cation, as well as of the private felicity it would afford to the Your Excellency's most obedient servant, HIS EXCELLENCY, THE PRESIDENT OF CONGRESS. RUTLAND, April 5, 1784. Dear Sir-Being unavoidably prevented from attending the general meeting of the Cincinnati at Philadelphia, as I had intended, where I once more expected the opportunity in person of paying my respects to your Excellency, I can not deny myself the honor of addressing you by letter, to acknowledge with gratitude the ten thousand obligations I feel myself under to your goodness, and most sincerely to congratulate you on your return to domestic happiness; to inquire after your health, and wish the best of Heaven's blessings may attend you and your dear lady. The settlement of the Ohio country, sir, engrosses many of my thoughts, and much of my time since I left the camp has been employed in informing myself and others with respect to the nature, situation, and circumstances of that country, and practicability of removing ourselves there; and if I am to form an opinion on what I have seen and heard on the subject, there are thousands in this quarter who will emigrate to that country as soon as the honorable Congress make provisions for granting lands there, and locations and settlements can be made with safety, unless such provision is too long delayed— I mean, till necessity turn their views another way, which is the case with some already, and must soon be the case with many more. You are sensible of the necessity, as well as the possibility, of both officers and soldiers fixing themselves in business somewhere as soon as possible, as many of them are unable to lie long on their oars, waiting the decision of Congress on our petition, and therefore must unavoidably settle. themselves in some other quarter, which, when done, the idea of removing to the Ohio country will probably be at an end with respect to most of them; besides, the commonwealth of Massachusetts have come to a resolution to sell their eastern country for public securities; and should their plan be formed and propositions be made public before we hear any thing from Congress respecting our petition, and the terms on which the land petitioned for are to be obtained, it will undoubtedly be much against us, by greatly lessening the number of Ohio associates. Another reason why we wish to know as soon as possible what the intentions of Congress are respecting our petition, is the effect such knowledge will probably have on the credit of the certificates we have received on settlement of accounts. Those securities are now selling at no more than three shillings and six pence or four shillings on the pound, which in all probability might double, if no more, the moment it was known that government would receive them for lands in the Ohio country. From these circumstances and many others which might be mentioned, we are growing quite impatient; and the general inquiry now is, when are we going to the Ohio? Among others, Brig.-Gen. Tupper, Lt.-Col. Oliver, and Maj. Ashley have agreed to accompany me to that country the moment the way is opened for such an undertaking. I should have hinted these things to some member of Congress, but the delegates from Massachusetts, though exceeding worthy men, and in general would wish to promote the Ohio scheme, yet, if it should militate against the particular interest of this state, by draining her of inhabitants, especially when she is forming the plan of selling the eastern country, I thought they would not be very warm advocates in our favor. And I dare not trust myself with any of the New York delegates with whom I am acquainted, because that government are wisely inviting the eastern people to settle in that state; and as to the delegates of other states, I have no acquaintance with any of them. These circumstances must apologize for my troubling you on this subject, and requesting the favor of a line to inform us in this quarter what the prospects are with respect to our petition, and what measures have or are likely to be taken with respect to settling the Ohio country. I shall take it as a very particular favor, sir, if you will be kind enough to recommend me to some character in Congress, acquainted with and attached to the Ohio cause, with whom I may presume to open a correspondence. I am, sir, with the highest respect, GEN. WASHINGTON. Your humble servant, RUFUS PUTNAM. MOUNT VERNON, June 2, 1784. Dear Sir-I could not answer your favor of the 5th of April, from Philadelphia, because General Knox, having mislaid, only presented the letter to me in the moment of my departure from that place. The sentiments of esteem and friendship which breathe in it are exceedingly pleasing and flattering to me, and you may rest assured they are reciprocal. I wish it was in my power to give you a more favorable account of the officers' petition for lands on the Ohio and its waters than I am about to do. After this matter, and information respecting the establishment for peace, were my inquiries, as I went through Annapolis, solely directed, but I could not learn that any thing decisive had been done in either. On the latter, I hear Congress are differing about their powers; but, as they have accepted of the cession from Virginia, and have resolved to lay off ten new states, bounded by latitudes and longitudes, it should be supposed that they would determine something respecting the former before they adjourn, and yet I very much question it, as the latter is to happen on the third, that is to-morrow. As the Congress who are to meet in November next, by the adjournment, will be composed of an entire new choice of delegates in each state, it is not in my power, at this time, to direct you to a proper correspondent in that body. I wish I could, for persuaded I am that to some such cause as you have assigned may be ascribed the delay the petition has encountered; for, surely, if justice and gratitude to the army, and general policy of the Union, were to govern in this case, there would not be the smallest interruption in granting its request. I really feel for those gentlemen who, by these unaccountable delays (by any other means than those you have suggested), are held in such an awkward and disagreeable state of suspense, and wish my endeavors could remove the obstacles. At Princeton, before Congress left that place, I exerted every power I was master of, and dwelt upon the argument you have used, to show the propriety of a speedy decision. Every member with whom I conversed acquiesced in the reasonableness of the petition. All yielded, or seemed to yield, to the policy of it, but pleaded the want of cession of the land to act upon; this has been made and accepted, and yet matters, as far as they have come to my knowledge, remain in statu quo. I am endeavoring to do something with the lands I now hold and have held in that country these twelve or fourteen years. The inclosed contains the terms upon which I propose to lease them. If you think the promulgation of the paper inclosed. can be of service to myself, it is optional with you to do so. I am, dear sir, with very sincere esteem and regard, Your most obedient servant, G. WASHINGTON. GEN. R. PUTNAM. 12 CHAPTER V. EXTRACTS FROK RECORDS OF OHIO COMPANY-ARTICLES OF AGREEMENT— LETTERS TO MAJOR SARGENT AND NATHAN DANE-DIARY, 1787. By the failure of Congress to act upon the petition of the officers, their scheme was delayed, but not defeated. The urgent necessities of the principal movers compelled them to disperse, as soon as the army was disbanded, and seek employment. Putnam took a contract to survey ten townships for Massachusetts, in her province of Maine. General Tupper,† another *Rufus Putnam was born in Sutton, Mass., 1738. He served in the old French War in four campaigns, 1757 to 1761, and attained the rank of Ensign. After the war he studied navigation and surveying, and became especially proficient as a civil engineer. He served in the Revolutionary War as Lieutenant-Colonel of Brewer's Regiment, Chief Engineer of the Army, Colonel of the 5th Massachusetts, and Brigadier-General. He was a member of the Massachusetts General Court in 1787. He became interested in the project of a settlement northwest of the Ohio in 1783, was one of the founders of the Ohio Company, was appointed its Superintendent in 1787, and led the first party who landed at Marietta, 7th April, 1788. He was one of the Judges of the North-west Territory, 1790 to 1796; Surveyor-General of the United States, 1796 to 1803; and a member of the convention which formed the first Constitution of Ohio, in 1802. He died in Marietta, Ohio, 1824. Benjamin Tupper was born in Stoughton, Mass., 1738. He was a soldier in the old French War, and was in the field during the whole of the Revolutionary War, rising from the rank of Major to Colonel and Brevet Brigadier-General. In 1785 he was appointed one of the Surveyors of the North-west Territory, and it was his report, after a visit to the west, that led to the call, signed by himself and General Putnam, for the meeting which resulted in the formation of the Ohio Company. In the summer of 1786, in command of troops under General Lincoln, he took an active part in suppressing Shay's rebellion. Early in 1788, he removed to Marietta, with his family and that of his son-in-law, Ichabod Nye, reaching there 19 August, 1788. These families, and those of Colonel N. Cushing and Major Goodale, who accompanied them, were the first families to settle in what is now the State of Ohio. General Tupper was appointed Judge of the Common Pleas |