part of August. The general court was fixed at Cincinnati and Marietta; other courts were established, and laws and regulations were adopted for various purposes.

The population of the territory now continued to increase and extend. From Marietta, settlers spread into the adjoining country. The Virginia military reservation drew a considerable number of revolutionary veterans, and others, from that State. The region between the Miamies, from the Ohio far up toward the sources of Mad river, became chequered with farms, and abounded in indications of the presence of an active and prosperous population. The neighborhood of Detroit became populous, and Connecticut, by grants of land within the tract, reserved in her deed of cession, induced many of her hardy citizens to seek a home on the borders of Lake Erie. In 1796 Wayne county was established, including all the northwestern part of Ohio, a large tract in the northeastern part of Indiana, and the whole territory of Michigan. In July, 1797, Adams county was erected, comprehending a large tract lying on both sides of the Scioto, and extending northward to Wayne. Other counties were afterwards formed out of those already established. Before the end of the year 1798 the Northwest Territory contained a population of five thousand free male inhabitants, of full age, and eight organized counties.

The people were now entitled, under the ordinance of 1787, to a change in their form of government. That instrument provided that whenever there were five thousand free males, of full age, in the territory, the people should be authorized to elect representatives to a territorial legislature. These, when chosen, were to nominate ten freeholders of 500 acres, of whom the president was to appoint five, who were to constitute the legislative council. Representatives were to serve two, and councilmen five years. The first meeting of the territorial legislature was appointed on the 16th of September, 1799, but it was not till the 24th of the same month that the two houses were organized for business; at which time they were addressed by Gov. St. Clair. An act was passed to confirm and give force to those laws enacted by the governor and judges, whose validity had been doubted. This act, as well as every other which originated in the council, was prepared and brought forward by Jacob Burnet, afterwards a distinguished judge and senator, to whose labors, at this session, the territory was indebted for some of its most beneficial laws. The whole number of acts passed and approved by the governor was thirty-seven. William H. Harrison, then secretary of the Territory, was elected as delegate to Congress, having eleven of twenty-one votes.

Within a few months after the close of this session, Connecticut ceded to the United States her claim of jurisdiction over the northeastern part of the territory; upon which the president conveyed, by patent, the fee of the soil to the governor of the State, for the use of grantees and purchasers claiming under her. This tract, in the summer of the same year, was erected into a new county by the name of Trumbull. The same congress which made a final arrangement with Connecticut, passed an act dividing the Northwestern Territory into two governments, by a line drawn from the mouth of the Kentucky to Fort Recovery, and thence northward to the territorial line. East of this line, the government, already established, was continued; while west of it another, substantially similar, was established. This act fixed the seat of the eastern government at Chillicothe; subject, however, to be removed at the pleasure of the legislature.

On the 30th of April, 1802, Congress passed an act authorizing the call of a convention to form a State constitution. This convention assembled at Chillicothe, November 1st, and on the 29th of the same month a constitution of State government was ratified and signed by the members of the convention. It was never referred to the people for their approbation, but became the fundamental law of the State by the act of the convention alone; and, by this act, Ohio became one of the States of the Federal Union.

Besides framing the constitution, the convention had another duty to perform. The act of Congress, providing for the admission of the new State into the Union, offered certain propositions to the people. These were, first, that section sixteen in each township, or, where that section had been disposed of, other contiguous and equivalent lands, should be granted to the inhabitants for the use of schools; second, that thirty-eight sections of land, where salt-springs had been found, of which one township was situated on the Scioto, one section on the Muskingum, and one section in the United States military tract, should be granted to the State, never, however, to be sold or leased for a longer term than ten years; and third, that one-twentieth of the proceeds of public lands sold within the State, should be applied to the construction of roads from the Atlantic, to and through the same. These propositions were offered on the condition that the convention should provide, by ordinance, that all lands sold by the United States after the 30th day of June, 1802, should be exempt from taxation, by the State, for five years after sale.

The ordinance of 1785 had already provided for the appropriation of section sixteen to the support of schools in every township sold by the United States; and this appropriation thus became a condition of the sale and settlement of the western country. It was a consideration offered to induce purchases of public lands, at a time when the treasury was well-nigh empty, and this source of revenue was much relied upon. It extended to every township of land within the territory, except those in the Virginia military reservation, and wherever the reserved section had been disposed of, after the passage of the ordinance, Congress was bound to make other equivalent provision for the same object. The reservation of section sixteen, therefore, could not, in 1802, be properly made the object of a new bargain between the United States and the State; and many thought that the salt reservations and the twentieth of the proceeds of the public lands were very inadequate equivalents for the proposed surrender of the right to tax. The convention, however, determined to accept the propositions of Congress, on their being so far enlarged and modified as to vest in the State, for the use of schools, section sixteen in each township sold by the United States, and three other tracts of land, equal in quantity, respectively, to one thirty-sixth of the Virginia reservation, of the United States military tract, and of the Connecticut reserve, and to give three per centum of the proceeds of the public lands sold within the State, to be applied under the direction of the legislature, to roads in Ohio. Congress assented to the proposed modifications, and thus completed the compact.

The first General Assembly under the State constitution met at Chillicothe, March 1, 1803. The legislature enacted such laws as were deemed necessary for the new order of things, and created eight new counties, namely: Gallia, Scioto, Franklin, Columbiana, Butler, Warren, Greene and Montgomery. The first State officers elected by the assembly were as follows, viz.: Michael Baldwin, Speaker of the House of Representatives; Nathaniel Massie, Speaker of the Senate; William Creighton, Jr., Secretary of State; Col. Thomas Gibson, Auditor; William McFarland, Treasurer; Return J. Meigs, Jr., Samuel Huntington and William Sprigg, Judges of the Supreme Court; Francis Dunlavy, Wyllys Silliman and Calvin Pease, Judges of the District Courts.

The second General Assembly convened in December, 1803. At this session, the militia law was thoroughly revised and a law was passed to enable aliens to enjoy the same proprietary rights in Ohio as native citizens. At this session, also, the revenue system of the State was simplified and improved. Acts were passed providing for the incorporation of townships, and for the establishment of boards of commissioners of counties.

In 1805, by a treaty with the Indians at Fort Industry (site of Toledo), the United States acquired, for the use of the grantees of Connecticut, all that part of the western reserve which lies west of the Cuyahoga. By subsequent trea

ties, all the country watered by the Maumee and the Sandusky have been acquired, and the Indian title to lands in Ohio extinguished.*

In the course of the year 1805 the conspiracy of Aaron Burr began to agitate the western country. The precise scope of the conspiracy does not distinctly appear. "The immediate object, probably, was to seize on New Orleans and invade Mexico. The ulterior purpose may have been to detach the West from the American Union. In December, 1806, in consequence of a confidential message from the Governor, founded on the representations of an agent of the general Government deputed to watch the motions of Burr, the legislature passed an act authorizing the arrest of persons engaged in an unlawful enterprise, and the seizure of their goods. Under this act, ten boats, with a considerable quantity of arms, ammunition and provisions, belonging to Burr's expedition, were seized. This was a fatal blow to the project."

The Indians, who since the treaty at Greenville had been at peace, about the year 1810 began to commit aggressions upon the inhabitants of the West. The celebrated Tecumseh was conspicuously active in his efforts to unite the native tribes against the Americans, and to arrest the farther extension of the settlements. His proceedings, and those of his brother, "the Prophet," soon made it evident that the West was about to suffer the calamities of another Indian war, and it was resolved to anticipate their movements. In 1811 Gen. Harrison, then Governor of Indiana Territory, marched against the town of the "Prophet," upon the Wabash. The battle of Tippecanoe ensued, in what is now Cass county, Indiana, in which the Indians were totally defeated. This year was also distinguished by an occurrence of immense importance to the whole West. This was the voyage, from Pittsburg to New Orleans, of the first steamboat ever launched upon the western waters.

In June, 1812, the United States declared war against Great Britain. Of this war the West was a principal theatre. Defeat, disaster and disgrace marked its opening scenes; but the latter events of the contest were a series of splendid achievements. Croghan's gallant defence of Fort Stephenson; Perry's victory upon Lake Erie; the total defeat, by Harrison, of the allied British and savages, under Proctor and Tecumseh, on the Thames; and the great closing triumph of Jackson at New Orleans, reflected the most brilliant lustre upon the American arms. In every vicissitude of this contest, the conduct of Ohio was eminently patriotic and honorable. When the necessities of the national Government compelled Congress to resort to a direct tax, Ohio, for successive years, cheerfully assumed and promptly paid her quota out of her State treasury. Her sons volunteered with alacrity their services in the field; and no troops more patiently endured hardship or performed better service. Hardly a battle was fought in the Northwest in which some of these brave citizen soldiers did not seal their devotion to their country with their blood.

In 1816 the seat of the State Government was removed to Columbus, the proprietors of the town having, pursuant to an agreement entered into, in good faith, erected the State-house and other public buildings for the accommodation of the legislature and the officers of State.

"In January, 1817, the first resolution relating to a canal connecting the Ohio river with Lake Erie was introduced into the legislature. In 1819 the

* Indian Treaties.-The Western Reserve tract west of the Cuyahoga river was secured by a treaty formed at Fort Industry (Toledo) in 1805. The lands west of Huron and Richland counties and north of the Indian boundary line [that is, the Greenville treaty line, that treaty being the one made by Gen. Wayne in August, 1795] to the western limits of Ohio, were purchased by the United States in 1818 by a treaty made at St. Mary's, Lewis Cass and Duncan McArthur, commissioners. The lands so ceded were called the "New Purchase." By the terms of this treaty certain tracts or reservations were made within the purchased tract to the Wyandots, Delawares, Senecas, etc. These reservations were subsequently ceded to the United States; the last by the Wyandots in 1842, they then being the only Indians remaining in the State. The next year they removed to Kansas, and numbered at that time about 700 souls.

subject was again agitated. In 1820, on recommendation of Gov. Brown, an act was passed providing for the appointment of three canal commissioners, who were to employ a competent engineer and assistants, for the purpose of surveying the route of the canal. The action of the commissioners, however, was made to depend on the acceptance of Congress of a proposition on behalf of the State for a donation and sale of public lands lying upon and near the route of the proposed canal. In consequence of this restriction nothing was accomplished for two years. In 1822 the subject was referred to a committee of the House of Representatives. This committee recommended the employment of an engineer, and submitted various estimates and observations to illustrate the importance and feasibility of the work. Under this act James Geddes, of New York, an experienced and skilful engineer, was employed to make the necessary examinations and surveys. Finally, after all the routes had been surveyed, and estimates made of the expense had been laid before the legislature at several sessions, an act was passed in February, 1825, To provide for the internal improvement of the State by navigable canals,' and thereupon the State embarked in good earnest in the prosecution of the great work of internal improvement."

The construction of the canals gave new life to the progress of the State. Firstly, the work of their building supplied funds to the settlers along their lines and then opened a market for the product of agriculture. These in many sections had previously next to no cash value, and this, with the large amount of sickness incident to opening up a wilderness, had occasioned the settlements to languish.

The total canal mileage in the State is now 788 miles, and the reservoirs cover an area of 32,100 acres, or over fifty square miles. The total cost was

about sixteen millions of dollars.

Railroads soon followed. The first railroad west of New York State was the "Erie & Kalamazoo," which led from Toledo, Ohio, to Adrian, Michigan. It was opened with horse-power in the fall of 1836. A locomotive was put on in the following July, 1837, the first used in the West. The next railroad in Ohio was the Mad River & Lake Erie, which was incorporated in 1832, with a prospective route from Dayton via Springfield to Sandusky. Construction was begun in 1835, and in 1839 a portion opened sixteen miles from Sandusky to Bellvue, and the second locomotive in Ohio was used there. Ten years later, in 1848, this road, in connection with the Little Miami Railway, which was built from Cincinnati to Springfield, formed the first through line across the State. The second through line from the lake to the Ohio was opened in 1851 under the name of the Cleveland, Columbus, Cincinnati & Little Miami Railroad. The next year chronicled the opening of a third line from Cleveland to Pittsburg. The railroads of Ohio had in 1887 developed to 9,849 miles of track, on which, with equipment, had been expended nearly 500 millions of dollars.

In 1835 the long dispute between Ohio and Michigan in relation to the boundary line between them culminated in what was termed the "Toledo War." Both States assembled their troops, but before any opening of hostilities occurred peace commissioners from the President arrived on the ground, and the next year Congress decided in favor of Ohio, Michigan receiving as compensation for the relinquishment of her claims the large peninsula bounded by the three great lakes and so rich in mineral wealth.

In the decade between 1830 and 1840 Ohio made surprising progress, owing largely to the development of her canal system. Her increase of population was 68 per cent., and she had become the third State of the Union with 1,519,467 inhabitants. Cincinnati, her chief city, had a population of 46,338; Columbus, 6,048; Cleveland, 6,071, and Dayton 6,067, which were the three next in order.

Her manufacturing and commercial interests had received through that of

her agriculture a vigorous start, and her mining began. The number of men. employed was 620.

In 1840 occurred the famous "Hard Cider and Log Cabin Campaign," which resulted in the election of General William Henry Harrison to the Presidency by the Whig party and of Thomas Corwin as Governor by a majority of 16,000 over Wilson Shannon. Two years later Corwin was defeated by Shannon, who thus became the first Governor born on the soil.

For the war with Mexico, declared in 1846, Ohio supplied four regiments of volunteers and a company over, in all 5,536 men, more than any other Northern State, of whom 57 were killed and wounded. One of the regiments, the Second, was commanded by Col. Geo. W. Morgan, of Mt. Vernon, later a brigadier-general in the war of the rebellion.

In this same year, 1846, bituminous coal was introduced into Ohio as a furnace fuel at Lowellville, in Mahoning county, an event of prime importance to the development of the iron industry of the State and country. Its first success was the year before in an adjoining county in Pennsylvania.

At this period the slavery question assumed such importance as to soon revolutionize the politics of the State. In the session of 1848-9 the legislature was nearly equally divided between the Whigs and Democrats, with two Free Soilers, namely, Messrs. N. S. Townshend, of Lorain county, and John F. Morse, of Lake county, holding the balance of power. The repeal of the Black Laws,* which had long marred the statute books of Ohio, and their choice for a United States Senator, were the primary objects with the Free Soilers. Beside the election of a Senator, two judges were to be elected to the Supreme Bench. Mr. Morse made overtures to the Whigs, but there were some few from the southern counties who opposed the repeal of the laws and to Joshua R. Giddings, his choice for Senator, and hence he failed. Mr. Townshend was successful with the Democrats. They united with the Free Soilers, the Black Laws were repealed (in which vote most of the Whigs joined), Salmon P. Chase, the personal choice of Mr. Townshend, was elected to the Senate, and two Democratic judges to the Supreme Bench.

This legislation provided schools for colored children. They were, however, in a certain sense Black Laws, inasmuch as a distinction was thereby shown between the races. This distinction was not entirely obliterated until the session of 1886-7, when they were repealed through the eloquent efforts of Benjamin W. Arnett, D. D., member-elect from Greene county. He was the first colored man in the United States to represent a constituency where the majority were white and the first to be foreman of a jury where all the other, members were white.

On May 6, 1850, the second constitutional convention, consisting of 108 members, met at Columbus to revise and change the old constitution and adapt it to the changed condition of the commonwealth. It was in actual session in all about four and a half months. The adjournment was March 10, 1851. The constitution was ratified by a majority of 16,288. William Medill, its president, was elected the first Governor under it.

On July 13, 1855, Free Soilers, Whigs, Democrats and Americans, opposed to the extension of slavery, met at the Town Street Methodist Church in Columbus and held the first Republican State Convention.

They elected John Sherman chairman and announced in their platform that they would "resist the spread of slavery under whatever shape or color it may be attempted." They nominated Salmon P. Chase as their Governor. The Whig party was from thenceforth no more. Mr. Chase was elected by a ma

* For an account of the "Black Laws." see sketch of Mr. Townshend preliminary to his article on the "History of Agriculture in Ohio," page 100.