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were redeemed, and its patriotism, fidelity, and prowess were attested, let the records of the generous gifts of men and money to the cause, and the sufferings of the people of that State, testify.
Next west of
Pennsylvania lay
Ohio, with two millions three hundred thousand inhabitants.
It was first settled chiefly by New Englanders, and was a part of the great Northwestern Territory, which was solemnly consecrated to free-labor by the
Congress of the old Confederation, in 1787.
1 It was a vast agricultural State, filled with industrious and energetic inhabitants, who loved freedom, and revered the
National Government as a great blessing in the world.
Their
chief magistrate, at the beginning of the troubles, was
William Dennison, Jr., who was an opponent of the Slave system, and loyal to the
Government and the
Constitution.
The Legislature of
Ohio met on the 7th of January, 1861.
In his message, the
Governor explained his refusal to surrender alleged fugitive slaves on the requisition of the authorities of
Kentucky and
Tennessee; denied the right of secession; affirmed the loyalty of his State; suggested the repeal of the obnoxious features of the
Fugitive Slave Law, as the most effective method for procuring the repeal of Personal Liberty Acts; and called for a repeal of the laws of Southern States which interfered with the constitutional rights of the citizens of the Free-labor States.
“Determined to do no wrong,” he said, “we will not contentedly submit to wrong.”
Five days afterward,
the Legislature passed a series of resolutions in which they denounced the secession movements, and promised, for the people of
Ohio, their firm support of the
National Government, in its efforts to maintain its just authority.
Two days later,
they reaffirmed this resolution, and pledged “the entire power and resources of the
State for a strict maintenance of the
Constitution and laws by the
General Government, by whomsoever administered.”
This position the people of
Ohio held throughout the war with marvelous steadfastness, in spite of the wicked machinations of traitors among themselves, who were friends of the conspirators and their cause.
Adjoining
Ohio, on the west, lay
Indiana, another great and growing State carved out of the
Northwestern Territory, with over one million three hundred and fifty thousand inhabitants, and real and personal estate valued at about five hundred and thirty millions of dollars.
There was burning in the hearts of the people of that State the most intense loyalty to the
Union, but there was no occasion for its special revealment until the attack on
Fort Sumter, in April, 1861, when it blazed out terribly for the enemies of the
Republic.
The sons of its soil were found on every battle-field
