Page:History of Richland County, Ohio.djvu/81

 HISTORY OF OHIO.

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��never were men better calculated to promote the welfare of such a community."

On the 2d of July, a meeting of the Directors and agents was held on the banks of the Mus- kingum for the purpose of naming the newborn city and its squares. As yet, the settlement had been merely "The Muskingum;" but the name Marietta was now formally given it, in honor of Marie Antoinette. The square upon which the blockhouses stood was called Campus Martins; Square No. 19, CapitoUum; Square No. 61, Ce- cilia^ and the great road running through the covert-way, Sacra Fi'a.* Surely, classical scholars were not scarce in the colony.

On the Fourth, an oration was delivered by James M. Varnum, one of the Judges, and a public demonstration held. Five days after, the Governor arrived, and the colony began to assume form. The ordinance of 1787 provided two dis- tinct grades of government, under the first of which the whole power was under the Governor and the three Judges. This form was at once recognized on the arrival of St. Clair. The first law established by this court was passed on the 25th of July. It established and regulated the militia of the Territory. The next day after its publication, appeared the Governor's proclamation erecting all the country that had been ceded by the Indians east of the Scioto River, into the county of Washington. Marietta was, of course, the county seat, and, from that day, went on prosperously. On September 2, the first court was held with becoming ceremonies. It is thus related in the American Pioneer:

"The procession was formed at the Point (where the most of the settlers resided), in the following order: The High Sherifi", with his drawn sword; the citizens; the ofiicers of the garrison at Fort Harmar; the members of the bar; the Supreme Judges; the Governor and clergyman ; the newly appointed Judges of the Court of Common Pleas, Gens. Rufus Putnam and Benjamin Tupper.

"They marched up the path that had been cleared through the forest to Campus Martius Hall (stockade), where the whole countermarched, and the Judges ( Putnam and Tupper ) took their seats. The clergyman, Rev. Dr. Cutler, then invoked the divine blessing. The Sheriff, Col. Ebenezer Sproat, proclaimed with his solemn ' Oh yes ! ' that a court is open for the administration of


 * " Carey's Museum," Vol. 4.

��even-handed justice, to the poor and to the rich, to the guilty and to the innocent, without respect of persons; none to be punished without a trial of their peers, and then in pursuance of the laws and evidence in the case.

" Although this scene was exhibited thus early in the settlement of the West, few ever equaled it in the dignity and exalted character of its princi- pal participators. Many of them belonged to the history of our country in the darkest, as well as the most splendid, period of the Revolutionary war."

Many Indians were gathered at the same time to witness the (to them) strange spectacle, and for the purpose of forming a treaty, though how far they carried this out, the Pioneer does not relate.

The progress of the settlement was quite satis- factory during the year. Some one writing a letter from the town says:

"The progress of the settlement is sufficiently rapid for the first year. We are continually erect- ing houses, but arrivals are constantly coming faster than we can possibly provide convenient covering. Our first ball was opened about the middle of December, at which were fifteen ladies, as well accomplished in the manner of polite circles as any I have ever seen in the older States. I mention this to show the progress of society in this new world, where, I believe, we shall vie with, if not excel, the old States in every accom- plishment necessary to render life agreeable and happy."

The emigration westward at this time was, indeed, exceedingly large. The commander at Fort Harmar reported 4,500 persons as having passed that post between February and June, 1788, many of whom would have stopped there, had the associates been prepared to receive them. The settlement was free from Indian depredations until January, 1791, during which interval it daily increased in numbers and strength.

Symmes and his friends were not idle during this time. He had secured his contract in October, 1787, and, soon after, issued a pamphlet stating the terms of his purchase and the mode he intended to follow in the disposal of the lands. His plan was, to issue warrants for not less than one-quarter section, which might be located anywhere, save on reservations, or on land previously entered. The locator could enter an entire section should he de- sire to do so. The price was to be 601 cents per acre till May, 1788 ; then, till November, $1 ; and

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