MICHIGAN.
Extent,--Situation,--Boundaries;----Face of the Country; Rivers, Lakes,
&c., Soil and Productions;--Subdivisions, Counties;--Towns,
Detroit;--Education;--Improvements projected;--Boundary
Dispute;--Outline of the Constitution.
Michigan is a large triangular peninsula, surrounded on the east, north
and west, by lakes, and on the south by the States of Ohio and Indiana.
Lake Erie, Detroit river, lake St. Clair, and St. Clair river, lie on
the east for 140 miles; lake Huron on the north-east and north, the
straits of Mackinaw on the extreme north-west, and lake Michigan on its
western side. Its area is about 40,000 square miles.
_Face of the Country._--Its general surface is level, having no
mountains, and no very elevated hills. Still, much of its surface is
undulating, like the swelling of the ocean. Along the shore of lake
Huron, in some places, are high, precipitous bluffs, and along the
eastern shore of Michigan are hills of pure sand, blown up by the winds
from the lake. Much of the country bordering on lakes Erie, Huron, and
St. Clair, is level,--somewhat deficient in good water, and for the most
part heavily timbered. The interior is more undulating, in some places
rather hilly, with much fine timber, interspersed with oak "openings,"
"plains," and "prairies."
The "_plains_" are usually timbered, destitute of undergrowth, and are
beautiful. The soil is rather gravelly. The "_openings_" contain
scattering timber in groves and patches, and resemble those tracts
called _barrens_ farther south. There is generally timber enough for
farming purposes, if used with economy, while it costs but little labor
to clear the land. For the first ploughing, a strong team of four or
five yoke of oxen is required, as is the case with prairie.
The _openings_ produce good wheat.
The "_prairies_," will be described more particularly under the head of
Illinois. In Michigan they are divided into wet and dry. The former
possess a rich soil, from one to four feet deep, and produce abundantly
all kinds of crops common to 42 degrees of N. latitude, especially those
on St. Joseph river. The latter afford early pasturage for emigrants,
hay to winter his stock, and with a little labor would be converted into
excellent artificial meadows. Much of the land that now appears wet and
marshy will in time be drained, and be the first rate soil for farming.
A few miles back of Detroit is a flat, wet country for considerable
extent, much of it heavily timbered,--the streams muddy and
sluggish,--some wet prairies,--with dry, sandy ridges intervening. The
timber consists of all the varieties found in the Western States; such
as oaks of various species, walnut, hickory, maple, poplar, ash, beech,
&c., with an intermixture of white and yellow pine.
_Rivers and Lakes._--In general, the country abounds with rivers and
small streams. They rise in the interior, and flow in every direction to
the lakes which surround it. The northern tributaries of the Maumee rise
in Michigan, though the main stream is in Ohio, and it enters the west
end of lake Erie on the "debatable land." Proceeding up the lake, Raisin
and then Huron occur. Both are navigable streams, and their head waters
interlock with Grand river, or Washtenong, which flows into lake
Michigan. River Rouge enters Detroit river, a few miles below the city
of Detroit. Raisin rises in the county of Lenawee, and passes through
Monroe. Huron originates amongst the lakes of Livingston, passes through
Washtenaw, and a corner of Wayne, and enters lake Erie towards its
north-western corner. Above Detroit is river Clinton, which heads in
Oakland county, passes through Macomb, and enters lake St. Clair.
Passing by several smaller streams, as Belle, Pine, and Black rivers,
which fall into St. Clair river, and going over an immense tract of
swampy, wet country, between lake Huron and Saginaw bay, in Sanilac
county, we come to the Saginaw river. This stream is formed by the
junction of the Tittibawassee, Hare, Shiawassee, Flint, and Cass rivers,
all of which unite in the centre of Saginaw county, and form the Saginaw
river, which runs north, and enters the bay of the same name. The
Tittibawassee rises in the country west of Saginaw bay, runs first a
south, and then a south-eastern course, through Midland county into
Saginaw county, to its junction. Pine river is a branch of this stream,
that heads in the western part of Gratiot county, and runs north-east
into Midland. Hare, the original name of which is Waposebee, commences
in Gratiot, and the N. W. corner of Shiawassee counties, and runs an
east and north-east course. The heads of the Shiawassee, which is the
main fork of the Saginaw, are found in the counties of Livingston and
Oakland. Its course is northward. Flint river rises in the south part of
Lapeer county, and runs a north-western course, some distance past the
centre of the county, when it suddenly wheels to the south, then to the
west, and enters Genesee county, through which it pursues a devious
course towards its destination. Cass river rises in Sanilac county, and
runs a western course. These rivers are formed of innumerable branches,
and water an extensive district of country. Other smaller streams enter
lake Huron, above Saginaw bay; but the whole country across to lake
Michigan is yet a wilderness, and possessed by the Indians. Doubtless it
will soon be purchased, surveyed and settled. On the western side of the
State are Traverse, Ottawa, Betsey, Manistic, Pent, White, Maskegon,
Grand, Kekalamazoo, and St. Joseph, all of which fall into lake
Michigan. Those above Grand river are beyond the settled portion of the
State. Grand river is the largest in Michigan, being 270 miles in
length, its windings included. Its head waters interlock with the Pine,
Hare, Shiawassee, Huron, Raisin, St. Joseph and Kekalamazoo. A canal
project is already in agitation to connect it with the Huron, and open a
water communication from lake Erie, across the peninsula, direct to lake
Michigan. Grand river is now navigable for batteaux, 240 miles, and
receives in its course, Portage, Red-Cedar, Looking-glass, Maple,
Muscota, Flat, Thorn-Apple, and Rouge rivers, besides smaller streams.
It enters lake Michigan 245 miles south-westerly from Mackinaw, and 75
north of St. Joseph;--is between 50 and 60 rods wide at its mouth, with
8 feet water over its bar. The Ottawa Indians own the country on its
north side, for 60 miles up. Much of the land on Grand river and its
tributaries, is excellent, consisting of six or seven thousand square
miles;--and, considering its central position in the State,--the general
fertility of its soil,--the good harbor at its mouth,--the numerous mill
sites on its tributaries,--this region may be regarded as one of the
most interesting portions of Michigan. The Kekalamazoo rises in Jackson
and Eaton counties, passes through Calhoun, and the northern part of
Kalamazoo, enters the south-eastern part of Allegan, and passes
diagonally through it to the lake. There is much first-rate land,
timber, prairie, and openings, on its waters, and is rapidly settling.
The St. Joseph country is represented by some as the best country in
Michigan. This stream has several heads in Branch, Hillsdale, Jackson,
Calhoun, and Kalamazoo counties, which unite in St. Joseph county,
through which it passes diagonally to the south-west, into
Indiana,--thence through a corner of Elkhart county, into St. Joseph of
that State, makes the "South Bend," and then runs north-westerly, into
Michigan, through Berrian county, to the lake. The town of St. Joseph is
at its mouth. It has Pigeon, Prairie, Hog, Portage, Christianna,
Dowagiake, and Crooked rivers for tributaries, all of which afford good
mill sites. In Cass and St. Joseph counties, are Four-mile, Beardsley,
Townsend, McKenny, La Grange, Pokagon, Young, Sturges, Notta-wa-Sepee,
and White Pigeon prairies, which are rich tracts of country, and fast
filling up with inhabitants.
Michigan abounds with small lakes and ponds. Some have marshy and
unhealthy borders;--others are transparent fountains, surrounded with
beautiful groves, an undulating country, pebbly and sandy shores, and
teeming with excellent fish. The counties of Oakland, Livingston,
Washtenaw, Jackson, Barry, and Kalamazoo, are indented with them.
_Productions._--These are the same, in general, as those of Ohio and New
York. Corn and wheat grow luxuriantly here. Rye, oats, barley,
buckwheat, potatoes, and all the garden vegetables common to the
climate, grow well. All the species of grasses are produced luxuriantly.
Apples and other fruit abound in the older settlements, especially among
the French about Detroit.
It will be a great fruit country.
_Subdivisions._--Michigan had been divided into 33 counties in 1835,
some of which were attached to adjacent counties for judicial purposes.
Other counties may have been formed since. The following organized
counties show the population of the State, (then Territory,) at the
close of 1834.
=================================+=================================
| _Dist. from
COUNTIES. _Population._ | SEATS OF JUSTICE. Detroit._
---------------------------------+---------------------------------
Berrian, 1,787 | Berrian, 180
Branch, 764 | Branch, 133
Calhoun, 1,714 | Eckford, 100
Cass, 3,280 | Cassopolis, 160
Jackson, 1,865 | Jacksonsburgh, 77
Kalamazoo, 3,124 | Bronson, 137
Lenawee, 7,911 | Tecumseh, 63
Macomb, 6,055 | Mount Clemens, 25
Monroe, 8,542 | Monroe, 36
Oakland, 13,844 | Pontiac, 26
St. Clair, 2,244 | St. Clair, 60
St. Joseph, 3,168 | White Pigeon, 135
Washtenaw, 14,920 | Ann Arbor, 42
Wayne, 16,638 | Detroit,
------ |
_Total_, 85,856 |
---------------------------------+-----------------------------
The other counties are Hillsdale, Van Buren, Allegan, Barry, Eaton,
Ingham, Livingston, Lapeer, Genesee, Shiawassee, Clinton, Ionia, Kent,
Ottawa, Oceana, Gratiot, Isabella, Midland, Saginaw, Sanilac, Gladwin
and Arenac, the population of which are included in the counties given
in the table. Doubtless, the population of Michigan now (Jan. 1836)
exceeds one hundred thousand.
The counties are subdivided into incorporated townships, for local
purposes, the lines of which usually correspond with the land surveys.
For the sales of public lands, the State is divided into three land
districts, and land offices are established at Detroit, Monroe, and
Bronson.
_Chief Towns._--Detroit is the commercial and political metropolis. It
is beautifully situated on the west side of the river Detroit, 18 miles
above Malden in Canada, and 8 miles below the outlet of Lake St. Clair.
A narrow street, on which the wharves are built, runs parallel with the
river. After ascending the bench or bluff, is a street called Jefferson
Avenue, on which the principal buildings are erected. The older
dwellings are of wood, but many have been recently built of brick, with
basements of stone, the latter material being brought from Cleveland,
Ohio. The primitive forest approaches near the town. The table land
extends 12 or 15 miles interior, when it becomes wet and marshy. Along
Detroit river the ancient French settlements extend several miles, and
the inhabitants exhibit all the peculiar traits of the French on the
Mississippi. Their gardens and orchards are valuable.
The public buildings of Detroit, are a state house, a council house, an
academy, and two or three banking houses. There are five churches for as
many different denominations, in which the Episcopalians, Presbyterians,
Baptists, Methodists, and Roman Catholics worship. The Catholic
congregation is the largest, and they have a large cathedral. Stores and
commercial warehouses are numerous, and business is rapidly increasing.
Town lots, rents, and landed property in the vicinity are rising
rapidly. Lots have advanced, within two or three years, in the business
parts of the city, more than one thousand per cent. Mechanics of all
descriptions, and particularly those in the building line, are much
wanted here, and in other towns in Michigan. The population is supposed
to be about 10,000, and is rapidly increasing. This place commands the
trade of all the upper lake country.
_Monroe_, the seat of justice for Monroe county, is situated on the
right bank of the river Raisin, opposite the site of old Frenchtown. Two
years since, it had about 150 houses, of which 20 or 30 were of stone,
and 1600 inhabitants. There were also two flouring and several
saw-mills, a woollen factory, an iron foundry, a chair factory, &c., and
an abundant supply of water power. The "Bank of the River Raisin," with
a capital of $100,000, is established here. The Presbyterians,
Episcopalians, Baptists, Methodists, and Roman Catholics have houses of
worship and ministers here. It was at this place, or rather at
Frenchtown in its vicinity, that a horrible massacre of American
prisoners took place during the last war with Great Britain, by the
Indians under Gen. Proctor. The sick and wounded were burned alive in
the hospital, or shot as they ran shrieking through the flames!
Of the 700 young men barbarously murdered here, many were students at
law, young physicians, and merchants, the best blood of Kentucky!
Mount Clemens, Brownstown, Ann Arbor, Pontiac, White Pigeon, Tecumseh,
Jacksonsburgh, Niles, St. Joseph, Spring Arbor, and many others, are
pleasant villages, and will soon become populous.
_Education._--Congress has made the same donations of lands, as to other
Western States, and will, doubtless, appropriate the same per centage on
the sales of all public lands, when the State is admitted into the
Union, as has been appropriated to the other new States. A respectable
female academy is in operation at Detroit. The Presbyterian denomination
are about establishing a college at Ann Arbor, the Methodists a seminary
at Spring Arbor, the Baptists one in Kalamazoo county, and the Roman
Catholics, it is said, have fixed their post at Bertrand, a town on the
St. Joseph river, in the south-eastern corner of Berrian county, and
near to the boundary line of Indiana. Much sentiment and feeling exists
in favor of education and literary institutions, amongst the people.
_Improvements projected._--A survey has been made for a rail-road across
the peninsula of Detroit, through the counties of Wayne, Washtenaw,
Jackson, Calhoun, Kalamazoo, Van Buren and Berrian, to the mouth of St.
Joseph river. Another project is, to commence at or near Toledo on the
Maumee river, and pass through the southern counties of Michigan into
Indiana, and terminate at Michigan city. A third project is, to open a
water communication from the navigable waters of Grand river, to Huron
river, and, by locks and slack water navigation, enter lake Erie. A
canal from the mouth of Maumee Bay to lake Michigan, has also been
spoken of as a feasible project;--or one from the mouth of the river
Raisin to the St. Joseph, would open a similar communication. It has
also been suggested to improve the river Raisin by locks and slack water
navigation. Doubtless not many years will elapse before some of these
projects will prove realities.
_Boundary Dispute._--This unpleasant dispute between Ohio and Michigan,
relates to a strip of country about fifteen miles in width at its
eastern, and seven miles at its western end, lying between the
north-eastern part of Indiana and the Maumee Bay. A portion of the
Wabash and Erie canal, now constructing by Indiana, and which is
dependent for its completion on either Ohio or Michigan, passes over
this territory. Michigan claims it by virtue of an ordinance of
Congress, passed the 13th of July, 1787, organizing the "_North-Western
Territory_," in which the boundaries of _three_ States were laid off,
"Provided, that the boundaries of these three States shall be subject so
far to be altered, that, if Congress shall hereafter find it expedient,
they shall have authority to form one or two States in that part of the
said territory _which lies north of an east and west line drawn through
the southerly bend or extreme of lake Michigan_;"--Ohio claims it by
possession, and because, by being received into the Union with this
portion in possession, Congress virtually annulled that part of the
former ordinance that fixed the south bend of lake Michigan as the
boundary line, and by having run the line north of this.
_Outlines of the Constitution._--A convention assembled at Detroit, on
the 11th of May, 1835, and framed a constitution for a state government,
which was submitted to, and ratified by vote of the people on the first
Monday in October.
The powers of the government are divided into three distinct
departments;--the legislative,--the executive,--and the judicial.
The legislative power is vested in a _Senate_ and _House of
Representatives_. The representatives are to be chosen annually; and
their number cannot be less than 48, nor more than 100.
The senators are to be chosen every two years, one half of them every
year, and to consist, as nearly as may be, of one third of the number of
the representatives.
The census is to be taken in 1837, and 1845, and every ten years after
the latter period; and also after each census taken by the United
States, the number of senators and representatives is to be apportioned
anew among the several counties, according to the number of white
inhabitants.
The _legislature_ is to meet annually, on the first Monday in January.
The executive power is to be vested in a governor, who holds his office
for two years. Upon a vacancy, the lieutenant governor performs
executive duties. The first election was held on the first Monday in
October, 1835, and the governor and lieutenant governor hold their
offices till the first Monday in January, 1838.
The _judicial power_ is vested in one _Supreme Court_, and in such other
courts as the legislature may, from time to time, establish. The judges
of the Supreme Court are to be appointed by the governor, with the
advice and consent of the Senate, for the term of seven years. Judges of
all county courts, associate judges of circuit courts, and judges of
probate, are to be elected by the people for the term of four years.
Each township is authorized to elect four justices of the peace, who are
to hold their offices for four years. In all elections, every white male
citizen above the age of 21 years, having resided six months next
preceding any election, is entitled to vote at such election.
Slavery, lotteries, and the sale of lottery tickets, are prohibited.
The seat of government is to be at Detroit, or such other place or
places as may be prescribed by law until the year 1847, when it is to be
permanently fixed by the legislature.
OHIO
--Is bounded on the north by lake Erie, and the State of Michigan, east
by Pennsylvania and the Ohio river, south by the Ohio river, which
separates it from Virginia and Kentucky, and west by Indiana. The
meanderings of the Ohio river extend along the line of this State 436
miles. It is about 222 miles in extent, both from north to south, and
from east to west. After excluding a section of lake Erie, which
projects into its northern borders, Ohio contains about 40,000 square
miles, or 25,000,000 acres of land.
_Divisions._--Nature has divided this State into four
departments,--according to its principal waters.
1. The Lake country, situated on lake Erie, and embracing all its
northern part. Its streams all run into the lake, and reach the Atlantic
ocean through the Gulf of St. Lawrence.
2. The Muskingum country, on the eastern side, and along the river of
that name.
3. The Scioto country, in the middle,--and,
4. The Miami country, along the western side.
For civil purposes, the State is divided into _seventy-five_ counties,
and these are again subdivided into townships. Their names, date of
organization, number of square miles, number of organized townships,
seats of justice, and bearing and distance from Columbus, are exhibited
in the following
TABLE.
------------+----------+------+----------+-----------------+--------------
| | | | | Bearing And
| When |Square| No. of | |Distance from
COUNTIES. |organized.|Miles.|Townships.|SEATS OF JUSTICE.| Columbus.
------------+----------+------+----------+-----------------+--------------
Adams, | 1797 | 550 | 10 |West Union, |101 _s._
Allen, | 1831 | 542 | -- |Lima, |110 _n. w._
Ashtabula, | 1811 | 700 | 27 |Jefferson, |200 _n. w._
Athens, | 1805 | 740 | 19 |Athens, | 73 _s. e._
Belmont, | 1801 | 536 | 16 |St. Clairsville, |116 _e._
Brown, | 1818 | 470 | 14 |Georgetown, |104 _s._
Butler, | 1803 | 480 | 13 |Hamilton, |101 _s. w._
Carroll, | 1833 | [A] | [A] |Carrollton, |125 _e. n. e._
Champaign, | 1805 | 417 | 12 |Urbanna, | 50 _w. n. w._
Clark, | 1818 | 412 | 10 |Springfield, | 44 _w._
Clermont, | 1800 | 515 | 12 |Batavia, | 96 _s. w._
Clinton, | 1810 | 400 | 8 |Wilmington, | 60 _s. w._
Columbiana, | 1803 | [A] | [A] |New Lisbon, |150 _e. n. e._
Coshocton, | 1811 | 562 | 21 |Coshocton, | 68 _n. e._
Crawford, | 1826 | 594 | 12 |Bucyrus, | 60 _n._
Cuyahoga, | 1810 | 475 | 19 |Cleveland, |140 _n. n. e._
Dark, | 1817 | 660 | 10 |Greenville, | 93 _w._
Delaware, | 1808 | 610 | 23 |Delaware, | 24 _n._
Fairfield, | 1800 | 540 | 14 |Lancaster, | 28 _s. e._
Fayette, | 1810 | 415 | 7 |Washington, | 38 _s. w._
Franklin, | 1803 | 520 | 18 |COLUMBUS, |
Gallia, | 1803 | 500 | 15 |Gallipolis, |102 _s. s. e._
Geauga, | 1805 | 600 | 23 |Chardon, |157 _n. e._
Greene, | 1803 | 400 | 8 |Xenia, | 56 _w. s. w._
Guernsey, | 1810 | 621 | 19 |Cambridge, | 76 _e._
Hamilton, | 1790 | 400 | 14 |Cincinnati, |110 _s. w._
Hancock, | 1828 | 576 | 5 |Findlay, | 90 _n. n. w._
Hardin, | 1833 | 570 | -- |Kenton, | 70 _n. n. w._
Harrison, | 1813 |[A]-- | 13 |Cadiz, |124 _e. n. e._
Henry, | -- | 744 | 2 |Napoleon, |161 _n. w._
Highland, | 1805 | 555 | 11 |Hillsborough, | 62 _s. s. w._
Hocking, | 1818 | 432 | 9 |Logan, | 46 _s. s. e._
Holmes, | 1825 | 422 | 14 |Millersburg, | 81 _n. e._
Huron, | 1815 | 800 | 29 |Norwalk, |106 _n._
Jackson, | 1816 | 490 | 13 |Jackson, | 73 _s. s. e._
Jefferson, | 1797 | 400 | 13 |Steubenville, |147 _e. n. e._
Knox, | 1808 | 618 | 24 |Mount Vernon, | 47 _n. n. e._
Lawrence, | 1817 | 430 | 12 |Burlington, |130 _s. s. e._
Licking, | 1808 | 666 | 25 |Newark, | 33 _e. n. e._
Logan, | 1818 | 425 | 9 |Bellefontaine, | 50 _n. w._
Lorain, | 1824 | 580 | 19 |Elyria, |130 _n. n. e._
Lucas,[B] | 1835 | | -- |Toledo, |150 _n. n. w._
Madison, | 1810 | 480 | 10 |London, | 25 _w. s. w._
Marion, | 1824 | 527 | 15 |Marion, | 45 _n._
Medina, | 1818 | 475 | 14 |Medina, |110 _n. n. e._
Meigs, | 1819 | 400 | 12 |Chester, | 94 _s. s. e._
Mercer, | 1824 | 576 | 4 |St Mary's, |111 _n. w._
Miami, | 1807 | 410 | 12 |Troy, | 68 _n. of w._
Monroe, | 1815 | 563 | 18 |Woodsfield, |120 _e. s. e._
Montgomery, | 1803 | 480 | 12 |Dayton, | 68 _w._
Morgan, | 1819 | 500 | 15 |M'Connelsville, | 75 _s. e._
Muskingum, | 1804 | 665 | 23 |Zanesville, | 52 _e._
Paulding,[C]| -- | 432 | 3 | |170 _n. w._
Perry, | 1818 | 402 | 12 |Somerset, | 46 _e. s. e._
Pickaway, | 1810 | 470 | 14 |Circleville, | 26 _s._
Pike, | 1815 | 421 | 9 |Piketon, | 64 _s._
Portage, | 1807 | 750 | 30 |Ravenna, |135 _n. e._
Preble, | 1808 | 432 | 12 |Eaton, | 50 _w._
Putnam,[C] | -- | 576 | 2 | |148 _n. w._
Richland, | 1813 | 900 | 25 |Mansfield, | 74 _n. n. e_
Ross, | 1798 | 650 | 16 |Chillicothe, | 45 _s._
Sandusky, | 1820 | 600 | 10 |Lower Sandusky, |105 _n._
Scioto, | 1803 | 700 | 14 |Portsmouth, | 90 _s._
Seneca, | 1824 | 540 | 11 |Tiffin, | 87 _n._
Shelby, | 1819 | 418 | 10 |Sidney, | 70 _n. w._
Stark, | 1809 | [A] | 16 |Canton, |116 _n. e._
Trumbull, | 1800 | 875 | 34 |Warren, |160 _n. e._
Tuscarawas, | 1808 | [A] | 19 |New Philadelphia,|100 _e. n. e._
Union, | 1820 | 450 | 9 |Marysville, | 30 _n. w._
Vanwert,[C] | -- | 432 | -- | |100 _n. w._
Warren, | 1803 | 400 | 9 |Lebanon, | 80 _s. w._
Washington, | 1788 | 713 | 19 |Marietta, |106 _s. e._
Wayne, | 1812 | 660 | 20 |Wooster, | 89 _n. e._
Williams, | 1824 | 600 | 10 |Defiance, |130 _n. w._
Wood, | 1820 | 750 | 7 |Perrysburg, |135 _n. w._
[A] Carroll county has been formed from Columbiana, Harrison,
Stark and Tuscarawas since the edition of the Ohio Gazetteer of 1833
was published, from which the foregoing table has been constructed.
Hence the townships in each are not given.
[B] Lucas county has been recently formed from parts taken from
Sandusky and Wood counties, and from the disputed country claimed
by Michigan.
[C] Paulding, Putnam, and Vanwert counties had not been organized
at the period of our information.
Much of the land in Vanwert is wet. The southern portion contains
much swampy prairie.
There are nineteen congressional districts in Ohio, which elect as many
members of Congress, and twelve circuits for Courts of Common Pleas.
_Face of the Country._--The interior and northern parts of the State
bordering on lake Erie, are generally level, and, in some places, wet
and marshy. The eastern and south-eastern parts bordering on the Ohio
river, are hilly and broken, but not mountainous. In some counties the
hills are abrupt and broken,--in others they form ridges, and are
cultivated to their summits. Immediately on the banks of the Ohio and
other large rivers are strips of rich alluvion soil.
The country along the Scioto and two Miamies, furnish more extensive
bodies of rich, fertile land, than any other part of the State. The
prairie land is found in small tracts near the head waters of the
Muskingum and Scioto, and between the sources of the two Miami rivers,
and especially in the north-western part of the State. Many of the
prairies in Ohio are low and wet;--some are elevated and dry, and
exhibit the features of those tracts called "barrens" in Illinois. There
are extensive plains, some of which are wet, towards Sandusky.
_Soil and Productions._--The soil, in at least three fourths of the
State, is fertile;--and some of it very rich. The _poorest_ portion of
Ohio, is along the Ohio river, from 15 to 25 miles in width, and
extending from the National road opposite Wheeling, to the mouth of the
Scioto river. Many of the hills in this region are rocky.
Among the forest trees are oak of various species, white and black
walnut, hickory, maple of different kinds, beech, poplar, ash of several
kinds, birch, buckeye, cherry, chestnut, locust, elm, hackberry,
sycamore, linden, with numerous others. Amongst the under growth are
spice-bush, dogwood, ironwood, pawpaw, hornbeam, black-haw, thorn, wild
plum, grape vines, &c. The plains and wet prairies produce wild grass.
The agricultural productions are such as are common to the Eastern and
Middle States. Indian corn, as in other Western States, is a staple
grain, raised with much ease, and in great abundance. More than 100
bushels are produced from an acre, on the rich alluvial soils of the
bottom lands, though from 40 to 50 bushels per acre ought to be
considered an average crop. The State generally has a fine soil for
wheat, and flour is produced for exportation in great quantities. Rye,
oats, buckwheat, barley, potatoes, melons, pumpkins, and all manner of
garden vegetables, are cultivated to great perfection. No markets in the
United States are more profusely and cheaply supplied with meat and
vegetables than those of Cincinnati and other large towns in Ohio. Hemp
is produced to some extent, and the choicest kinds of tobacco is raised
and cured in some of the counties east of the Muskingum river. Fruits of
all kinds are raised in great plenty, especially apples, which grow to
a large size, and are finely flavored. The vine and the mulberry have
been introduced, and with enterprise and industry, wine and silk might
easily be added to its exports.
_Animals._--Bears, wolves, and deer are still found in the forests and
unsettled portions of the State. The domestic animals are similar to
other States. Swine is one of the staple productions, and Cincinnati has
been denominated the "pork market of the world." Other towns in the
west, and in Ohio, are beginning to receive a share of this trade,
especially along the lines of the Miami, and the Erie canals. 150,000
hogs have been slaughtered and prepared for market in one season in
Cincinnati. About 75,000 is the present estimated number, from newspaper
authority. Immense droves of fat cattle are sent every autumn from the
Scioto valley and other parts of the State. They are driven to all the
markets of the east and south.
_Minerals._--The mineral deposits of Ohio, as yet discovered, consist
principally in iron, salt, and bituminous coal, and are found chiefly
along the south-eastern portion of the State. Let a line be drawn from
the south-eastern part of Ashtabula county, in a south-western
direction, by Northampton in Portage county, Wooster, Mount Vernon,
Granville, Circleville, to Hillsborough, and thence south to the Ohio
river in Brown county, and it would leave most of the salt, iron and
coal on the eastern and south-eastern side.
_Financial Statistics._--From the Auditor's Report to the Legislature
now in session, (Jan. 1836,) the following items are extracted. The
general revenue is obtained from moderate taxes on landed and personal
property, and collected by the county treasurers,--from insurance, bank
and bridge companies, from lawyers and physicians, &c.
Collected in 1835, by the several county treasurers, $150,080, (omitting
fractions): paid by banks, bridges, and insurance companies,
$26,060;--by lawyers, and physicians, $1,598;--other sources,
$24,028,--making an aggregate of $201,766. The disbursements
are,--amount of deficit for 1834, $16,622;--bills redeemed at the
treasury for the year ending Nov. 1835, $182,005;--interest paid on
school funds, $33,101, &c., amounting to $235,365--and showing a deficit
in the revenue of $33,590.
CANAL FUNDS.
These appear to be separate accounts from the general receipts and
disbursements.
_Miami Canal._--The amount of money arising from the sales of Miami
canal lands up to the 15th of Nov., 1835, is $310,178. This sum has been
expended in the extension of the canal north of Dayton.
_Ohio Canal._--The amount of taxes collected for canal purposes for the
year 1835, including tolls, sales of canal lands, school lands, balance
remaining in the treasury of last year, &c., is $509,322. Only $38,242
of the general revenue were appropriated to canal purposes, of which
$35,507 went to pay interest on the school funds borrowed by the State.
The foreign debt is $4,400,000;--the legal interest of which is $260,000
per annum. The domestic debt of the State, arising from investing the
different school funds, is $579,287;--the interest of which amounts to
$34,757,--making an aggregate annual interest paid by the State on
loans, $294,757. The canal tolls for the year 1835, amount to $242,357,
and the receipts from the sale of Ohio canal lands, $64,549,--making an
aggregate income to the canal fund of $306,906 per annum;--a sum more
than sufficient to pay the interest on all loans for canal purposes.
_Items of Expenditure._--Under this head the principal items of the
expenditures of the State government are given.
Members, and officers of the General Assembly, per annum, $43,987
Officers of government, 20,828
Keeper of the Penitentiary, 1,909
For new Penitentiary buildings, 46,050
State printing, 12,243
Paper and Stationary for use of the State, 4,478
Certificates for wolf scalps, 2,824
Adjutant, and Quarter Master Generals, and Brigade Inspectors, 2,276
Treasurer's mileage on settlement with the Auditor of State, 1,027
Deaf and Dumb Asylum, 5,700
Periodical works, &c. 400
Postage on documents, 545
Reporter to Court in Bank, 300
Members and clerks of the Board of Equalization, and
articles furnished, 1,960
Paymaster General,--Ohio Militia, 2,000
The extra session of the legislature on the boundary line, in June,
1835, was $6,823.
_Land Taxes._--The amount of lands taxed, and the revenue arising
therefrom, at several different periods, are herewith given, to show the
progressive advance of the farming and other interests of the State.
--------+------------+----------------
Years. | Acres. | Taxes paid.
--------+------------+----------------
1809 | 9,924,033 | $63,991.87 cts
1810 | 10,479,029 | 67,501.60
1811 | 12,134,777 | 170,546.74
From 1811 to 1816, the average increase of the taxes, paid by the
several counties, was $59,351. From 1816 the State rose rapidly in the
scale of prosperity and the value of property. In 1820, the number of
acres returned as taxable, exceeded a fraction of 13 millions, while the
aggregate of taxes, was $205,346.
The period of depression and embarrassment that followed throughout the
west, prevented property from advancing in Ohio. In 1826, '27, '28, '29,
'30, a material change in the amount of property taxable took place,
from a few hundred thousands, to more than fifty millions. The total
value of taxable property of the State for 1835, (exclusive of three
counties from which returns had not been received,) amounts to the sum
of _ninety-four millions, four hundred and thirty-seven thousand, nine
hundred and fifty-one dollars_.
_School Funds._--The amount of school funds loaned to the State, up to
Nov. 15th, 1835, is--
Virginia Military land fund, $109,937
United States Military land fund, 90,126
Common School fund, 23,179
Athens University, 1,431
School section, No. 16, 453,000
Connecticut Western Reserve, 125,758
--------
Total, $803,432
The following tabular view of the acres of land, total amount of taxable
property, and total amount of taxes paid for 1833, is taken from the
Ohio Gazetteer. It should be noted that in all the Western States, lands
purchased of the government of the United States, are exempted from
taxation for _five_ years after sale. It is supposed that such lands are
not included in the table. I have also placed the population of each
county for 1830, from the census of that year;--reminding the reader
that great changes have since been made.
-----------------+------------+-------------+--------------+---------------
| | | Total Amount |
| Population | Acres of | of taxable | Total Amount
Counties. | 1830. | land. | property. | of Taxes paid.
-----------------+------------+-------------+--------------+---------------
Adams | 12,231 | 234,822 | $832,565 | $6,995.41
Allen | 578 | 14,159 | 51,214 | 725.28
Ashtabula | 14,584 | 449,742 | 1,347,900 | 13,524.97
Athens | 9,787 | 365,348 | 481,579 | 5,820.90
Belmont | 28,627 | 301,511 | 1,591,716 | 11,590.33
Brown | 17,867 | 267,130 | 1,358,944 | 8,179.35
Butler | 27,142 | 257,989 | 2,514,007 | 20,111.55
Carroll | ---- | 185,942 | 529,575 | 6,876.92
Champaign | 12,131 | 233,493 | 908,571 | 5,956.66
Clark | 13,114 | 247,083 | 1,114,995 | 7,744.89
Clermont | 20,466 | 280,679 | 1,542,627 | 15,645.31
Clinton | 11,436 | 239,404 | 785,770 | 6,482.14
Columbiana | 35,592 | 317,796 | 1,491,099 | 14,217.28
Coshocton | 11,161 | 246,123 | 850,708 | 9,307.28
Crawford | 4,791 | 79,582 | 217,675 | 3,630.09
Cuyahoga | 10,373 | 292,252 | 1,401,591 | 18,122.96
Dark | 6,204 | 107,730 | 260,259 | 3,312.81
Delaware | 11,504 | 338,856 | 831,093 | 8,516.66
Fairfield | 24,786 | 308,163 | 1,992,697 | 13,716.97
Fayette | 8,182 | 234,432 | 544,539 | 6,428.98
Franklin | 14,741 | 325,155 | 1,663,315 | 13,247.34
Gallia | 9,733 | 205,727 | 427,962 | 4,826.55
Geauga | 15,813 | 381,380 | 1,427,869 | 15,832.65
Greene | 14,801 | 251,512 | 1,441,907 | 12,082.36
Guernsey | 18,036 | 275,652 | 908,109 | 9,855.72
Hamilton | 52,317 | 239,122 | 7,726,091 | 97,530.42
Hancock | 813 | 9,302 | 50,929 | 421.70
Harden | 210 | 125,607 | 118,425 | 1,291.43
Harrison | 20,916 | 22,412 | 1,025,210 | 12,400.97
Highland | 16,345 | 317,079 | 1,065,863 | 8,755.29
Hocking | 4,008 | 92,332 | 215,272 | 1,919.29
Holmes | 9,135 | 182,439 | 556,060 | 6,364.03
Huron | 13,346 | 504,689 | 1,512,655 | 15,490.88
Jackson | 5,941 | 57,874 | 197,932 | 2,239.69
Jefferson | 22,489 | 230,145 | 1,855,064 | 13,149.44
Knox | 17,085 | 313,823 | 1,252,294 | 13,329.41
Lawrence | 5,367 | 56,862 | 241,782 | 2,280.80
Licking | 20,869 | 393,205 | 2,101,495 | 17,370.83
Logan | 6,440 | 203,509 | 519,622 | 3,925.65
Lorain | 5,696 | 360,863 | 889,552 | 10,539.09
Madison | 6,190 | 256,421 | 600,578 | 4,643.91
Marion | 6,551 | 168,164 | 390,602 | 5,599.78
Medina | 7,560 | 296,257 | 931,599 | 10,198.31
Meigs | 6,158 | 229,004 | 380,172 | 5,111.58
Mercer | 1,110 | 12,688 | 54,118 | 714.30
Miami | 12,807 | 240,093 | 1,000,748 | 6,423.09
Monroe | 8,768 | 95,520 | 280,572 | 3,666.61
Montgomery | 24,362 | 267,349 | 2,293,419 | 14,649.12
Morgan | 11,800 | 169,135 | 452,991 | 4,945.02
Muskingum | 29,334 | 366,609 | 2,362,616 | 18,567.75
Perry | 13,970 | 175,123 | 729,241 | 6,116.55
Pickaway | 16,001 | 300,969 | 1,798,665 | 10,924.76
Pike | 6,024 | 129,153 | 521,109 | 4,114.37
Portage | 18,826 | 472,156 | 2,019,029 | 17,787.06
Preble | 16,291 | 246,678 | 1,086,322 | 7,441.82
Richland | 24,008 | 433,620 | 1,354,169 | 15,069.92
Ross | 24,068 | 328,765 | 2,897,605 | 17,474.81
Sandusky | 2,851 | 95,822 | 275,992 | 3,354.64
Scioto | 8,740 | 105,539 | 963,882 | 7,926.93
Seneca | 6,159 | 108,758 | 302,089 | 3,916.51
Stark | 26,588 | 374,101 | 1,854,967 | 16,361.36
Shelby | 3,671 | 66,863 | 194,468 | 1,961.26
Trumbull | 26,123 | 556,011 | 1,807,792 | 16,635.58
Tuscarawas | 14,298 | 237,337 | 902,778 | 8,955.75
Union | 3,192 | 259,101 | 380,535 | 5,193.68
Warren | 21,468 | 243,517 | 2,143,065 | 16,247.33
Washington | 11,731 | 282,498 | 681,301 | 7,463.12
Wayne | 23,333 | 382,254 | 1,451,996 | 14,584.77
Williams and | } 1,089 | 17,797 | 90,066 | 1,351.02
others not incor.| } | | |
Wood | 1,102 | 17,981 | 127,862 | 1,572.22
-----------------+------------+-------------+--------------+---------------
Total | 937,903 | 17,133,481 | 78,019,526 | 730,010.75
OHIO STATISTICS--1836.
From the Annual Report of the Auditor of State, it appears there were
returned on the General List for Taxation, 17,819,631 acres of land,
under the new valuation, made under the law of 1833-4.
Lands, including buildings, valued at $58,166,821
Town Lots, including houses, mills, etc. 15,762,594
269,291 Horses, valued at $40 each, 10,491,640
455,487 Cattle, valued at $8 each, 4,043,896
Merchants' capital, and money at interest, 7,262,927
2,603 Pleasure Carriages, valued at 199,518
-----------
Total amount of taxable property, $94,438,016
On the value of taxable property, the following taxes were levied:
State and Canal tax, $142,854.15
County and School tax, 396,505.80
Road tax, 66,482.16
Township tax, 102,991.65
Corporation, Jail, and Bridge tax, 51,276.89
Physicians' and Lawyers' tax, 3,144.19
School-House tax, 1,482.84
Delinquencies of former years, 13,044.37
-----------
Total taxes, $777,782.07
No returns were made from the counties of Crawford, Hancock, Jefferson
and Williams.
CANAL REVENUES.
The total amount of receipts for tolls, for the year ending on the 31st
of October, 1835, was as follows:
OHIO CANAL.
Cleaveland, $72,718.72 | Newark, $20,487.85
Akron, 6,362.90 | Columbus, 4,605.37
Massillon, 13,585.78 | Circleville, 9,651.44
Dover, 8,096.42 | Chillicothe, 12,134.75
Roscoe, 14,555.83 | Portsmouth, 23,118.78
---------- ----------
115,319.45 $69,998.00
115,319.45
-----------
Total, $185,317.45
MIAMI CANAL.
Dayton, 14,016.75
Middleton, 8,747.19
Hamilton, 3,664.88
Cincinnati, 25,803.77
----------
Total, 52,232.59
----------
Total tolls received on both canals, $237,550.04
Deduct contingent expenses on Ohio canal, $5,836.05
Do. on Miami canal, 2,954.68--8,790.73
------------
$228,759.31
Toll received on Lancaster Lat. Canal, 1,062.56
From water rents and sale of State Lots, 3,700.07
Arrearages paid of Tolls received in October, 1834, 7,835.26
-----------
$242,357.20
POPULATION OF OHIO AT DIFFERENT PERIODS.
In Population. | From Increase.
1790, about 3,000 | 1790 to 1800, 42,365
1800, " 45,365 | 1800 " 1810, 185,395
1810, " 230,760 | 1810 " 1820, 350,674
1820, " 581,434 | 1820 " 1830, 356,469
1830, " 937,903 | 1830 " 1835, 437,097
1835, _estimated_, 1,375,000 |
_Rivers._--The streams which flow into the Ohio river, are the Mahoninga
branch of the Beaver, Little Beaver, Muskingum, Hockhocking, Scioto,
Little Miami, and Great Miami. Those which flow from the northward into
lake Erie, are the Maumee, Portage, Sandusky, Huron, Cuyahoga, Grand,
and Ashtabula. Hence the State is divided into two unequal inclined
planes, the longest of which slopes towards the Ohio, and the shortest
towards the lake. The head waters of the Muskingum, Scioto and Miami,
interlock with those of the Cuyahoga, Sandusky, and Maumee, so as to
render the construction of canals not only practicable, but
comparatively easy. All the large streams are now navigable for boats
during the spring season.
_Internal Improvements._--These consist of canals, rail-roads, turnpike
roads, and the National road, now under the supervision of, and owned
by, the State. The canalling is managed by a Board of Commissioners. The
State canals were projected about 1823, and, considering the youthful
character of the State, its want of funds and other circumstances, they
are, undoubtedly, the greatest works ever executed in America.
The _Ohio and Erie Canal_ connects lake Erie with the Ohio river. It
commences at Cleaveland, at the mouth of the Cuyahoga, passes along that
river and its tributaries, to the summit level, from thence to the
waters of the Muskingum, and to the border of Muskingum county; from
thence it strikes across the country past Newark, in Licking county, and
strikes the Scioto, down the valley of which it proceeds to its mouth,
at Portsmouth. The principal places on the canal are Akron, New Portage,
Massillon, Bolivar, New Philadelphia, Coshocton, Newark, Bloomfield,
Circleville, Chillicothe, Piketon, and Portsmouth. It was commenced on
the 4th of July, 1825, and completed in 1832; and, together with the
Miami canal to Dayton, cost about $5,500,000, and has greatly enriched
the State and the people. Private property along its line has risen from
five to ten fold.
LENGTH OF OHIO AND ERIE CANAL.
Miles.
Main trunk from Cleaveland to Portsmouth, 310
Navigable feeder from main trunk to Columbus, 11
Navigable feeder from main trunk to Granville, 6
Muskingum side cut, from the Muskingum river at Dresden, 3
Navigable feeder from the Tuscarawas river, 3
Navigable feeder from the Walhonding river, 1
---
Total length of Ohio canal and branches, 334
The _Miami Canal_ commences at Cincinnati, and, passing through the
towns of Reading, Hamilton, Middletown, Franklin, and Miamisburg,
terminates at Dayton, 65 miles. It has been navigated from Dayton to the
head of Main street, Cincinnati, since the spring of 1829. An extension
of the work is now in progress, to be carried along the vallies of St.
Mary's and Au Glaise rivers, and unite with the Wabash and Erie canal,
at Defiance; distance from Cincinnati about 190 miles.
An act passed the Ohio legislature in 1834, for continuing the Wabash
and Erie canal, (now constructing in Indiana, by that State,) from the
western boundary of Ohio, to the Maumee bay. Operations have been
suspended by the boundary dispute with Michigan.
The _Mahoning and Beaver Canal_ has already been noticed, under the head
of Western Pennsylvania. It is proposed to carry it from Akron, on the
Portage summit, along the valley of the Mahoning river, to Newcastle, on
the Beaver division of the Pennsylvania canal. Distance in Ohio, 77
miles. The work is in progress.
The _Sandy Creek and Little Beaver Canal_ is in progress by a chartered
company. It commences near the town of Bolivar, on the Ohio and Erie
canal, in Tuscarawas county, and passes along near the line of Stark and
Carroll counties to the Little Beaver in Columbiana county, and from
thence to the Ohio river.
The _Mad River and Sandusky Rail-Road_ will extend from Dayton, on the
Miami canal, to Sandusky, through Springfield, Urbanna, Bellefontaine,
Upper Sandusky, Tiffin, and down the valley of the Sandusky river to
lake Erie. The route is remarkably favorable for locomotive power.
Length 153 miles; estimated cost, $11,000 per mile. The work was
commenced in September, 1835.
The _Erie and Ohio Rail-Road_ is intended to be constructed from
Ashtabula on the lake, through Warren to Wellsville, on the Ohio river,
a distance of 90 miles. Other rail-roads are in contemplation in this
State, the most important of which is the _Great Western Rail-Road_,
from Boston, by Worcester, Springfield, and Stockbridge, through New
York, by Albany, Utica and Buffalo, along the summit ridge, dividing the
northern from the southern waters, through Pennsylvania, Ohio, to
intersect the Wabash and Erie canal at La Fayette, in Indiana. From
thence provision is already made for it to pass to the eastern boundary
of Illinois, from which, a company has been recently chartered to
construct it across the State of Illinois by Danville, Shelbyville,
Hillsborough, to Alton on the Mississippi. It must be some untoward
circumstance that shall prevent this splendid work from being completed
the whole length before 1850.
The project of a rail-road from Cincinnati, to Charleston in South
Carolina, has been entered upon with great spirit in the South, and in
all the States more directly concerned in the enterprise. It will,
undoubtedly, be carried into effect.
The State of Ohio has incorporated a number of turnpike companies, some
of which have gone into operation. The first is near the north-eastern
corner of the State, from Pierpont, through Monroe and Salem townships
to the mouth of Conneant creek, 16 miles long. The second is the
Trumbull and Ashtabula turnpike, leading from Warren to Ashtabula, 48
miles. The third is from the town of Wooster, through Medina, to
Cleaveland, 51 miles. The fourth is from Columbus to Sandusky, 106
miles, now in the course of construction. Another from Cincinnati,
through Lebanon and Columbus, to Wooster, has been commenced on the
McAdamized plan, but is not completed. A McAdam turnpike from Cincinnati
to Chillicothe is in progress. The National road, constructed by the
general government, and transferred to the State, passes from Wheeling,
through Columbus to the Indiana line.
_Manufactures._--The principal factory for woollen goods is at
Steubenville. A number of cotton factories are in the towns along the
Ohio river. Furnaces for smelting iron ore are in operation in the
counties bordering on the Ohio, near the mouth of the Scioto. Glass is
manufactured in several towns. Considerable salt is made on the
Muskingum below Zanesville, on the Scioto, and on Yellow creek above
Steubenville. About half a million of bushels were made in the State in
1830.
Cincinnati rivals Pittsburg in the number, variety and extent of its
manufacturing operations.
In every town and village through the State, mechanics' shops are
established for the manufacture of all articles of ordinary use.
_Cities and Towns._--To enter upon minute descriptions, or even name all
these, would much exceed the bounds of this work.
CINCINNATI is the great commercial emporium of the State. It is
pleasantly situated on the right or northern bank of the Ohio river,
about equidistant from Pittsburg and its mouth, in N. lat. 39 deg. 06',
and W. lon. from Washington city 7 deg. 25'.
Directly fronting the city to the south, and on the opposite side of the
Ohio river, are the flourishing manufacturing towns of Newport and
Covington, which are separated by the Licking river, of Kentucky, which
enters the Ohio directly opposite the Cincinnati landing.
The wharf arrangements are the most convenient, for lading and unlading
goods at all stages of the water, to be found on our western rivers. The
town site is beautifully situated on the first and second banks of the
river--the former of which is above ordinary high water, and the latter
gently rises sixty or seventy feet higher, and spreads out into a
semicircular plain, surrounded with elevated bluffs.
Cincinnati was founded in 1789, but did not grow rapidly till about
1808. The progressive increase of population will appear from the
following table:
1810, 2,320 | 1826, 16,230
1813, 4,000 | 1830, 26,515
1819, 10,000 | 1835, _estimated_, 31,000
1824, 12,016 |
Add the adjoining towns of Covington and Newport, whose interests are
identified, and the aggregate population will equal 35,000; and, in all
reasonable probability, in 1850, these towns, with Cincinnati, will
number 100,000 active, educated, and enterprising citizens. In 1826,
according to the Picture of Cincinnati, by B. Drake, Esq. and E. D.
Mansfield, Esq., the manufacturing industry alone, according to an
accurate statistical examination, amounted to 1,800,000 dollars. At that
time there were not more than fifteen steam engines employed in
manufactures in the city. At the close of 1835, there were more than
fifty in successful operation, besides four or five in Newport and
Covington. "More than 100 steam engines, about 240 cotton gins, upwards
of 20 sugar-mills, and 22 steamboats--many of them of the largest
size--have been built or manufactured in Cincinnati, during the year
1835."[10] Hence the productive industry of Cincinnati, Covington and
Newport, for 1835, may be estimated at 5,000,000 of dollars. By a
laborious investigation, at the close of 1826, by the same writer, the
exports of that year were about 1,000,000 of dollars in value. A similar
inquiry induced him to place the exports of 1832 at 4,000,000. The
estimate for 1835, is 6,000,000.
To enumerate all the public and private edifices deserving notice, would
extend this article to too great a length. The court house, four market
houses, banks, college, Catholic Athenaeum, two medical colleges,
Mechanics' Institute, two museums, hospital and Lunatics' Asylum,
Woodward high school, ten or twelve large edifices for free schools,
hotels, and between twenty-five and thirty houses for public worship,
some of which are elegant, deserve notice. The type foundry and
printing-press manufactory, is one of the most extensive in the United
States. Here is machinery, lately invented, for casting printer's types,
exceeding, perhaps, anything in the world. Printing, and the manufacture
of books, are extensively carried on in this city. Here are six large
bookstores, several binderies, twelve or fifteen printing-offices, from
which are issued ten weekly, four triweekly, four daily, four monthly,
and one quarterly publications. Two medical publications, of a highly
respectable character, are issued. The Western Monthly Magazine is too
well known to need special notice here. The Cincinnati Mirror is a
respectable literary periodical. The Presbyterians, Baptists,
Methodists, Roman Catholics, and, perhaps, other sects, have each their
weekly paper, respectable in size and character. During four months, in
1831, there were issued from the Cincinnati press, 86,000 volumes, of
which 20,300 were original works. In the same period, the periodical
press issued 243,200 printed sheets. The business has increased greatly
since that time.
The "_College of Professional Teachers_," is an institution formed at
the convention of teachers, held in this city, in October, 1832. Its
objects are to _unite_ the professional instructers of youth throughout
the Western country in the cause in which they are engaged, and to
elevate the character of the profession. Their meetings are held on the
first Monday in October annually. Lectures are given, discussions held,
reports made, and a respectable volume of transactions published
annually. There is no doubt that much good will result to the cause of
education in the West, from this annual convocation.
_Law School._--An institution of this character has been organized,
under the management of Hon. J. C. Wright, and other gentlemen of the
bar.
Of _Medical Schools_ there are two, at the heads of which are gentlemen
of high character and attainments in their profession.
The _Mechanics' Institute_ is designed for the diffusion of scientific
knowledge among the mechanics and citizens generally, by means of
popular lectures and mutual instruction. The _Cincinnati Lyceum_ was
formed for the purpose of useful instruction and entertainment, by means
of popular lectures and debates. The _Academic Institute_ is designed to
aid the cause of education, and elevate the profession, amongst the
teachers in Cincinnati. Its meetings are monthly. The _Athenaeum_ is an
institution under the management of Roman Catholic Priests. The college
edifice is a splendid and permanent building, of great capacity. The
_Woodward High School_ was founded by the late William Woodward. The
fund yields an income of about $2000 annually. It is conducted by four
professors, and has about one hundred and twenty students. The
corporation has established a system of free schools, designed to extend
the benefits of primary education to all classes, and ten or twelve
large edifices have been erected for the purpose. I regret the want of
documents to give particulars of this liberal and praiseworthy
enterprise, which reflects much honor upon the city and its honorable
corporation. In 1833, there were twenty public schools for males and
females, and two thousand pupils. Many excellent private schools and
seminaries, some of deserved celebrity, are sustained by individual
enterprise.
COLUMBUS, the political capital of the State, and nearly in the
centre of the State, is a beautiful city, on the east bank of the Scioto
river. In 1812, it was covered with a dense forest, when it was selected
by the legislature for the permanent seat of government. The public
buildings are a state house, a court house for the Supreme Court, a
building for the public offices, a market house, &c., all of brick. The
State penitentiary is here, for which a new substantial building is
constructing, and an Asylum for the deaf and dumb, sustained by
legislative aid.
Chillicothe, Cleaveland, Zanesville, Steubenville, Circleville and many
others, are large and flourishing towns.
_Education._--Charters for eight or ten colleges and collegiate
institutions have been granted. Congress has granted 92,800 acres of
public land to this State, for colleges and academies. One township,
(23,040 acres,) and a very valuable one, has been given to the Miami
University, at Oxford. Two townships of land, (46,080 acres,) though of
inferior quality, have been given to the Ohio University. Academies have
been established in most of the principal towns. A common school system
has been established by the legislature. Each township has been divided
into school districts. Taxes are levied to the amount of three fourths
of a mill upon the dollar of taxable property in the State, which, with
the interest accruing from the different school funds already noticed,
are applied towards the expenses of tuition. Five school examiners are
appointed in each county, by the Court of Common Pleas, who are to
examine teachers. The governor, in his recent Message, speaks of the
common school system as languishing in proportion to other improvements.
_Form of Government._--The legislative authority is vested in a Senate
and House of Representatives; both of which, collectively, are styled
the General Assembly. The members of both branches are chosen by
counties, or by districts composed of counties, according to population.
The representatives are chosen annually; the senators biennially. The
General Assembly has the sole power of enacting laws; the signature or
assent of the governor not being necessary in any case whatever. The
judiciary system comprises three grades of courts:--the Supreme Court,
Courts of Common Pleas, and Justices' Courts. The justices of the peace
are chosen triennially, by the people. The executive authority is vested
in a governor, who is elected biennially, and must be thirty years of
age, and have resided in the State at least four years. He is
commander-in-chief of all the militia, and commissions all officers in
the State, both civil and military. Each free, white, male citizen of
the United States, of twenty-one years of age, and a resident of the
State one year preceding an election, is entitled to a vote in all
elections.
The following shows the professions, occupations, and nativity of the
members of the legislature of Ohio, during the present winter, (1835-6,)
and is about a proportionate estimate for other Western States:--
The members of the Ohio legislature, as to their occupations and
professions, are:--farmers, 53; lawyers, 17; merchants, 13; doctors, 5;
printers, 3; surveyors, 2; millers, 2; masons, 2; carpenters, 2;
painter, 1; watch-maker, 1; blacksmith, 1; house joiner, 1.
Their nativity is as follows:--Ohio, 7; Pennsylvania, 30; Virginia, 22;
New England States, 17; Maryland, 8; New York, 7; New Jersey, 4;
Kentucky, 3; Delaware, 2; North Carolina, 1; Ireland, 5; England, 1;
Germany, 1.
The youngest member in the Senate, is 33 years of age, and the oldest
56. In the House, the youngest 26; oldest 67. Under the Constitution, a
senator must be 30; and a member of the House, 26.
_Antiquities._--Much has been said about the antiquities of Ohio,--the
fortifications, artificial mounds, and military works, supposed to
indicate a race of civilized people, as the possessors of the country,
anterior to the Indian nations. At Marietta, Circleville, Paint Creek,
and some other places, are, doubtless, antiquities, that exhibited, upon
their first discovery, strong marks of a military purpose. I have no
doubt, however, that credulity and enthusiasm have greatly exaggerated
many appearances in the West, and magnified them into works of vast
enterprise and labor. Mounds of earth are found in every country on the
globe, of all forms and sizes; and why should they not exist in the
western valley? Mr. Flint states that he has seen a horse shoe dug up at
the depth of thirty-five feet below the surface, with nails in it, and
much eroded by rust. He mentions also a sword, which is _said_ to be
preserved as a curiosity, but which he had not seen, found enclosed in
the wood of the roots of a tree, which could not have been less than
five hundred years old! Those who delight especially in the marvellous,
may consult the "Description of the Antiquities discovered in the State
of Ohio, and other Western States, by Caleb Atwater, Esq."
_History._--The first permanent settlement of Ohio, was made at
Marietta, on the 7th day of April, 1788, by 47 persons from
Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Connecticut. This was the nucleus
around which has grown up the populous State of Ohio. Amongst the most
active promoters of this colony, were those called then "The Ohio
Company." The next settlement was that of Symmes' purchase, made at
Columbia, six miles above Cincinnati, in Nov. 1789, by Major Stiles and
twenty-five others, under the direction of Judge Symmes. A colony of
French emigrants settled at Gallipolis in 1791. In 1796 settlements were
made by New England emigrants at Cleaveland and Conneant, on the
southern shore of lake Erie. The intermediate country gradually filled
up by emigration from various parts of the United States. Some slight
diversity exists, in different sections of the State, in manners,
customs, and feelings, amongst the people, in accordance with the States
or countries from which they or their fathers emigrated. These shades of
character will become blended, and the next generation will be
_Ohians_, or, to use their own native cognomen, _Buckeyes_.
In Sept., 1790, the first territorial legislature convened at
Cincinnati. The governor having exercised his right of _veto_ in
relation to the removal of a county seat, an unhappy collision followed,
and, upon framing the State Constitution, in Nov., 1802, the convention
prevented the governor of the State from ever exercising the _negative_
power upon acts of the legislature.
DATE OF ORGANIZATION OF SOME OF THE OLDEST COUNTIES.
Washington, July 27th, 1788
Hamilton, Jan. 2d, 1790
Adams, July 10th, 1797
Jefferson, July 29th, 1797
Ross, August 20th, 1798
Trumbull, July 10th, 1800
Clermont, December 6th, 1800
Belmont September 7th, 1801
These were all organized under the territorial government.
INDIANA.
Length 240, breadth 150 miles. Between 37 deg. 48' N. latitude, and 7 deg.
45' and 11 deg. W. longitude. Bounded north by the State of Michigan and
lake Michigan, east by Ohio, south by the Ohio river, which separates it
from Kentucky, and west by Illinois. It contains about 37,000 square
miles, equal to 23,680,000 acres.
It is naturally subdivided into the hilly portion, bordering on the
Ohio; the level, timbered portion, extending across the middle of the
State; the Wabash country, on that river; and the northern portion
bordering on the State of Michigan and the lake. The two last portions
include nearly all the prairie country.
For civil purposes, this State has been divided into counties, and those
subdivided into townships.
TABLE.
------------+----------+------+----------++-----------------+-------------
| | | || |Bearing and
| Date of |Square|Population|| |distance from
COUNTIES. |Formation.|miles.| 1830. ||SEATS OF JUSTICE.|Indianopolis.
------------+----------+------+----------++-----------------+-------------
Allen, | 1823 | 720 | 1,000 || Fort Wayne, |
Bartholomew,| 1821 | 588 | 5,800 || Columbus, |
Boon, | 1830 | 400 | 622 || Lebanon, |
Carroll, | 1828 | 450 | 1,614 || Delphi, |
Cass, | 1829 | 460 | 1,154 || Logansport, |
Clark, | 1802 | 400 | 10,719 || Charlestown, |
Clay, | 1825 | 360 | 1,616 || Bowling Green, |
Clinton, | 1830 | 450 | 1,423 || Frankfort, |
Crawford, | 1818 | 350 | 3,184 || Fredonia, |
Daviess, | 1816 | 460 | 4,512 || Washington, |
Dearborn, | 1802 | 448 | 14,573 || Lawrenceburgh, |
Decatur, | 1821 | 400 | 5,854 || Greensburgh, |
Delaware, | 1827 | 400 | 2,372 || Muncietown, |
Dubois, | 1817 | 420 | 1,774 || Jasper, |
Elkhart, | 1830 | 576 | 935 || Goshen, |
Fayette, | 1818 | 200 | 9,112 || Connersville, |
Floyd, | 1819 | 200 | 6,363 || New Albany, |
Fountain, | 1825 | 400 | 7,644 || Covington, |
Franklin, | 1810 | 400 | 10,199 || Brookville, |
Gibson, | 1813 | 450 | 5,417 || Princeton, |
Grant, | 1831 | 415 | ---- || Marion, |
Greene, | 1821 | 540 | 4,250 || Bloomfield, |
Hamilton, | 1823 | 400 | 1,705 || Noblesville, |
Hancock, | 1828 | 340 | 1,569 || Greenfield, |
Harrison, | 1808 | 470 | 10,288 || Corydon, |
Hendricks, | 1823 | 420 | 3,967 || Danville, |
Henry, | 1821 | 440 | 6,498 || Newcastle, |
Huntington, | 1832 | 400 | ---- || |
Jackson, | 1815 | 500 | 4,894 || Brownstown, |
Jefferson, | 1809 | 400 | 11,465 || Madison, |
Jennings, | 1816 | 400 | 3,950 || Vernon, |
Johnson, | 1822 | 300 | 4,130 || Franklin, |
Knox, | 1802 | 540 | 6,557 || Vincennes, |
La Porte, | 1832 | 420 | ---- || La Porte, |
Lagrange, | 1832 | 380 | ---- || Mongoquinon, |
Lawrence, | 1818 | 460 | 9,237 || Bedford, |
Madison, | 1823 | 420 | 2,442 || Andersontown, |
Marion, | 1821 | 440 | 7,181 || INDIANOPOLIS, |
Martin, | 1818 | 340 | 2,010 || Mount Pleasant, |
Miami, | 1832 | 330 | ---- || Miamisport, |
Monroe, | 1818 | 560 | 6,578 || Bloomington, |
Montgomery, | 1822 | 500 | 7,376 || Crawfordsville, |
Morgan, | 1821 | 530 | 5,579 || Martinsville, |
Orange, | 1815 | 378 | 7,909 || Paoli, |
Owen, | 1818 | 380 | 4,060 || Spencer, |
Parke, | 1821 | 450 | 7,534 || Rockville, |
Perry, | 1814 | 400 | 3,378 || Rome, |
Pike, | 1816 | 430 | 2,464 || Petersburgh, |
Posey, | 1814 | 500 | 6,883 || Mount Vernon, |
Putnam, | 1821 | 490 | 8,195 || Greencastle, |
Randolph, | 1818 | 440 | 3,912 || Winchester, |
Ripley, | 1818 | 400 | 3,957 || Versailles, |
Rush, | 1821 | 400 | 9,918 || Rushville, |
Scott, | 1817 | 200 | 3,097 || Lexington, |
Shelby, | 1821 | 430 | 6,294 || Shelbyville, |
Spencer, | 1818 | 400 | 3,187 || Rockport, |
St. Joseph, | 1830 | 740 | 287 || South Bend, |
Sullivan, | 1816 | 430 | 4,696 || Merom, |
Switzerland,| 1814 | 300 | 7,111 || Vevay, |
Tippecanoe, | 1826 | 500 | 7,161 || La Fayette, |
Union, | 1821 | 224 | 7,957 || Liberty, |
Vanderburgh,| 1818 | 225 | 2,610 || Evansville, |
Vermillion, | 1823 | 280 | 5,706 || Newport, |
Vigo, | 1818 | 400 | 5,737 || Terre Haute, |
Wabash, | 1832 | 380 | ---- || |
Warren, | 1828 | 350 | 2,854 || Williamsport, |
Warrick, | 1813 | 412 | 2,973 || Boonville, |
Washington, | 1813 | 550 | 13,072 || Salem, |
Wayne, | 1810 | 420 | 23,344 || Centerville, |
The total population in 1830, was 341,582. The estimated population in
the message of Gov. Noble to the legislature, December, 1835, was
600,000.
The counties in which the population has not been given in the foregoing
table, have been formed since 1830. Probably other new counties, along
the waters of the Wabash and Kankakee, have been formed recently, of
which no intelligence has been had by the author. The counties in the
northern portion of the State have increased the most in population
since 1830.
For electing representatives to Congress, the State is divided into
seven electoral districts.
For judicial purposes, it is divided into eight circuits, in each of
which there is a circuit judge, who, together with two associates in
each county, holds the circuit courts.
POPULATION AT DIFFERENT PERIODS.
Population. | Increase.
In 1800,(excluding Illinois,) 2,641 | From 1800 to 1810, 21,879
" 1810, 24,520 | " 1810 to 1820, 122,658
" 1820, 147,178 | " 1820 to 1825, 74,822
" 1825, 222,000 | " 1825 to 1830, 119,582
" 1830, 341,582 | " 1830 to 1835, 119,582
" 1835,(estimate,) 600,000 |
In 1825, the number of voters was 36,977, and the number of paupers 217!
_Face of the Country, &c._--The counties bordering on the Ohio river are
hilly;--sometimes abrupt, precipitous, stony, occasionally degenerating
into knobs and ravines. Commencing at the mouth of White river on the
Wabash, and following up that stream on its east fork, and thence along
the Muskakituck, through Jennings and Ripley counties to Lawrenceville,
and you leave the rough and hilly portion of Indiana, to the right. Much
of the country we have denominated hilly is rich, fertile land, even to
the summits of the hills. On all the streams are strips of rich alluvion
of exhaustless fertility. The interior, on the two White rivers and
tributaries, is moderately undulating, tolerably rich soil, and much of
it heavily timbered with oaks of various species, poplar, beech, sugar
tree, walnuts, hickory, elm, and other varieties common to the West.
There is much level, table land, between the streams. Along the Wabash,
below Terre Haute, is an undulating surface, diversified with forest and
prairie, with a soil of middling quality, interspersed with some very
rich tracts. Along the Wabash and its tributaries above Terre Haute, the
land in general is first rate,--a large proportion forest, interspersed
with beautiful prairies. The timber consists of oaks of various species,
poplar, ash, walnut, cherry, elm, sugar tree, buckeye, hickory, some
beech, sassafras, lime, honey locust, with some cotton wood, sycamore,
hackberry and mulberry on the bottom lands. The undergrowth is spice
bush, hazel, plum, crab apple, hawthorn and vines. Along the northern
part of the State are extensive prairies and tracts of barrens, with
groves of various kinds of timber and skirts of burr oak. Towards lake
Michigan, and along the Kankakee and St. Joseph rivers, are lakes,
swamps and marshes.
_Rivers._--The Ohio meanders along the southeastern and southern parts
of the State for 350 miles. The east and west forks of White river, and
their tributaries, water the interior counties for 100 miles in extent.
They are both navigable streams for flat boats during the spring and
autumn floods. The Wabash river has several heads, which interlock with
the waters of the St. Joseph and St. Mary's, which form the Maumee of
lake Erie. It runs a south-westwardly course across the State to Warren
county,--thence southwardly to Vigo county, where it becomes the
boundary between Indiana and Illinois, along which it meanders to the
Ohio, which it enters 12 miles above Shawneetown. The St. Joseph of lake
Michigan, already noticed under the State of Michigan, makes a curve
into Elkhart and St. Joseph counties, forming what is called the _South
Bend_. The Kankakee, which is the longest branch of Illinois river,
rises in Indiana, near the South Bend. Some of its head waters interlock
with those of Tippecanoe, a prominent tributary of the Wabash.
SKETCH OF EACH COUNTY.
The following sketch of each county,--its streams, surface, soil, and
minerals,--has been made and collated with much labor, from an excellent
Gazetteer of this State, published in 1833, by Douglass and Maguire of
Indianopolis,--from personal observation of many of the older
counties,--and from an extensive correspondence.
ALLEN.--Streams; St. Joseph's and St. Mary's, which form the
Maumee of lake Erie, navigable for small keel boats,--and numerous
creeks; generally heavily timbered; soil, clay,--sandy on the rivers.
BARTHOLOMEW.--Streams; Driftwood, Clifty, Flat Rock, and Salt
Creeks,--all mill streams. Surface, level; soil, a rich loam, mixed with
sand and gravel; the western part hilly, with clay soil. Minerals;
limestone, coal, iron ore, red ochre.
BOON.--Watered by the tributaries of Raccoon and Sugar Creeks.
Surface, level,--soil rich.
CARROLL.--Streams; Wabash river, Deer, Rock, and branches of
Wildcat creeks. Considerable timber,--some prairies, of which Deer
prairie is the largest and most beautiful. Considerable quantities of
limestone on the surface; a remarkable spring near Delphi,--the water
reddish.
CASS.--Streams are Wabash and Eel rivers, which unite at
Logansport,--the head of steamboat navigation of the Wabash, and
termination of the W. and E. canal. Surface, generally level, rolling
towards the rivers with abrupt bluffs; soil, near the rivers, a mixture
of loam and sand; at a distance from them, flat and clayey. Large
proportion, forest land,--some prairies.
CLARK.--Silver and Fourteen Mile creeks furnish excellent mill
sites. Ohio river on the south. Surface, rolling and hilly; soil, loam,
mixed with sand. Minerals; limestone, gypsum, water lime, marble, salt,
iron ore, copperas, alum.
CLAY.--Eel river and tributaries. Surface moderately
undulating; soil various, chiefly clay and loam, and a mixture of sand,
in places; timber predominates,--some prairies.
CLINTON.--Watered by the South, Middle, and Kilmore's Forks of
Wildcat creek. Surface, moderately undulating, or level: Twelve Mile
prairie extends from S. W. to N. E. 12 miles, and is three fourths of a
mile wide. The remainder timbered land. Soil, a rich sandy loam, and
exceedingly fertile.
CRAWFORD.--Waters; the Ohio and Blue rivers,--plenty of water
power, and excellent springs. Surface, hilly and broken; in places,
tolerably productive; in others, soil thin and rocky. A timbered region,
and abundance of limestone.
DAVIESS.--Streams; Forks of White river, with its tributaries,
Smother's, Prairie, Veal, Aikman's and Sugar creeks. Level bottoms on
the rivers--sometimes inundated; undulating on the high grounds. Soil on
the West Fork, sandy; much timber,--an extensive tract of sugar tree;
some prairies. The county destitute of rock near the surface; plenty of
lime and sandstone in the bed of West Fork of White river, at the
rapids. Plenty of coal.
DEARBORN.--Watered by the Great Miami, Whitewater, Laughery,
Hogan's and Tanner's creeks. Surface, hilly and broken, with rich,
level, bottom lands, on the Miami. Soil, one fourth first rate, one
fourth second rate,--remainder inferior. A timbered region.
DECATUR.--Flat Rock, Clifty, and Sand creeks, are all good mill
streams. Surface, generally level,--some parts undulating; soil, loam,
with a substratum of clay; well adapted to grain--timbered. Minerals;
limestone, some iron ore and coal.
DELAWARE.--Streams; Missisinawa, and West Fork of White river;
surface tolerably level; soil, loam, mixed with sand. Minerals; some
limestone, and granite bowlders scattered over the surface.
DUBOIS.--Streams; East Fork of White river, Patoka and Anderson
creeks. Surface rolling,--some parts hilly and broken,--some level
tracts; soil rich and sandy loam near the streams. Minerals; sand rock
and coal.
ELKHART.--Watered by St. Joseph of lake Michigan, Elkhart and
tributaries. Surface, generally level,--a portion undulating; soil
various, but generally rich; forest and prairie, both wet and dry.
FAYETTE.--Watered by the West Fork of Whitewater, and a small
lake in the north. Surface, undulating; soil, on the high ground,
clayey, and a mixture of sand,--on the bottom lands, a rich, sandy loam.
Limestone found in masses and quarries.
FLOYD.--Watered by the Ohio river, Silver creek, and some head
branches of Big and Little Indian creeks. Surface various,--a range of
knobs,--east of these knobs, it is gently undulating; soil inferior.
Minerals; shale, soft sandstone, limestone, freestone, iron ore, and
some traces of coal. A boiling spring, from which is emitted an
inflammable gas.
FOUNTAIN.--Watered by the Wabash river, and Coal and Shawnee
creeks, with numerous mill sites. Surface, gently undulating; soil, a
black loam, mixed with sand, and very rich. Minerals; coal, and some
sandstone.
FRANKLIN.--Watered by the East and West Forks of Whitewater.
Surface, on the eastern part level,--western, rolling; soil, in the
central and northern parts, a black loam,--in the south-west, thin and
clayey.
GIBSON.--Watered by the Wabash, White, and Patoka rivers.
Surface, rolling and timbered; soil, generally a sandy loam, and
productive.
GRANT.--Watered by the Missisinawa and tributaries. Surface
level,--generally heavily timbered; soil, clay and loam on the table
lands,--sandy on the river bottoms.
GREEN.--Watered by White and Eel rivers, and Richland creek;
soil, on the rivers a rich loam,--on the bluffs, sandy,--east side,
hilly,--west side, level. White river is navigable. Minerals; lime and
sandstone, coal, and some iron ore.
HAMILTON.--The streams are White river, and Cicero, Coal,
Stoney, and Fall creeks. Generally forest,--some few prairies; soil, in
places, clay,--more generally, a sandy loam. Minerals; lime, and some
soft sand rock.
HANCOCK.--Watered by Blue river, Sugar and Brandywine creeks,
with excellent mill sites, and well supplied with springs. Surface,
either level or gently undulating; soil, a rich loam, mixed with
sand,--heavily timbered.
HARRISON.--Watered by Big and Little Indian, and Buck creeks,
and Blue river. Surface various,--some parts hilly and broken,--some
parts undulating,--some parts level; soil, in the low grounds, a rich
loam,--on the high grounds, calcareous and gravelly. A large tract of
"barrens" in the west. Minerals; a quarry and several caves of black
flint, salt licks, limestone.
HENDRICKS.--The waters are White Lick, and branches of Eel
river, with good mill sites. Surface, gently rolling, and timbered with
the varieties of the Wabash country; soil, a mixture of clay, loam and
sand.
HENRY.--Watered by Blue river, Flat Rock and Fall creeks.
Surface, in some places, broken,--in most parts, level; soil, a mixture
of sand with loam and clay. Plenty of springs and mill sites. Mostly
timbered, but several tracts of prairie.
HUNTINGTON.--The streams are Salamania, Little river, and
Wabash. Surface, on the rivers, level,--back, gently undulating; soil,
loam and clay, with a slight mixture of sand. Several tracts of
prairie, but generally forest land.
JACKSON.--Watered by Indian, Driftwood, White, Muscatatack, and
Gum creeks. Surface, rolling and in places hilly; soil, clay and loam,
mixed with sand. In the forks of the creeks, sand predominates. On the
west and north-west, inclined to clay.
JEFFERSON.--Watered by the Ohio river, Indian, Kentucky and Big
creeks. Surface various; along the river and creeks, low alluvion; soil,
loam mixed with sand. The bottoms are bounded by precipitous bluffs,
with towering cliffs of limestone. The table lands are undulating, and
the soil inclined to clay. Timber various. Abounds with limestone,
masses of freestone, and scattered granite bowlders.
JOHNSON.--Watered on the eastern side by Blue river, and Sugar
and Young's creeks,--on the western side by Indian, Crooked, and Stott's
creeks. Surface, gently undulating; soil, a rich, black, sandy loam;
timbered. Minerals; masses of freestone, and scattered granite bowlders.
JENNINGS.--Watered by Graham's Fork, and the North Fork of the
Muscatatack. Surface, in some parts level, some parts very hilly; soil,
calcareous, rich and productive; timber of all varieties; abounds with
limestone.
KNOX.--The Wabash on the west side,--White river south,--the
West Fork of White river east,--and Maria and Duchain creeks, interior.
Surface undulating; soil, somewhat various,--a rich loam in
places,--sandy in other places;--some tracts of prairie, but timber
predominates.
LAGRANGE.--Watered by Pigeon and Crooked rivers. Surface,
gently rolling; northern part extensive prairies; southern portion
chiefly forest; soil, loam and sand.
LA PORTE.--Watered by the Kankakee, Galena, and Trail creek, at
the mouth of which is Michigan city, and a harbor for lake Michigan
commerce. Surface, gently undulating; abounds with large, rich prairies,
with groves of timber, and lakes of clear water interspersed; soil, a
sandy loam, rich and productive.
LAWRENCE.--Watered by Salt, Indian, Guthrie's, Beaver, and
Leatherwood creeks, and excellent springs. Surface, generally
hilly,--some level lands;--soil, on the water courses, sandy,--back from
the streams, loam and clay. Abounds with limestone.
MADISON.--The West Fork of White river is navigable. The other
streams are Killbuck, Pipe, Lick and Fall creeks. Surface, generally
level, with some broken land near the streams; timbered, with a wet
prairie, 7 miles long and three fourths of a mile wide; soil, sand,
mixed with clay and loam,--productive. Minerals; lime and freestone,
marble that polishes well, and some traces of iron ore.
MARION.--West Fork of White river passes through it, on which
is situated INDIANOPOLIS, the capital of the State. Fall creek
is an excellent mill stream. Surface, chiefly level forest land; soil,
a deep black loam, with a mixture of sand. Large granite bowlders are
scattered over the surface.
MARTIN.--The East Fork of White river passes through it, and
receives Lost river from the left, and Indian and Flint creeks from the
right. Surface, on the east side of White river, broken and hilly; soil,
clay and loam; on the west side, level, or gently undulating, with
portions of barrens and prairie land; soil, clay and loam, mixed with
sand. Minerals; coal in large quantities, lime, sand and freestone.
MIAMI.--The Wabash and Eel rivers pass through it, and the
Missisinawa comes from the east, and enters the Wabash about the centre
of the county. The Wabash and Erie canal passes through it. Surface,
gently undulating and beautiful,--chiefly forest, and interspersed with
small prairies; soil, the richest in the State, of loam, clay and sand
intermixed.
MONROE.--Streams; Salt, Clear, Indian, Raccoon, Richland, and
Bean-blossom creeks,--pure springs. Surface, hilly and undulating; soil,
second rate. Minerals; limestone rock, salt licks, with manufactories of
salt.
MONTGOMERY.--The heads of Shawnee and Coal creeks in the
north-west,--Sugar creek in the centre,--and Big Raccoon on the
southeastern part. Surface, gently undulating; the northern portion
prairie, interspersed with groves, with a rich soil of black loam,
mixed with sand,--the middle and southern portions timbered. Excellent
quarries of rock in the middle,--granite bowlders in the northern parts.
MORGAN.--White river, which is navigable. The mill streams are
White Lick, Sycamore, Highland, and Lamb's creeks on the west side, and
Crooked, Stott's, Clear, and Indian creeks on the east side. Surface,
generally rolling,--some parts hilly; soil, calcareous and clayey,--on
the bottoms, a rich sandy loam. Minerals; limestone, and some iron ore.
ORANGE.--Streams; Lost river, French Lick, and Patoka. Surface,
hilly and broken,--limestone rock,--springs of water, of which Half-moon
and French Lick are curiosities. On the alluvial bottoms, the soil is
loamy,--on the hills, calcareous, and inclined to clay. Excellent stones
for grit, equal to the Turkey oil stones, are found in this county.
OWEN.--Watered by the West Fork of White river, with its
tributaries, Raccoon, Indian, Mill, Rattlesnake, and Fish creeks. The
falls of Eel river furnish the best water power in the State. Surface
rolling; soil, in some places a dark loam,--in others clayey and
calcareous. Minerals; immense bodies of lime rock, and some iron ore.
PARKE.--Watered by the Big and Little Raccoon, and Sugar
creeks, (with excellent mill sites,) all of which enter the Wabash on
its western side. Surface, generally level,--some beautiful prairies,
but mostly forest land; soil, a loam mixed with sand and rich. Minerals;
lime and sandstone, coal and iron ore.
PERRY.--Watered by the Ohio river, with Anderson's, Bear,
Poison, and Oil creeks interior. Some level land, with a rich, sandy
loam, on the streams,--all the high lands very broken; hilly, with a
clayey, sterile soil. Minerals; immense bodies of limestone, grindstone
quarries, iron ore and coal.
PIKE.--Has White river on the north, and Patoka creek through
the centre. Surface all forest land and undulating; soil, eastern part
clay and sand,--western, a rich, dark loam, mixed with sand,--some
swampy land. Minerals, limestone and coal.
POSEY.--In the forks of the Ohio and Wabash, with Big, Mill,
and McFadden's creeks interior, and good springs. Surface, rolling, and
all forest land; soil, a sandy loam, and produces well. Minerals; sand,
and limestone and coal.
PUTNAM.--Has Raccoon creek, and Eel river, with abundant water
privileges, and fine springs. Surface, gently undulating; soil, in
places calcareous and clayey,--in other places a rich loam; limestone.
RANDOLPH.--Watercourses, the West Fork of White river and
Missisinawa and their tributaries, which furnish good mill sites.
Surface, either level or gently undulating; soil, a rich loam,--in some
places marshy; a small quantity of limestone, with granite bowlders.
RIPLEY.--Watered by Laughery and Graham's creek. Surface level,
forest land; soil clay,--in some parts inclines to sand,--with limestone
abundant.
RUSH.--The streams are Big and Little Blue rivers, Big and
Little Flat Rock, with excellent water power. Surface, moderately
rolling, and heavily timbered; soil, loam on clay, with a slight mixture
of sand.
SCOTT.--Watered by tributaries of the Muscatatack. Surface
rolling,--some flat lands inclining to marsh; soil, clay. Minerals;
limestone, iron ore, salt, sulphur, and copperas.
SHELBY.--Watered by Big and Little Blue rivers, Brandywine, and
Sugar creeks, with good mill sites,--all heads of the East Fork of White
river. Surface, generally level with forest land; soil, clay mixed with
loam.
SPENCER.--Ohio river, Anderson's, Little Pigeon, and Sandy
creeks. Surface tolerably level, and forest land; soil, clay mixed with
loam. Minerals; coal, and lime and sand rock.
ST. JOSEPH.--St. Joseph's river, Kankakee, and Bobango, with
some small creeks. Extensive marshes on the Kankakee, and near the South
Bend of the St. Joseph. These marshes are of vegetable formation.
Surface, in some parts level,--in others gently undulating; soil, a
loam,--in some places sand. The north-west part chiefly prairies and
barrens, including the large and fertile prairies of Portage and Terre
Coupe. The north-eastern, barrens,--the south-eastern, forest. Minerals
are granite bowlders, and bog iron ore.
SULLIVAN.--Has the Wabash river on its western side, and
Turman's, Busseron, and Turtle creeks interior. Surface rolling,--some
prairies, but generally forest land,--some poor barrens; soil, loam and
sand;--lime and sand rock and coal.
SWITZERLAND.--The Ohio east and south,--Indian, Plum, Bryant's,
Turtle, and Grant's creeks interior. Surface various,--bottom lands
level, and rich,--then a range of precipitous bluffs, with cliffs of
limestone,--the table land rolling with a calcareous and clayey soil. At
Vevay are extensive vineyards.
TIPPECANOE.--Watered by the Wabash river, and Wildcat, Wea,
Burnett's, and Mill Branch creeks. The Wabash affords navigation, and
the other streams excellent mill sites. Surface gently undulating, with
extensive level tracts, and consists of one half prairie, one eighth
barrens, and the remainder heavy forest land. The prairie soil is a
rich, black loam,--the barrens cold, wet clay,--the forest a very rich
loam and sand.
UNION.--Streams; the East Fork of White river and its
tributaries, Hanna's, Richland, and Silver creeks, all of which furnish
excellent mill sites. Surface, moderately rolling; soil, a dark loam.
VANDERBURGH.--Watered by the Ohio, and Great Pigeon creek.
Surface, high, dry, rolling land, with good timber, and well watered;
soil, clay and sand, of inferior quality. Minerals; lime and sandstone,
salines, and a mineral spring.
VERMILLION.--A long, narrow county, between the Wabash river
and the State of Illinois. The streams are Wabash, Big and Little
Vermillion, and their tributaries. Surface high, rolling land, with
abrupt bluffs near the streams; a good proportion of prairie and timber;
soil, rich, sandy loam, and very productive. Minerals; freestone and
limestone, and large coal banks.
VIGO.--The Wabash passes through it--navigable. The mill
streams are Prairie, Honey, Otter, and Sugar creeks, but their waters
fail in a dry season. Surface level, or gently undulating, with forest
and prairies; soil, rich loam and sand,--first rate. Minerals; gray
limestone, freestone, and inexhaustible beds of coal.
WABASH.--The Wabash river, and W. and E. canal, pass through
it, as does the Missisinawa, Eel, Bluegrass, and Salamania.
Surface,--wide, rich bottoms on the streams,--bluffs and ravines
adjoining,--table lands further back, either dry and rolling, or flat
and wet, and abound with willow swamps. Limestone rock abundant, and
many excellent springs of pure water.
WARREN.--The Wabash on the S. E. border for thirty miles, and
navigated by steamboats; interior streams, Rock, Redwood, and Big and
Little Pine creeks, all of which afford good mill sites. Some pine and
cedar timber. Surface generally level, with broken land on the bluffs of
creeks; some forest, but the largest proportion prairie; soil, a rich
and very fertile loam. Minerals; lime and excellent freestone for
building purposes,--coal,--iron,--lead and copper,--with several old
"diggings" and furnaces, where both copper and lead ore have been
smelted in early times.
WARRICK.--Watered by the Ohio river, Big and Little Pigeon, and
Cypress. Surface, rolling and hilly; soil, a sandy loam on clay.
Minerals; quarries of freestone, some limestone, and inexhaustible beds
of coal.
WASHINGTON.--Streams; Muscatatack on the north, Rush, Twin,
Highland, Delany's, Elk, Bear, and Sinking creeks, and the heads of Blue
and Lost rivers, with mill sites. Surface, diversified from gentle
undulations, to lofty and precipitous hills; soil, in part, second rate,
with much of inferior quality. Substratum of limestone, caves, hollows,
and sink holes.
WAYNE.--Streams, East and West Forks of Whitewater, with
excellent water power for machinery. Surface, moderately hilly; heavy
forest land; soil, a rich loam; substratum, clay. Minerals; generally,
limestone, and excellent for buildings.
_Form of Government._--This differs very little from that of Ohio. The
Constitution provides that an enumeration be made every five years of
all free white male inhabitants, above the age of twenty-one years; and
the representation of both houses of the General Assembly is apportioned
by such enumeration, in such ratio that the number of representatives
shall never be less than 36, nor exceed 100, and the number of senators
not exceeding one half, nor less than one third the number of
representatives. Every free white male citizen, twenty-one years of age,
who has resided in the State one year, is entitled to vote; "except such
as shall be enlisted in the army of the U. S., or their allies."
Elections are held annually, by ballot, on the first Monday in August.
Senators, the governor, and lieutenant governor, hold their offices for
three years. The judiciary is vested in a Supreme Court, in Circuit
Courts, Probate Courts, and Justices of the peace. The Supreme Court
consists of three judges, who are appointed by the governor, with the
advice and consent of the senate, for the term of seven years, and have
appellate jurisdiction. The Circuit Courts consist of a presiding judge
in each judicial circuit, elected by joint ballot of both houses of the
General Assembly, and two associate judges in each county, elected by
the qualified voters in their respective counties, for a like term. The
Probate Courts consist of one judge for each county, who is elected by
the voters, for the same term. Justices of the peace are elected in each
township, for the term of five years, and have jurisdiction in criminal
cases throughout the county, but, in all civil cases, throughout the
township.
_Finances._--The Indiana Gazetteer, of 1833, estimates that the revenue
for State purposes amounted to about $35,000 annually, and, for county
purposes, to about half that sum. The aggregate receipts for 1835,
according to the governor's message, of Dec. 1835, amounted to $107,714;
expenditures for the same time, $103,901.
Sales of canal lands for the same period, $175,740. The canal
commissioners have borrowed $605,257, for canal purposes, on a part of
which they obtained two per cent. premium, and, on another part, as high
as seven per cent.; and have also borrowed $450,000 bank capital, for
which they received four and a half per cent. premium. Three per cent.
on all sales of U. S. lands within the State, is paid by the general
government into the State treasury, to be expended in making roads. The
receipts from this source, in 1835, amounted to $24,398. Sales and rents
of saline lands, produced an income of $4,636. The proceeds of certain
lands, donated by the general government towards the construction of a
road from the Ohio river to lake Michigan, amounted to $33,030.
_Internal Improvements._--This State has entered with great spirit upon
a system of internal improvements. It consists of canalling, improving
river navigation, rail-roads, and common turnpike roads.
_Wabash and Erie Canal._--This work will extend from La Fayette, on the
Wabash river, up the valley of that stream, to the Maumee and to the
boundary of Ohio; distance, 105 miles. The cost of construction has been
estimated at $1,081,970, and lands to the amount of 355,200 acres, have
been appropriated by the general government, the proceeds of which will
be sufficient to complete the canal to Fort Wayne. The middle division,
32 miles, was completed in July, 1835, and the remainder is in active
progress. Its whole distance, through a part of Ohio to Maumee bay, at
the west end of lake Erie, will be 187 miles.
The _Whitewater Canal_, 76 miles in length, along the western branch of
Whitewater, is intended to pass through Connorsville, Brookville,
Somerset, and other towns, to Lawrenceburgh, on the Ohio river.
Provision is made to improve the navigation of the Wabash river, in
conjunction with Illinois, where it constitutes the boundary line, and,
by this State alone, further up.
_Rail-Roads._--From Evansville, on the Ohio, to La Fayette on the
Wabash, 175 miles; from La Fayette to Michigan city, 90 miles; forming a
line from the Ohio river to lake Michigan, 265 miles in length:--From
Madison, on the Ohio, to Indianopolis, the seat of government, 85 miles;
and several others were projected two years since. But at the session of
the legislature of 1835-6, a bill was passed to borrow, in such
instalments as should be needed, _ten millions_ of dollars; and a system
of internal improvements, including canals, rail-roads, and the
improvement of river navigation, was marked out. In a few years, this
State will be prominent in this species of enterprise.
_Synopsis of Canals surveyed by order of the Indiana Legislature during
the Year 1835._
La Fayette and Terre Haute division of the Wabash and Erie canal.
Length, 90 miles; total cost, $1,067,914.70; per mile, $11,865 79.
Central canal, north of Indianopolis. Total length, from Indianopolis
via Andersontown, Pipe creek summit to the Wabash and Erie canal at
Wabash town, 103 miles 34 chains; total cost, $1,992,224.54; per mile,
$17,106 51. Length, via Pipe creek summit to Peru, near the mouth of the
Missisinawa, 114 miles 46 chains; total cost, $1,897,797.19; per mile,
$14,871.85. Length, via Pipe creek summit (including lateral canal to
Muncietown) to Wabash town, 124 miles 51 chains; total cost,
$2,103,153.61; per mile, $15,873.83. Length, via Pipe creek summit
(including lateral canal to Muncietown) to Peru, 185 miles 63 chains;
total cost, $2,008,726.26; per mile, $14,793.12. Total length, from
Indianopolis via Muncietown to the Wabash and Erie canal at Peru, 131
miles 41 chains; total cost, $2,058,929.41; per mile, $14.549 71.
Central canal, south of Indianopolis. Total length, from Indianopolis to
Evansville, 188 miles; total cost, $2,642,285.92; per mile, $14,054.71.
Route down the valley of Main Pigeon. Length, 194 miles; total cost,
$2,400,957.70; per mile, $12,376.02.
Terre Haute and Eel river canal, which forms a connexion between the
Wabash and Erie canal and White river or Central canal. Total length,
40-1/2 miles; total cost, $629,631 65; which, including a feeder, is
$13,540.46 per mile.
Wabash and Erie canal, eastern division, [east of Fort Wayne], Upper
line: Length, 19 miles 30 chains; total cost, $154,113.13; per mile,
$7,952.17.--Lower line: Total length, 20 miles 76-1/2 chains; total
cost, $254,817.52; per mile, $11,159.04.
The following are the works provided for in the Bill, and the sums
appropriated for them:
1st. The White Water Canal, including a
lateral canal or rail-road, to connect said
canal with the Central or White river
canal, $1,400,000
2d. Central or White river Canal, 3,500,000
3d. Extension of the Wabash and
Erie Canal, 1,300,000
4th. Madison and La Fayette Rail-road, 1,300,000
5th. A M'Adamized turnpike road
from New Albany to Vincennes, 1,150,000
6th. Turnpike or rail-road from
New Albany to Crawfordsville, 1,300,000
7th. Removing obstructions in the
Wabash, 50,000
-----------
$10,000,000
8th. The Bill gives the credit of the
State to the Lawrenceburgh and Indianopolis
Rail-road Company, for the sum of $500,000.
_Manufactures._--Besides the household manufacture of cotton and
flannels, common to the western people, at Vincennes, and probably other
towns, machinery is employed in several establishments. It will be seen
from the sketch of each county, already given, that in most parts of the
State there is a supply of water power for manufacturing purposes. Both
water and steam power, saw and grist mills, are already in operation in
various parts of the State.
_Education._--The same provision of one section of land in each
township, or a thirty-sixth part of the public lands, has been made for
the encouragement of common schools, as in other Western States. A law
has been enacted providing for common schools, and the public mind has
become measurably awakened to the subject of education. Some most
extravagant and exaggerated statements have been made relative to an
incredible number of children in this State, "who have no means of
education." As in all new countries, the first class of emigrants,
having to provide for their more immediate wants, have not done so much
as is desirable to promote common school education; but we have no idea
they will slumber on that subject, while they are wide awake to the
physical wants and resources of the country. Academies have been
established in several counties, and a college at Bloomington, from the
encouragement of State funds, and other institutions are rising up, of
which the Hanover Institution near the Ohio river, and Wabash College at
Crawfordsville, promise to be conspicuous.
_History._--This country was first explored by adventurers from Canada,
with a view to the Indian trade, towards the close of the seventeenth
century; and the place where Vincennes now stands is said to have been
thus early occupied as a trading post. A company of French from Canada,
made a settlement here in 1735. The country, in common with the Western
Valley, was claimed by France, until it was ceded to Great Britain, at
the treaty of peace in 1763, under whose jurisdiction it remained, until
subdued by the American arms under the intrepid Gen. G. R. Clark, and
his gallant band, in 1779. A territorial government was organized by
Congress in 1787, including all the country north-west of the river
Ohio, which was then called the North-western Territory. In 1802, when
the State of Ohio was organized, all that part of the Territory lying
west of a line due north from the mouth of the Great Miami, was
organized into the Territory of Indiana,--which was divided, and from
which Illinois Territory was formed in 1809. In June, 1816, a
constitution was adopted, and at the ensuing session of Congress,
Indiana was made a State.
_General Remarks._--The importance of Indiana, as a desirable State for
the attention of the emigrant to the West, has been too much overlooked.
Though not possessing quite equal advantages with Illinois, especially
in the quality and amount of prairie soil, it is far superior to Ohio,
and fully equal,--nay, in our estimation, rather superior to Michigan.
Almost every part is easy of access, and in a very few years the liberal
system of internal improvements, adopted and in progress, will make
almost every county accessible to public conveyances, and furnish
abundant facilities to market.
Along the wide, alluvion bottoms of the streams, and amidst a rank
growth of vegetation, there is usually more or less autumnal fever,
yet, in general, there is very little difference in any of the Western
States as to prospects of health.
Mechanics, school teachers, and laborers of every description, are much
wanted in this State, as they are in all the States further west; and
all may provide abundantly and easily, all the necessaries of living for
a family, if they will use industry, economy and sobriety.
FOOTNOTES:
[10] See a valuable statistical article, by B. Drake, Esq., in the
Western Monthly Magazine, for January, 1836, entitled, "_Cincinnati, at
the close of 1835_."