Anniversary of the First Settlement of Ohio

Marietta Gazette, April 16, 1836

Agreeably to previous arrangements, the forty-eighth anniversary of the settlement of the State of Ohio, and of the great North Western Territory, was celebrated in a manner befitting the occasion, on the 7th inst., in this town.  A procession, the largest we ever remember to have seen in Marietta, composed of the citizens of Washington and the neighboring counties of Virginia, and of this State, was formed near the Court House about 12 o'clock, under the direction of A. V. D. Joline, Esq. marshal of the day.  The young ladies of the Seminary in this place, attended by their teachers; the hardy Pioneers of the West, representatives of other and perhaps better days; and the Students of the College, headed by the Professors, added in no small degree to the beauty and interest of the scene.

The procession, when formed, marched to the large Congregational Church, the band playing the National Air of Hail Columbia.  An address appropriate to the occasion, was delivered by Arius Nye, Esq., showing the origin and progress, the difficulties and dangers of the first settlement of this part of the country, and interspersed with anecdotes and reminiscences of early days.  The address, we understand, will be published.

After the address, nearly two hundred persons, among them the early Pioneers of the West (the guests of the occasion) repaired to the Mansion House, and sat down to a most excellent dinner, prepared by Mr. Lewis, who had not forgotten to lay in a choice assortment of wines.  The Star Spangled Banner, mounted on the top of a tall Buckeye tree, floated in front of the building.  Col. Joseph Barker officiated as President, and Col. Ichabod Nye, Joseph Wood, William R. Putnam, William Dana, D. H. Buell, and William Pitt Putnam, Esqs., as Vice Presidents.  The following toasts were drank, and a song composed for the occasion by a lady, was sung with much feeling by the company, after the second regular toast.

A Buckeye Ball, given at the Mansion House, closed the festivities of the day.  It were perhaps needless to say it was numerously attended, recollecting the occasion which give rise to it.  The aged and sedate, mingled with the young and beautiful, and all seemed for a time to have forgotten the cares and anxieties of life.  May the future celebrations of the day be attended with the hilarity and good feeling which has marked the present.

Regular Toasts:

1st.  The day we celebrate - the seventh of April, 1788 - When a small band of worthies planted the germ of the State of Ohio, whose roots have struck deep, and whose branches have extended like our own native forests.  Tune - Yankee Doodle.

2d.  The early settlers of Ohio - who relinquished the pleasures and comforts of civilization, to encounter the deprivations and hardships of the wilderness; many of them have lived to see that wilderness blossom as the rose.  Tune - Speed the Plough.

3d.  The memory of Washington - The Father of his country.  (Drank standing.)

4th.  The constitution of the U. States - The principal safe guard of our Liberties.  (Drank standing.)

5th.  The memory of Lafayette - The friend of man in every clime.  (Drank standing.)  Tune - Dead March.

6th.  The United States - May the citizens of the different States ever bear in remembrance that in union there is strength.  (3 cheers.)  Tune - Washington's March.

7th.  The memory of General Anthony Wayne.  (Drank Standing.)  Tune - Roslin Castle.

8th.  The framers of the Constitution of Ohio. - Men of sound heads and honest hearts.  Tune - Constitutional March.

9th.  The State of Ohio. - Possessing within herself all the elements of moral and political greatness, her march to the highest rank among her sister States, can only be impeded by folly and wickedness in her public councils.  May her destiny be as glorious as patriotism can desire.  (3 cheers.)  Tune - Ohio Grand March.

10th.  Robert Lucas - Governor of Ohio; every inch a man.  He is fit to rule over every inch of our Territory.  (6 cheers.)

11th.  The County of Washington - The first lodgement of civilization in the North Western Territory.  Bearing the revered name of the Father of his Country, may her citizens ever imitate his virtues.

12th.  Our Literary Institutions - May they ever remain nurseries of sound learning and correct moral principles.  (3 cheers.)  Tune - Ode on Science.

13th.  The Fair Sex the world over - The Buckeye Ladies of Ohio, worthy representations of the stock from which they came.  (13 cheers.)  Tune - Come! Haste to the Wedding!

Volunteer Toasts:

By Col. Nye - Ohio -With her rising generation: May they enjoy, improve and perpetuate the advantages won by the toils and privations of the Fathers of our Country. 

By D. H. Buell - The memory of the late Gov. Meigs - Emphatically a man of the West, whose history is strongly identified with that of Ohio; a soldier - a statesman - a patriot.  (Drank standing.)

By A. V. D. Joline - The great and growing West - The extension of Territory and the admission of new states into the Union - the expediency of which once question by statesmen of a particular class - But through the bounteousness of nature and numerical force, the enterprising younger will, at no distant day, give law to the doting elder, and thus perpetuate the integrity of the Union; and with it the happiness, enterprise and glory of a great people.

By George Dana - The memory of one of natures noblemen - The Indian Chief Cornstock.  Ye children of civilization, admire and blush.

By Dr. S. P. Hildreth - The memory of Isaac Williams.  (Drank standing.)  

Previous to the announcement of the above sentiment, Dr. Hildreth made an interesting narrative of the services and sufferings of Mr. Williams, in the early settlement of Western Virginia, which will probably be published.

By N. Ward - The memory of Manasseh Cutler.

Mr. Ward read, to the great gratification of the company, an article prepared by Dr. Cutler, about the time of the first settlement at this place, entitled "Ohio phoebia," full of wit and humor, intended as an answer to the objections to the settlement of the West. We hope it will be published.

By Amos Dunham - The young Buckeyes of Ohio - Thrifty cions from the old Yankee stock.  With proper cultivation, they will be in no way inferior to the old Putnam russet.

By John D. Chamberlain - The Buckeye State - Engrafted into the Tree of Liberty, may its branches overshadow the world.

By C. B. Flood - Henry Jolly.

By David Barber - The memory of Com. Abraham Whipple - Who fired the first gun on the Atlantic during the revolutionary war, and navigated the first square rigged vessel out of the Ohio and Mississippi, into the ocean.

By L. H. Goddard - Our Host & Hostess - Mr. and Mrs. Lewis - They deserve our thanks for the entertainments given us this day.

Letters were received from Gov. Lucas, Hon. Jacob Burnet, Dr. Daniel Drake, and ex-Gov. Trimble (who had been invited) and read at the table; some of them contained sentiments, which were drank and cheered.

Letters were also received from Gen. William Henry Harrison and ex-Gov. Brown, who were also invited to attend the celebration, but their letters did not arrive until after the seventh.

By Jacob Burnet - The Pioneers of the West - The first in order of time are the settlers at Marietta; honor to their memory - happiness to their descendants.

By D. Drake - The State of Ohio - The Northern Key-Stone of American Confederacy.