Ohio

Foreign debt, 4,400,000 dollars;—legal interest...260,000
Domestic do.....579,287 dollars;—ditto.....34,757

Although the first permanent settlement was made in Ohio not more than fifty years ago, and although it was admitted into the Union as a state as recently as 1802, yet it has now become one of the most considerable states in the union, has entered largely into the system of internal improvement, and has constructed one of the longest canals in the world. The state canals are under the direction of a board of canal commissioners; and the Ohio and Miami Canals, which, together with their branches, are more than four hundred miles in extent, have been constructed at the expense of the state. For an account of the canals of Ohio, see the article NAVIGATION, ISLAND.

Railroads. Railroads have likewise been constructed on the same extensive scale, and numbers of them are in course of being laid. Mad River and Lake Erie Railroad, extending from Dayton to the city of Sandusky, is to be 153 miles in length. The Pennsylvania and Ohio Railroad is designed to commence at Pittsburgh, and terminate at Massillon on the Ohio Canal, the length being 180 miles. There are some others of smaller size; and some idea may be formed of the extent to which these works are carried, from the fact that no less than twenty-eight companies were incorporated in the year 1836. In connection with trade and internal improvement may be mentioned the banks of Ohio. In the year 1835 there were thirty-one banks in this state; and the condition of twenty-nine of these, from which returns were received, was, that they had of specie 1,906,715, and of capital 6,390,741; and that their circulation was 5,654,048. The legal interest in Ohio is six per cent.; but there is no law against usury, so that in some parts it is seldom less, and often more, than ten per cent.

Education and literature. A laudable zeal has been shown to diffuse education throughout this state. In the year 1825 the New England system of tuition was introduced into Ohio, and by various emendatory enactments it has now acquired a degree of form and consistency. By an act of the state the trustees of every incorporated township are required to divide it into a suitable number of school districts, the prudential concerns of which are managed by three school directors, a clerk, and a treasurer. The funds for maintaining this vast system arise from various sources besides the easy tax of one mill upon a dollar, constituting a large and growing revenue. By this act it is provided that the youth of every class, without distinction, shall be instructed in reading, writing, and arithmetic, as well as in other necessary branches of education. There are no less than nine colleges or universities, viz. the university of Ohio, at Athens, with five instructors, seventy-two alumni, twenty-six ministers, forty-five students, and about a thousand volumes in the college library, and as many in that of the students;

the Miami university, at Oxford, with eight instructors, eighty alumni, seventeen ministers, one hundred and twenty-six students, and 1200 and 2500 volumes respectively in the college and students' libraries; the Franklin university, at New Athens; the Western Reserve university, at Hudson; the Kenyon university, at Gambier; the Granville university, at Granville; the Marietta university, at Marietta; the Oberlin institution, at New Illyria; and the Willoughby university, at Chagrin; all of which are smaller than the first two, but have from fifty to one hundred students. There are five theological seminaries, a presbyterian college at Cincinnati, and another at Hudson, a Protestant episcopal college at Gambier, a Lutheran theological school at Columbus, and a Baptist institution of the same kind at Granville. There are two medical schools; one at Cincinnati, having six professors, and another at Northing, with four professors. There is a law college at Cincinnati, which has three professors. Amongst institutions of a public character may be mentioned an asylum for the deaf and dumb, which has been established at Columbus. Literature is making considerable progress in Ohio. In 1810 there were only fourteen newspapers in the state, and in 1834 their number amounted to 140. There are, besides, several other periodicals of a literary and scientific nature.

Almost every religious denomination is found in this state, but the Presbyterians and Methodists predominate. In 1831, which is the latest complete return that we have obtained, the numbers were, of Presbyterians, 22,150 communicants, having 346 churches; of Baptists, 8501 communicants, having 240 churches; of Methodists, 36,064 members; of Lutherans, 8706 communicants; of Associate Presbyterians, sixty-five congregations; of German Reformed, eighty-two congregations. The Episcopalians had also sixteen ministers, and the New Jerusalem church four societies; and there were, besides, a number of Friends and Roman Catholics, and some Universalists, Unitarians, and Shakers. "It is affirmed by a gentleman," says Mr Flint, "well known for his researches into the antiquities of this state, that there is a greater number of professors of religion, in proportion to the whole number of the people, than in any state in the Union. There are a vast number of religious societies; but there is not a great number that have regularly established pastors. The custom of itinerating preaching, as a supply, is very prevalent. The people are generally a quiet, orderly, peaceable, moral, and industrious race. Suicide, excesses, murders in affray, and instances of deliberate and atrocious cruelty, are rare; and the general moral character of the people is highly respectable."

From the census of 1830 we learn that there were at that time in Ohio the remains of Indian tribes, amounting to 2350 persons. They then owned 390,846 acres of land, besides 16,200 acres which were secured to individuals belonging to the several tribes. These lands are secured by treaty to the Wyandottes, Shawnees, Senecas, Delawares, and Ottawas; the other remnants of tribes being classed with these. Some of them have sold their shares; but to those which still hold them, considerable annuities are paid by the national government. The number of individuals belonging to these tribes is gradually diminishing, and they must soon entirely disappear in the tide of white population which is fast overspreading their native territories. There are not many negroes in Ohio, and none are held as slaves. Few descriptions of the inhabitants are exempted from military duty. The militia of this state is principally composed of hardy agriculturists, and exceeds one hundred and fifty thousand men. A portion of the land in Ohio still belongs to the United States. In the north-east part of the state there is a tract containing 3,300,000 acres, called New Connecticut, or Connec-

ticut Western Reserve. The fee of these lands is in the acres, called the Virginia military lands, which are situ- Ohio. state of Connecticut, but Ohi has the jurisdiction. The ated between the Scioto and Little Miami Rivers. The state of Virginia also owns a tract of above four millions of following table exhibits the

Population of the Counties and County Towns of the State of Ohio in 1830.

The increase of population in the state of Ohio has been rapid almost beyond example. In the year 1790 it was only about 3000; in 1800, 45,365; in 1810, 230,760; in 1820, 581,434; and in 1830, 937,679.

For an account of Cincinnati, the principal city of Ohio, see the article CINCINNATI. Columbus, the political metropolis, is situated near the centre of the state, upon the east bank of the Scioto River. The beautiful slope on which it stands, just below the confluence of the Whetstone River with the Scioto, was a compact forest in 1812. It is now cleared and well cultivated, and the city contains some excellent public buildings, including a penitentiary, an asylum for the deaf and dumb, and above three thousand inhabitants. Steubenville, the seat of justice for Jefferson county, is situated on the western bank of the Ohio, near the Pennsylvania boundary. It was laid out with great regularity in 1798, and is situated in the centre of a rich and populous country. It has the usual number of public buildings found in towns of the same size, and it possesses cotton, woollen, and other manufactures. Chillicothe is finely situated upon a level alluvial plain on the west bank of the Scioto, forty-five miles in a right line from its entrance into the Ohio. It was laid out with great regularity in 1796, and contains some handsome buildings. It possesses several cotton factories, and a number of flour and other mills. Marietta, the oldest town in the state, is situated on the Ohio, a little above the mouth of the Muskingum River. Ships were formerly built here, but this business has been discontinued, and the town, although very advantageously placed, has not prospered like many others in the state less favourably situated. Sixty miles north of Marietta, on the Muskingum, is the town of Zanesville, principally distinguished for its manufactures of iron. Here there are likewise a number of flour and other mills, driven by the waters of the Muskingum; and two or three glass-houses. Cleveland, situated upon the southern shore of Lake Erie, at the mouth of Cuyahoga River, is destined, from its position, to become an important town. It is one of the principal points for embarkation on the lake, and during the last American war was a provision dépot, and a place where many boats and other lake craft were built. Cleveland is intermediate between Buffalo and Cincinnati, and is the dépot of that vast quantity of merchandise which is destined for the east and west. One of the most important places on Lake Erie is Sandusky, situated on the southern shore of a bay of the same name. Although it is comparatively a young settlement, it has a great number

of stores, and is one of the chief points of landing and embarkation between the Mississippi Valley and New York, Buffalo, and Detroit. The other ports or harbours on Lake Erie are Put-in Bay, Maumee Bay, Fair Port, and Ashtabula Creek. The relative importance of these, as well as the other towns belonging to Ohio, will be seen from our tabular view of the counties and county towns.

The first permanent settlement in the state of Ohio was made at Marietta, on the 7th of April 1788, by forty-seven persons from Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Connecticut. In the year following a settlement was made at Columbia, six miles above Cincinnati, by a company principally from Pennsylvania. In September 1799, the first territorial legislature assembled at Cincinnati, under the ordinance of congress of the 13th July 1786, for the government of the territory of the United States north-west of the river Ohio. On the 30th of April 1802, congress passed an act authorizing the calling of a convention to form a state constitution for that part of the North-west Territory which now constitutes the state of Ohio. On the 1st of November following the convention met at Chillicothe, and formed the present constitution, by which Ohio was admitted into the union. The following is an outline of the constitution of Ohio. The legislative power is vested in a senate and house of representatives, which together are styled the General Assembly of the State of Ohio. The representatives are elected annually on the second Tuesday in October; and they are apportioned amongst the counties according to the number of white male inhabitants above twenty-one years of age. Their numbers cannot be less than thirty-six, nor more than seventy-two. The senators are chosen biennially, and are apportioned according to the number of white male inhabitants of twenty-one years of age. Their number cannot be less than one third, nor more than one half of the number of representatives. The executive power is vested in a governor, who is elected by the people for two years, on the second Tuesday in October; and his term of service commences on the first Monday in December. The general assembly meets annually at Columbus, on the first Monday in December. The right of suffrage is granted to all white male inhabitants above the age of twenty-one years, who have resided in the state one year next preceding the election, and who have paid or are charged with a state or county tax. The judicial power is vested in a supreme court, in courts of common pleas for each county, and such other courts as the legislature may from time to time establish.