vancement, connected with the patronage of the Governor, presented strong temptations to risk the dangers of the climate.

Most of the members of the bar who migrated to that Territory, at that early day, with fair pretensions to talents and legal knowledge, and who were proof against the miasma of the valley, soon acquired fortunes. According to the theory of chances, if chance there be, in the moral world, the writer might also have found a short road to wealth, had he accepted the offer of Governor Sargent; but on the other hand, he might have found a shorter one to the grave. Upon the whole, after a review of all the circumstances connected with the decision then made, declining the flattering invitation of the Governor, and giving up the alluring prospects of preferment and wealth, he can repeat the cheering words of Æneas, to his shipwrecked companions-" Forsan et hæc olim, meminisse juvabit."

29

CHAPTER XXV.

Sale of public lands on credit.-Debts due to Government from purchasers. -Exceeding twenty millions of dollars.-Embarrassments in the Western Country. Purchasers unable to pay.-Lands on the eve of forfeiture.Resistance to the execution of the land laws apprehended.-A plan for relief concerted at Cincinnati.-Memorial to Congress drawn.-Printed, and circulated through the entire West.-The law of 1821 passed, in conformity with the memorial.-Grant of lands to Ohio, for Canal purposes.-Condi tions annexed.-Not assented to.-Grant lost.-In 1829-30, the conditions repealed, and a further grant made.-Miami Extension completed.-Simon Kenton.-Biographical sketches of him.

UNDER the system established for the sale of the public domain, by the law of 1800, and the acts supplementary thereto, an immense debt was contracted, and became due to the government of the United States, from the people of the West, exceeding by estimation, the entire amount of money then circulating in the Western States. That debt had been accumulating more than twenty years, and was swelling daily, with increasing rapidity.

In 1821, it far exceeded the ability of the debtors to pay. Neither the speculator, who had purchased with a view of selling at a profit, nor the farmer, who bought for the purpose of cultivation, and who expected nothing more than to obtain a subsistence for his family, could procure the money which was necessary to secure his title.

It is well known that the first emigrants to the west, and the greater part of those who followed them, from time to time, were compelled by necessity to purchase on credit. Some of them exhausted their means to the last dollar, in raising the first payment on their entries, and others were

not able to make up that sum without the aid of their friends.

The writer, who was one of the early adventurers to the West, was residing in the Miami country before, and at the time, when the sales of the public lands commenced, and had a general knowledge of the situation of the great mass of purchasers, who were indebted to the government. It was his opinion, repeatedly expressed in conversation and in the newspapers of the day, that nine-tenths of those debtors would lose their lands and improvements, under the laws then in force, unless relief should be obtained from Congress. That opinion was founded on the general condition of the country. It was manifest that the pecuniary embarrassment which prevailed, was great and universalthat the banks in the Western States, had all suspended payment-that credit was at an end-that money was not to be had, because it was not in the country, and of course that no property could be sold for cash on any terms. This appalling prospect, spread a deep gloom on the countenance of the community. The people were sinking in despairhope had deserted them, and they were preparing to meet their fate, with the best resolution they could command.

The debt due to the government in 1820, at the different Land Offices in the Western States, amounted to twentytwo millions of dollars; a sum which more than tripled the ability of the country to pay. There was in fact, a crisis in its affairs, and the most buoyant spirits could not indulge a rational hope, that the gathering storm could be scattered, or its ruinous consequences be repaired.

Thousands of industrious men, some of whom had paid one, some two, and others three instalments on their lands, and had toiled day and night, in clearing, enclosing, and improving them, became convinced that they would be forfeited, and their money and labor would be lost. The amount of the debt beyond the means of payment, was

so great, as to threaten a general bankruptcy throughout the West.

When this state of things became generally known, and understood, politicians and patriots, in every part of the country, felt serious fears that an attempt to enforce payment, by a forfeiture of their land, under the laws of Congress, would produce resistance, and probably terminate in a civil war. It was very evident, that more than half of the men, north-west of the Ohio river, were in debt to the government, and it was a reasonable calculation, that all the residue, felt a warm interest, operating in their favor.

A similar state of things, though perhaps not to the same extent, existed in Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, and Missouri. An interest so universal, and so exciting to the feelings, pervading such a vast extent of country, might well create forebodings of danger, in the minds of reflecting men. Portions of this debt, were due from individuals who had purchased for the purpose of selling at an advance; and although less sympathy was felt for them, than for the actual cultivators of the soil; yet, in point of fact, their claims were equally strong. But be that as it may, it was quite evident, that if an attempt had been made to enforce the penalty of the land laws, the influence of that class, would have been much the most operative, in organizing and sustaining, a plan of resistance. From that consideration, the farmers had no dispositon to separate from their fellow sufferers, by presenting a claim on their own behalf, founded on the peculiarity of their situation.

When the nation discovered the real condition of those debtors, a feeling of sympathy was produced in their behalf, throughout the Union, and at the same time many anxious fears were excited, as to the consequences of an attempt to enforce payment.

The writer of these notes being one of the sufferers, and discovering a disposition manifested everywhere to

remove the difficulty, directed his anxious attention to the subject, with a view of devising a plan of relief. It was very manifest, without pausing to deliberate, that the debt never could be paid; and consequently, that no plan predicated on an extension of time, would be of any avail; and that the only effectual method of removing the difficulty, was to extinguish the claim at once. That object it was believed might be accomplished, by obtaining permission to relinquish as much of the land entered, as the purchaser could not pay for, with the privilege of applying the money which had been paid in, on relinquished tracts, to the credit of such other tracts as might be retained, in such manner as to save the improvement of the actual settler. That privilege, and a release of back interest, it was believed, would fully accomplish the object.

This view of the subject, he stated to his friends, Mr. G. A. Worth, Cashier of the branch bank at Cincinnati, who was one of the debtors to the government, and to Judge Burke, Postmaster at that place; both of whom cordially approved of the plan. He then drew up the form of a memorial to Congress, setting forth the facts, and praying that a law might be passed, granting relief to the memorialists, in the specific manner stated above; which was submitted to the persons before named, and approved of. More than a thousand copies of it were then neatly printed on letter paper, by Messrs. Morgan & Lodge, who being furnished with the materials, declined receiving any compensation for their labor. The memorials were accompanied by a circular letter explanatory of the object, and were sent to every post office in the States and Territories in which public lands had been sold; directed to influential men, who were earnestly requested to multiply copies, and send them to every village and neighborhood in the States and Territories in which they resided. Among others, a copy was sent to Governor Worthington, of Ohio, who approved of the plan, and exerted his influence, which