Two Ohios: The Story of Ohio and Its First University
A play developed for the
Chillicothe and Ross County Bicentennial Commission’s
“Living History Festival”
Written by Michelle Phistner, Amanda Dyke, Richard Lewis, Kazy Richmond, Jerod
Wheeler, Jason Page, Mike O'Dell, Margaret Breidenbaugh, Dwight Karshner,
Amber Adams, Minda Hager
and Ken Breidenbaugh
Researched by Michelle Phistner, Robert Ervin, Minda Hager and Ken
Breidenbaugh
Cast of Characters
Sarah Ann Worthington
King – aged in her seventies
Thomas Worthington –
age 29
Mary Worthington
(Little Mary) –age 6
Eleanor Worthington –
aged in her thirties
Mary Worthington
Tiffin – age 40
Edward Tiffin – age 36
Governor Arthur St.
Clair – aged in his sixties
Michael Baldwin – aged
in his thirties
Nathaniel Massie- aged
in his thirties
James Grubb – aged in
his thirties
Rufus Putnam
Eliphaz Perkins
Lydia Perkins
Manassah Cutler
Aunt Hannah
Elijah
Serving Maid
Farmer
Trapper
Businessman
Native American
Warrior
Native American Squaw
Introduction to Scene One: Present Day
Sarah: (Upon entering, as lights come up CS:) Good afternoon! I would like to welcome you all to "live" history with me today. My name is Sarah Worthington King Peter. I was born to Thomas and Eleanor Worthington in the year 1800 here, in Chillicothe. I died in 1877 but am proud to say that I was able to record a Private Memoir of my father, Thomas Worthington, before my death.
[Music]
(moving SL) There are two stories which we must tell today, each affecting the other, and both having to do with the world which you now know. One story is about Ohio, and the formation of our great state. The other is about Ohio University, and the founding of that institution.
[Music]
(moving SR to C) Some of the stories performed by the actors today have come from my book, moments personal to me and my family. Other stories have been researched here in Chillicothe at the McKell Library and Adena State Memorial. Still others come from histories of the University, old and new, as it celebrates its two hundredth year!
[Music]
(moving SR) In 1783 the American War for Independence ended. There was promise of the lands of the colossal Northwest Territory that the defeated British would now forfeit.
Scene One: The Ohio Company: 1786
[Music. Light on Putnam as he enters USC and moves DSL.]
Sarah: Rufus Putnam, a former chief engineer in the Continental Army, had served with distinction under General Washington, and had won the General’s respect. A man of humble origins and few advantages, Putnam had by common sense and strength of character achieved a position of authority. No systematic education, entirely self-taught.
Putnam: The Ohio country must be something to see!
Sarah: At the end of the war, men like Putnam found they had an abundance of liberty, but no property, and their occupation gone. But there was the promise of new lands north and west of the Alleghenies, in the wilds of the Ohio country and beyond.
Putnam: Endless hardwood forests, big rivers, animals and birds beyond belief, lonely people living by their own brains and bodies!
Sarah: So, from his home in Massachusetts, Putnam petitioned the Continental Congress.
Putnam: Honor your promise, pay soldiers for their military service, with grants of land!
Sarah: But nothing happened and Putnam acted.
Putnam: I will buy land in the Eastern Ohio territory, in the Valley of the Muskingham River. I have been told of its great fertility.
Sarah: Putnam wanted to form –
Putnam: An Ohio Company of Associates - !
Sarah: A madcap scheme, perhaps, fueled by fantastic tales about –
Putnam: The West, and money, and power.
Sarah: Such Adventure!
Putnam: I suppose we’re all misfits, in one way or another.
Sarah: He placed a notice in Massachusetts newspapers.
Putnam: (Reading the advertisement CS:) “The subscribers take this method to inform all officers and soldiers who have served in the late war, and who are, by a late ordinance of the honorable Congress, to receive certain tracts of land in the Ohio country – and also all other good citizens who wish to become adventurers in that delightful region; that from personal inspection, together with other incontestable evidences, they are fully satisfied that the lands in that quarter are of a much better quality than any other known to New England people; that the climate, seasons, products, etc., are in fact equal to the most flattering accounts that have ever been published of them; that being determined to become purchasers and to prosecute a settlement in this county, and desirous of forming a general association with those who entertain the same ideas, they beg leave to propose the following plan, to wit: that an association by the name of The Ohio Company be formed of all such as wish to become purchasers, etc., to meet at the Bunch of Grapes Tavern in Boston on Wednesday, the first day of March next, 1786, at 10 o’clock a.m. Any person may, by subscribing his name, become a member of the company. Rufus Putnam.”
[Music.]
Sarah: The meeting took place, at the Bunch of Grapes Tavern. (chair)
[A serving maid brings chairs.]
Maid: Right this way, Sir.
[Dr. Manasseh Cutler enters CS and moves L.]
Sarah: And a Dr. Manasseh Cutler – intellectual, political and shrewd – attended the meeting. (chair)
Maid: Gentlemen.
Putnam: (greeting Cutler:) Dr. Cutler!
Cutler: General Putnam!
Sarah: Manasseh Cutler had graduated from Yale College in 1765. He was a skilled physician, a veteran, a husband, a father. Twenty-seven years old.
[Two more men enter CS, with chairs and move L.]
Putnam: March first, in the year of our Lord seventeen hundred and eighty six. (chair) Let this meeting of the proposed Ohio Company come to order! (chair)
Cutler: This Ohio scheme will take many months, at best. I want a great deal of land for our Company, purchased from the government as cheaply as possible. I have the highest hopes for this venture!
Putnam: I will buy myself a good horse, and go and take a look at this wilderness and its people – alone, if necessary!
Sarah: The Association was formed, to much enthusiasm, (meeting noise) and subscribers were signed. Then Dr. Cutler (he clears his throat) made an important announcement.
Cutler: Gentlemen, within our proposed purchase, I want land set aside for a university!
Putnam: (agreeing:) A university!
Sarah: In the wilderness!
Cutler: Let us approach Congress immediately with our proposal to buy! (men turn to face US with their backs to the audience)
[Music]
Sarah: On July 13, 1787, the Congress passed the Northwest Ordinance, a document of profound importance. It provided for territorial governance for the vast lands north and west of the Ohio, large enough for – eventually – the formation of three to five states. (meeting noise/foot shift) But there were – frustrations, as the Ohio Company gathered money for the planned purchase of the Ohio lands. (meeting noise) The Territorial government was slow to respond to the Company’s offers.
Cutler: (turning slowly DS and the other men do the same a second later) This morning I have given to General St. Clair, as president of the Congress, what amounts to an ULTIMATUM.
[St. Clair enters and stands CS.]
Sarah: Arthur St. Clair. (St. Clair CS) A landholder himself, owning over 1000 acres – a requirement for governorship of the new Territory.
Cutler: I have stated our company’s minimal conditions!
Putnam: We have backed General St. Clair as Governor of the Northwest Territory.
St. Clair: Governor, Northwest Territory.
First Man: Our chances are thus much improved.
Sarah: And on October 27,1787 –
Second Man: Sir?
Cutler: Our final offer has been accepted by the Congress, without the least variation!
[Music. St. Clair exits.]
Putnam: The first party will go west, under my supervision, early next year! Our families will join us later.
Cutler: This is the greatest private contract (has contract in hand) ever made in America.
[Applause and hurrahs from Putnam and two men.]
Sarah: The actual purchase was (Cutler has map for land.) of 1.5 million acres of land. (men behind chairs)
Second Man: At less than seventy cents an acre.
Putnam: Seventy cents an acre!
Sarah: And the contract included Manasseh Cutler’s special stipulation—
Cutler: Two complete townships will be given, perpetually, for the purpose of a UNIVERSITY!
First Man: Sirs, we urge you –
Second Man: Seek out the establishment of instructors for the university!
Putnam: Without delay!
[Music. Cutler, and the Men exit except for Putnam.]
Sarah: Rufus Putnam founded Marietta in 1788, at the mouth of the Muskingham River.
Putnam: (USC) The first settlement in Ohio. (exits SL)
Sarah: Ohio would be the first portion of the Northwest Territory settled – but not without conflict with the (lights up on Indian USC) native inhabitants. (drum beats 1 measure + 1 beat) In Indiana – (drum beats – on 5th measure Indian walks DS slightly R)
Scene Two: Introduction to St. Clair: November 1791
Sarah: Unhappy settlers in the Northwest Territory pushed the government to confront resistant Indians in 1791. (drum beats 4 measures) Governor of the territory, Arthur St. Clair (St. Clair enters USC and moves SL – drum 4 measures) and an army of soldiers and militia…
St. Clair: Positions! (Soldiers enter CS and assume battle poses slightly right of CS – drum 4 measures)
Sarah: …prepared for battle. (Native American sneaks off – drum 4 measures)
St. Clair: To the ready!
Sarah: On November 4th near the present day city of Fort Wayne, Indiana the Wyandot, Shawnee, Miami, and Delaware Indian warriors led by Little Turtle and Blue Jacket attacked. (drums)
St. Clair: (draws sword) Charge!
[Soldiers and St. Clair exit through center curtain and act as if in battle. Lighting mimics explosions.]
Soldier 1: (entering CS after battle – sits- 7 measures drum beat) When a battle goes wrong somebody’s going to be blamed.
Soldier 2: People who judge…
Soldier 1: Everybody’s going to judge.
Soldier 2: …have nothing to guide them but the battle.
Soldier 1: Praise or blame always falls upon (St. Clair enters and stands SL) the commanding officer…."
St. Clair: It was clear from the beginning of the fight that there would not be enough soldiers. The men promised to me failed to arrive at the expected date. I was forced to fill the regular regiments with recruits. The troops had no discipline.
Soldier 2: We were promised food and supplies.
St. Clair: I had to provide them myself.
Soldier 1: The beef was rotten and we asked for just a half a pound of flour.
Soldier 2: Our officers only ate once a day.
St. Clair: I knew times would be difficult. I went without comfort to set an example for my men.
Soldier 1: The troops weren’t paid. A lot of us quit and went home. Maybe that’s why we lost.
St. Clair: Desertion! (USC) It came from the kind of men who were unaccustomed to the restraints of discipline. They found they must work …and work hard.
Soldier 2: Maybe we didn’t like the kind of fight we were forced into.
St. Clair: Persons who cannot look greater difficulties than those in the face, with patience, and even with pleasure, should never think of being soldiers. There were difficulties indeed but they did not appear impossible to me.
Soldier 1: We didn’t know how strong they was and there was a lot more of them than us. We found out just how many right before the attack.
Soldier 2: We didn’t know how many cause there wasn’t no scout. It was left to chance.
St. Clair: To me it appeared likely the Indians had been disappointed in gathering their warriors. They would either flee their towns on the approach of the army, or beg for peace on proper terms. I most expected they would want peace. (Native American appears USC. Drum beat.)
Sarah: Governor St. Clair had two horses shot out from under him (Drum continues and sound of shots fired is heard as St. Clair and Indian exit opposite sides.) as well as several bullet holes in his clothing. (Soldiers crouch and turn US.) The militia immediately fled.
(Soldiers exit CS)
Sarah: The Indians surrounded the remaining soldiers who then managed to fight their way out to retreat.
[Soldiers run back and forth to sounds of battle.]
Soldier 1: Retreat!
[Drum beats and Indian enters on 5th measure and stands DCS. Drum beats stops on 7th measure - hanging. Governor St. Clair appears and moves slightly SL.]
Sarah: Governor St. Clair (DSL) was defeated. (last beat on drum)
[Both St. Clair and Indian exit. 8 measures + 1 beat of drums. Music.]
Scene Three: Rufus Putnam Pushes On: 1795
Sarah: And then, in 1795, General Anthony Wayne launched a devastating campaign against Ohio’s native Americans (drums) the Miami, and the Delaware, and the Shawnee.
[Cannon fire, and flashing lights. Big boom. Silence. Native American Squaw appears USC.]
Putnam: (enters CS moving L) We have taken their country, their food. And we have paid in blood.
[Drum beats 1measure + 1 beat.]
Sarah: In blood.
[Final drum beat. Lights out on Indian]
Sarah: After this, Rufus Putnam could move ahead, foraging into the Ohio Company land north of Marietta.
Putnam: I will make a complete survey of the area to locate the two townships for the university’s land.
Sarah: He persuaded about twenty men to pole their way up the Hocking River (trapper enters SR and x to SL up stage) and walk the trails to begin the slow settlement of the purchase. By 1789, Virginians had grabbed up the rich bottom lands here in the Chillicothe area, where my father arrived in 1796. My family followed in 1797. Think of the journey. At any event, in 1800-
Putnam: Athens! (SL)
Sarah: -for a moment called “Middletown” – is founded - situated on the Hocking, about forty miles by water from the Ohio.
Putnam: There will be a square for the college, lots to accommodate the president, professors, tutors, and a commons for public gathering. Now for some settlers!
Sarah: By the end of 1800, half a dozen widely scattered cabins had been built.
Putnam: Athens! (USC)
[Putnam and Sarah exit CS.]
Scene Four: Introduction to Worthington and Tiffin: Summer 1801
[Lights come up on the front porch of the Worthington home. Little Mary comes through the door with a doll baby.]
Little Mary: What do you want to do today, Miss Virginia? (She looks up and shades her eyes with her hand. Eleanor comes out the door behind her.)
Eleanor: Why don’t you take a nice walk over to Aunt Hannah’s, my sweet little child?
Little Mary: Yes, Mama.
[Thomas Worthington steps out the door behind Mary and Eleanor.]
Worthington: What a beautiful Chillicothe morning!
Little Mary: Papa!
Eleanor: Thomas!
Worthington: (Little Mary holds Miss Virginia up to her father) Good Morning, Miss Virginia.
[Beat. Birds.]
Worthington: Look at the little town grow! (He puts his arm around Eleanor and Mary.) Breathe in the air and thank our maker for this bountiful land. I am full of optimism on such a fine morning.
[Mary giggles and wriggles out from under her father’s arm, steps off the porch and skips off SL.]
Eleanor: (following after Little Mary) Behave yourself, Child.
Little Mary: Alright.
Eleanor: Please, don’t cause Aunt Hannah any trouble.
Little Mary: I won't.
Worthington: And don’t eat too many cakes!
Little Mary: Aunt Hannah!
Aunt Hannah: (off stage) Come along little Mary!
[Thomas’s sister Mary Tiffin approaches from SR]
Mary Tiffin: Now Thomas leave the child be....
Worthington: Good morning, dear Sister.
Eleanor: (crosses to Mary Tiffin and greets her) Mary Tiffin!
Mary Tiffin: Eleanor!
Eleanor: You’ll have to excuse me, Dear. I must go and check on baby Sarah.
Mary Tiffin: The little darling!
Eleanor: Keep your brother company! (exits CS through the door of the house)
Mary Tiffin: Indeed I will! (walking in the direction of Little Mary’s exit) Little Mary is the picture of good manners and grace, Thomas.
Worthington: Well, most of the time.
Mary Tiffin: She takes after her namesake.
Worthington: (He greets his sister with a kiss on the cheek.) Indeed she does, Mary. She is a delightful reflection of your inner beauty. She is fortunate to have such an Aunt. (crosses to retrieve chair on SR)
Mary Tiffin: Thank you! (X SR)
Worthington: A daughter with all the best qualities of my sister who has raised me. (chair)
Mary Tiffin: Thomas!
Worthington: What more could I want? (he helps Mary into chair then crosses DSL)
Mary Tiffin: I am surprised that Aunt Hannah isn’t here about the housework.
Worthington: Oh, she has been since early this morning but I sent her home. She left to please me but with no small amount of grumbling.
Mary Tiffin: I can't imagine a day without Aunt Hannah. (Aunt Hannah sings off stage.) I am proud of your efforts to do right by the Negroes, Thomas. They deserve their own freedom.
Worthington: Life would certainly be less full without the wisdom of Aunt Hannah.
Mary Tiffin: Little Mary adores her.
Worthington: And her cakes!
Little Mary: (off stage L) Mmm…my favorite!
[Aunt Hannah stops singing to laugh.]
Aunt Hannah: Oh, Child! You and them cakes!
Worthington: Has Edward finished with his medical duties this morning?
Mary Tiffin: I don't know, Thomas.
Worthington: I would like his advice on the statehood matters today. I have been diligently recording my thoughts on paper for the cause.
Mary Tiffin: I’m sure he’ll be along shortly. My husband takes being a doctor very seriously.
Worthington: That he does.
Mary Tiffin: I’ll go in and see if your wife is in need of my company.
Eleanor: (appearing at the door) Indeed, I am.
Mary Tiffin: Ah, there you are!
Worthington: Eleanor, I'll be in in a moment.
Eleanor: Of course, Thomas.
Mary Tiffin: Is the baby awake?
Eleanor: Oh, yes. She has been cutting a new tooth.
Mary Tiffin: I do adore your gown, Dear.
[The ladies exit through the door of the house and Thomas takes a moment to enjoy the surroundings.]
Man: (from offstage) Good Morning Mr. Worthington!
Thomas: Good morning my good man. (Calling off SL) Come along Mary!
Aunt Hannah: Your papa’s calling, Miss Mary.
Little Mary: Yes, Father.
[Thomas exits CS through the door and lights dim on the house and come up on Little Mary entering SL. She sets Miss Virginia on the bench and plays a tune for her on the penny whistle and dances a bit of the Virginia Reel. ]
Little Mary: Miss Virginia, are you happy here in Chillicothe? It is beautiful that’s true. Father says we’ll have a big new house in the country soon way high up on that hill. (Aunt Hannah sings offstage.) I wish Aunt Hannah still lived with us, Miss Virginia. She has the best stories to go to sleep by. (Aunt Hannah sings another line and enters SL.)
Little Mary: Aunt Hannah! Aunt Hannah dance with me! Pleeeeeeeeeeeeeeease!
[Aunt Hannah and Little Mary do a form of the Virginia Reel. When the dance is over Little Mary looks up and acknowledges the audience and walks downstage.]
Little Mary: My Aunt Hannah is the best Negro there is and she makes the best cakes. (Aunt Hannah retrieves the chair and sits on the porch.) My name is Mary Worthington. This is Miss Virginia (showing her doll). Mother says we used to live in a big house in Virginia. We came here to claim the land that Col. Darke left to my father and to free the slaves. (Chair. Aunt Hannah sings) We made a trip across the whole country!
[Lights come up on Sarah Worthington, entering SL]
Sarah: It wasn’t the whole country of course.
Little Mary: We traveled for days and days and days.
Sarah: My family, the Worthingtons, started their journey near the end of March…my father and mother, with their infant daughter, Mary, (motions to Little Mary) my older sister...
Little Mary: I got so very tired! (sits on bench DSL)
Sarah: ...Dr. and Mrs. Edward Tiffin; and some of my mother’s family, the Swearingens; followed by a little army of negroes…
[An emancipated slave, Elijah, enters from SL with a broom]
Elijah: Good morning Little Miss Mary.
Little Mary: Good morning, Elijah.
Sarah: – old and young, men, women, children, and Aunt Hannah –
Elijah: (Hands broom to Aunt Hannah) Good morning Miss Virginia. (Sits on the porch slightly L of door.)
Little Mary: (in a Miss Virginia voice) Good morning, Elijah.
Sarah: - now free.
Little Mary: No slavery is allowed in the Northwest Territory. My father and mother are both against slavery. My Aunt Tiffin (Mary Tiffin comes through the door of the house and acknowledges Aunt Hannah.) feels very strongly the same way!
Sarah: Indeed she did. And I too find the whole idea of slavery an abomination (Aunt Hannah pats Mary Tiffin’s hand that is placed on her shoulder.) just as sad as the treatment of the Indians.
Mary Tiffin: You must come over later Little Mary to see your Uncle Tiffin.
Little Mary: Yes, Aunt Tiffin. (Mary Tiffin exits SR.) My parents wanted to e-man-ci-pate their slaves. That means, Miss Virginia, to give them their freedom.
Sarah: Emancipation at that time required providing a home as well as freedom for the Negroes. Most (Aunt Hannah stands) had been accustomed to field work and the rich western soil could soon reward their labor. (Aunt Hannah and the emancipated slave exit SL.) Father was delighted with the natural beauty of the Chillicothe country – its freshness, its fertility. He felt it was a logical decision to settle there.
Little Mary: (stands and moves CS) So now we live in Chillicothe. Father has just returned from being away. He was taking a census. Do you know what a census is, Miss Virginia? (She puts the doll up to her ear as if listening to it speak.)
Sarah: He had to count all the people living in the area…
Little Mary: 10, 11, 12…
Sarah: …to see if there were enough to start a state.
Little Mary: 17, 18, 19…Wouldn’t be exciting to live in a brand new state!? (exits USR)
[Birds. Worthington house up. Curtain closes leaving opening in center.]
Scene Five: Visions for the University
Sarah: (CS) That blessed university! (moving SR) Some thought of it as the dream of Manasseh Cutler, the American Aristotle!
[Cutler appears CS and moves SL.]
Cutler: I’ve seen for myself the young louts at Columbia College. And I’m dreaming of a new and better college in the howling wilderness! (foot on stump)
Sarah: Tell that to the Indians, one might have thought.
Cutler: (sitting) I so value the pleasures of learning that I regard the diffusion of knowledge not merely as a source of individual happiness, but as a chief element of political liberty, and a necessary part of the policy of a free state.
Sarah: His ideas – and ideals – had been included in the language of the Northwest Ordinance fifteen years earlier.
Cutler: Religion, morality, and knowledge, being necessary for good government and the happiness of mankind, schools and the means of education shall forever be encouraged.
Sarah: Dr. Eliphaz Perkins (Perkins and wife enter CS) of Massachusetts. The first Treasurer of the University, (moves L) who had come to Athens in 1800 with Lydia, (DSC) his wife…. (Curtains close all the way.)
Perkins: (x SL and extending hand – Lydia follows) Dr. Cutler.
Cutler: Ah! (stands to shake hands)
Sarah: He struggled with the attempts to get the college GOING.
Cutler: Dr. Perkins. Mrs. Perkins.
Lydia: Dr. Manasseh Cutler.
Perkins: (all three walk CS) The real thing would be a MEDICAL school…
Cutler: Ah.
Perkins: …with some kind of LABORATORY, to learn something. Damn it, nobody knows enough, about ANYTHING!
Lydia: Eliphaz!
Sarah: He reflected on the prehistoric earthworks surrounding him; Complete mysteries, still, in 1802, and a source of wonder to Thomas Jefferson.
Perkins: Think of the people who built those mounds.
Sarah: And Dr. Cutler thought hard about the point of the whole college affair.
Cutler: The only thing that endures is AWARENESS, in the form of SCIENCE, HISTORY, and ART.
Lydia: How we agree with you, Dr. Cutler!
Cutler: This is why this university means so much to me.
Perkins: I have an idea about the curriculum. (Curtain opens.)
Cutler: Indeed now.
[Birds. A beat. Dr. Perkins, ushering his wife ahead, and Dr. Cutler exits CS.]
Cutler: (while exiting CS) Ah! To build a proper university….
Sarah: (beat…CS) Such high hopes! (exits)
Scene Six: Green Tree Tavern: December 25, 1801
[Lights come up inside the Green Tree Tavern. We hear noisy clamor continuously underlying the action. A Serving Maid busies herself serving customers and tending to cleanup. A Trapper and Farmer share a table on SR.]
Farmer and Trapper: …and God bring you a haaaaaaaaaaaaaappy New Year!!!!
Serving Maid: Another ale, gentlemen?
Trapper: All around!
Farmer: Thank you, my good man. (clinking glasses) So there was Thomas Worthington as big as a bear with a pistol in each hand…a whole bunch of people, yellin’ and screamin’… rushin’ the porch, trying to get in to find old Governor St. Clair.
Trapper: One hundred people!?
Farmer: Two hundred people!
Trapper: Three hundred people listening to a bear, huh? (mug)
Serving Maid: Are you sure it was that many? (mug)
Trapper: They used to run from bears.
Serving Maid: Run from bears. (x USL to fireplace)
[Action on stage freezes and Sarah Worthington enters through the door and addresses the audience.]
Sarah: The Green Tree Tavern. (noise inside tavern) It was right down the street from my family’s first home in Chillicothe. It was a place where all kinds of men spent their time talking about politics and the events of the day. (crossed SL)
Serving Maid: Bears! (moving back to bar)
[The Businessman enters through the door upstage center and sits at a table on SL.]
Businessman: An ale, please!
Serving Maid: Yes, sir!
[Businessman sits and counts coins from a leather purse.]
Sarah: On December 24th, 1801 a group of angry men marched to this tavern to find Governor St. Clair.
[Riot noise comes from backstage…. “St. Clair!” “Find the guy!” “Get him!” “Hang him!” Sarah takes position SL and action resumes within the tavern.]
Farmer: They had the hanging rope ready, all set to string up Governor St. Clair.
Trapper: I’ve strung up some animals in my time.
Serving Maid: I’ll just bet you have!
Farmer: Slimy muskrat!
Businessman: Pardon me, Sirs, (Beat. Attention turns to businessman.) I couldn’t help overhearing you gentlemen calling Governor St. Clair an animal.
Farmer: Gentlemen?
Trapper: I know an animal when I see one.
Serving Maid: That’s right! (mug)
Farmer: That makes two of us!
Businessman: I’ve never known an animal that’s done so much to further the advancement of the people. He’s protected this (taps table) very land from the tribes!
Farmer: As far as I can see only an animal would tuck tail and run like St. Clair did "protecting" us from the tribes. I don’t see how he could govern this land (brings hand down to table hard) if he’s afraid of getting his hands bloody.
Trapper: I think we’d all be better off with the Injuns.
Serving Maid: Ain’t that the truth!
[Action freezes as Sarah begins speaking. She moves CS referencing the characters in the tavern that represent the respective political parties. At the close of her speech she is upstage right.]
Sarah: (moving CS to gesture to the two) You see there were two political parties. There were Federalists who were usually businessmen with lots of money. And then there were Democratic-Republicans, like my father. The Federalists wanted a strong national government and to have the country be run by the well-educated. The Democratic-Republicans were close to the common people and felt that all white men can vote and serve in the government. (USR)
Businessman: (standing) I take offense to that, Sir. (walks SL around table)
Trapper: Do you now?
Businessman: Governor St. Clair has displayed nothing but traits of courage and democracy.
Farmer: That's what you call it?
Businessman: The militia were the ones tucking their tails.
Farmer: Courageous! Ha! He didn’t seem very courageous sneaking out the back door last night!
Trapper: Fast as lightning!
Businessman: I beg your pardon, but I believe your story to be inaccurate.
Trapper: Inaccurate?
Farmer: You don't say!?
Businessman: There was never a threat to "hang" the Governor of the Northwest Territory! I have heard that the good Governor calmly addressed the people and left of his own free will.
Farmer: Calmly!
Businessman: It takes a man of great character to face a crowd stirred to the point of burning an effigy.
Trapper and Farmer: Great Character!
Sarah: Governor St. Clair had been burned in effigy in front of this tavern the previous night. Burning in effigy means that people take an object and act as if it is someone and burn it to show how they feel about that person.
Trapper: (addressing Farmer) Wait a second. I thought you were just telling me that Worthington had to hold them off with two pistols.
Farmer: That’s right! (looks at Serving Maid to support his story)
Serving Maid: Well, I didn’t see it but old St. Clair better watch his back.
Trapper: You can bet ya I would!
Farmer: (x SL toward Businessman) So as I was saying before, (Businessman turns toward Farmer) there was Thomas Worthington as big as a buffalo holding off the mob with two pistols and a dagger in his mouth! St. Clair won’t always have someone to protect him. (Farmer x SR)
Businessman: It seems to me that you people are misled in your assumptions of your very own governor. (facing the audience)
Farmer: (mocking) Ha! Very own governor!
Serving Maid: (continues mocking) Very own governor!
Trapper: Governor! (They salute and laugh at themselves.)
Businessman: If your conduct is a reflection of Mr. Worthington’s view, (mug) then perhaps Governor St. Clair is justified in the belief that a Federalist Government is most effective here.
Farmer: Justified!
Trapper: That ain't how we see it!
Serving Maid: It sure ain’t!
Sarah: (crossing DSR) There was a riot. (noise from outside the tavern “Get him!” “Down with St. Clair.” “End of the territory.” “We want a state.” Serving maid looks out door, Farmer and Trapper run to window.) Some people believed that they should go after the Governor (St. Clair enters grabs a chair and sits DSC and at the same time Farmer and Trapper pose at the bar and serving maid is L of the door.) because they were angry about…
St. Clair: The way I run the law!
Sarah: My father (Worthington enters and stands SL) did not. He was a kind man and didn’t want the Governor to be hurt. He wanted to solve the problems…
Worthington: …By forming a state government…
Sarah: …so that Arthur St. Clair didn’t run the law anymore.
[St. Clair, Worthington and Businessman exit CS.]
Farmer and Trapper: …and God bring you a haaaaaaaaaaappy New Year!!!!
[Lights fade as the singing fades. The tavern is disassembled, and flies out, as curtain closes.]
Scene Seven: Cutler’s Concerns
Sarah: (USC) And the little college? Still a dream in men’s eyes. The idea of founding, hundreds of miles away from any center of civilization, in the heart of a dark forest, full of Indians and wild beasts, a “university,” for the future amelioration of a state NOT YET BORN, was itself, many felt, a GRAND conception, to say the least!
[Music, as Putnam enters from auditorium to climb steps and stand CS.]
Sarah: The little town of Athens was regularly laid out, on elevated ground, of easy ascent, (climbing stairs) round which the temperamental Hocking River formed a graceful bend. (SL)
[Music.]
In a letter to Rufus Putnam, Manasseh Cutler voiced some concerns.
Putnam: (unfolds letter) “I think the University should have not only a president, but a vice-president also. Trustees should live near the college, and on the college lands. (x to CS) I have pondered deeply the problem involved in the funding of the proposed university. As to income limitations, I am certain that forty or fifty thousand dollars would not be too high.
Sarah: (x USL behind cutler) So much money!
Putnam: As it must be applied to one of the most useful and important purposes to government and to society. The sum sounds too large, but no one can tell to what amount the income of the university will come.
Sarah: Then he worried over the name of the institution.
Putnam: Among other things, as an American congress has made the grant of land, no name appears to me more appropriate than American University. I hope the name will not be changed.”
Sarah: It was, wasn’t it? And for a short while, it was to be called – never actually – the American Western University.
Putnam: American University…the Ohio University.
Sarah: I must say I liked the present name best.
Putnam: (Taking a moment USC) The Ohio University. (Curtain opens. Putnam exits.)
Sarah: Although no offense intended AT ALL to Dr. Manasseh Cutler.
[Music.]
Scene Eight: Worthington vs. St. Clair: January 1802
[The scene opens in the Worthington study with light on SR where Little Mary sits at her father’s desk playing with her doll. Sarah Worthington stands behind her. A child’s rocker sits R of the desk upon which is resting a twin doll to the one Mary holds.]
Sarah: Mary always wanted to be close to Papa when he was home. She often played in his study while he worked. I was only two years old at the time and wasn’t allowed in the study. When I was old enough, Mary had gone off to school at Mrs. Louise Keets’s Academy in Kentucky and Father had gone to Washington. (Pausing, Sarah rocks the chair with the doll in it) My sister died in 1836 many years before I did. I have always regretted that my early age prevented me from acquiring an intimate knowledge of facts which now would be so precious to me. I have only the heirlooms to keep my family near to me…the letters written by my father’s hand and of course Miss Virginia. (She picks up the twin doll in the rocker.) I only hope that my grandchildren preserve the legacy. (pause) Watch as Mary plays and experiences all the excitement of my father’s work and think of what it must really have been like for her and Miss Virginia. (examining the twin doll)
Little Mary: So, Miss Virginia, what do you think of those men Papa is fighting?
Sarah: She means the Federalists.
[Thomas enters from CS and clears his throat loudly at his daughter’s comment.]
Worthington: Now Mary, you know that Papa doesn’t approve of fighting. I simply have a different point of view from Governor St. Clair.
Little Mary: (to audience) Governor St. Clair is old and stern. (giggles)
Worthington: He is not as stern as I may become, my dear. On you go!
Little Mary: Yes, Father.
[Mary moves to far SR to the child’s rocker with her tea set.]
Little Mary: (singing) I’m a little tea pot short and stout. Here is my handle. Here is my spout. (clinks china)
[Worthington sits at his desk and begins reading from the letter that he is composing.]
Worthington: Dear President Jefferson; it is not a pleasing task for me to protest against the conduct of Governor St. Clair. (St. Clair enters SL and moves DSC) But his actions have given general dissatisfaction and produced confusion in his government.
St. Clair: Confusion!
Worthington: I believe you will find more than enough to prove him unworthy of so high and confidential a station in the Government of a free people.
St. Clair: Unworthy! (X SL)
Little Mary: (to audience) Papa is very serious about government matters. He thinks Governor St. Clair isn’t very good at being Governor because he is a Fed-er-a-list.
St. Clair: Good at being governor! (St. Clair walks around behind the desk facing the audience and sits to begin writing.) Dear President Jefferson, By letter, sir, received from Washington in the last mail, I have been informed that there are people trying to ruin my reputation. If rumors have found a way to you, I beg you, take no notice of these accusations.
Sarah: (slightly L of Worthington) My father would never have tried to ruin anyone’s reputation. He just cared so much about having a government giving all men a voice.
Worthington: First of all, St. Clair has rejected laws passed by the representatives for the good of the people.
Little Mary: Some more tea, Miss Virginia?
St. Clair: (stands straight and walks downstage) I challenge the whole world to point out a single moment in my administration when I have opposed anyone who suggests an act that would further the interest and welfare of the people.
Little Mary: You know, Miss Virginia, I believe the Governor really is doing what he thinks best for the people.
Sarah: However, if you go against the majority (St. Clair CS turns and X SL) as St. Clair did then it’s just like "stirring the pot" (Aunt Hannah enters and places a tea cup on Thomas’s desk.) as Aunt Hannah would have said.
St. Clair: Majority!
Worthington: Governor St. Clair has taken it upon himself to appoint people to government positions.
Aunt Hannah: Be careful it is hot.
Little Mary: Thank you, Aunt Hannah.
Worthington: He gave the office of Attorney General to his own son!
St. Clair: My own son.
Little Mary: (giving Miss Virginia a sip of tea) Careful!
Aunt Hannah: (whispering to Little Mary) I think Miss Virginia needs a nap.
Worthington: (stands and walks around to front of desk) St. Clair has also created benefits to his office that are unjust and illegal.
St. Clair: Unjust and illegal!
Worthington: For every tavern license granted before the last session of the assembly he received four dollars. For every ferry license granted before the session of 1799 he received one guinea.
Little Mary: One guinea!
Worthington: He now receives one guinea for every marriage license. He even receives fees on militia commissions!
Sarah: One guinea was worth about twenty-three dollars then. It would now be worth about three hundred and five dollars.
Little Mary: militia commissions
St. Clair: (sitting) Please, consider the ferry licenses as a public act. I conceived that I had a right to demand a fee. The fee was not extreme. It was not demanded because of greed!
Worthington: Greed!
St. Clair: The whole amount received did not exceed ten guineas, which is no compensation for the labor and expense that I spent in the execution of the office.
Little Mary: If you’re good you’ll get a cake.
St. Clair: However, (Little Mary rocks her doll) a stop shall be put to the fees immediately.
Worthington: St. Clair has attempted to make the Judiciary dependant on his own will by removing Judges from office if they act with independence when making a decision regarding an existing law. He is an open and declared enemy to militia regulations.
St. Clair: Regulations!
Worthington: He is also an enemy to a republican form of government and an advocate for monarchy.
St. Clair: Monarchy!
Little Mary: Mother says the word "monarchy" was not spoken in Virginia.
Eleanor: (enters CS) The United States has a president not a king. (She sits at Thomas’s desk.)
St. Clair: (Beat…1…2…3) I have not spoken a word in support of monarchy, or a syllable against the Government of the United States. I admire our constitution and the principles of republicanism. I have spent as much time and money in the establishment of our Government as most men. I acknowledge that I did not treat our militia system very respectfully, (Worthington’s hands on Eleanor’s shoulders) but the President himself knows and has pointed out that the militia will only be in place until a better and more effective force can be raised and collected.
Worthington: (leaning over Eleanor with left hand on desk) He has tried to attach to himself a political party. He has made attempts and in some ways succeeded to destroy the harmony and divide the interests of the people – affecting to promote the local interests of certain places, thereby enlisting partisans to support his views!
St. Clair: Partisans!
Little Mary: This is quite a serious charge, Miss Virginia.
Eleanor: (looking up R at Thomas) Giving people unfair help in business so they will support you just doesn’t seem decent now does it?
Sarah Worthington: (standing behind Eleanor) One can imagine the broad smile that must have spread over the face of Thomas Jefferson when he read that!
St. Clair: Unfair help in business!
Sarah: (crossing to CS) He must have felt a touch of sympathy for Governor St. Clair, while admiring the clever skill of my father to catch the popular ear. (turns to regard her family and then move USC)
St. Clair: The loss of my office would be very inconvenient. The duties of it have constantly occupied more than twelve years of my career. The expenses necessary to it and the maintenance of my family have swallowed up nearly all of my private funds. A removal cannot take place without deeply affecting my reputation. (moving to front of desk) I beg of you, sir, if gossip has persuaded you to remove me from office, please postpone your decision until I can meet with you personally.
[Eleanor stands, Thomas sits at desk and Little Mary leaves her spot at the tea party and walks toward her father.]
Little Mary: Father, have you finished that letter? I’d like to visit Aunt Tiffin now.
Eleanor: Come along, Mary.
Worthington: I’ll be just a moment longer.
Mary: Yes, Papa. Yes, Mama. (Mary hands her tea tray to Eleanor and exits USR singing “just tip me over and pour me out!”)
Worthington: If needed many other facts that are equally disagreeable can be provided by the people.
[Eleanor looks at her husband empathetically and leans in to kiss him on the cheek then exits CS.]
St. Clair: (Takes quill in hand to sign letter) Arthur St. Clair
Worthington: (Takes quill in hand to sign letter) I have the honor to be with great respect, Yours...
St. Clair: Governor, Northwest Territory.
Worthington: Thomas Worthington.
[Lights to black. Sarah –USC- walks DSC as Curtain closes. Birds. Music.]
Scene Nine: Dr. Perkins in Athens 1802
[Sarah moves SR as Dr. and Mrs. Perkins enter CS.]
Sarah: (DSR) Dr. Perkins was a man excited by the prospects of the new college, and in 1802 he marveled at the possibilities of the project, and the increasing popularity of the overall region.
Perkins: (CS) To me, this whole Ohio scheme is a kind of summons.
Lydia: And a welcome one!
Perkins: To help found this university, or at least, to help spread some kind of civilization out here.
Lydia: That we shall do. (X SL. Birds. Beat.) There is at least one boat a day, to this Ohio region. If it goes on like this, the east coast will soon be depopulated.
Perkins: Yes, and it will soon become too crowded around here for woodsies like us!
Lydia: Eliphaz. (She crosses in front of him to stand to his right.)
Sarah: My parent’s home, Adena in Chillicothe, was underway designed by Benjamin Latrobe, way high up on that hill as my sister Mary said, overlooking the beautiful Scioto Valley. Adena means beautiful place. How my mother loved her gardens.
Perkins: We can build here, in our lifetime, no mean “Middletown” between Marietta and Chillicothe, but a true Athens!
Lydia: But where shall we put the Parthenon?
[Perkins and Lydia exit SR as curtain opens to Tiffin parlor.]
Scene Ten: Tiffin Parlor Tea Party: February 1802
Sarah: (standing USC) My father traveled to Washington. The seat of the federal government had just been moved from Philadelphia. Although he had no obligation to present grounds against Governor St. Clair, my father’s strong conviction of duty prompted him to persevere. On January 14th, 1802 he wrote to my mother.
[Lights up on SR where Mary and Edward Tiffin are sitting in their parlor taking afternoon tea. Stage right is set with a settee, chair and tea table. A desk is stage left. Mary Worthington enters from SR out of breath with a letter.]
Little Mary: Aunt Tiffin, Uncle Tiffin mother sent me in with another letter from father!
Tiffin: A letter from Thomas?
Little Mary: Yes!
Mary Tiffin: Settle down, child. Give me the letter.
Little Mary: Here! (hands letter to her Aunt)
Tiffin: Where is your mother?
Little Mary: Mama’s at home. She’ll be in soon. Sarah fell asleep thank goodness. She is cutting teeth and is so very cross all the time.
Tiffin: Is she now?!
Little Mary: Read the letter, Aunt Tiffin. Read the letter!
Mary Tiffin: Very well!
Tiffin: Sit by me Mary and have a cake. (She takes off her coat and sits next to Edward on the settee.)
Little Mary: (taking a bite of cake) Mmm!
[Mary Tiffin sets down her tea and unfolds the letter. She looks over it and then at her husband.]
Mary Tiffin: Thomas is such a good man, Edward. Listen to what he writes: I must stay in Washington even longer than I expected. I feel that if I stay here it will improve the chance that Congress will pass a law for our admission as a State…
Mary Tiffin and Worthington: …and remove St. Clair as governor. (Lights come up on Worthington sitting at a desk on SL.) Should I come home now,…
Worthington: …I doubt if this will happen. Painful as it is, you will I am sure, understand why we must be separated even longer. I ask for your patience. When I consider how unhappy I am away from home, I ask myself how it is possible…
Worthington and Mary Tiffin: …that I can leave all that is most dear to me.
Mary Tiffin: But I can’t sit (Worthington stands) and watch when my country needs my aid."
Little Mary: My father is a hero.
Tiffin: Yes, Dear.
Mary Tiffin: I have to say I am very proud of his efforts.
Tiffin: We all are. He is a very fine man. (Lights go down on Thomas and he exits.) I must write to him at once.
Mary Tiffin: (X DSR facing audience) Come on, Mary. Let’s go see about your mother.
Tiffin: Mind your Auntie.
Little Mary: I hope Sarah is still sleeping.
Mary Tiffin: If she's teething it's doubtful. Gather your wraps.
Little Mary: Yes, Aunt Tiffin.
Mary Tiffin: Hurry along, Dear.
Little Mary: Of course. Goodbye Uncle Tiffin. (she kisses him on the cheek)
Tiffin: Goodbye Child.
[Mary Tiffin and Little Mary exit SR. Edward gathers ink, quill, and paper and begins to write.]
Mary Tiffin: Don’t run, Mary. Mary!
Little Mary: Look at the snow, Aunt Tiffin!
Tiffin: Keep Miss Virginia warm!
Mary Tiffin: (Looking out the window) Oh, it is snowing.
Tiffin: So it is.
Mary Tiffin: (Turning to exit after Little Mary) Mary, mind the ice. Mary!
[Music]
Tiffin: Twentieth, February, 1802… Col. Thomas Worthington now in the City of Washington: By the last mail I received your letter. I am sorry to hear that you begin to fear a law may not pass allowing us to change our government. I have done everything that I can to encourage support on this issue.
[Worthington re-enters SL in an overcoat reading Tiffin’s letter.]
Tiffin and Worthington: In this mail you will receive about one thousand two hundred petitions.
Worthington: You may expect more every mail. I will also send petitions to John Fowler, Senator from Kentucky and Col. George Jackson, who have promised to support our campaign for statehood. I expect you have received the charges against the governor. I had trouble getting Col. Massie to finish them. He thought the letter from the governor requesting me to collect the fees,…
Worthington and Tiffin: …would be better than my testimony. I had almost concluded… (DSL)
Tiffin: …to start this week for Washington to aid you in your charge against the governor as I have been aware of almost all his malpractices. But I am hoping your efforts will be sufficient.
Little Mary: (from off stage right with urgency) Uncle Tiffin!
Tiffin: I assure you the people of this Territory understand and greatly agree that they are in your debt and appreciate the honorable members in congress who have undertaken the defense of our common cause. I am just starting to collect the committee together to write you. Your family and mine are well and with every sentiment of respect and esteem I remain, dear sir, yours….
Little Mary: Uncle Tiffin! (Little Mary enters SR)
Tiffin: Musn't shout Child.
Little Mary: No, Sir. Uncle Tiffin, there is a call at the door for a doctor.
Tiffin: Oh, there's a girl. Run along dear child.
Little Mary: Yes, Uncle Tiffin.
[Edward puts the letter in his breast pocket and then exits SR as lights come up on Sarah entering SL.)
Tiffin: Mary, hold the door.
Little Mary: Yes Sir.
Tiffin: There’s a girl!
[Music]
Sarah: My father was successful in Washington. The state lines were established for the new State of Ohio. Grateful for the help he provided to gain statehood, the people set out lanterns and fired gun salutes around his home (Worthington exits) in honor of his return in May, 1802. (Gun salutes sound from off stage.) The people throughout the Eastern District also decorated their cabins with lanterns and participated in the welcome to the utmost extent of their ability. (Shouts of hooray from off stage – Sarah moves USC) The next step for Ohio’s statehood was to call a convention for the organization of Ohio as a new member of the Union and to draft its Constitution.
Scene Eleven: Books
[Dr. Perkins enters USC and moves DSL with a bench.]
Sarah: (moving DSC and then to the R) Over in Athens, meantime, (bench) Dr. Perkins and a few of the college supporters thought on the subject of…
Perkins: Books and a library to come!
Sarah: To his neighbors he said:
Perkins: I have been delighted to learn that you like books here. (sitting) You are all welcome to borrow any of mine.
Sarah: They carried with them into the wilderness some of the books they owned…
Perkins: Plato. Aristotle. Plutarch’s Parallel Lives.
Sarah: …and took great pains to increase their scanty store of printed works.
Perkins: But we are weak in mathematics.
Sarah: In the spring of 1802 some ten or fifteen people united and raised a fund with which to buy books.
Putnam: (from R enters CS with crate of books) Would you look at this!
Perkins: My word!
Lydia: (following Putnam) Somebody even contributed ten raccoon skins.
Perkins: Good Lord.
Lydia: There must be fifty or seventy books in all these crates.
Putnam: Indeed, there must, quite well selected.
Perkins: It seems an almost unbounded treasure.
Sarah: The volumes had been brought from Marietta on horseback, and were emptied out on a cabin floor.
Perkins: The library of the Vatican, and all other libraries of which I have read are trifles, playthings compared with THIS!
Lydia: The complete works of William Shakespeare.
Putnam: Oh, wonderful!
Perkins: When I consider everything that grows…
Lydia: Holds imperfection but a little moment…
Putnam: (stands) This huge stage presenteth naught but shows…
Sarah: Where on the stars in secret influence comment.
[Laughter from Perkins, Lydia and Putnam as they exit through C to USL]
Putnam: Our library begins!
[Curtain opens full.]
Scene Twelve: The Convention Prelude: November 1802
[Lights come up on the constitution table. Edward Tiffin, Michael Baldwin, Thomas Worthington, James Grubb, and Nathaniel Massie enter and gather around the table. Sarah stands SR.]
Sarah: (crossing from SR to SL) Men from Chillicothe actively spoke of the creation of a government for our brand new state. Five delegates from Ross County were chosen to attend the constitutional convention. They were: Michael Baldwin; Nathaniel Massie; my uncle, Edward Tiffin; my father, Thomas Worthington; and James Grubb.
Tiffin: As we all know, we are here to create a government for this brand new state. I’d like to give the floor to Mr. Baldwin, who has begun drafting a constitution.
Baldwin: Thank you, Mr. Tiffin. To form our government we must define its three branches – legislative, executive, and judicial. Using our national government as a model, I suggest that the legislative branch be a general assembly consisting of 2 houses – the House of Representatives and the senate.
Worthington: To be elected by the people!
Grubb: Excuse me, Mr. Baldwin.
Baldwin: Mr. Grubb?
Grubb: How should the population be divided so that there is equal representation?
Massie: By county, of course.
Tiffin: Yes, Mr. Massie. A count of all voting citizens living in each county will determine how many representatives will be elected per county.
Massie: Yes, Mr. Tiffin, but who are the voters? We can’t let just any uneducated person vote for the people governing us!
Worthington: Quite right, Mr. Massie! They should be the tax payers of the state – white males over the age of 21.
Grubb: They should have lived in the state for 1 year – and can only vote in the district in which they live!
Baldwin: Within each house there should be a speaker – chosen by the members of the general assembly.
Tiffin: Knowing that we need to define and detail the legislative branch; can we hear what you have for the executive branch, Mr. Baldwin?
Baldwin: A governor!
Massie: But we must set limits! Who should our governor be?
[Everyone looks at Tiffin.]
Little Mary: Uncle Tiffin will be our first governor!
Tiffin: I am pleased and honored.
Grubb: The governor should be a citizen of the United States for at least 12 years. He has to know how the government operates!
Massie: Yes, Mr. Grubb and he must have lived in this state for one third of that time.
Baldwin: I suggest that the governor must have reached the age of 30.
Worthington: The same should be set for the members of the general assembly.
Tiffin: Yes and the governor should be elected by the same voters who are voting for the general assembly. All voting should be done on a uniform ballot.
Grubb: Who will take over the duties of the position if, for some reason, the governor cannot complete his term?
Baldwin: Perhaps the speaker of the senate?
Massie: Yes, and if the speaker of the senate cannot complete the term, then the speaker of the house should take the duties.
Worthington: What of the judicial branch?
Massie: Do you have suggestions for that also Mr. Baldwin?
Baldwin: I believe the state should have a supreme court.
Worthington: A supreme court that can handle the matters of the state, but what of the smaller disputes which need legal supervision?
Grubb: There should be a court in each county that is open to the people.
Worthington: If this lower court cannot handle the argument, then the matter can move to the Supreme Court.
Massie: Exactly right! A court of common pleas should be established in each county!
Baldwin: To keep the peace, there should be a sheriff elected in each county.
Tiffin: But everyone must know their rights – we must give the citizens of Ohio freedom and independence.
Grubb: Yes, Mr. Tiffin, and no slavery!
Little Mary: No servitude for Aunt Hannah, Miss Virginia. She will always be free!
Massie: And no searches and seizures without a warrant!
Baldwin: No person confined in jail shall be treated with unnecessary or unfair punishment!
Worthington: No laws shall be passed to prevent the poor from an equal participation in the schools – everyone must be free to have an education!
Tiffin: (stands behind constitution table) We the people of the eastern division of the territory of the United States, northwest of the river Ohio, having the right of admission into the General Government, as a member of the union, consistent with the constitution of the United States
[Worthington joins Tiffin in speaking]
Tiffin and Worthington: in order to establish justice, promote the welfare and secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity, do ordain and establish the following constitution or form of government.
[Massie joins Worthington and Tiffin]
Tiffin, Worthington, and Massie: So that the general, great and essential principles of liberty and free government may be recognized and forever unalterably established, we declare,
[Baldwin and Grubb join the three]
All: That all men are born equally free and independent and have certain natural rights, amongst which are the enjoying and defending life and liberty, acquiring, possessing and protecting property and pursuing and obtaining safety and happiness. We do mutually agree with each other to form ourselves into a free and independent state...
Little Mary and Sarah: ...by the name of the State of Ohio.
[Bell. Transition. Baldwin, Grubb, and Massie descend steps to audience.]
Scene Thirteen: Constitutional Convention: November 1802
[The scene opens with Edward Tiffin standing behind the "Constitution Table" in the Ross County Court House. Thomas Worthington stands beside Edward. Baldwin, Massie and Grubb have joined the audience and make applause and affirmative comments in response to the laws as they are read.]
Tiffin: We, the Convention of the State of Ohio, appreciate the importance of the state government, and are grateful to the Congress of the United States, for the prompt and decisive measures taken at their last session. These measures have enabled the people of the Northwestern Territory to leave the colonial government behind and to assume their rank among the sister states.
Worthington: We take the earliest opportunity of announcing to you this important event.
[Little Mary stands SR and Sarah stands SL.]
Little Mary: This is the day the constitution of Ohio is being signed!
Sarah: It was November 29, 1802. There were thirty – five men at the convention…
Little Mary: …here in Chillicothe.
Sarah: They gathered together around the constitution table to make the laws for the new state of Ohio.
[Applause from convention audience.]
Little Mary: It is very important that the laws of Ohio be run by the people of Ohio.
Sarah: Any man serving in the house or senate must be elected by the people.
Worthington: The supreme executive position of this State shall be called "governor."
Tiffin: The governor shall be chosen by the people. He shall be commander in chief of the army and navy of this state, and of the militia, except when they shall be called into the service of the United States.
Worthington: There shall be a seal of this state, which shall be kept by the governor and used by him officially. It shall be called "the Great Seal of the State of Ohio."
Tiffin: The judicial power of this state shall be vested in a supreme court, in courts of common pleas for each county, in justices of the peace, and in such other courts as the legislature may from time to time establish.
[Applause from convention audience.]
Worthington: In all elections, all white male inhabitants, above the age of twenty-one years, who have lived in this state one year before the previous election, and who have paid or are charged with a state or county tax shall have the right to vote. No person shall be entitled to vote except in the county or district in which he lives at the time of the election.
Tiffin: Anyone who shall receive any gift or reward for his vote, in meat, drink, money, or otherwise; or who directly or indirectly gives a promise or any reward to be elected will not be permitted to serve in the office for which he was elected for two years.
[Grumbling and whispers heard from convention audience.]
Worthington: All men are born equally free and independent, and have certain natural, inherent and unalienable rights, amongst which are the enjoying and defending of life and liberty, acquiring, possessing and protecting property and pursuing and obtaining happiness and safety.
Little Mary: Happiness and safety!
Sarah: These are the same values outlined in America’s Declaration of Independence!
Tiffin: Every free republican government has a complete power to alter, reform, or abolish their government, whenever they may deem it necessary.
[Applause from convention audience.]
Worthington: There shall be neither slavery nor involuntary servitude in this state, otherwise than for the punishment of crimes.
Worthington: Chillicothe shall be the seat of government.
[Applause from convention audience.]
[Tiffin and Worthington sign their names to the document and shake hands. Baldwin, Massie, and Cutler climb the stairs downstage front, sign their names to the document and shake hands with Tiffin and Worthington.]
Little Mary: It took hours and hours for my father, Uncle Tiffin, and the other men make all the laws for our new government.
Sarah: They worked very hard to give the people of Ohio the same freedoms that the national government gave the people of the United States in its constitution. Due to the convention, Ohio gained a constitution and a government and became part…
Little Mary: …of the United States of America.
[Lights to Black]
Scene Fourteen: “Be it Enacted…”; 1804
Sarah: (CS) On February 18, 1804, the new state of Ohio’s General Assembly chartered the Ohio University! (crosses SR)
Putnam: (enters SL X CS) An endowment of some 47, 000 acres of land, to educate the ministers, teachers, lawyers and politicians of our new state.
Sarah: (DSR) A victory for Manasseh Cutler’s dream of a university.
Putnam: Institutions for the liberal education of youth, are essential to the progress of arts and sciences, important to morality, virtue and religion; friendly to the peace, order and prosperity of society, and honorable to the government that encourages and patronizes them. Therefore – (turns and exits USL)
Cutler: (having entered SR and X to CS) Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of Ohio, that there shall be a university instituted and established in the town of Athens, in the ninth township of the fourteenth range of townships, within the limits of the tract of land purchased by the Ohio Company of Associates, (walking DSC) by the name and style of the Ohio University, for the instruction of youth in all the various branches of liberal arts and sciences, for the promotion of good education, virtue, religion, and morality, and for conferring all the degrees of literary honors granted in similar institutions. (exits USR- Applause back stage.)
Scene Fifteen: Governor Edward Tiffin in Athens: 1804
Sarah: (CS) Men were appointed by the new State Legislature as trustees – to an as yet invisible university. In June of 1804, Edward Tiffin, (Tiffin enters from audience climbing steps DSC then moves DSR and Sarah moves DSL) now first governor of the recently organized state, made his way on horseback, from the capital in Chillicothe, to Athens, to meet with the trustees, two of whom were Dr. Perkins, and Rufus Putnam. (chairs) All had traveled fifty, seventy-five, or a hundred miles, by blind paths or Indian trails, through the dense forests, inhabited only by deer, panthers, wolves – wilderness! – for the purpose of establishing an institution of learning. Only 45,000 settlers lived in the entire state, and Athens was only a few scattered cabins on a hill, rising above the Hocking River. My uncle Tiffin went to the home of Dr. Eliphaz Perkins.
Lydia: Welcome to our humble home.
Tiffin: (standing USC behind a table) Gentlemen, (gavel) it is my high honor to call to order the first meeting of the first board of Trustees of the Ohio University, endowed by the Congress July 27th, 1787 and chartered by the Legislature February 18 of this year 1804. The first institution of higher learning west of the mountains and north of the Ohio River now convenes. (gavel) Our first task is to raise operating funds, by leasing university lands.
Putnam: I call for the first of several public auctions, of town and farm lots, for renewable, ninety-nine year leases. (meeting noise)
Sarah: That would cause endless trouble! Oh my! But things progressed.
Tiffin: Gentlemen. (Men move USL and OU flies in.)
Sarah: In 1806, in front of the first temporary structure on the new campus-
Perkins: (exiting OU structure with men following) The tuition of this preparatory academy will be two dollars each quarter, (ponders a moment regarding the structure and then descending steps DSC) but as Treasurer I have been authorized by the trustees to accept commodities, if necessary, instead of cash. (down 2 steps) Any student who wishes may now step forward, pay his fees, and be admitted!
Sarah: (DSR) One little school building, with three boys in it, one of whom was the son of Dr. and Mrs. Perkins.
Perkins: Step forward, Son.
Sarah: And, a sour young parson for a teacher.
Putnam: (moving DS on steps) I wish to congratulate you sincerely upon being the first class in the academy of Ohio University. I now have the honor to declare the University open and functioning! May it grow and flourish for a hundred – no, for at least a thousand years!
[Men walk USL and exit through OU structure.]
Sarah: (moving USC) So enter, that daily thou mayest grow in knowledge, wisdom, and love. (exit SR)
[Curtain]