"" E-- -< Z Z o -z -o SKETCH OF THE LIFE AND TIMES

OF

COL. ISRAEL LUDLOW,

ONE OF THE ORIGINAL PROPRIETORS OF CINCINNATI.

FROM "SKETCHES IN THE M lAMI V ALLEY."

BY HENRY BENTON TEETOR, A. M.

~C"\11' 1 ~ ~ llust"qateiL vlv"

CINCINNATI:

PRINTED BY CRANSTON & STOWE. 1885. Copyright by

HENRY BENTON TEETOR. 1885. CONTENTS.

Cbopbar 1.

LINEAGE.-ApPOINTED SURVEYOR.-DEATH OF JOHN FIL­

SON.-BECOMES A PROPRIETOR OF CINCINNATI.-SUR­

VEYING OPERATIONS.- LUDLOW'S PLAT. - CINCINNATI

AS A NAME.-A POPULAR NOTlON.-JUDGE BURNET'S

STATEMENT.-"CINCINNATI" SUGGESTED BY LUDLOW.- DEATH AND BURIAL, •••• . . . . . Pages 5-23.

HISTORY OF FORT WASHINGTON.-PrCTURE OF CINCINNATI

IN 1800. - LUDLOW STATION. - FIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, ••... . Pages 23-38.

~pprand;xl

THE BEGINNINGS OF CINCINNATI.-CINCINNATI: ITS NAME

AND PLAT.-How LUDI.OW BECAME A PROPRIETOR OF

CINCINNATI.-LETTER OF SURVEYOR GENERAL HUTCH­

INS TO ISRAEL LUDLOW.-OFFICIAL REPORT OF COLONEL

LUDLOW TO THE SECRETARY OF THE TREASURY,- Pages 49-52, Illust~ot;oDS'

OLD FORT WASHINGTON,-CINCINNATI IN 18oo,-CHURCH

OF THE PIONEERS,

SKETCH OF THE LIFE

OF COLONEL ISRAEL LUDLOW.

Chapter I.

LINEAGE. IR EDMUND LUDLOW, well known as Sone of the patriot" regicides" of King Charles I, was of an ancient and honorable English family. His father, Sir Henry Ludlow, was a member of the English Parliament, whose seat his son subsequently occupied. Sir Edmund immediately attached himself inflexibly to the Republican party; was one of the judges of Charles I, and appended his signature to his death warrant. He held many important com­ missions, military and civil, under the royal gov­ ernment and afterward under Cromwell, until the latter dissolved the Long Parliament. That action Ludlow disapproved, and withstood Cromwell 6 SKETCH OF THE LIFE OF

H face to face," thenceforward refusing to submit to his personal government as Lord Protector. He at once retired to his house in Essex, over the door of which was placed this inscription:

"®mm solum forti patria, quia pairis."

[Every land, because it was his father's, is to the brave man his own country.]

After the Restoration, Sir Edmund escaped persecution by fleeing to the continent, and died in exile at Vevay, Switzerland, in r693, where a monument erected to his memory may yet be seen in the Church of St. Martin. From the "municipal and parliamentary bor­ ough and market-town Ludlow," in Shropshire, England, came the grandfather of Colonel Israel Ludlow, who crossed the Atlantic ocean and set­ tled in the colony of New Jersey. He was a member of this widespread historic family. The father, Colonel Cornelius Ludlow, had both hered­ itary and personal reasons for his honorable par­ ticipation in the war of the American colonies against their oppressors when the time came for them to achieve their independence by arms, and to assume a standing among the nations of the COLONEL ISRAEL LUDLOW. 7 earth. Thus Israel Ludlow's" life-blood tracked its parent lake" to war-proof fathers.

THE BEGINNING. Israel Ludlow was born in 1765 upon his father's farm near Morristown, New Jersey. The war for independence opened upon his native land when he was only twelve years of age. The very fields over which his youthful feet wandered became ensanguined, almost beneath his eye, with the blood of his kindred. The ardor of his patri­ otism was enkindled by the memories of the part his forefathers had taken in the, struggle for liberty.

APPOINTED SURVEYOR. After being thus schooled in the stirring times of the Revolution, and, in the years imme­ diately succeeding acquiring a collegiate educa­ tion, he was called, by reason of his "abilities, intelligence, and integrity," to undertake the sur­ vey of the Miami Purchase. This call was made upon him in 1787 by a letter from Thomas Hutchins, then Surveyor General of the United States. Ludlow was thus ordered to report to Judge Symmes. 8 SKETCH OF THE LIFE OF

When, on September 22, 1788, Ludlow arrived with Judge Symmes, Denman, Patterson, Filson, and others for the purpo~e of laying off a tow n opposite the mouth of the Licking River, he was doubtless the youngest, while his official relation to the enterprise presupposed him to be as intel­ ligent as anyone, of the historic party. Ludlow's business was to survey the Miami Purchase, and Filson's to layoff the town of " Losantiville" according to a plan agreed upon at Lexington. But before a bearing could be taken by the compass, or a chain could be stretched on the ground, the eastern limit of the Purchase had to be ascertain.ed. This Denman, the pur­ chaser from Symmes, upon whose ground the town was to be platted, required. Congress had said that the east line of the Purchase should stop exactly twenty miles from the mouth of the Great Miami River. Denman, the cautious, as a prerequisite demanded the ascertainment of this line before the village should be laid out on the ground. And to this task Ludlow first addressed himself by a survey of the river front, Ludlow being the first man to stretch a chain upon the site of Cincinnati. COLONEL ISRAEL LUDLOW. 9

DEATH OF FILSON. While Ludlow and Denman were thus en­ gaged, and while awaiting the result of that sur­ vey, Filson, Patterson, Symmes, and escort made an incursion into the interior in the direction of the Great Miami. This was about the 1st of October, 1788. From this expedition Filson never more returned. The mysterious disappearance of Filson, sup­ posed to have been killed by the Indians, before any thing had been done by him-a stake driven or a line marked-produced a profound sensation in this band of pioneers. Filled with apprehen­ sions, and seemingly baffled in the enterprise, the whole party returned at once to Limestone (now Maysville, Ky.); and the sounding aisles of the dim woods no longer rang to the anthem of the free until December the 28th following.

BECOMES A PROPRIETOR OF CINCIN= NATI. After the arrival of Symmes, Patterson, and Denman at Limestone, as already mentioned, Filson's brother, who had been with the party when John Filson was killed, considering that 2 10 SKETCH OF THE LIFE OF he had paid nothing and had only a nominal claim upon the property, notified the surviving partners that the legal representatives of the de­ ceaseq would demand nothing under the contract of August 22d, whereupon it was determined that the proper person to take Filson's place in the new enterprise was the young surveyor Ludlow. He was chosen because of his professional fit­ ness for the position, and he entered at once upon the work of making a plat-taking Filson's as a model-according to which he eventually laid out the section and fractional section con­ stituting the original Denman Purchase.

GENERAL OPERATIONS. Beginning with the survey of Cincinnati m 1788 we find this young surveyor closing his official career in 1804, in the prime of life. In the meantime he had surveyed the whole of the Miami Purchase as directed by Surveyor-general Hutchins, of which he had made an acceptable report to Alexander Hamilton, Secretary of the United States Treasury; had laid out the present cities of Hamilton and Dayton, being the sole owner of the former and part owner of the latter, COLONEL ISRAEL LUDLOW. II his co-pr'oprietors being Generals St. Clair, Wil­ kinson, and Dayton. His last official business consisted in establishing the boundary line be­ tween the United States and the Indian Terri­ tory according to the terms of the Green ville Treaty agreed upon by the Indian tribes and General Wayne in 1795. This was a dangerous and laborious undertaking, most of which was accomplished with only three active woodsmen as spies to give notice of danger.

LUDLO'\i'V'S PLAT OF OINOINNATI.

The Filson plan contemplated the name H Lo­ santiville." And yet the contract between the proprietors and purchasers, found among the pa­ pers of Colonel Patterson, bears upon its face the names of H Losantiburg" and H Losantiville." What does this mean? Simply, that no name had been fully agreed upon; or that more than one name had been suggested; or that until the time came to record a plat, which did not occur until September, 1795, when the title of Judge Symmes was confirmed, the name of the town might be considered an open ,question. Indeed, upon this very memorandum of agree- 12 .SKETCH OF THE LfFE OF

ment for the sale and distribution of lots in Losantiville the name of "Cincinnati" also ap­ pears in the form of a blank deed, and in the hand writing of Colonel Ludlow. From the time of Filson's disappearance up to the arrival of Governor St. Clair, the name of the town had not been definitely fixed. It does not appear that any other name besides these had been suggested; and as Judge Symmes had it in mind to layout a city on a magnificent scale lower down the river, his advice on this mat­ ter would naturally neither be sought nor de­ sired.

OINOINNATI AS A NAME.

Was "Cincinnati" ever mentioned as the name of our city before the arrival of Governor St. Clair? If it was, then the part taken by the governor in designating "Cincinnati" as the county seat of "Hamilton County" in the order creating the courts and appointing judges thereof, was nothing more than adopting "Cincinnati" instead of "Losantiville" as the name of the young and insignificant village. How did it reach St. Clair's ears? By common fame, and from the COLONEL ISRAEL LUDLOW. 13 lips of Colonel Ludlow, the surveyor, who was the clerk of the court St. Clair established, whose right it was (in conjunction with his co-proprie­ tors) to give name to the plat as well as to the streets, and commons, and squares upon that plat. The evidence adduced by the editor of the St. Clair papers consists of the statement of Benjamin Van Cleve, who arrived one day later than Governor St. Clair. He says Governor St. Clair changed the name. The other witness is Judge Symmes, to the same effect; but in one of his letters Judge Symmes claims the honor of sug­ gesting the name himself, and soon after he wrote to the Witherspoons and Smiths of New Jersey to obtain a correct spelI'ing of the name as to its termination, whether it should be "ta" or "ti." Then the editor claims that the prominence of the governor as a member of the Society of Cin­ cinnati was another moving cause to selecting the name. We admit that the existence of that society was the moving cause, but we are enabled to show that it had operated upon other minds as well, some time before the arrival of the ill­ fated governor. Would St. Clair change the name of a town, of his own motion, in which he 14 SKETCH OF THE LIFE OF had no property interest, which he never saw until the day before he issued his order creating the courts, without consulting the proprietors? He would have no right to do so. The fair and reasonable presumI;>tion is that after consultation (certainly with Ludlow, the sur­ veyor of the town, the proprietor of a two-thirds' interest in his own right, and as the agent of Denman), St. Clair adopted the name suggested by Ludlow-a name which, as may be seen from the following testimony, was not only mentioned' for more than a year prior to the coming of St. Clair, but was selected and adopted by Denman, Patterson, and Ludlow, in the Winter of 1788-<), and was inscribed upon the plat made by Ludlow to take the place of the one first made by Filson, which was destroyed in a personal alter­ cation between Colonel Ludlow and Joel Williams.

A "POPULAR NOTION."

The H popular notion "-the language of Charles Cist-is that St. Clair issued a proclamation, changing the name from " Losantiville" to H Cin­ cinnati," upon his arrival, January 2, 1790. This " notion" has its origin simply in the order issued COLONEL ISRAEL LUDLOW. 15 by the governor organizing the courts of "Ham­ ilton County," in which he appoints Israel Lud­ low clerk, and designates "Cincinnati" as the county seat. That is all. "To these testimonies," says Mr. Cist, "and to the popular notion that the place was given its present name by General St. Clair on the 2d of January, 1790, I have to oppose the testimony, among others, of Jacob Fowler and Samuel Newell, highly intelligent men and old settlers-Fowler having supplied the garrison at ~ort Washington with buffalo meat fr01-1Z its establz"shment up to St. Clair's arrival, and afterward. They both aver that from their earliest knowledge of it they never heard it called Losantiville; and Fowler, who was as clear headed in his recollection of the past as any man I have ever known, stated to me explicitly that he never heard it called by any other name than, that of Cincinnati." (See Appendix.) In the Chancery case of the" Town of Cin­ cinnati vs. Joel Williams," Colonel Ludlow testi­ fied "that in the Fall of 1 788 he became, by purchase from Denman, a proprietor of one-third of the section and fraction on which the town of 16 SKETCH OF THE LIFE OF

Cincinnati is laid out; that in the month of Jan­ uary, 1789, this deponent, together with Robert Patterson, Esq., of Kentucky, landed on said ground, with a number of others, to layout the town of Cincinnati and form a settlement there." Colonel Patterson testified "that he, in company with Colonel Ludlow and others, landed on the ground in January, 1789, for the purpose of lay­ ing off the town of Cincinnati." And in neither of these depositions is the name Losantiville mentioned. Judge McMillan swore "that he was one of the number who formed the settlement of Cin­ cinnati December 28, 1787, that a few days after­ wards a plan of the town of Cincinnati was drafted by Israel Ludlow." Matthias Denman says, "That Israel Ludlow was appointed by this deponent as agent, as far as this deponent was interested, to layout the town of Cincinnati, that the town was laid out in the year 1789; the plan and proceedings re­ lating to the same were, by Ludlow and Patterson, submitted to this deponent, and were approved, sanctioned, and confirmed." COLONEL ISRAEL LUDLOW. 17

JUDGE JACOB BURNET'S STATEMENTS .

.( Early in the next season Mr. Denman en­ tered into a n.ew contract with Colonel Patterson and Israel Ludlow to layout a town on the same ground, but on a different plan from the one formerly agreed upon. To that town they gave the name oj C:z'ncz'nnatz', a?zd by that name z't was surveyed and known z'n the Fall of 1789," six months before the arrival of 5t. Clair. Again, Judge Burnet says: " A plat of the contemplated town was made out, and Losantiville agreeq. upon as its name; but, before any step was taken to carry that con­ tract into effect and before a chain had been stretched on the ground, Mr. Filson was killed by the Indians, not having done any thing to fulfill his part of the contract; in consequence of which it was forfeited, and the projected town fell through. This is all that was ever done towards the establishment of a town by the name of Losantiville. Yet, as was natural, the settle­ ment then just beginning was for some time called by the intended name of the projected town." 3 18 SKETCH OF THE LIFE OF

Judge Burnet again says: "I will state that at an early period professional duty made it nec­ essary for me to investigate the facts connected with the origin. and establishment of Cincinnati, which did not extend to any other individual then or now living; and it so bappened that the performance of that duty was required at a time when the town was almost in its incipient state, and when all the original proprietors and most of the first adventurers and settlers were living either in the village or in places easily accessible. "Without presuming to claim more tact or in­ dustry than belongs to the profession generally, it may be presumed, considering the sources of correct information then within my reach, that I must at least have ascertained the name of the place- the establishment and history of which I was investigating. I was employed to collect and perpetuate the testimony applicable to the case, and in executing that commission my inquiries were directed to the original pro­ prietors and to such other persons as were likely to have any knowledge of the facts touching the laying out of the town and the matters con­ tained on the plat. COLONEL ISNAEL LUDLOW. 19 "You will perceive that to sustain the right of the town to the common it was necessary to prove the correctness of· the plat recorded by Ludlow, which affirmed Cincinnati to be the true, original, and only name of the town." • Speaking of the controversy between Colonel Ludlow and Joel Williams as to the public com- mon, Judge Burnet says: "On one occasion it terminated in a violent personal conflict, in which the original plat of the town, made and agreed to by the proprietors at Limestone in the Winter of I 788-9-bearing upon its face the name of Cincinnati, was torn in pieces, each party retaining a part of it." (See Appendix.)

"CINCINNATI" SUGGESTED BY LUDLOW.

If, therefore, there was a plat made in 1788-9 as a substitute for Filson~s, bearing the name "Cincinnati," who made that plat? If Denman and Patterson had been induced to drop "Losan­ tiville," or "Losantiburg," or "Losanterville" according to Joel Williams, who influenced them? Who but Colonel Ludlow, the son of Colonel Cor­ "neHus Ludlow, and the son-in-law of General James '20 SKETCH OF THE LIFE OF

Chambers, a member of the "Society of the Cincinnati?" Who more likely than the youth­ ful, brave, and thoughtful surveyor-the tall, accomplished, and commanding Ludlow, who more than a year prior to the arrival of General St. Clair, toiled with compass and chain in laying out our streets in the dense forests that, in solemn beauty, templed the site of our city? Of what was he thinking, when thus surveying, more than of the name ar:d future progress of the town he was founding? That was the martial age in our history. Fort Washington went up under his eye. Wash­ ington was then the president of the "Society of the Cincinnati." Many of the earliest settlers were soldiers of the Revolution or their descend­ ants, and were connected with the society. At that time the causeless war against the society • was at its height. There were no names more familiar to the public tongue than those of Wash­ ington and "Cincinnati." The very air-the woodland air-was a "chartered libertine" that prated the name which our city now bears-a name that was in keeping with the spirit of those times, breathing patriotism and not pedantry,

FACSIMILE OF C E R TIFIC A TE OF M E M B ER~

(Issu e d 10 Gen. J ?TYl.e. Ch",:rYl ben 3HIP I N THE SOCI ETY OF THE CINCINNATI.

" f8.1her of Mr''3. Col. JSI'i'< e l L udlow )

COLONEL ISRAEL LUDLOW. 2I signifying" an incessant devotion to preserve in­ violate those exalted rights and liberties of human nature for which they have fought and bled, and without which the high rank of a rational being is a curse instead of a blessing. An unalterable determination to promote and cherish between the respective States that Union and National honor so essentially necessary to their happiness and the future dign'ity of the American empire." Ludlow is in' his grave. He sleeps well. Above his dust rises the First Presbyterian Church of Cincinnati, upon a square he donated for churches, and schools and courts. The streets he surveyed through "the deep tangled wild­ wood" are now channels of trade, and lined with thousands of dwellings. A hundred years will soon have passed since first he landed at Yeatman's cove with a band ot pioneers to found a city to which he gave the name it bears. He has no other monument. He needs no other. A tablet may be seen in the wall of that church containing an inscription penned by the loving hand of his daughter-but two years of age when her father died-the late 22 SKETCH OF THE LIFE OF

Sarah Bella McLean, widow of Justice John McLean, of the United States Supreme Court:

OF

IS~7iEI1 I1UD1l8W,

ONE OF THE ORIGINAL PROPRIETORS OF CINCINNATI,-

WHO DEPARTED THIS LIFE

AT LUDLOVV STATION, JANUARY 21,1804,

IN THE 39TH YEAR OF HIS AGE.

~~~ it~~~~;i!~~~~?;~;:;.;~~~::~~::\·.'=--=.~I~~-...,...~. --

STROBRIDGE II. CO,LITII. CIIfCfNNlln. 1 . MAJ. WM.RUFFfN, CINCINNATI IN IBOO. 11. GREEN TREEHOTEL, a.ARTIFleER'S YARD, 12. SAMUEL BES~ 3. CHARLES WATTIER, S. GRIFFIN YEATMAN, 8. COL. GIBSON, 13. PRESBYTERIAN!R IORCHE, -1-. JAMES SMITH, 7 MARTIN BAUM 9. JOEL.WI/..LlAMS~ 1'1-. FORT WASHINGTON, 5. DAVID ZIEGLER, 10. ISRAEL LUDLOW, 15. OR. ALLISON, COLO("EL ISRAEL LUDLOW. 23

Chapter II.

--*--

FORT VVASHINGTON.

pORT WASHINGTON was designed as a . protection to the pioneers as well as a base of supp~ies and operations in the campaign against the Indians. At the same time a chain of blockhouses was projected up the Indian trail along Millcreek Valley, of which (( Ludlow Station" was the first, and which was erected by Colonel Ludlow contemporaneously with Fort Washing­ ton in pursuance of the Government's intention to layout a military road to what was afterwards called Fort Hamilton. Work upon Fort Wash­ ington was begun about the 20th of September, 1789. It was not completed until the following year, for General Harmar, commanding the Fort. writes to the Secretary of War, General Knox, under date of January 14, 1790: "This will be one of the most substantial wooden fortresses, when finished, in the Western 24 SKETCH OF THE L1FE OF

Territory. It is built of hewn timber, about one hundred and eighty feet square, two stories high, with four block-houses at the angles. "The plan is Major Doughty's. On account of its superior excellence I have thought proper to name it Fort Washington. The public ought to be benefited by the sale of these buildings whenever we evacuate them, although they will cost them but little." The usual statement is that the building was made up of green logs cut from the woods. The fact is that the material out of which it was con­ structed consisted, in the main, of "sawed or hewn timbers, and boat-boards from the flat or 'Kentucky boats' then navigating the Ohio." The general says in the same letter: "About forty or fifty Kentucky boats have be­ gun and will complete it. Limestone is the grand mart of Kentucky; whenever boats arrive there they are of scarcely any value to the owners, and are frequently set adrift in order to make room for the arrival of others. I have con~racted for the above number for the moderate price of from one to two dollars each; thus much for the plan work. All other expenses (wagon-hire, nails, COLONEL ISRAEL LUDLOW. 25 and some glass excepted) are to be charged to the labor of the troops. The lime we have burned ourselves, and the stone is at hand." The commanders of this Fort were, in suc­ cession: Major Doughty, General Josiah' Harmar, General Wilkinson, Captain William Henry Har­ rison, Captain Edward Miller, Lieutenant Peter Shiras, and probably Major Ziegler. Fort Washington was evacuated in 1804 by the removal of the troops to' Newport Barracks. The next important event in its history was its destruction, which occurred March 17,1808. The ~ demolition of the buildings on that day was at- tended by the entire population of the primitive city and vicinity. It was a happy day in our early history. The disappearance of the fort was owing to the advance of civilization-the re­ treat of the red man. And no pen found time or inclination to record the details of this inter­ esting event.

LOCATION OF THE FORT.

The south-east angle of the fort stood upon the present site of the residence of Mr. Frederick Shultze, No. 101 East Third Street, being now 4 26 SKETCH OF THE LIFE OF the second house from the south-west corner of Ludlow and Third Streets. The circumstances under which the site of this residence was selected and the house built may be learned from the following sworn stat~­ ment made by its builder, the late Dr. Daniel

Dra~( "I was present on the site of Fort Washing­ ton at the time Joseph Gest, the City Surveyor, made a survey of the foundation of that old [;,rt, a plat and description of which is now before me, and I believe the lines and angles of said fort, as ~ laid down by him, are accurate. This was in 1802 or 3; and, afterward, in 1808, when the reserve was sold by the Government, I pur­ chased several lots, which included the south-east angle and block-house, and built upon the same, where I resided from 1812 to 1823, during which period the foundations of the fort were every­ where to be seen, and could be compared with the lines and corners of the streets. Finally, in preparing. a plat of the town for 'A Picture of Cincinnati' in 1814, I took great care and pains to lay down the site of the fort correctly, and I filld that the plat made by Mr. Gest corresponds COLONEL ISRAEL LUDLOW. 27 almost exactly with it. The fort fronted south, a little inclining to the east; the whole· south front was on the south side of Third Street, but not exactly parallel to it. The south-west block­ house was further from the street than the south­ east. The great gate was, I believe, in the center of the south line of the block-houses." In the walls of this residence may be seen a bust of Washington, built therein as if to com­ memorate the site of the old fort. It is a singu­ lar and an appropriate memorial-characteristic of the scholarly Drake, to whose deposition we can recur for the exact site and outlines of the fort, every material evidence of which has vanished save the old lock, now the property of Joseph Coppin, Esq., the only pioneer living who remem­ bers that structure, and who secured the lock when the fort was torn down, and has kept pos­ session of it ever since. The place where swung the ponderous gate, in and out of which passed Generals H armar, St. Clair, Wayne, Harrison. Mansfield, Wilkinson; Judges Symmes, Burnet, Turner; Surveyors An­ derson, Ludlow, Lytle; and many other soldiers and citizells, founders of Cincinnati, and rulers SKETCH OF THE LIFE OF of the North-western Territory, is now marked by the residence of the Hon. Rufus King, No. 95 East Third Street,-a residence that is itself a landmark, having been originally built in 1827 by General Jared Mansfield, formerly Surveyor Gen­ eral of the United States. By direction of Albert Gallatin, Secretary of the Treasury, in 1807 he made a survey and plat of the reserve of fifteen acres around the fort, now bounded by Fourth, Broadway, Ludlow, and the river. The south-west angle of the fort was, for a while, marked by Madame TrolIope's Bazaar, since supplanted by the stone front building erected by the Emery Brothers, and known as "The Lorraine." In a description of Cincinnati, as he first saw \ the village in February, 1791, the Rev. Oliver M. Spencer includes the following notice of the fort: "On the top and about eighty feet distant from the brow of the second bank, facing the river, stood Fort Washington, occupying nearly all the ground between Third and Fourth Streets, and between Ludlow Street and Broadway. This fort, of nearly a square form, was simply a wooden fortification, whose four sides or walls, each about COLONEL ISRAEL LUDLOW. 29 one hundred and eighty feet long, were con­ structed of hewed logs, erected into barracks two stories high, connected at the corners by high pickets, with bastions or block-houses, also of hewed logs and projecting about ten feet in front of each side of the fort, so that the cannon placed within them could be brought to rake its walls. Through the center of the south side or front of this fort was the principal gateway, a passage through this line of barracks about twelve feet wide and ten feet high, secured by strong wooden doors of the same dimensions. Appended to the fort on its north side, and inclosed with high palisades extending from its north-east and north­ west corners to a block-house, was a small tri­ angular space, in which were constructed shops for the accommodation of the artificers. Extend­ ing along the whole front of the fort was a fine esplanade, about eighty feet 'wide and inclosed with a handsome paling on the brow of the bank, the descent from which to the lower bottom was sloping, about thirty feet. The front and sides of the fort were whitewashed, and at a small dis­ tance presented a handsome and imposing ap­ pearance. On the eastern side were the officers' 30 SKETCH OF THE LIFE OF gardens, finely cultivated, ornamented with beau­ tiful Summer houses, and yielding in their season abundance of vegetables." . CINOINNATI IN 1800. A drawing of the city, in its infancy, was made by a gentleman named William Bucknall, then residing here, which gave the location of buildings, streets, etc., accurately. A sketch of Fort Wash­ ington was made by a soldier belonging to the fort. Old residents had sketches of other build­ ings, etc. By collecting these materials, con­ sulting old inhabitants and historical records, a faithful picture of our city as it stood eighty-five years ago has thus been made by a native of Cincinnati-Mr. Alfred ]. Swing, brother of Rev. Dr. David Swing, of Chicago. The town at that time contained about 500 people, and only the upper or eastern portion of what is now the city was built upon. The inhabi­ tants, for protection from the Indians, had built near the fort. The upper or most easterly street cut through the bluff bank was Main Street. This and Walnut Street were the only two streets cut through to the river. 'cOLQNEL ISRAEL LUDLOW. 3 1 There was another bank between Third and Fourth Streets, running parallel with the river, sloping off towards Deer Creek on the east, and Millcreek on \ the west. There are many persons now living (1885) who remember when roads were cut through this bluff bank on Vine Street and streets further westward. Portions of this second bank are still visible north of Third Street below Elm Street. The first house on the bank of the river, east (at the right hand), is the house of Maj. William Ruffin, in which he kept the post-office. Back of Maj. Ruffin's are the houses of Daniel Symmes, Prin~e, and Wade. Below, on the river bank east of Broadway, is the artificers' yard, an appendage to Fort Wash­ Ington, which is observed in the rear, and stood above Third, east of what is now' known as Broad­ way. The fort could hold 1,500 soldiers. The building on the north-west corner of Broadway and Front Street was the first store­ house built in Cincinnati, and was the residence of Charles Vattier, and was called St. Charles Exchange. N ext below was the residence of , James Smith, the first Sheriff of Hamilton County. SKETCH OF THE LIFE OF

Adjoining is the residence of General James Findlay, Receiver of Public Moneys; adjoining is Dr. Sellman's; next, Connor's store; then Maj. David Ziegler's house. On the north-west corner of Sycamore and Front Streets, is the public inn of Griffin Yeatman. The opposite house on Front Street IS the store of Martin Baum (Broadwell's Corner). Some distance below is Samuel Stitt's house, on the site of which, a few years later, was erected the banking house of the Miami Exporting Company. The house below was occupied by the Rev. John W. Browne, proprietor of a newspaper called the "Liberty Hall," now the Cincinnati Commercial Gazette. Part of the same building was occupied as a store. On the north-east corner of Main and Front Streets is the house of Col. Thomas Gibson, after­ wards occupied by Maj. Stanley as a store. On the Public Landing, south, is the store of Mr. Weaver; south of this, on the river bank, is a blacksmith shop; north of this, on the Landing near Main Street, stands the house owned by Joel Williams; below is the house of Fetty Andrews. On the north-west corner of Front and lVlain COLONEL ISRAEL LUDLOW. 33 Streets (called Kidd's Corner) is the house of COLONEL ISRAEL LUDLOW; this was the firstframe house built in Cincin nati-erected by r!udlow in 1791 ; then west, adjoining, are the houses of Dr. Stall and Dr. Ramsay. In the center of the square between Main and Walnut is the" Green Tree Hotel," with the fig­ ures "1796" on the sign. On the north-east corner of Walnut and Front Streets is the house of Mr. Dick. On the north-west corner is the house of Samuel Best; west of which are the houses of Mr. Avery and Mr. Anderson. The Presbyterian Church, a frame building, stood on Main Street above Fourth, partly upon the site of the present First Presbyterian Church. On the north side of Fourth Street near Walnut, opposite where St. Paul Building now stands, was a frame school-house. On the west side of the Public Square was a hewed-log jail, the site of which is immediately north of the present College building and the Young Men's Mercan­ tile Library. The two open spaces (inclosed by adjoining fences) in the north-west is now the site of the Gibson House, the Tyler Davidson Fountain, and Johnston Building. S 34 SKETCH OF THE LIFE OF

"LUDLO-W- STATION."

The history of the North-western :Territory centers almost as much at "Ludlow Station" as at Fort Washington. The block;house which the Colonel. built in 1790, the same year the fort was finished, stood upon the ground now occupied by the Christian Church in Cumminsville-a church built through the liberality of Mrs. Sarah Bella McLean, daughter of Colonel Ludlow. Colonel Ludlow did not reside himself at this station until after Ge~eral Wayne passed up this valley and won the battle of Fallen Timbers. His business as a surveyor required his presence in Cincinnati until about 1796, when he built the dwelling house some distance above the site of the block-house, which he made his permanent residence. A portion of this building is still standing, and is known as the Ludlow Mansion. This was the base of operations of Colonel Lud­ low while surveying the Miami Purchase. This Station is also noted as being the place where General St. Clair organized his army in 179I. He moved his command from Fort Wash­ ington on the 7th of August to this place, where COLONEL ISRAEL LUDLO W. 35 he remained until the 17th of September follow­ ing, when he took up his line of march for the Indian villages. After his defeat, and while the remnant of his forces were returning, .they again encamped upon this historic ground, a por­ tion of which is now included within the Spring Grove Cemetery.

THE FIRST PRESBYTERIAN OHUROH. The" Church of the Pioneers "-its site now occupied in part by the First Presbyterian Church of Cincinnati-was built in I 792, upon ground dedicated by Colonel Ludlow, and was the first Pres byterian Church building erected in the Miami Purchase. Its exact location was upon the west side of Main Street, about one hundred feet north of Fourth Street. Colonel Ludlow was one of the pioneer" band of Presbyterians who did not forget the claims of religion, but set apart for religious purposes a plat of ground "-now the south half of the square bounded by Fourth, Fifth, Main, and Walnut Streets. Adjoining the church was a, graveyard, and next west, was the school-house which de­ veloped first into Lancasterian Seminary (founded 36 .Sf{ETCH OF THE LIFE OF by Edmund Harrison, father of our well-known citizens L. B. and William H. Harrison), and then into the old Cincinnati College. Rev. J. B. Finley, in his "Sketches of W est­ ern Methodism," says: "In the Autumn of I 790 the Rev. David Rice organized a Presbyterian society, and the congre­ gations met regularly every Sabbath on this square, under the shade of the tre,es with which it was covered, to listen to the Word of God. After a few years, on this spot, the society erected a stout frame building, forty feet by thirty in dimensions. It was inclosed with clapboards, but neither lathed, plastered, nor ceiled. The floor was made of boat-plank, laid loosely on sleepers. The seats were constructed of the same material, supported by blocks of wood. They were, of course, with­ out backs; and here our forefather pioneers wor­ shiped, with their trusty rifles between their knees. On one side of the house a breastwork of unplaned cherry boards was constructed, whi.ch was styled the pulpit, behind which the preacher stood on a piece of boat-plank, supported by two blocks of wood." In 1794 it was resolved to " finish the meeting- COLONEL ISRAEL LUDLOW. 37 house, and to pale the door-yard, and fence III the graveyard and school-house." Of the one hundred and fifty-nine persons who subscribed $430 for the purpose, only four gave as high as ten dollars. They were Israel Ludlow, David E. Wade, John Brown, and George Creigh. In this building occurred the installation of Rev. James Kemper, October 23, 1792 ; and here, at the same time, the first meeting of a presby~ tery was held in the Miami Valley. During the same year the civil courts were held here, of which Colonel Ludlow was clerk. Here also took place the funeral of Colonel Lud­ low when, with Masonic honors, he was buried in the village churchyard, upon which occasion ] udge John Cleves Symmes delivered a memorial address. In 1814 this building was supplanted by a brick edifice with two towers on the Main Street front, familiarly known as the" Two Horn Church," which stood until I 847. The old frame structure was sold to Rev. William Burke, who removed it the same year to the present site of the Arcade, where it continued to be used as a house of wor­ ship for about thirty years. In 1852-3 the pres- 38 COLONEL ISRAEL LUDLOW. ent imposing edifice, known as the First Presby­ terian Church of Cincinnati, was erected. Its tower is 285 feet high-ten feet higher than Trinity Church, New York City. It is reputed to be the highest church tower upon the continent. An exile for liberty's sake, Sir Edmund Lud­ low's grave is marked by the Church of St. Martin upon the shores of Lake Leman. A patriot of the war of r8r2, Lieutenant Augustus C. Ludlow, killed upon the Chesapeake in the battle with the Shannon, lies by the side of his . chief, Captain James Lawrence, who also fell in the same action, beneath a mausoleum erected by the City of New York in old Trinity's church-yard; while Colonel Israel Ludlow's memory as the surveyor of our city and one of its original proprietors is befit­ tingly perpetuated in the walls of this historic structure, which owes to his forethought, his Christian character, and his liberality, the par­ ticular location upon which it stands, and some­ thing of its measureless influence for good as a place of worship for nearly a hundred years, and where, in r885, the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church held its ninety-sixth annual seSSIOn.

ApPENDIX.

Extractfrom" Early Annals of Cincinnati," by Charles Cist, I859.

The following narrative I obtained from the lips of Major Jacob Fowler, the finest specimen of a Western pioneer I ever saw, and who died but a short time since at the age of eighty-eight years. When I saw him last, at the age of eighty-four, he could see to read without spectacles, all his teeth were perfect, and not a gray hair in his head; his step was still firm, and his form erect. "In 1789 I engaged in a trading expedition to Marietta and Kanawha with one Benjamin Hulin. We loaded a flat-boat with whisky, cider, and store goods. These we sold out at Kanawha and on Elk River, one of its branches; and, leaving Hulin at Point Pleasant, I set out for Cincinnati, which had been laid out a few months before. Here I fo.und Major Doughty engaged in building Fort Washington. My motive for stopping there was to see Matthew, a young brother, who had become one of the settlers under Ludlow, Patterson, and Denman. I found my brother there owning an in and out lot, and entered with him into a contract to supply the town and gar­ rison with meat. We were paid 2d. per pound for buffaio and bear meat, and 2~d. for venison. APPENDIX. , "The place was called Cincinnati when I first saw it, although the giving of the name is said to have been done by St. Clair afterward. I am positive of the fact. At that time there appeared forty or fifty cabins in the town, and but one or two stone chim­ neys among them all.'~

A Letter from Judge Burnet.

"CINCINNATI, Odober 5, 1844. "DEAR SIR,-At the close of a conversation which passed between us a few weeks since respecting the original plan and name of the place which is now familiarly called the Queen City of the West, you requested me to furnish you with such reminiscences in relation to that subject as my early residence in the West might enable me to give. "You are aware that I was not among the first adventurers to the Miami Valley. When the settle­ ment of it began I had not finished my education, but I commenced my journey to join the little band of adventurers as soon as my professional studies were closed, which was in the Spring after the treaty of Greenville-in I795-had terminated the Indian War. Of course, the town had been laid out and the settle­ ment commenced before my arrival. It had, however, made but little progress either in population or improve­ ment, though it contained a larger number of inhabit­ ants than any other American village in the territory, APPENDIX. excepting Marietta; and if you take into the account the officers and soldiers of the garrison and others attached to the army, it very much exceeded the pop­ ulation of that place. " Most of the persons who saw the town laid out and put up the first cabins erected in it were here when I carne, and were my earliest companions and associates. Without professing an unusual share of curiosity, it is natural to suppose that I learned from them, correctly, the few and simple historical facts of the place which, for good or ill, I had selected for life as my residence. By way of comparison, it may be said that the facts connected with the recent location of the Cincinnati Observatory-the do~ation made by our distinguished fellow-citizen N. Longworth, Esq.-the ceremony of laying the corner-stone of the edifice by the venerable sage and patriot of Quincy, and the name of Mount Adams, then publicly given to it, are not more distinctly known as matters of history than were the facts of the laying out, establishing, and naming of the town of Cincinnati at the time to which I ref~r. They were a subject of inquiry by every stranger who came to the place, and every person in the village could recite them. There was but one version to the story, which was this: That Mr. Den­ man, of New Jersey, entered into a contract with Colonel Robert Patterson, of Lexington, and John Filson, a surveyor in the employ of Judge Symmes, to layout the land opposite the mouth of Licking River, then the exclusive property of Mr. Denman. A plat of the contemplated town was made out, and Losanti- 6 APPENDIX.

ville agreed upon as its name; but before a chain had been stretched on the ground Mr. Filson was killed by the Indians, not having done any thing to fulfill his part of the contract, in consequence of which it was forfeited, and the projected town fell through. This is all that was ever done toward the establishment of a town by the name of Losantiville; yet, as was natural, the settlement then just beginning was for some time called by the intended name of the pro­ jected town. " Early in the next season Mr. Denman entered into a new contract with Colonel Patterson and Israel Ludlow to layout a town on the 'same groupd, but on a different plan from the one formerly agreed upon. To that town they gave the name of Cincinnati, and by that name it was surveyed and known in the Fall of 1789. "I was informed by Judge Turner, one of the earliest adventurers to the West, that he had seen both plats, and that the general outline and plan 'of division were nearly the same in both, but that the first or Filson plat, to which the name of Losantiville was to have been given, set apart two entire blocks for the use of the town, and that it gave as a public common all the ground between Front Street and the river, extending from Eastern Row to Western Row­ then the extreme boundaries of the town plat; and it is impressed upon my mind, though I can not say what caused that impression, that on the first or Filson plat Front Street was laid down nearer to the river or made more southing in its course westward than we APPENDIX 43 find it on the plat of Cincinnati. I was also informed that some of the names which had been selected for the streets of Losantiville plan were given to the. streets on the plan of Cincinnati, and that others were rejected. This circumstance may account for a fact which is, no doubt, remembered by many now living in the city-that after Joel Williams had become pro­ prietor by purchasing the right of Mr. Denman and had determined to claim the public common as pri­ vate property, an unsuccessful effort was made to change the names of some of the streets on the gen­ uine plat of Cincinnati by substituting others taken from the plat of Filson. That attempt created some temporary difficulty in the minds of persons not cor­ rectly informed as to the true history of the town, and many took the precaution of inserting both the names in their deeds and contracts. "But, independent of these facts, it must be evi­ dent that the name of the town could not have been changed after the town had been established, named, and surveyed. The territorial statute of December, 1800, which I advocated and voted for in the Legis­ lative Council, made it the duty of the proprietors of every town which had been laid out in the territory before that time, to cause a true and correct map or plat thereof to be recorded in the recorder's office of the county in which it lay within one year after the passage of the act, under a heavy penalty. "The name of the town constitutes as important a part of the plat of it as the names of the streets or the numbers of lots, and the title to property ac- 44 APPENDIX. quired in it is affected as much by error, mistake, or uncertainty in the one as in the other. It was, there­ fore, considered important for the security of property­ holders that a true record should be made of these matters and of every thing else appertaining to the plat, precisely as they were when the town was es­ tablished and the sale of lots commenced. Hence, the law required a true and corrert plat-in other words, the original plat, without change or variation, to be recorded. "When the plan of Cincinnati was recorded by Israel Ludlow in 1801, the original proprietors were all living, he being one of them. It is, therefore, impossible to suppose that he did not know what the original plat contained, or that he would falsify the plat by placing on it any name other than the one originally given to it. I was intimately acquainted with Colonel Ludlow, who recorded the town plat, and was professionally consulted by him as to the requirements ?f the statute. He was very much an­ noyed by the interference of Joel Williams, a sub­ proprietor, who insisted on making innovations or changes in the original plat, calculated to favor a claim he was setting up to the public common for landing. I gave it as my opinion that Mr. Williams, not being an original proprietor or even a resident of the country when the town plat was formed and established, and having had no agency in the forma­ tion of the original plan of the town, could not be presumed to know what it was j and, moreover, that the statute did not recognize him as having any other APPENDIX. 45 or greater authority to interfere in the matter than any other individual who had become the purchaser of a single lot. "The result was that each of those individuals prepared and lodged in the recorder's office a plat of the town, affirming it to be a true copy from the original. Unfortunately, perhaps, certainly without legal authority, the recorder placed both plats on the record, but the community soon became satisfied that the plat prepared and certified by Colonel Ludlow was alone to be relied on. "This, however, has no other bearing on the sub­ iect matter of our conversation than arises from the fact that each of them affirmed Cincinnati to be the true, original name of the town. "The controversy between them continued for several months, and was marked with great warmth. On one occasion it 'terminated in a violent personal conflict, in which the original plat of the town, made and agreed to by the proprietors of Limestone in the Winter of 1788-9, bearing on its face the name of Cincinnati, was torn in pieces, each party retaining a part of it. In this altercation Colonel Ludlow took the ground that Williams was an unauthorized intruder, and that the statute made it his duty, as an original proprietor, to record the plat correctly and faithfully as it came from the proprietors, neither adding to, subtracting from, nor altering, any thing which was on it. when it was agreed to and signed by the proprie­ tors. " To show how firmly he adhered to that principle, APPENDIX.

I will mention one case. The ground bounded by Broadway, Front Street, Main Street, and the river, had been publicly given and set apart by the proprie­ tors, with his knowledge and concurrence, as a com­ mon for the use of the town forever. This fact he knew and affirmed, but, because the word common had not been written on the map within the lines inclosing that donation or elsewhere, he refused to insert it on the copy made for the recorder; and yet it is affirmed by implication that he deliberately made out and placed on record a plat of the town, affirming it to be a true copy of the original, knowing that it contained a name altogether different from the one which had been in the first instance adopted and entered on the plat. "I will state further that, at an early period, pro­ fessional duty made it necessary for me to investigate the facts connected with the origin and establishment of Cincinnati, which did not extend to any other indi­ vidual then or now living, and it so happened that the performance of that duty was required at a time when the town was almost in its incipient state, and when all the original proprietors and most of the first adventurers and settlers were living within the village or in places easily accessible. "Without presuming to claim more of tact or in­ dustry than belongs to the profession generally, it may be presumed, considering the sources of correct information then within my reach, that I must at least have ascertained the name of the place, and establish­ ment, and history of which I was investigating. " It has been already intimated that Joel Williams, APPENDIX. 47 soon after he purchased proprietary right of Mr. Den­ man, set up a claim to the common before described, alleging it to be private property, reserved by the proprietors for some future disposition. On the strength of that pretense, he erected a brick house on the north-west corner of the tract in question. "In consequence of this movement, a number of the most public-spirited of our citizens-Martin Baum, Jesse HU,nt, and General Findlay taking the lead­ raised a fund by subscription to defend and sustain the right of the town. I was employed to collect and perpetuate the testimony applicable to the case j and you will not hesitate to believe that, in executing that commission, my inquiries were directed to the original proprietors and to such other persons as were likely to have any knowledge of the facts touching the lay­ ing out of the town and the matters contained on the original plat. I mention this to show that there was something more than curiosity prompting me to this investigation of the early history of the town, which ought to entitle it to credence. " Now let any person ask himself what description of facts was likely to be disclosed in the course of such an examination, and the answer will be precisely such as was stated in the preceding part of this letter, if they existed, although they could not have any bear­ ing on the matter then in controversy. On the sup­ position that they did not exist, was there sufficient motive to induce any body to fabricate them? It would be difficult to assign a reason in favor of an affirmative answer. APPENDIX.

"You will perceive that, to sustain the right of the town to the common, it was necessary to prove the correctness of the plat recorded by Ludlow, which affirmed Cincinnati to be the true, original, and only name of the town. In pursuing that inquiry, the facts came out that there had been a previous project for laying out a town, the name of which was to have been Losantiville, but that that project had fallen through. As that matter had no relation to the sub­ ject I was especially investigating, it was not noticed in the depositions, but omitted as irrelevant. "Very respectfully, "J. BURNET. "CHARLES CIST, Esq."

Ford's" History of Cincinnati," page 3 I, says: " After the death of Filson and the return of the exploration party to the Ohio, Denman and Patterson went with Symmes back to Limestone, where they de­ cided upon just the individual needed to take the place of Filson in the partnership~ in the person of the young surveyor-Isra,el Ludlow'; and an arrange­ ment was made in October by which he should take Filson's interest in the Losantiville: enterprise. The latter's plan of the town had perished with him. His (Filson's) brother, who was with the party of Ken­ tuckians when John Filson was Killed, considering that he had paid nothing and had established little APPEND.fX. 49 valid claim upon the property, informed the surviving partners that the legal representatives of the deceased would demand nothing under the contract of August 22d."

~8tt8r o~ .Su~v8~or lt8p8ral HutGbips to Is~a81

~udiowl

In 1787 Colonel Ludlow received the following letter: "To Israel Ludlow, Esq.;- "DEAR SIR,-I inclose to you an ordinance of Congress of the 20th instant, by which you will ob­ serve that they have agreed to the sale of a large tract of land which the New Jersey Society have contracted to purchase. As it will be necessary to survey the boundary of this tract with all convenient speed, that the United States may receive the payment for the same, I propose to appoint you for that pur­ pose, being assured of your abilities, diligence, and integrity. I hope you will accept it, and desire that you will furnish me with an estimate of the expense, and inform me what moneys will be necessary to ad­ vance you to enable you to execute the same. "I am, dear sir, Yours, "THO. HUTCHINS, "Surveyor General, U. s." 50 APPENDIX.

O~~;G;al ~rapo'7l: o~ Coloncal ~udlow 1:0 I:bra SraGrral:a'7~ o~ I:bra Trraasu'7~'

PHILADELPHIA, May 5, 1792 • SIR :-The unexpected delays that have attended my executing the surveys of the Ohio and Miami Companies, together with ,your letters, which I have received from time to time, urging my speedy exer­ tions to effect the business, induces me to explain to you the cause of the delay. In November, 1790, I was honored with your let­ ter of instruction at this place. I proceeded imme­ diately to Fort Harmar, being possessed of General Knox's letter, or order to the Commandant for an escort. On my way, at Fort Pitt, I saw Maj. Doughty, who, after becoming acquainted with my business, informed me that the,re was no doubt but an escort would be furnished on my arrival at Fort Harmar, upon which I supplied myself with chain-carriers and other hands necessary, pack-horses, corn, provision, and camp equipage for the coming cold season . .On my arrival at Fort Harmar, I found no escort could be obtained. Maj. Ziegler, who commanded, gave me his answer in writing, which was that he did not consider the troops then under his command more than sufficient to guard the settlement of Ma­ rietta, the Indians having shortly before that defeated and broken up one of their frontier statior. s. Of course, he could not comply with the order of Gen. Knox and my request (a copy of that letter I inclosed APPENDIX. to you). Upon that information, from necessity I gave up the pursuit at that time, and proceeded to Fort Washington, supposing I could execute the Miami survey. Discharging my hired men and pack-horses, I ap­ plied to Gen. Harmar, who then commanded, for protection while surveying the Miami tract. He in­ formed me he did not consider his whole command a sufficient ,escort for my purpose (a copy of his an­ swer I forwarded to you). On the arrival of Gen. St. Clair, in May following, I made an official application for fifteen men or more, should it be convenient, to accompany me as an escort while surveying the Mi·· ami and Ohio tracts. He assured me that he con­ sidered the execution of this survey a matter of the highest interest and importance to the United States, and that he would make every effort to assist me with a sufficient guard, but that it was then impracti­ cable (his letter I will forward to you). Thus the business was again put off until the 20th of October following, when I was favored with the services of fifteen men, commanded by a sergeant, with whom I proceeded to execute the Ohio Company's survey. I succeeded, and returned to Fort Washington, but with the loss of six of the escort, and leaving in the woods all of my pack-horses and their equipage, and being obliged to make a raft of logs to descend the Ohio. as far as Limestone, from opposite the mouth of the Great Sandy River. On my arrival at Fort Washington, I again ap­ plied for protection to proceed in the Miami survey APPENDIX

That assistance was refused by Maj. Ziegler, who then commanded (his letter I will produce) My reputation, as well as the public good, being in some measure affected by the delay of the business, I was constrained to have recourse to an effort which my instruction did not advise, viz.: to attempt making the survey by the aid of three active woodsmen, to assist as spies, and give notice of any approaching danger. My attempts proved unsuccessful. After extending the western boundary more than one hundred miles up the Miami River, the deep snows and cold weather rendered our situation too distressing, by reason of my men having their feet frozen, and unfit to furnish game for supplies. In consequence, we returned to Fort Washington. The cold weather abating, I made another attempt, extending the east boundary as far as the line intersected the Little Miami River, where we discovered signs of the near approach of Indians, and, having but three armed men in company, induced me to return again to Fort Washington, which I found commanded by General Wilkinson, to whom I applied for an escort, which was denied me (his letter I have the honor to inclose to you with the others). I now have th!=satisfaction to present to you the whole of the survey of the Ohio and part of the Miami purchases, executed agreeably to instructions. I am, sir, yours respectfully, . ISRAEL LUDLOW. HON. ALEX. HAMILTON, Sec. of the Tnasury.