page_title: William Stacy
section_title: Marietta and the Ohio Country
hierarchical_section_title: William Stacy / Marietta and the Ohio Country
caption_attribution_description: The w:Picketed Point Stockade at the w:Marietta, Ohio settlement, located on the east side of the mouth of the w:Muskingum River, at the confluence of the Ohio and Muskingum rivers. The construction of the stockade was superintended by Col. w:William Stacy, under the direction of Col. w:Ebenezer Sproat, during 1791 at the beginning of the w:Northwest Indian War. In the view of this image, the mouth of the Muskingum River is on the left, and the Ohio River is in the foreground. The Campus Martius fortification of the Marietta settlement was also built on the east side of the Muskingum and upriver from Picketed Point, with construction started during 1788 and completed in 1791. Fort Harmar, constructed in the autumn of 1785, was located directly across the Muskingum, on the west side of the mouth. From the book by S. P. Hildreth: Pioneer History: Being an Account of the First Examinations of the Ohio Valley, and the Early Settlement of the Northwest Territory, H. W. Derby and Co., Cincinnati, Ohio (1848). Illustration plate located between pp. 324-25. ColWilliam 22:48, 10 September 2007 (UTC)
context_page_description: William Stacy was an officer of the Continental Army during the American Revolutionary War, and a pioneer to the Ohio Country. Published histories describe Colonel William Stacy's involvement in a variety of events during the war, such as rallying the militia on a village common in Massachusetts, participating in the Siege of Boston, being captured by Loyalists and American Indians at the Cherry Valley massacre, narrowly escaping a death by burning at the stake, General George Washington's efforts to obtain Stacy's release from captivity, and Washington's gift of a gold snuff box to Stacy at the end of the war.
  During Col. William Stacy's post-war life, he was a pioneer, helping to establish Marietta, Ohio as the first permanent American settlement of the new United States in the Northwest Territory. He was active in the Marietta pioneer community, and served as foreman of the first Grand Jury in the Northwest Territory, an event establishing the rule of law in the territory.
context_section_description: During early 1788, at about 54 years of age, William Stacy joined with other Revolutionary War officers as a pioneer to the Ohio Country, and was involved in establishing Marietta, Ohio at the confluence of the Ohio and Muskingum rivers as the first permanent American settlement in the Northwest Territory. Colonel Stacy joined this venture as a shareholder in the Ohio Company of Associates, which was formed and led by Gen. Rufus Putnam and Gen. Benjamin Tupper. General Lafayette visited Marietta years later and described these pioneers and former officers: "They were the bravest of brave. Better men never lived." George Washington commented "I know many of the settlers personally, and there never were men better calculated to promote the welfare of such a community." Marietta is located in the county of Ohio bearing Washington's name.
  During the settlement of the Ohio Country, two of Colonel Stacy's sons were with a small group of pioneers attempting to establish a settlement on some good potential farmland known as Big Bottom, upriver from Marietta on the Muskingum River. Colonel Stacy ice skated 30 miles (48 km) up the frozen river in late December 1790 and warned his sons about the danger of a possible Indian attack. His concerns were realized several days later on January 2, 1791 with the occurrence of the Big Bottom massacre, and the beginning of the Northwest Indian War. Twelve people were killed in the attack, including Stacy's son John. His son Philemon was taken captive and died later.
  William Stacy was a prominent and active member of the pioneer settlement of Marietta. He superintended the construction of a stockade known as Picketed Point to protect the settlers from Indians, he was an officer in the militia, and he was an officer on the first board of police. Additionally, he served as an officer of the township of Marietta, and he owned one of two hand mills in the settlement. William Stacy was a member of the Society of the Cincinnati and an original member of the American Union Lodge No. 1 (Freemasons) at Marietta; the name of this lodge was reportedly suggested by Benjamin Franklin, and the seal engraved by Paul Revere. Stacy was honored with the position of foreman of the first Grand Jury in the Northwest Territory. This was an important event, as this court was the first establishment of civil and criminal law in the pioneer country.
  William Stacy lost his wife Sarah to smallpox during March 1790 after 36 years of marriage. He subsequently married Hannah Sheffield during July of that year. "A man highly esteemed for his many excellent qualities, and honored for his services and sufferings in the cause of freedom," William Stacy died in Marietta in 1802 at 68 years of age. He was buried in Marietta at Mound Cemetery, the site of an ancient American Indian burial mound. Colonel Stacy has good company in his final resting place; Mound Cemetery reportedly contains the largest number of Revolutionary War officers buried in one location. A new memorial marker was dedicated to William Stacy in 1928 in Mound Cemetery.
caption: Picketed Point stockade in Marietta
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