Missouri a Territory of the Second Grade
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FRED'c L. BILLON, at the age of 45. TAREN A'l' PHILADELPHIA, 1846. ANNALS OF ST. LOUIS IN ITS TERRITORIAL DAYS FROM 1804 TO 1821 BEING A CONTINUATION OF THE AUTHOR'S PREVIOUS WORK THE ANNALS OF THE FRENCH AND SPANISH PERIOD Bv FREDERIC L. BILLON A RESIDENT OF ST. LOUIS, EXCEEDING SEVENTY YEARS ST. LOUIS PRINTED FOR THE AUTHOR 1888. 'PRESS OF NIXON-JONES PRINTING Co. 212 PINE ST,1 ST, LOU!S MO, INTRODUCTORY . ., By an act of Congress of May 7,. 1800, the -'' Northwest Territory '' ,vas divided into two sep .arate governments .. That portion irnmediately west and adjoining ·Pennsylvania, beca1ne the territory of Ohio, and the qalance of the country, extending west to the Missis ;sippi river, was f or1ned into the new territory of In -diana. On May 13, ~en. Win. Henry Harrison, of Vir ginia, was appointed the Governor, and John Gibson, ,of Pennsylvania, Secretary of the new territory - .and shortly after,vards Wm. Clark, Henry Vander-: berg and John Giiffin, Territorial Judges, who held the first term of their court. at Vincennes, on March -3, 1801. The population of the new T_erritory, embracing all the country now Indiana, Illinois, Michigan and Wis consin was 4,875, about one-half in the settlements in the American botto1n on the Mississippi, and the balance on the Ohio, Illinois, Wabash and other points .. The second census of the United States (that of 1800), had been taken only the year previously, ex (iii) • lV INTRODUCTORY. hibiting a population of 5,305,366 souls in the then· sixteen States and three territories of the Union, of· which over 40,000 were included within the bound-· aries of that portion of theNorthwest Territory, which became the State of Ohio, leaving, as aforesaid, 4,875 in the new territory of Indiana. At the date of our purchase of ·Louisiana from France in 1803, Ohio had just adopted a State con-· stitution, and been admitted into the Federal Union as the seventeenth State. The large mass of the American people, at that.. day, occupying the old States on the Atlantic borders knew but little of the country west of the Alleghany Mountains. Up to this period there had been no in--, tercourse between the peoples of the two sections. Separated by a wilderness of· hundreds of miles, un- inhabited except by a few ro-v-ing tribes of savages, an occasional straggler from the ·east in search of adventure, had found his way to the shores of the Mississippi, but very few, if any, had ever retraced his steps. But under the change of ownership, a new era was now to commence, destined in but a. few brief years, to transform this wilderness into a. ·vast garden, teeming with a busy hive of humanity,- and abounding in all the essentials that conduce to the happiness and pleasure of mankind. HISTORICAL. LA"'vs OF TI-IE GOVERNOR .AND JUDGES OF INDIAN.A FOR LOUISIANA DISTRICT. After the· transfer of Upper Louisiana to Captain Stoddard on March· 10, 1804, he ren1ained in ten1po rary co1nmand as Governor until Sept. 30, 1804, with instructions to 1nake little, if any, change in the rnodtts operandi of ad1ninistering the govern ment, until Congress would pass the la,vs necessary • for its future government. Congress then attached it te111porarily to the Ter ritory of Indiana, which then extended to the east bank: of the Mississippi River, ,vith authority and in structions to the Governor and Judges of said Territory, to enact such laws for its in11nediate g·ov er111nent as they 1nig·ht find necessary. Wm. Henry Harrison, then Governor, and Thomas Terry Davis, Henry Vanderberg and John Griffin, Judges of Indiana, enacted at Vincennes, the seat of governn1ent of Indiana, a 11u111ber of laws for the district of Louisiana - 1804, Oct. 1. Five districts were established, St. Charles, St. Louis, St. Genevieve, Cape Gitardeau and N evv Madrid. (1) 2 HISTORICAL. Courts of Quarter Sessions ,vere established for each district, the tern1s for the St. Louis district to be held in St. Louis on the third Tuesdays of June, Septen1ber, Dece1nber and l\farch. _l\.. Sheriff for each of the five disti·icts of Louisi ana, and also a Recorder for each, to be appointed by the Governor. LAWS ENACTED BY THE GOV~JRNOR AND ,JUDGES OF TIIE TERRITORY OF LOUISL-\.~A, AT ST. LOUIS. 1806, May 6, by J an1es ,Vilkinson, Governor, and John B. C. Lucas and Return J. l\ileig·s, Jr., Judges. "An act for an Attorney-General for the Territory "to be appointed by the Governor." 1806, June 27. "Arkansas district cut off from the " southwest part of N e,v Madrid, and a general '' court established, to set t,vice a year in St. "Louis, in May and October." By Joseph Bro,vne, Secretary of the Territory, and John B. C. Lucas:and Otho Strader, two of the Judges. 1806, Oct. 28. '' An act for the appointn1ent of a '' Clerk of the General Court.'' * "' This was a Supreme Court or Court of Appeals, which sat in St. Louis twice a year. GOV. nl. LE'\VIS. 3 By Fredericlr Bates, Secretary of the Te1Titory, and Jno. B. C. J--'ucas and Otho Strader, Judg·es. 1807, July 3. "An act establishing· courts," etc. Five Judg·es of the 00111111011 Pleas and Quarter Sessions to be appointed by the Governor for each district for four years. T,vo to be a quor11111 to hold court. Three ter1ns annually in each district. In St. Louis on the first :l\Iondays of }larch, July and Nove1nber. A court of Oyer and Ter1niner and general jail delivery established, to consist of one of the Judges of the General Court and the Co1nn1011 Pleas Judges of the respective district. Quarter Sessions to have jurisdiction of crin1ina,l cases, except those punish able by death, ,vhich can be tried only in the Oyer and Tern1iner by one of the General Court Judges. One clerk to be appointed by the Governor for each district for the three courts of that district. The Snpren1e Court of record, styled the " Gen eral Court,'' shall sit in St. Louis the first Monday of May and October. 1807, July 4. An act to divide districts into townships by co1nn1issioners, prior to September 1st next. By l\ferh,vether Le,vis, Governor, and John B. C. Lucas and Otho Strader, Judges, being· the Legisla ture. 1808, June 18. "An act concerning Towns." T,vo-thirds of the voters in any of the villages, applying· therefor, can be incorporated by the 4 HISTORICAL. Cou1·t of Con1n1011 Pleas, the court to appoint t,vo corr1n1issioners to superintend the first election of fl ve trustees to serve one year. By the sa1ne. 1808, Jnne 20. "An act to lay out a road fron1 St. '' Louis to St. Genevieve, thence to Cape Girar '' dean, the11ce to N e,v :Niadrid.'' * The la,vs of the Territory of ''Louisiana,'' ,vere first peinted in the year 1808, by Mr. Charless, Sr., shortly after he had estab1ished his printing· busi ness in St. Louis. It is a book of three hundred and seventy-t,vo pages, ernbracing· all the laws of the Territory to the close of the year 1808, and cer tified to by Frederick Bates, Secretary. The fiest book printed in St. Louis. A SUl\fl\iARY OF THE ORGA.NIZATIOX OF LOUISIAL~.A. TERRITORY, &C. 1803, April 30. Treaty of cession at Paris. 1803, July 31. Ratification of the Treaty. 1803, Dec. 20. Transfer of the lower part of the country at N e,v Orleans to Gen. vVilkinson and Governor C. C. Claiborne. 1804, March 10. Transfer of the upper part of the country at St. Louis to Capt. An10s Stoddard, U. S. Arn1y. Capt. Stoddard was instructed by President Jefferson to 1nake no change in the "' Some of the enactments of this period are signed by John Coburn, the third Judge. LOUISIANA TERRITORY . .. niodus operandi, but to adtninister the govern- 111ent, as his predecessors had done, under the Spanish 1a ,vs. 1803, :Nlarch 26. An act of Congress, dividing Louisiana by the 33rd degree.. of latitude, the southern portion to be ca11Pcl the '' District of N e,v Orleans,'' and the northern portion '' Dis trict of Louisiana" - to be attached to Indiana Te_rritoey, ,vhose Judges shall hold t,vo courts. a year at St. Louis, and enact such Ia-,vs for its in1- 1nediate g·overn1nent as they n1ay find necessary . .i-1-ccordingly - ,V1n. Henry Harrison, Governor, and Thos. Terry Davis, I-Ienry Vanderburg·h and John C+1·iffin, Judges of Indiana, at \TincenneR, enacted n nun1ber of la,vs for the gover111nent of upper I..onisiana, and on October 1, arrived at St. Louis, and put then1 in operation. They established :five districts, St. Charles, St. Louis, St. Genevieve, Cape Girardeau and N e,v ~iadrid. ..A.. court of Qnarte1· Sessions, to hold four ter111s each year, ,vith a Sheriff and Recorder for each District. The court at St. Louis, the 3rd Tuesdays of June, Septe111ber, Decen1ber and :Wiarch. 1805, l\1aech 3. ..A .. n act of Congress changing· the na111e of '' District of Louisiana. '' to '' Louisi ana Territoey,'' with a Governor fol' 3 years, and Secretary for 4 years. The leg·islative po,ver to be the Governor and three Judg·es appointed for four years, to go into effect July 4, 1805, on ,vhich clay Gen. J an1es ""\Vilkinson, Governor, and 6 HISTORICAL. Joseph Bro,vne, first Secretary, entered npon the discharg·e of their duties. 1806. By Jas.