with
such undistinguishing
The Ohio Prospectus for the Year
1775. 249
rage, as not to leave themselves in a
few years a tree within
sight. For convenience, as well as
health and pleasure, the best
situation would be in the centre of a
space of wood in form of
a crescent, open to the south, and in
front of the navigation
which is to convey the product of the
plantation, always chusing
an elevated situation, yet not the top
of a hill, leaving as much
ascent of wood behind the building, as
descent of land before it.
Agriculture is followed in so imperfect
a manner in our old
colonies, owing to plenty of land, that
one cannot expect to see
it well managed here, where land is so
much more plentiful; yet
do I wish to see some plantations laid
out in a manner that
shall obviate the objections to the
careless husbandry of the
Americans. I here mean particularly to
hint at inclosures-not
to sow or plant any piece of ground that
is not well and sub-
stantially enclosed with a ditch, a
bank, and live hedge; the ex-
pence would bear no proportion to the
numerous advantages
of it; besides that uncommon superiority
in point of neatness
and beauty: and in the disposition of
the fields, some should un-
doubtedly be left occupied with the
timber that is upon them,
as a future supply, which will be a
matter of great consequence,
not only to the public good of the
colony, but also to the future
private advantage of the planter.
And here I shall once more observe, that
for gaining the
requisite knowledge of so extensive a
tract of so noble a country,
the proprietors would act with a
patriotic view if they were to
establish a plantation in a well chosen
spot, including every
variety of soil for trying large
experiments on the preceding
list of staples, and others that might
be named. The expence
would not be considerable; under the
direction of a sensible,
intelligent overseer, who was a man of
integrity; the produce
would be highly sufficient, after the
first expences, to pay the
annual charge. In such a plantation
might be introduced the
culture of hemp and flax on every sort
of soil, to see how far it
might become the colony staple. Madder
might be tried with
the same design; vineyards should be
planted, both of foreign
and native grapes, for wines and
raisins; silk should be made
in large quantities; cotton tried with
equal attention; and ex-
periments made on indigo, to see how far
fertility of soil in an
250 Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society
Publications.
excellent climate would make amends for the want of
greater
heat. The native hemp, flax, silk-grass, and other
indigenous
plants brought into culture, that their qualities might
be known;
these would be noble designs, and could not fail of
proving of
great advantage to the colony, and of doing great
honour to the
proprietors.
I shall now proceed with the design of calculating the
ex-
pences and profit of fixing a capital plantation on the
Ohio, sup-
posing the person to move from Britain, and to have
money
enough for all necessary (but not superfluous)
expences.
£.
Freight and expences of a family of six persons from
London to
Alexandria, at 251.
........................................... 150
Freight of ten tons................................................ 55
One year's living or board
at 20 1 ................................. 120
A second year's house-keeping
................................... 100
Fees of 10,000 acres
at 30 1. per 1000 ............................... 300
Building a house
................................................. 200
Building offices ................................................. 150
Furniture
....................................................... 150
Carriage of necessaries from Alexandria to the
Ohio............... 50
A Canoe ........................................................ 50
Boats ........................................................... 15
Implements
...................................................... 200
Machine
for rooting up
trees ...................................... 80
A saw-mill ...................................................... 500
50 horses, mares, and stallions
.................................... 250
50 Cows
......................................... ............... 150
50 young cattle
.................................................. 50
100 Swine ......................
................................ 25
500 Sheep ....................................................... 125
Carried over
................................................ £2720
Brought forward ........................................... £2720
Poultry ......................................................... 5
Repairs of implements
............................................ 50
LABOUR.
Attendance on cattle .................................. £30
Bailiff, (one year) ................................... 40
Labour in clearing 20 acres of wheat, at 11
............ 20
Ditto 40 oats, at
16s.................................. 32
The Ohio Prospectus for the Year 1775. 251
70 turnips, at 11
..................................... 70
5 potatoes at 51
...................................... 25
On hay, mowing and making, &c. arpent of natural
meadows ........................................ 30
On fencing .......................................... 50
Orchard andgarden
.................................. 20
Sundries ........................................
... 30
--
-- 347
40 negroes at 501
................................................ 2000
Annual expence of negroes per head, overseer, 11 ..... 40
Cloaths, 11
.......................................... 40
Sundry expences .................................... 40
- - 160
SEED.
20 acres of wheat at 8 s ............................... 8
40 oats at 8 s
........................................ 16
_-- - 24
Carried
over
............................................... . £5306
1. s. d.
Brought forward ................................ 5306 0 0
70 turnips, s .............................. 3 10 0
5 potatoes, 8s ................... .......... 2 0 0
-- 5 10 0
Taxes
............................................... 30 0 0
Two years' interest on 53001 ......................... 530 0 0
£5871 10 0
During the preceding time [five years, itemized
statement,
including the increase of 20 negroes bought every year], no pro-
duce is supposed from cattle, that in so great a space
of country
they might increase to great herds and flocks; but
afterwards the
annual product would be very great, as the numbers
would be
two or three thousand head of cattle, five or six
thousand sheep,
and two or three thousand hogs; such herds have been
known
the property of single people in North Carolina, where
they have
not greater advantages, nor yet so great, as on the
Ohio: these
would yield annually near 1000l. a year in hides, wool,
and
barrelled meat for the West Indies, but I shall
calculate only
300l.
252 Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications.
1. s. d.
Receipt above
...................................... 2043 10 0
Cattle ............................................... 300 0 0
£2343 10 0
Which
from 8278 1. (total expense of stocking) is per cent. 28 1.
This
profit is considerable, not so much in itself, as in the
circumstance
of the planters being able annually to incorporate
it
into the old capital, and thereby yield a compound interest at
that
proportion. I am of opinion, that husbandry in England will
yield
a greater profit than 241. per cent. [calculations for the
Ohio
less receipt from cattle] if so large a sum as 8000l. is
expended
in stocking a farm. Calculations have been published
of
English husbandry, which shew that so high as 33 per cent.
may
be made in any part of the Kingdom by good and improved
husbandry,
and above 20 per cent. by the most common crops.
And
I am clear, that if potatoes, carrots, madder, hops, etc., were
calculated
(which do not come into those calculations) the profit
might
be carried to 40 or perhaps 50 per cent. in certain situations;
in
this respect I am confident that America cannot equal Britain,
but
in other points the superiority is entirely with her: that of
the
annual increase of culture is a very essential one. What a
vast
difference between the English farmer putting out his savings
at
4 per cent. and his brother on the Ohio doing the same at 24
compound
interest! What a difference between the one living on
another
man's land, with a lease of twenty-one years, which is
a
long one, subjected to the caprice of a landlord or a steward, or
sure
of quitting at the end of his term, and the other living on
his
own extensive freehold of 10,000 acres! What a difference
between
80l. a year spent in all sorts of necessaries, even bread,
meat,
malt, etc., by the farmer for house-keeping; and the same
sum
by the planter for tea, sugar, coffee, chocolate, spices, rums,
and
manufactures. Bread, meat, venison, fruit, fish, fowl, game
in
the utmost plenty, besides the corn, etc., the expence of which is
before
reckoned, but no produce!
In
all these circumstances there can be no comparison: at the
same
time that the Ohio planter makes near as great interest from
his
first capital as the English farmer; at the same time that he is
The Ohio Prospectus for the Year
1775. 253
able to throw his savings annually into
business at 28 per cent.
compound interest; he lives like a
country gentleman in Britain
who has an estate of 2000l. a year, and
if the latter spends half
the year at London, much better; while
the farmer, it is very well
known, must fare very coarsely. I draw
this comparison with no
design to send British farmers to the
Ohio. I am clear not one in
the three Kingdoms will do; had I
thought a book would be an
inducement to them, I would not have
drawn up this calculation:
it is written for the use of those who
will go to America, whether
books are published or not; and to them
it is meant merely as
advice, that they make a proper choice
of the colony they settle
in: many go to Nova Scotia, to New
England, to New York, etc.,
where they can raise nothing
advantageous to the commerce of
Britain, and where they must live in a
climate that is odious to a
British constitution, at least during
the severity of winter. There
is no object in the whole range of
American affairs of more im-
portance than the directing new
settlers, whether from Britain or
foreign countries, to those parts of our
colonies, which from their
staple productions are really valuable
to the mother-country;
yet this matter, of as great consequence
as it certainly is, has not
by any means been so much attended to as
it ought; for govern-
ment has paid the freight of more men to
Nova Scotia, than it
has to Virginia and Maryland; though the
former has no staple.
and can only rival Britain in her
fishery, and the latter one so
valuable in every respect as tobacco.
APPENDIX.
By the country of the Ilionois, I mean
all that territory to the north-
west of the Ohio, extending on both
sides the river Ilionois quite to Lake
Michigan and the river St. Joseph; the
settlements made by the French
on the river Myamis; but in particular the
country east of the Mississippi,
between the Ohio and Ilionois river, to
the distance of about one hun-
dred miles from the former. This
territory went among the French by
the general name of the country of the
Ilionois. It claims attention in
this work, first because we are in
possession of all the settlements made
by the French in it, and notwithstanding
its being deficient in all govern-
ment but that of the commanding officers
of our forts, they have in-
creased considerably by the wandering
settlers from our colonies; and
secondly, because the great richness of
the soil and fertility of the
climate will hereafter attract so many
inhabitants, as to make the
254 Ohio Arch. and
Hist. Society Publications.
establishment of some civil government
highly necessary. The public
accounts given of this country are not
numerous, but what there are,
are very consistent with each other, and
also with the private information
I have received from the officers with
whom I have conversed, that
made a considerable residence there.
Charlevoix, who passed through this
country, has given some slight
descriptions of different parts, which
will afford a pretty good idea
of it; he entered it by Lake Erie, the
country upon which though not
included in it, yet is so near as to
deserve our attention here.*
I have been led to make these long
extracts from Charlevoix, be-
cause his authority has always been
justly esteemed, and he gave this
account long before the country became
subject to Britain: although
he only touches upon certain
circumstances of the soil and climate, as a
traveller and not as a resident, yet may
we gather from it that both
are excellent, and the soil is fertile
in yielding tobacco and the articles
of comon husbandry, particularly wheat;
that the forests are among
the finest in the world; the meadows of
an unbounded extent, and full
of buffaloes; that the air is pure and
healthy, and the climate in every
respect temperate and agreeable; and
lastly, that the beauty of many
tracts of this country is as great as
the finest assemblage of wood, water,
hill, and dale can make it.
Much later accounts confirm these
particulars. When Charlevoix
was there, in 1721, the French had not
begun to cultivate it, but since
that period they have made a great
progress; so that at the peace of
1762 they had a fine and well settled
colony about Kascasquias and Fort
Chartres, and also many settlements on
the river Myamis, principally
inhabited by emigrants from Canada: some
of these sold their effects,
and retired upon the conclusion of the
peace, but the major part re-
mained under the British government; nor
has the country declined since,
notwithstanding the only government
established in it is that of the
commanding officers of the garrisoned
forts.
Mr. Pownal, in his Administration of
the Colonies, gives, from very
good authority, a few particulars
concerning the country of the Illinois.
"This country," says
Charlevoix in 1721, "will become the grainery of
Louisiana; and in 1746 we find it
actually becoming so, for in that year
it sent down to New Orleans fifty ton of
flour; in 1747 we find it well
furnished with provisions, and having
fine crops; and in a letter of
Mons. Vaudreuil's, in 1748, we have an
account of its produce and ex-
ports-flour, corn, bacon, hams, both of
bears and hogs, corned pork,
and wild beef, myrtle-wax, cotton,
tallow, leather, tobacco, lead, copper,
some small quantity of buffalo wool,
venison, poultry, bear's grease,
oil, skins, and some coarse furs; and we
find a regular communication
*Citations from the Voyage, London,
1761, Vol. II, pp. 3, 6, 17, 18, 40,
98, 199, 218, 221, 222, 236-239: with a
trace of the coloring of the devel-
opmental propagandist.
|
The Ohio Prospectus for the Year 1775. 255
settled with New Orleans, by convoys, which come down annually the latter end of December, and return at latest by the middle of February." The private accounts I have had of this country confirm the pre- ceding articles of intelligence, and give the greatest reason for deter- mining that it ranks among the best and most agreeable of America; especially in every circumstance that concerns the plenty and agreeable- ness of living, and all the productions of common husbandry, in which I believe it yields to no part of the world. As to staples in a British market, it will be by no means deficient in them, whenever the ad- vantages of the climate are any ways seconded in these respects by the skill and industry of the planters. Tobacco may undoubtedly be pro- duced here in any quantity, and of a quality equal to any other: the country, most of it, in the same latitude as Virginia and Maryland, with the advantage of a much more regular climate, and winters less severe. In a word, it is deficient in no article that can tend to render it a valuable colony, and whenever it is settled will be found of that im- portance to this kingdom, of which we have already experienced those to be that possess staple productions. |
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