State of Ohio,
Was first explored by
La Salle about 1680, his object being trade and not settlement.
Conflicting claims to territory in that region led to the
French and Indian War (q. v.). The
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French held possession of the region north of the
Ohio River until the conquest of
Canada in 1760 and the surrender of vast territory by the
French to the
English in 1763.
After the Revolution disputes arose
between several States as to their respective rights to the soil in that region.
These were settled by the cession of the territory to the
United States by the respective States,
Virginia reserving 3,709,848 acres near the rapids of the
Ohio, and
Connecticut a tract of 3,666,921 acres near
Lake Erie.
In 1800 jurisdiction over these tracts was relinquished to the national government, the States retaining the right to the soil, while the
Indian titles to the rest of the
State were bought up by the national government.
In the autumn of 1785 United States troops began the erection of a fort on the right bank of the
Muskingum, at its mouth.
The commander of the troops was
Maj. John Doughty, and he named it Fort Harmar, in honor of his commander,
Col. Josiah Harmar.
It was the first military post of the kind built in
Ohio.
The outlines formed a regular pentagon, embracing three-fourths of an acre.
United States troops occupied Fort Harmar until 1790, when they left it to construct
Fort Washington, on the site of
Cincinnati.
After the treaty of
Greenville it was abandoned.
In 1788
Gen. Rufus Putnam, at the head of a colony from
Massachusetts, founded a settlement at the mouth of the
Muskingum River, and named it
Marietta, in honor of
Marie Antoinette, the
Queen of Louis XVI.
of
France.
A stockade fort was immediately built as a protection against hostile
Indians, and named
Campus Martius.
In the autumn of the same
 |
|
Fort Harmar. |
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year a party of settlers seated themselves upon
Symmes's purchase (q. v.), and founded
Columbus, near the mouth of the Little Miami.
Fort Washington was soon afterwards built, a little below, on the site of
Cincinnati.
Ohio was soon afterwards organized into a separate territorial government.
The settlers were annoyed by hostile Indians until
Wayne's victories in 1794 and the treaty at
Greenville gave peace to that region.
In 1799 the first territorial legislature assembled, and
Ohio was admitted into the
Union as a State April 30, 1802.
From 1800 to 1810 the seat of government was at
Chillicothe.
For a while it was at
Zanesville, then again at
Chillicothe, and finally, in 1816,
Columbus was made the permanent seat of the
State government.
Its people were active on the frontiers in the
War of 1812.
The President called on
Gov. R. J. Meigs for 1,200 militia to be prepared to march to
Detroit.
Gov. William Hull, of
Michigan, was persuaded to accept the commission of brigadier-general and take command of them.
Governor Meigs's call was generously responded to, and at the mouth of the
Mad River, near
Dayton, O., the full number had assembled at the close of April, 1812.
They were organized into three regiments, and elected their field-officers before the arrival of
Hull.
The colonels of the respective regiments were
Duncan McArthur,
James Findlay, and
Lewis Cass.
The 4th Regiment of regulars, stationed at
Vincennes, under
Lieut.-Col. James Miller, had been ordered to join the militia at
Dayton.
The command of the troops was surrendered to
Hull by
Governor Meigs on May 25, 1812.
They began their march northward June
1; and at
Urbana they were joined by
Miller's 4th Regiment, which, under
Colonel Boyd, had participated in the battle of
Tippecanoe (q. v.). They encountered
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heavy rains and terrible fatigue all the way to
Detroit, their destination.
See
Hull, William.
In March, 1851, a convention revised the
State constitution, and it was ratified in June; but a new constitution, framed by a convention in 1873, was rejected by the people at an election in 1874.
At the beginning of the
Civil War, the governor of
Ohio,
William Dennison, Jr., was an avowed opponent of the slave system.
The legislature met on Jan. 7, 1861.
In his message the governor explained his refusal to surrender alleged fugitive slaves on the requisition of the authorities of
Kentucky and
Tennessee; denied the right of secession; affirmed the loyalty of his State; suggested the repeal of the fugitive slave law as the most effectual way of procuring the repeal of the personal liberty acts; and called for the repeal of the laws of the
Southern States which interfered with the constitional rights of the citizens of the freelabor States.
“Determined to do no wrong,” he said, “we will not contentedly submit to wrong.”
The legislature denounced (Jan. 12) the secession movements; promised for the people of
Ohio their firm support of the national government; and, on the 14th, pledged “the entire power and resources of the
State for a strict maintenance of the
Constitution and laws of the general government by whomsoever administered.”
These promises and pledges were fulfilled to the utmost, the
State furnishing to the
National army during the war 317,133 soldiers.
Population in 1890, 3,672,316; in 1900, 4,157,545.
See
United States, Ohio, in vol.
IX.
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