NOTES.

1. An act more particularly "ascertaining the duties of the Director of the Town of Columbus" was passed January 28, 1813, as follows:

SEC. 1. Be it enacted by the general assembly of the state of Ohio, That the Director appointed by the legislature, shall, within thirty days after his appointment, enter into a bond, with sufficient security, payable to the treasurer of this state, in the penal sum of four thousand dollars, and take and subscribe an oath, faithfully to discharge the duties enjoined on him by law, and shall hold his office to the end of the session of the next legislature; Provided, that in case the office of Director aforesaid shall become vacant by death, resignation, or otherwise, during the recess of the legislature, the Governor shall fill the same; Provided also, that nothing in this act shall be so construed as to exonerate the proprietors of the town of Columbus, from any reponsibility of their original contract.

SEC. 2. That it shall be the duty of the said Director to superintend the erection of the public buildings in the town of Columbus, agreeably to the plans laid down by the late Director except, in his opinion, alterations are necessary in the internal arrangement of the said buildings, in which case he is hereby authorized to direct the same, in such manner as he shall judge most likely to answer the purpose for which such buildings are erected; and in all things to see that the said public buildings are composed, in all their parts, of proper materials, and built in a good and workmanlike manner; and he is hereby authorized and required to object to any materials not of proper quality, or any work not of the description aforementioned; and if the Director shall perform or cause to be performed for his own private advantage, any part of the above work, he shall, on conviction thereof, forfeit the amount of his penal bond.

SEC. 3. That it shall be the duty of the Director, for the time being, to prevent and abate all nuisances, either in the streets or public squares of said town, by digging for brickyards, or any other purpose, and to preserve from trespass all wood and timber, the property of the state, within the said town, and to cut and dispose of such part as he may deem proper for the use of the state, and annually account for the proceeds of the same.

SEC. 4. That it shall be the duty of the Director to make a report of his proceedings, and of the progress made in the erection of said buildings, whether in his opinion the same is composed of good materials and built in a workmanlike manner, to the next legislature, within twenty days after the commencement of its session.

SEC. 5. That the director shall be entitled to receive for his services at the rate of six hundred dollars per annum, for all the time he may be engaged in discharging the duties of his office, payable quarter yearly on the certificate of the Governor that the services have been performed, being presented to the auditor, who is hereby authorized to issue bills for the same payable at the office of the treasurer of the state.

2. Martin's History says: "The Governor resided in Chillicothe, and some misunderstanding having arisen between Pike and him as to the terms or conditions of their contract, on the occasion of one of his visits to Columbus Pike had him arrested on capias and conducted by a constable before 'Squire King, and the matter was decided in Pike's favor— perhaps adjusted without trial."

3. Martin's History of Franklin County.

4. Ibid.

5. Judge William T. Martin, writing in 1858, said: "Of those who assisted in the erection of the old Statehouse, there are still living in the city or vicinity, Jacob Hare, who kept a team and helped to haul the stone for the foundation, Conrad Heyl, principal painter, and George B. Harvey, who was employed on it as carpenter through its whole construction."

10. A joint resolution requesting the Senators and Representative of Ohio in Congress to use their best endeavors to have a law passed requiring removal of the National Courts from Chillicothe to Columbus was passed by the General Assembly January 30, 1818.

11. Martin.

12. Mrs. Emily Stewart informs the author that the family of William Merion, Senior, who built and occupied a cabin on their land at the present corner of High and Moler Streets in 1810, tapped the sugar maple trees around the door and made all the sugar they needed for the year."

13. Communication to the Ohio State Journal.

CHAPTER XIV.

THE CAPITAL AS A BOROUGH. 1816-1834. I.

The capital acquired its first corporate existence by act of the General Assembly, sitting at Chillicothe. By that act, passed February 10, 1816, a specifically bounded portion of "the Township of Montgomery in the County of Franklin" was "erected into a town corporate," to be thenceforth "known and distinguished by the name of the borough of Columbus." By the same statute it was made lawful for the qualified electors of six months' residence to meet at the Columbus Inn on the first Monday of the next ensuing May, and choose " nine suitable persons, being citizens, freeholders or housekeepers, and citizens of said town," to serve as its " mayor, recorder and common councilmen." The persons so elected were required to choose from their own number a mayor, a recorder and a treasurer, all of whom should continue to act as members of the Council, the Mayor being also its President. Thus organized the board was made "a body corporate and politic," endowed with perpetual succession, "by the name and style of the mayor and council of the borough of Columbus." It was further empowered to enact laws and ordinances, levy taxes, erect and repair public buildings, " receive, possess and convey any real or personal estate for the use of said town of Columbus,” and to appoint "an assessor, a town marshal, a clerk of the market, a town surveyor,” and such other subordinate officers as might be deemed necessary. The preparation of the tax duplicate was made the duty of the Recorder, the collection of the taxes that of the Marshal. The term of office of the councilmen was fixed at three years, three members to be elected annually, but the thirds of the first board were required to serve, respectively, for one- two- and three-year terms, to be assigned by lot. The choice of councilmen was made by general ticket, on the first Tuesday of May annually, all the electors of the town voting at the same poll.'

The first borough election was held at the Columbus Inn May 6, 1816. The Council then chosen met at the same place on the thirteenth of May, and organized. Its members, in the order of their terms of service, from one to three years, as determined by lot, were Jarvis Pike, John Cutler, Henry Brown, Robert Armstrong, Michael Patton, Jeremiah Armstrong, Caleb Houston, Robert W. McCoy, and John Kerr. Jarvis Pike was chosen Mayor, R. W. McCoy, Recorder, and Robert Armstrong, Treasurer. Daniel Liggett was appointed Assessor, Samuel King Marshal, and William Long Clerk of the Market. After ordering a purchase of stationery, the first meeting adjourned, as appears by the minutes, " to Thursday evening next, at two o'clock in the afternoon."

On the twentysecond of April, 1817, at a meeting of the Council held at the house of John Collett, the Treasurer's accounts for the first year of the Borough were rendered. The "state of the treasury," as reported by John Kerr and Henry Brown, who were appointed to examine the books, made the following exhibit :

Small bills in circulation

Fees due the Common Council.
Due the Recorder for stationery

$210.83

88.50

14.

Draft due Recorder, paid by him to Samuel King for services as
Marshal, third quarter

20.

Five per cent. to Treasurer for money received (amount received,

$311.15)

15.27

Ten per cent. to Treasurer for issuing corporation bills amount

John Cutler's bill for stationery

55.57

2.314

426.78

Cr.

On motion the pay due to the members was relinquished "for the benefit of the corporation." Christian Heyl was chosen Treasurer, to succeed Jeremiah Armstrong, who resigned. An ordinance passed by this Council in March, 1817, declared the Markethouse on High Street to be a nuisance, and ordered its removal. It had been erected by voluntary contributions, and was never much used. During the latter part of August, 1817, the capital was visited for the first time by the Chief Executive of the Nation. Returning from a tour of inspection of the fortifications in the Northwest, President Monroe and his retinue arrived at Worthington from Detroit, whence the party had journeyed on horseback, moving "generally in a canter." The President wore an "old-fashioned three-cornered cocked hat," but was otherwise plainly attired in civilian costume. His face was ruddy from exposure to the midsummer sun. The Franklin Dragoons, Captain Vance, escorted him from Worthington to Columbus, where he was decorously met and entertained by a committee of citizens. The members of that committee were Lucas Sullivant, Abner Lord, Thomas Backus, Joseph Foos, A. I. McDowell, Gustavus Swan, Ralph Osborn, Christian Heyl, Robert W. McCoy, Joel Buttles, Hiram M. Curry, John Kerr, Henry Brown and William Doherty. The President was received at the Statehouse, where a neat and appropriate address of welcome was delivered by Hon. Hiram M. Curry, then Treasurer of State. In his reply the distinguished traveler and guest favored with some graceful compliments the "infant city," as he termed it, from which he received these attentions.3

The War of 1812 imparted a great impetus to business, in both Columbus and Franklinton. Troops were continually passing and repassing, and there were occasions when a force of two or three thousand men awaited orders in the camps along the west bank of the river. Some of the pioneers of the borough acquired means enough to pay for their homes by the sale of refreshments to the passing or sojourning troops of the Northwestern Army. The purchases and disbursements

of the military agents of the Government at Franklinton were large, and the demand for all kinds of produce active, at high prices. The currency was depreciated but plenty, and nearly every man's pocket was flushed. Pork advanced from $1.50 to $4.00 per hundred, flour to $4.00 per hundred, oats and corn from fifty cents to one dollar per bushel, hay from ten to twenty dollars per ton, and other articles in like proportion. The proprietors of Columbus sold their town lots readily at good prices, usually receiving a small cash payment with interest-bearing notes for the residue, and giving a bond to make a title when the notes should be paid.

Thus things went on merrily until the war closed, when there came a reaction. The disbursements of the National Government, then staggering under a war debt of eighty millions, suddenly ceased, the last soldier disappeared from Franklinton, and the early promise of that village was changed into doleful decay. The banks of the entire country, except New England, suspended specie payment, and the currency, then destitute of national quality, fell into hopeless confusion. All sorts of prices suffered a frightful collapse; pork declined to $1.50 and flour to $1.25 per hundred, corn and potatoes to ten or twelve cents per bushel, and other commodities at a similar rate. Real estate likewise took a downward plunge, and many of the town lots sold by the borough proprietors came back to them, the first payments being forfeited by the purchasers. Money became as scarce as it had just been plentiful, labor went unemployed, and families accustomed to luxury were obliged to use rye coffee and content themselves with the coarsest dress.

The crisis culminated in 1819, but its financial depression and confusion dragged wearily along for seven more years. Of the Columbus proprietors Alexander McLaughlin, once considered one of the wealthiest men in the State, became completely bankrupt, and was obliged to support himself by teaching a country school. Early in the thirties he died. James Johnston, another of the proprietors, failed about the same time as McLaughlin, and emigrated to Pittsburgh, where he died in 1842. John Kerr and Lyne Starling weathered the storm, but Kerr died in 1823, leaving a young family to inherit, and unfortunately to lose his large estate. Starling lived to the age of sixtyfour, and being a bachelor, left no heirs to receive or to squander his property.

Such was the depression, owing to the state of the currency and the failure of the proprietors, that the greater part of the real estate of the borough was thrown upon the market. The choicest town lots around the Capitol Square went begging at three hundred dollars each. A great number of others were offered at forced sale by the Sheriff or United States Marshal, but had to be reappraised again and again, at lower and lower values, before they finally found takers. Single lots which had been held at two or three hundred dollars seven years before, were sold for ten or twenty, and some as low as even seven or eight dollars each.

To add to the depression of business and price of property [says Martin] about the year 1822 or 1823, the title of Starling's half section, on which the town was in part located, was called in question. It had originally been granted to one Allen, a refugee from the British Provinces in the time of the American Revolution. Allen had deeded it to his son, and the son had mortgaged it, and it was sold at sheriff's sale to satisfy the mortgage, and Starling was the purchaser.

It was now claimed by the heirs of Allen, who took various exceptions to Starling's title. First as to the sale from the old man Allen to his son; also to the authentication of the