CHAPTER IV.

POLICY OF CONGRESS IN REGARD TO VACANT TERRITORY-REASONS FOR THE ORGANIZATION OF THE OHIO COMPANY OF ASSOCIATES-SUPPORT GIVEN BY GENERAL WASHINGTON TO THE PLAN-PICKERING'S SCHEME-OFFICERS' PETITION-CORRESPONDENCE.

Thus far the reader has been presented with an autobiography, written, however, without the most distant expectation that it would ever reach the public eye. It may be none the less valuable on that account. It is not only a faithful photograph of the personal characteristics of Dr. Cutler, but presents a most interesting and instructive view of public affairs, and of the social life, as well as labors, of that influential body of men, known as the New England or Puritan Clergy. The names of his associates mentioned in these daily records are known, not only at home, but abroad. Their personal influence was felt in that most important crisis from 1766 to 1787. Not only were they faithful instructors in religion, but also intelligent friends of their country in its great struggle for independence. In both church and state they were most efficient founders and builders. The extent and frequency of their social intercourse is worthy of note. Those plans of frequent exchanges, quarterly fasts, and other occasions that brought them together, served to strengthen and extend their influence. They were a power in the land, and their power was always exerted in the line of the highest attainments of a Christian civilization.

Up to this point Dr. Cutler had shared the labors of the times with his brethren; but now, at the age of forty-five, he enters upon one of those peculiar episodes of human life that would seem like detaching a well-regulated planet from its orbit, and sending it off on an errand fraught with immensely greater results than any that could have been accomplished in its ordinary course. He did not ignore or abandon his chosen profession, or slacken his pursuit of the higher branches

of knowledge. He rather brought to bear upon his new enterprise all the acquisitions, experience, sound judgment, and elevated aspirations of his life hitherto. He therefore entered upon the Ohio business with a zeal and enthusiasm that called forth all his energies. Most fortunately for correct history, he preserved, in the form of correspondence and daily journals, the principal facts. It is proposed to present these to the reader just as they have come to hand. Although there is thus given a basis for a correct understanding of the whole subject, there are some contemporaneous matters that require careful consideration in connection with his own records.

It is now well understood that the passage, on July 13, 1787, of the celebrated ordinance of that date, was closely connected with Dr. Cutler's negotiations at the same time with Congress for the purchase of a large tract of western land upon which to organize the first permanent occupation of the Northwestern Territory. That his personal influence was direct and positive in bringing about these results will sufficiently appear by a perusal of his journal, given in chapters 6 and 7 of this volume. In that journal he assigns several reasons why he pursued a line of negotiation that in the end accomplished his objects.

The ordinance for the government of the North-west Territory was the first subject to receive his attention; then came the land purchase, though with him they were essentially one transaction. First, he would know beforehand the law, then terms for the land-all this for the simple, common-sense reason that at that time he expected to make his own future home on that distant soil, and he had, before he undertook the negotiation with Congress, prevailed upon more than a hundred of his neighbors and personal friends to cast in their lot with him. Moreover, he was acting for associates who represented that army by whose sacrifice and blood the western country had been conquered from the British crown, and who were demanding through him of Congress their bounties, with the additional privilege of converting their "final-settlement certifi

into these lands. These associates were, like himself, New England men, firmly and intelligently attached to their own distinctive principles and social habits. It was therefore

incumbent on him as their agent to secure both law and land that would correspond with their wishes. It must also be borne in mind that the organization of a "new state" was a distinctive and leading feature in the scheme he was laboring to promote. The scheme was a broad and comprehensive one. Its main purposes had been well considered by the associates who constituted him their agent. They left it to him to mature more carefully the principles and details when he should come to deal directly with that Congress which exercised a rightful sovereignty over the whole subject.

By referring to Dr. Cutler's journal, chapter 7, it will be observed that he relied upon several important considerations as influencing Congress to grant substantially all that he asked for on his own terms. These considerations, claiming properly some examination from sources outside of the bare mention that he accords to them, may be enumerated as follows:

1. The general line of policy adopted by Congress in regard to the North-west Territory.

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2. The value of a large sale of western or vacant" territory as a means of "paying the public debt."

3. The importance of a systematic occupation of the west by a large colony of industrious men.

4. The value to the United States of having that colony composed of men strongly attached to the "Federal Union." 5. The adverse currents with which Dr. Cutler was obliged to contend.

6. The protection that would be given by the particular location he selected to the frontiers of Virginia and Pennsylvania.

7. The favorable influence exerted by General Washington in giving encouragement to the settlement of the Ohio Valley, though not mentioned in Dr. Cutler's journal, was an important element at the time.

In regard to the first point under consideration, we find that the attention of the Continental Congress was, very soon after its organization, called to this subject of the "crown lands" or "vacant territory." In importance its acquisition, by conquest from the British crown, stood only second to that of

political independence. On the 16th day of September, 1776, Congress offered the following bounties in land to those who would enlist for the war-to a colonel, 500 acres; lieutenantcolonel, 450 acres ; major, 400 acres; captain, 300 acres ; lieutenant, 200 acres; ensign, 150 acres; private, 100 acres. Then, on 12 August, 1780, 850 acres were offered to brigadiergenerals and 1,100 to major-generals. Liberal offers of land had before this been made, by a resolution of August 27, 1776, to foreign officers and others who should leave the enemy's service and enlist in the Continental line. When these offers were made, the United States did not own an acre of land, and all the vacant territory was covered by claims of title by several of the states. The important task was thus imposed upon Congress of quieting all these claims, so that, in case of successful conquest, all the back country might be regarded as common property, to be disposed of for the common benefit; ultimately, to be organized into independent, republican states, and to become parts of the confederacy.

The attitude of Maryland and New Jersey upon this subject was very positive, indeed so much so, that Maryland refused to enter the confederacy until these claims were adjusted. All the states, except Maryland, accepted the articles of confederation as early as May 21, 1779. On the 12th of February, 1781, New York made her deed of cession, and Maryland then entered the confederacy, but with a distinct protest on the subject in these words: "And it is hereby declared that, by acceding to the said confederation, this state doth not relinquish, or intend to relinquish, any right or interest she hath with the other united or confederated states to the back country."

It was undoubtedly expected that Virginia and all other states would yield their claims. The Journals of Congress present a most interesting series of urgent resolutions and recommendations for completely quieting the titles and vesting both ownership and sovereignty in the United States. The Continental Congress, in dealing with this important feature of western history, showed an earnest and patriotic disposition and determination to promote harmony and secure future union by timely concessions and by a paramount regard for the

general welfare. All this was happily accomplished, and Congress then gave attention to the measures for disposing of the vast area of real estate over which it could exercise dominion after the treaty of 1783.

There were two aspects of this important duty; one was the governmental, the other its value as property to be disposed of for common benefit. In both these respects there can be traced through all their legislative acts an earnest and patriotic desire to reconcile differences, accommodate interests, and promote general harmony. It was the occasion for maturing and applying upon the vast interior a system of land surveys, locations, and entries, securing perfect titles with least possible expense, such as had never before been attempted on such a magnificent scale. In devising and maturing this system, the preconceived ideas and practices prevailing in New England, on the one hand, and in the Southern States on the other, came into close contact. The southern plan of entering and acquiring title to public lands favored acquisition of large and choice tracts of land by those only who could bear the expense of surveys. It was also attended by great confusion of titles, as each purchaser, on payment of a trifle (two cents per acre), could locate his warrant on any land not already surveyed. This resulted in lapping and over-lapping, the only lines being those run by each individual proprietor. By the New England plan the lines were run and established by governmental authority, and titles came from grants made, each one of which was defined by metes and bounds marked out by surveyors, who acted for the government, under oath. Not only the rights of separate ownership were thus protected, but the civil, religious, and educational wants of the population were carefully guarded and accommodated. As an illustration of the New England plan: "June 17, 1732, the General Court of Massachasetts granted six miles square for a township, to be laid out in a regular form by a surveyor and chainmen, under oath. The said lands by them to be settled on the following conditions: That they within the space of five years settle and have on the spot sixty families (the settlers to be none but natives of New England); each settler to build a good and convenient dwelling-house of one story high,