lands nor title, was born in the year 1734, in the town of Thurso in
Caithness, Scotland. Thurso is a place of some 3,500 inhabitants, a
quiet village lying to the north of Glasgow and Edinburgh, and close to
the Atlantic seaboard. Its chief claim to fame no doubt rests upon
having been the birthplace of one who became so prominent in American
affairs, gave such valuable aid in securing American independence, and
had so large a share in the formation and administration of the
government of a considerable portion of the American people. To his
father he owed little, to his mother much. Educated at the University of
Edinburgh, his parents intended him for a professional career. At an
early age he began the study of medicine, which, upon the death of his
mother in 1757, he abandoned, and through influential friends obtained a
commission as ensign in the second battalion of the Sixtieth Regiment of
Foot, known as the Royal American Regiment. It consisted of four
battalions of 1,000 men each. In 1758 Major-general Amherst was made
colonel of this regiment, and commander-in chief of all the forces in
America, and on the 28th day of May of the same year, arrived in Canada
with his army. Thus came to the western world in the twenty-fourth year
of his age, Arthur St. Clair, with the laudable ambition of making, if
possible, a fortune, but certainly a good and honored name. His first
lessons in the art of war were taken under the tuition of such veterans
as Lawrence, Murray and Wolfe, the story of whose heroic deeds for
English supremacy in Canada is familiar to every reader. In every
position in which he was placed young St. Clair acquitted himself with
rare bravery. He soon received a lieutenant’s commission, serving with
distinction in the battle at the mouth of the Montmorency, and in the
siege of Quebec, where Gen. Wolfe lost his life, but where the French,
on the 8th day of September 1759, surrendered, and Canada became an
English province, though articles of capitulation were not executed
until nearly a year later.
From Canada St. Clair went to Boston, where he made the acquaintance of
Miss Phœbe Bayard, daughter of one of the first families of that city,
whose mother was a half sister of Governor James Bowdoin. For Miss
Bayard young St. Clair formed a strong attachment, and they were
married, probably in the year 1761. In the Ligonier Valley, western
Pennsylvania, St. Clair, for services in Canada, received a grant of one
thousand acres of land, and thither, in the year 1764 or 1765, he
removed. He set actively to work to improve his property. He built a
handsome residence, and the first grist mill in western Pennsylvania.
Many Scotch families sought a residence in this beautiful and fertile
valley. He was the leading spirit in this western colony, and in 1770
was appointed surveyor, a justice of the court of quarter sessions and
common pleas, and a member of the Governor’s council for the district of
Cumberland, or Cumberland County. When Bedford County was formed in
1771, and Westmoreland in 1773, he was appointed to fill like offices of
trust for these counties respectively. Here he led a busy life for two
years, when upon the outbreak of hostilities with England he unsheathed
his sword and proffered his services in defence of the country of his
adoption.
It is not within the scope of this sketch, which is more immediately
concerned with the relation he bore to the Ordinance of 1787, and that
part of his history which records the acts of his administration as the
first governor of the Northwest Territory, to follow the fortunes of
Gen. St. Clair through the war for independence. Suffice it to say that
quitting private life when its comforts were greatest and his financial
affairs the most prosperous, he rendered to his country valuable service
in Canada in the summer of 1776, at the battles of Trenton and Princeton
in the winter of 1776–7, rose to the rank of Major-general in the
northern department in 1777, and afterwards, as a member of Washington’s
military family, won the confidence and friendship of his chief to such
a degree that they were never withdrawn even when he was overtaken by
reverses; and that he returned to civil life at the close of the
struggle to find that to his country he had sacrificed not only eight
years of the very prime of his life, but likewise his fortune and the
emoluments of his lucrative offices. His first office after the war was
that of member of the board of censors, whose duties were to see that
the laws were efficiently and honestly executed. St. Clair became a
member of Congress in 1786, and in 1787 its President. This was the year
in which the ordinance for the government of the Northwest Territory was
adopted. It is a remarkable coincidence that this gentleman should have
presided over the body that enacted this grand Charter of Freedom, and
afterwards should have been the first executive officer, as governor of
the Northwest Territory, to administer and enforce its laws. General St.
Clair’s connection with this great and beneficent ordinance is of very
great interest, intensified, however, by the fact that Mr. William
Frederick Poole, in an able and well written contribution to the North
American Review in 1876, on the authorship of the Ordinance, did him a
great injustice by imputing to him improper motives wholly foreign to
his character. For a full understanding of the charge and its complete
refutation a brief history of the Ordinance will be necessary.
In 1784 Thomas Jefferson had prepared and reported a comprehensive
measure for the government of the Northwest Territory, from which ten
States were to be formed. It contained among other provisions the
following stipulation: “That, after the year 1800 of the Christian era,
there shall be neither slavery nor involuntary servitude in any of the
said (ten) States, otherwise than in the punishment of crimes, whereof
the party shall have been duly convicted to have been personally
guilty.” This provision was stricken out, and the ordinance was passed,
but owing to the fact that the lands had not been surveyed nor Indian
titles perfected, it became inoperative and remained a dead letter. In
1786, a memorial having been received from the inhabitants of Kaskaskia,
praying for the organization of a territorial government, a committee
consisting of Mr. Johnson of Connecticut, Mr. Pinckney of South
Carolina; Mr. Smith of New York, Mr. Dane of Massachusetts, and Mr.
Henry of Maryland, was appointed to draft a suitable measure, and April
26, 1787, reported a code of laws for the temporary government of the
Territory, which reached a third reading on the 10th of May, but was not
brought to a final vote. At this juncture there appeared at the door of
Congress a gentleman to whom more than to any other the people of the
northwestern States are indebted for the prompt action by Congress which
gave them this great bill of rights, aptly called the Ordinance of
Freedom.
This gentleman was the Rev. Manasseh Cutler of Ipswich, Massachusetts.
He came before Congress as the agent of the Ohio Land Company. He wished
to purchase for that company a million and a half—and finally did
purchase nearly five million—acres of land in the Northwest Territory.
He was well fitted for the business he had undertaken. He was a ripe
scholar, a graduate of Yale College, a distinguished scientist, an able
divine, an eloquent speaker, and more than all, a wily diplomatist,
possessed of a fine and commanding presence and courtly manners. He came
to Congress armed with letters of introduction to Gen. St. Clair, the
President of that body, General Knox, Richard Henry Lee, Melancthon
Smith, Colonel Carrington and others.
Dr. Cutler greatly desired to make the purchase for his company, but
stipulated, as a necessary condition of purchase, for the passage of a
suitable charter of laws for the government of the Territory. The Ohio
Company was composed chiefly of Massachusetts men, accustomed to good
laws wisely administered, and would not invite their neighbors and
friends to immigrate to the far west to settle in a country for which no
good system of government had been provided. Hence this was the first
matter to be looked into. Dr. Cutler arrived in New York on the 5th day
of July, Thursday. On Friday, the 6th, he presented his letters of
introduction to President St. Clair and a number of members of Congress.
The 7th he passed in extending his acquaintance and explaining his
business. The 8th was Sunday. On the 9th he secured the appointment by
President St. Clair of a committee who favored such a system of laws for
the Northwest Territory as Dr. Cutler wished to see adopted. This
committee consisted of Colonel Carrington, a personal friend, as
chairman, and Richard Henry Lee of Virginia, Mr. Dane of Massachusetts,
Mr. Kean of South Carolina, and Mr. Smith of New York. These gentlemen
prepared an ordinance, the famous Ordinance of 1787, submitted it to Dr.
Cutler for his opinion or Amendment, introduced it to Congress, had it
read, amended, and on the 13th day of July procured its passage. This
was quick work, and the way was now clear for the main business which
Dr. Cutler had in hand—the negotiation of the purchase of lands for the
Ohio Company. A committee on lands was appointed for the purpose of
negotiating with the Ohio Land Company’s agent for the sale of the
lands, having the same chairman, Dr. Cutler’s friend, Colonel
Carrington, with Rufus King, James Madison, Mr. Dane and Mr. Benson as
the other members.
The Ordinance having become a law on the 13th day of July, the
negotiation for the Ohio Company’s purchase was concluded on the 27th of
the same month, and terms agreed upon. On the 5th day of October, 1787,
officers for the government of the new territory were elected by
Congress as follows: Arthur St. Clair, Governor; James M. Varnum, Samuel
Holden Parsons and John Armstrong, Judges, and Winthrop Sargent,
Secretary. Mr. Armstrong declining, the vacancy was filled by the
appointment of John Cleves Symmes. The charge against General St. Clair,
made by Mr. Poole, is that Dr. Cutler, when he arrived in New York and
called on the President of Congress to obtain the appointment of a
committee to draft and report a system of laws for the Northwest
Territory that should be friendly to his terms of purchase, met with a
cool reception, and, to quote from Mr. Poole, “_he found that General
St. Clair wanted to be Governor of the Northwest Territory; and Dr.
Cutler, representing the interests of the Ohio Company, intended that
General Parsons, of Connecticut, should have the office. But he must
have General St. Clair’s influence, and found it necessary to pay the
price. From the moment he communicated this decision, General St. Clair
was warmly engaged in his interests._”
This is an extremely unjust imputation upon a gentleman who in all the
affairs of life showed himself to be the very soul of honor. That it is
false in every particular, a bare recital of the above facts, coupled
with the additional fact that Dr. Cutler in the daily journal he kept
makes no reference to General St. Clair in connection with the
governorship until the evening of the 23rd, _ten_ days after the passage
of the ordinance, is clear and sufficient proof. The extract from the
journal containing this reference is as follows:
JULY 23rd. * * * * Spent the evening with Colonel Grayson and members
of Congress from the southward, who were in favor of a contract.
Having found it impossible to support General Parsons as a candidate
for Governor, after the interest that General St. Clair had secured,
and suspecting that this might be some impediment in the way (for my
endeavors to make interest for him [Parsons] were well known), and the
arrangements for civil officers being on the carpet, I embraced the
opportunity frankly to declare that for my own part—and ventured to
engage for Mr. Sargent—if General Parsons could have the appointment
of first judge, and Sargent secretary, we would be satisfied; and I
heartily wished that his excellency, General St. Clair, might be
governor, and that I would solicit the eastern members to favor such
an arrangement. This I found rather pleasing to the southern members,
and they were so complacent as to ask repeatedly what officer would be
agreeable to me in the western country.
That General St. Clair should have received the Ohio Company’s agent
coolly on the 6th day of July, and on the 9th of the same month
appointed as chairman of the committee to treat with Dr. Cutler the very
man the latter wished appointed, Col. Carrington, a personal friend;
that General St. Clair wanted the governorship, and remained hostile to
Dr. Cutler’s plans, until Dr. Cutler gave up Parsons and came to his
support on the 23rd day of July, is on the face of it so improbable
that, without any direct evidence to the contrary, no fair minded person
at all familiar with St. Clair’s character could give it credence.
However, we have the very best proof of the untruthfulness of Mr.
Poole’s statement in General St. Clair’s own words. [12]In a letter to
the Hon. William Giles, written some time after his election as
governor, he says the office was forced upon him by his friends; that he
did not desire it and would not have accepted it but for “the laudable
ambition of becoming the father of a country, and laying the foundation
for the happiness of millions then unborn.”
All this shows conclusively that General St. Clair was friendly to the
land negotiation from the start; that he clearly saw the advantages to
the government of the sale of so large a body of western lands; that he
received Dr. Cutler cordially, and warmly espoused his cause from the
first; that he had no thought of the governorship until pressed by his
friends for the office; that Dr. Cutler discovering the drift of
sentiment in his favor concluded it would be futile to longer endeavor
to obtain interest for General Parsons, the man of his choice. St.
Clair, before Dr. Cutler announced himself in his favor for the
governorship, appointed a committee favorable to the land negotiation to
draft the ordinance for the government of the Territory; and in fact
there is good reason for believing that some of the grand principles of
that great charter owe their incorporation in that instrument to his
wisdom and foresight. Everything convinces that General St. Clair’s
relation to Dr. Cutler, to the land negotiation and to the governorship,
was in all respects creditable to the dignity of his office and to his
personal honor.
The Ordinance of 1787 was the product of the highest statesmanship. It
ranks among the grandest bill of rights ever drafted for the government
of any people. It secured for the inhabitants of the great States formed
from the Northwest Territory religious freedom, the inviolability of
private contracts; the benefit of the writ of _habeas corpus_ and trial
by jury; the operation of the common law in judicial proceedings; urged
the maintenance of schools and the means of education; declared that
religion, morality and knowledge were essential to good government;
exacted a pledge of good faith toward the Indians; and proscribed
slavery within the limits of the Territory. It provided for the opening,
development and government of the Territory, and formed the basis of
subsequent State legislation. Chief Justice Chase says of it: “When they
(the people) came into the wilderness, they found the law already there.
It was impressed on the soil while as yet it bore up nothing but the
forest. * * * Never probably in the history of the world did a measure
of legislation so accurately fulfill, and yet so mightily exceed, the
anticipation of the legislators. * * * The Ordinance has well been
described as having been a pillar of cloud by day and of fire by night
in the settlement of the Northwest States.” Judge Timothy Walker, in
1837 in an address delivered at Cincinnati, says: “Upon the surpassing
excellence of this Ordinance no language of panegyric would be
extravagant. The Romans would have imagined some divine Egeria for its
author. It approaches as nearly absolute perfection as anything to be
found in the legislation of mankind. * * * It is one of those matchless
specimens of sagacious foresight which even the reckless spirit of
innovation would not venture to assail.” Daniel Webster, in his famous
reply to Hayne, bore this testimony to the excellence of this measure:
“We are accustomed to praise the lawgivers of antiquity; we help to
perpetuate the fame of Solon and Lycurgus; but I doubt whether one
single law of any lawgiver, ancient or modern, has produced effects of
more distinct, marked and lasting character than the Ordinance of 1787.
We see its consequences at this moment, and we shall never cease to see
them, perhaps, while the Ohio shall flow.”
The people of Ohio, of the farther west, and of the whole country cannot
become too familiar with a measure which has received so great praise
from such high sources. We publish the Ordinance in full.
_An ordinance for the government of the territory of the United States
northwest of the river Ohio_:
_Be it ordained by the United States in Congress assembled_, That the
said Territory for the purpose of temporary government be one
district, subject, however, to be divided into two districts, as
future circumstances may, in the opinion of Congress, make it
expedient.
_Be it ordained by the authority aforesaid_, That the estates both of
resident and non-resident proprietors in said Territory dying
intestate, shall descend to and be distributed among the children, and
the descendants of a deceased child in equal parts—the descendants of
a deceased child, or grandchild, to take the share of the deceased
parent in equal parts among them; and where there shall be no children
or descendants, then in equal parts to the next of kin in equal
degree; and among collaterals, the children of a deceased brother or
sister of the intestate shall have, in equal parts among them, the
deceased parent’s share, and there shall in no case be a distinction
between kindred of the whole and half blood, saving in all cases to
the widow of the intestate her third part of the real estate for life,
and [_where there shall be no children of the intestate_] one third
part of the personal estate; and this law relative to descents and
dower shall remain in full force until altered by the legislature of
the district. And until the governor and judges shall adopt laws, as
hereinafter mentioned, estates in the said Territory may be divided or
bequeathed by wills, in writing, signed and sealed by him or her, in
whom the estate may be [being of full age] and attested by three
witnesses; and real estate may be conveyed by lease or release, or
bargain and sale, signed, sealed and delivered by the person, being of
full age, in whom the estate may be, and attested by two witnesses,
provided such wills lie duly proved, and such conveyance be
acknowledged, or the execution thereof duly proved, and be recorded
within one year after proper magistrates, court and registers shall be
appointed for that purpose; and personal property may be transferred
by delivery, saving, however, to the French and Canadian inhabitants
and other settlers of the Kaskaskies, St. Vincent’s and the
neighboring villages, who have heretofore professed themselves
citizens of Virginia, their laws and customs now in force among them,
relative to the descent and conveyance of property.
_Be it ordained by the authority aforesaid_, That there shall be
appointed, from time to time, by Congress, a governor, whose
commission shall continue in force for the term of three years, unless
sooner revoked by Congress. He shall reside in the district and have a
freehold estate therein in one thousand acres of land while in the
exercise of his office. There shall be appointed, from time to time,
by Congress, a secretary, whose commission shall continue in force for
four years, unless sooner revoked; he shall reside in the district and
have a freehold estate therein in five hundred acres of land while in
the exercise of his office; it shall be his duty to keep and preserve
the acts and laws passed by the legislature, and the public records of
the district, and the proceedings of the governor in his executive
department; and transmit authentic copies of such acts and proceedings
every six months to the secretary of Congress. There shall also be
appointed a court to consist of three judges, any two of whom to form
a court, who shall have a common law jurisdiction, and reside in the
district, and have each therein a freehold estate in five hundred
acres of land while in the exercise of their offices; and their
commissions shall continue in force during good behavior.
The governor and judges, or a majority of them, shall adopt and
publish in the district such laws of the original States, criminal and
civil, as may be necessary and best suited to the circumstances, and
report them to Congress, from time to time; which laws shall be in
force in the district until the organization of the general assembly
therein, unless disapproved by Congress; but afterwards the
legislature shall have authority to alter them as they shall think
fit.
The governor, for the time being, shall be commander-in-chief of the
militia, appoint and commission all officers in the same below the
rank of general officers; all general officers shall be appointed and
commissioned by Congress.
Previous to the organization of the general assembly, the governor
shall appoint such magistrates and other civil officers, in each
county or township, as he shall find necessary for the preservation of
the peace and good order in the same. After the general assembly shall
be organized, the power and duties of magistrates and other civil
officers shall be regulated and defined by the said assembly; but all
magistrates and other civil officers not herein otherwise directed,
shall, during the continuance of this temporary government, be
appointed by the governor.
For the prevention of crimes and injuries the laws to be adopted or
made shall have force in all parts of the district, and for the
execution of process, criminal and civil, the governor shall make
proper divisions thereof; and he shall proceed, from time to time, as
circumstances may require, to lay out the parts of the district, in
which the Indian titles shall have been extinguished, into counties
and townships, subject, however, to such alterations as may thereafter
be made by the legislature.
So soon as there shall be five thousand free male inhabitants of full
age in the district, upon giving proof thereof to the governor, they
shall receive authority, with time and place, to elect representatives
from their counties or townships to represent them in the general
assembly; provided that for every five hundred free male inhabitants,
there shall be one representative, and so on, progressively, with the
number of free male inhabitants shall the right of representation
increase until the number of representatives shall amount to
twenty-five; after which the number and proportion of the
representatives shall be regulated by the legislature; provided that
no person be eligible or qualified to act as a representative unless
he shall have been a citizen of one of the United States three years,
and be a resident in the district, or unless he shall have resided in
the district three years; and in either case, shall likewise hold in
his own right, in fee simple, two hundred acres of land within the
same; provided also that a freehold in fifty acres of land in the
district, having been a citizen of one of the States and being
resident in the district, or the like freehold and two years’
residence in the district, shall be necessary to qualify a man as an
elector of a representative.
The representatives thus elected shall serve for the term of two
years; and in case of the death of a representative, or removal from
office, the governor shall issue a writ to the county or township for
which he was a member to elect another in his stead, to serve for the
residue of the term.