The spirit of democracy. [volume] (Woodsfield, Ohio) 1844-1994, 1848-01-29

ores of land for a million ofdollars, one
half Of which was paid down. and the
patent was to be issued on the payment
Of the residue. The district purchased
adjoined the Ohio river, being sixty
miles in length from eastto west, inclu-
ding the mouths of the Muskingum and
Hockhocking, and extended northward
to make up the requisite quantity
The government reserved four sections
in each township for future disposition,
and granted two others as donations,
one Tor the support Of schools, and the
other for religious purposes. In conse-
quence of a rise which afterwards took
place in the value Of continental Ger.
t~ificates, the company were unable 10
procure the full amount Of one million
o fdolIars, according TO their contract,
and u patent was afterwards issued for
the land actually paid for, amounting
to about a million Of acres.
As soon as the contract for the pur-
chase of the land was closed with the
government, arrangements were made
for commencing the settlement oil the
country without delay, by sending for
ward surveyors and workmen, to pro.
vide for the reception of such as were
about to remove. Accordingly n
party assembled at Danvers, in Massa-
chusetts, and commenced their march
in the month of December, 1897; an
other started from Hartford, in Con-
necticut, on the first Of January, 1888.
Having oil reached Sumrill's ferry, On
the Youghiogheny river, thirty miles a.
bove Pittsburgh, they built boats, and
started on the first Of April, for the
mouth Of the Muskingum, where they
arrived on the 9TH, and pitched their
camp on the ground now occupied by
the town of Marietta. The whole par.
ty consisted Of thirty.seven men, and
were under the command of General
Rufus Putnam. In the year 1920, sew
en- Of the number were yet living; viz:
Peletiah White, Amos Porter, Phineas
Coburn, Allen Duvall, and Benjamin
Shaw, of Washington county, Ohio;
Hezekiah Flint, OF Cincinnati, and JAR
vase Cutler, Of Nashville.
When the party landed at Marietta,
they had got beyond the boundaries Of
any established jurisdiction, and were
entirely independent Of any municipal
regulations. Previous TO the arrival Of
the governor and judges OF the terrific
ry, whom congress had invested with
legislative power, the law Of nature
was the only one to which they were
%amenable; for they were really in the
situation SO often fancied by writer's
specializing on the origin Of human
laws, in which the first step towards
society and government was yet to be
made, by the formation of an original
compact, restraining individual liberty
by regulations made for the common
safety and advantage of the whole
Under these circumstances. the little
community agreed among themselves
upon a code oflaws for their temporary
government, which were written upon
a single sheet Of paper, and stuck upon
a tree at Marietta point; and it wasset-
tied that,in case any article Of the code
should be infringed, the matter should
be submitted to the decision of Return
Jonathan Meigs, the father Of the late
governor of the state, Of that name..-
From the time at which the code was
adopted, until the arrival Of the govern
or and judges, but one single violation
of any Of its articles occurred. 1t was
a ease of assault; and when the matter
was brought before Mr.. Meigs, fearing
that if he attempted to enforce the pen
atty, the laws might be brought into
contempt, he avoided the risk by ma
king up the quarrel between the parties
so that the n who conceived himself
injured, withdrew his complaint.
In July, 1897, when the Ohio COM
pany were in treaty for the purchase Of
their lands from the general govern.
ment, and while the attention Of the
public was becoming more and more
fixed upon the prospects held out in the
L