Ohio History Journal
ADDRESS OF JUDGE JOSEPH COX.
THE BUILDING OF THE STATE.
THE first settlement in this State, at
Marietta, and
organization of the Northwest Territory,
under the
Ordinance of 1787, were the most notable
events in the
history of our country, and deserve to
rank among the
greatest of the civilized world. The
Territory having
been wrested from the domination of
foreign nations by
the combined strength of the American
Colonies after the
eight years' struggle of the Revolutionary
war, it became
at once a subject of intense interest as
to what disposition
should be made of it. The soldiers of
the Revolution,
who had periled their all in defense of
the country,
claimed it as the common inheritance of
all the Colonies,
and to be disposed of by a central
government. Virginia,
New York, Connecticut and Massachusetts
also made
claims of different kinds to it, and it
was not until 1786
that these conflicting contentions were
settled, and it was
agreed by their relinquishment that the
land should be the
property of the United States, then
existing under the
"Articles of Confederation,"
to be formed into States, and
to be admitted into the Union when so
formed, upon equal
footing in all respects with the
original States, and the land
disposed of for the common benefit of
all the States, the
manner and conditions of sale to be
regulated exclusively
by Congress.
Consider the vastness of the territory
thus to be con-
trolled, embracing nearly 240,000
square miles, or 150,-
ooo,ooo acres! A land not then fully
explored by white
men, but so far as known, considered to
be one of
boundless forests, immense swamps,
extensive prairies,
impassable rivers, rough and barren
hills, yet rich in all
the possible resources for future habitations,
but filled
with wild beasts alert in pursuit of
their prey roving
150
Address of Judge Joseph Cox. 151
bands of savages numbering, as was
supposed, nearly
sixty thousand warriors, claiming title
to the soil, and
jealous of every encroachment on their
hunting grounds
by their enemy, the white man. This wilderness, thus
beset with hardships and danger, if
settled, must be by
men and women reared in the civilization
of the Eastern
States, abandoning their long-cherished
homes and all the
comforts and refinements to which they
had been accus-
tomed, and taking a long and toilsome
march over the
Alleghany mountains. The hostile Indian must be ap-
peased by treaty or kindness; these
failing, by war, ere
their new homes or lives were safe. The wolf, and bear,
and panther must be kept from the door
by long and
weary watches; the wilderness must be
cleared by hard
and exhaustive toil before bread could
be raised, and all
this, with the sickness, incident to a
new country, wearing
their strength and lives away.
All this aboriginal rudeness and
savagery lurked at the
western border of the old States, a
standing menace to all
peace and security. No treaty had thus
far been sufficient
to prevent this. The independence of the
colonies having
been achieved and acknowledged, the eyes
of the world
were turned to America as the paradise
of nations, where
man could be the arbiter of his own
destiny, and there was
every probability that the available
lands along the eastern
stretch of the Alleghanies to the
Atlantic Ocean would be
rapidly filled by the incoming hosts
from foreign lands.
National needs, as well as national
security, required that
the vast Western territory should no
longer be the sole
homes of savages, but should be
reclaimed and converted
into homes for civilized men.
But who shall be equal to this great
task? Where are
the men with sufficient nerve and muscle
to face these
dangers and conquer them? With a rich
and powerful
government behind them to protect and
aid, the demand
might easily have been filled. But a long and exhaustive
war had depleted the Treasury, left the
nation almost hope-
152 Ohio Archaeological and Historical Quarterly.
lessly involved in debt to its citizen
soldiery, its bonds and
obligations for millions outstanding
unpaid, with no re-
sources by which to redeem them, and to
add to this, the
land filled with counterfeited scrip and
bills, almost impos-
sible to be distinguished from the
genuine. What, there-
fore, could be expected from the
government? In this
emergency there stepped forward nearly
three hundred
soldiers who had borne the heat and
burden of a long cam-
paign of eight years, under Washington,
who had left their
wives and children at home to eke out a
scanty living as
best they might while the husbands and
fathers were fight-
ing for their country's independence,
and now with broken
fortunes and health, and tattered
clothes, but with hearts
overflowing with patriotism, they
presented themselves to
the Congress by their leader, General
Rufus Putnam, and
said: "Ten years ago, when war was
proclaimed against
the Mother Country, you promised
bounties in land to the
soldiers of the Revolution who should
continue to the close
of the war, or until discharged, and to
their representa-
tives, should they be slain by the
enemy, where the
remainder of their days might be passed
on their own
lands, in the enjoyment of that freedom
for which they
periled their lives, their fortunes and
their sacred honor.
We have faithfully performed our duty,
as history will
record. We come to you now and ask that
in redemption
of your promise you give us homes in
that Western
wilderness, and our stout arms will cope
with the sav-
ages if need be; we will hew down the
forests, and therein
erect temples to the living God, raise
and educate our
children to serve and love and honor the
Nation for which
their fathers fought, cultivate farms,
build towns and cities,
and make that wilderness the pride and
glory of the
nation. All we ask is that it shall be
consecrated to us
and our children forever, with the
blessings of that Decla-
ration which proclaimed to the world,
and sustained by our
arms, established is self-evident that
all men are created
equal; that they are endowed by
their Creator with cer-
Address of Judge Joseph Cox. 153
tain inalienable rights; that among
these are life, liberty,
and the pursuit of happiness, and that
to secure these
ends governments are instituted among
men, deriving
their just power from the consent of the
governed."
It is not necessary that I should here
repeat the long
struggle and many endeavors of
Washington, General Put-
nam, Manasseh Cutler, and others, to
surmount the diffi-
culties in their path, but which were
ultimately successful,
in the grant to the Ohio Company and the
adoption of
that wonderful Ordinance of 1787 for
the government
of the Northwest Territory. I call it wonderful, for the
clearness of its enunciation of
principles of government,
based on the true rights of man, not
only for that time,
but for all time, has had no equal in
history. It is some-
times said of great events " that
men build wiser than
they know." But that can not be
said of this instrument.
It was not framed in the dark or by
guesswork. It was
the work of wise, thoughtful men who
were framing, as
they believed, an instrument on which
depended all the
future fortune and happiness of
themselves and their
posterity to remote generations, and the
history of its
birth shows that every part was
carefully scanned, and
every principle it contains tenaciously
adhered to, until
success crowned their efforts. How few
there are who
fully comprehend its great importance
and the in-
valuable guarantees it gave! By the general mind, it
is referred to as only an ordinance,
which provided
that slavery and involuntary servitude
should never exist
in the Territory. This, it is true, is one of its great
features. But it contained infinitely
more than that. Its
principles are greater than those of
Magna Charta wrested
by the English barons from King John. It
was the first
fruits of the Declaration of
Independence-the first crys-
talization of its principles into
organic law. It fixed rights
and obligations which are of the very
essence of the nat-
ural and inherent rights of man. It
provided for the pro-
tection of personal property and freedom
of conscience of
154 Ohio
Archaeological and Historical Quarterly.
every man. It declares that the estates
of residents and
non-resident proprietors in the
Northwest Territory dying
without wills should descend to and be
distributed among
their children and the descendants of a
deceased child,
or grandchild, to take the share of
their parents in equal
parts among them; and when there shall
be no children
or descendants, then in equal parts to
the next of kin, in
equal degree; and among collaterals the
children of a
deceased brother or sister of the
intestate shall have, in
equal parts among them, their deceased
parent's share;
and there shall be in no case a
distinction between the
kindred of the whole and of the half
blood, saving in all
cases to the widow one-third part of the
real estate for life
and one-third part of the personalty;
thus striking down
with one blow the old English law of
primogeniture, by
which the first-born alone inherited the
estate-a law which
has been the curse of that and every
other country where it
has been adopted.
It gave the proprietor the right to
devise his property by
will to whomsoever he chose-to convey it
by lease or bargain
and sale, thus giving him the absolute
ownership of all the
property he might accumulate.
It proclaimed absolute freedom in
religion by providing
that no person should ever be molested
on account of his
mode of worship or religious sentiments;
that all should
be entitled to the benefit of the writ
of habeas corpus to
test the legality of detention or
imprisonment, and should
be also entitled to trial by jury; and
all should be protected
by judicial proceedings according to the
course of the
common law; that all should be bailable,
except for capital
cases, when the proof should be evident
or the presump-
tion great; fines for offenses should be
moderate, no cruel
or unusual punishment inflicted; no man
to be deprived
of his liberty or property but by the
judgment of his peers
or the law of the land; if the public
necessity demanded
that his property be taken for the
common benefit or his
Address of Judge Joseph Cox. 155
own services so required, that full
compensation be paid;
and that no law ought ever to be passed
which shall in
any manner whatever interfere with or
affect private con-
tracts or engagements bona fide and
without fraud pre-
viously formed.
It declared the fundamental principles
of civil and relig-
ious liberty to form the basis whereon
these Republics,
their laws and constitutions are
founded, and that this
ordinance was to fix and establish these
principles as the
basis of all laws, constitutions, and
governments which
forever hereafter shall be formed in
said Territory. And
that religion, morality and knowledge
being necessary to
good government and the happiness of
mankind, schools
and the means of education shall forever
be encouraged.
That the utmost good faith should be
observed toward
the Indian; his property shall not be
taken without his
consent, and they shall never be invaded
or disturbed
unless in just or lawful war, authorized
by Congress; and
it provided for a Governor, Executive
officers, Legislative
Assembly, and Courts of Justice; for the
formation of not
less than three, nor more than five,
States in the territory,
under constitutions to be republican,
and in conformity to
the principles contained in these
articles; and that such
States might be admitted, so far as
might be consistent
with the general interest of the
Confederacy, with a num-
ber of free inhabitants less than
60,000. And it declared
that these articles shall be considered
articles of compact
between the original States and the
people and States of
said territory, and forever unalterable,
unless by common
consent.
Looking over this whole Ordinance,
section by section,
who can point to any previous one which
so clearly de-
fined and so fully provided for the
protection of all the
rights of persons and property?
Armed and protected with this charter
and pledge of
their government, a portion of this
brave remnant of the
soldiers of the Revolution, in the
dreary midwinter of
156 Ohio
Archeaological and Historical Quarterly.
1787-8, bade farewell to all the
cherished endearments
of the homes of their birth and
childhood, and took their
solitary way over fields made gory by
the blood of their
slain kinsmen in many a hard-fought
battle, crossed rough
and inhospitable mountains, waded
through snow and
streams, scantily clothed and poorly
fed, and, after many
weary weeks, on the seventh of April,
one hundred years
ago, landed on yonder point beneath the
shadows of those
monuments of a race long since swept
from the face of
the earth, their homes melted away and
their sites recov-
ered with the forests of ages, and their
name and history
unwrit and forgotten. That memorable
seventh of April,
1788, should never be forgotten, or
passed over in silence,
by any one who venerates the heroic
character of the
grand men who first planted their feet
on this soil on
that day.
Here on that day, on the broad and true
foundation of
the Declaration of Independence and the
Ordinance of
1787, these brave men began the work of
the building of
this State. But in that great work they
were not to be
left unaided. Reports of the vast
resources of the West-
ern territory, its fine climate, its
great possibilities for
agriculture, manufacture and commerce,
its great lakes,
noble rivers and the free character
impressed on it by the
government, spread through all classes
of society, and ap-
plication was made to Congress for the
sale of other por-
tions and its opening to settlement by
other associations,
similar to that of the Ohio Company. A
portion in the
south-western part of the State had been
reserved by Vir-
ginia for the soldiers from that State
who had fought for
their country, and another by
Connecticut in the central
part for those of her citizens who had
suffered by fire from
the incursions of the British in that
State, and these were
beginning to be occupied. Judge John
Cleves Symmes,
of New Jersey, who had been a Delegate
in Congress and
was now Chief Justice of the Supreme
Court of that State,
on the 29th of August, 1787, made
application to the Pres-
Address of Judge Joseph Cox. 157
ident and Congress for the purchase of
lands lying at the
mouth of the Big Miami (now the
southwestern end of the
State), thence up the Ohio to the mouth
of the Little
Miami so as to embrace about a million
of acres.
After many negotiations with the
Commissioners and
frequent changes in terms (owing, as in
that of the Ohio
Company, to the difficulty of obtaining
government scrip,
because it had risen rapidly as soon as
it was seen that the
government would take it in payment for
land), Judge
Symmes, supposing his contract agreed
upon, started in
July, 1788, with a train of fourteen
four-horse wagons and
sixty persons, to locate on his new
purchase.
He came, as did the Ohio Company, over
the Alleghany
mountains, and by way of Pittsburg and
Wheeling in flat-
boats, stopping a brief time at Marietta
to confer with the
inhabitants there, a portion of whom,
with Manasseh Cut-
ler, he had seen at Bedford, Penn., on
their route, and on
the 22d of September landed at the mouth
of the Little
Miami river, above Cincinnati, and
explored a portion of
the country in the rear. But he made no
permanent set-
tlement then, but returned to Limestone
(now Maysville),
Kentucky. The Indians had become restive
under the
now apparent determination of the whites
to make large
permanent settlements in the territory,
and, under pre-
tense that former treaties made with
some of their tribes
had been with persons unauthorized to
act for whole
tribes, made frequent incursions on all
the white settle-
ments, stealing property, burning
cabins, and killing the
inmates. Repeated attempts had been made to hold
definitive treaties with persons
acknowledged as author-
ized by all the tribes, but in vain.
In October, 1786, General Clark had
invited all the sav-
ages of the Northwest to meet him in
council in November,
but they replied it was too late in the
season, and the meet-
ing was postponed until April, 1787.
Nothing had been
done, however, until July, when the
Superintendent of
Indian Affairs was ordered to proceed to
Vincennes and
158
Ohio Archaeological and Historical Quarterly.
hold a council with the Wabash and
Shawnees. It was
finally determined that a treaty should
be held early in '88
with these tribes, by the Governor of
the new Territory,
and troops to preserve peace were
stationed at Venango,
Fort Pitt, Fort McIntosh, the Muskingum,
Miami, Vin-
cennes and Louisville, Ky., and the
militia of Kentucky
were held in readiness for any
emergency. But these
preparations had no effect; the Indians
were neither over-
awed, conquered, nor satisfied, and all
further proceedings
were continued until January, 1789, when
the meeting was
held at Fort Harmar.
But, notwithstanding these difficulties,
the settlers went
on with their improvements, guarding as
well as they
might against the incursions of the
savages. When
Symmes returned to Limestone from the
Miamis, Major
Benjamin Stites went down with
twenty-six persons and
built a block-house near the mouth of
the Little Miami,
on the 25th of November,
1788, and established the town
of Columbia, now a part of Cincinnati.
During all this time the Indians were
lingering about
the settlements at Marietta and the
Miamis, evidently hos-
tile, but apparently friendly, until
satisfactory treaties could
be made.
At Marietta the settlement increased and
went on pros-
perously. The inhabitants were watchful
and industrious.
Houses were built to shelter them, new
improvements pro-
jected, a church and school-house
erected, and now it con-
tained one hundred and thirty-three men,
fifteen of whom
had families. That all might be
protected under some
kind of law, the Governor not having yet
arrived to pro-
mulgate any, the people met together and
framed such as
were necessary for their temporary
security, and that all
might became acquainted with them they
were publicly
nailed on a large oak tree on the Point,
the most public
place in the village, and Return
Jonathan Meigs was ap-
pointed to administer them. As a strong
evidence of the
good habits of the people, it is said
that during the three
Address of Judge Joseph Cox. 159
months of their existence but one
difference arose, and
that was compromised. This well
justified the assertion
of Washington that "no colony in
America was ever set-
tled under such favorable auspices as
that which has
just commenced at the Muskingum.
Information, prop-
erty and strength will be its
characteristics. I know many
of the settlers personally, and there
never were men better
calculated to promote the welfare of
such a community."
On the second of July, 1788, the village
was publicly
christened Marietta, after the
unfortunate French Queen,
Marie Antoinette, it having before that
borne the name of
Adelphia. On the fourth, a celebration
of the anniversary
of independence was held, Judge Varnum
delivering the
oration, and on the ninth, General
Arthur St. Clair, who
had been appointed Governor, arrived.
The first law
regulating the militia was published,
and on the twenty-
sixth the Governor issued a proclamation
creating all the
country which had been ceded by the
Indians east of
the Scioto into the county of
Washington. On the second
of September, 1788, the first Court was
opened with appro-
priate ceremonies. The description, as
given by the his-
torian, is one worthy of the pencil of
the greatest of
painters, and I well remember when, as a
boy, I first read
it, the enthusiastic feelings it raised
in me. Never was a
court established with a more becoming
sense of the
great importance of that tribunal, which should ever sit
as the representative of God dispensing
justice on earth.
I love still to read that description,
and fancy myself one
of the interested spectators.
The procession was formed at the Point,
where most of
the settlers resided, in the following
order:
1. The High Sheriff (Colonel Ebenezer
Sproat) with
drawn sword. He is described as a man of
uncommonly
tall, portly person and commanding
figure, who at once
attracted the attention of the Indians,
who styled him the
Big Buckeye. He had been conspicuous in
the battles of
Trenton, Princeton, Monmouth and many
others in the
160 Ohio Archaeological and Historical Quarterly.
Revolutionary war. He was a man of bold and dauntless
courage, and bore that sword of sheriff for fourteen years.
2. The citizens! What a grand company of citizens!
Generals and colonels, majors, captains, inferior officers
and private soldiers who had passed through the blood,
fires of the Revolution, now marching in the quiet garbs
of citizens to enthrone a court of justice, which should in
peace be the arbiter of all their rights of life, person and
property.
3. Officers of the garrison of Fort Harmar, composed of
the same class of men, but yet in the military service to
protect the colony.
4. Members of the bar, now transferred from the fierce
arena of war to the calm contention of mind with mind.
5. The Supreme Judges, General Samuel H. Parsons
and General James M. Varnum, both distinguished officers
of the Revolutionary army, and eminent lawyers and
statesmen.
6. The Governor, General Arthur St. Clair, distinguished
also in the same war and as President of the Continental
Congress.
7. The newly-appointed Judges of the Court of Com-
mon Pleas, Generals Rufus Putnam and Benjamin Tupper,
both also distinguished in that war, and also as the fathers
of the new colony and its most active promoters. This
august procession marched up a path that had been cut
and cleared through the forest to Campus Martius (the
stockade), when the whole countermarched and the Judges
took their seats. Rev. Dr. Manasseh Cutler, one of the
most eminent clergymen of the time, a chaplain in the
Revolutionary army, a member of Congress afterward, and
one of the most active and intelligent in forming the
Ohio Company, then invoked the Divine blessing, and the
sheriff solemnly proclaimed that a Court is now open for
the administration of even-handed justice to the poor and
rich, to the guilty and the innocent, without respect of
persons, none to be punished without a trial by their
Address of Judge Joseph Cox. 161
peers, and then in pursuance of the law
and evidence in the
case. As witnesses to this spectacle was
a large body of
Indians from the most powerful tribes in
the entire West,
who had assembled for the purpose of
making a treaty.
The court of justice of the State then
so solemnly opened
has, in all these hundred years, never
been closed; but is
still open to all classes who seek
redress for wrongs. The
Territorial government, having been now
established, with
General St. Clair, Governor; Winthrop
Sargent, Secretary;
Samuel H. Parsons, John C. Symmes (in
place of John
Armstrong, resigned,) and James M.
Varnum began the
duty of legislating for the Territory,
and continued in
session until December, enacting a
number of laws, which,
however, were not approved by Congress,
on the ground
that the Governor and Judges had
authority only to adopt
existing laws from the codes of the
original States, but
not to enact laws of their own
formation. On July 2,
1788, Congress was informed officially
that a sufficient num-
ber of States had ratified the new
constitution of the
United States, and measures were taken
to put it in
force.
On January 9, 1789, at Fort Harmar, a
treaty of peace
was made with the Indian tribes. With
the Iroquois, con-
firming the previous one at Fort Stanwix
in 1784; another
with the Wyandottes, Delawares, Ottawas,
Chippewas,
Pottawattamies and Sacs, confirming and
extending the treaty
of Fort McIntosh of January, 1785.
The first Congress under the new
constitution of the
United States assembled at Federal Hall,
Wall street, New
York, in April, 1789, and installed
George Washington as first
President of the United States, and one
of its first official acts
was to confirm the treaty made at Fort
Harmar.
The terms of Territorial officers having
expired on the
adoption of the new constitution,
President Washington
appointed General St. Clair, Governor;
Winthrop Sargent,
Secretary; Samuel H. Parsons, John
Cleves Symmes and
William Barton, Judges of the General
Court. William
Vol. II-11
162
Ohio Archaeological and
Historical Quarterly.
Barton declined, and George Turner was
appointed in his
stead. Judge Parsons died shortly after,
and General Rufus
Putnam was appointed in his place.
While affairs were thus progressing at
Marietta, active
steps were being taken in the Miami
Purchase. On the
24th of December, 1788, Israel Ludlow,
Matthias Denman,
Robert Patterson, Joel Williams and
twenty-three other
men left Limestone, and on the 28th of
December, amid
floating ice that filled the Ohio from
shore to shore, landed
at Losantiville, now Cincinnati. This
party proceeded at
once to lay out, survey and make a plat
of the new town.
By the close of the year eleven families
and twenty-four
unmarried men were residents. On the 9th
of August
Captain Strong, with Lieutenant
Kingsbury and Ensign
Hartshorn and a company of seventy men
left Marietta,
and on the 11th Captain Ferguson and
Major Doughty fol-
lowed, for the purpose of clearing
ground and laying out a
new fort for the protection of the
settlers in Symmes' Pur-
chase. After reconnoitering for three
days from the Little
to the Big Miami for an eligible site,
he at length fixed on
that opposite the mouth of the Licking
river, which he
represented as high and healthy,
abounding with never-
failing springs, and the most proper
position he could find.
On the 26th of September, 1789, he began
the building of
Fort Washington, in Cincinnati on the
square bounded by
Third and Fourth and Broadway and Ludlow
street, on a
reservation of fifteen acres made by the
government. On
the 24th of December, 1789, General
Harmar left Fort
Harmar with a small fleet of boats and
three hundred men,
and on the 28th landed at, and took
command of, Fort
Washington. Major Doughty returned to
the command of
Fort Harmar, and thenceforth for a
number of years Fort
Washington was the headquarters of the
United States army
in the West.
In this settlement, as well as at
Marietta, was felt the
necessity of religious services and
educational privileges.
On the twenty-fourth of January, 1790,
the Baptist Church
Address of Judge Joseph Cox. 163
was organized at Columbia, with Rev.
Stephen Gano as
pastor, and shortly after an academy,
with John Reilly
as teacher; and in 1791 Rev. James
Kemper was installed as
pastor of the First Presbyterian Church
at Cincinnati, and a
church erected in 1792, on the corner of
Fourth and Main,
where the present church stands, and on
the same lot the
Cincinnati College Building.
On the second of January, 1790, Governor
St. Clair arrived
at Cincinnati and organized the County
of Hamilton, and
changed the name of the town from
Losantiville to Cincinnati,
after that of the society organized by
the officers of the
Revolutionary army, of which he was a
prominent mem-
ber. William Goforth, William Wells, and
William Mc-
Millan were appointed Judges of the
Court of Common Pleas,
I. Brown, Sheriff, and Israel Ludlow,
Prothonotary or
Clerk, and officers of the militia were
appointed. As
at Marietta before Governor St. Clair
arrived, the people
had been governed by laws of their own
making, with
Israel Ludlow appointed by them as
Sheriff to execute
them. But after the Governor arrived
Courts began to
sit regularly, and the community came easily
under the forces
of law and order. A celebration was held
on the fourth of
July, with a salute of thirteen guns and
a military parade.
The original settlers of Cincinnati were
like those of Marietta,
mostly composed of officers and soldiers
of the Revolutionary
war.
But now the depredations of the Indians
became more
frequent and alarming No settlement was safe from attack
by day or night. The Indians threw off
all restraints
of tactics, and seemed bent on
annihilating every settlement
with the torch, tomahawk, and
scalping-knife. It was then
determined that General Harmar should
march to the
Indian towns at the head of the Miami of
the Lakes,
and inflict such chastisement upon them
as would protect
from further depredations. His command
consisted of 320
regular troops from New Jersey and
Pennsylvania, and
1,133 drafted militia from Pennsylvania and Kentucky.
164
Ohio Archaeological and Historical Quarterly.
He proceeded on his toilsome journey
through the wilder-
ness and the great swamp, and on the
30th of September,
1790, arrived at the Indian towns on the
Maumee, and in
the neighborhood of Fort Wayne, Ind.,
and, after destroy-
ing a number of them and laying waste
their corn-fields,
he was attacked at different points by
large bodies of
Indians, and, after suffering great loss
of men, was com-
pelled to retreat with the remnant of
his forces to Fort
Washington, which he left shortly after
for Philadelphia,
being succeeded in command by General
St. Clair. Re-
peated attempts were made after this to
induce the Indians
to cease their depredations, but in
vain, and the situation
at every point became more alarming.
General Putnam,
writing to the President, January 2,
1791, reported an
attack on Big Bottom, forty miles up the
river, in which
eleven men, one woman and two children
were killed, three
men missing and six escaped.
"Thus," he says, "the war
which was partial before the campaign of
last year is in all
probability become general. Our
situation is truly criti-
cal. * * * Several settlements are
broken up * * * and
unless Government speedily send a body
of troops for our
protection we are a ruined people."
Similar complaints and appeals were made
by Judge
Symmes and others. The government became
aroused to
a true appreciation of the real danger
and determined to
take the most active measures. From the
high character
of General St. Clair in the army,
Washington appointed
him Major-General of all the troops to
be employed on the
frontier, and he was directed to proceed
to the Indian
country and attempt to establish a just
and liberal peace
with all the Indian tribes; but, if all
lenient means failed,
to use such coercive measures as he
should possess. Under
these orders he proceeded to organize
his army at Ludlow
Station, now in the northern part of
Cincinnati, and on the
17th of September, 1792, with 2,300 men,
exclusive of
militia, he moved forward twenty-five
miles to the Great
Miami river and erected Fort Hamilton on
the site of the
Address of Judge Joseph Cox. 165
present city of Hamilton; thence
forty-four' miles and
erected Fort Jefferson, six miles south
of where Greenville,
in Darke county, now stands, and on the
24th of October
marched northward through the
wilderness. The roads
were heavy and wet, the militia began
deserting, the com-
mander was enfeebled by disease, when,
on the morning of
November 4th, near what is now Fort
Recovery, in Mercer
county, just at daylight, they were
attacked by an over-
whelming force of Indians and terribly
defeated (over six
hundred killed) and the army straggled
back bleeding and
torn to Fort Washington. This defeat
sent a thrill of horror
through the nation.
The Indians, triumphant and instigated
by British traders,
were truly on the war path. Every
attempt to mollify
them utterly failed, and it was
determined to send a new
force against them under a new
commander. The selection
was a difficult one: two brave and
distinguished Gen-
erals had already failed. Generals
Morgan, Scott, Wayne,
Henry Lee and Colonel Darke were
suggested. Wash-
ington finally selected General Anthony
Wayne, to the
extreme disgust of all orders, it is
said, in the Old Dominion,
as Governor Lee then wrote him. But
Washington was
inflexible in his choice; and it was
well, for it inspired
everywhere confidence in the desponding.
The old soldiers
of the Revolution remembered him at
Brandywine, Mon-
mouth, Valley Forge, and at Stony Point,
where, when
leading his forces and falling, as was
supposed, mortally
wounded, he yet cried out to his men:
"March on! Carry
me into the fort, for I will die at the
head of my col-
umn!" Never was confidence better warranted.
On the
15th of August, 1794 with an army of
2,600, he started
on his March from Fort Washington to the
Indian country.
Victory perched on his banner at the
battle of The Fallen
Timbers, on the Maumee. His name became
a terror to
the Indians as Mad Anthony. They sued
for peace, and
the treaty at Greenville, in 1795,
followed, giving peace to
all the Territory for seventeen years.
The remnant of his
166 Ohio Archaeological
and Historical Quarterly.
victorious army returned in triumph to
Fort Washington
and was disbanded. The gallant General shortly after
retiring to Erie, Penn., in broken
health, where he died
the following year, leaving an honored
name for bravery
and patriotism, which can never be
forgotten by the peo-
ple of these States. Conspicuous on his
staff in all this
campaign was a young officer, who but a
year or two
before had come from Virginia, and whom
he afterward
placed in command of Fort Washington as
Captain, Will-
iam Henry Harrison, the son of the
President of the Con-
gressional Committee of the Whole when
the Declaration of
Independence was adopted, and whose name
is appended
to that instrument, and who was three
times elected Gov-
ernor of Virginia. The history of the
son is too well
known to more than name his career as
first Delegate
in Congress from this Territory,
Governor of Indiana
Territory, United States Senator,
Commander-in-Chief of
the Western forces at Tippecanoe, River
Rasin, and the
Thames, Minister to Columbia, and
President of the United
States.
And now, with peace once more restored,
the people
returned to all the peaceful avocations
of life which had
so long been invaded by war. All the old
States poured
the men and women of their best and
bravest blood into
the Territory. A new impulse was given
to trade and
agriculture. Forests were rapidly
felled, towns sprang up
as if by magic, all the hopes of the
early pioneers were fast
blossoming into fruit.
In 1798 the territory contained 15,000
white male inhab-
itants, and it was, therefore, entitled
to enter on the
second grade of the Territorial
government. The gov-
ernment accordingly called the people to
elect representa-
tives to the first General Assembly, and
required the
members elected to meet at Cincinnati in
convention, to
nominate ten persons, to be returned to
the President of
the United States, out of whom five were
to be selected
by him, with the consent of the Senate,
to be commis-
Address of Judge Joseph Cox. 167
sioned as a Legislative Council. The representatives
were chosen, and on the fourth of
February, 1799, nomi-
nated ten names, out of which were
commissioned Jacob
Burnet and James Findlay, of Cincinnati;
Henry Vander-
burgh, of Vincennes; Robert Oliver, of
Marietta, and David
Vance, of Vanceville. A Legislative body was selected,
composed of the most substantial men of
the country.
Both branches assembled at Cincinnati
September 16,
1799, and elected their officers. On the
3rd of October in
joint session they elected William H.
Harrison as the first
Delegate to Congress. He had been acting
as Secretary
of the Territory, but immediately
resigned and went to
Philadelphia and took his seat in
Congress. His first act
was to offer a resolution to subdivide
the surveys of public
lands and have them offered for sale in
small tracts. This
he succeeded in having passed, although
resisted by land
speculators. This was a most beneficent measure. It
put it in the power of every industrious
man, however
poor, to own his own home. He also obtained liberal ex-
tension for the payment of those who had
acquired pre-
emption rights. At the same session
Congress divided the
Northwest Territory by establishing the
new Territory of
Indiana, and Harrison was appointed
Governor and Super-
intendent of Indian Affairs, which he
accepted and resigned
his seat in Congress. The new
Legislature applied itself
assiduously to the work of reorganizing
the laws of the
Territory, and the subject of education
engaged their most
serious attention, and Congress was
urged to secure to the
Territory the title of lands promised
for the support of
schools and colleges, including section
16 in every township.
During the session a memorial was
presented by officers
of the Virginia line in Continental
service in the Revolu-
tionary war praying for toleration to
remove with their
slaves to the military bounty
lands. As the Ordinance of
1787 prohibited it, the body had no
other alternative but
to reject it. "But," said Judge Burnet, a member of the
body, (and the author of most of the
early laws of the
168
Ohio Archaeological and Historical Quarterly.
State,) "the public feeling on the
subject of admitting
slavery into the Territory was such that
the request would
have been denied by a unanimous vote of
the Legislature
if it had the power of granting
it." The next session was
by act of Congress removed to
Chillicothe, when William
McMillan was elected delegate to
Congress to fill the place
of Mr Harrison till March 4th and Paul
Fearing, of Mari-
etta, for the two years thereafter. The
Legislature met in
Chillicothe in 1801, and sat from
November to January,
1802, and adjourned to meet in
Cincinnati in November
following. In January, 1802, a census
was taken of the
eastern division of the Territory, which
was found to con-
tain 45,028 persons of both sexes, and
application was
made to Congress for leave to call a
convention to establish
a State government. This was granted,
and on the 1st of
November, 1802, the convention met at
Chillicothe and
remained in session till the 29th, when
the constitution
was ratified and signed by the members,
and thus became
the fundamental law without any
submission to the people.
The entire proceedings of the convention
are contained in
a pamphlet of forty-nine pages.
Its provisions were in accordance with
the fundamental
principles of the Ordinance of 1787 and
Ohio then became
one of the States of the Union, on equal
terms with the
other States, and under it our fathers
proceeded to build
up this great State. Although many
thought the forma-
tion of the State was premature, yet it
really proved the
wisest course. It gave a spirit of
ambition and independ-
ence to the people, which became visible
in every avoca-
tion. This constitution remained in
force fifty years, when
a new one was adopted to suit the
growing necessities of
the people. Under that constitution new emigration set
to the State, and soon the active
industry of the farmers
produced more food than supplied their
necessities, and
they began to seek market for it. But there were no rail-
roads or turnpikes or canals, and the
only available route
for iransportation was by the Ohio and
Mississippi rivers
Address of Judge Joseph Cox. 169
to the markets of New Orleans or the
sea. This had, to
some extent, been used by flat-boats,
and in 1801 a ship was
built at Marietta and successfully
passed down to the ocean.
But as Spain owned Louisiana, she put
obstructions in
the way of navigating these waters until
her overthrow by
Napoleon, who in 1803 conveyed the whole
territory to
the United States for eighty million of
francs, or about
$15,000,000, thus giving an unvexed way
through the whole
route to the sea.
Under all these favorable circumstances
the State grew
rapidly. The building of vessels began
at Marietta, by
that brave veteran seaman of the
Revolution, Commodore
Whipple, which carried the produce of
the valley to New
Orleans, England and Russia. Population
rapidly increased,
and peace spread all over our border,
till in June, 1812,
the incursion of the Indians on our
northern and western
borders, aided by the. British traders,
and the claim of
Great Britain of the right to impress
our seamen on the
high seas, made it necessary for the
United States to
declare war against Great Britain, The
Northwest Territory
and Ohio were the principal theatres of
the war. We
met with defeat and disaster at first
from the combined
efforts of the British and Indians under
command of Proctor
and Tecumseh, but these were wiped out
by the splendid
achievements of Colonel Croghan's
defense of Fort Stephen-
son, Perry's victory on Lake Erie, the
total defeat of the
allied British and savages on the Thames
by General
Harrison, and the closing triumph of
General Jackson at
New Orleans.
In all these contests the men of Ohio
had a large share,
and performed feats of valor worthy of
their heroic
ancestors.
Nor did this stay the onward progress of
the State.
In 1800 Ohio was the seventeenth State
in population; in
1810, the thirteenth; in 1820, the
fifth; in 1830, the
fourth; in 1840, the third. In 1790 her
population was
3,000; in 1800, 45,365; in 1820,
581,484; in 1830, 935,872;
170
Ohio Archaeological and Historical Quarterly.
in 1840, 1,519,467; in 1850, 1,980,408;
in 1860, 2,339,511; in
1870, 2,665,260; in 1880, 3,198,239; an
increase possibly in
1888 to 3,600,000, nearly equal to the
population of the whole
United States at the time of the
Revolutionary war.
Its religious progress is marked by over
ten thousand
churches of all denominations.
In education-12,703 public
school-houses, value, $28,467,-
409; 24,620 teachers; number of pupils
in daily attendance,
577,844; annual expense, $10,123,897.
Besides these there
are 320 incorporated colleges and
academies, and 270 incorpor-
ated literary and library associations.
We have 9,363 miles of railroads, value
$91,264,178, paying
an annual tax of $1,504,093; 697 miles
of canals, innumerable
turnpikes, stretching over every one of
the eighty-eight
counties, most of them without toll to
travelers; and the great
swamps of the Northwest are drained by
thousands of miles
of ditches, making them the most fertile
lands on the
continent.
The State contains 25,535,846 acres of
land of the value
of $712,436,424; this is divided into
240,000 farms. The
chattel property in the duplicate is
$509,913,568, making
a total value of chattel and real property
of $1,670,079,568,
on which is paid an annual tax of
$31,167,510. Of the
land 9,805,305 acres are cultivated as
farms, and 6,214,862
acres as pasture. Over these farms and pasture roam
1,665,223 cattle, 4,295,839 sheep,
746,366 horses, 24,818
mules, 1,606,936 hogs. In 1886 we raised
40,366,868 bushels
of wheat and 112,192,744 bushels of
corn. We had 595,524
milch cows, from which were churned
45,769,819 pounds
of butter. While the hens, partaking of the general
industrial activity, laid 32,620,451
dozen of eggs. Of cheese
38,420,451 pounds were made, and
3,588,248 pounds ex-
ported from the State. Of wool we
clipped 23,558,070
pounds.
We have 588 coal mines, employing 19,704
men, and
produce 7.816,017 tons of coal, while
the product of the
numerous oil and natural gas wells
simply defies all arith-
Address of Judge Joseph Cox. 171
metical computation. In the last
twenty-two months 6,694,-
539 barrels of oil have been produced.
In every town
in the State are numerous manufactories
with steam engines,
roaring and hammering, cutting and
sawing out all articles
of usefulness for other manufactories,
for the farmers
and for every useful avocation at home,
and shipping
machinery and manufactured articles to
all parts of our
own and foreign countries. The Chief
Inspector of Factories
and Workshops, reports his inspection in
1887 of 3581
factories and workshops in thirty towns,
as employing
168,570 persons. Connecting all parts of
the State and
our own and foreign lands by
instantaneous communica-
tion, there are 473,642 miles of
telegraphic wire, and
innumerable newspapers, daily and
weekly, in nearly every
city and town, to convey to every house
the news from
all the world. This is but a small
fraction of the census
of a State first settled one hundred
years ago, and which,
when admitted into the Union eighty-six
years ago, John
Randolph denominated "a mere
geographical diagram beyond
the Ohio River of vast deserts of woods
inhabited by the
Aborigines."
The mind staggers on an examination of
the figures
showing our vast resources and
productions. And let it be
remembered that all this has been
accumulating amid the
convulsion of many wars and financial
difficulties. The
war of 1812 drew thousands of men from
industrial pur-
suits, but others kept the plow of
agriculture going in the
furrow. The Mexican war drew largely on
our men and
means, while the great rebellion, raging
for four years, had
in its ranks, marching and fighting to
maintain the Union,
nearly 400,000 Ohio soldiers, thousands
of whom laid down
their lives in the battle-fields, the
swamps, prison-houses,
and hospitals. Notwithstanding this
great depletion, her
farms were all the while being tilled to
furnish food. All
articles of useful machinery were being
made, gun-boats
built on her rivers and cannon at her
foundries, and the
humming of thousands of sewing-machines
was heard,
172 Ohio Archaeological and
Historical Quarterly.
propelled by wives and daughters in
making clothing for the
patriot soldiers. But, greater than all
the physical wealth of
the State is the constantly maintained
high standard of
industrial, moral, religious and
intellectual wealth of char-
acter. She has been richly blessed with
"Men, high-minded men,
With powers as far above dull brutes
endued
As beasts excel cold rocks and brambles
rude;
Men who their duties know,
But know their rights and knowing, dare
maintain."
The valor of the Revolutionary hero, the
stern, religious
character of the Pnritan, the lofty
character of the Cava-
lier, have been mingled with the blood
of all, the best
representatives who from foreign lands
have here sought
freedom from oppression. Enterprise,
skill in all branches,
education, religious teachings, law,
statesmanship, oratory,
military genius have here had
representatives, the equal
of any in the world. Ohio has had four
Presidents of the
United States, and has numerous other
possibilities for the
future; two Chief Justices of the
Supreme Court of the
United States, and has been otherwise
ably represented on
that bench; three Generals of the army
by special act of
Congress for greatest distinguished
ability, Grant, Sher-
man, and Sheridan, an honor before that
conferred alone
on Washington; and well does this
quartet wear the distinc-
tion of being first in war, first in
peace and first in the hearts
of their countrymen. We have been
represented in the
Senate, Cabinet, Foreign Ministers and
every important pub-
lic position until it would seem that
wherever great ability was
desired there was a call for the Ohio
man.
The hardy, adventurous, emigrant character
which marked
the men and women who first settled her
soil is strongly
inherited by their descendants, for we
find them going
out from her borders to populate all the
Western and
Southern States, and even to revive the
lagging ener-
gies of the East. In 1870 she had, of
her native-born
children, 806,983 resident in
other states. The Ohio
Address of Judge Joseph Cox. 173
man as farmer, mechanic, professional
man, governor or
judge, is in every State from her western border to the
Rocky mountains, and climbing over the
summit in the
mines and vineyards, ranches and cities
of California to the
Pacific Ocean. He seems to be
ubiquitous, and to permeate
the land like the atmosphere.
Such is a meager sketch of our State for
the past cen-
tury. Slowly but surely has the building
of it gone on,
and to-day it stands before the world
with its solid founda-
tion of religion, morality, education,
freedom, equality
before the law and protection to the
rights of all persons
and property, all the more strongly
cemented by those
years. As a State of the Union she has
ever maintained
the highest position in peace and in
war, and her obliga-
tions to that goverment formed by the
people and for the
people have been most religiously
performed. To that
Union she owes her existence, and to
sustain it she has
poured out her richest blood and
treasure, and will again in
the future if occasion requires.
While we recognize the wisdom and toils
of our fathers
in all this wonderful growth, let us
now, in the spirit of
that religion which sustained and
cheered them through it
all, not forget that God, who was their
Father and Leader,
and guided them as by a pillar of cloud
by day and of fire
by night, who rules over the armies of
heaven and the in-
habitants of the earth in righteousness,
in whose hands
are the destinies of all men and
nations; and let our hearts
go up to Him in thankfulness, for His
hand hath wrought
it all, and those men and women were but
His ministers.
May they who stand here at the end of
another century
look upon this temple of our State,
still strong and stable,
its foundation sure and steadfast, its
towers, and columns
captivating by their beauty the eyes of
the world, its people
happy, united and prosperous in a
government, the union
of whose States shall be one of both
hands and hearts, and
the sun of religious liberty shining its
pure and untarnished
rays into every heart and home.