Messages and Letters of William Henry Harrison/Harrison to his constituents (circular)

by William Henry Harrison

Harrison to His Constituents^[1]

Phila, Pa. 14th May, 1800

Western Spy, June 11, 1800

Dear Sir:

The ardent desire I feel to visit again my native state, from which I have been upwards of seven years absent, and the whole of that time engaged in public service in the western country, will I feel, put it out of my power to return to the territory until after the ensuing session of congress. I have therefore thought proper to make this circular communication that my fellow-citizens may be in some measure informed on the subject acted upon by the national legislature at their late session; but particularly on those which relate more immediately to their own interests. Amongst the variety of objects which engage my attention, as peculiarly interesting to our territory, none appeared to me of so much importance as the adoption of a system for the sale of public lands, which would give more favorable terms to that class of purchasers who are likely to become actual settlers, than was offered by the existing laws upon that subject: conformably to this idea I procured the passage of a resolution at an early period of the session for the appointment of a committee to take the matter into consideration. And shortly after I reported a bill containing terms for the purchasers as favorable as could have been expected. This bill was adopted by the House of Representatives without any material alteration; but in the Senate, amendments were introduced obliging the purchaser to pay interest on that part of the money for which a credit was given, from the date of the purchase and directed that one half the land (instead of the whole as was provided by the bill from the House of Representatives) should be sold in half sections of 320 acres and the other half in whole sections of 640 acres. All my exertions, aided by some of the ablest members of the lower house at a conference for that purpose, were not sufficient to induce the Senate to recede from their amendments; but upon the whole, there is cause of congratulation to my fellow-citizens, that terms as favorable as the bill still contains have been procured. This law promises to be the foundation of a great increase of population and wealth to our country; for although the minimum price of land is still fixed at two dollars per acre, the time for making payments has been so extended as to put it in the power of every industrious man to comply with them, it being only necessary to pay one-fourth part of the money on hand and the balance at the end of two, three and four years; besides this odious circumstance of forfeiture, which was made the penalty of failing in the payments, of the old law, is in entirely abolished and the purchaser is allowed one year after the last payment is due to collect the money, if the land is not then paid for, it is sold and after the public have been reimbursed, the balance of the money is returned to the purchaser. Four land offices are directed to be opened—one at Cincinnati, one at Chilicotha, one at Marietta and one at Steubenville, for the sale of lands in the neighborhood of those places. In a communication of this kind it is impossible to detail all the provisions of the law; I have, however, sent a copy of it to the printers at Cincinnati, with a request that they would publish it several weeks.

A law supplementary to the act appropriating land for the satisfying of the United States military warrants has been enacted, warrants have been located, the patents issued and many persons, who are holders of those lands, are preparing to make settlement on them the ensuing summer.

Petitions and letters from various parts of the territory, having been forwarded to me, expressed a desire that the territory should be divided into two great governments and as my opinion of the policy of the measure strongly coincided with them, a bill was passed by the House of Representatives on my motion for this purpose; and that line which is declared by the ordinance of congress [1787] for the government of the territory, the line of division between the eastern and middle states was to have formed the division between the opposite districts; this bill also received very material alteration in the Senate, which alterations were finally adopted by the House of Representatives and the bill passed into a law. The division line by this law, runs from the mouth of the Kentucky River to Ft. Recovery and from thence north till it intersects the northern boundary of the United States, running through the lakes. The western division is called "the Indiana Territory" and the other district is to retain the appellation of territory of the United States, northwest of the Ohio and is to remain in every respect in statu quo. The most objectionable part of the bill is that it fixed the seat of government for the eastern division; and it was opposed by me on the grounds of its being a violation of the ordinance for the government of the territory, which gives the sole and exclusive right of legislature to the general assembly of the territory, but in the cases, where it is expressly withheld.^[2]

However, as the seat of the government is fixed at Chilicothe which is certainly the most central and eligible situation and as the continuance of the legislature at Cincinnati for the short time that the territory will remain under its present dependent form of government can be of very little moment to the citizens of that place and none to the neighboring country; we have nothing to regret upon the subject, but the fear that the interference of Congress in a matter over which, in my opinion, they had no cognizance may establish a precedent of control over our legislature which may be productive of future evil. But the unanimous disapprobation of the principle expressed by the House of Representatives in their rejecting the amendment of the Senate in the first instance and the warm opposition which it met with in the Senate itself gives good ground to hope that no attempt will be hereafter made to revise it.

The petitions from the people living between the Great and Little Miami and above the land patented to Judge [John Cleves] Symmes, which were forwarded to me, were presented to the House of Representatives and the selected committee to whom were referred generally the business relating to lands, were charged to examine into them and to report by bill or otherwise. As I was myself the chairman of this committee, I thought it proper to make my suit whenever the subject of these petitions were under consideration. The committee then consisted of the following members viz: Mr. [Jonathan] Brace of Connecticut, Mr. [Samuel] Lyman of Massachusetts, Mr. [William] Gordon of New Hampshire, Mr. [Albert] Gallatin, of Pennsylvania, Mr. [William Barry Grove] Glove^[3] of North Carolina and Mr. [Thomas Terry] Davis of Kentucky; after a very lengthy investigation and discussion of the subject (at which I was always present) a bill was reported containing the unanimous opinion of the committee; the principal features of the bill were that if Judge Symmes, should pay into the treasury of the United States on or before the 1st day of February, 1802, five shillings per acre in specie for the land between his patent line and that which was run by Mr. [Israel] Ludlow from the head spring of the Little Miami to the Great Miami, with the interest from the 15th of July, 1795; the President of the United States should make him a patent for the said land in trust for himself and the persons who had purchased of him and who at the time of the passing of the act were entitled in equity to the land they had contracted for. And if the judge should fail to give notice on or before the 1st day of January next, that he acceded to all the terms and conditions of this act, or should fail to make the payment at the time specified, then the purchasers under him were to have the land at the same prices that it was to be granted to him, with the additional advantage of one year to raise the money from and after the 1st of February, 1802. It was also required of Judge Symmes to convey in fee simple to such trustees as the legislature of the territory may think proper to appoint, land equal in quality and quantity, to the township reserved in his former patent for the purpose of education and the legislature were authorized to receive such land as an equivalent for the said township; the bill was finally adopted by the House of Representatives without a dissenting voice. The Senate referred it to a select committee, consisting of Messrs. [James] Ross, [John] Brown and [Samuel] Livermore, who reported the bill without amendment; but the day before the session closed, Mr. Ross moved to strike out the whole bill for the purpose of inserting a new one (the object of which I have not learnt) but this was rejected and for want of time the business was finally postponed until the next session. Whilst the bill was before the committee of the Senate, it was suggested to me that doubt had arisen with some whether those persons who had sued Judge Symmes in the courts of common pleas would be entitled to remedy in equity against the Judge. I therefore went before the committee and urged them to insert a provision in their favor, declaring that it was the meaning of the committee who formed the bill that those persons should be entitled to all the benefits arising from it and that I should object to the passage of the bill if they were not included; but upon my stating the question to the attorney general of the United States, to Mr. [Robert G.] Harper and other characters eminent in the law, it was their unanimous opinion that they were within the provision of the act. I send a copy as it passed the House of Representatives to the printers in Cincinnati. What I have given you is the substance of this bill. Nothing surely could be more fair towards the purchasers and I had in view the pleasing prospect that this law would be the means of restoring harmony and peace to the hitherto distracted settlement between the two Miamis. In the management of this business, I was placed from my connection [son-in-law] with Judge Symmes in the most delicate situation; whether my conduct has been such as to merit the approbation of my friends and disappoint the malice of my enemies is not for me to declare: my fellow-citizens will determine it for me; and well I may sure believe that my whole conduct was meant to be guided by moral integrity. A law in addition to the act upon the subject of post offices and post roads has been passed and a post is ordered to go from Louisville to Vincennes and Kaskaskias; a post office is also established at Manchester in the county of Adams. It would have been very desirable to have extended the benefits of this establishment to Detroit, but the great number of additional post roads which were applied for at this session from every state in the Union, has drawn so large upon the post office funds, that I have found it impossible for the present to have it effected; indeed from the want of information upon the subject, I could not say whether the measure would be burthensome to the United States or not. I recommended it to my fellow citizens of that place if they supposed that the emoluments of a post office there would support the expense of conveying the mail, to make an offer to the post master general for taking upon themselves the risk of the establishment; this was done by the people of Vincennes and the Illinois country and as there was no reason to believe that it would not have been done if their loss had been very great; the committee of the House of Representatives adopted their road without hesitation.

A law for the purpose of designating a tract of land upon which the ancient inhabitants of the Illinois, who were entitled to donation, under the act of the 3rd of March, 1791, might locate the same, was passed.

A bill was also reported making a disposition of the salt springs on the public lands and was postponed until the next session.

Several other matters of great importance to our territory were also unavoidably postponed. I regret exceedingly that it was not in my power to procure the passage of a law authorizing the appointment of commissioners for the purpose of adjusting the land terrors in the county of Wayne [Detroit] and for enlarging and ascertaining the boundaries of that county and those of the Mississippi and Wabash; but the great press of business for the last three months of the session rendered it utterly impossible. I was also very desirous to have the territory formed into a separate revenue district and the secretary of the treasury promised to report in favor of it officially to congress; but the multiplicity of his duties prevented him. We may, however, with confidence, promise ourselves that both these measures will be adopted at the next session of congress.

Among the laws of a general nature which were passed at the late session are the following:

1st. "An act providing for the second census or enumeration of the inhabitants of the United States". The census in the territory is to be taken under the direction of the secretary.

2nd. "An act to establish an uniform system of bankruptcy throughout the United States".

3rd. "An act further to suspend the commercial intercourse between the United States and France and the dependencies thereof."

4th. "An act to suspend in part an act entitled "an act to augment the army of the United States and for other purposes". This act directs the suspension of enlistment in the army which will cause a saving to the public revenue of one million of dollars.

By the latest arrivals from Europe, we are informed that the French government has received our commissioners with great cordiality and that three persons have been nominated by the chief Consul to open all negotiations with them upon the existing differences between the two nations: it is generally thought that an accommodation will take place—in which event the whole of the additional army will be disbanded.

With respect and regards,

I am, Dear Sir,

Your very humble servant,

William Henry Harrison

The papers mentioned in the preceding letter to have been forwarded to the printers have not come on hand. Last Monday's mail not arrived.

1. Hariison finished his first session as delegate from the Northwest territory. May 14, 1800. He intended to spend the recess till November in visiting his old home in Virginia. For political reasons and in line with the general custom he sent the following circular to the newspapers of his district. While not strictly within the field of these papers it forms a good introduction to the subject and the man, especially the reference to the division of the Northwest territory and the organization of Indiana territory.
2. For this statute see Annals. 6th congress, 1798
3. In the Annals, 6th congress, 210. The committeeman's name is Grove