| Show First Settlers in Old Northwest Named Town for Queen of Fran France e eThis This Month Marks Marh Both the Anniversary of the Founding of Marietta Maretta Ohio and the Anniversary of the Birth of Its Founder Gen Rufus Putnam of Massachusetts Who Led a Band of Hardy Pioneers to Americas America's First Promised Land c 6 W Newspaper Union By ELMO SCOTT WATSON AN N APRIL day years Il tX ago In a little frame house in the town of Sutton Button Colony of Massachusetts a aboy aboy aboy boy is born His parents give him the name of Rufus Rufus- Rufus Putnam Another April day years ago Its It's a cloudy rainy Sunday A flotilla consisting consisting con con- of a galley named the Mayflower a flatboat called the Adelphia and three canoes is floating down the Ohio river On board these vessels a party of 48 men are straining their eyes yes to catch the first glimpse of the mouth of the Muskingum river But the banks of the river are lined with a dense growth of heavy foliaged sycamore trees rees Besides its it's becoming increasingly difficult cult t to see through the misty twilight of evening So before they realize realize real- real ize ze it they have floated past the he mouth of the river they are seeking and they do not discover their mistake until they hey see the palisades of Fort Harmar larmar A hail from the sentry on its log walls as they drift past and they quickly steer their clumsy craft toward oward the shore several hundred feet below the fort As they ener enter enter en- en ter er the stockade Major Doughty the he commandant greets them cordially Tomorrow morning he will detail some of his men to help them hem tow their boats back to their destination And so it comes to pass that about noon on Monday April 7 1788 Gen Rufus Putnam superintendent superintendent super- super of the Ohio company who has led this party of hardy pioneers pioneers pi pi- to Americas America's first PromIsed Promised Prom sed Land steps ashore at the place ilace where he will win his greatest greatest great- great est fame the fame the site of the future town own the first American American Ameri Amen can settlement in the Old Northwest Northwest Northwest North North- west Territory As he does so a stalwart Indian chieftain comes forward or ward to greet him It is Captain Cap- Cap tam ain tain Pipe a famous leader of the who has brought a perty party of 70 and Wyan- Wyan dots lots to Fort Harmar to trade their furs urs for the white mans man's goods The warriors greeted the hew new arrivals most graciously writes a chronicler of this meeting and gave them a welcome to the Mus Mus- kin gum on the headwaters of ol which they had their hunting grounds rounds If they could have looked into the future perhaps their heir welcome would have been less ess gracious For within five years their tribesmen would be waging war upon the army of white settlers of ol which this was the vanguard that would overrun those hunting grounds and eventually drive them hem toward the setting sun During Dur- Dur lag ing Jig those five years the red men would score scone a victory over the commander for whom this fort was named Gen Josiah Harmar and then inflict upon Gen Arthur St. St Clair Clam and his army the worst disaster the white men had known I since the days of Braddock But they would pay dearly for these two successes successes pay pay when Mad Anthony Waynes Wayne's dragoons charged at the Battle of Fallen Timbers and pay when their conqueror conqueror con con- summoned them to the council fire to sign the Treaty of Greenville 00 SC Like the Indians Rufus Putnam Putnam Putnam Put Put- nam ana and his tin men had no inkling of these to events Their first thought was of the immediate job for which they had come come acquiring ing by possession title to the vast territory which Rev Manasseh Manas Manas- seh Cutler that shrewd Yankee preacher real preacher doctor real estate estate estate es es- es- es tate promoter had obtained from the congress for the Ohio Company Company Com Corn pany of Associates That job Included in included included in- in shelter and food protection tion against the Indians should they become hostile as they so 1 C I C S 'S cl 1 il J C I. I a t C I 3 t C I C. a 4 t C. C 4 1 0 I 5 Pt 0 r I t H nV J JI j I 4 j c ii 1 1 I C- C s. s 3 I Settlers receiving land deeds from rom too the Ohio Company land office I in Marietta soon soon did assignment of lands clearing the forest and planting crops So they set to work immediately immediate immediate- ly these ly-these these 20 surveyors 20 carpenters and blacksmiths and eight farmers By early in May the had cleared 30 acres of forest By the end of June they had chopped the trees from acres more The timber thus obtained obtained ob oh tamed was used to build the Picketed Pick l eted Point at the mouth of the Muskingum and the Campus Martius Martius Martius Mar Mar- tius on higher ground a mile dis dis- dis- dis tant For these fortifications which would provide both a place to live and a place of refuge forthe forthe for forthe the first settlers and those who would follow logs were set on end and spliced together The houses within were sawed of sawed hand boards four inches thick and built much the same as a frontier log cabin The Ohio company's office was completed first for the use of General General General Gen Gen- eral Putnam and his associates i It stood at some distance outside i the stockade but at the outbreak of Indian hostilities in 1791 it was moved within the shelter of the guns in the southwest blockhouse of the Campus Martius It still stands the stands the oldest building in Ohio Putnam's homestead stood within the stockade which took two years to complete but when it was finished the Campus Martius Marti Marti- us was practically impregnable to Indian attack Marie Antoinette's Bell I The settlement was first called Adelphia for the flatboat which had formed a part of their 4 C sr 3 i b. b A At t c 1 reir I IThe The Campus Martius I In 1791 1191 la la Adelphia means brethren breth ren significant ren significant of their broth broth- brotherhood brotherhood in this pioneer enterprise Then it was decided to rename it Marietta in honor of the queen of France because of her cordiality to Benjamin Franklin United States ambassador to the court of Louis XVI i When Marie Antoinette Antoinette Antol nette learned of this she ordered a large bell cast to be sent to Marietta and used wed on occasions when the citizens were to be called together But the bell beU was lost at sea when the vessel which was carrying It was wrecked And it was only a short time later that the donor of the bell followed it to oblivion under oblivion under the guillotine guillotine guillo guillo- tine tinel I But for years this town on the Ohio has helped perpetuate perpetu perpetu- ate the fame of ill-fated ill an European European Euro Euro- monarch Corn Com beans and potatoes were planted in the cleared 30 acres that first spring and these with the meat of wild animals and fish were to be the principal food supplies supplies supplies sup sup- plies of the settlers the first win win- ter ten However the corn crop was small and they would have suffered suffered suffered suf suf- severely had it not been for forthe forthe forthe the generosity of Isaac and Rebecca Rebecca Rebecca Re Re- becca Williams who had settled across the Ohio river on the Virginia Virginia Virginia Vir Vir- ginia shore They had a large crop of corn which they had been selling for 2 a bushel But they immediately came to the rescue of the Marietta settlers and sold corn to them for 50 cents a bushel Meanwhile in his little office Rufus Putnam was busy administering administering administering adminis adminis- the affairs of the Ohio company com com- pany There the early maps of the Northwest Territory were made surveys were platted and the sale and of lands carried carried car car- ried ned on Putnam held the office of surveyor-general surveyor from 1796 to 1803 and during the period thousands thousands thou thou- sands of settlers obtained homes in this new country The Rush of Settlers For the influx of new settlers had begun soon after the arrival of the vanguard of Putnam and his 48 men News of the rich and lands in Ohio and the Northwest spread with remarkable remarkable remarkable remark remark- able swiftness into New England With the settlement of differences differences differ differ- with the Indians and the British forces there was a rush of people from all parts of the East and South and the growth for those days was nothing less than marvelous The Puritans of New England the Dutch of New NewYork NewYork NewYork York and Pennsylvania the Quakers t of if f Pennsylvania the Swedish Lutherans of New Jersey Jersey Jer Jer- sey the Catholics of Maryland and the Church of England people of New Jersey all came to Ohio During this period scarcely a aday aday aday day passed that did not see a raft or flatboat with one or more families families fam fam- flies launched at Pittsburgh to float down the Ohio to this PromIsed Promised Promised Prom Land Soon the increase in population was so rapid that newcomers newcomers new new- comers corners were compelled to go further further further fur fur- ther down the river Many went to Symmes Creek now Cincinnati Cincinnati Cincinnati Cincin Cincin- nati passing the French settlement settlement settlement settle settle- ment at Gallipolis New fortifications fortifications fortifications were built up the Muskingum gum ium 20 miles Fort Freye at Beverly Beverly Bev Bev- erly and at Waterford and Farmers Farmers Farmer's Farmers Farmer's Farm Farm- ers er's Castle at Belpre 12 miles down the Ohio at the head of island These were soon filled and settlements were being created at distant points in Ohio and to the north of Marietta On July 9 1788 Gen Arthur St. St I Clair a veteran of the Revolution arrived at Marietta with his credentials credentials credentials cre cre- as governor of the Northwest Northwest Northwest North North- west Territory He was accompanied accompanied by Judges Parsons and Varnum and Winthrop Sargent who had helped Manasseh Cutler in his negotiations with congress for the purchase of land for the Ohio company and who was now appointed secretary of the terri tern tor tory St. St Clair Immediately formed his executive council of these men and on July 15 19 1788 the first establishment establishment establishment es es- es- es of the government under under un un- der the Ordinance of 1787 took place at Marietta Thus she became became be be- came the mother town of five states which were later carved out of the Old Northwest Territory Territory Terri Tern tory Ohio Ohie Indiana Illinois Michigan en ani n Wisconsin The 50 years from April 9 1738 to April 9 1788 were eventful ones in the life of Rufus Putnam the founder of this mother town In his youth he was apprenticed apprenticed apprenticed ap ap- ap- ap prenticed to a millwright and after completing that apprenticeship apprentice apprentice- ship he enlisted in the colonial army to fight against the French Putnam served through the campaigns of 60 1757 and although although although al al- al- al though he did not distinguish himself him self as much as had his cousin Is Israel Israel Israel Is- Is rael Putnam he came out of the war wai war an ensign After the surrender surrender der den of Montreal he married and settled in New Braintree Mass where he became a farmer as aswell aswell well as a millwright At the same time he began studying mathematics mathematics mathematics mathe mathe- matics and soon became skillful in surveying In 1773 1173 he went to East Florida with a committee appointed 10 to explore ex ex- pIer the lands there that parliament parlia parUa- ment was supposed to have granted grant grant- ed to provincial officers and soldiers sol aol diers who had fought in the French war Upon arriving in Pensacola they found that no such grant had been made but Putnam remained there for a time as deputy deputy deputy dep dep- uty surveyor of the province Upon his return to Massachusetts Massachusetts he was made a lieutenant- lieutenant colonel in one of the first Patriot regiments that was raised after the Battle of Lexington in 1775 During Washington's siege of Boston Boston Boston Bos Bos- ton Putnam was made engineer in charge of the defenses of Roxbury Service at Saratoga In March 1778 1776 Putnam was sent to New York to superintend the defenses in that area and in August he was apt appointed chief engineer engineer engineer en en- with thE rank of colonel In the spring of 1777 he joined Gates' Gates northern army and as head of the Fourth and Fifth regiments i of Nixons Nixon's brigade he served with I distinction at the Important battie battle battie bat bat- tie tle of Stillwater in the Saratoga campal campaign n. n In 1778 with his cousin Gen Israel Putnam he superintended the construction of the fortifications fortifications fortifications at ot West Point and after Waynes Wayne's victory at Stony Point he was appointed to command a regiment in Mad Anthonys brigade in which he served to the end of the war wan In 1783 he was made a brigadier general Putnam next served his state as a member of the legislature but was soon called upon for military military mil mu- service again this time as asan asan asan an aide alde to Gen Benjamin Lincoln Lincoln Lin Lin- coln coin in suppressing Shays Shay's re re- re- re bellion Meanwhile he and Benjamin Benjamin Ben Den jamin Tupper had called a convention convention convention con con- of Revolutionary veterans veterans veter vetere ans at the Bunch of Grapes tavera tavern tavern ern era in Boston to raise a fund in Continental certificates to b buy y lands and make a settlement in i k tj ir 1 t 9 kY t 11 C I I the western country Out or 01 convention grew the Ohio Company Company Com pany of Associates Putnam's a ap appointment ap- ap as superintendent and his founding of Marietta as the first permanent settlement in the eastern part of the Northwest Territory Ter Ten Warrior and Peace In 1789 Putnam was appointed a judge of the Supreme court ol of the territory which he had helped found Three years later he was wal again called into military servIce service servo ice this time to help General Wayne again and to take part in Mad Anthonys successful campaign against the confederated ed Northwest tribes His chief role however was that of a peace From May 1792 1702 to February 1793 he served on the federal commission to the Indians for the cession of their lands and in September 1792 1702 he concluded an an n important treaty with eight tribes at Vincennes In O 1793 Putnam was appointed surveyor-general surveyor of the United States by President Washington and he held this office office of of- fice flee until 1803 In 1802 he served as a member of at f th Ui constitutional constitution constitution- al at convention wh adopted a constitution for tin th I lew ew W state of Ohio Ohio the first on one ormed from the Northwest Territory This constitution remained unaltered in a single detail for tor 50 years It was regarded at the time and has been ever since as a model of state government clear clean and brief in its provisions but comprehensive comprehensive com corn enough to provide pro for forthe forthe forthe the necessities of a commonwealth commonwealth common common- wealth which grew from a population lation of in 1802 to one of in 1850 1950 Putnam spent his declining years in the town be he had found found- ed He lie died there on May 1 I 1824 and at the time tune of his death with the exception of Lafayette La fayette was the last surviving general officer of ot the Revolutionary Revolution Revolution- ReVOlUtion ReVOlUtion-I ary any arm army |
