Property Transferred

The Marietta Daily Times, February 3, 1912

Marietta Township gets part of old Muskingum

Formal transfer of an irregular strip of territory, formerly in Muskingum Township, to Marietta Township, was made in the office of County Auditor Burton this morning, and hereafter the property will be taxed as a part of Marietta Township.

The boundary line was changed when it was found some time ago that Muskingum Township had never been legally constituted, and steps were taken to remedy this condition. The property affected is on the edge of Marietta city and consists of 43 parcels of land. The people living there will now vote at Mile Run and Fultonburg instead of in Muskingum as they have done heretofore.

 

Return Jonathan Meigs, Jr.

 American Friend, November 17, 1820

Sundry newspapers at the South are calling for the removal of the Post Master General, R. J. Meigs, Jun. He is represented as having been absent at Ohio for several months, and the Pittsburg Intelligencer remarks that no man should be allowed to hold an office under Government, who for a week or a single day, should neglect personally to attend to the duties of his station. We want no such gentlemen officers, who can pass away their months at the watering places, while the public business is suffering for want of their attention. We can tolerate no sinecures - their very nature is at war with the spirit of our constitution. - Adams Centinel.

Curfew Whistle to Sound Again

 The Register-Leader, July 16, 1920

After a silence of several years the hills surrounding the city are again to reverberate at 9 o'clock each evening the sounds of the city curfew, for following action taken by council Thursday evening at their regular meeting, the safety director will get the old whistle used for several years to warn small boys and girls from the streets at an early hour, in shape for further service.

Councilman Lorentz started the discussion which brought action. He asked if there weren't a curfew ordinance in existence. "If there is," he said, "I would like to see it enforced."

Mr. Lorentz was informed by the city solicitor that there is such an ordinance. Nearly all of the councilmen seemed in favor of the blowing of the curfew.

The curfew was done away with before, said one councilman, because it kept the people in Williamstown awake. Another councilman told the story of a West Side family. Every evening, just as they got the baby to sleep, the whistle blew, woke him up and it took another two hours to quiet him again. The man of the house thought that the whistle was sounded by a steamboat and was about to make a complaint.

Safety Director Bedillion told council that he would have the big whistle working again in short order. 

The blowing of the curfew was stopped some years back because it was said sentiment seemed to be against it and because of the difficulty experienced in enforcing the ordinance.

Corner of Putnam and Front Streets

The Marietta Register, August 10 1865:

Public Sale of Valuable Real Estate!

Will be sold at public auction on the 14th cay of August, A.D. 1865, on the premises themselves the following real estate, to-wit: All the landed property belonging to the estate of Mrs. Mary S. Jackson [Mary Sophia Meigs], deceased, situate in the city of Marietta, Ohio, and vicinity, and commonly called "The Meigs Property;" that is to say - 

- A lot on Ohio street in Square No. 68.

- Lots Nos. 566, 567, 568, 569 in Square No. 37.

- Lots Nos. 593, 594, 598, 206, in Square No. 45, situate on Front and Scammel streets, which lots will probably be subdivided into 60 feet lots fronting on the principal streets and running back 180 feet to an alley.

- Also lot No. 2 in Square No. 22, opposite the old graveyard.

- Lots Nos. 39, 64, 65, 105, 1005, 1006 in Square No. 5 on Front street, opposite the tanyards.

- Also lot No. 597 and parts of lots Nos. 595 and 596, fronting on Front street, 150 feet, running back to an alley 180 feet, including the old Mansion House, office &c.

- Also that valuable property at the corner of Putnam and Front streets, now occupied by Joseph L. Stephens and others as business rooms, owned by David Barber, Esq., in common with the devisees of Mrs. Mary S. Jackson, deceased, fronting on Front street 180 feet, running back 45 feet. Will be sold in lots to suit purchasers. The present lessees are to have one month to remove their wooden structures.

- Also a valuable 8 acre lot lying between the Fair Ground and the Muskingum River, subject to the present tenancy.

- Also another 8 acre lot and some fractions, making together 11 acres and a fraction, say 85-100 of an acre, on the river bottom adjoining lands of A. T. Nye, Esq., and others, subject to the present occupancy.

- Also that very desirable and valuable tract of land on the Muskingum River, 5 miles from the city, adjoining James Ward's lands, at the first lock on the river above the city, known as Duvall's Lock [Devol], containing 13-3/4 acres.

- Also 50 acres of valuable timbered land, 1 mile east of Duvall's Lock and adjoining lands of W. B. F. Duvall and others, with some oil prospects.

- Also three other tracts of timbered land on the west side of the Muskingum River, near the said Duvall's Lock, one tract containing 68 acres, being part of 100 acre lot No. 12, R. 9, T. 3.

- Another tract contains 72 acres, part of 100 acre lot No. 13. Also, lot No. 14, part of 100 acre lot No. 14, containing 80 acres. All very valuable for timber, and together the making of a good up-land farm. These lands have been in request for oil purposes.

- We also propose to sell that valuable estate situate in the Ohio River, opposite Marietta, known as Kerr's Island, or Triplit's [Triplett] Island, (lately called Jackson's Island), estimated to contain near 200 acres of very superior land. Propositions have been made by oil men to bore on this property.

Terms of Sale - One-half cash in hand; the residue in two equal payments of six and twelve months, with interest from day of sale, secured by mortgage on the premises so sold.

James M. Jackson, Executor for himself and other heirs of Mary S. Jackson, deceased.

 

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The Marietta Register, August 31, 1865:

The Sale of the Business Corner of Front and Putnam Streets

Two weeks ago we published the amount of the sale on the 14th inst. of the part of a lot on the lower corner of Front and Putnam streets, this city - viz: 171-1/2 feet on Front street by 45 on Putnam, including the old two-story brick building, for the total amount of $11,350. The details of the sale may be of interest to many of our readers. It was sold in seven divisions, facing Front street, each 45 feet deep, as follows:

1. To West & Varley, corner, with brick building, 46 feet on Front and 45 on Putnam, $4,500.

2. To Martin Wendelkin, 23 feet, $1,280.

3. To John Schramm, 21 feet, $1,285.

4. To J. G. Theiss & Bro., 27-1/2 feet, $1,310.

5. To Fred. Wehrs, 16-1/2 feet, $1,085.

6. To Lewis Leonhart, 18-3/4 feet, $1,005.

7. To John Leonhart, 18-3/4 feet, $885.

The ground only was sold, except on the corner - the frame buildings on divisions 2, 3, 4, and 5, belonging to persons who held leases, to expire in four weeks after the sale. Divisions 6 and 7, next to the canal, have no buildings on them at present. The property was sold at auction by the representatives of the Meigs Estate, David Barber holding a part interest therein.

Omitting the corner, the rest of the ground sold for $49.60 per front foot, 45 feet deep; or $1.10 per square foot for the whole ground.

It should be noted that, while this property is valuable, yet it is not in the main business part of Marietta. It is on one of the two chief business streets, but above the heavy trade, yet valuable for retail stands.

The brick building, we may state, was erected about the year 1817 by Henry P. Wilcox - the same who built the house where Col. Mills now lives; and who left Marietta within a few years after.

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The Marietta Register, February 23, 1886:

Guitteau Corner

"Hallo, Mister, are you hunting up old things yet? If you are, you will see a great lot at the Guitteau Corner," was the greeting of a friendly teamster who stopped his span of horses to give me the good news.

At the instance of a friend who the night before had told me of this wondrous find in the old house at the corner of Front and Putnam streets, I had hunted up Mr. John Mankin and from him was promised the sight of all he had taken home, and now to know that many old things were with Capt. West and Mr. Buck started me for their coal office. They kindly allowed me to look over all they had gathered, but one thing I had heard of was not among them - the leather mail bag of 1820. 

Soon I traced this to Postmaster Grosvenor. Finally, and with his consent, I had a full look at it and contents. Now I propose telling your readers all about what I saw, excepting two things - that don't concern the dwellers here-abouts in 1886.

First I will speak of the building. As early as 1816 it was built by Gov. R. J. Meigs and Mr. Henry P. Wilcox. The north room was occupied as a store and the south room as the Post Office. The store goods were owned by Gov. Meigs, and Mr. Wilcox was Postmaster from 1818 to 1825. And right here I will answer a question often asked me about Marietta Postmasters, who they were, and when they served.

Gen. Tupper distributed letters from 1788 to 1794, I believe. R. J. Meigs, Jr., handled the mails from 1794 to Oct., 1795. Josiah Monroe from Oct. 1795 to 1800. David Putnam from 1800 to 1802. Griffin Greene from 1802 to 1804. Phillip Greene from 1804 to 1806. Griffin Green, Jr., from 1806 to 1815. Sam Hoit from 1816 to 1818. H. P. Wilcox from 1818 to 1825. David Morris from the summer of 1825 to late in 1825. Daniel H Buell from 1825 to 1829. A. V. D. Joline from 1829 to 1841. Abner L. Guitteau from 1841 to 1850. F. A. Wheeler from 1850 to 1853. Nathaniel Bishop from 1853 to 1857. A. D. McCormick from 1857 to 1861. Sala Bosworth from 1861 to 1870. William B. Mason from 1870 to 1878. S. L. Grosvenor from 1878 to 1886. Each one of these men, excepting A. Guitteau in his second term, represented the party in power during his employment as Postmaster. But I am away from my subject.

This old building has been variously occupied since the days of Wilcox. At one time John K. Joline taught school in the north part of it. The Jolines printed a paper in it. A. V. D. Joline occupied the south part of the building for a Post Office. Abner L. Guitteau used the building for a Post office and grocery for several years. The Marietta lodge of Free Masons occupied the upstairs for years. Mr. Elijah B. Guitteau, Mr. Stephens, Mr. Brigham and others at times had salesrooms in it.

It has recently changed hands and is being overhauled from cellar to garret, and many old papers and curious things have been brought to light. Notably the papers of Gen. Wilcox, dating back to 1810, Gov. R. J. Meigs, H. P. Wilcox, A. V. D. Joline, John K. Joline, &c.

I have only time to speak of a very few of them. It would not have answered for us fellows who live in find houses and don't pay our debts to have lived seventy years ago around here. Listen:

"Mr. Silas Cook: Sir: - You are requested to stay the service of the writ of attachment until Saturday at 10 o'clock. I will be accountable for General Wilcox so far as to deliver his body on that day. In the suit of J. M. vs. Joseph Wilcox - 17 Nov., 1813. Timothy Buell, Sheriff."

Within the remembrance of the writer, a nicely dressed gentleman with ruffled shirt was in jail bounds for five months for debt. 

There used to be wolves as well as dogs around here. Read:

This agreement made between Joseph Wilcox and Thomas Reynolds of Marietta, witnesseth that I, Thomas Reynolds, take this 6th day of July, 1812, one ram of the merino breed, said ram is 7/8 blooded, has horns of a middling size, with a hole in each ear on the following conditions: (viz.). Then followed the conditions, the last of which is that said Reynolds is to secure said ram from the wolves and dogs, but said Wilcox insures the life said ram against all unforeseen accident and natural death.

Another:

Article of agreement between Joseph Wilcox and Samuel Shepard. Said Samuel Shepard takes of said Wilcox a part of a square of land situated in Marietta called the Elevated Square. Said land is to be put in flax and corn - 1-1/2 acres to be put flax. Furth conditions unnecessary to copy, signed Marietta, 10th March, 1811.

And so on I could write of interesting things contained in these papers, but the morning bell for six o'clock is ringing and I must close.

Postage in those days for a double sheet letter from Philadelphia to this place was fifty cents; now it is four cents.

W. 

Old Marietta Papers - Number 14

The Marietta Register, December 25, 1863

"Old Marietta Papers" was a series of columns compiled and published in 1863 and 1864 by Rodney M. Stimson, editor of "The Marietta Register."

Court House Built in 1822 - Bitter Controversy as to its Location

The fact that a public meeting was held in Marietta, Sept. 13, 1819, "for ascertaining public opinion in reference to a New Court House," has already been noted. The meeting, of which Hon. John Sharp of Lawrence was Chairman, and James M. Booth, Esq., Secretary, adopted a report submitted by Ex-Gov. Meigs, Col. Levi Barber, and D. H. Buell, Esq., in favor of a Court House with fire-proof offices at the corner of Second and Putnam streets. The Report was sent to the County Commissioners as an expression of "public opinion."

For over two years afterwards we find no mention of a new Court House in the "Friend." Nov. 9, 1821, an advertisement appears, as follows:

"A Plan for the Court House, 48 feet square, with a fire-proof office in each corner, 16 feet square, will be received from any person who conceives he has a taste for drawing, and who is willing to contribute his knowledge to the convenience and elegance of a building of this kind - until the 1st day of March next, to be left at the Auditor's office."

Soon a sharp controversy sprung up in regard to the location of the new Court House. The old one stood where the jail now [1863] stands. A public meeting, as we have seen, reported in favor of the location opposite the old one, where the present Court House stands; the resolutions, plans and calculations of the Commissioners all looked to this location, and "the ground already marked out."

Jan. 11, 1822, the "Friend" published a petition to the Commissioners by the request of "Many," which petition remonstrated against the "proposed situation" as "not the most eligible" on account of mud," "greater exposedness to fire," "danger of inconvenience from inundations," and "the want of sufficient eligible room for the separate erection of fire-proof offices." The petitioners further considered "the location of these offices on spots of the dryest soil and beyond the reach of high water, a matter of the highest consequence." They therefore recommended "that the upper elevated square in Marietta, called Capitolium, situate on Washington Street and reserved by the Ohio Company for public buildings, be taken as a place whereon to erect a Court House, as being free from the above objections, and possessing the following additional recommendations," viz: "Natural elevation and beauty of situation," "artificial elevation and ancient works," "ample room," "more out of the way of loiterers," and "the consequent increase of the town."

Jan. 18, the following notice appeared: "Persons feeling interested in the location of the New Court House, near the old one, are requested to meet at the Court House in Marietta tomorrow at 2 o'clock, P.M."

Feb. 1, a "Counter Petition" (against the one for the Capitolium location) was published in the "Friend." It was a mere communication, answering the objections to the present location of the Court House on account of "mud," danger of "fire," "inundations," and "want of room," it considers the location as "central," &c; and then pitches into the Capitolium location as being "out of sight, remote from inhabitants, and hardly accessible," and it was asked, "Who owns the land?" and "what to be done with the contracts already made, the underpinning, and the old jail?"

Feb. 8, the "Friend" contained three communications in reference to this matter. A "Plain Man" argued for the Capitolium location, holding that it would advance the general interest of both town and county," and he met the objections as to "title" to land, "existing contracts," &c. "Highlander" sharply and sarcastically criticised the article of "Counter Petitioner," who had written against the Capitolium as "hardly accessible," "up a steep hill," "out of sight," &c. And "A Petitioner" publishes an incisive article on the same side.

"March 5, it was editorially stated that the petition for removing to the Capitolium contained the names of 1172 persons. This was a larger number than had ever voted in the county at any election, but the Commissioners - Daniel Goodno of Belpre, Samuel Beach of Waterford, and Amzi Stanley of Marietta - rejected the petition and resolved to erect the Court House on Fifth Street at the place where the town of Marietta should select, between the bottom on said street and the burying ground square, including the square on condition that the subscribers to that site should contribute more money and materials for the Court House than should be contributed by those in favor of the old site, corner of Second and Putnam, and should also remove gratuitously the materials collected at the old site to the new one, when the old site should be surrendered to the subscribers to the new one.

March 27, town meeting held at the Court House, D. H. Buell, Esq., Chairman. A resolution to donate a site for Court House from the Mound Square (Mound Cemetery) was voted down - 75 yeas, 116 nays.

The "sense of the present meeting" was then taken on the question that "the southerly end of the square, opposite the house of H. P. Wilcox, Esq., on Putnam Street, known as the Thierry lots, is a suitable site for a Court House," &c., and carried - yeas 100, nays 90. The meeting then adjourned. This location was in the square now occupied by the College.

The "Thierry lots" party subscribed $1061.50; the party for the old site did not subscribe anything. The Commissioners then required a title to the new site "as good" as that of the old one.

April 12, the Commissioners published an address "To the Citizens of the County of Washington," in which they refer to "much agitation of the public mind" in reference to the location of the Court House. They speak of "liberal offers" for the Court House by the citizens of Harmar, refer to the location on the Plain, sum up by considering "validity of title paramount to all other considerations," and taking into view "all the facts," &c., "have resolved to erect the county buildings on the old site" on lots given for that purpose by Dudley Woodbridge, Esq. (Sen.), and the late Col. Ebenezer Sproat, on one of which the old Court House stands" and to proceed with the work "with dispatch."

This settled the location where the Court House and Jail now stand. But next week, April 19, a long communication signed by Caleb Emerson, Ichabod Nye, and John Cotton, "Committee for subscribers on the Plain," shows up the County Commissioners in a style that id decidedly refreshing. They charge the Commissioners with "evading their solemn engagements," &c.; but it was of no use - the Plain men, although, according to the Committee they had the majority, had subscribed the money, had fulfilled all the conditions required of them, were yet defeated by the "will of the Commissioners."

Injunction Against the City

The Marietta Register, September 29, 1871

The Council of Marietta broke ground a few days ago on the lower end of the Common, on Front Street above Putnam, for the erection of a City Building, to contain the Mayor's Office, Council Chamber, Police Office, City Prison, Firemen's Hall and Engine Room - whereupon two applications were made to the Court for an injunction to stop the city from the work, one on the part of M. D. Follett and other citizens, the other by Weston Thomas, David Barber, and F. a. Wheeler, Trustees for land granted in Washington County for religious purposes.

The cases were heard before Judge E. A. Guthrie at the Court House, Thursday, September 21st.

It was claimed on part of the citizens, plaintiffs, that the ground named on which the city was about to erect this building, had been for more than three-quarters of a century left open and used for public amusements; that the citizens asking for the injunction had taken the titles to their lots fronting on the Common with the understanding that it was to be kept open for public ornament and amusement, and had a right to have it kept open; that it having in the grant been given for a Common, its use could not be diverted to any other purpose. The defense denied and claimed the right of the city to use the grounds for public buildings, as within the grant for a "Common." 

The Court granted a temporary injunction on this application, enjoining M. H. Needham, W. W. McCoy, and others, contractors and builders, from proceeding with the work. Knowles, Alban, Ewart and Follett, counsel for plaintiffs; City Solicitor R. L. Nye, and Nye & Richardson for defendant.

For the Trustees, it was claimed that they had Section 29 in Town 2 and Range 8, part of which falls within the corporate limits of Marietta, a portion left open as the Common in question, on which the city was now about to erect the building for municipal purposes. Questions, whether the Trustees had any powers as such, and any powers over this Common, and what were powers of the city over the same, involving not only the legal title, but the duties of the Trustees.

The Court overruled the application for a temporary injunction in this case, and leaves the application for a perpetual injunction, on final hearing. Knowles, Alban & Hamilton, for plaintiffs; Nye & Richardson, for defense.

Sacra Via Destroyed

The Marietta Republican, March 29, 1861:

Sacra Via has been destroyed; several thousand yards of earth have been cut away and made into brick by the retiring member of the Council from the Second Ward. It is pretty generally understood that he has never paid or offered to pay therefore. If this be true would it not be well for voters to ponder the matter well before consenting to return him again?

One of the most beautiful spots in our City has been destroyed by our iconoclastic Councilman, and though he cannot restore the view, he should be compelled to make some recompense for his vandalism. This of this, voters of the Second Ward. 

The Marietta Intelligencer, September 29, 1858:

The Marietta Mound and Earthworks.

In the New York Christian Inquirer we find a letter from this place, which we judge from the initials to have been written by a gentleman at present a temporary resident here. He writes upon the ancient works of Marietta. From his letter we make the following extracts:

Marietta - remarkable for its beautiful situation among the hills, at the confluence of the Ohio and the Muskingum, and for its college, the best in Ohio, and its Unitarian church, the most perfect, perhaps, as a work of art, in the West - is not less remarkable for its vestiges of a race of men of whom the most vague traditions is lost, the ancient mound-builders. The relics here are, with one exception, as remarkable as any in the Mississippi Valley. They are numerous and extensive, far more so than I had ever supposed. 

I knew that in coming to Marietta I was going to the very hear of the mound region, but I cannot picture to you my surprise and bewilderment when last week, on turning a corner, I came in sight of the burying-ground and saw rising in the very midst of the city of the dead, with faultless symmetry, one of the largest mounds of the West. I do not think I could have been more impressed with an unexpected view of the Egyptian Pyramids. In the midst of fresh graves it rises, the grave of the buried Past, a perfect cone, to the height of thirty feet. Some dozen of the largest Western trees are growing upon it, one an oak of great antiquity; but older yet are a few decaying trunks where trees of an unknown age once flourished and died.

When Marietta was settled, all the earthworks were covered with a dense forest; now the trees remain but upon two. I shall have something to say by-and-by of the desecration to which they have been subjected.

A detailed account of the Mound and Elevated Square follows, and the letter thus concludes:

All these works lie on a plateau above the valley of the Muskingum, a fair and grassy plain. There is one other work which to me was as marked as any. I mean the Sacra Via, or Covered Way, as the people generally term it. 

From the larger square on the plateau there leads to the river's banks one of the most imposing of roads. It is about seven hundred feet long and lies between two artificial banks, which are in the highest place some twenty feet high. The centre of this road is raised and gracefully rounded. At the foot of the banks this Sacra Via is one hundred and fifty feet wide; from the top of the banks across it is two hundred and thirty feet. Probably nowhere in the world can a finer relic of ancient roadmaking be found.

As I stood on the banks of the Muskingum and let my eye run up this masterly ancient road, and in my mind saw it thronged with the men of an ancient civilization, passing to and from their religious rites on the plateau above, and saw the altars smoking with the victims, and the mound overshadowed with the Divine presence which they adored, I felt that this communing with the Spirit of the Past had richly paid me for my visit West; for the desire to be for a time among these scenes had been one motive in inducing me to spend a few months in Ohio.

There is one great drawback here, just as there is wherever the Present comes in contact with the Past. The utilitarian spirit of the day is here before me and is doing its customary work. It does seem a sacrilege to see a miserable modern Warren Street, running up and down the middle of the magnificent Sacra Via, and to see a road cut directly through the banks which form the sides of it, in order to accommodate the wants of a tannery.

A German colony, too, has located itself on the site of the smaller square, and with making cellars and ploughing gardens and laying out streets, the day is close at hand when not a vestige of it will be seen. The Sacra Via is already harmed beyond telling by the roads which I have mentioned. The top of the large altar is a cow pasture. 

But thanks to a few wise souls, the smaller altar is fenced, and the mound is in the cemetery, and they are safe. No, not quite safe. Some are discussing seriously the expediency of excavating the sides of the latter and putting tombs therein. It makes me almost provoked, that is to day, it carries me about as far as Paul would have me go, in "being angry and sinning not," to see this utilitarian spirit wreaking its dollar-and-cent spite upon these mysterious remains. The intention of the first settlers of Marietta was to have them sacredly preserved.

In the frontispiece of the Smithsonian volume of Squier and Davis, you have a good colored view of the Marietta remains. The last picture in the work is a colored engraving of the great mound. In the body of the book is a chart and a full description. I suppose the volume is in most good libraries. That gives a better account than I can give, for I feel the need, of engraving to tell the whole story in a worthy way. But no view equals the seeing. When you look at that mound and stand on the altars, and throw your glance up the Covered Way, you are in the very presence of the past, and the spirit of that gray, dim, mysterious Past oppresses you with its vague and uncertain shadows, but delights you with the bewilderment which it awakes.

W. L. G.

  

Incorporation of Harmar

 Marietta Gazette, January 13, 1837:

The "Town of Harmar"

We knew there was an attempt to set off the second ward of Marietta - Point Harmar - into an independent borough - and we were for it, but we did not expect the divorce would be so sudden and unceremonious. The act is passed. Marietta is disorganized, and we have been legislated for without our consent. We can have no municipal government under the present charter without the concurrence of the three wards. And so we are not only dismembered, but disorganized, without our being consulted. Our Democracy would have deemed it necessary to submit to the PEOPLE a matter in which the PEOPLE are so much concerned. But the nature of imported Democracy may be quite of another cast.

* * *

The General Assembly of this State having passed an act to incorporate the Town of Harmar, which now constitutes the 2nd ward of the Town of Marietta, and by the said act repealed so much of the act to incorporate the Town of Marietta, as come within the provisions thereof.

As an inhabitant of the Town of Marietta, I feel somewhat interested in regard to its corporate rights, and while I approve of the separation, I doubt whether the means used have been the most proper for the attainment of the object, but as this doubt is created by the result, perhaps it may be removed by a candid answer to the following queries -

1st. Has a Legislative body power to repeal an act of incorporation granted by a previous legislature without the consent of the body corporate? If so, why is the effort frequently made in the legislature to insert a clause reserving this power in acts of incorporation? Have not our Judicial Courts frequently made decisions on this subject?

2nd. If the power is not in the Legislature, might not a portion of the inhabitants of the 2nd ward assemble and elect at the next annual election, Trustees to represent them in the Council of the Town of Marietta, and if so, where is the power to exclude them?

3rd. If the power is in the Legislature and the repeal is to take effect, will what remains of the act to incorporate the Town of Marietta be sufficient for the exercise of the corporate power?

Querist

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Marietta Gazette, January 20, 1837:

Town Meeting

At a meeting of the citizens of the First and Third Wards of the Town of Marietta, held at the Court House, January 17, 1837, to adopt such measures as our necessary in consequence of an act of the Legislature to incorporate the Second Ward as a separate Town by the name of Harmar, Dr. John Cotton was called to the Chair and John Lewis appointed Secretary. After the object of the meeting had been stated, 

On motion, Messrs. Arius Nye, James M. Booth, and Caleb Emerson were appointed a Committee to report a Bill for the reorganization of the First and Third Wards of the Town of Marietta to an adjourned meeting to be held at the Court House on Monday next, January 23, at 2 o'clock P.M.

John Cotton, Chairman

John Lewis, Secretary

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Marietta Gazette, March 3, 1837:

Ohio Legislature

Incorporation of Marietta. Early in the present session the legislature, acting with great promptness, disorganized the Town of Marietta by erecting one of its wards into a Town by the name of Harmar. To the thing itself, if it had been decently done, we had no objection - provided it were done as it should be. Nay, many of us signed a petition for a bill, not the bill, to be passed - expecting, as the mere separation could not be done without disorganizing us, that it would be a subject of "compact terms." 

But so it was, we were thrown at once out of gear. Harmar almost unanimously rejected their charter and asked for another. Marietta asked for a new charter to enable her to go on - as she could not organize under the old charter without the tree wards - one of which was Point Harmar. She also asked for such alterations as experience had shown were needful for her prosperity.

The project was submitted to the people in town meeting - and its various items were discussed and modified - adopted or rejected as the majority thought best. Nothing was asked, it is believed, which had not previously been granted in charters to other Towns. We are sorry to say that it has been bandied about and delayed in a manner not very friendly. We have gone past the time for notifying our annual election - which should have been on Monday next. And we learn that unpleasant provisions are to be forced on us. Time will shew.

* * *

Marietta Gazette, April 21, 1837:

This best of all towns of ours used to be divided by the Muskingum and, as every one knows, that portion which lay west of the river went by the name of Point Harmar.  Well, after jogging along together some thirty odd years, sometimes wrangling a little and sometimes harmonizing, as married folks will occasionally, Mrs. Harmar took it into her head to set up for herself, thinking she was big enough to go alone.  We of the two eastern wards said to her, stay or go as suits you best, and luck to you anyhow.

Whereupon, off went bill for a new charter for the Town of Harmar, and it was passed by the Legislature before half those who were to be governed by it knew that it existed, even in embryo. This caused a deal of staring on both sides of the Muskingum. Those on the east side gathered together to concoct a new charter for themselves, for in lopping off Mrs. Harmar the Legislature had so maimed the old one that it could work no longer. So the people of the east made out a project in town meeting as best suited them. And then came a most admirable display of nice legislation.

The Town of Marietta is the best of all Towns, but it was laid out as no other town ever was. The streets are almost outrageously spacious. This may be well enough, as it may keep quarrelsome people, if we should ever come to have any, at a good distance apart. But the city squares are more outrageously spacious still, so that it is quite a journey to go round one - something not far from half a mile. We asked leave to cut them up with new streets, &c., which was granted. There were streets and alleys in wrong places.  We wanted the privilege of taking worse grounds and giving better and more of it. There are also several bits of streets which lead nowhere and are of no public use. We asked leave to vacate them, disposing of the grounds for the use of the Town, providing that every man owning an adjoining lot should consent, and two-thirds of our Council would vote for it.  Moreover, there were two short streets very much wanted for the use of the Town for which substitutes could be procured, as was believed, which would better accommodate all concerned. We asked leave to vacate unnecessary streets, &c., with the consent, as we have said of all the adjoining lot holders. And what did we get? Why, leave to vacate with the consent of the owners of all the lots in town, of two thirds the voters in town meeting, and two thirds the Town council! Now to get the consent of all the lot owners would be as impossible as to get our late Legislature to have attended to their proper business.

The Bill for Marietta Charter was forwarded, as was supposed, early enough to have it passed so that the annual election might take place on the first Monday in March; but to provide against failure in that respect, a clause was inserted, empowering the Mayor, whose office was not to be vacated till his successor should be appointed, to notify an election. This was not observed by our lynx-eyed legislators, who were so careful to guard the interest of uninterested lot holders in unnecessary streets. So they made a special act to confine our first election to a special day.

So much for Marietta. Now for Sister Harmar. 

When the first incorporation of Harmar was bolted on the citizens, they took it in ill part and gathered together and rejected it almost unanimously; made out and forwarded a new bill, which after a long time was passed. Whereupon, our friends of Harmar wrote to Columbus for a certified copy, and there came a copy, not of the last act, but of the first act for the first incorporation which had been repealed; all duly certified!  On a fresh order, however, the existing law was forwarded after the time specified in it for holding the first election. So the matter is up for the present. The time pointed out by the citizens of Harmar for holding their elections was the first Monday in March. But as the bill slept too long for that, they altered it to the second Monday in April - and it came to hand on the third Monday. But another item of nice legislation herein occurs. The Town Council were to be elected on the second Monday in April, and in the month of March were to choose the town officers.

One more item.  It was intended the Town of Harmar should be bounded on the east by the Muskingum River, and the west by certain lots. By some lapse the boundaries stand as follows:  "All that part of the Township of Marietta which lies on the west side of Muskingum river, which lies east of 252-acre lot No. 35, and of the 108-acre lot No. 22, and the Ohio and Muskingum Rivers."

Washington County's Temple of Justice Stands a Vane

Sunday Morning Observer, December 2, 1917

The first court held in the County was that of the Court of Common Pleas at Campus Martius, September 2, 1788. A procession was formed at the Point, where most of the settlers resided, in the following order:

The high sheriff with drawn sword, the citizens, the officers of the garrison at Fort Harmar, the members of the bar, the supreme judges, the Governor and clergymen, and the newly appointed judges of the court, General Rufus Putnam and Benjamin Tupper. The Rev. Dr. Manasseh Cutler, one of the directors of the Ohio Company, opened the court with prayer, and Colonel Ebenezer Sproat, the sheriff, made official proclamation that "a court is opened for the administration of even-handed justice, to the poor and the sick, to the guilty and the innocent, without respect of person."

There was no suit, either civil or criminal, brought before this, the first court.

The northwest blockhouse of Campus Martius was used for a court house for a number of years. In 1792 the Court of Quarter Sessions submitted estimates for a court house and jail, $1,000 each. 

In 1793 Thomas Lord was directed to take a log house near Campus Martius and fit it up for a jail. At this time a log building at the Point was being used as a court house In December 1797, repairs were made on it. 

In 1799 Griffin Greene and Timothy Buell were appointed Commissioners to build a jail and court house. They estimated the cost to be $3,001.81. Contracts were made with Joshua Wells to frame and raise the building; with Joshua Shipman to weatherboard and shingle the house, make the doors, lay the floors, etc.; with James Lawton to do the mason work and with Gilbert Devol, Jr., to furnish 3,000 weight of good iron, manufactured into spikes, bolts, grates, etc., for which he was to receive sixteen cents a pound.

The building was located on the corner of Second and Putnam where the German Bank and Turner-Ebinger now are. It was completed in 1800.

The court room was in the second story, being forty feet by twenty broad. The walls of the jail on the first floor were three feet thick, and the whole was built in the most substantial manner and was known as one of the strongest prisons in the state.

The subject of a new court house was agitated in 1819. At a meeting of citizens held September 13, that year, a committee consisting of Governor R. J. Meigs, Hon. Levi Barber and D. H. Buell, reported in favor of a new building to be located at the corner of Second and Putnam streets, the present site. The next day the County Commissioners passed a resolution to the same effect.

The matter seemed to rest for two years, when the Commissioners appointed Joseph Holden, the County Treasurer, to superintend the delivery of the materials. In November 1821, they advertised for a plan, the building to be 48 feet square, with a fireproof office 16 feet square in each corner.

In the winter of 1822 there was no little excitement as to the site of the new court house. Many were opposed to the corner of Second and Putnam as too low, and favored a higher location. Some advocated the elevated square on Washington Street. Others wanted it on Fifth Street near the Mound. Petitions and counter-petitions were sent to the Commissioners.

On March 6, 1822, they decided to locate it on Fifth Street, south of Mound Cemetery, provided a better subscription could be obtained than for any other location. Three weeks later a public meeting was held and a majority voted for the Thierry lots, the old Ewart home where Ed Flanders now lives.

At a meeting in April the Commissioners resolved upon that location, but in the same month they reconsidered that action and again and finally decided in favor of the corner of Second and Putnam streets. The edifice was completed in 1823.

In 1854 an addition on the north side was built in which was located the office of the Probate Court. In 1876 another addition was built and more was added t the front of the building on Putnam and as well to the height of the structure.

A new brick jail to take the place of the old log jail on the southeast corner of Second and Putnam was built in 1848, according to plans furnished by Hon. R. E. Harte. It was proposed to place the jail on the same lot with the court house but in consideration of $500 paid by Dr. Samuel P. Hildreth and Mrs. Martha B. Wilson, who lived on adjoining lots, the Commissioners agreed to erect it on the old site.

The land on which the old jail stood was given the county by Judge Dudley Woodbridge. That on which the present court house stands was given by Col. Ebenezer Sproat. The old bell which was in the old court house still hangs in the new court house and was given by Marie Antoinette, Queen of France and after whom Marietta was named. It bears the inscription, "Barzillai Davison, Norwich, 1802."

Washington County's second court house.

This court house served till long in the late 1890s when the subject of a new Temple of Justice became a leading topic. The question of location again caused friction. The old "Ice Harbor Lot," Fifth Street near Putnam, the elevation where now stands the Public Library, and Camp Tupper, were discussed. The Commissioners finally decided on the old site and after much discussion as to plans, the contract was let for the present building.

The old jail and lot were sold and the jail provided for in the third floor of the new court house. 

The present building was erected in 1901 and is of the most beautiful and substantial stone county court houses in Ohio. It is three stories and a basement high, with cupola and town clock. Marietta had the first court house and jail in Ohio and today boasts the "last word" in such a building.

 

 

Harmar Legislation

Marietta Gazette, April 21, 1837

This best of all towns of ours used to be divided by the Muskingum and, as every one knows, that portion which lay west of the river went by the name of Point Harmar.  Well, after jogging along together some thirty odd years, sometimes wrangling a little and sometimes harmonizing, as married folks will occasionally, Mrs. Harmar took it into her head to set up for herself, thinking she was big enough to go alone.  We of the two eastern wards said to her, stay or go as suits you best, and luck to you anyhow.

Whereupon, off went bill for a new charter for the Town of Harmar, and it was passed by the Legislature before half those who were to be governed by it knew that it existed, even in embryo. This caused a deal of staring on both sides of the Muskingum. Those on the east side gathered together to concoct a new charter for themselves, for in lopping off Mrs. Harmar the Legislature had so maimed the old one that it could work no longer. So the people of the east made out a project in town meeting as best suited them. And then came a most admirable display of nice legislation.

The Town of Marietta is the best of all Towns, but it was laid out as no other town ever was. The streets are almost outrageously spacious. This may be well enough, as it may keep quarrelsome people, if we should ever come to have any, at a good distance apart. But the city squares are more outrageously spacious still, so that it is quite a journey to go round one - something not far from half a mile. We asked leave to cut them up with new streets, &c., which was granted. There were streets and alleys in wrong places.  We wanted the privilege of taking worse grounds and giving better and more of it. There are also several bits of streets which lead nowhere and are of no public use. We asked leave to vacate them, disposing of the grounds for the use of the Town, providing that every man owning an adjoining lot should consent, and two-thirds of our Council would vote for it.  Moreover, there were two short streets very much wanted for the use of the Town for which substitutes could be procured, as was believed, which would better accommodate all concerned. We asked leave to vacate unnecessary streets, &c., with the consent, as we have said of all the adjoining lot holders. And what did we get? Why, leave to vacate with the consent of the owners of all the lots in town, of two thirds the voters in town meeting, and two thirds the Town council! Now to get the consent of all the lot owners would be as impossible as to get our late Legislature to have attended to their proper business.

The Bill for Marietta Charter was forwarded, as was supposed, early enough to have it passed so that the annual election might take place on the first Monday in March; but to provide against failure in that respect, a clause was inserted, empowering the Mayor, whose office was not to be vacated till his successor should be appointed, to notify an election. This was not observed by our lynx-eyed legislators, who were so careful to guard the interest of uninterested lot holders in unnecessary streets. So they made a special act to confine our first election to a special day.

So much for Marietta. Now for Sister Harmar. 

When the first incorporation of Harmar was bolted on the citizens, they took it in ill part and gathered together and rejected it almost unanimously; made out and forwarded a new bill, which after a long time was passed. Whereupon, our friends of Harmar wrote to Columbus for a certified copy, and there came a copy, not of the last act, but of the first act for the first incorporation which had been repealed; all duly certified!  On a fresh order, however, the existing law was forwarded after the time specified in it for holding the first election. So the matter is up for the present. The time pointed out by the citizens of Harmar for holding their elections was the first Monday in March. But as the bill slept too long for that, they altered it to the second Monday in April - and it came to hand on the third Monday. But another item of nice legislation herein occurs. The Town Council were to be elected on the second Monday in April, and in the month of March were to choose the town officers.

One more item.  It was intended the Town of Harmar should be bounded on the east by the Muskingum River, and the west by certain lots. By some lapse the boundaries stand as follows:  "All that part of the Township of Marietta which lies on the west side of Muskingum river, which lies east of 252-acre lot No. 35, and of the 108-acre lot No. 22, and the Ohio and Muskingum Rivers."

 

Territorial Laws

Marietta Intelligencer, September 5, 1839

I have been interested in looking over an old volume of the Territorial Laws, to notice the provision made by our early rulers, for the prevention of certain misdemeanors, which, whether more or less prevalent at that period, are certainly too common at the present day.  Whatever might be thought of the expediency of such a law in our times, we can only look back upon it with respect for those who were its authors.  A more strict regard to its injunctions would be attended with positive good to this generation.  D.

The following is an extract from "A Law respecting Crimes and Punishments, published by his Excellency, Arthur St. Clair, Esquire, Governour, and the Honourable Samuel Holden Parsons, and James Mitchell Varnum, Esquires, Judges of the Territory of the United States northwest of the river Ohio, at the city of Marietta, the sixth day of September, in the thirteenth year of the Independence of the United States, and of our Lord one thousand seven hundred and eighty-eight.

Drunkenness.

If any person shall be convicted of drunkenness before one or more Justices of the Peace, the person so convicted shall be fined, for the first offence, in the sum of five dimes, and for every succeeding offence, and upon conviction, in the sum of one dollar; and in either case, upon the offender's neglecting or refusing to pay the fine, he shall be set in the stocks for the space of one hour.  Provided, however, that complaint be made to the justice or justices within two days next after the offence shall have been committed.

Improper and Profane Language.

Wherever idle, vain and obscene conversation, profane cursing and swearing, and more especially the irreverently mentioning, calling upon, or invoking the sacred and Supreme Being, by any of the divine characters in which he hath graciously condescended to reveal his infinitely benificent purposes to mankind, are repugnant to every moral sentiment, subversive to every civil obligation, inconsistent with the ornaments of polished life, and abhorrent to the principles of the most benevolent religion.  It is expected, therefore, if crimes of this kind should exist, they will not find encouragement, countenance, or approbation in this territory.  It is strictly enjoined upon all officers and ministers of justice, upon parents, and others, heads of families, and upon others of every description, that they abstain from practices so vile and irrational; and that by example and precept, to the utmost of their power, they prevent the necessity of adopting and publishing laws, with penalties upon this head.  And it is hereby declared that government will consider as unworthy its confidence all those who may obstinately violate these injunctions.

First Day of the Week.

Whereas, mankind in every stage of informed society, have consecrated certain portions of time to the particular cultivation of the social virtues, and the public adoration and worship of the common parent of the universe; and whereas a practice so rational in itself, and conformable to the divine precepts is greatly conducive to civilization as well as morality and piety; and whereas for the advancement of such important and interesting purposes, most of the christian world have set apart the first day of the week, as a day of rest from common labours and pursuits, it is therefore enjoined that all servile labour, works of necessity and charity only excepted, be wholly abstained from on said day."

Revenues and Expenditures of Washington County

American Friend & Marietta Gazette, June 14, 1828

A General Exhibit of the Revenues and Expenditures of the County of Washington, from June 1st, 1827, to June 1st, 1828.

Amount due County Treasurer, June 4, 1827 - 1612.54.5

Paid Associate Judges - $237.50

Publishing Delinquent List of 1827 - $117

Clerks & Judges of Elections - 67.50
                                                                                    
Counsel for defending poor prisoners - 20.00

Surveying the Muskingum river - 149.30.2

John Mills for blankets for jail, and stove for Court House - 17.02.8

Coroner's inquest $23.34.5

Painting Court House - $51.17.

Repairs on old Court House and Jail - 13.98

Barnabas Otis for support of insane son - $52.00

Hosea Cass idiot daughter - $31.37.5

John Green for support of E. Bonny idiot - $19.50

Sarah Kidwell, idiot daughter - $39.37.5

Wolf Scalps - $61.50

Assessors services, list of 1827 - $130.50

Commissioners services - $32.00

Auditor's services - $513.59

Silas Cook for boarding prisoners and ringing bell, &c. - 99.27

Returning poll books - $45.40

Opening poll books - $15.00

Returning Jurors - $11.65

Grand Jury - $60.

Petit Jury - $34.

Opening roads - $60

Witnesses before Grand Jury - $21.50

Costs in State cases - $125.07

Constables attendance on court - $28.50

John P. Mayberry, pros. atty. - $150.

Charles Swift appraiser for 1824 - 1.00

Jadidiah Chase cleaning well - 2.00

Elisha Pratt, for stove pipe - 2.00

Joseph Kelly, putting up stove - 1.00

Amos Dunham, summoning Grand Jury - 3.00

Joseph Holden, Treasurer, per centum on $634.84.2, at 4 per cent - 25.39

Interest allowed J. Holden, Treasurer, on $1612.54, for one year, at 6 per cent - 96.75

Amount School and Township taxes due to sundry townships from county - 321.30.3

Amount road tax remaining in County Treasury - 177.88.5

Amount 3 per cent fund, apportioned to this county under the act of Feb. 8th, 1826, appropriated but not yet drawn from County Treasury - 66.21

Total:  $4,529.13.5

Amount County tax for 1827, deducting defalcations and per centage - 1719.16.6

Amount Road tax for 1827, paid in cash into County Treasury - 232.78.6

Amount Township and School taxes for 1827, deducting defalcations and per centage - 606.69

Amount refunded by the State, for printing delinquent list 1826, state's proportion - 39.97.8

Amount paid into County Treasury for tax on delinquent land, prior to 1826 - 7.20.5

Amount received for permits to vend merchandize - 25.51.5

Amount received from sundry physicians for their assessment, 1827 - 15.00

Amount Jury fees paid by Sheriff into County Treasury - 12.00

Amount received for licenses for stud horses - 39.00

Amount received for licenses for ferries and taverns - 90.11.5

Amount fines paid into County Treasury - 31.00

Balance against the county - 17.10.68

Total:  $4,529.13.5

By order of the Board of Commissioners.
Wm. A. Whittlesey, County Auditor.
June 10, 1828.

State Seeks Clear Title

The Register-Leader, January 23, 1911

Wants Site for Proposed Armory Without Strings Tied to it.

The State Armory Board has passed upon the title deed of the lot offered by the city as the site for the erection of the new armory.  They ask that the clause in the deed stating that the lot shall revert to the city when the state shall cease to use the same for the purpose stated, be stricken out.  This is the only correction suggested by the board.

The deed, accompanied by a letter, has been returned to Colonel Knox by Mr. B. L. Bargar, Secretary of the Board.  Mr. Bargar states in his letter that the work on the plans of the building is nearing completion and expresses the hope that the deed will be so adjusted as to meet the requirement asked by the board, in order that when the additional appropriation is made for the building, work can be started without delay.

It rests with the city council as to whether or not the clause above mentioned will be stricken out, and it is likely that this body will take up the matter in the very near future.

Council Proceedings

The Home News, June 4, 1859

At the meeting of the City Council, held May 24, resolutions were adopted continuing Councilman Needham as committee on draining lots in square 68, and authorizing him to ascertain the amount of private subscriptions which can be obtained from property owners on that square toward making a sewer to the river – instructing the Street Superintendent to use the rubbish in the burnt district for repairing the adjoining streets and the public landing – empowering Messrs. Hovey and Curtis to have the brakes on the “Conqueror” fire engine altered if necessary, and to inquire the price, kind and quantity of hose needed for the “Defiance” – authorizing Councilman Nye to procure a suitable carriage for hooks and ladders and a convenient place to keep them in – authorizing Fire Warden John Snyder to examine flues, chimneys and stove pipes in the first ward and require them to be made safe; James Dunn to do the same in the second and third wards – and authorizing the appointment of a committee to procure caps and badges for the members of Defiance Fire Company if thought expedient.

The Surveyor’s estimate of the expense of cutting and filling Wooster street, amounting to $2100, was referred to Councilman Hovey. The list of special watchmen appointed by the Mayor to guard the goods on the night of the fire, was referred to Councilman Buell, to report such as are entitled to pay, and issue orders accordingly.

A proposition from the wharf-master to have a float made to be used for unloading coal, was referred to Councilmen Hovey and Needham.

The Council met again of Tuesday evening, and passed an ordinance vacating a portion of the alley through square 67, and another prohibiting the erection of wooden buildings on squares 59 and 60. Also, resolutions accepting the donation of a certain piece of land in square 67 from J. W. Stanley – levying taxes for 1859 – directing the city surveyor to estimate the amount of cutting and filling on Fourth street, between Putnam and Washington. A proposition from N. Ward to sell a tomb erected by him to the city for $125, was referred to Councilmen Cotton and Hovey. Supervisor Maloy was directed to work on Putnam street, between Fifth and Seventh, and to purchase a plow at the City’s expense. The graveyard fence is to be whitewashed and the sidewalk in front of it paved. The Councilmen of the 1st Ward were appointed a committee of instruction as to any work to be done to the landing in front of John Marshall’s property by the Street Supt. The following bills were passed:
J. M. Hook, Sup’t Streets, $54.02
E. W. T. Clark, $10.00
L. K. Dutton, $3.26
Skinner, Rolston & Co., $4.13
M. J. Morse, $2.50
A. L. Haskin, $1.50
T. L. Andrews, $16.00
A. J. Campbell, $9.50
Wm. Lorey, $2.00
Joseph Geren, $0.60
J. D. Cotton, $1.00