ANN BAILEY.
The Scioto Company early in 1786 sent out a prospectus of their lands in the Northwest Territory. A glowing account was given of the opportunities for settlers, and an office for the sale of these lands was opened in Paris, France. Many of the French families had been driven out of their native country by the Revolution and this seemed to offer them an opportunity of regaining their fortune. Some five or six hundred emigrants including men of all professions who had purchased lands through the agent in Paris, sailed in February, 1790, from Havre de Grace for Alexandria, Virginia. Here they were received with a warm welcome, but soon discovered that the company had failed in their requirements by the United States Government, and that the lands had reverted to the Treasury Board and had been sold in 1787 pursuant to an act of Congress passed the July preceding. Realizing their situation, a meeting was called and a committee appointed to go to New York and demand indemnification from the acting agents of the Scioto Company, and another committee was appointed to appeal personally to General Washington to right their wrongs. Finally an agreement was reached that other lands should be secured to them and that the site of Gallipolis should be surveyed and parcelled out in lots, houses erected, and wagons and supplies furnished to convey the colonists to Ohio. But many had lost their faith in the company, and they removed to New York, Philadelphia, and elsewhere. The few who still held on to the hope of obtaining some foothold in the new country set out as soon as the wagons and necessary supplies could be secured, reaching their destination in October, 1790. Here they found cabins erected, block houses for the protection against an attack, and many other things for their comfort. They set to work at once clearing the land, and in 1791 a party
