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 v ]^c^iS2ju-jJXcOLMrv\ 
 
 General Joseph Kerr 
 
 Of Chillicothe, Ohio 
 
 "OHIO'S LOST SENATOR" 
 
 from the Carrel Manuscript Collection * 
 
 edited by v W^ 
 
 Marie Dickore, A. M. 
 
 THE OXFORD PRESS, OXFORD, OHIO 
 
 1941 
 all rights reserved 
 
Copyright 1941 
 George P. Carrel 
 
 set up and printed 
 published May 1941 
 
 Printed in the United States of America 
 
 The Oxford Press 
 
 Oxford, Ohio 
 
 II 
 
W\4 a ,rv «^ 
 
 To 
 
 Our Mother 
 
 Eleanora Prescott Carrel 
 
 hi 
 
Digitized by the Internet Archive 
 
 in 2012 with funding from 
 
 University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign 
 
 http://archive.org/details/generaljosephkerOOcarr 
 
TABLE OF CONTENTS 
 
 Foreword V 
 
 Preface VI 
 
 I Joseph Kerr, "Ohio's Lost Senator" 4 
 
 II Joseph Kerr, Deputy Surveyor of Virginia Military 
 
 Lands 10 
 
 III Kerr's Political Activities 29 
 
 IV Joseph Kerr, Industrial Tycoon of Scioto Valley ... 41 
 
 V Joseph Kerr the Exporter 50 
 
 VI Kerr Provisions the Army of the North West at 
 
 Upper Sandusky 65 
 
 VII Importance of Salt 75 
 
 VIII Kerr Opposes the U. S. Bank 83 
 
 IX Interesting Sidelights 90 
 
 X Joseph Kerr Builds Anew 97 
 
 Bibliography 105 
 
 Index 109 
 
 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS 
 
 Dodger of 1800 8 
 
 Joseph Kerr, Deputy Surveyor 12 
 
 Deed To George Washington's "lost lands" 25 
 
 Receipt from Daniel Boone 68 
 
FOREWORD 
 
 A correspondence, begun in 1886, by Col. Wm. E. Gilmore, 
 historian of Chillicothe, with my mother, Eleanora Prescott 
 Carrel, (Mrs. Hercules Carrel), concerning the life of her grand- 
 father, General Joseph Kerr, after he left Chillicothe, presum- 
 ably in 1824, aroused much interest in our family. Col. Gilmore 
 was seconded in his search for the later history of General Kerr 
 by Col. Wm. A. Taylor of Columbus, historian of Ohio states- 
 men. Because Col. Gilmore had known my mother in Chillicothe 
 when she was a little girl he turned to her for this information 
 about "Ohio's Lost Senator" as Col. Taylor called him after a 
 fruitless search. 
 
 This correspondence was continued by my brother, the late 
 Henry Clay Carrel, architect of New York City, who was able 
 to furnish the information Col. Gilmore sent to Col. Taylor 
 who printed this letter verbatim in his book, Ohio Statesmen. 
 Other historians of Congressional history also were referred 
 from time to time to my brother. 
 
 In 1910 Henry Clay Carrel was contacted by R. G. Lewis, 
 of Madisonville, Ohio, who had a collection of letters, surveys, 
 deeds, account books and other manuscript material of General 
 Kerr's covering the period 1786 to 1824. My brother finally 
 purchased this collection and from it we learned much of the 
 various activities of our great-grandfather. 
 
 To complete the history of General Kerr we began a search 
 of family records and I made personal trips to Lake Providence, 
 La., and to Texas where two of General Kerr's sons are buried 
 at the Alamo. And such newspapers of the period as are avail- 
 able have been carefully scanned. 
 
 Because we felt that General Kerr's keen interest in the 
 political and economic development of Ohio, his far-flung bus- 
 iness operations as shipper and exporter of Scioto Valley pro- 
 duce via New Orleans to Atlantic coast cities, to Havana and 
 European ports, would prove valuable to the student of that 
 period and because we felt that there are inspirational values 
 to be derived from such a history which in turn stimulate better 
 understanding of the problems confronting a man of General 
 Kerr's significance, my brother, J. Wallace Carrel, decided to 
 have these manuscripts edited and published as a contribution 
 to the history of Ohio for the period 1792 to 1825. My sister, 
 Eleanora P. Carrel, and I are happy in carrying out his cherish- 
 ed plan. 
 
 George P. Carrel. 
 Cincinnati, O. 
 April. 1941. 
 
 V 
 
PREFACE 
 
 Joseph Kerr, Ohio's fifth United States Senator, won the 
 singular appellation "Ohio's Lost Senator" from the curious fact 
 that for over seventy-five years historians could find no trace 
 of him after 1824. 
 
 One of the first settlers of Chillicothe, Deputy Surveyor 
 under Richard Clough Anderson, and dealing in land all through 
 his thirty years in Ohio, Kerr was perhaps Chillicothe's great- 
 est industrialist and exporter of Scioto Valley produce not only 
 to New Orleans, but to foreign ports. He left Chillicothe in 1826 
 with his family, presumably for Texas. From then on historians 
 had no information about him. 
 
 He had brought to the newly opened Ohio country his in- 
 herent Scottish characteristics, his experiences as a young man 
 on the frontier especially with Elie Williams and Col, Robert 
 Elliott, army contractors who supplied the troops under Har- 
 mar, St. Clair and Anthony Wayne, and he spent the thirty 
 best years of his life building up the community to which he had 
 brought his family, in which he reared his children, in which he 
 carried on his extensive business. 
 
 But Joseph Kerr left Chillicothe a disillusioned man, wreck- 
 ed financially by his political adversaries and his business com- 
 petitors who used every means to ruin him. However, he was of 
 that unflinching type which will not recognize defeat but will 
 build anew. 
 
 With his wife and children Kerr followed the route of 
 his fleet of flatboats and his schooners down the Ohio and the 
 Mississippi rivers. Stopping at Memphis, he settled near there 
 for a year or two, then moved to Lake Providence, Louisiana, 
 where he spent the remainder of his days. He gave his two 
 sons, Nathaniel Massie Kerr and Joseph Kerr, to Texas to help 
 her fight for freedom. They sleep at the Alamo. 
 
 Not until Joseph Kerr's great grandson, Henry Clay Carrel, 
 of New York City, was offered and purchased a collection of 
 some two hundred letters, surveys, record and account books 
 of this Ohio pioneer, did any one learn about Kerr's history 
 after he left Chillicothe. Mr. Carrel and his brothers, J. Wallace 
 Carrel and George P. Carrel, began tracing the history of their 
 great grandfather and pieced together the final chapters of a 
 glamorous story. Research, which followed the decision to edit 
 
 VI 
 
and publish these manuscripts as a contribution to the history 
 of early Ohio, the Virginia Military District, the War of 1812, 
 and of shipping from the Scioto Valley prior to 1825, uncovered 
 more manuscript material in various collections, and a further 
 search of newspapers of that period disclosed an amazing story 
 of a great industrialist whom today we would call a tycoon. 
 
 The 8,000 or more manuscript items include letters, sur- 
 veys, field books, record books, deeds, maps, wills, etc., all cen- 
 tering around the history of Col. Richard C. Anderson, Surveyor 
 of the Virginia Military District, and the lands of this region. 
 These have been examined for information relating to Joseph 
 Kerr and his activities and much of interest found. The bulk 
 of these is in the Illinois Historical Survey at the University of 
 Illinois. The Wisconsin State Historical Library has some Ander- 
 son mss. in its Kentucky, Draper and George Rogers Clark col- 
 lections. Others, like the Kerr mss. are in private hands. 
 
 The part played by Joseph Kerr in the development of 
 Ohio lands, in her struggle for statehood, in the War of 1812, in 
 the laying out of the National Road, in the fight against the 
 United States Branch Bank at Chillicothe, and in the merchan- 
 dising and shipping of Ohio products to New Orleans, to Atlan- 
 tic and European ports, is one of History's colorful pages. 
 
 It is this page which we now offer the reader and the hist- 
 orian for a better understanding of the dauntless courage and 
 resourcefulness of our pioneer forefathers who built our com- 
 monwealth and built so enduringly. 
 
 In the task of filling in the historical background for these 
 Joseph Kerr manuscripts we have been aided by the Illinois 
 Historical Survey, the Ohio State Archaeological and Historical 
 Library, the Ohio Historical and Philosophical Society, the Cin- 
 cinnati Public Library, the Wisconsin State Historical Library, 
 W. P. Anderson and others. 
 
 In an undertaking such as this, it is not possible to fill in 
 all gaps at first hence further information will be greatly ap- 
 preciated by the editor. 
 
 Marie Dickore. 
 Cincinnati. O., April 1941. 
 
 VII 
 
"Ohio's Lost Senator" 1 
 
 CHAPTER I 
 
 JOSEPH KERR 
 
 The Kerr family, of which Joseph (1765-1837) was a 
 member, is of Scotch descent. David (d. ca. 1759), came from 
 Londonderry, Ireland, with his brothers, Robert and John, to 
 Philadelphia, in the spring of 1708 1 . They were of the Firnie- 
 hirst family of Kerrs and brought with them a document to 
 prove the fact, although this paper has disappeared, probably 
 during the Revolution. These Kerr brothers were closely re- 
 lated to Robert Ker, Lord Somerset. David remained with 
 his brother, Robert, who settled at Camden, New Jersey, where 
 he died between 1730 and 1740. David married and migrated, 
 1740, west of the Susquehanna River to what is now York or 
 Adams County, Pa., where he died about 1759. The third 
 brother, John, is said to have moved to Mecklenburg County, 
 North Carolina, and his descendants are found in the Southern 
 states. 
 
 John Kerr, father of Joseph, the subject of this study, 
 was born, 1745, in Pennsylvania and came to Chambersburg 
 where he bought a 300-acre farm adjacent to the new town 
 laid out by Benjamin Chambers. This land was surveyed 
 October 27, 1785, on a warrant issued to John Kerr, August 
 4, 1766. Part of this farm he later subdivided into lots for a 
 town called Kerrtown and which is now incorporated in 
 Chambersburg. 2 John Kerr served as a private in Captain 
 Matthew Gregg's Company of Cumberland County, Pa., Militia 
 which was called out July 28, 1777. s He lived on his farm at 
 Kerrtown for nearly sixty years and died there in 1807. He 
 married Mary Doherty whom he named his executor in his will 
 probated 1807, and in which he names his seven children, 
 Joseph, Jean, John, Sarah, James, Mary and Samuel. 
 
 WILL OF JOHN KERR OF CHAMBERSBURG 
 
 IN THE NAME OF GOD AMEN. I, John Kerr of Guilford Town- 
 ship, Franklin County and State of Pennsylvania, being- through age and 
 infermity weak and frail in body, but of sound and perfect mind and 
 memory, through the blessing of Almighty God, and calling to mind the 
 mortality of my body, do make and ordain and declare this instrument 
 
 1 Institute of American Genealogy, J. Wallace Carrel. 
 
 2 I. H. M'Cauley, Historical Sketch of Franklin Co., Pa. 
 
 3 Pennsylvania Archives, 2nd Ser. Vol. XV. 
 
2 General Joseph Kerr 
 
 which is written I have subscribed every page of it with my own hand 
 and name, to be my last Will and Testament revoking all others. 
 
 Imprimis all my just debts are to be punctually and speedily paid 
 and the legacies herein after bequeathed are to be discharged as soon 
 as circumstances will permit, and in the manner directed. 
 
 Item: To my dearly beloved wife Mary Kerr I give and bequeath 
 all my property both real and personal, my whole estate during her 
 natural life, my will further is, that she make sale of my real and 
 personal property after my decease, as soon as she may think proper 
 and further my will is that if she thinks proper not to sell my real 
 estate during her natural life, she is at full liberty to do as she thinks 
 proper, to sell it all or a part of it, and to keep any part of my per- 
 sonal property or the whole of it, if she chooses during her natural 
 life. 
 
 Item: My will further is that after her decease. Item my will is 
 that my son Joseph Kerr shall have four hundred pounds of my estate. 
 
 Item: My will is that my daughter Jean McKinley shall have four 
 hundred pounds. 
 
 Item: My will is that my son John Kerr shall have four hundred 
 pounds. 
 
 Item: My will further is that my daughter Sarah Decamp shall 
 have four hundred pounds. 
 
 Item: My will further is that my son James shall have one 
 Spanish milled dollar. 
 
 Item: My will further is that my daughter Mary Patterson shall 
 have five hundred pounds, my will further is that if there should be 
 any overplus after paying these legacies that my wife Mary Kerr is 
 to bequeath it to any one of my children or distribute it among my 
 children or grandchildren as she shall think proper. 
 
 Item: My will further is that my son Samuel Kerr is to have four 
 hundred pounds which is to be put to interest for him which he is to 
 receive the interest every year during his natural life, and at his de- 
 cease to be equally divided the principal among his children. 
 
 Item: My will further is that funeral charges be immediately paid 
 by my executors. 
 
 Lastly, I constitute and appoint my beloved wife Mary Kerr and 
 Hugh Brotherton to be the executrix and executor of this my last 
 Will and Testament. 
 
 In witness of all and each of the thing herein contained I have 
 set my hand and seal this twenty-fifth day of August One thousand 
 eight hundred and seven (1807). 
 
 Signed sealed and pronounced and declared by the said John Kerr 
 as his last Will and Testament in the presence of us, who in his 
 presence and in the presence of each other have subscribed our names. 
 
 JOHN KERR (SEAL) 
 
 Hugh Brotherton. 
 Jas. Young. 
 
 (Probated 1807) 
 
 The three older sons, Joseph, John and Samuel, according 
 to a letter written by John in 1851, to his grandson, Augustus 
 Kerr, settled in Ohio, Joseph at Chillicothe, John in Gallia 
 County, and Samuel on Big Darby Creek near Columbus. 
 
"Ohio's Lost Senator" 3 
 
 "Mount Hope, Gallia Co. Ohio, 
 Jany. 20th, 1851. 
 Dear Grandson, 
 
 Having understood from one of your correspondents, that the lady 
 with witch you boar[d], claims affinity or consanguinity to our fam- 
 ily, in order to enable her to establish the same, I will give you a brief 
 history of our family: John Kerr my father lived and died on his 
 farm adjoining Chambersburg nearly sixty years, he had three daugh- 
 ters and four sons, his oldest daughter married Wm. McKinley near 
 Wheeling, Ohio Co., Virginia, the 2nd is living 16 miles above Wheel- 
 ing, the 3d married a Mr. Patterson they both died at Cincinnati, my 
 oldest brother formerly at Chillicothe, Joseph; my 2d brother and 
 his wife died about 36 year[s] ago, on big darby 10 miles west of 
 Columbus, his name was Samuel he left a large family of whom I 
 know nothing. My youngest brother James who lived and perhaps 
 still lives at Chambersburg. I shall be pleased if the above informa- 
 tion shall eneable her to establish her affinity to my family, there 
 was another John Kerr who lived 5 or 6 miles west of Chambersburg, 
 I did not know them as relations I left that country in Sep. 1792 when 
 I was 20 year[s] of age. I am now in my 79th year, & in tolerable 
 good hea[l]th, also your Grandmother is as usual & lame from having 
 her leg broke, our friends here are all well but Maria I think she is 
 improving. My hand is get[t]ing palsied I can scarcely write. 
 
 I take the liberty to ask you to be diligent at your studies and not 
 led off by any that may retrograde, as it [is] possable some of the 
 great assemblige of Heterogeneous aspirants after science may look 
 back before the[y] reach the summit, but keep [y]our eye on the apex, 
 and persevere as many have done before you which would be great con- 
 solation to one who may not live to see it. 
 
 remember me to our County boys & aid them with your Council. 
 I remain your affectionate Grandfather. 
 
 John Kerr" 
 
 Mr. A. P. Kerr" 4 
 
 Before settling in Ohio Joseph Kerr bought a lot, Number 
 twenty, in Washington, Maryland, on November 25, 1786. The 
 deed shows that he was a resident of Franklin County, Pennsyl- 
 vania. For this lot, which he purchased of Thomas Beall of 
 Samuel, one of Western Maryland's noted men, Karr (as the 
 name is written on the deed according to the soft pronuncia- 
 tion of Kerr), paid "the anual Sum or yearly Sum of Rent of 
 one Spanish milled dollar, or other Gold or Silver Coin Equiv- 
 alent for the said Lott or portion of Ground Number twenty." 
 He paid down ten pounds currency as full consideration, but 
 the ground rent was to be paid on "the first Day of January 
 in every year thereafter forever." 
 
 Augustus Pomeroy Kerr, a son of John Niswonger Kerr and Isa- 
 bella Morrison, and grandson of John Kerr (writer of letter) and 
 Christine Niswonger. 
 
4 General Joseph Kerr 
 
 In 1788 Joseph Kerr married Nancy Daugherty. Together 
 they made a home in which they raised a family of four daugh- 
 ters and five sons of whom the first born, Aletha, died in her 
 infancy, as did the first son, named for Benjamin Chambers. 5 
 The second son, named for Elie Williams, clerk of Washing- 
 ton Co., Maryland, and partner of Col. Robert Elliott in the 
 firm of Elliott and Williams, army contractors for Generals 
 Harmar, St. Clair and Anthony Wayne, Fort Washington and 
 other outposts of newly opened western Ohio lands. 6 Kerr must 
 have been associated with Williams in this enterprise because 
 in 1800, he is acting as Williams' agent in buying and selling 
 land, and in 1813, he is handling army contracts with an un- 
 derstanding born only of actual experience. He probably was 
 Williams' bookkeeper, judging from his own account books ex- 
 tant for the years 1810-1813. These books are in double entry, 
 cross indexed and written in a firm and clear handwriting which 
 also characterizes his letters and sets him apart from other 
 pioneers of his day as having enjoyed an excellent education 
 because they are couched in beautiful English with no gram- 
 matical or spelling errors so common to letters written on the 
 border in those days. 
 
 Elie Williams, was a member of a Welsh family of im- 
 portance in western Pennsylvania and Maryland. His brother, 
 Otho Holland Williams, was a general in the Revolution, later 
 served as Collector of the Port of Baltimore, and founded Will- 
 ismsport in western Maryland. Elie was a Colonel in the Con- 
 tinental army and served as a clerk of Washington County, Md. 
 until 1800. He was a partner of Col. Robert Elliott in contract- 
 ing for supplies and equipment for the western armies. Vitally 
 interested in internal improvements and the development of 
 public lands, he was appointed, in 1796, with others, to lay 
 out a road from Hagerstown, Md., to tidewater, in 1806 for ex- 
 tending this road to the Ohio, and later he was actively 
 interested in the Chesapeake and Ohio canal. He died in 
 Georgetown, D. C. at the age of 73. 7 
 
 With Elliott he was active at Fort Washington in 1791 for 
 General St. Clair's campaign against the Indians, continued in 
 this capacity in 1793, supplied the army stationed at Greenville, 8 
 
 5 M'Cauley, Hist. Sketches of Franklin Co., Pa. 
 
 6 A. B. Hulbert, Military Roads, Vol. 8. 
 
 7 J. Thos. Scharf, History of Western Maryland, p. 1022 
 
 8 Benjamin Van Cleve, Memoirs, 1791-1807. 
 
"Ohio's Lost Senator" 5 
 
 and continued after Col. Elliott was killed by the Indians in 
 the fall of 1794. All army accounts had to be kept in duplicate 
 and triplicate hence young Joseph Kerr became proficient in 
 such clerical duties. 
 
 With the Treaty of Greenville making the west safe for 
 settlement the surveyor became as important as the trapper, 
 hunter and scout had been during the previous period. Until 
 the country was settled, forests felled, roads laid out, com- 
 munities and communication established, the great holdings of 
 land, either by the investor such as George Washington, or by 
 officers and soldiers who had received land warrants in place 
 of money for their services in the Revolution, could be of no 
 real value. Like so many young men adventuring into the 
 newly opened western country Joseph Kerr perfected himself 
 as surveyor and allied himself at first with Nathaniel Massie. 
 His accuracy, his inherent honesty, his excellent penmanship 
 and flow of language soon led to an appointment as Deputy 
 Surveyor of the Virginia Military District and a close friend- 
 ship with Richard Clough Anderson, Surveyor General of these 
 lands. 
 
 Beyond the statement in James D. Kerr's letter (his second 
 youngest son), 9 that his father came to the Northwest Territory 
 in 1792 we have no record about Joseph Kerr previous to 
 1797 when he was with Nathaniel Massie at Manchester on 
 the Ohio, where he was active in politics, in surveying and as 
 agent for various men holding land warrants for the Virginia 
 Military District. 
 
 Massie was a young Virginian who came out to the west- 
 ern country to seek his fortune. At first he speculated in furs, 
 then with General Wilkinson in salt, and then in lands. He was 
 with Col. Richard C. Anderson, Surveyor General, in his office 
 at Middletown, Ky., for a year or so as clerk and to familiarize 
 himself with the business of the surveyor's office. 10 By 1790 
 Anderson appointed him one of his deputy surveyors in the 
 Virginia Military District. 
 
 In 1791 Massie began surveying officially north of the 
 Ohio river and previous to that he had been on the Scioto (1787 
 according to testimony in the Watts vs. Massie case and the 
 Watts vs. Kerr case). The rich bottom land of the Little Miami 
 
 9 Letter of James D. Kerr, see Chapter X. 
 10 History of Ross and Highland Counties, O. 
 
6 General Joseph Kerr 
 
 river was the cynosure of all since the day Major John O'Ban- 
 non surveyed several tracts here for George Washington. This 
 river was the boundary line between the Symmes Purchase 
 and the Virginia Military District and being adjacent to the 
 earlier settlements of Columbia and Cincinnati, its valley was 
 highly desirable especially as settlers coming down the Ohio 
 would reach it before coming to the Symmes Purchase. 
 
 In the spring of 1792 Massie was in the lower Little Miami 
 valley, 11 and in the winter of 1793-4 he was above the East 
 Fork, surveying and locating. Gradually he acquired lands for 
 himself, these being his fees. The surveyor was entitled to one- 
 fourth, one-third, or even one-half of the land called for in the 
 warrant in lieu of a cash fee. By 1801 Massie was reported 
 to be the largest land holder north of the Ohio. 
 
 Following up his opportunities Massie decided to develop 
 permanent settlements and in March, 1791, brought a group 
 of Kentuckians and Virginians from Limestone to Three Islands 
 on the Ohio river where he founded Manchester, the first set- 
 tlement in the Virginia ^Military District and the fourth in what 
 is now the State of Ohio. 12 Having secured for himself 1900 
 acres of the best lands on the Scioto River above the mouth of 
 Paint Creek and a tract of 1,000 acres for his brother, Thomas, 
 on the Scioto at the mouth of Paint Creek, Massie decided that 
 this would be an ideal location for a great city and here he 
 founded Chillicothe in 1796. He became involved in a long 
 and bitter political quarrel between the Virginia party, led by 
 Thomas Worthington and himself, on the one hand and the 
 old Federalist party led by Governor St. Clair. 13 A division of 
 the Northwest Territory with the western boundary at the Big 
 Miami river and statehood for the eastern region was the crux 
 of the quarrel. St. Clair wanted to continue territorial gov- 
 ernment. Fortunately for the Virginians young William Henry 
 Harrison threw his influence in Congress in with those de- 
 siring a state. In this struggle Joseph Kerr took an active part 
 on behalf of statehood and government by the people. 
 
 Kerr was a member of the first Court of General Quarter 
 Sessions of the Peace at Manchester, one of the courts which 
 St. Clair began establishing, 1788, in the Northwest Territory 
 and patterned after the old Pennsylvania system which or- 
 
 11 ibid. 
 
 12 David M. Massie, Nathaniel Massie. 
 
 13 L. W. Renick, comp., Che-le-co-the, Glimpses of Yesterday. 
 
"Ohio's Lost Senator" 7 
 
 ganized into this court all justices of the peace of the county 
 with three constituting a quorum. Kerr was present at the 
 first meeting, September 12, 1797, when Adams County was 
 organized with six townships and he was among those who 
 strove to keep Manchester the county seat instead of acceding 
 to St. Clair's preference for Adamsville. 14 
 
 At this time Kerr was active in surveying and was ap- 
 pointed to lay out new roads to open the wilderness for settle- 
 ment. His natural ability, training and experience made him a 
 very valuable man in that region and at the January 2, 1800, 
 meeting he was appointed clerk of the Adams County Board 
 of Commissioners. 15 
 
 During his residence in Manchester Kerr made many sur- 
 veys in the Scioto valley and gradually accumulated an ex- 
 tensive business as surveyor, locator and agent for absent 
 owners, handling all details as is shown in this dodger dated 
 August 4, 1800, with "4th Dec. 1800" written below in his neat 
 handwriting. In this he offers for sale some 15,400 acres of 
 "military land," either for cash for large tracts, or smaller tracts 
 "to suit purchaser, and a reasonable credit given for one-half 
 the purchase money. — As cash is the object of sale, the price 
 will be proportioned to the payments." He continues that he 
 has "also for sale about five thousand acres of good oak land 
 in the neighborhood of Newmarket, which I will sell low and 
 take work horses in payment." He also offers several thousand 
 acres in various regions for which he will take half in cash and 
 give a two-year credit for the other half. 
 
 A notation in ink at the three first tracts, located on the 
 waters of the Little Miami and its branches, states "sell for 
 horses," this notation is also at the 1333 % acres surveyed for 
 Eli Williams on Buckskin creek. 
 
 14 Evans and Stivers, History of Adams Co., Ohio. Other members of 
 this first court were, Nathaniel Massie, John Beasley, John Belli, 
 Thomas Worthington, Hugh Cochran, Benjamin Goodin, Thomas 
 Scott and Thomas Kirker. 
 
 15 ibid 
 
8 General Joseph Kerr 
 
 On November 17, 1801, Joseph Kerr resigned his position 
 as clerk with the Adams County Board of Commissioners and 
 left Manchester to make his home in Ross County 18 where he 
 had bought a fine piece of land from Nathaniel Massie, the 
 first tract on the west bank of the Scioto River and adjacent 
 to Massie's new town, Chillicothe, 17 which was destined to be- 
 come the capital of Ohio. Col. Richard C. Anderson, Surveyor 
 General for the Virginia lands, appointed Kerr one of his 
 twelve Deputy Surveyors and placed great trust in this honest 
 and fearless Scotch-American. 
 
 Here centered Kerr's next twenty years of activities. He 
 developed his farm to the point where it became a showplace, 
 something to write home about or enter in one's diary. 18 It was 
 noted for its fine gardens, orchards, great house and fine herds 
 of cattle. 19 He built a slaughtering house and a salting estab- 
 lishment and began laying the foundation for that immense ship- 
 ping and exporting business which, during the decade 1810-1820 
 made him the Scioto valley's greatest industrialist, shipping its 
 produce to New Orleans, Baltimore, Havana and European 
 ports. 
 
 By 1804 Kerr was so popular for his clear thinking, his 
 fearlessness and his political opinions in which he ardently sup- 
 ported the rights of the people, that he was elected to the Ohio 
 senate where he served as speaker pro tern and took an active 
 part in the development of the new state. 
 
 16 ibid 
 
 17 Howe, Historical Collections of Ohio, 1847, p. 435. 
 
 18 Jessup N. Couch, who later became a trustee of Athens University, 
 and a Major in the Ohio Militia in the War of 1812, member of the 
 Ohio Legislature and noted politically, writes in his Journal for 
 Sunday the 27th of January, 1804, that he read Darwin's Temple of 
 Nature and then took a walk in the afternoon along the Scioto 
 around by Kerr's house and plantation. Again on Sunday, March 
 31st, he spent the afternoon walking and went out to Kerr's store. 
 Jessup N. Couch, Journal, Mss. in Ohio State Archaeological and 
 Historical Society. 
 
 19 To protect his gardens and farm from intruders Kerr inserted the 
 following advertisements in Chillicothe newspapers. 
 
 "Steel traps and spring guns 
 
 The people of this neighborhood, are particularly informed and 
 requested to take notice, and also to notify their children, that from 
 the publication hereof, there will be within my orchard a number 
 of large Wolf Traps SET and Guns cocked and loaded with springs 
 
MILITARY LaND 
 
 FOR SALE. 
 
 1 HAVE tor fale the following tracfb of LAND, between the Scioto and Little Miamia, vis. 
 j> ' tooo Acres Nto. 1 2 1 4 purveyed for William Giles (heir) on the waters of the eaft Fork of Little Miamia, 
 i v ioqo Acres No\ iio8 furreyed for fame, on waters of the Little Miamia. 
 v ^ 1000 Acre*, N0X760, furveyed for William Fowler, on waters of Little Miamia, and Qlady Run. 
 
 1000 Acres, No. 2j|7, forveyed for Jolm Wilkinl, Jun. on waters of White Oak Creek, weft fide and 
 
 between feveff and eight miles from the Ohio. 
 20)6 Acres No. 2938 furreyed for John Wilkins, Jun. in two furveys, one of a H4<racres, and the 
 other of 936'acres, oq Hardon's Creek (and waters thereof) a branch of the Rattle Snake 
 J Fork of Paint Creek ; there are two new fettlements lately formed near thofe furveys. 
 
 ^^ ~i 1333 MP Acres, No. 2291, forveyed for Eli Williams, on Buckflun creek: a north branch of Paint 
 creak, adjauiiog the fisttlctaent. 
 $066 Acre, forveyed for Jo. \ Phlllrpsv isrtJJLree furveys No. 29S9 for 107^ acres No. 2990 for 666 
 acres, and No. 2991 for 1330^ •cres on Mill creek, on waters of Mill creek, and the weft 
 fork of the Scioto. 
 The above lands will be fold low to fuch perfons as will take whole furveys, and pay all downj 
 or will be divided into fmall tracls to fuit pnrchafers, and a reafonable credit given for one half the 
 pnrchafe money.— As cafh is the object of fale, the price will be proportioned to the payments. 
 
 I have alfo for fale about five thonfand acres of good oak land in the neighbourhood of Newmarket, 
 which I will fell low and take good work horfes inpayment ; alfo feveral thoufand acres of land in differ* 
 ent parts, for which one half cafh in hand will be taken, and two years credit given for the other half, 
 for further information en<ruire of Mr. Henry Maffie, at Cuillicothc, or the Subfcriber at Manchester, 
 Korth-weftern Termor*. 
 
 jgSEP H KEB8.J 
 
 J "J4U «&*- 
 
 The Manchester, Ohio, dodger, (1800), advertising lands 
 in the Virginia Military District for sale for "good work horses", 
 cash and on credit. 
 
"Ohio's Lost Senator" 9 
 
 on their triggers, for preservation of my fruit. 
 
 JOSEPH KERR, 
 near Chillicothe, July 15, 1814." 
 (Chillicothe Supporter, July 23, 1814.) 
 
 And again in the Chillicothe Supporter, April 21, 1819, he states 
 in an advertisement. 
 
 "TO LABOURERS AND INTRUDER" 
 
 "Two or more sober industrious hands, who understand fenc- 
 ing, farming and working a garden will meet with employment, 
 generous wages and regular pay by applying to the subscriber. 
 
 All persons are forbid passing through or, under any pretense, 
 entering into any part of my farm. Those who are, after this notice, 
 found trespassing, will be put to all the trouble in my power, 
 without respect to the persons. I am sorry to be so often compelled 
 to forbid intrusion; but when theft accompanies it, those who are 
 not inclined to pilfer can keep the public road. 
 
 JOSEPH KERR. 
 
 April 19, 1819." 
 
CHAPTER II 
 
 JOSEPH KERR 
 
 deputy Surveyor in the Virginia military district 
 
 The Virginia Military District presents a most curious prob- 
 lem in the history of the Public Domain. With nothing definite 
 to go on except the number of acres given by Virginia to each 
 officer and soldier who served in the Revolution, the map of the 
 region, which lies between the Little Miami and the Scioto rivers 
 and comprises around 4,204,000 acres, 1 has the aspect of a crazy 
 quilt as to outline of surveys while the legal aspect has been one 
 of endless litigation and much heartbreak. 
 
 Virginia's title to the region north and west of the Ohio 
 rested on the charters granted in 1606 and 1609 by King James 
 to the London Company. In 1784 she ceded these lands to the 
 United States Congress reserving only enough to satisfy the land 
 warrants of her officers and soldiers in the Revolution after the 
 good lands in Kentucky were exhausted. The region between 
 the Little Miami and the Scioto rivers was set aside for this 
 and records show that 8,888 warrants were issued. 2 Each man 
 received, not a definite piece of land, but a warrant calling 
 for a certain number of acres determined by the length of his 
 service and his rank, from the private who received 100 acres for 
 the three-year enlistment to the major-general who received 
 15,000 acres for the duration of the war. 
 
 The soldier could locate this land himself, could hire a 
 surveyor, leave it to his heirs or sell the warrant to any one 
 else, usually to the speculator in lands. Endless litigation grew 
 out of this indefiniteness. Much land, time and money was lost. 
 The credit system brought on inflation, taxes accumulated and 
 much land was sold for the taxes. It took 34 acts of Congress to 
 create a semblance of order in the problem. It is stated that 
 even today no really accurate map of the Virginia Military 
 District exists and no county within the district can tell from its 
 deeds or auditor's records exactly how many acres are within 
 its boundaries. 3 If a dispute arises over a boundary the wisest 
 thing to do is to come to an agreement and set permanent con- 
 crete or stone markers immediately. 
 
 1 Wm. E. Peters, Ohio Lands, 
 
 2 Gaius M. Brumbaugh, Revolutionary War Records, Vol. I, 
 
 3 C. E. Sherman, Original Ohio Land Subdivisions. 
 
 10 
 
"Deputy Surveyor" 11 
 
 Virginia appointed Col. Richard Clough Anderson Sur- 
 veyor for her lands in Kentucky and north of the Ohio River. 
 He opened his office at Middletown, Ky., near Louisville, July 
 20, 1784, and appointed deputy surveyors to go into the wilder- 
 ness and locate soldiers' warrants. 
 
 Surveyors had to be a good composite of scout, trapper, 
 hunter, trail blazer, clerk, draftsman, besides having an excel- 
 lent understanding of the business of surveying the untamed 
 forests and fields. There were many squatters already in the 
 district and difficulties arose from the beginning, complications 
 piling up as settlers arrived and speculators got a strangle hold 
 on the situation. Records for completed surveys were filed at 
 Anderson's office and the man out in the wilderness had nothing 
 to go by except such surveyor's marks as time and weather did 
 not obliterate. When we consider that a survey made for George 
 Washington in 1788 names as boundary marks "Beginning at 
 a sugar tree, ash and hickory, upper corner on the river . . . 
 crossing a branch at 80 poles to a beech and two sugar trees 
 ... a hickory, white oak and black oak ... a sugar tree and 
 buckeye and small mulberry on the banks of the river . . ." 4 
 and that 18 years later and again 23 years later these same 
 boundary marks were quoted on deeds transferring this tract 
 of land, and that a storm, a pioneer needing a tree for his cabin, 
 or any other agent could easily destroy one or more of these, 
 we realize that both the surveyor and the owner had little to go 
 on. 
 
 Many times locations overlapped and the owner of 
 the overlapping second survey had to withdraw this portion 
 of his tract and locate this amount elsewhere. This frequently 
 took years to discover and carry through. At times the surveyor 
 in the forest ran out of paper and the resourceful one used thin 
 sheets of wood on which he scratched with a rusty nail. 
 
 The element of time was a disturbing factor. After a sur- 
 veyor returned from his trip he reconstructed his survey from 
 his field notes, sent this to Anderson's office by messenger or, 
 after the post roads were opened, by mail. Then the survey had 
 to await checking for possible error, overlapping claim, prior 
 claims, etc, until Anderson could it give a proper number, and 
 send it with the warrant to Richmond, Va., thence to Washing- 
 ton, D. C, for final recording. Often a year or more passed. 
 
 4 By John O'Bannon. 
 
12 General Joseph Kerr 
 
 Meanwhile the settler cleared his land, raised his cabin, planted 
 his crops, only to learn that he was not entitled to that particu- 
 lar piece of land. Frequently he paid for it rather than leave it 
 after years of effort in wresting it from the wilderness. And 
 there are records of a man paying twice for his land. 
 
 The surveyor had his own conscience to guide him. He 
 received cash infrequently for his work, more often one-fourth, 
 one-third and at times one-half the land called for in the war- 
 rant. There was opportunity for fraud and this was, unfor- 
 tunately, frequently taken advantage of by those in the field. 
 Usually the surveyor had to break his own path in the wilder- 
 ness and had with him a party of two chain-bearers, marksmen 
 and perhaps another man to take care of the packhorse and 
 the provisions. It was not possible to do the work alone. 
 
 John O'Bannon was the first deputized surveyor to make 
 a location in the Virginia Military District. On November 13, 
 1787, in what is now Clermont County, on the Ohio, he sur- 
 veyed 1,400 acres for Col. John Neville, where now the town 
 of Neville is located. In the spring of 1788 he surveyed a tract 
 for George Washington in the same vicinity, and that summer 
 two more tracts for the President on the Little Miami River. 
 
 From then on the stream of settlers just trickled slowly 
 into the Virginia Military District until the Treaty of Green- 
 ville cleared Ohio of the Indian menace and the tide of im- 
 migration swept into the Ohio country. In this Joseph Kerr had 
 his share. Appointed a Deputy Surveyor for the Virginia Mili- 
 tary lands by Col. Richard C. Anderson, Kerr was busily con- 
 cerned with surveying, locating, buying and selling lands under 
 Virginia warrants, and in handling the land business for absent 
 owners. His interests were so extensive that he had his own 
 forms printed for tenant farmers and his correspondence shows 
 how careful he was in looking after his client's business. Money 
 being scare in the western country, barter was in vogue, and 
 we see how meticulous Kerr was in handling the sale of lands 
 and what various forms of medium of exchange he used. 
 
 His relations with Col. Anderson were always those of a 
 trusted friend even though they did not always see eye to eye 
 on some points. Kerr looked after Anderson's interests and they 
 owned many tracts jointly. Kerr was always quick to resent 
 anything that smacked of intrigue or fraud hence was feared by 
 others who were not above board in their dealings. 
 
 Surveyors of such integrity as Kerr possessed were an 
 
O^iaC 
 
 
 
 
 as 
 
 t lV*?uj */eci 
 
 Jto 
 
 
 "I Joseph Kerr Of the county of Ross and State of Ohio 
 Acting - as a Deputy under Col. Richard C. Anderson Principal 
 Surveyor of the land Set appart for the officers and Soldiers 
 in the Virginia line, do hereby Certify that One hundred 
 and Ninety nine Acres of land, part of Joseph Jones' Survey, 
 No. 792, is included within the line of William McMickin's 
 Survey No. 690, which being a prior entry, that quantity 
 is lost to Jones; In Witness whereof I have hereunto Set 
 my hand this 4th of August 1807. 
 
 Joseph Kerr, D. S. 
 
"Deputy Surveyor" 13 
 
 important factor in settling the new lands where the interests 
 of the actual owners of the land were at stakes. 
 
 Joseph Kerr's letters to Col. Anderson shed much light 
 on the difficulties encountered by the settlers, not only from the 
 wilderness, but from the avaricious who desired to wax fat on 
 the labor of others. Kerr, himself, was a victim of such avari- 
 ciousness and finally lost many of his best lands in the Scioto 
 Valley and his beautiful estate outside of Chillicothe. 
 
 In many of Kerr's surveys we find a notation to Anderson 
 that "this is a withdrawal" and a "relocation." In many instances 
 we find that Kerr has refunded the purchase price to the man 
 who won the land from the wilderness and presumbably his 
 own land only to find years later that by hook or by crook the 
 title was held by some one else, perhaps a land speculator who 
 had sold it to some one else. His emenies and political oppon- 
 ents used this inherent honesty of Joseph Kerr to take him 
 into court again and again on such claims, forcing him to mort- 
 gage his own lands to satisfy these claims. In his letters to An- 
 derson he is at times bitter about such instances but refused to 
 do anything dishonorable to save himself. 
 
 Joseph Kerr to Richard Clough Anderson: 
 
 "Chillicothe 24th February 1807. 
 Dear Sir, 
 
 I Received in clue time your favour of the 8th July, in which you 
 inform me you have Received a patent for 889 Acres of Seymour 
 Powells Claim on the west fork of Scioto; there had not at that time 
 any other patent Issued on that Claim but yours, but there has Since 
 another Pattent Issued for the 789 Acres above and of course patents 
 will Issue for the whole if application is made with a refferance to the 
 documents on which yours Issued — However notwithstanding this I 
 have taken out Patents for the whole of the Claim, and intends trying 
 titles with those claiming under Powell — 5 
 
 It was long my wish that there Should be as few disputes in the 
 lands in the Virginia Military district as possible, and for Some time 
 had determined to take no advantage of the Situation of any Claim, 
 not because I was Ignorant there were deffective claims, but from a 
 wish to keep up the credit of those lands, and Also remain in peace and 
 friendship with those concerned in them — 
 
 Finding however that there would be advantage taken of the Situa- 
 tion of defective Claims, and that friendship was only kept up as long 
 as the parties were Interested, I determined to take a Hand, and as you 
 
 The famous Major Robert Powell Survey No. 503, which caused 
 endless litigation and resulted in the loss of Kerr's fine farm and 
 home adjacent to Chillicothe. 
 
14 General Joseph Kerr 
 
 possessed the means of better information than common people, I did 
 not hestitate at your Claims more than others — 
 
 Some of the SPaniels, who fetch and carry regularly, from and to 
 the Office, informs the people here that you are angry with me; this I 
 dont doubt, but trust when you come to reflect on what I may herein 
 State to you, that you will have less reason to entertain ill will against 
 me than you at Present Suppose — 
 
 You may well recollect that I was two or three years absent from 
 the Office, 6 during which time I sent but few Entries to the Office, my 
 reasons were that Some who were in the habit of writing and enclose- 
 ing entries thought (or at least said they thought) fair play was not 
 Shown their papers, there were other complaints About Altering the 
 No. of Acres, No. of "Warrants and names in Some entry, and leaving 
 Spaces at the foot of Pages wherein entries might Accidentally be made 
 — Altho I had not left mine in a Situation to be taken any advantage of, 
 I could not help examining to Satisfy myself on the Subject, this I did 
 when at the Office in March, the result of which was that I did not see 
 any Entry that looked like haveing been improperly made at the bottom 
 of a page, but there is an Entry in which the No. of Acres has been 
 altered also the No. and Quantity of Warrants altered as will appear 
 by a refferance to the entry which I can point out, I also made a note 
 of the pages in Book B. on which there were Spaces left at Bottom, 
 determined to be able to judge for myself; All this I was not Cowardly 
 enough to keep to myself, nor Should I have kept it from you had I been 
 Clearly of Opinion there was not Some room for complaint. 
 
 But in making the communication, I have added to the Crime, by 
 becoming an open Spy, and thereby puting it in the power of your 
 pretended friends to place you on your guard, a Situation you ought 
 alwas to have been in; 
 
 Your conduct, however virtuously intended, in taking into your 
 friendship, the little Mad-River-Man, 7 and at once placing a man, 
 that Godalmighty had Scarcely known, in possession of a perfect knowl- 
 edge of the Situation of that country; and the advantages taken by him, 
 of which It was thought you had a knowledge, Ocationed much mur- 
 muring, and has perhaps been the cause of my taking more notice than 
 I otherwise Should have done — 
 
 You have, in foregoing, a Sketch made by [torn] man who has 
 nothing to fear from the Enmity of those [torn] whom the Statement 
 may concern, but as I do not Intend undertaking to be SPaniel myself, 
 I Shall mention no names unless there Should proove to be a necssity 
 for it; 
 
 I Should not have written yOu now, but hearing you were in a bad 
 humour, thought I would preface our meeting with a bit of a letter, 
 that it might be fully understood, when we do meet, what the terms 
 are — 
 
 I know not in whose hands Powells Warrant is, but as the record of 
 the Warrant, in the Registers Office, differs from the copy you gave 
 
 6 Anderson's office at Middletown, Ky. 
 
 7 Perhaps James Galloway who was the first surveyor for the Xenia 
 
 district. 
 
"Deputy Surveyor" 15 
 
 on the plat and Certificate, verry materially, you are much interested 
 in having the original. 
 
 I am Dear Sir, with due respect 
 Your Obt Servt 
 
 Joseph Kerr" 
 Col. Richard C. Anderson 
 
 An example of how Kerr certified certain details of an 
 entry, 
 
 "I Joseph Kerr Of the county of Ross and State of Ohio Acting- as 
 a Deputy under Col. Richard C. Anderson Principal Surveyor of the 
 lands Set appart for the officers and Soldiers in the Virginia line, do 
 hereby Certify that One Hundred and Ninety nine Acres of Land, 
 part of Joseph Jones' Servey No. 792, is included within the lines of 
 William W. Mickin's Survey No. 690, which being a prior entry, that 
 quantity is lost to Jones; In Witness Whereof I have hereunto Set my 
 hand this 4th of August 1807. 
 
 JOSEPH KERR, D. S." 
 
 Joseph Kerr to Col. Richard C. Anderson, Soldier Re- 
 treat, Near Middletown, Jefferson County, Kentucky. 
 
 "Chillicothe, 15th Aug. 1807 
 Dear Sir, 
 
 The accompanying entries I wish made & the Numbers 8 filled up, 
 the one in the name Wilkins and the first one in the name of 
 Crawford are to have the blank in each filled up with the number 
 which it may be proper to prefix to the one in my name which I 
 have numbered thus No. 1 — The 300 Acres to be entered in my name 
 is to be withdrawn from my entry No. 5074, the 300 Acres in the name 
 of Wilkins is to be withdrawn from his entry No. 5080, and the two 
 of Crawfords for 500 Acres each are to be withdrawn from his entry 
 No. 3869 of 1000 Acres- 
 Should your time permit I wish copies of all the entries made from 
 the time the copies was furnished Col. Gibson untill the time they 
 may be made out and forwarded — 
 
 Should you feel disposed to gratify me in my wish, you will please 
 forward them by Mail, 9 and in that way only — 
 
 With due respect I am 
 
 Dear Sir, your &c — 
 
 Joseph Kerr" 
 
 Joseph Kerr to Col. Richard C. Anderson: 
 
 "Chillicothe 9th March 1809. 
 Dear Sir, 
 
 Herewith you will receive a V. M. Warrant for 2666 2-3 Acres in 
 
 8 The numbers are supplied in R. C. Anderson's fine handwriting. 
 
 9 Evidently Kerr did not trust some of the messengers. 
 
16 General Joseph Kerr 
 
 the name of "The Heirs of William Phillips deed," No. 5218. Together 
 with entries for the same, which you will please to make and send 
 me copies of them as soon as they are made, with date and Nos. they 
 bear — The warrant has not issued to the person who performed the 
 services, but it was assd before the Issuing and not assd since, there- 
 fore suppose there is no Tax to be paid on it, on entering it in the 
 office; of this however I am not quite certain, Should a Tax be payable 
 on it agreeable to the rules of the office I will pay it when at the 
 office in the Month of May — There is many applications to me to 
 sign Surveys for our Barrens locators who are not acknowledged as 
 deputies; I have therefore thought that I would consult you on the 
 propriety of my signing Surveys I can know nothing of; I have signed 
 some few, but there are so many applications that I fear there may 
 be an impropriety in Signing; be so good as to express your Opinion 
 on this Subject — Please present to Mrs. Anderson, the Miss Andersons 
 and your son Richard my respects — 
 
 I am Dear Sir, yours Respectfully 
 Joseph Kerr." 
 Col: Richard C. Anderson." 
 
 Joseph Kerr to Richard C. Anderson: (fragment) 
 
 "Chillicothe 13th Deer. 1811 
 Dear Sir, 
 
 I send you two entries of 1000 Acres each, in the other side of this 
 Sheet which I wish made immediately on the receipt hereof — and when 
 yofu have a little time please forward me copies of all the entries, as 
 the[y] will then Stand, that are made on R. Nixons Wt. for 1400 
 Acres. Robt Prices four warrants of 1000 Acres each and E. Broun & 
 wife's Warrant No. 5524. These Warrants are assd to me, but am not 
 certain now that the assignment [torn] office, if they are please [torn] 
 
 Joseph Kerr to Richard C. Anderson: 
 
 "Col. Richard C. Anderson Chillicothe 9th Deer. 1814. 
 
 Dear Sir, 
 
 I wish you to withdraw from the west side of Andrew Nixons 
 entry No. 4849, 400 Acres, and make the within entry on that part of 
 his warrant. 
 
 I also wish you to withdraw entries No. 6700 for 233 Acres, No. 
 6701 for 200 Acres, No. 6705 for 250 Acres, made in my name on War- 
 rant No. 5705 and make the within entries on said Warrant — Also 
 withdraw 110 Acres of entry No. 6987 on warrant No. 5706 and enter 
 as caled for in the two last entries — 
 
 I also wish My entry No. 5075 on warrant No. 5100 withdrawn 
 and reentered as within — I fear there is not 200 Acres of Warrant 
 5100 unapropriated, in that case please alter the expression of my 
 entry after "East 200 poles", so as to read, "South for quantity" — this 
 alteration will not effect the after entries, & as the land on the 
 South is of little Value, not make any materiel difference — Should 
 
"Deputy Surveyor" 17 
 
 it be necessary to withdraw any part of Warrant No. 5100, let it be 
 done from Entry No. 5074 this being covered by two or three other en- 
 tries — 
 
 You will greatly oblige me by Sending me, by Mail, all the Surveys 
 remaining in the Office, which have been Recorded (and not withdrawn) 
 in MY NAME — I have now a fair prospect of having money in the 
 month of March at Louisville and will I assure you pay off at that 
 time all the charges ycJu may have against me 10 
 
 It has not been want of inclination that had prevented my acct 
 being paid, I could not spare the Means & have realy suffered much — 
 there are judgements at every court 11 against me for titles to lands 
 sold & most of them would Still take deeds if I could make them — 
 1 wrote you some time Since on the Subject of the Subject of the 
 Scioto claims — do not think me wishing to make an improper proposi- 
 tion, I am certain that In the end I must Suceed, but dislike Law — 
 
 Dear Sir, yours Respectfully, 
 Joseph Kerr" 
 
 Joseph Kerr to Richard C. Anderson: 
 
 "Chillicothe 9th May 1816 
 Dear Sir. 
 
 Since I have not paid all attention to the locating and surveying 
 business, I find that some of the younghands begin to Survey the lands 
 located by me — As I undertook the business and is alone responsible 
 I think I ought to at least have the doing of the work which I en- 
 tirely controul — Unless there are powers Vested in you which I am not 
 aware of I think you ought not to order it, as it is said you do, and if 
 you do not order it I wish you not to Receive any returns of Surveys 
 on entries made by me — my entries are all surveyed and will be re- 
 turned in due time 12 
 
 With Sentiments of Respect for yourself and family I am Dear 
 Sir your &c 
 
 Joseph Kerr." 
 Col. Richd C. Anderson 
 
 Joseph Kerr to Richard C. Anderson: 
 
 "Chillicothe Ohio, 10th Augt 1816 
 Col. Richd C. Anderson, 
 Dear Sir, 
 
 You are hereby authorized and requested to withdraw Thomas 
 
 10 One of his "adventures to New Orleans" brings in some cash. 
 
 11 His political and business adversaries are trying to force him into 
 bankruptcy. 
 
 12 This shows some of the underhanded tricks used by speculators. 
 The paper and poor quality pen leads one to believe that this was 
 written from the Chillicothe Jail where Kerr was confined at times 
 under the debtor law. 
 
18 General Joseph Kerr 
 
 Pembertons entry No. 2741 for 400 Acres from where it is now entered 
 and place it agreeably to the enclosed entry; I have also enclosed 
 the Survey which you will please date and Record so that the whole 
 may be ready when caled for — 
 
 By examining the Records of Surveys lately sent on by you to the 
 Auditor I find that C. Wallace has returned some of the surveys in 
 the name of the Heirs of Wm. Philips 13 — This I call Swindling I had 
 & Still have Surveys made out of these lands & will make return of 
 them in due time; I am entitled to a fourth of the lands held by that 
 warrant by Special agent and have authorised no one to concern 
 with the business, of this I desire you to take notice — 
 
 I have good reason for delaying this business & Shall expect that 
 no one be permitted to interfere & that the plats returned be held 
 untill I order them or call for them, I have written this in Such way 
 as to remain on file — I am Dear Sir yours Respectfully — 
 
 Joseph Kerr 
 
 P. S. Have you ever found the assignment from Thos Pemberton 
 
 to & from him to Jno. Wilkins Junr. that assignment will 
 
 be wanted now. 
 
 J. Kerr. 
 
 Joseph Kerr to Richard C. Anderson: 
 
 "No. 4018. Henry Massie and Joseph Kerr assigns, withdraw their 
 entry No. 4018, being lost by prior and better claim, and Reenter 50 
 Acres of land on said part of Military Warrant No. 230, on Waters 
 of Sunfish creek. Beginning Six poles South east from the Southeast 
 corner of George Lowmans fence, running thence to a point Six poles 
 Southwest from the Southwest corner of his fence, thence and from the 
 Beginning down towards the creek by lines parallel to his upper and 
 lower fences so far that a line parallel to the first line will include 
 the quantity. 
 
 Joseph Kerr D. S. 
 Coll. R. C. Anderson, 
 
 5th March 1817. 
 
 Will see by the certificate of Genl. McArthur that entry No. 4018 
 as it has been Patented is lost by other claims, and will please with- 
 draw it and make the above entry by Virtue of the Warrant left, thus, 
 unsatisfied as by refference to the Patent and connection will appear — 
 
 Joseph Kerr D. S." 
 
 Joseph Kerr to Richard C. Anderson: 
 
 "Col: Richard C. Anderson, Chillicothe 15th Sepr 1817. 
 
 Dear Sir, 
 
 I wish you to examine the Situation of the following Warrants, 
 an give me a copy of every entry, as they now stand, that is made 
 
 13 See letter dated March 9, 1809. It took years to complete some of 
 the records. 
 
"Deputy Surveyor" 19 
 
 in ycur Books on them and note in the Margin where they have been 
 Surveyed and the Survey Recorded; Give me the dates as well as the 
 numbers; of each entry and Survey — So far as the Surveys are return- 
 ed, and are yet in the office, I wish them made out for me and a bill sent 
 me of your fees so that I may pay you and take them out as early as 
 possible — 
 
 Warrants No. 5703, 5704, 5705 & 5706 each 1000 Acres— 5524 for 
 1500 Acres — 5100 for 1000 Acres and 5909 for 100 Acres — I have desired 
 to know your fee because I have myself done all the surveying and paid 
 the hands, so that none but your own are chargeable — 
 
 Will the note of Clark and Anderson be collected? 
 
 I wish you when at Leisure to make out a statement of my Acct 
 from the Beginning of my transactions in the office, and note therein 
 the name of each Survey with which I am charged with the fees and 
 Each for which I have credit, so that I can see how my affairs stands 
 with others as well as with you — 14 
 
 I find that some of the Deputies are taking the liberty to withdraw 
 and reenter Some warrants which I had confided to my care — To 
 offer threats to a man of your age and Experience may be thought 
 a little improper, but let it be remembered that if I do not see myself 
 put right I need not expect any one else to do it for me — my stay, 
 where I now am, 15 has put it in my power to judge for myself, when 
 I am Wronged, and to know the remedy — be assured that I will see 
 myself put in possession of that which is my right — I ask no more — 1 
 speak now of the Warrant of the Heirs of William Philips and that 
 of Thos Pemberton 16 — in those cases those concerned must look out — 
 
 Note at foot your charge for the copies and also the Amt of the 
 fees which will be due you and the Amt shall be enclosed by an early 
 mail — 
 
 Yours Dear Sir, 
 
 Respectfully 
 
 Joseph Kerr" 
 
 Joseph Kerr to Col. R. C. Anderson, 
 
 "Chillicothe 20th March 1818. 
 Dear Sir, 
 
 Please to send to me as early as convenient, the plat and certifi- 
 cate of my Survey No. 5554 on Warrant No. 5100. for 200 Acres on 
 Deer creek, together with the proper certificates &c — I enclose to you 
 Ten Dollars — and will certainly remit to you the Balance of my acct 
 if you will be so good as to make it out specifying the items on each 
 
 14 Massie's estate is still in court awaiting settlement. There is much 
 litigation and Kerr needs these records to protect himself and his 
 clients. 
 
 15 Kerr was jailed for debts in July 1817. 
 
 16 See letters of March 9, 1809, and August 10, 1816. 
 
20 General Joseph Kerr 
 
 side — this is necessary in my settlement with others 17 or I would not 
 give you the trouble, 
 
 Yours Dear Sir, 
 
 Respectfully 
 
 Joseph Kerr" 
 
 Joseph Kerr to Richard C. Andersen: 
 
 "Chillicothe. Ohio, 11th April, 1818. 
 Dear Sir, 
 
 I Reed in due time your favour covering the plat and certificate 
 of Survey No. 5554 also the ten Dollar note you returned — I am pleased 
 that it has been returned, as these notes were out of credit here when 
 it was returned, but I did not kow it, nor was it so, when I sent it 18 — 
 
 I now send you a note on one of your own State Banks of twenty 
 Dollars; and wish you to Send to me the Plat and certificate for John 
 Barr's Survey No. 4874, and my own Survey No. 7447. the latter for 
 100 Acres and the former for 200 Acres — 
 
 I wish you to send me also, on a large piece of Paper, a Duplicate 
 of Robert Powells Survey No. 503. Strange as it may appear no pat- 
 ent has yet Issued for that tract 19 — 
 
 The object now is to try to obtain a transfer from the Heirs of 
 Powell so as to get the Patent — It appears that Genl Massie had lodged 
 the original Plat and certificate in the War office Shortly before it 
 was destroyed by fire, where it was destroyed — A duplicate of the 
 Survey was found amongst Genl Massies Papers with his deposition 
 thereon to this effect; but his deposition alone is not sufficient to 
 satisfy the proper officer so as to issue to the Heirs 20 — this is a piece 
 of information which I wish to have but little said about, please file 
 this letter to prevent a general view of it 21 — 
 
 It cannot be either your wish or interest that I should be com- 
 peled to to have the claim, where you and myself are in conflict, Set- 
 tled by a Suit — It never was my wish to do you an injury — my wish 
 was to have an important principle tryed — So far I have Succeeded — 
 at the last circuit court time was given to Justice Millers heirs to bring 
 proof of Powell having served in the Continental line — this, you know, 
 cannot be done, and of course the Decree will be entered for me in 
 January — the tract you claim under Powell is Valuable — Now say you 
 will divide it and let me withdraw, (when the office opens again,) mine 
 
 17 His creditors are pushing Kerr into bankruptcy. 
 
 18 Financial stringency and credit system are leading into the panic 
 
 of 1819. 
 
 19 Although Massie sold this land to Kerr and others as early as 
 1796. 
 
 20 Massie was accused of frafud in connection with this Survey 
 No. 503. 
 
 21 Watts vs. Massie (heirs), and Watts vs. Kerr et al, were taken 
 from the Kentucky courts to the United States Supreme Court. 
 
"Deputy Surveyor" 21 
 
 in the Name of Nevill- 2 under the 2 Section of the Act of Congress of 
 13th May 1800. 
 
 In this way both will be gainer and no one of us loser — All you 
 have to do is say so and here ends our controversy — 
 
 I am Dear Sir, yours 
 
 Respectfully — 
 
 Joseph Kerr" 
 Col. Richard C. Anderson — 
 
 Joseph Kerr to Richard C. Anderson: 
 
 "Chillicothe, Ohio, 22d June 1818. 
 Col. R. C. Anderson, 
 Sir, 
 
 Some years since I directed withdrawn, the work which had been 
 done for myself and John Stealy on Military Warrant No. 4107 despair- 
 ing then of being able to obtain Patents thereon — I am now Satisfied 
 that Patents can be obtained on it and wish it again Acted on & have 
 enclosed annexed Entries thereon, which I wish made on the receipt 
 hereof — The warrant lies in the office, I believe in the former survey 
 which was withdrawn — Inclosed is the assignment from Martin Hardin 
 to myself and J. Stealy — Should any of these entries appear to be 
 where prior entries have been made, and are in force, please Send 
 me copies of such entry & also copies of these — It is so long since I 
 have had a view of the Book of Entries, I cannot act with certainty 
 but must endeavour to do my own locating — 
 
 Hereafter, do not receive any entries or surveys with my signa- 
 ture, unless they are accompanied with a letter which you know to 
 have been written by me. 23 
 
 I had once Authorized the use of my name, but it is long since, 
 and did not suppose it would be now used for any purpose — it is, how- 
 ever, forbid, and the use of it will, of course, cease — 
 With great respect I am Sir, 
 
 Your Obt Sert 
 
 Joseph Kerr" 
 (on same folded sheet as previous letter) 
 
 Joseph Kerr to Richard C. Anderson: 
 
 "Chillicothe, Ohio, 22d June 1818. 
 Col. R. C. Anderson, 
 
 Dear Sir, 
 
 Since the receipt of your letter of the r3th inst. I have carefully 
 examined the Act of Congress passed on the 11th April 1818 "to extend 
 
 22 Col. John Neville of Pittsburg. 
 
 23 Kerr is in jail under the debtor law. 
 
22 General Joseph Kerr 
 
 the time for locating Virginia Military land warrants" &c — Although 
 the law is not worded as clearly as could have been wished; I am of 
 the opinion, after comparing it with former Acts on the same subject, 
 that the reference made to "the ratification of any treaty," &c is in- 
 tended as a limitation to the time at which the locating under this act, 
 shall end — and, consequently, that the office is now properly open for 
 locating &c — 
 
 I am Sir, very Respectfully 
 
 yours &c 
 Joseph Kerr" 
 
 Joseph Kerr to Richard C. Anderson: 
 
 "Wheeling Virginia 9th Novr 18 (torn) 
 Dear Sir 
 
 I have enclosed you by Mr. Clarke Seven land Warrants Amount- 
 ing to 4,500 Acres, together with entries which I wish made to that 
 amount, there are two Nos. wanting which I could not fill up for want 
 of time, please either to fill them up or leave a blank for them, untill 
 I am at the office which will be in February, and not before — 
 
 I have given Mr. Clarke twenty Dollars which he will give you on 
 the Delivery of this letter, you know how to apply it; I know yooi dont 
 offten write on the Subject, but would be glad if you would inform me 
 by letter whether you think any of those entries are too late getting to 
 the office — Should you write please direct to me at Cumberland, 
 Maryland 24 — Accept your self and present to Mrs. Anderson my best 
 respects — 
 
 I[n] health and haste, I am Dr Sir, yours, 
 Respectfully — 
 
 Joseph Kerr" 
 Col: Richard C. Anderson 
 
 Joseph Kerr to Richard C. Anderson: 
 
 "Chillicothe, Ohio, 2d July 1823. 
 Dear Sir, 
 
 I am so situated, and have been for a long time, that I cannot do 
 any surveying; in consequence of which I have Spoken to, and en- 
 gaged, Mr. Cadwalader Wallace to complete the Surveying, and any 
 new locations, that may be required, in the business that was in my 
 hands; you will therefore, permit him to Return Surveys, and make 
 entries, where necessary, in all cases in which I had, or have, an 
 interest — Also to take out of the office all such Surveys when 
 Recorded — 
 
 24 The date is torn off, perhaps it was written in 1806 or 1807 when 
 Kerr with Elie Williams and Thomas Morris served as commis- 
 sioner for the laying out of the national road from Cumberland to 
 Wheeling. 
 
"Deputy Surveyor" 23 
 
 Accept my thanks for your attention to my interest, in refusing 
 to admit of such proceedings without my written orders — He had how- 
 ever the power from me, tho' not in form — 
 
 Have the goodness to let me have a Statement of my Acct with 
 you — this is indispensible in a Settlement with the Heirs of Genl 
 Massie, which is not yet had — In making out the Acct please name the 
 owner or No. of each Survey &c. 25 
 
 I am Dear Sir, with sentiments of Respect and friendship your 
 obliged Servt 
 
 Joseph Kerr" 
 
 In the small leather-bound receipt book of Richard C. 
 Andersen, carrying the title, "Surveyors Office, Virginia Mili- 
 tary Lands, Receipt Book B," showing the date of the first 
 record to be January 5, 1812, and the last made on June 29, 
 1826, the paper a beautiful rag-stock hand-made paper from 
 the Thomas Gilpin & Co. paper mill on the Brandywine, Pa., 
 and so watermarked, we read, written in Col. Anderson's fine 
 hand, 
 
 "Soldier's Retreat, October 3, 1818 
 Received of Richard C. Anderson, one Survey for 1000 acres in the 
 name of Hite and Bowman for Genl McArthur, and 2 surveys in my 
 own name for 1750 acres without the warrant" — 
 
 Joseph Kerr" 
 
 The signature is Kerr's characteristic signature and this 
 is the survey referred to in the following letters of Duncan 
 McArthur. 26 
 
 "Fruit hill Octr. 28th 1818 
 Dear sir, 
 
 Joseph Kerr returned home a few days since, and I addressed him 
 a note, requesting that he would hand the bearer thereof the survey 
 and papers which you had put into his hands, to be delivered to me. 
 Which he refuses to do, and says. "When leaving Col. Andersons office 
 he placed amongest my surveys, one which has been made on my 
 land, not tho' in your name; and I Receipted for it — this was done 
 without Solicitation, intregue, or intention on my part; and as it 
 is intended to pester some person, and as I have no assurance of your 
 friendship and every appearance of the absence of it — I consider it 
 fair play to take and keep all advantages. — " 
 
 25 Many lawsuits over titles resulting from the Massie suits and the 
 
 endeavor of political opponents to force Kerr out of the picture. 
 
 26 Ohio Mss. in the Illinois Historical Survey. 
 
24 General Joseph Kerr 
 
 Here sir, you can see, that he is willing- that the censure should 
 rest on you, by saying "that you placed it amongest his Surveys 
 without solicitation." As I am acquainted with you both, I am unwill- 
 ing from any insinuation of his, to believe that you intended to do me 
 an injury, by — puting my survey into his hands. Yet you must now 
 be sensible of its opperation. 
 
 I did think strange that none of my letters to you, for three 
 months before, had ever been answered, and that said surveys had 
 not been forwarded to me, before Kerr arrived at the office. And 
 thought it possible, that contrary to common usage, I might perhaps 
 have been condemned without a hearing. I was indeed, much re- 
 lieved, relieved at commencing your letter of the 16th Inst, with these 
 words. "I wish it to be fully understood, — that I have nothing against 
 you of an unfavourable character." But my Dear sir, I trust you 
 will excuse me, when I frankly tell you, that the ballance of the para- 
 graph, did not a little surprise me, when I learned that you had put 
 into the hands of Joe Kerr, a survey of mine, which he might possibly 
 conceive would enterfer with his interest. 
 
 I do not know that it will be in your power to redress the injury 
 which I am likely to sustain by the mistake. I have no doubt, but a 
 duplicate of my survey No. 9598 & 9629 is now on its way to this 
 place with all the documents and certificates which you have been 
 able to give, to assist me in obtaining a patent for the land. But I am 
 not certain that duplicates will answer, when it is known that the 
 original survey and papers are in existence. Or if I had the original, 
 at this time, that both Oneals and Powells surveys will not be patent- 
 ed, before I could possibly get a patent for mine. 
 
 Before I set out for the Indian treaty, I enclosed you the fees, 
 and requested that you would send me, by the next mail, surveys No. 
 7417 & 7418 which I had made for Nathl. Pendleton. I also requested 
 that you would send me, an article of agreement, which you had made 
 with the agent of Mr. Simmes for the locating of Richard Philip 
 Francis Lees land warrant, which you stated you woud put into my 
 hands at anytime, — when I made the Lees Entrees. Mr. Simms was 
 here last year, and is again expected daily for the purpose 
 of dividing the land, and I wish, if you please, that you would enclose 
 me this article of agreement, by next mail. 
 
 I wish to receive from the office, my surveys generally, so far 
 as they have been recorded. But I have so often made this request 
 with out a reply, that it is — really with reluctance, that I now trouble 
 you on the subject. 
 
 It would be, both gratifying and interesting to me, to be advised, 
 whether you intend doing business in your office, after the first of 
 next month, as I have not yet been able intirely, to close my business 
 south of the Indian boundary. 
 
 very respectfully 
 
 I am Dear sir, 
 
 Your Ob servt. 
 Duncan McArthur" 
 Col. Richard C. Anderson 
 
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 Portion of double sheet of hand made, linen rag paper 
 which was the first found showing the "MIAMI W & Co" water- 
 mark. This is a certified copy of a deed to land first owned by 
 George Washington. 
 
"Deputy Surveyor" 25 
 
 In a subsequent letter, dated "Fruit hill Novr. 28th 1818" 
 Mc Arthur says to Col. Andersen, " — so scon as Genl. Kerr ot> 
 tained a patent, in the name of Rcbt. Powell, for survey No. 
 503, he enclosed the original to me, with these remarks "I 
 have retained the plot and certificate of survey, for the tract 
 of land on which I live which ycu claim, until it can do me no 
 harm &c." 
 
 McArthur, born in the State of New York, came at the 
 age of 18 to the Ohio country as a volunteer in General Har- 
 mar's campaign. In 1793 he was chain bearer for Nathaniel 
 Massie on the Scioto River and in 1796 assisted him in the 
 locating and platting of Chillicothe. Massie gave him 150 acres 
 two miles west of Chillicothe for one year's services. To this 
 McArthur gradually added more land, taking advantage of 
 cloudy or disputed titles, gained the reputation as a land jobber 
 and when he was killed in 1839 by a falling roof died one of 
 the richest men in land but heartily disliked and scorned. 27 
 With General Kerr and others he was involved in the battle 
 of John Watts for his land which Massie had sold to others. 
 In a letter to Col. Anderson, dated "Fruit hill Novr 9, 1818," 
 McArthur says, "We have been most grivously harassed, by 
 Col. Watts, and if we should succeed against him we are 
 doubtful of ever being able to establish our title, or in other 
 words Genl. Massies title, to Powell's claim." Watts won the 
 suit and Kerr, with the others who had bought land from 
 Massie in this Survey No. 503, lost his home and wonderful 
 farm just outside Chillicothe. 
 
 An interesting chapter of Joseph Kerr's activities concerns 
 itself with the "lost lands of George Washington" which were 
 part of the Virginia Military lands. Washington, who was deep- 
 ly interested in the development of the western country and 
 advised many of his young friends to invest in such lands 
 before the influx of settlers occupied all the desirable regions, 
 sent Christopher Gist in 1750 to the Ohio valley to investi- 
 gate. Gist returned the following year and his journal gives 
 us a picture of the territory he traversed and what he found 
 there. His account was enthusiastic enough to determine Wash- 
 ington to own some of this fertile valley. As a young man he 
 had surveyed in the upper Ohio and now he was interested in 
 the salt lands of the "Kenawha valley." 
 
 27 Sokolski, Landgrabbing. 
 
26 General Joseph Kerr 
 
 Washington, who never accepted any money from his 
 government either for his services in the Revolution or as 
 President, had purchased, February 14, 1774, a land warrant 
 for 3.000 acres issued December 7, 1763, by Lord Dunmore 
 of Virginia, to Captain John Rootes who had served in the 
 French and Indian War. Later he bought a Revolutionary War 
 warrant for 100 acres issued to Thomas Cope, a private from 
 Virginia. In the summer of 1787 Washington gave these two 
 warrants to Major John O'Bannon, first surveyor for the Vir- 
 ginia Mlitary District, to locate and survey for him. O'Bannon, 
 in the spring of 1788, surveyed and entered at Richmond, Va., 
 three tracts for Washington in what is now Clermont County, 
 Ohio. They totalled 3,051 acres. Two are on the Little Miami 
 river; one at the mouth of the East Fork and extending into 
 Hamilton County, the second on the big bend above Milford. 
 The third tract was located near Felicity, O. 
 
 With the many complications arising from the fact that 
 land warrants issued to officers and soldiers were for quantity 
 and could be located anywhere in the military lands Congress 
 was appealed to for laws protecting those who first settled on 
 a tract. Among the various laws enacted by Congress to estab- 
 lish definite ownership the one of 1790 required that warrants, 
 surveys and entries be recorded with the State Department in 
 Washington to secure the title. Although Washington, as Presi- 
 dent, signed this law he failed to comply with it himself re- 
 garding his lands in the Little Miami Valley. In 1797 Nathan- 
 iel Massie, Deputy Surveyor for the Virginia Military District, 
 was in Alexandria and warned Washington that he would lose 
 these Ohio lands. In 1796 Washington had advertised them for 
 sale in various newspapers stating that they were "near to if 
 not adjoining (the river only separating them) the grant made 
 to Judge Symmes and others, between the two Miamis; and 
 being in the neighborhood of Cincinnati and Fort Washington, 
 cannot, from their situation (if the quality of the soil is cor- 
 rectly stated) be otherwise than valuable." 
 
 The interchange of letters between Washington and Col. 
 Richard Clough Anderson, Surveyor General of the Virginia 
 Military lands, 28 shows that there was some concern about the 
 title to these tracts in the Little Miami valley. 
 
 28 E. O. Randall, Washington's Ohio Lands. 
 
"Deputy Surveyor" 27 
 
 "Mount Vernon, 30th July, 1798. 
 Richard C. Anderson, Esq. 
 
 Sir: — In the course of the last winter a Mr. Massey passed through 
 Alexandria on his way to Philadelphia and reported at the former 
 place that I should lose my land in the North West Territory on the 
 Little Miami. 
 
 Not perceiving how this could happen fairly, and not supposing 
 that it could be taken from me otherwise, without allowing me a 
 hearing, I paid but little attention to the report until Mr. George Gra- 
 ham called on me the other day and in conversation on this subject 
 gave it as his opinion that the land was in real jeopardy by re-entry 
 under some error in the former proceedings, and advised me to write 
 to you relative thereto. 
 
 This I now do under full conviction, however, that as the former 
 surveys were made under your auspices; examined and recorded in 
 your office; and patents granted thereupon in the year 1790 with 
 the following recital. "In consideration of a military warrant of 3000 
 acres granted to John Rootes by Lord Dunmore the 7th December, 
 1763 and assigned by the said Rootes unto George Washington the 
 14th of February 1774 and exchanged by a resolution of general 
 assembly, passed the 30th of December, 1784, for a warrant of 3000 
 acres No. 3753 and dated the 14th of February 1785." I say under full 
 conviction that you would not suffer the land to be wrested from me 
 by any subsequent transaction in your office without giving me notice 
 thereof in time to assert my prior claims, I now give you the trouble 
 of this address, adding at the time if anything is necessary on my 
 part to give more validity or greater legality to former proceedings, 
 I am willing to encounter the expense than enter into a tedious and 
 expensive chancery suit which I assuredly shall do before my property 
 shall be taken from me. 
 
 I would thank you Sir for full information, and your advice rela- 
 tive to this matter as soon as it is convenient. 
 
 Most Obet. Hble. Servt, 
 
 Go. Washington" 
 
 To this Col. Anderson replied: 
 
 "September 5, 1798, 
 Sir: — 
 
 Yours of the 30th of July I have the honor to receive and cannot 
 conceive from what circumstances Mr. Massie or Mr. Graham could 
 found an opinion that your military claim was in the least danger, 
 no entry as yet to my knowledge having been made on the same 
 ground. It is probable, however, that the opinion was founded on a 
 resolution of Congress which was intended to prevent those; who 
 from the time of service are not entitled to lands; but from the liber- 
 ality of the state of Virginia obtained warrants by resolution of the 
 assembly, but, as this in my mind was not your case, yours being 
 exchanged by a resolution of Assembly, I did not trouble your ex- 
 cellency with the conjectures of a few on that head; and you may 
 rest assured should any attempt be made in this office, by entry or 
 
28 General Joseph Kerr 
 
 otherwise that I shall take the liberty of giving you immediate notice 
 thereof. And as it is a matter of consequence, as I am informed yours 
 are valuable lands. Provided you think there can be the least danger 
 from the lands being laid in consequence of a resolution warrant that 
 you make yourself acquainted with that particular circumstance and 
 if you think it in danger to send out other warrants to cover its 
 place. 
 
 With much respect and esteem, I have the honor to be, 
 
 Sir Your most Ob. Servant. 
 
 Richard C. Anderson.'* 
 
 When Washington made his will on July 9, 1799, he was 
 in the firm belief that his title to these lands was unclouded, 
 lists them in his schedule of property and estimates their value 
 at $15,255, adding in his notes, " — I have been informed that 
 they will readily command more than they are estimated at." 2S 
 
 After his death his heirs could not claim these lands al- 
 though Congress endeavored to protect the title. Joseph Kerr 
 as Deputy Surveyor had perfected the title to them by January 
 8, 1808, two for the heirs of John Neville and one for Henry 
 Massie, founder of Portsmouth, O. 
 
 In 1809 Kerr bought out the Neville heirs, Presley Neville 
 and Amelia Neville Craig. The tract of 1060 2/3 acres on the 
 big bend of the Little Miami above Milford Kerr sold on 
 March 25, 1811, to Christian Waldsmith, head of that flourish- 
 ing settlement on the opposite bank of the river. 
 
 The certified copy of the deed of the tract near Felicity and 
 this one sold to Waldsmith is a notable item in this Joseph Kerr 
 mess, collection because it is written on a sheet of paper made at 
 "Big Bottom," shows the water mark, "MIAMI W & Co.," and 
 furnished the date for the first making of paper west of Pennsyl- 
 vania. Following this clue the correct date when this Waldsmith 
 paper mill was established was obtained and further research 
 provided the complete history. The paper is a handsome, heavy 
 piece of hand made, linen rag-stock sheet, in perfect condition 
 and highly valuable for its historic importance in definitely 
 establishing when paper was first made in the Little Miami 
 valley. 
 
 29 Washington, D. C, Government Printing Office, Last Will and 
 Testament of George Washington. 
 
CHAPTER III 
 
 JOSEPH KERR'S POLITICAL ACTIVITIES 
 
 It was because of his political activities that Joseph Kerr, 
 ""Lost Ohio Senator," was found again. 
 
 Historians in Ohio, delving in past records for the life and 
 achievements of the men who had helped organize the new 
 state, build and develop it into one of the leading common- 
 wealths of the United States, found General Kerr's history sing- 
 ularly coming to an abrupt close somewhere around the year 
 1824 as far as data about him could be found. He left Chilli- 
 cothe "and if he ever wrote a single letter back to any one here, 
 I never could hear of it, although I have made diligent search 
 for such." 11 All attempts to clear up this complete effacement 
 were fruitless for about 75 years. It was due to the persistent 
 efforts of the various Congressional committees appointed to 
 gather and print the history of all United State Senators and 
 Congressmen that the search for information regarding Senator 
 Kerr continued. 
 
 Wm. A. Taylor, of Columbus, O., publisher of Ohio in Con- 
 gress, gave up the search, and in his list of Ohio Statesmen des- 
 ignated Kerr as "The Lost Ohio Senator." 2 At the same time Col. 
 Wm. E. Gilmore, historian of Chillicothe, began seeking further 
 information regarding Kerr. He and Taylor worked together 
 but it was Gilmore who in 1886, began a correspondence with 
 Eleanora Prescott Carrel, wife of Hercules Carrel, famous steam- 
 boat captain, whom he knew to be a descendant of Joseph Kerr. 
 Eventually this correspondence led to her son, Henry Clay 
 Carrel, architect of New York City, in whose possession was 
 a collection of manuscript material dating back to Joseph Kerr, 
 and from which a selection has been made for this present 
 volume. After the death of Henry Clay Carrel, his brothers, J. 
 Wallace Carrel and George P. Carrel of Cincinnati, Ohio, took 
 up the search for Kerr after he left Chillicothe and with the 
 publication of this present book they have completely recorded 
 all the activities of General Joseph Kerr to the time of his 
 death, 1837, at Lake Providence, La., and he is no longer "Ohio's 
 Lost Senator." 
 
 1 Wm. A. Taylor, Ohio Statesmen. 
 
 2 Wm. A. Taylor, Ohio in Congress. 
 
 29 
 
30 General Joseph Kerr 
 
 The first we learn of Joseph Kerr's political activity is 
 at Manchester, Ohio. "Joseph Kerr was a pioneer of Adams 
 County. He is prominently identified with the early political 
 history of the county until his removal to Ross County about 
 the year 1800. He served in the State Senate from 1804 to 1807, 
 and was the only member of "The High Court of Impeachment" 
 in the trial of Judge William W. Irwin, of Fairfield County, 
 charged with "high misdemeanor and neglect of duties," who 
 from first to last voted in the negative. He was Speaker pro tern 
 of the session of 1804-5. He afterwards served one term in the 
 House of Representatives from Ross County." This statement 
 in Evans & Stivers' History of Adams County, Ohio, is not quite 
 accurate as we shall see. 3 
 
 Here in Manchester, the town destined to bring to a head 
 the quarrel between Governor St. Clair and the Virginia party 
 led by Thomas Worthington and Nathaniel Massie, Joseph 
 Kerr served as justice of the peace, member of the Court of 
 General Quarters Sessions of the Peace 4 , was elected clerk of 
 the county board, 5 was appointed surveyor for roads, 6 and made 
 "a member of the county's committee of justices assigned to 
 keep the peace and to grant orders for highways." 7 
 
 Giving up Manchester and concentrating on the new town 
 he established on the Scioto, Massie took to Chillicothe the 
 Virginians who led the opposition to Gov. St. Clair and a con- 
 tinuance of territorial government. In this struggle Thomas 
 Worthington was sent to Philadelphia to lay before Congress 
 the needs of the Ohio country. The frontier men knew what was 
 needed better than did the politicians in Philadephia. The 
 Chillicothe party won with the election of 1800 when the Re- 
 publican majority came into power and favored a new state in 
 the west. With Edward Tiffin elected the first governor, Re- 
 publican control centered in the Chillicothe party which formu- 
 lated the new constitution with power vested in the people for 
 the people. The new town on the Scioto River became the capi- 
 tal of the new State, the heart of the Virginia Military Dis- 
 trict and the center of the Virginia party which made its in- 
 fluence felt in the development of the new state. 
 
 3 Evans & Stivers, History of Adams County, Ohio. P. 83-4. 
 
 4 ibid, p. 115. 
 
 5 ibid, p. 140. 
 
 6 ibid, p. 115. 
 
 7 ibid, p. 121. 
 
"Political Activities" 31 
 
 Joseph Kerr, with true pioneer spirit and the feeling of 
 certainty that the new town would flourish, again cast his lot 
 in with Nathaniel Massie, Thomas Worthington, Edward Tiffin 
 and their group. Wm. A. Taylor states, "He took an active 
 part in the new state movement, along with Thomas Worth- 
 ington, Edward Tiffin, William Goforth, Gen. Nathaniel Massie, 
 William Henry Harrison, Judge Francis Dunlavey, Jeremiah 
 Morrow and the other state-movement leaders, and must have 
 been a pungent public speaker judging from the spirited re- 
 plies of Gen. Arthur St. Clair, the Territorial Governor, to 
 some of his public speeches." 8 
 
 The year after Ohio became a state Kerr was elected 
 to the state senate and served as speaker pro tern. This was 
 an important session in which Joseph Kerr took an active part. 
 
 However, his land business became so important and the 
 development of his shipping of produce grew immensely that 
 Kerr did not remain in politics long. He watched with inter- 
 est the recognition which the Ohio country's importance re- 
 ceived among politicians and business men of the east. Routes 
 from tidewater to the Ohio valley were proposed and money 
 set aside for the building of better roads. When Worthing- 
 ton was in Congress (1805), he recommended a route by way 
 of Cumberland, Md. Others held out for a road connecting 
 the James River headwaters with those of the Great Kanawha 
 because this valley was known to contain vast natural re- 
 sources, especially salt, so vital to t he pioneer. 8 
 
 All this urge for a better connection between the east 
 and the west culminated in 1806 when Thomas Jefferson 
 appointed Thomas Moore of Pennsylvania, Elie Williams of 
 Maryland, and Joseph Kerr of Ohio, as commissioners to lay 
 out a road from Cumberland Md., to the Ohio. 10 
 
 Williams, who had been the partner of Col. Robert Elliott 
 in the business of supplying the armies, was keenly interested 
 in the development of the western country and promoted the 
 laying out of good roads so that moving supplies would not 
 be the hardship it had been in earlier days. 11 For instance, 
 during the Braddock campaign, pioneers had to precede the 
 troops and cut a road through forests, build bridges over 
 
 8 Wm. A. Taylor, Ohio Statesmen. 
 
 9 Rufus King, Ohio: first fruits of the Ordinance of 1787. 
 
 10 Thos. B. Searight, The Old Pike. 
 
 11 Archer B. Hulbert, Old National Road. 
 
32 General Joseph Kerr 
 
 streams, and in a rather primitive way prepare a path through 
 the wilderness for the troops and the army equipment. Wil- 
 liams had been responsible for the road from tidewater to 
 Cumberland, 12 and as Joseph Kerr was a surveyor, had been 
 connected with Williams in the army contracting business 
 and so closely associated with him that he named his second 
 son Elie Williams Kerr, it was through the influence of Wil- 
 liams that Kerr received this great national recognition from 
 the President. 
 
 The first report of the commissioners has a rugged qual- 
 ity, a directness, and shows an understanding of the problems 
 of transportation in the wilderness so that, judging from his 
 letters, we are led to believe that Kerr, accustomed to the 
 use of the goose quill and iron-gall ink with which to ex- 
 press his thoughts, was the one who prepared this report. 
 
 We find that he signed this report but a note at the 
 end of the 1808 report states that he was absent at the time 
 the report was presented to the President and Congress. How- 
 ever, we do not find anything further about Kerr's activities 
 in this project. 13 
 
 In the fall of 1808 he was elected to the Ohio House of 
 Representatives and was appointed Adjutant General of Ohio. 
 In 18 10 he was elected to the Ohio Senate for the second time. 
 We find some interesting sidelights on this election in the 
 Chillicothe Supporter which announced in an editorial of Oc- 
 tober 6, 1810, 
 
 We are happy to state that JOSEPH KERR, esq. returned home 
 yesterday. During his absence, a number of persons have been engaged 
 in circulating a report, that he would not be a candidate for the Sen- 
 ate, at the next election; but we are authorized, unequivocally to state, 
 that he is a candidate. We hope, therefore, that every elector, who 
 wishes to support the constitution and the rights of freemen, will 
 come to the polls on Tuesday next, and give their united suffrages to 
 this gentleman, whose stern integrity, sound judgement, and correct 
 principles will add honour to the country." 
 
 Other candidates announced in Ross County were Return 
 Jonathan Meigs for Governor, and Jeremiah Morrow for Con- 
 gress. Thomas Worthington for Governor, with Jeremiah Mor- 
 row for Congress and Joseph Kerr for the Ohio Senate were 
 announced on August 14, 1810, by the Democratic-Republican 
 Citizens of Ross County and on September 29, 1810, an ad- 
 
 12 J. Thos. Scharf, History of Western Maryland. 
 
 13 Thos B. Searight, The Old Pike. 
 
From Ohio Senate Journal, December 10, 1814, pages 59 
 and 60: 
 
 "A message from the house of representatives by Mr. Tup- 
 per. Mr. Speaker — The representatives' chamber is now ready 
 for the reception of the senate, in order to proceed to the elec- 
 tion of a senator in congress, in the room of Thomas Worthing- 
 ton, Esqure, resigned; Whereupon; 
 
 The members of the senate with the speaker and clerk, re- 
 paired to the representatives' chamber, and agreeably to the 
 joint resolution, the members of both houses proceeded to elect, 
 by joint ballot, a senator in congress in the room of the honor- 
 able Thomas Worthington." 
 
 The four ballots were as follows: 
 
 Joseph Kerr 13 22 36 42 
 
 Benjamin Ruggles 22 27 35 36 
 
 John W. Campbell 12 14 8 
 
 William W. Irwin 11 9 2 
 
 David Purviance 8 4 1 
 
 Duncan McArthur 5 4 1 
 
 John Bigger 3 
 
 Robert McConnell 2 1 
 
 Ethan Allen Brown 2 
 
 Othniel Looker 1 
 
 Peter Hitchcock 1 
 
 John M'Dougal 1 
 
 There was one blank ballot on the fourth which makes the 
 total 81. 
 
"Political Activities" 33 
 
 vertisement headed "Genuine Republican Ticket" announced 
 Joseph Kerr as candidate for the state senatorship. From this 
 we see that he was immensely popular with all the voters, 
 no matter what the party and we are not surprised to find 
 that he polled 981 votes, the largest number cast. Worthington 
 polled 900 votes in Ross County and Meigs but 195, however, 
 Meigs had strong support throughout the state and was elect- 
 ed governor. Worthington challenged his election on the ground 
 that he had not established legal residence in Ohio under the 
 constitution and another bitter political fight was waged in 
 which Kerr was involved. 
 
 In the General Record, Vol. II, Governor's Office, is re- 
 corded that "The Governor received the resignation of Joseph 
 Kerr, Esq., Senator elect from the County of Ross, and issued 
 a writ of election directed to the Sheriff of said County to fill 
 the vacancy." On December 8th is recorded his resignation as 
 Adjutant General of Ohio. Thomas James, whom we meet 
 later as a director of the Bank of Chillicothe which brought 
 about Kerr's financial ruin, was nominated for the vacancy 
 caused by Kerr's resignation, but Col. James Dunlap was duly 
 elected. 
 
 The War of 1812 and the increase in his shipping and ex- 
 porting business kept Kerr too busy now to enter politics act- 
 ively. He was appointed a Brigadier General of Militia 14 and 
 through heavy mortgages on his lands to carry the advance 
 expense of the contract to provision the Army of the North 
 West at Upper Sandusky he almost lost his possessions. 
 
 However, in December, 1814, Thomas Worthington, who 
 was United States Senator from Ohio, was elected State Gov- 
 ernor, and it was necessary to select a successor who would 
 have the support of all factions as well as have some national 
 prestige. Joseph Kerr was chosen by the political leaders to 
 fill Worthington's unexpired term and the Chillicothe Support- 
 er, December 17, 1814, reports "The legislature have, by joint 
 ballot, elected General Joseph Kerr to the Senate of the United 
 States, in room of General Thomas Worthington, resigned." 
 
 Eleven candidates were placed in nomination and it re- 
 quired four ballots to make a choice in which General Kerr 
 outstripped his opponents. 15 
 
 14 Wm. A. Taylor, Ohio Statesmen. 
 
 15 ibid. 
 
34 General Joseph Kerr 
 
 When the regular election came around again his friends 
 urged him to become a candidate but he asked them not to 
 present his name. 16 
 
 Taylor reports, "From the initiation of the new state move- 
 ment until 1824, Senator Kerr took a leading part in State af- 
 fairs, and while he was not one of the great political leaders 
 of that period, he was an energetic and untiring one, and a 
 typical pioneer in all respects." 1 * 
 
 Taylor also states that "Nowhere in the local records of 
 Ross County, or the State, were left any discoverable record of 
 the nativity or early life of Senator Kerr, and when he left the 
 State he appeared to have passed entirely beyond the horizon 
 of the biographer and historian, so that only his record for 
 thirty years in the Territory and State was available. Beyond 
 that, both toward the morning and evening of his life, all was 
 impenetrable." 
 
 However, it is because of this interest in his political 
 career that further research has been made in newspapers and 
 records since come to light that the entire life of Senator Kerr 
 has become known. 
 
 In the fall of 1816 he was again a member of the Ohio 
 House centering attention on the improvement of roads and 
 navigation which is always uppermost in his mind because of 
 his shipping interests. On December 9, 1816, he presented to 
 the House a memorial for the proprietors of Columbus relat- 
 ing to the erection of the public buildings. John Kerr, of Chilli- 
 cothe, was one of the three proprietors of Columbus and actively 
 engaged in the business of obtaining the building materials and 
 artisans for the construction of these buildings. 
 
 In September, 1818, General Kerr was again a candidate 
 for re-election to the Ohio House. In its editorial column the 
 Chillicothe Supporter, of September 23, 1818, announced that 
 he was a candidate but his name does not appear in the regular 
 list of candidates published in another column. Kerr was elect- 
 ed on October 21st, and with the announcement these accom- 
 panying remarks are enlightening, "The electors of this county 
 have gave a strong expression of their feelings towards the 
 United States Bank and its branches, as the gentlemen elected 
 to the legislature, are known to be pointedly inimical to that 
 institution." 
 
 16 ibid. 
 
 17 ibid. 
 
"Political Activities" 35 
 
 Now the U. S. Branch Bank stepped in and took a hand 
 in Kerr's political affairs. He was arrested and jailed under the 
 old debtor law. This was not the first time that this staunch 
 picneer suffered this ignominy. It was customary in those 
 days for creditors to clap their debtors in jail, even women 
 were subjected to this law. In Kerr's case the bank and his 
 political opponents made use of this law to get Kerr out of the 
 way and to obtain his fine lands in the Scioto Valley. In both 
 instances he was able to foil them. 
 
 When the Ohio legislature convened on December 16, 
 1818, General Kerr was absent. It was reported that he was 
 being unlawfully detained. A resolution was immediately pass- 
 ed by his friends to inquire into the power of the banks to detain 
 a member of the legislature. Opponents of the U. S. Branch 
 Bank made an issue of this case and joined forces with Kerr's 
 friends. The Chillicothe Supporter's correspondent at Columbus 
 has this to say in his letter to the paper, 18 
 
 "My last informed you of a resolution, authorizing an 
 enquiry into the situation and standing of the chartered 
 Banks. It also empowered the committee to examine the effect 
 which has been produced by the Branches of the Bank of the 
 United States in this State. The subject of Privileges of mem- 
 bers has occupied a very considerable share of the attention 
 of the house of Representatives. It arose out of a letter and 
 certificate of election, received from Gen. Joseph Kerr. A 
 resolution was submitted to the house, the object of which was 
 to express the sense of the house that Kerr was unlawfully de- 
 tained and the power of the house to compel his attendance." 
 
 The correspondent related at length that the discussion 
 was animated and that the fine point of the argument was 
 whether the Ohio constitution protected a candidate from ar- 
 rest prior to the commencement of his privileges. The consti- 
 tution provided privilege from arrest during the sessions of the 
 General Assembly and going to and returning from the same. 
 
 The argument of the opponents of General Kerr held 
 that "the release of a member from an arrest made prior to 
 the commencement of his privileges would violate the vested 
 right of the creditor." To this his supporters answered that 
 "the constitution was the supreme law of the land; that if the 
 privileges accrued under the constitution, it was in vain to 
 set up the rights of an individual in opposition." The sergeant- 
 
 18 Chillicothe Supporter, Etec. 23, 1818. 
 
36 General Joseph Kerr 
 
 at-arms was sent after Kerr with a warrant for his appearance 
 and the whole question of whether such an arrest could be 
 made "to gratify private malice of an individual or the views 
 of a faction" finally came to a vote resulting in a tie of 30 to 30. 
 The following year the fight was still on and General 
 Kerr addressed the voters through the editorial column of 
 the Chillicothe Supporter, September 22, 1819: 
 
 To the Electors of Ross County. 
 
 Fellow Citizens, 
 
 I had in view an arrangement, which would have put it out of 
 my power to serve you in the next legislature. — I have discovered 
 that there will be some difference between the State Government and 
 the Government of the United States respecting the Tax imposed by 
 the last legislature on the Bank of the United States, which has re- 
 cently been collected off the branch established at this place. — I was 
 one of those who advocated the measure, when the law was passed — 
 I still think the measure Constitutional and proper, the opinion of 
 the Supreme Court of the United States to the contrary notwith- 
 standing — I have declined the arrangement intended; and now, offer 
 you my services, if you should think proper to elect me, to the house 
 of representatives. 
 
 If difficulties arise out of the measure of the legislature, it be- 
 comes the duty of those, who were instrumental in producing them, 
 to use their best efforts to produce reconciliation. — I do not mean to 
 succumb to the Bank of the United States; nor to oppose, by force, 
 the execution of the laws of the United States; but I wish to see 
 the line of sovereignty made plain, and if the rights of the state are 
 not to be encroached upon, that it be from necessity; not to establish 
 a monied aristocracy, administered by swindlers, over whom the state 
 authorities, nor, indeed, the authorities of the United States have no 
 control. 
 
 My election, and sentiments, will be opposed by some, who, from the 
 dust they raise, may be thought respectable; when the opposition is 
 made, look at these men and ask why is it, that they are opposed to 
 my election? You will discover the whole of them to be directors of 
 the Branch Bank; those that are borrowers of it, to an amount be- 
 yond their command, and who fear a removal of the office will compel 
 payment; unprincipled attornies, who are preying on the industry 
 of the ignorant and unsuspicious of their neighbors; clerks of court 
 who share in the spoil, and those who have been active in seeking my 
 destruction by every mean artifice in their power; who call me rascal, 
 and can assign no other reason for so saying, which is founded in 
 truth, than that I have been too vigilant for them to succeed to the 
 extent of their rapacious wishes, 
 
 I am Fellow Citizens 
 
 Your friend and servant 
 Joseph Kerr 
 near Chillicothe, 20 Sept. 1819." 
 
"Political Activities" 37 
 
 On this issue General Kerr polls 1568 votes as against 
 the next highest of 654. In October the bank had tried to sell 
 out Kerr, advertising for sale the fine lands he mortgaged in 
 Franklinton. However there were no bidders and the sale was 
 postponed to the following March and again for the first of 
 April, when another advertisement postponed the sale indefin- 
 itely. Kerr in the meantime having been able to work out of 
 this difficulty. 
 
 In May, 1820, General Kerr bought the Farmer's Hotel, 
 "At the Sign of the Scioto Ox", and runs the following adver- 
 tisement in the papers, 
 
 FARMER'S HOTEL 
 
 Sign of the Scioto Ox 
 
 "The subscriber has fitted up, in a neat style, the House and pre- 
 mises formerly occupied as a Public House by Mr. Keys, Needham, 
 Meeker and Buchanan, successively, in Chillicothe, where he has opened 
 a Public House designed as above. 
 
 Having travelled much himself and always put up at the first 
 houses, he is impressed with a belief that many boarders render the 
 situation of the traveler rather unpleasant, generally; he has there- 
 fore determined to have but few boarders, and those such as will 
 rather add to than lessen the satisfaction of those who visit the house. 
 
 Families travelling, will find satisfactory preparations made for 
 the Ladies. 
 
 Joseph Kerr 
 Chillicothe, May 3, 1820." 
 
 Wm. A. Taylor stated in his book that Kerr had bought 
 the "Red Lion" and for the purpose of self-support. 19 In this 
 he is in error as the above advertisement states exactly which 
 one of the taverns Kerr bought. Taylor quotes another ad- 
 vertisement from the Scioto Gazette of March 21, 1821, which 
 gives prices for caring for the travellers' horses and what trav- 
 ellers paid. However, the fact that he advertises "CLEAN 
 SHEETS" must have brought him all the better class transients. 
 
 19 Wm. A. Taylor, Ohio Statesmen. 
 
38 General Joseph Kerr 
 
 Farmer's Hotel. 
 
 Sign of the Scioto Ox. 
 
 (Chillicothe, Ohio.) 
 
 The subscriber has determined to make his charges 
 correspond in future, with the prices of articles used 
 in a public house. His charges will be as follows: 
 Horse at hay and grain, or grain alone, the night, 
 33 cents; horse at hay aione, the night, 20 cents; 
 horse stabled and fed once, 10 cents; oats 20, and 
 corn 25 cents, the bushel, and stable or yard to feed 
 in. Breakfast, dinner or supper, 20 cents. Lodging, 
 IN CLEAN SHEETS, 10 cents; at these prices the 
 different items shall equal those in any public house 
 in the western country. His pastures will be extensive 
 and well enclosed; and charges for keeping droves 
 of horses or cattle, low. His stable is capable of tak- 
 ing in fine teams; his carriage house is also large, and 
 the house itself so constructed and subdivided as to 
 accommodate SEPARATELY, all the grades of com- 
 pany he will entertain. 
 
 Assuring those who honour him with a call, that 
 their situation will be made as pleasant during their 
 stay as in any public house, he solicits a continuance 
 of public patronage. JOSEPH KERR. 
 
 This hotel was frequented by state officials, as well as 
 national politicians and became one of the most fashionable 
 west of the Alleghanies. Whatever Joseph Kerr undertook to do 
 he made every effort to do it well and a perusal of these various 
 advertisements show how meticulous he was in serving the 
 public. It seems that he operated the Farmers' Hotel for the 
 purpose of looking after the interests of those with whom he car- 
 ries on the business of buying and selling farm produce rather 
 than for any personal gain. 
 
 The fact that he leaned strongly toward Jacksonian De- 
 mocracy appears from the advertisement in the Chillicothe 
 Supporter of June 17, 1824, in which he announced the pur- 
 
"Political Activities" 39 
 
 chase of a larger and better hotel and the change of the name 
 from Farmer's Hotel to 
 
 "Jackson Hotel 
 
 The subscriber has recently taken the larger and convenient es- 
 tablishment owned and formerly occupied by E. Fitch, at the north 
 end of the market house, Chillicothe, where he has opened a house of 
 public entertainment. He cannot promise elegance; but he can assure 
 those who honor him with a call, that they will find everything the 
 country and market affords in plenty, and in such style as to render 
 the situation of every description of visitors as pleasant as their 
 money will justify. Gentlemen traveling with families, will always 
 find retired rooms and good attendance. Those having business at the 
 public offices, banks or mercantile houses, will be in the immediate 
 vicinity of them. i 
 
 JOSEPH KERR. 
 
 May 27, 1824." 
 
 This advertisement appears at the top of the first column, 
 on the first page of the Chillicothe Supporter, preferred space, 
 as we would say today, and one which caught the reader's at- 
 tention. 
 
 The following January Kerr advertised that he "is con- 
 tinuing to occupy the Establishment * * * and will be happy 
 to entertain all travellers." He improved the premises and, with 
 a stroke of genius, added the "Chillicothe Reading Room," pro- 
 mising the latest news, pleasant quarters, good fare, reason- 
 able bills and the house quiet" adding "He entertains no 
 market people; nor will he suffer drinking to excess." 20 But by 
 the following June (1825), Benjamin Masters advertised that 
 he has taken over the Jackson Hotel which General Kerr had 
 recently occupied. 
 
 October 1824 is a busy time for Joseph Kerr for this 
 is the bitter campaign in which the Jacksonian Democrats 
 strive to win. In the campaign General Kerr comes out strongly 
 for Andrew Jackson with this offer to the electors, 21 
 
 "Jackson Electoral Tickets 
 
 for Ohio 
 
 "The Election in the different Townships of Ross County and 
 the adjacent counties wherein there are no printing presses, are re- 
 spectfully informed that, by calling on the subscriber, they will be 
 supplied with Printed Tickets for Electors who are known to be 
 
 20 Chillicothe Supporter, Jan. 6. 1825. 
 
 21 ibid, Oct. 14, 1824. 
 
40 General Joseph Kerr 
 
 friendly to the election of ANDREW JACKSON as president, and 
 JOHN C. CALHOUN as Vice President of the United States. The 
 number of names, and other important reasons, render it almost in- 
 dispensable that the tickets should be printed. 
 
 Joseph Kerr. 
 
 Chillicothe, 14 Oct. 1824." 
 
 Jackson visited Chillicothe in December and was feted by 
 Kerr and his adherents but it meant the end of Kerr's political 
 career. Ross County went overwhelmingly for Henry Clay; 
 Jackson and his denouncement of the U. S. Bank lost out com- 
 pletely. The situation added another reason to Kerr's unhap- 
 piness in Chillicothe and he began in earnest planning to es- 
 tablish a home in more congenial surroundings in the new 
 frontier country, perhaps in Mexico. 
 
CHAPTER IV 
 
 JOSEPH KERR, INDUSTRIAL TYCOON OF THE 
 SCIOTO VALLEY 
 
 From the day of the birchbark canoe of the Indian and 
 the trapper, traffic took to the water wherever a trail touched 
 a river bank. In the Ohio Valley every tributary river and 
 creek was a byway that led into the highway of the majestic 
 Ohio sweeping westward to the Mississippi whence it went on to 
 New Orleans. Rafts, flatboats, keelboats, pirogues followed 
 in large numbers and were in turn followed by schooners, brigs 
 and full rigged ships built on the Ohio and sent into the New 
 Orleans and European trade. Later this trade was carried by 
 the steamboat. 
 
 Trade and barter was ever an adventure in pioneer days. 
 In 1782 Nathaniel Sackett crossed the mountains on horse 
 back from New York to Brownsville, Pa., where he purchased 
 a keelboat and a cargo of flour, bacon and whiskey, three staples 
 alv/ays in demand. With this he navigated down the Ohio and 
 up the Cumberland river to where Nashville now is. Here he 
 sold boats and cargo, bought horses and went over the mountains 
 to Charleston, S. C, where he traded the horses for rice and 
 cotton which he shipped to New York and sold at another 
 profit. 1 He was only one of thousands, who broke trails into 
 the wilderness, but few ever carried on in more expansive man- 
 ner until a later period. 
 
 The Ohio river with its nearly 4000 miles of waterways 
 draining 214,000 square miles and a gentle drop of 400 feet from 
 source to mouth, was the main thoroughfare from the Atlantic 
 region to the Mississippi valley. Both people and produce fol- 
 lowed it. 2 
 
 The canoe age combined with the packhorse and smaller 
 wagons for earliest transportation of the few people and bare 
 necessities moving at that time. The flatboat age brought 
 whole families and groups of people with all their household 
 goods, farming implements and stock and provisions, especially 
 flour. At the same time (about 1783), as roads were widened, 
 the Conestcga wagon accelerated this movement. Towns were 
 established at strategic points and settlements developed. 
 
 1 — Nathaniel Sackett, Memorial for Land Grant near Sandusky, 1875, 
 
 in Ohio Philosophical & Historical Society library. 
 2 — Charles H. Ambler, History of Transportation in the Ohio Valley. 
 
 41 
 
42 General Joseph Kerr 
 
 Greater traffic demanded greater transportation facilities and in 
 the period 1810-1820 an average of 3000 flatboats went down 
 the Ohio a year. Regular packet service had been established 
 as early as 1794 using boats of the keelboat type, 75 to 100 
 feet long, armed, covered, bullet-proof, and built so they could 
 be pcled up the river on rather regular schedule between Cin- 
 cinnati and Pittsburgh. 3 
 
 Produce shipped included flour, corn, whisky, lard, pork, 
 beef, salt. In 1807 some 2000 flatboats brought to New Orleans 
 goods valued at more than five million dollars. 4 
 
 Chillicothe was the heart of the Virginia Military District, 
 the hub of the rich and fertile Scioto valley, and the capital 
 of the new state, Ohio. With the broad and placid Scioto able 
 to carry flatboats heavily laden with cargo, the town immed- 
 iately sprang into prominence as a shipping center. 
 
 In 1802 John Waddle came to Chillicothe and began the 
 business of packing and shipping pork according to the Scioto 
 Gazette, February 26, 1803, which stated, "Thursday a large 
 Orleans boat loaded with pork for Messrs. James and McCoy 
 of this place left for New Orleans. This is the first boat of the 
 kind ever built upon the waters of the Scioto." 5 
 
 Waddle continued in this business which he found very 
 profitable during the War of 1812 and in 1813 he joined forces 
 with Thcmas Worthington of Chillicothe and Amaziah Davis- 
 son of Portsmouth in conducting a slaughtering house and 
 warehouse at the mouth of the Scioto, the firm continuing until 
 Davisson's death in 1822. 6 
 
 In 1807 another firm, John Cry den and John Renshaw, 
 sent boats down the Ohio and Mississippi and the old boatyards 
 extended from the foot of Mulberry street to the present (1880) 
 bridge, boat-building becoming a big industry. In 1808 Cadwal- 
 lader Wallace arrived in Chillicothe to locate lands but soon 
 began dealing in flour and pork. McCoy, who had come from 
 Franklin County, Pa., (Kerr's home), widened his sphere and 
 began packing for the Havana and West India trade. To insure 
 enough salt for this he had a monopoly on the Scioto Salt 
 works. It is related that in 1862, when the Scioto during a very 
 high flood broke into another channel, a barrel of pork, brand- 
 s—ibid. 
 4— ibid. 
 
 5 — History of Ross and Highland Counties, Ohio, p. 167. 
 6 — Chillicothe Supporter, Dec. 1, 1813. 
 
"Industrial Tycoon" 43 
 
 ed "James & McCoy," was found in the old channel and in sur- 
 prisingly good condition. McCoy claimed to be the first pork 
 packer west of the Alleghenies. 7 
 
 The business which was destined to make Chillicothe 
 famous was well under way. In 1804 the first herd of cattle 
 sent to an eastern market was driven to Baltimore by George 
 Renick's men; later droves of hogs followed and Scioto Valley 
 produce became well known. However, it devolved upon Jo- 
 seph Kerr to make the town known nationally and internation- 
 ally as a shipping center. 
 
 Kerr associated himself with the leaders in this business. 
 Thomas Worthington and John Crouse had mills adjacent to 
 his splendid farm and he used these. His brother, Samuel, was 
 a thriving farmer on Big Darby Creek (near Columbus) and 
 he became Joseph's agent sending corn-fed hogs, fine cattle, 
 wheat and corn to Chillicothe. The Renicks raised the finest 
 cattle in the middle west introducing the big red short-horn 
 breed. These Joseph Kerr had killed and packed in his slaught- 
 ering and salting establishments on his farm, sent down the 
 Scioto to his warehouse on the Ohio where the barrels were 
 loaded on the big flat-and keel-boats for New Orleans. 
 
 Handling small amounts of produce did not pay as well as 
 handling large quantities. To do big business farmers usually 
 banded together into associations for trade and shipping, but 
 Kerr went to the banks and borrowed large sums to see through 
 "an adventure" to New Orleans, to Havana, to Europe. 
 
 Associating himself with John Waddle, Amaziah Davisson 
 and Thomas Worthington, Kerr financed the fleets of larger 
 boats taking on cargo at Portsmouth. These were adequately 
 manned and prepared for any emergency on the trip. Sometimes 
 they picked up more flour, whiskey and other produce at the 
 warehouses in Columbia, Cincinnati, or even Louisville. 
 
 These trips were fraught with hazards. There was a dis- 
 tinct risk in the business. Notorious pirates infesting the lower 
 Ohio exacted toll from boats and crews not strong enough to 
 beat them off; snags and wrecks in the river sank many a 
 heavily laden boat; the time element played a big part in the 
 hazards because a trip with many delays might mean spoilage 
 of food stuffs or the market might be glutted because most 
 shipping was dependent on spring freshets. 8 
 
 7 — Hist. Of Ross and Highland Counties. 
 
 8 — Ambler, Hist, of Trans. In the Ohio Valley. 
 
44 General Joseph Kerr 
 
 Salt was a vital need in preserving pork and beef and we 
 note its importance in this certificate from Peter George, New 
 Orleans, regarding the inspection and repacking of the meat 
 shipped by Joseph Kerr to New Orleans in 1813. 
 
 Certificate of Peter George, New Orleans, on Shipping of Beef 
 and Pork [July 15, 18131: 
 
 "State of Louisiana } S. S. 
 
 Parish of New Orleans 5 
 
 Personally appeared before me John P. Sanderson one of the Just- 
 ices of the Peace for the Parish aforesaid, Peter George, Cooper in 
 the City of New Orleans who being duly sworn did depose and say that 
 on or about the 15 day of July 1813 — 
 
 he repacked certain parcels of Beef and Pork which were brought 
 here in four Boats No. 1 to 4, commanded by Nathan Thompson; That 
 of the first Parcel consisting of the Cargoes of Boats No. 1 & 2, on 
 repacking the same there were Three hundred and nineteen barrels 
 of Beef & Pork, Twenty five half barrels ditto, and seventeen deficient 
 or empty barrels — 
 
 Which Deficiency the Deponent verily believes to have been owing 
 to the manner in which the said Beef and Pork were originally put 
 up, to wit the full weight of meat not having being put in each barrel — 
 
 That of the second parcel consisting of the Cargoes of Boats 
 No. 3 & 4 on repacking the same, there were Two hundred eighty 
 seven Barrels Beef & Pork, Twenty six Empty Barrels, or deficient, 
 and Eleven barrels Beef condemned — which deficiency the Deponent 
 believes to have been owing to the same cause as in the first parcel 
 and also to a deficiency in the Quantity of Salt at the original packing. 
 That the Beef which was condemned had not been properly put up hav- 
 ing frozen before it had taken the salt. That both the above mentioned 
 Parcels of Beef & Pork were each barrel branded Joseph Kerr Chilli- 
 cothe and marked 200 lb. ea — 
 
 Sworn to & subscribed Peter George 
 
 before me 15 September 1813 Drawing & taking * IS 
 
 John P. Sanderson Deposition — 5 
 
 Justice of the Peace Received the above JPS 
 
 Calculating the costs and conditions down to the minute- 
 est detail learned in the school of experience when he was with 
 Elliott and Williams, army contractors, Kerr endeavored to 
 provide against every emergency. Whenever possible he made 
 the trip to New Orleans and around to Baltimore. Otherwise 
 his fleets were in charge of Amaziah Davisson of Portsmouth 
 who, in 1815, became his son-in-law and his most trusted 
 associate. 
 
 Owning vast tracts of land himself in the Virginia Mili- 
 tary District and acting as agent for many big absent land- 
 
'Industrial Tycoon" 45 
 
 owners, Kerr soon gained control over the produce of the 
 Scioto Valley. To reach the farmers he used advertising space 
 in the newspapers and we learn from these how he carried on 
 his buying, his packing and shipping business, while from the 
 few extant meticulously kept account books we learn other de- 
 tails of importance. Kerr kept in touch with European sources of 
 information and during the War of 1812 maintained an agent 
 in Havana in whose name his ships were registered to escape 
 British privateering. 
 
 We are very grateful that Kerr was far in advance of 
 his day in realizing the value of advertising. Upon every oc- 
 casion he used space in the various newspapers to reach his 
 constituents with political information; to send word to his 
 farmer clients to bring in wheat, corn-fed hogs, cattle or other 
 farm produce; to inform coopers that he needed flour barrels, 
 or materials for barrels and kegs to be made at his own place, 
 and he usually quoted good prices. Coupled with his account 
 books this information is highly valuable in giving us a very 
 clear picture of business in those days and one which is almost 
 impossible to obtain, 
 
 As early as December, 1809, Kerr advertised for what 
 he wanted. 
 
 PORK WANTED 
 
 I wish to purchase about 500 hogs, weighing not less than 150 
 pounds each; really fat and corn -fed, for which I will pay for those 
 that weigh 150-200 pounds — $2.50 per cwt., over 200 pounds $3.00 
 cwt. 
 
 He wants these delivered on foot at his house (meaning 
 his farm) between December 15 and January 15, and the 
 person owning them is to see them killed and weighed. He 
 adds that farmers are to let him know immediately how many 
 they will bring in and when. Contracts are carefully drawn 
 up for this because Kerr learned in his young days the value 
 of doing business in correct fashion. 
 
 It is interesting to note that he added a postscript to 
 this advertisement in which he stated, "P. S. — I will sell any 
 Lands I now own, and take, in part pay, Horses, Cattle, Sheep 
 or Hogs — also will take a few good Waggons in part pay at a 
 reasonable price." 
 
 From this we see that he intended entering the shipping 
 business for which he needed teams and wagons to haul produce 
 
46 General Joseph Kerr 
 
 and we know that much of this livestock was sent to eastern 
 markets on the hoof. 
 
 In another month he was preparing for packing pork on 
 a big scale. More contracts came in than he had thought 
 and his slaughtering house and salting establishment ran full 
 force. On February 3, 1810, he advertised in his unique 
 fashion, 
 
 TO THE INDUSTRIOUS 
 
 I wish to contract for 20,000 staves and 6000 pieces of heading 
 for Pork Barrels — timber must be cut in the present month and the 
 stuff delivered at my house against the first of May next, for which 
 a generous price will be given. Those willing to contract had better 
 apply early as I shall be from home after the 20th instant for 
 some time. 
 
 JOSEPH KERR. 
 Feb. 1, 1810." 
 
 The following fall Kerr prepared to carry on this busi- 
 ness on a larger scale as we see from this advertisement in the 
 Chillicothe Supporter, October 20, 1810: 
 
 TO FARMERS AND COOPERS 
 
 I wish to purchase a large quantity of HOGS on foot — they must 
 be fat and that made with grain — they must be delivered at my 
 house between the first of December and the first of February next, 
 for which I will pay cash at $2.50 for those that weigh between 150 
 and 200 lbs., and for those over 200 lb. $3.00 per hundred. Those who 
 wish to let me have their hogs, must call some time before the de- 
 livery and fix a day, as great inconvenience was experienced last 
 year, by a large number being brought in at the same time. I want, 
 also, a small quantity of good WHEAT, for which a generous price 
 will be paid in CASH. I also want a number of good COOPERS, to 
 work all winter, to whom cash will be paid. 
 
 JOSEPH KERR. 
 Oc. 15, 1810." 
 
 This is the only advertisement of its kind in the paper 
 and the fact that Kerr offers cash for hogs, wheat and for the 
 labor of the coopers at a time when cash was scarce in the 
 western country shows that he knows how to do business. We 
 know that be borrowed the cash from the banks and for secur- 
 ity put up his best lands with the result that the banks fre- 
 quently threw him into jail under the debtor law hoping there- 
 by to gain possession of his lands. 
 
 In March, 1811, it is reported that the number of hogs 
 driven through Lancaster, Ohio, and sold in Ross and Fair- 
 
"Industrial Tycoon" 47 
 
 child Counties during the previous fall amounted to 17,087 and 
 we can surmise how many of these went into the Kerr slaugh- 
 tering house. 
 
 In July, 1811, the Chillicothe Supporter lists some $83,900 
 worth of products of the Scioto Valley shipped in the first six 
 months of the year from Chillicothe and most of this was 
 handled by Joseph Kerr. 
 
 Planning ahead for the fall and winter trade Kerr adver- 
 tised for coopers to make the barrels and kegs, and for corn-fed 
 hogs. He also began advertising for large oxen and began pack- 
 ing beef for shipment. 
 
 TO COOPERS AND FARMERS 
 
 I wish to employ a few good COOPERS to work at my house this 
 fall, and also wish those that intend making up their own stuff, for 
 me, to let me know, shortly, how many barrels and kegs they can make 
 and deliver against Christmas. I intend purchasing GOOD CORN FED 
 HOGS, as usual this fall — also about 120 LARGE FAT OXEN, a quan- 
 tity of GOOD WHEAT and clean ASHES — for all of which a generous 
 price will be paid, in CASH, at the time of delivery. 
 
 JOSEPH KERR— 
 Chillicothe, July 24, 1811. 
 
 Again he offered cash in payment and this spurred farmers 
 on to raising only the best stock. With the Renicks going 
 in for raising cattle for the market Kerr now turned the man- 
 ner of shipment from driving the cattle on the hoof over the 
 mountains to packing the beef and sending via New Orleans 
 to Europe where a better price could be obtained with less ex- 
 pense to the farmer. In this way he became a leader in devel- 
 oping new markets for Scioto Valley produce. 
 
 His definite business agreements are shown in this ad- 
 vertisement in the Chillicothe papers, under the date Jan. 22, 
 1812, 
 
 NOTICE 
 
 Those who intend to let me have their WHEAT, are noti- 
 fied that receipts will not be taken up that are presented after 
 the 15th of February next, or any bargain I have made for 
 wheat, considered binding on either party after that day. 
 
 Where others advertised for wheat and hogs and other 
 products at this time, none came right out with all of their 
 business agreements as does Kerr. When the War of 1812 
 
48 General Joseph Kerr 
 
 created a demand for produce both on the various battle fronts 
 in the United States as well as in Europe, Kerr seized this 
 opportunity for expanding his packing and shipping business. 
 To obtain the best produce from the farmers he offered not 
 only cash but a better price for large quantities. He adhered 
 as strictly to his side of the bargain as he held the other party 
 and those who dealt with him knew exactly where they stood. 
 
 His model farm on the outskirts of Chillicothe became 
 widely known for the excellent breed of cattle, hogs and sheep 
 for which he imported the finest stock he could obtain in the 
 east. Going in for raising horses he purchased, 1811, in Balti- 
 more, "Honest Jack," one of Col. Patterson's best stud horses. 
 Unlike other advertisements of this kind, Kerr's stated "$10 for 
 a living colt ... in country produce or cash delivered at my 
 house as soon as it is known to be due." The war brought a 
 demand for mules and in 1814 Kerr offered "Honest Jack" to 
 breed mules and offered to buy the colts at the age of 6 months 
 at from $30 to $50 according to size. 
 
 When he was given a small contract to provision the Army 
 of the North West during the War of 1812 he offered 62 Vi 
 cents a bushel for wheat in September and, in November, raised 
 this to "ONE DOLLAR per bushel, for all that TEN THOU- 
 SAND DOLLARS will purchase." Not only would he send 
 flour to the army but flour brought a higher price in Atlantic 
 seaports, and he bid 12 Vi cents more than mill owners, even 
 adding the cost of ferrying across the Scioto if necessary to 
 obtain the quantity of wheat he needed. He also informed the 
 farmers through this advertisement that he will "give them the 
 highest market price at the time of delivery," and will sue 
 those who have entered into a contract with him and fail to 
 deliver. He advertised that "money will always be placed in 
 the hands" of the millers who received for him, and that he 
 will purchase any quantity and pay cash when received. 
 
 Prices in Europe rose and Kerr planned to export. Waddle 
 and Davisson (his son-in-law) advertised (1816), "for pork for 
 $5 in cash per 100 lb. at their salting establishment near 
 Chillicothe," which we believe was on the Kerr farm. Their 
 warehouse was in Portsmouth whence the barrels and kegs 
 were loaded on the large flat boats which went in fleets to New 
 Orleans. 
 
"Industrial Tycoon" 49 
 
 Although in jail Kerr planned to expand and the follow- 
 ing advertisement told an interesting story in the address and 
 date line, 
 
 NOTICE ! ! ! 
 
 The subscriber will pay cash for all the paper of the "Chillicothe 
 Bridge Company" — and the "Bridge Brewery Company", which shall be 
 offered at a suitable discount until the 26th instant. 
 
 JOSEPH KERR. 
 No. 3, Second Story, Chillicothe, 
 Prison, 14th of July, 1817." 
 
 At this time Nathaniel Massie's estate was still in the 
 courts for settlement because the titles to much of the lands 
 he sold were fraudulent and the famous Watt's case (Watts vs. 
 Kerr and others who had purchased from Massie land in the 
 Robert Powell Survey No. 503), was still being dragged through 
 the courts finally resulting in the loss of these lands by those 
 who had bought in good faith from Massie. Among those so 
 defrauded was Joseph Kerr who, with others similarly situated, 
 was clapped into jail under the existing law. 
 
 Undaunted by these vicissitudes General Kerr carried on 
 his ever expanding business and stands in the annals of Ohio 
 as the tycoon industrialist of the rich Scioto Valley. 
 
CHAPTER V 
 
 JOSEPH KERR THE EXPORTER 
 
 Several of Joseph Kerr's account books used for wheat, 
 pork, slaughtering, salting and other expenses give us a very 
 clear picture of his exporting business during the years 1810- 
 1813. The books are made of good linen rag stock and water- 
 marked "J 8c S REDSTONE." Their cost is noted as 2 for $5 
 and they were purchased by Amaziah Davisson. 
 
 The title page carries, in Kerr's excellent handwriting, the 
 legend 
 
 Journal 
 
 Relative to Adventure to 
 
 New Orleans 
 
 The first two pages are devoted to careful notations of 
 the cargoes of seven boats, the first two were sent to New Or- 
 leans, March 3, 1811, in charge of Amaziah Davisson. On the 
 next page Kerr copied his letter of instructions to Davisson rel- 
 ative to how much of the cargo is to be sold, to whom, for how 
 much, and the rest re-shipped to Baltimore, insurance and 
 expenses. Then Kerr mentioned that he is coming down to 
 New Orleans in about a month with the other boats and from 
 this statement we infer that the other five boats went down the 
 Ohio and Mississippi under his personal supervision. 
 
 It is interesting to note that he loaded 519 barrels of 
 "Miami Flour," presumably from the Waldsmith mills above 
 the East Fork and we find reference to this transaction later. 
 
 Chillicothe, March 3, 1811. 
 Mr. Amaziah Davisson, Sir — 
 
 You are now leaving- this place with two Boats loaded with Pork, 
 Flour and Lard destined in the first place for New Orleans, to which 
 place you are to proceed with as little delay as possible — When you 
 arrive there, place the Flour and Lard in the hands of Messrs Bartlet 
 & Cox for sale, on Commission, they will advance you money to pay the 
 hands and answer you any purpose you may have for money there 
 — The Pork you will ship, by their aid for Baltimore, consigned to 
 Messrs Prentiss & Carter — Have it sent in two Vessels, if possible; as 
 
 must 
 to Insurance, you A be guided by the advice of our friends at New Or- 
 leans — Should you insure or direct it done at Baltimore, make the Bill 
 
 50 
 
"The Exporter" 51 
 
 correspond with the Bill of loading, here, in price, adding: two Dollars 
 per barrel for the freight down — When the Flour and Lard are placed 
 in the hands of Messrs Bartlet & Cox, I do not wish any of it 
 sold more than will furnish money sufficient to meet your demands 
 there — Under Seven Dollars per Barrel for Flour, and Ten cents per 
 pound for the Lard — You know my demands for money, and are to use 
 your own discretion in effecting a Sale and the Shipment of the Pork — 
 no Sale of the Pork can be expected at N Orleans — therefore need 
 say nothing about. I expect to be on to Orleans myself in about a 
 month after you with the other Boats, and perhaps Mr. John Woods 
 may be before me, with a part of the remaining property. I wish you 
 to remain at Orleans untill I get there or you are otherwise advised 
 by me — 
 
 While there I will forward to you the most correct information 
 of the Eastern and foreign market I can procure, & the Balto price 
 Current regularly — 
 
 With wishes for your prosperity 
 &c, &c— 
 
 (Signed) JOSEPH KERR. 
 
 A Statement of Cargo of two Boats taken charge of by 
 Amaziah Davisson bound from Chillicothe to New Orleans 
 March 3, 1811— 
 
 Cargo of Boat No. 1 56 ft long 
 
 Dolls Cts 
 
 25 Barrels Mess Pork at $12.00 300.00 
 
 50 Barrels Navy Ditto at "11.00 550.00 
 
 75 Barrels Prime Ditto at 10.00 750.00 
 
 93 Barrels Sup. Flour at 4.50 418.50 
 
 10 Barrels Lard 2296 at 6 cts 137.76 
 
 25 Kegs Ditto 2366 at 6 cts 141.96 
 
 $ 2,298.22 
 
 Cargo of Boat No. 2 50 ft. long 
 
 55 Barrels Mess Pork at $12.00 660.00 
 
 95 Barrels Primo Ditto " 10.00 950.00 
 
 61 Barrels Supf. Flour " 4.50 274.50 
 
 25 Kegs Lard 2283 lb " 6 cts. 136.98 
 
 4,229.70 
 
 Cargo of Boat No. 3, 50 feet long 
 
 139 Barrels Prime Pork a. 10.00 1,390.00 
 
 27 Barrels Flour a. 4.50 121.60 
 
 25 Kegs Lard 2283 lb " 6 cts. 134.28 
 
 83 Barrels Miami Flour 4.50 373.50 
 
 MMKI&TY OF in 
 LIBRARY 
 
52 General Joseph Kerr 
 
 Cargo of Boat No. 4. — 52 feet long — 
 
 120 Barrels prime Pork 10.00 1,200.00 
 
 24 Barrels Mess Pork 12.00 288.00 
 
 25 Kegs Lard 2201 lb a. 6 cts. 132.06 
 
 106 Barrels Miami Flour a. 4.50 477.00 
 
 Cargo of Boat No. 5. — 56 feet long. — 
 
 120 Barrels Prime pork a. 10.00 1,200.00 
 
 25 Barrels Mess Pork a. 12.00 300.00 
 
 25 Kegs Lard 2192 lb a, 6 cts 131.52 
 
 138 Barrels Miami Flour a. 4.50 621.00 
 
 page 2 
 
 Amount brot forward 10,598.56 
 
 Cargo of Boat No. 6 — Fifty feet long 
 
 80 Barrels Prime Pork a. 10.00 800.00 
 
 76 half Barrels flour S. fine " 2.50 190.00 
 
 9 Barrels Biscuit 1014 lb " 4.00 40.56 
 
 > 
 
 6 Barrels Crackers 
 
 6 Barrels Butter biscuit 
 
 92 Barrels Miami flour " 4.50 414.00 
 
 42 half Barrels S. flour " 2.50 105.00 
 
 12 Barrels flour " 4.50 54.00 
 
 Cargo of Boat No. 7 — 55 feet long 
 
 12 Barrels Mess Pork a. $12.00 144.00 
 
 96 Barrels Prime Pork a. 10.00 960.00 
 
 45 Kegs Lard 4038 lb a. 00.06 242.28 
 
 100 Barrels Miami flour a. 4.50 450.00 
 
 1 Barrel Whisky 32 Gallons a. 37% 12.00 
 
 1 Barrel Dry Fruit a. 3.00 
 
 14,069.68 
 1 Box Soap 250 lb. Huffnagles 
 
 Joseph Kerr's accounts for an "Adventure to New Orleans," 
 July, 1811, begin with "Amount of my Expenses to Balto, when 
 there & returning .... $100.00." Later in his list of other 
 expenses we find that he bought a horse and saddle for his 
 return trip for $82.00. The totals for such a business trip can 
 not be estimated because Kerr carried wheat, pork, salting, 
 coopering, boat building, slaughter and beef accounts, to say 
 nothing of the various "sundry Acc'ts". We can only pick here 
 and there when he took the time to list expenses on one page 
 as he did the following, 
 
"The Exporter" 53 
 
 Amaziah Davisson for amount made use of at sundry times 
 
 on a voyage to N. Orleans, Baltimore, &c $617.99 
 
 Expenses of Adventure 
 
 Paid Inspection flour 20.16 
 
 Paid Drayage of Pork 14.25 
 
 Paid wharfage of 3 Boats 18.00 
 
 Paid for drayage of Pork 9.25 
 
 Paid Pilots over Falls 5.50 
 
 Paid wharfage on 2 Boats 12.00 
 
 Paid inspection of flour 10.44 
 
 Paid for 1 months Board 45.00 
 
 Paid Commission on Sales of 119 Bbls. flour 19.32 
 
 Paid Bartlett & Cox keg lard for Services 9.25 
 
 Paid Inspection of 879 Barrels Pork by S. Wray ... 105.48 
 
 Paid for Boarding 33.00 
 
 Paid passages for Snider & myself 75.00 
 
 Paid for Sea Stores, Ditto 61.00 
 
 Biscuit made use of by the hands down the River . . 24.00 
 
 Paid for Salt to Deshon & Allen 22.50 
 
 Paid Bill at Barneys Balto 56.93 
 
 Paid for Horse and Saddle 82.00 
 
 Paid for sundry small expenses 266.25% 
 
 $1507.32% 
 (next page) 
 
 Paid physicians Bill at N. 17.00 
 
 Paid expenses from Balto. home 23.43% 
 
 Paid other small expenses 4.50 
 
 44.93% 
 
 In March, 1811, Kerr paid $100 to Martin Armstrong for 
 building 2 boats, each 50 feet long; to the firm, Teas and Sni- 
 der, he paid $100 for one boat 56 feet long, and the other 50 
 feet long; to Adam Bower he paid $52.00 for building one 
 boat, no length noted, and George Frew received $56.00 for 
 building a boat, length not mentioned. 
 
 During the same month John Boston received $4.50 for 
 6 days with boats at the Mill dam and $6.00 for 12 days as- 
 sisting about the boats. Stephen Page received 75 cents for 
 one day boating and $3.91 for HVfe days assisting. For caulk- 
 ing a boat Kerr paid $1.75. 
 
54 General Joseph Kerr 
 
 In April 1811, the following prices for lumber used in boat 
 building prevailed: 
 
 7930 feet 1% inch plank, 1.50 $118.95 
 
 2632 feet 2 inch plank, 2.00 52.64 
 
 3209 feet 1 inch plank, 1.25 40.11 
 
 10,000 feet % inch plank, 1.00 100.00 
 
 2,227 feet Studding & Rafters, 2.00 44.14 
 
 300 feet Sticking Stuff, 1.00 3.00 
 
 $358.84 
 
 George Snider was paid $5.00 for one trip to Portsmouth, 
 so were 11 other men who took the boats down to the mouth 
 of the Scioto; and $4.50 was paid for 6 days with the boats on 
 the dam. 
 
 Kerr, himself, made this trip with the boats and paid his 
 own expenses of $5.40 to Columbia. 
 
 For inspection and storage of flour Kerr paid $35.59 at 
 Portsmouth; April, 1811, and additional expense was the cut- 
 ting of two trees on Indian Creek, $1.00 and he paid $3.50 
 for building 7 Boat Chimneys, and another $3.00 for "setting 
 kittles in furnace". The boats were equipped with fireplaces 
 for cooking and heating. Owens Mason received $21.00 for 
 his services and those of his men who helped 11 days loading 
 the boats. 
 
 Two men paid Kerr $40 for "use of boats". They prob- 
 ably travelled to New Orleans as passengers. 
 
 In his "Boat Account," for May, 1811, Kerr gives us an 
 interesting picture of the cost of baking. 
 
 18 bbls. Pilot bread, 1638 lbs. at 4c $ 65.52 
 
 15 bbls. Butter and Water Biscuits, 1163 lbs. at 6c 69.78 
 
 77 loaves bread, 12y 2 c 9.64% 
 
 24 bbls. to hold biscuit, 33y 3 6.00 
 
 To these supplies were added 4 bbls. beer at $6.00 each. 
 
 Inspection charges, 1811, for products shipped from one 
 state to another were 6 cents per barrel for pork, 2 cents per 
 barrel for flour, and 2 cents per barrel for lard. To this had 
 to be added the cost of a cooper who had to re-head the bar- 
 rels and kegs. 
 
 Wages paid by Kerr at various times did not change 
 materially from year to year. Amaziah Davisson who took 
 charge of his exporting trips when Kerr did not conduct them, 
 was always paid one dollar a day and we find that his salary 
 from March 1, 1811, to November 1, 1811, was for 245 days, 
 
"The Exporter" 55 
 
 but Kerr deducted 14 days for "lost time at Morgantown at 
 1.00 a day" and so Davisson received but $231.00. However, 
 his expenses are always paid in full when he makes a trip for 
 Kerr to the Bank of Marietta or the Bank of Steubenville to 
 negotiate a loan, a bill of exchange or pay these. 
 
 Men who worked on the boats received from $41.00 to 
 $70.00 for a trip to New Orleans and return. For a trip to 
 Baltimore, $75.00. Unless they were employed by Kerr they 
 made the return trip from either place on their own. Steering 
 a boat to New Orleans cost $50.00. 
 
 The expansion of his shipping and exporting business 
 turned Kerr's attention to a larger vessel than a flat- or keel- 
 boat and he planned to build a schooner at Portsmouth under 
 supervision of Captain Reuben Knowles. In his account book 
 for March, 1812, we find the various statements of expenses of 
 building, equipping and manning this schooner Economy, and 
 we have a list of some of its cargo to complete the picture. 
 
 On March 20, 1812, Joseph Kerr paid Reuben Knowles 
 for "building Hull and making of Spars, 92 46/95 Tons at 28$ 
 $2589.55" 
 
 To Benjamin Ives Gilman he paid "for Rigging as per 
 bill $694.20." and "cash for Registering" 2.00. 
 
 In financing this enterprise he listed under "Bills of Ex- 
 change" one for $600 drawn on "the Secretary of the Navy 
 at 90 days from the 25th Inst," and one for $500 drawn on 
 "Mary Kerr at 30 days from the 18th." 
 
 Besides the two lists of cargoes quoted below the account 
 books shows among other items sent to the . Economy from 
 Chillicothe by Asa Shepherd Wm. Huston and Grosvenor G. 
 Converse, in April, 1812, 587 barrels flour, 11 barrels coarse 
 pork, 3 barrels beef, 55 barrels lard, 6 barrels hearts and cheeks, 
 6 barrels buckwheat flour, 8 kegs butter, 2 barrels biscuits and 7 
 barrels "kiln dryed" corn meal. 
 
 Cargo Sent down by John Cathey, to Schooner Economy 
 26th March, 1812, Vizt. 
 
 § 46 Barrels prime Pork a. 10 
 
 n 4 Barrels Navy Beef a. 11 
 
 +, 4 Barrels Coarse Beef a. 7 
 
 •gj 15 Barrels Coars Pork a. 6 
 
 S 9 Barrels Biscuit 719 lb a. 4 
 
 £ 1 Barrel Whisky (stores) 11.84 
 
56 General Joseph Kerr 
 
 Rec'd 26th March 1812 the above loading in good order which I 
 promise to deliver alongside the Schooner Economy to Capt. Reuben 
 Knowles at Portsmouth on the Ohio, in like good order, having signed 
 another Receipt of the same date and purporte. 
 
 John Cathey 
 
 Sent down by Ezra Tubs to Schooner Economy 8th 
 
 April 1812 Vizt. Cash to buy Potatoes &c $ 5.00 
 
 o 30 Barrels Coarse Beef a. 7. 
 
 co 14 Ditto Ditto Pork a. 6 
 
 &■ 1 Ditto flour (Stores) 4:50 
 
 £ 1 Keg Lard 50 lb Tare 12 lb (Stores) 3.79 
 
 .2? 1 Keg tallow 67 lb " 14 1b 6:05 
 
 <v 
 
 15 Yds. linnen, 3 Sides leather & sundry 14:00 
 
 fc 
 
 articles of Sugar, Coffee, Tea Candles, &c 17:18 
 
 Rec'd 8th April of Joseph Kerr the above articles in good order, 
 which I promise to deliver alongside the Schooner Economy to Capt. 
 Reuben Knowles at Portsmouth on the Ohio in like good order, having 
 signed another Receipt of the Same date & Purport. 
 
 Ezra Tubbs 
 James & Woods Bill $13:43 
 
 Items picked up from the account book show that there 
 
 were sundry expenses such as "2 ax's $4; Pottery and 
 
 candles 3.77; 190 lbs. hams at 6%c for the boat; 10 
 
 bolts of Rushia duck $232.45; 5 bolts cotton duck 
 
 $85.00; Making Sails &c $141.31; 2 Anchors 562 
 
 lbs. and 495 lbs $140.94; Shaves and Pins . . . $26.00; 
 
 Carriage of Sails &c to Pittsburgh $25.62; Boxes, 
 
 Cooperage & Drayage &c $5.75; Commission on Pur- 
 chase &c $13.52. These last five items were purchased 
 
 from Prentiss & Carter of Baltimore and had to be hauled to 
 Pittsburgh where Kerr brought them down to Portsmouth 
 by one of his natboats. 
 
 From James & Woods, general store keepers at Chilli- 
 cothe, Kerr made the following purchases for the Economy: 
 Coffee, tea, sugar, &c . $13.43; 20 lbs candles . $3.75. 
 From his own storehouse he bought the following, 53 lbs. tallow 
 . . . $6.05; and the keg, 75 cents; 38 lbs. lard $3.79 and 
 
 the keg at 75 cents; 10 lbs. of butter $1.37V2 and a pottery 
 container, 12 Vz cents; 1 barrel flour $4.50; 1 barrel 
 
 whisky .... $11.84. "Cash paid the Carriage of the above from 
 Town to the mouth . $2.75". 
 
"The Exporter" 57 
 
 Unfortunately there is no one account book for this inter- 
 esting venture so we could learn how much he really shipped on 
 the Economy, where he sold the cargo and what he made on it. 
 It must have been successful because in the spring and summer 
 of 1813, his account book shows that he shipped 133 bbls. beef, 
 113 bbls. pork, and 353 bbls. flour to New Orleans by the 
 schooner Enterprise. Since neither are mentioned again in his 
 Chillicothe accounts but we know from his letters and adver- 
 tising that he operated vessels in foreign trade, we are certain 
 that both of these schooners later plied the high seas to Ha* 
 vana, Baltimore and European ports. 
 
 At the same time that he was fitting out the Economy he 
 was preparing another of his "Adventures to New Orleans" as 
 he called them and he gives rather interesting figures which 
 we quote: 
 
 Samuel Teas, building- 2 boats 40 ft. each ... $80.00 
 
 Sawing timbers 4 boats , „ 15.00 
 
 Making 5 oars . . . . > » 2.50 
 
 Making turning Machine 1.50 
 
 Making boat rafters 50 
 
 99.50 
 
 Isaac Eastwood, for 16 days helping build boats at .75 ...$12.00 
 
 Aaron Renck, for building a Boat 40 ft 40.00 
 
 Hewing 2 pieces, 50 ft. 7 by 9 2.50 
 
 Hewing 2 ditto, 13 ft. 10 by 12 94 
 
 43.44 
 
 He paid various men for 6 days work at 4.50 . . . > 29.50 
 
 James Gibbs for Building 4 fireplaces in Boats 3.00 
 
 Stores for the four Boats, Put on Board promiscuously — - 
 
 2 Barrels Navy Beef at 11$ 
 
 1 Barrel Coars Ditto at 7$ 
 
 1 Barrel Pork, Heads & Shanks at 7$ 
 
 8 Barrels Biscuit 663 lb at 3c 
 
 3 Barrels Porter > at 10$ 
 
 1 Barrel Whisky 33 gal at 37 ^ 
 
 24 Hams Pork 360 lb < at 6c 
 
 1 Firkin Butter at 12% 
 
 2 Kegs Salt 128 lbs, Kegs 1.50 at 3c 
 
 6 Bushells Corn Meal at 37 % 
 
 1 Barrel dryed Apples at 5.50 
 
58 General Joseph Kerr 
 
 Sundry expenses for equipping and provisioning this Ad- 
 venture which included the following items, 
 
 4 bbls. Porter $ 40.00 
 
 Amaziah Davisson for "expenses on the River" 45.00 
 
 2 days helping load boats at 75 cents , 1.50 
 
 3 lbs. hammered nails .75 
 
 1 earthen pitcher .19 
 
 2 Lanthorns & 2 horns 2.00 
 
 powder, lead, &c 2AZy 2 
 
 'Eggs for Boats use 62 y 2 
 
 3 bushels potatoes 1.00 
 
 8 bbls. for containing, 37 y 2 3.00 
 
 1 bbl. flour in Bread 7.50 
 
 20 lbs. shoulder and Bacon for Boat hands 1.60 
 
 Salt at 3 cents a pound 
 
 1 skillet 1.50 
 
 1 tin kettle 37 y 2 
 
 3 tin cups 37 % 
 
 1 stew kettle 1.25 
 
 1 hatchet 75 
 
 candles .19 
 
 chocolate 1.25 
 
 Other expenses included "assistant boat hands and their 
 expenses" at $6.00; other boat hands at $20.00, and the "fer- 
 riage of several", $1.00. 
 
 A Statement of Cargoes of 4 Boats taken charge of by 
 Amaziah Davisson from Chillicothe to New Orleans March 
 23rd 1812. 
 
 Boat No. 1 200 Barrels Navy Beef @ 11$ 2200 — 
 
 65 Barrels Supf. Flour @ 4$ 260 — 
 
 Boat No. 2 200 Barrels Navy Pork @ 13$ 2600.00 
 
 7 Barrels Mess Ditto @ 14$ 98.00 
 
 10 half Barrels " Ditto @ 7 50c 75.00 
 
 6 Barrels Lard 1312 lbs @ 6c 78.72 
 
 28 large Kegs Do 2303 lbs @ 6c 138.18 
 
 25 less Ditto Do 1318 lbs @ 6c 79.08 
 
 Boat No. 3 153 Barrels prime Pork @ 10$ 1530.00 
 
 47 Barrels Mess Ditto @ 14$ 658.00 
 
 30 Barrels Supf Flour @ 4$ 120.00 
 
 Boat No. 4 42 Barrels Navy Pork @ 13$ 546.00 
 
 60 Barrels Navy Beef @ 11$ 660.00 
 
 50 Barrels Prime Pork @ 10$ 500.00 
 
 12 half Barls Navy Pork @ 7 50c 60.00 
 
 21 half Do Mess Beef @ 6$ 126.00 
 
 16 Barrels Tallow 3531 lbs @ 8c 282.48 
 
 6 Vi, Bbl. Tongues @ 10$ 60.00 
 
 46 Barrels Sup. flour @ 4$ 184.00 
 
"The Exporter" 59 
 
 Freight rates were paid by the day when wagons were used 
 to haul the goods and for 22 days Kerr paid $61.50; for 183 
 bbls. flour to the schooner Economy he paid $47.75, and for 
 hauling 11 bbls. pork, 31 kegs lard, 3 bbls. beef and 6 bbls. 
 hearts and cheeks, he paid $8.50. Of course this is the War 
 of 1812 period when prices went sky high and money was scare. 
 Kerr paid the men to take the loaded flat boats from Chilli- 
 cothe to Portsmouth $5.00 each for the trip and $8.00 if a man 
 went with his boat to Columbia. 
 
 In August, 1812, Kerr again built for his New Orleans 
 trade and listed materials and costs, 
 
 3914 feet of plank, 1V 2 inch $58.71 
 
 900 feet of plank, 2 inch 18.00 
 
 3253 feet of plank, 1 inch 40.66 
 
 4980 feet of plank, V 2 inch 49.80 
 
 700 feet Stuff for Studs .- 14.00 
 
 638 feet Stuff for Rafters 12.76 
 
 1136 Laths 8.52 
 
 Dressing Rafters 2.00 
 
 $204.45 
 Hawling timber, &c 23.00 
 
 Making a skift 5.00 
 
 hawling to River 1.00 
 
 6.00 
 
 Kerr paid Aaron Bennett $21.00 for 28 days boating to 
 Louisville; and $77.00 for 77 days to New Orleans and re- 
 turning, but added $28.50 for Bennett's expenses returning 
 from New Orleans. 
 
 To Henry Massie at Louisville he paid for articles furn- 
 ished Bennett $21.25, and extra "for sugar, fowls & vegitables, 
 $6.30; for the Navigator, boards and candles, $4.64; for a 
 canoe, whiskey and work hands, $5.75." 
 
 Chillicothe Supporter, November 26, 1816. 
 
 "ATTENTION! FARMERS AND OTHERS, 
 SERIOUSLY! ! 
 I have received by the last mails, undoubted assurances that 
 the CROPS in Europe, including particularly ENGLAND, have been 
 ascertained to be insufficient for the support of the inhabitants; in 
 consequence of which news, flour was HELD UP AND NOT SOLD 
 in Baltimore on the 13th instant at TWELVE DOLLARS PER BAR- 
 REL; corn in demand, for any quantity, at ONE DOLLAR AND SIXTY 
 
60 General Joseph Kerr 
 
 GENTS; wheat, 2.50 per bushel, — I have no doubt this news is not 
 confined to myself, though it was furnished by esteemed friends, who 
 have uniformly furnished me with the earliest and most certain in- 
 formation on all commercial subjects, THEY ARE NOT APPRISED 
 OF MY SITUATION: all I can do now, fellow-citizens, is to apprise 
 you of the value of your property in time to prevent its being intently 
 bought up at less that half its real value — Your wheat is now worth 
 ONE DOLLAR AND A HALF and your corn AT LEAST FIFTY 
 CENTS. I would not be afraid to insure you ONE DOLLAR by the 
 first of May — You have NOW an opportunity to repay both the 
 eastern and European merchants for the great loss they have oc- 
 casioned to the country in obliging your neighbors and yourselves to 
 sell the bank paper of this state at a loss of from 10 to 20 per cent, 
 when in reality it was bottomed on more specie than the paper given 
 for it. Such of you are in debt in bank will now be hard pressed to 
 induce a sale at a low price; HOLD ON, there is no man really a 
 broken merchant who holds the amount of his debts in property 
 worth the money; yours is all now worth more than its nominal value; 
 let those wait a little who only want to use the funds themselves. As 
 soon as I can prepare for the press a little piece of advice, about the 
 manner of preparing your property for market you will have it. 
 
 Respectfully yours, 
 Joseph Kerr. 
 Chillicothe, 25th November, 1816." 
 
 From these two advertisements in the Chillicothe Sup- 
 porter we note that Joseph Kerr was at the height of his ex- 
 porting business in 1816 and 1817, so much so that we can 
 infer from the tone of his advertisements that his business 
 competitors and the bankers were harassing him and we know 
 that he was in jail at the time he published these notices. The 
 newspaper was his only means of getting word to his farmer 
 friends. 
 
 Chillicothe Supporter, July 29, 1817. 
 
 For the Supporter: 
 
 Mr. George Nashee, 
 
 Sir — The following is the communication which was handed to 
 Mr. Bailhache for publication, also the note which has so much 
 offended him; as he has not given in his paper publication either to 
 this or the articles in the eastern papers, from which part is quoted, 
 the presumption with me is that his friends had not then a fair time 
 to impose on the farmer. You will please give this and IT, with my 
 note of request, in your paper of tomorrow. 
 
 Yours Respectfully, 
 Joseph Kerr 
 July 28, 1817. 
 
"The Exporter" 61 
 
 Chillicothe, July 23, 1817 
 FELLOW CITIZENS, 
 
 The latest accounts from Europe assure us that grain is not only 
 high, but on the rise, and that either the prospect of a failure in the 
 present crop, or a prospect of war (not with us) justifies the be- 
 lief that If their wants prove to be what they are generally supposed, 
 no import can bring down the price' in England. 
 
 Permit me to recommend to yoiu to get out your wheat early, and 
 let those have it, at a fair price, who are able to pay you, so as to 
 enable them to grind and send it off EARLY: one of the great dis- 
 advantages of our country labours under, is that of not getting into 
 market early; by getting in late the produce of the upper country is in 
 market at once, which is too much for the richest city to furnish 
 funds to meet. I would consider ONE DOLLAR a fair price per 
 bushel. When that is offered sell. Don't take less until you are further 
 advised. 
 
 Yours Respectfully, 
 Joseph Kerr. 
 
 July 29, 1817-2 
 
 MR. JOHN BAILHACHE, 
 
 Sir — I presume that those who control your paper will permit 
 this published: if so, please give it a place in tomorrow's paper. 
 
 Joseph Kerr. 
 July 23, 1817. 
 
 Unfortunately the account books that have been pre- 
 served do not give us as clear a picture of Joseph Kerr's foreign 
 business. For December, 1811, we find a few figures quoted; 
 Flour at Havana brought $767.89 V 2 ; Pork and Lard, $540.37 1 / 2 ; 
 but for these figures no quantities are noted. However, we do 
 find that 72 barrels flour brought $1490.44 in Havana and 115 
 bbls. Pork and 27 kegs lard brought $1125.12 1 / 2 . 
 
 At the same period 701 bbls. pork brought $9754.22 in 
 Baltimore, and Kerr paid an insurance premium here of $152.25. 
 
 The letter from Amaziah Davisson to Colin Mitchel of 
 Havana, dated August 7, 1813, shows the precautions taken to 
 guard Kerr's ships against the privateering British during the 
 War of 1812. 
 
 Amazi Davisson to Colin Mitchel Esq.: 
 
 "Havana 7th August 1813. 
 Colin Mitchel Esq. 
 Dear Sir 
 
 I am now about to depart for the U States, and have to request 
 of you, in the event of the Schooner Nuestra Senora de la Merced, 
 alias la Constitucion, Slobet master arriving at this Port, to give 
 her immediate dispatch for the Port of Boston consigned to the House 
 
62 General Joseph Kerr 
 
 of Isaac Winslow Esq'r. merchant of that plaee, with such cargo as 
 may appear most conducive to my Interest. 
 
 In case of said schooners capture, and carried into a British 
 Port you will please claim her in the name of Don Hilario Basagortioz 
 apparent owner in the Havana for my acct. 
 
 Should she arrive at St. Iago de Cuba & Mr. Wm. B. Wanton re- 
 quire any Documents from the owner please give him your friendly 
 aid as my agent there. 
 
 I have further to request of you that should at any future period, 
 should it be made appear to your satisfaction that the Schooner has 
 been disposed of by Messrs Prentiss & Carter or myself, that you will 
 attend to the confirmation of the same accordingly. Wishing you all 
 possible Health, am Dear Sir very 
 
 Respfy Amazi Davisson." 
 
 In order to prepare the Scioto valley's produce for the 
 foreign market it was necessary to have a slaughtering and 
 salting house, a cooperage and a packing house. Joseph Kerr's 
 farm adjacent to Chillicothe also had a store house, but he 
 did not have a mill, using those of Thomas Worthington and of 
 John Crouse. As it was, Kerr's farm was operated like a big 
 business, profits accuring even before the packed produce were 
 shipped but local expenses immediately eating them up. 
 
 A few of the prices paid for beef included 5 steers at 
 $100, in September 1812; and in November, 12 head of cattle 
 were bought for $200. Hides were sold at 5 cents a pound and 
 6V4 cents for the larger ones. A fore-quarter of beef of 118 lbs., 
 at 5 cents each was sold at the slaughtering house for $5.90. 
 
 Accounts in December 1811, give us these figures; board- 
 ing butchers cost $1.50 per week per man; a load of wood cost 
 50 cents, and several times we find that Kerr sells "an acre of 
 wood. ..$5.00;" an ox team cost $1.50 per day; butchering 
 hands were paid according to the type of work they did — in 
 January 1812, 8 hands were paid $ 14.62 V2 for 21 days, 2 
 hands were paid 50 cents a day, and 7 hands "at butchering" 
 were paid $ 10.94 V2 for 15 V2 days. Killing a hog cost 25 cents 
 and cutting it up another 25c. Killing a beef cost 50 cents and 
 cutting it up another 50 cents. 
 
 From the account of John Loyons, who, like Matthias 
 Huffnagle, seemed to work his own hands at butchering and 
 packing, we learn that he was paid, 
 For Killing and Packing 
 
 231 Barrels Pork at 50c 115.50 
 
 14V 2 Ditto small Hogs 50c 7.25 
 
 65 Ditto Beef at 50c 32.50 
 
 y 2 Ditto Tongues at 50c 25 
 
'The Exporter" 63 
 
 For Rendering 
 
 5 Barrels Tallow at 50c 2.50 
 
 3 Barrels Lard at 50c 1.50 
 
 7% Barrels Ditto 
 
 (in Kegs) at 50 3.66 
 
 1% Barrels Ditto 
 
 (in Ditto) , at 50c 80 
 
 For killing one Beef 50 
 
 For y 2 Mo. Butchering at 50 25.00 
 
 For 10 Days helping kill hogs 6.25 
 
 For boarding hands 69 days — 25c . 17.25 
 
 Another expense regularly charged against the Slaughter- 
 ing House was the amount of whisky consumed by the butchers. 
 One week in January 1812, we find the item, "34 Gallons 
 Whisky for Butchers ... $ 14.17." 
 
 In February the business was so great that slaughtering 
 had to be done even on Sunday for which there is a separate 
 item, "Slaughtering Expense, For working 3 Sundays, 50c 
 $1.50." 
 
 We would like to know who Isaac Sanderson was because 
 we find that in March, 1812, he came on from Boston, had his 
 trip paid and was boarded by Joseph Kerr. 
 
 "Isaac Sanderson for 
 
 His services 3 Mo. & 8 days in killing; Cutting, Salting 
 
 & Packing Provisions a. 50$ 163.33V 3 
 
 Cash paid for I. Sanderson's expenses from Boston 71.00 
 
 To Joseph Kerr for 
 
 Boarding I Sanderson Z x /z Months a. 1/6 26.25 
 
 The coopering business was an important part of Kerr's* 
 establishment and we find the following accounts indicative 
 of prices paid for materials, and labor. 
 
 In August, 1812, "For Unheading and heading 785 Barrels 
 a. 6V4 49.06 Va\ Hooping and Nailing Barrels and Kegs 
 
 12.15." 
 
64 General Joseph Kerr 
 
 When Kerr paid Aaron Bennett 
 
 For Making 176 flour Barrels a. 20c 35.20 
 
 For Making 99 Beef & Pork Barrels a. 50c 49.50 
 
 For Making 1 Half Barrel for. H. M 25 
 
 80.95 
 
 and then charged the Wheat Account 
 
 176 flour Barrels made by Bennett at 37% 66.00 
 
 and the Pork Account 
 
 39 Barrels a. 1.00 39.00 
 
 and the Beef Account 
 
 60 Beef Barrels made by Bermet, a. 1.00 60.00 
 
 $165.00 
 
 he made a profit of $83.05 which was probably swallowed up 
 in some of the wages, board and whisky for the butchers and 
 hands. 
 
 Prices for materials and labor in the cooperage run about 
 like this, 
 
 To John Allen 
 
 Making 88 Barrels in 1811 55.00 
 
 Ditto 100 Ditto in 1812 62.50 
 
 Ditto 50 half Do. in 1811 25.00 
 
 Ditto 53 Ditto in 1812 26.50 
 
 Repairing Lard Kegs 3.62 % 
 
 Unheading & Heading 60 Bbls 3.75 
 
 Making one Buckitt 30 
 
 Dressing 1800 Bbl. Staves 11.25 
 
 Ditto 1200 Bbl. Heading 7.50 
 
 Ditto 800 Keg Staves 4.00 
 
 Ditto 300 Keg Headings 1.50 
 
 To Hooping off 113 Barrels 21.16% 
 
 March, 1813. 
 
 1940 Staves & Heading 15.52 
 
 1326 Staves & heading 5.30 
 
 The account book closes in the month and we can not 
 learn how high prices rose as the Panic of 1819 gradually 
 dawned on the Ohio horizon. We do know from the Chillicothe 
 Supporter of Dec. 21, 1818, that in New Orleans flour was 
 very scarce and brought from $15 to $20 a barrel, while pork 
 sold from $20 to $25. Freights were low and money was scarce, 
 so that Kerr, with his facilities of packing and shipping could 
 have done a big business had his former ability to borrow money 
 at the banks to see him through a season been the same as 
 before his enemies began closing in on him. 
 
CHAPTER VI 
 
 KERR PROVISIONS THE ARMY OF THE NORTH WEST 
 AT UPPER SANDUSKY 
 
 After the treaty with Spain (1795), opened the Ohio and 
 Mississippi to Americans there was a steady flow of farm pro- 
 ducts from the inland waters such as the Scioto, the Little 
 Miami and the Big Miami rivers to New Orleans. By the 
 time the War of 1812 dawned on the Ohio horizon as a reality, 
 great numbers of keelboats, flatboats and even some schooners 
 went down the current of every spring freshet. There is a re- 
 cord of 53 such boats leaving the Scioto valley during the 
 spring months of 1811 laden with wheat and buckwheat flour, 
 corn and corn meal, lard, horses and other products of the 
 valley to the value of $ 83,90c). 1 There was, however, always 
 the danger of other tributary valleys shipping the same pro- 
 duce at the same time and thus glutting the market, forcing 
 down the price with the attendant loss of the more perishable 
 goods. Everywhere farmers banded together for "exporting 
 companies" to facilitate shipping. 
 
 The War of 1812 gave an additional stimulus to this 
 movement of produce down inland rivers to New Orleans 
 and thence to Atlantic ports, direct ocean shipping being too 
 hazardous. It is said that during the war period more fruit, 
 flour, whisky, lard, pork, venison, fowls, bale-rope and bag- 
 
 1— Chilicothe Supporter, July 20, 1811. 
 
 An estimate of 53 boats loaded here since December last "with 
 produce of our soil". 
 
 Flour 6,503 bbl $39,018.00 
 
 Corn Meal 140 " 490 
 
 Buckwheat meal 28 " 88 
 
 Whiskey 136 " 2,176 
 
 Pork 1,799 " 21,516 
 
 Lard 196 kegs 2,450 
 
 Wheat 12,600 bushels 12,400 
 
 Corn 2,000 " 1,000 
 
 Horses 31 2,323 
 
 Live Hoge 90 720 
 
 Planks 15,000 feet 225 
 
 Windsor chairs 31 dozen 744 
 
 Nails 3,000 wt 600.00 
 
 Waggons 1 150.00 
 
 total $83,900.00 
 
 65 
 
66 General Joseph Kerr 
 
 ging yarn was sent from the interior to eastern markets by 
 way of the Ohio and Mississippi rivers. Return cargoes com- 
 prised cotton, wine, sugar, coffee, hides, indigo, copper, salt and 
 saltpeter. 2 
 
 Joseph Kerr had been building up his shipping business on 
 a large scale and advertised extensively in the newspapers for 
 wheat and hogs. He had a "slaughtering establishment" on his 
 farm where Matthias Hufnagel, another Pennsylvanian from the 
 neighborhood of Chambersburg, received 25 cents for killing 
 a hog and another 25 cents for cutting it up. Kerr advertised 
 for coopers, hogs on the hoof, large oxen, wheat and pot ashes. 
 Cash being scarce, he borrowed from the bank at Marietta 
 enough money to carry on his shipping industry, and his ac- 
 count books tell a thrilling tale of boat building, prices, labor, 
 shipping hazards, cargoes, all of which reached a peak during 
 the War of 1812 when he shipped to foreign ports and made 
 arrangements to protect his vessels should they be captured by 
 the British. 
 
 Kerr set about this undertaking with the wisdom of an ex- 
 pierence gained in the transportation of food and equipment 
 when he was with Elliott and Williams, army contractors. 
 This stood him in good stead now and his affiliation with the 
 Virginia party at Chillicothe brought him a small contract to 
 provision the Army of the North West at Upper Sandusky 
 under General William Henry Harrison. We find him adver- 
 tising for 1,000 bushels of corn and all the wheat the farmers 
 can bring in. He does not have his own mill but uses those 
 of Thomas Worthington and John Crouse. He uses the news- 
 papers as his medium for reaching the people and he urges 
 them not only to bring in wheat, corn and other supplies, but 
 he asks for "wagons and experienced, sober men to handle 
 them," and the prices he offers are 31% cents cash per bushel 
 for corn which must be "good sound yellow corn, shelled". This 
 was on February 8, 1812. For good wheat he offered 62 Y2 
 cents a bushel in September, 1812, but by November 28, 
 1812, Kerr raised this to one dollar per bushel and offered to 
 buy up to ten thousand dollars worth at this price. He also 
 offered fifty cents apiece for flour barrels but specifies that 
 they must meet the standard of those made at his own cooper 
 shop. At this time he raised the price for shelled corn to 33 Vz 
 cents and offered the following prices for other articles, "rye, 
 
 2 Beverly W. Bond Jr., Civilization of the Old Northwest. 
 
"Provisions The Army, 1813" 67 
 
 50 cents; corn in the ear, 25 cents; cut straw, 6V* cents; good 
 ashes 12 Vi cents; whiskey, 50 cents." 
 
 He also advertised for "two brigades of Waggons (say 20) 
 to go to Upper Sandusky; they must be able to carry 8 barrels 
 of flour and 16 days feed, of mixed stuff; none will be em- 
 ployed that are or have been in the employ of the government, 
 either with contractors or military agents . . . To such with 
 teams with careful drivers, I will pay what shall be equal to 
 the highest wages given by the government. . . . To an active 
 good man who can raise and then take charge of each brigade, 
 the common pay will be given". 
 
 In April, 1813, Kerr advertised for "Wheat and Wag- 
 goners" to deliver 4,000 bushels of wheat, and he wants two 
 men to drive teams, "sober men and good drivers". 
 
 On the day Kerr advertised for 4,000 bushels of wheat, 
 (April 21, 1813), Governor Meigs ordered out eight companies 
 to Franklinton 8 to protect the large quantity of stores at Upper 
 and Lower Sandusky which were threatened by Indians and 
 the companies marched on the following Sunday under leader- 
 ship of Captain Brush. 4 On May 12, 1813, the Chillicothe 
 Supporter published a letter from William Creighton, Jr., 
 from the Upper Sandusky stating that there are 500 men at 
 that place and that 500 more are expected. "The Governor 
 [Meigs] is here, and all are in high spirits and anxious to 
 march to Fort Meigs". Meigs had sent so many brigades of 
 militia from Ross and neighboring counties into the command 
 of General Harrison that the population was so depleted that 
 women and children were necessitated to till the fields. By 
 September, 1813, General Harrison had about 6,000 men at 
 Upper Sandusky and the enemy withdrew. 5 
 
 Kerr was made a Brigadier General of mounted volunteer 
 troops and in one of his newspaper notices stated that he 
 expected to be away 30 or 40 days. However, before this time 
 was up the word came that "General Harrison has discharged 
 his mounted volunteers for thirty days' service. Generals Find- 
 lay and Kerr, with the rest of the volunteers from this neighbor- 
 hood [Chillicothe] have returned home." 6 
 
 Supplies had been difficult to obtain from the Cincin- 
 nati contractor and their transportation through the wilder- 
 
 3 Chillicothe Supporter, April 21, 1813. 
 
 4 ibid, April 28, 1813. 
 
 5 ibid, Sept. 8, 1813. 
 
 6 ibid Oct. 17, 1812. 
 
68 General Joseph Kerr 
 
 ness was precarious. In August, 1812, the Trump of Fame, 
 copied an item from the Chillicothe paper relating that "Late 
 on Saturday evening last, an express arrived in town with a 
 letter from Gen. Hull to Gov. Meigs, stating that the army was 
 very deficient in provisions that Mr. Piatt was authorized to 
 furnish a supply for two months, and that the communication 
 must be preserved by the militia of this state or the army 
 would perish for the want of provisions," and, the article adds, 
 "a letter was, at the same time, received from the contractor, 
 stating that provisions were deposited at Urbana, ready to 
 be packed on horses * * * but had to wait for a convoy of 
 troops to protect and open up a new road as the old one is 
 impassible." 
 
 After Kerr took over this contract to provision the Army 
 of the North West under General Harrison at Upper San- 
 dusky, everything seemed to move smoothly except that pay- 
 ment by the Government was delayed and again Kerr had to 
 mortgage his lands to meet his payments to the farmers who 
 brought in the wheat, rye, whiskey, and other produce, and to 
 pay the men who killed the hogs and oxen and packed them, 
 and the men who made the candles and soap he was to fur- 
 nish the army. Again Kerr stood on the brink of bankruptcy. 
 And his adversaries began to gloat and wonder which one of 
 his fine farms would become their own property. 
 
 As stated before, Kerr did not own mills but used those 
 of Worthington and Crouse on the Scioto, but on November 
 28, 1812, we read the startling announcement over Kerr's sig- 
 nature that Messrs. Worthington and Crouse raised the price of 
 grinding and packing to one dollar per barrel, and even at that 
 price refused to grind for Kerr. Quick to help himself Kerr 
 ordered the wheat (this is the wheat he had asked for at one 
 dollar a bushel up to $10,000) delivered at his warehouse, 
 and he promised his farmer friends 12V2 cents more than these 
 millers would pay and will pay the ferryage to those who have 
 to cross the river. With his strong sense of right and wrong, 
 he continued "those who have engaged (to deliver wheat to 
 me) and fail to deliver will be sued on their contracts without 
 respect to persons." 
 
 In a few days Kerr took over the Crouse mill by renting 
 it for a short time, and told the farmers about this, promising 
 them cash in hand for every bushel of wheat they bring in. 
 Knowing how far in advance he must prepare for delivering 
 
I fi(Xt^c< C f'i&oc*-* .. d xeby acknowledge to have 
 
 entered a waggon and horses, in the employ of J<. epm Kerr, to proceed on 
 
 the / of /utr //<<>/(/&■ — with a load of $(*<< "- c< * Military Stores, 
 
 weighing 4Ll>C (tZfZT^ hundred pounds to Upper Sandusky, and promise 
 
 to use every exertion to reach the place of destination without delay. — Said Kerr, on his part 
 agreeing to pay at the rate of i7/il<~*- &&££&■ 'I / A<- 'L clujuf so soon as I produce 
 the receipt of the Military Agent, at Sandusky, for my loading. 
 
 In witness whereof I haye signed this engagement ihii ■/ - day of , fy ux< * A ^ty 
 
 foe $ct& cc^^ftf-i^B^Jp— 
 
 A receipt for hauling flour from Chillicothe to the Army 
 of the Northwest at Upper Sandusky, War of 1812. 
 
"Provisions The Army, 1813" 69 
 
 provisions to the army Kerr called for coopers, and cooper-stuff, 
 wagons and drivers, and got under way with the contract. 
 
 At this time the Chillicothe Supporter, December 19, 
 1812, noted, 
 
 "MARCH OF THE FOUR-FOOTED TROOPS 
 
 Four thousand and forty-eight large fat hogs have been 
 driven from this neighborhood within a few days, destined for 
 the rapids, for the use of the North Western Army." 
 
 In his accounts General Kerr was meticulous in taking and 
 giving receipts of which many are extant. 
 
 Of interest might be the fact that the government found 
 it very difficult to send money into the northwest. At one 
 time $300,000 in specie was snipped to the Miami Exporting 
 Company, in 8 wagonloads that were seven months on the way 
 over the mountains, encountering all sorts of difficulties and 
 dangers. Local banks issued bank notes which were dis- 
 counted and gangs of counterfeiters also made business haz- 
 ardous. Prices went up sky-high and salt, so necessary to 
 the shipping of food to the army soared to $10 and $12 a 
 bushel thus working great hardships. In 1802 St. Clair had 
 appointed inspectors at the ports of shipping and receiving 
 to examine food shipped to or from other states. These in- 
 spectors now found much more to do during the time of the 
 War of 1812 because of the additional duties of examining the 
 meat packed for the army and navy. From several state- 
 ments in the Kerr mss. we see that Kerr lost heavily due to a 
 lack of sufficient salt and because of what might be careless- 
 ness in the salting establishment. 
 
 In March of 1813, General Harrison and his staff visited 
 Chillicothe and the friendship which began in the army be- 
 tween Kerr and Harrison ripened while the breech between 
 Kerr and Worthington and his group widened. However, Kerr 
 had no time for petty quarrels. He was concerned with big 
 business, that of preparing for shipment and exporting food 
 supplies from the Scioto valley to Havana and other foreign 
 ports via New Orleans. 
 
 The war had left the country in a state of insolvency with 
 a huge debt at home due to public lands having been sold on 
 long credit, with heavy bank loans for building, improving or 
 speculating in lands. Specie was scarce, paper money dropped 
 in value until the resumption of payment of specie, 1817, and 
 finally, in 1821, Congress passed a law permitting debtors to 
 
70 General Joseph Kerr 
 
 relinquish unpaid-for lands. Ohio, by 1816, had 12 new local 
 banks and by 1817 the opposition against the U. S. branch 
 banks at Cincinnati and Chillicothe reached the floor of the 
 State legislature. 7 General Kerr had to borrow heavily from 
 the various banks to carry his huge shipping and exporting 
 business and he became a leader in the opposition. 
 
 Joseph Kerr to Col. Thomas Worthington, Washington City: 
 
 "Chillicothe, 15th February, 1813. 
 
 DEAR SIR: — I have taken the liberty of asking your interest in 
 procuring- a military appointment for Andrew Gilmore, the son of a poor 
 honest man of our neighborhood. I know of no young man (he is not 
 more than 18 or 19) who has made better use of his time than this 
 young man, and of none in whom I have greater confidence as an 
 honest, industrious one — and as to Bravery, I am not afraid to stand 
 his sponsor. I enclose you his first intimation to me of a wish for 
 s*uch appointment, and confess that I did not mention it then, lest I 
 should lose his services in the Orleans trade. Since that time he vol- 
 unteered in Capt. Armstrong's Rifle Company under Genl. Taylor, and 
 was at the Genl's elbow at the rapids. At the time he volunteered he 
 could have had 60 dollars as a substitute, this he refused. 
 
 I am sorry that you and I should have reason of complaint 
 against each other and will put the issue upon this footing, that he who 
 is most in fault shall make a public acknowledgement of the wrong. 
 
 Would not those Indians that profess friendship and have to be 
 fed at the expense of the Government be much better kept in the 
 •interior of the country, than on the frontier where the whites are not 
 able to distinguish between friend and enemy? 
 
 I am conscious that those Indians being on the frontier, will, 
 in the spring, occasion lives to be lost on both sides, where none 
 would, were the friendly Indians removed in and confined to certain in- 
 terior bounds, where no enemy could be expected. 
 
 I have killed my provision here, and have chartered a keel boat, 
 built at Hockhocking, Berthen 750 Barrels; in which and some boats I 
 am about to find a foreign market for 700 bbls. Beef 600 Pork and 2000 
 bbls. Flour and purchase provision to the eastward in the spring to 
 meet my contract. This would not do, if Government wanted these 
 articles here, but they are known to be here and no attempt made 
 at a purchase. 
 
 A little contract was made with me to break and quiet me, this 
 did not succeed. I have delivered flour for five Dollars less at Upper 
 Sandusky than any they have taken there in Public Teams or on Pack 
 horses, and still can send off 2000 barrels. Mr. Davisson reached a 
 market safe, and has forwarded a remittance. 
 
 I am Dear Sir yours Respectfully 
 JOSEPH KERR" 
 Col. Thomas Worthington, 
 
 Washington City." 
 
 7 Rufus King, Ohio: First Fruits of the Ordinance of 1787. 
 
"Provisions The Army, 1813" 71 
 
 The Account Book for Kerr's contract with the U. S. 
 Commissary was a note book, 7Vix6%, of linen rag stock paper 
 watermarked with a plow, with "Abstract of Receipts for Mili- 
 tary Stores Delivered at Upper Sandusky:" on the cover. The 
 first page states, "The following is an Abstract of the Receipts 
 for Provisions delivered at Upper Sandusky under a contract 
 entered into by Joseph Kerr, with Thomas Buford, Deputy 
 Commissary General for the Northwestern Army, dated 12th 
 Deer, 1812". In this are listed the "Abstracts of Receipts for 
 Flour Delivered at Upper Sandusky on a contract dated 12th 
 Deer. 1812." according to number of the receipt issued by 
 Kerr, name of the man who loaded the flour on the various 
 wagons, the date of loading, name of man who delivered the 
 flour, the date when he did so, and the number of barrels he 
 had on his wagon. This is followed by similar abstracts for 
 candles, soap, salt and whiskey. 
 
 At the end of this book are the total amounts listed for 
 which the United States owed Joseph Kerr under this contract. 
 The items are, 
 
 574 barrels flour at $18 per barrel $10,332.00 
 
 1373 gallons of whisky 1.25 per gal 1,716.25 
 
 Soap and candles 999.75 
 
 Salt 425.20 
 
 Amount paid a person to go from Chillicothe to Canton for 
 the amount of a bill drawn by Col. Thomas Buford on John 
 Sloan, Esquire, Burs, at that place 26.00 
 
 For the amount of a Bill of exchange drawn by Col Thomas 
 Buford on the Secretary of War, and protested for non accept- 
 ance including 10 per cent damages 1691.20 
 
 $15,190.40 
 To Balance due Joseph Kerr $190.40 
 
 And there is a note to the effect that "Neither C. Wallace's 
 Bill of expenses to Canton nor the Protested Bill are laid be- 
 fore the accountant, these must be paid before a settlement can 
 be made." 
 
 Chillicothe Supporter, November 28, 1812. 
 
 "CASH for WHEAT and FLOUR BARRELS 
 
 Finding that Messrs. Worthington and Crouse have raised the 
 price of grinding and packing of flour to one dollar per barrel; and 
 that, even on them terms, they refuse to grind for me, or receive 
 
72 General Joseph Kerr 
 
 into their mills any wheat for me, I have tho't proper to make known, 
 that I will receive any Wheat intended for me, at my ware house, and 
 pay ONE DOLLAR per bushel, for all that TEN THOUSAND DOL- 
 LARS will purchase. 
 
 Should either of those mill owners raise the price I will give 
 twelve and an half cents more than them and pay the ferryage of such 
 as have to cross the river in the boat. 
 
 Those who have engaged me their wheat, are informed that I 
 will give them the highest market price at the time of delivery; and 
 those who have engaged and fail to deliver, will be sued on their con- 
 tracts without respect to persons. 
 
 I will give 50 cents per barrel for flour barrels made of seasoned 
 stuff weighing 22 to 25 lb. delivered at my ware house and made like 
 those made at my shop. For half barrels in proportion. 
 
 Joseph Kerr. 
 
 near Chillicothe, 23d November, 1812. 
 
 N. B. Those who have engaged hogs ought to fix a day for delivery." 
 
 Chillicothe Supporter, December 19, 1812. 
 
 ATTENTION ! ! ! 
 
 I have rented Mr. John Crouse's Mill for a short time; therefore 
 those that live more convenient to the mill than to my Ware House, 
 are informed that I will continue to give One Dollar per bushel for 
 wheat, at either place. Money will always be placed in the hands of 
 Mr. Crouse to pay those that deliver there. I now want Coopers, 
 Cooper-stuff and Hoop poles: I want Whiskey, Rye, Corn and Cut- 
 straw; I want Good Ashes, I want two brigades of Waggons (say 20) 
 to go to Upper Sandusky; they must be able to carry 8 barrels of 
 flour and 16 days feed, of mixed stuff; none will be employed that 
 are, or have been in the employ of Government, either with contractors 
 or military agents unless they have first obtained an honorable dis- 
 charge. To such teams with careful drivers, I will pay what shall be 
 equal to the highest wages given by Government, and have every- 
 thing ready to their hand; each Team must have 16 four bushel 
 bags. To an active good man who can raise and take charge of each 
 brigade, the common pay will be given. 
 
 That there may be no misunderstanding, I will pay the following 
 prices for such articles as I want, viz. Barrel stuff double, $8, Hoop 
 poles $7 50 cents, Rye 50 cents, corn shelled 33% cents. In the ear 
 25 cents, Cut straw 6% cents. Good ashes 12% cents, whiskey 50 cents. 
 
 The Rye, shelled corn and Cut straw, are wanted at the mill, 
 the other articles at either place. I will purchase any quantity of the 
 foregoing articles and pay CASH for all I get, when received. 
 
 Barrels can be had at all times to save ashes in. I want a good 
 girl, to do housework. 
 
 Joseph Kerr. 
 December 14, 1812." 
 
"Provisions The Army, 1813" 73 
 
 I, Jacob Pontious do hereby acknowledge to have received of 
 Joseph Kerr, this 18th of January 1813: The several articles herein 
 mentioned, marked and numbered as in the margin, in good order 
 and condition, viz. Ten Barrels of flour Which articles I promise to 
 deliver to the Military Agent at Upper Sandusky, without delay, in like 
 good order and condition: The said Kerr having agreed to pay at the 
 rate of Ten dollars per barrel and I find myself on my returning one 
 one of these bills of lading, (having signed three of the same tenor and 
 date) with the said agent's receipt endorsed thereon for said loading. 
 
 Jacob Pontius 
 (Endorsed on back) 
 Reed, in advance Thirty Dollars 
 
 Jacob Pontius 
 
 No. 42 10 Barrels 100 : 00 
 
 Jacob Pontios paid 30: 00 
 
 70:00 
 10 Barrels F. paid 50 : 00 
 
 20:00 
 
 paid $30.00 paid in full 20 : 00 
 
 Detd. 
 
 car. entd. to Cash (See foot note 8) 
 
 I, Wm. Dixon do hereby acknowledge to have received of Joseph 
 Kerr, this 6th day of Fabuary, — 1813: The several articles herein 
 mentioned, marked and numbered as in the margin, in good order and 
 condition, viz. thirty Barrels of Flower which articles I promise to 
 deliver to the Military Agent at Upper Sandusky, without delay, in 
 like good order and condition: The said Kerr having agreed to pay 
 at the rate of Eaight dollars per Barel cents, — on my returning one 
 of these bills of lading, (having signed three of the same tenor and 
 date) with the said agent's receipt endorsed thereon for said loading. 
 
 William Dickson 
 
 (Endorsed on back:) 
 
 Wm Dixon 
 
 8 % 13— y 2 Bushels of Corn 5:06% 
 
 8 % 27— Bushels of Cut Straw 1:69 
 
 4 % 21— Bushels of Shorts 7:00 
 
 4% 8— Baggs 1.25 10:00 
 
 $ 23.7514 
 
 Cash ansd. & pd. Oirison 76:37% 
 
 Cash of G. Brown 45:00 
 
 Cash pd. Platter 10 : 00 
 
 Stuff for 2 Bags 2:06*4 
 
 157:19 
 
 8 Ohio Mss. Illinois Historical Survey. 
 
74 General Joseph Kerr 
 
 Cash in advance £0 : 00 
 
 Check in full 217: 19 
 
 22:81 
 
 240:00 
 C, Carriage 30 Bbbs, 240.00 
 
 paid S. Oirisort No, 88 
 
 15th. April $40:00 William Dickson 
 
 paid Orison & Platter 30 Barrels flour 
 
 For 8 bags Returned car. entd. to Cash 
 
 to the Miller $10:00 (See footnote 9) 
 
 Chillicothe Supporter, April 21, 1813. 
 
 Wheat and Waggoners I 
 
 I wish to make contracts for the delivery of four thousand bushels 
 of Wheat immediately. Those who have it to spare will oblige me by 
 an early application. I wish to employ two men to drive Team, who 
 are sober men and good drivers — none else need apply — high wages 
 will be given. A few Boatmen for New Orleans wanted also. 
 
 Joseph Kerr. 
 Chillicothe, April, 18, 1813. 
 
 Philip Moore to Joseph Kerr: 
 
 1813. 
 "Portsmouth, Ohio, 25th July 
 I do hereby certify that I have Inspected & opened one hundred and 
 twenty Barrels of Beef and Pork Brought to this place by Joseph 
 Kerr and found one hundred and one Barrels of said Provisions such 
 as I thought ought to pass inspection, tho' some of it was injured 
 from want of Salt and Pickle — One Barrels of Navy Pork intirely lost, 
 tho' the Barrel was full of Pickle but appearantly no salt — four Barrels 
 of Beef of Prime quality was intirely lost — the Barrels full of Pickle 
 but no Salt — Nearly all the Barrels falling Short in Weight So that 
 when done repacking there was five Barrels that contained Prime 
 Beef — Seven Barrels that contained Navy Beef, and one Bbl that 
 contained Navy Pork intirely empty — and five Barrels Condemed 
 tho' Jos: Kerr had them repacked and salted. 
 
 In Witness whereof I have hereunto Set my name the day above — 
 
 Philip Moore 
 
 Witness present at 
 
 Repacking & Certifying 
 the above— „ m „ , A ^ 
 
 John Collins John Collins" Inspector of Scioto County' 
 
 endorsed "Inspector of Scioto 
 Certificate 
 25 July 1813" 
 
 9 ibid. 
 
CHAPTER VII 
 
 IMPORTANCE OF SALT 
 
 Salt was such a vital factor in the lives of the pioneers 
 that much effort was spent in obtaining, shipping and using it. 
 There was no difficulty selling it because the demand far sur- 
 passed the supply. Besides its daily use for man and cattle, salt 
 was the only means of preserving foods for future use. Meats 
 were cured and then pickled for shipping. 
 
 When George Washington advised his young friends to 
 buy uplands in the new west wihle they were cheap, he did 
 not always suggest that they buy land containing salt licks, 
 wells or saline springs. Such regions were the direct 
 object of his land scouts' trips through the Ohio valley. Gen- 
 eral John Wilkinson, in 1786, invested in salt for speculation 
 and took young Nathaniel Massie in as one of his agents, writ- 
 ing him careful instructions to buy "only clean dry Salt which 
 you will take care to have measured in a proper and honest 
 way, with a spade or shovel and suffer no sifting." And the 
 young man was sent to barter the salt thus obtained for pro- 
 duce in other parts of the country. The Kanawha valley was 
 such a rich source of salt that in 1787 Massie was planning 
 to open a road from Lexington, Ky., to intersect the road from 
 the Great Kanawha over which salt could then be brought 
 to the central Kentucky settlements. 1 
 
 The struggle for the possession of the saline wells in the 
 Kanawha valley went on endlessly. And those in the Big 
 and Little Sandy valleys were also coveted. Gen. Wilkinson, 
 through his agent, John Graham, rented out the licks on the 
 Little Sandy where some 70 to 80 bushels of salt were made 
 a week; in some instances the rent was 400 bushels of salt 
 a year to be paid quarterly; at times the salt water for 80 kettles 
 was rented at 200 bushels of salt per annum. 2 
 
 The salt licks on the Scioto were developed by James 
 McCoy of Chillicothe who is said to have been the first to 
 establish a salting business in the valley. In 1805 50 bushels 
 was made from 600 gallons of salt water at the Scioto Salt 
 Works, were sold at $2 to $3 per bushel, and sent by pack 
 horse to remote settlements. 3 
 
 1 Daniel Meade Massie,Nathaniel Massie, biography. 
 
 2 ibid. 
 
 3 Hist, of Ross and Highland Counties, O. 
 
 75 
 
76 General Joseph Kerr 
 
 As the population increased so did the demand for salt 
 and when shipping of pork and beef began to be an important 
 industry in the Scioto Valley, Kanawha salt, in 1810, cost as 
 high as $6 a bushel, had to be shipped down the Ohio by 
 flat boat to the mouth of the Scioto and from there to Chilli- 
 cothe by boat or hauled overland by ox team. 
 
 In order to avoid a monopoly of this vitally needed com- 
 modity Congress reserved the salt lands in the Northwest 
 Territory, but the salt from wells and licks which were operated 
 in Ohio did not meet the demand and the monopoly established 
 earlier on the Kanawha and Sandy kept up prices. 
 
 Not only did Joseph Kerr spend vast sums on salt for 
 the preserving of pork and beef which he packed for the 
 army, for trade to New Orleans, Havana, Atlantic seaports 
 and Europe, but he was ever confronted with the problem of 
 obtaining enough to preserve the meat. In each of the in- 
 spectors' reports extant in this collection, we learn that some 
 of the meat was spoiled because not enough salt had been used. 
 
 Salt itself was 2Vfe cents a pound in 1811, went up to 
 3 cents the next year, and during the war demand of 1812-13 
 went up to 5 cents a pound. This did not include the tax of 
 25 pounds per barrel nor the cost of transportation which was 
 high. In July, 1814, salt was $9.62 Vi a barrel. 
 
 Buying salt was a problem and Kerr endeavored to pur- 
 chase lands in the Kanawha valley which would give him his 
 own salt works. His own boats could bring it down the river 
 and his own teams haul it up to Chillicothe. With his son-in-law 
 and partner, Amaziah Davisson, and Thomas Scott, he tried 
 to work out such a plan. The following letters regarding this 
 endeavor are highly interesting but the outcome is not known 
 since other letters or mss. are not existent. Davisson, from 
 1813, was in partnership with John Waddle and Thomas 
 Worthington in a slaughtering and salting business in Ports- 
 mouth, in which we believe Kerr was a silent partner. When 
 Davisson died in 1823, Waddle and Kerr, as his administra- 
 tors, sold these buildings at Portsmouth. The stormy period 
 of 1816 to 1824, through which General Kerr passed resulting 
 in the loss of his fine farm adjacent to Chillicothe, brought to 
 an end all of his enterprise at Chillicothe. 
 
 Kerr's account books show that his "Salt Account" used 
 up immense sums cf money. In December 1811, the hauling 
 
'Importance Of Salt" 77 
 
 of salt from Portsmouth cost $40.24 for 5,366 bushels includ- 
 ing the tax. A year later it cost $91.85 to bring 14,697 bushels 
 by boat from Portsmouth to Chillicothe and at that time salt 
 cost 5 cents a pound at the salt works. One of Kerr's bills 
 for salt amounted to $3,028.75. In January 1813, the book 
 shows a bill for $208.15 just for hauling salt with teams from 
 Portsmouth to Chillicothe, 
 
 In July, 1818, Kerr became indignant over the salt mo- 
 nopoly situation and, not being able to reach his friends and cus- 
 tomers personally because he is in jail, he bought advertising 
 space in the Chillicothe Supporter of July 22, 1818, and told his 
 "Fellow Citizens" about "the company which is monopolizing 
 the SALT of the country" and is issuing its own paper money 
 "to enable them to continue the monopoly". In his direct 
 manner Kerr told them "if you are simple enough to receive 
 it as money you, in a few weeks will become their creditor 
 and you have to support their business." He continued, "You 
 have it in your power now to destroy their oppression by re- 
 fusing their Bank notes credit — thus break their monopoly — ", 
 and for the first time he signed his message, "Your friend, 
 Joseph Kerr." 
 
 His account books show the various terms used for haul- 
 ing salt, each indicative of the method — by boating, canoeing, 
 drayage, hauling and carriage. Costs, as have been quoted 
 above, are exorbitant for any of these. 
 
 In the letter from Wm. G. Pendleton we note that the 
 number of the land warrants Kerr bought are the same as 
 those under which Reuben Slaughter is to survey the lands 
 along the meanders of the Big Sandy and the Kanawha. We 
 also note with interest that the surveys are to keep "at all times 
 at the distance of fifteen poles from the low water mark", this is 
 necessary to catch the saline springs which Kerr, Davisson 
 and Scott needed. 
 
 Of great interest is the letter from the highly indignant 
 President of the Town of Charleston who strenuously objected 
 to the taking up of the town common under this land warrant. 
 Reuben Slaughter, the surveyor of Kanawha County, was pre- 
 vented by force from carrying out the surveys, the squatter 
 salt well workers threatening him, and the matter had to be 
 given into the hands of local men who endeavored to complete 
 the business of surveying and carrying on the salt making 
 business. Kerr, Davisson and Scott, called in James Pindall 
 and Col. Benjamin V/ilscn Jr., they drew up and signed articles 
 
78 General Joseph Kerr 
 
 of agreement by which each of the five men shared equally 
 in expenses and profits. This delay took the matter into 1819. 
 What was done in the interim until Kerr's estates were sold 
 to satisfy his creditors is not found in these papers but the 
 memorandum of public sales at auction of Kerr's estates show 
 that the 5480 acres on the Great Kanawha were sold to Thomas 
 Scott and Wm. McCarrell for $50.25, at the sale, April 29,1826, 
 and the 500 acres on Big Sandy were sold at the third auction, 
 July 1, 1826, to Thomas Scott and Wm. McCarrel for $1.34%. 
 
 Wm. G. Pendleton to Joseph Kerr: 
 
 "Land Office 
 Richmond 31 July 1818. 
 Joseph Kerr, esqr. 
 Chillicothe, 
 Ohio, 
 
 Dear Sir, 
 
 Yours of the 18th inst. covering: 150$ for the purchase 
 of Land Warrants is just to hand. You will receive enclosed two War- 
 rants issued, agreeable to your direction, No. 6342 for 500 acres, and 
 No. 6343 for 5480 acres, amounting to 5980 acres, the cost of which is 
 150$ as pr note at the foot of each. Wishing them safe to hand, 
 
 I remain, Dear Sir, 
 Very Respectfully 
 Yr. Mo. Obt Servt 
 Wm. G. Pendleton." 
 
 "Augt 31st 1818 
 
 Reed of Joseph Kerr the office fee for making two entries, and 
 giving him copies thereof and receiving and remiting for the war- 
 rants on which they were founded, seventeen cents each — 85 cts. 
 
 Wm. Buffington S.C.C." 
 
 Wm. Buffington to Joseph Kerr: 
 
 "Joseph Kerr, Thomas Scott and Amaziah Davisson, Enters two 
 hundred acres of Land on part of a Land office Treasury warrant 
 No. 6342, for 500 acres on Big Sandy river in Cabell County and state 
 of Virginia. Beginning- on the east branch of said river in the line 
 of a millitary survey made for John Savage and others for 26,627 acres, 
 where said line crosses said river above the round bottom running 
 thence with said line on the east side of the river fifteen poles, and 
 with said line westwardly to the Kentucky line, thence with said Ken- 
 tucky line up the said river, and from the East end of the Base up the 
 river and the east side thereof keeping at all times at the distance of 
 fifteen poles from the meanders thereof at low water mark for quan- 
 tity 31st Augt 1818. 
 
 Joseph Kerr Thomas Scott and Amaziah Davisson Enters three 
 hundred acres of Land on part of a Land office Treasury warrant No. 
 6342 for 500 acres, on Big Sandy river in Cabell County, Virginia Be- 
 
"Importance Of Salt" 79 
 
 ginning on the East bank of said where the line of a Military 
 Survey made for John Sauge and others crosses the said river at the 
 Lower end of the round bottom, near the mouth of a creek called 
 "Hatton's Creek", running thence with the line of said survey out 
 on the East side of the River 20 poles, and with said line westwardly 
 to the Kentucky line, and with the said Kentucky line down the river, 
 and from the East end of the Base, down the river, keeping at all 
 times 20 poles therefrom at low water mark for quantity 
 
 31st Augt 1818 
 True copies from the Entry Book 
 
 Test Wm. Buffington S. C. C. 
 
 Augt 31st 1818 there reed into my office, Land office Treasury 
 warrants 
 
 No. 6342 for 500 acres, on which the within locations are made 
 
 Wm. Buffington S. C. C." 
 
 Wm. Buffington to Joseph Kerr : 
 
 "Cabell County Virginia 
 Deer 15th 1818 
 Mr. Joseph Kerr 
 
 I received your favour of 23d of Nov. Last, Requesting me to 
 survey your entries on Big Sandy; in answer thereto, I think it would 
 be best for you to attend personally as I apprehend there may be some 
 opposition from the people claiming the Land adjoining the river, how- 
 ever if you will furnish me such instructions as will enable me to do 
 the business satisfactory to you, I have no objection to make a tryal — 
 
 You Request me to make the surveys agreeable to the calls of 
 the entries, the length of which shall not exceede, but be equal to three 
 times the breadth — do you mean by this that the entries must be 
 cut up into as many surveys as majy be necessary so as to make them 
 of that description — you also mention that in surveying the entries 
 agreeable to the calls thereof, I am to extend them up the river with 
 several surveys (which would be immediately on the Banks) by Re- 
 ferring to the copies in your possession you will discover that your 
 lower entry calls for keeping at all times 20 poles from the River in- 
 dependant of any other surveys — on the west side to run with the Ken- 
 tucky line, there is some doubt with me whether the Kentucky line 
 extends to the margin of the River at low water mark or to high 
 Water mark, which of these will you be governed by in surveying 
 your entries I Shall wait for further instructions, you will please be 
 more explicit. 
 
 I am Sir with sentiments of Esteem 
 
 Your Obt Servt 
 
 Wm. Buffington" 
 
80 General Joseph Kerr 
 
 Reuben Slaughter to Joseph Kerr, Amaziah Davisson & Thomas 
 Scott: 
 
 "Kanawha Jany 1st 1819 
 
 Gentlemen. I Reed your letter of the 23d Novr last it lay in the Post 
 
 office 10 days here I wrote you by mail this day two weeks, but I now 
 
 write again seeing one a copy of the former in the hands of Mr. 
 
 Hutt. 
 
 Imediately on the Rect of your letter I made Preparation to Survey 
 & Several owners of Town Lotts — Positively Refused letting me sur- 
 vey, Particularly Mr. S. Summer & Capt. Jas. Wilson, the former 
 of which Notified me & called Witness thereof not to survey at my 
 Peril. I have been advised that better for one of you to attend the 
 Surveys, or give me an Indemnifying Bond with Security. Then I 
 can with Propriety Survey & Secure myself from Damage. I wish to 
 hear from you on this Subject. The first & second Surveys would be 
 part of the Land Claimed by the Gentlemen refered to above I am 
 With Due Respect Gentlemen your Obt Servt 
 
 Reuben Slaughter 
 Messrs 
 
 Jh Kerr \ 
 
 Ah Davidson \ Esqrs 
 
 T Scott f 
 
 Ansd 16th and required him to 
 proceed in the Survey &c." 
 Address side "Kanawha lett 18% 
 
 Town 
 Messrs 
 
 Joseph Kerr, Amaziah Davidson 
 & Thos Scott 
 Mail Chilicothe" 
 
 Wm. Whitteker, President, to Joseph Kerr and Reuben 
 Slaughter : 
 
 "Messrs. Joseph Karr and Rewben Slaughter. 
 
 Gent — You will take notice, that the Shores Banks and lands, 
 between the front Street of the Town of Charleston, and the margin 
 of the Kanawha River, is of right vested in the President and Trustees 
 of the Town aforesaid, as a Common, to be used and enjoyed by the 
 in habitants of the Said Town — 
 
 That if you proceed to Survey, the Said Shores, Banks, or lands, or 
 either, or any part of either of them, whereby the rights and property 
 held therein, by the Said president and Trustees, may be drawn in 
 question, or commit any other Trespass thereon, that a Suit will be 
 immediately commenced against you, in which I have full confidence, 
 that you will be properly punished — 
 
 Charleston 4th March 1819— 
 Wm. Whitteker President" 
 (in pencil) 
 Reed at one P M 
 4th March 1819 
 
"Importance Of Salt" 81 
 
 James Pindall to Amaziah Davisson: 
 
 Clarksburg July 10th 1819. 
 Gentlemen 
 
 Col. Benjamin Wilson Junr and myself, have observed your letter 
 to him of 21st ult. signifying your willingness that him and myself 
 should have two fifths part of all that might ultimately be got by 
 virtue of two locations, the one on the Great Kanawha and the other 
 on the east side of Great Sandy (the remaining three fifths to reamain 
 in you) each of the five persons thus concerned bearing an equal 
 part of expense of prosecuting &c with an understanding that all 
 money advanced or to be advanced should be a fair charge, and that 
 Mr. Scott and myself should be entitled to the customary fees and be 
 allowed them as a fair charge to the concern. 
 
 Col Wilson and myself will agree to the above proposal as re- 
 spects the entry on Kanawha. With regard to the entry on Sandy 
 we may probally also come to a similar agreement — please inform us 
 of the circumstances of the latter. We presume the expences already 
 incurred are not great. You can, if you choose, send us a memorandum 
 of the agreement (of the Kanawha location) with your signature or 
 seals, a counterpart of which shall be returned executed by us, 
 
 The copies and such information as you can furnish, of the old 
 adjacent claims can also be sent by mail. 
 
 Col Wilson wishes to superintend the making of the survey or 
 surveys in October, but if desirable I think he would do the business 
 sooner. 
 
 With great respect 
 
 Tour Obt Servant 
 
 Jas Pindall 
 
 Genl Joseph Kerr 
 
 Thomas Scott & 
 Amaziah Davisson 
 
 "Articles of an agreement entered into, on the 22nd day of July 
 1819, between Joseph Kerr, Thomas Scott and Amaziah Davisson of 
 the County of Ross and State of Ohio, of the one part, and James 
 Pindall and Benjamin Wilson junr. of the County of Harrison and 
 State of Virginia, of the other part Witnesseth that whereas, the said 
 Kerr, Scott and Davisson, did on the 28th day of August 1818 enter 
 5480 Acres of Land by virtue of Land Office Treasury Warrant No. 
 6343, in Kenawha County on the Kenawha River, which entry, from the 
 calls thereof, will include many of the Salt wells on the said River, and 
 whereas the persons who, at the time, occupied the said wells, did by 
 threats and force, on the fourth day of March last, forbid and prevent 
 Reuben Slaughter, the Surveyor of said Kenawha County (who on 
 that day, under the direction of Joseph Kerr, aforesaid made an at- 
 tempt to survey the entry aforesaid) from executing a Survey thereof, 
 by which the said Entry remains unsurveyed — 
 
82 General Joseph Kerr 
 
 And, whereas the said Pindall and Wilson, being citizens of Vir- 
 ginia have proposed to the said Kerr, Scott and Davisson, that, for an 
 interest in the said Entry, they will have the Survey thereof executed — 
 In consideration of said proposition and with a view of having the 
 aid of the said Pindalls legal talents, the said Kerr, Scott and Daivisson 
 have agreed that the said Pindall and Wilson shall have two fifth 
 parts of the Lands, wells, money or other property which may be 
 obtained by virtue of said entry which two fifth parts (after deducting 
 all expenses which shall have attended the procuring and prosecuting 
 the claim) the said Kerr, Scott and Davisson oblige themselves their 
 heirs &c to convey transfer or pay over unto the said Pindall and 
 Wilson their Heirs &c as the same shall be obtained — and the said 
 Pindall and Wilson on their part oblige themselves their Heirs &c 
 that one of them at least will have a Survey or Surveys executed 
 within the time prescribed by law Same shall be executed if practicable 
 by the first of December next. 
 
 It is agreed between the parties that all money, heretofore ad- 
 vanced, as well as all money which shall hereafter be advanced, re- 
 specting said warrant and Entry or in prosecuting the claim shall 
 be a fair charge to the concern, and that Thomas Scott and James 
 Pindall shall, each, be entitled to the customary fees as Counsellors, 
 and be allowed them as a fair charge to the concern — 
 
 And as the said Kerr, Scott and Davisson have made all ad- 
 vances thus far, it is agreed that the said Pindall and Wilson shall 
 make the next advanced so far as will equal to the two fifth parts of 
 the whole expense, and from thence forward, each party will advance 
 their just proportion of all monies which may be required in prosecut- 
 ing the claim — 
 
 In Testimony whereof the parties have interchangeably affixed 
 their seals and signed the same with their hands — 
 
 (signed) Joseph Kerr 
 
 Thomas Scott 
 Amazi Davisson" 
 
 W. H. Douglass" 
 
CHAPTER VIII 
 
 KERR OPPOSES THE U. S. BRANCH BANK AT 
 CHILLICOTHE 
 
 To carry on big business such as Joseph Kerr planned 
 in late 1810, it was necessary to have large sums of money 
 available to pay for the farm produce he bought extensively 
 for cash and to pay for the material and wages for the boats 
 he built to ship in. Money was scarce in the Ohio country 
 and mere promises to pay did not interest the farmers. Kerr 
 used his own personal credit and borrowed large sums from 
 the banks to float his fleet of boats to New Orleans and 
 around to Baltimore where he sold his cargoes, cashed his 
 letters of credit, and paid his boatmen enough to get them 
 back to Chillicothe where they received the rest of their wages. 
 In Chillicothe Kerr had given his own notes for produce to 
 those who could wait until he sold the cargoes of his ad- 
 ventures, and these he took up immediately upon his return. 
 He frequently paid his boatmen just enough to get them home 
 lest they spend the other money while in the south or in the 
 east, and to insure their return. They were trusted boatmen 
 and he did not want to risk losing their services. In one or 
 two instances his account books show that he paid the man's 
 wages to the wife. 
 
 From these books we learn that as early as De- 
 cember, 1810, he sent Amaziah Davisson to the Bank of 
 Marietta to borrow $5,000. The following year he sent Dav- 
 isson to the bank again to borrow $2,500; in December, 1811, 
 he borrowed $5,000 from the bank of Steuben ville at a dis- 
 count of $156.68; and in January, 1812, he sent Davisson to 
 the Bank of Marietta for another $2,500 (discount, $76.25). 
 These sums saw him through the spring seasons. 
 
 However, the "little contract made to break and quiet 
 me," as he wrote to Thomas Worthington, Feb. 15, 1813, for 
 supplying pork, flour, beef, soap and candles, to the army at 
 Upper Sandusky, was the first snag in his plans. He had 
 borrowed over $10,000 to see this contract through. He had 
 sent produce to foreign ports and the War of 1812 prevented 
 the money for these from reaching him in time to meet his 
 obligations in Ohio. To cover his loans he had mortgaged 
 
 83 
 
84 General Joseph Kerr 
 
 his lands. When it came time to pay off the farmers, boat- 
 builders and those who worked in his packing establishments, 
 Kerr was forced to offer for sale his farm and other property. 
 It must have been a bitter experience to this man who him- 
 self was so scrupulous in meeting his obligations. 
 
 He submitted his accounts which totalled $15,190.40 and 
 when the government did not pay, Joseph Kerr, on November 
 12, 1814, advertised in the Chillicothe Supporter, three tracts 
 of land for sale to the highest bidder. The first piece was where 
 he lived, 408 acres of which he stated, not boastfully, but as 
 a recognized fact, 
 
 "This is not excelled, in proximity to the market, fertility 
 of soil, state of cultivation, convenience and elegance of situ- 
 ation, by any in the State of Ohio, and, by few in the United 
 States." 
 
 This homestead he offered to divide into eight lots, four 
 of which were in good timber, and all had buildings. An ad- 
 joining tract of 100 acres on the Scioto river, which was also 
 in a high state of cultivation and with buildings, he would not 
 divide. The third tract, of 188 Vi acres, adjoining the last and 
 on Paint Creek, he offered to divide into three lots. All were 
 enclosed with good fences. The terms of sale were Vz to be 
 paid into the Bank of Chillicothe 1 on the 21st of December 
 with notes payable in 60 and 120 days, given for the rest, these 
 to be deposited in the bank and so endorsed as to be approved 
 by the bank. Would-be purchasers were to hand in sealed 
 bids by December 1st on which day all were to be opened by 
 Thomas James, president; John Woodbridge, 2 cashier, and Gen- 
 eral Finley, director of the bank. The lots would be sold to 
 the highest bidder, except that a person wishing the whole 
 tract would take precedence over single lot bidders, providing 
 the price was equal. He also offered for sale his entire stock, 
 including horses, mules, an ass, cattle, hogs, Merino sheep, farm- 
 ing utensils and equipment, asking cash for anything under 
 
 The Bank of Chillicothe was organized in 1808, opened in 1809, 
 and in 1816 was established as the Chillicothe Branch of the 
 United States Bank. 
 
 John Woodbridge, came to Chillicothe, 1806; in 1809 was elected 
 cashier of the old Bank of Chillicothe and served it with distinc- 
 tion until its charter expired in 1844. "It is said the credit of the 
 State was saved by the financial skill of John Woodbridge" dur- 
 ing the difficult years after the War of 1812. Hist, of Ross Co., O. 
 
"Opposes The U. S. Bank" 85 
 
 $100; over that amount at 120 days secured by notes in the 
 bank. 
 
 There is a grim starkness about this advertisement by a 
 man rated one of the wealthiest in the Scioto valley, and we 
 really rejoice when Fortune smiled on him and we read, under 
 that curious headline, "Contrary Notice," in the leading news- 
 papers of the state, 
 Chillicothe Supporter, December 17, 1814: 
 
 "CONTRARY NOTICE 
 
 I have the pleasure to announce to the public that a 
 favorable occurrence in my affairs has rendered a sale of 
 nry property, both real and personal, unnecessary: there will, 
 therefore, be no sale as was proposed in my advertisement of 
 the 23d September. Those editors that published the above 
 mentioned advertisement will please discontinue it and publish 
 this until the 23d December, and forward their bills for pay- 
 ment. 
 
 JOSEPH KERR." 
 near Chillicothe, 26th November, 1814." 
 
 With the bank holding mortgages on his property to the 
 amount of $15,900.00 Kerr could not help himself, and of the 
 twelve endorsers of his notes several were men to whom he 
 had given employment, 3 or whom he had helped win a foot- 
 hold in the new country. In May 1818, five of these men, 
 George Renick, James Dunlap, Matthias Hufnagel, John 
 McLean and Joseph Scott, write him a note offering to buy 
 at the appraiser's price his lands "clear of the Watts claim." 
 
 In the meantime Kerr was jailed again but carried on 
 from the Chillicothe prison endeavoring to so arrange matters 
 that he as well as his creditors would be benefitted. As was 
 his custom, he resorted to the newspaper to notify all who 
 are interested: 
 
 "IMPORTANT NOTICE 
 
 A meeting of those gentlemen who have been endorsers for 
 me in Bank, or on Bills of Exchange, and feel themselves in 
 any way bound for the debts due by me, or otherwise inter- 
 ested, will be so good as to attend at the Bell Tavern, in 
 Chillicothe, on Saturday the 26th inst. at 3 o'clock in the after- 
 noon, where a suitable room will be provided and communica- 
 tions made which be of great interest to all concerned. It is 
 hoped that the meeting will be general, as the subject submitted 
 
 3 Matthias Huffnagel was his butcher in the early days, being paid 
 25 cents for killing a hog, 25 cents for cutting it up; 50 cents 
 for killing a beef and 50 cents for cutting it up. 
 
86 General Joseph Kerr 
 
 will be of the greatest possible importance to both them, my- 
 self, and all my creditors. 
 
 JOSEPH KERR. 
 Chillicothe Prison, Oct. 21, 1816" 
 
 Following this is an advertisement from Thomas Steel, 
 the Sheriff of Ross County, offering at public sale, on Nov. 23d., 
 662 acres on the Scioto and Paint creek adjacent to Chilli- 
 cothe, "which has been levied on as the property of Joseph 
 Kerr at the suits of the banks of Steubenville, Marietta and 
 others." General Kerr's fine farm was always the envy of all 
 his adversaries and they made every effort to take it away 
 from him, finally succeeding in 1821. 
 
 In July, 1818, General Kerr, very much embittered and 
 feeling it his duty to both present his case to the people and 
 to warn them against the banks, inserted a two column ad- 
 vertisement in the Chillicothe Supporter, July 8, 1818, 
 
 "For the Supporter: 
 Mr. George Nashee, 
 
 Sir — As Banks, and their consequent good and evil, occupy at pres- 
 ent much the public attention I desire that you will give the fol- 
 lowing a place in your next paper. It will shew to what lengths those 
 in the direction of banks, can carry oppression when they choose to 
 exercise the powers our present laws under our present judiciary, have 
 extended to them. 
 
 As the case is my own, and the items furnished me by the clerk 
 of the court, it may be considered official." 
 
 This is the case of the President and Directors and Com- 
 pany of the Bank of Chillicothe vs. Joseph Kerr. 
 
 Kerr listed his original debts as $16,702.00, then lists the 
 following 
 
 Amount of judgements $54,478.00 
 
 Attorney fees 275.00 
 
 Clerks' fees 312.50 
 
 Sheriffs' fees 88.74 
 
 Kerr continued, after listing these figures, "I am so much 
 out with banks as to annihilate them that are solvent, but I 
 am of the opinion that we must elect to the legislature such 
 as would stop oppression and imposition of the Directors, and 
 correct the laws." This is written from the Chillicothe Prison, 
 July 4th, 1818. 
 
 On October 28, 1818, James Dunlap, John McLean, 
 Mathias Hufnagel and Joseph Scott of the Chillicothe Bank, 
 advertised for sale at auction, if not sold by prior private sale, 
 
"Opposes The U. S. Bank" 87 
 
 two tracts of valuable land in the Scioto valley, containing 
 mill sites "equal to any in the state, and watered with a num- 
 ber of the best springs". They stated that these lands "were 
 mortgaged by Joseph Kerr, the former owner, to the sub- 
 scribers, and have been purchased in payment of the debt for 
 which they were mortgaged." There were no buyers. The 
 lands were offered again the next spring and finally on March 
 31, 1819, there appeared a notice in the papers postponing 
 this sale "for the present." 
 
 In the October 1819, election for the Ohio legislature, 
 which revolved around the question of the U. S. Bank's priv- 
 ileges in Ohio, General Kerr was again a candidate and on 
 this platform which opposed the bank. He won with an 
 overwhelming majority. 
 
 However, General Kerr's political triumph was clouded 
 by the gradual drawing to a close of the Watts case, as it 
 was called, which finally stripped him of his fine farm adjacent 
 to Chillicothe, which was one of the town's showplaces. When 
 he lost this in 1821 he became embittered and disillusioned. 
 After all he had done to promote his chosen home, to aid his 
 neighbors and friends by giving them business and markets 
 for their produce at excellent prices, it seemed a strange 
 trick of fate that through Nathaniel Massie whom he followed 
 to Manchester and then to Chillicothe he should lose his home. 
 
 This famous Watts vs. Massie case, later the Kerr vs. Watts 
 case, by which General Kerr lost his holdings on the Scioto at 
 Chillicothe, was based on what the U. S. Supreme Court termed 
 fraudulent entry. 4 It seemed that Nathaniel Massie, in survey- 
 ing in the Scioto valley for the best lands during 1787, lo- 
 cated three surveys even before it was legal to do so. At the 
 mouth of Paint creek he located 1,000 acres on Survey No. 
 480 for his brother, Major Thomas Massie; adjacent and 
 north of this he located 1,000 acres on Survey No. 503 for 
 Robert Powell; again adjacent and north of the previous sur- 
 vey he located another 1,000 acres for Captain Ferdinand 
 O'Neal on Survey No. 509. 6 Because the river, above the 
 mouth of Paint Creek, made a sharp turn to the west and the 
 surveys followed the meanders of the river and included quan- 
 tity, these locations overlapped. Of course, Massie was fully 
 aware of this. He purchased Powell's land warrant calling for 
 
 4 Wheaton, Henry; Reports of Cases . . U. S. Supreme Court, 1821. 
 
 5 Cranch, Wm.; Reports of Cases . . . U. S. Supreme Court, 1810. 
 
88 General Joseph Kerr 
 
 4,000 acres for himself and by adding the 3,000 additional 
 acres of the survey to the first 1,000 acres made for Powell 
 he eliminated O'Neal's survey. This O'Neal had sold to John 
 Watts of Virginia who therefore held prior right to it. Massie 
 sold this same 1,000 acres to Joseph Kerr and others under 
 Survey No. 503. Suits for title ran all through the local and 
 Kentucky and U. S. Supreme Courts for fifteen years at the 
 end of which Kerr and the others to whom Massie had sold 
 lost their lands to John Watts whose son, Dr. Arthur Watts, 
 came out to Chillicothe and occupied the beautiful home Gen- 
 eral Kerr had built. 
 
 This was the climax of General Kerr's misfortunes. In 
 May 1820, he took over the Farmer's Hotel in which, at the 
 age of 55, he hoped to settle down and retrieve enough of his 
 business to clear his mortgages to the U. S. Branch Bank at 
 Chillicothe and to recoup his fortune. In his fight againts the 
 U. S. Bank he threw his support in with the people and came 
 out in the open for Andrew Jackson who planned to destroy 
 the power of the U. S. Bank which was using its vast resources 
 to corrupt the people's representatives in order to obtain a re- 
 newal of its charter. It threatened to become a power for 
 evil in the future of the country and Kerr again entered politics 
 on this platform. 
 
 Losing his vast estates because of the Kerr vs. Watts 
 decision and with the banks now closing in upon him, General 
 Kerr was forced into bankruptcy in which his vast land holdings 
 were sold for a mere pittance after being put up for auction 
 three times. Such cases never end happily and the banks, too, 
 lost heavily. There is extant a message of feeble protest from 
 the clerk of the court who could not collect the money he paid 
 the newspapers for the advertisements of the Kerr property 
 auctions. 
 
 The death in 1824, of Amaziah Davisson, his son-in-law 
 and trusted business associate, left General Kerr with little or 
 no inclination to remain in Chillicothe, to which he had given 
 the twenty best years of his life and ability. 
 
"Opposes The U. S. Bank" 89 
 
 He even named his hotel the "Jackson Hotel" and en- 
 tertained the hero of New Orleans when he visited Chilli- 
 cothe. But directors of the banks with their strangle-hold on 
 the people because of loans and mortgages threw their weight 
 to Henry Clay who won in Ross County. Naturally the man 
 who openly incited the electors to vote against the bank was 
 very unpopular with the directors of this institution. No 
 leniency was shown General Kerr. His complete ruin was 
 delayed by his efforts to hold his own. 
 
CHAPTER IX 
 
 INTERESTING SIDELIGHTS 
 
 In a career as varied and colorful as that of Joseph 
 Kerr are always found brief bits of information, unusual per- 
 haps to our way of thinking, but which add to our own under- 
 standing of the man or his times. In this chapter we will, there- 
 fore, recount such unrelated but interesting sidelights as have 
 no place in the other phases of his activities. 
 
 For instance, there is among Kerr's papers this bill for 
 nine quarters' tuition for two pupils, written in a fine hand- 
 writing. 
 
 M. Baskerville to Gen. Joseph Kerr, bill for tuition: 
 
 "Gen. Joseph Kerr 
 
 To M. Baskerville 
 To nine quarter's tuition for the years 1813 & 14 for two pupils 
 at $4.62 per quarter 
 
 $55.50 
 
 Sir 
 
 Having a demand for money, necessity compels me to call 
 on you for the above sum. Your speedy compliance will oblige, 
 
 Yours, respectfully, 
 M. Baskerville" 
 Chillicothe, Nov. 23, 1815." 
 
 It recalls that the Scotch-Irish were very strongly in 
 favor of education for their children and were among the earli- 
 est pioneers to establish schools. Their letters, well-written 
 and well expressed, with all the flourishes of the times, show 
 the hallmark of careful education. 
 
 Among the early teachers in Chillicothe was John Kil- 
 bourne, better known as pioneer map maker, and Miss Mar- 
 garet Baskerville who taught three generations of Chillicothe 
 girls. 
 
 It is related that she came alone from Virginia, did not 
 seem to have any family and never confided her story to any 
 one. She was held in high esteem and much affection by all 
 who knew her and it is said that she was deeply religious, of 
 Hugenot descent and claimed Pocahontas blood. The Indian 
 Chief, "Captain Johnny", often came with his followers to pay 
 
 90 
 
'Interesting Sidelights" 91 
 
 their respects and she would threaten unruly pupils with, "I'll 
 send you along with Captain Johnny if you do not mind." 
 
 She had all the characteristics of the typical schoolmarm, 
 being intolerant of innovations, strict as to the dress and de- 
 portment of her pupils, artistic in needlecraft and a very thor- 
 ough teacher. She was eccentric in that she always wore the 
 same style white dress the year 'round, with high Elizabethan 
 ruff about her throat, and her interesting face framed in clus- 
 ters of curls. And she always wore dainty high-heeled buckled 
 shoes. 
 
 Miss Baskerville ran her school on the "quarter term" 
 with but two holidays, Christmas and the Fourth of July. She 
 made her own copy books of foolscap paper which she ruled 
 and prepared herself daily, and used fine oiled goosequill pens. 
 Her two-room school house stood on Second street and here 
 she taught the girls of Chillicothe's best families. Lucy Webb, 
 later the wife of President Hayes, went to school here. 1 
 
 Her tuition rates were not high in accordance with our 
 terms of today, but in 1813-15 money was scarce in the west- 
 ern country. Frequently pay in the shape of produce was ac- 
 cepted but we suppose a lady schoolteacher would have some 
 difficulty in taking bushels of wheat or corn, a hog or perhaps 
 even a cow as tuition. Probably she needed cash with which 
 to buy the paper for her books or the fine white stuff for her 
 dress and some new slippers. 
 
 The two pupils were General Kerr's younger daughters, 
 Clara and Susan. Harriet, the elder daughter, was married 
 the following year, on August 20, 1815, to Amaziah Davisson, 
 enterprising young business man and partner of General Kerr 
 in the "Adventures to New Orleans and Havana." 
 
 The Chillicothe Supporter for August 22, 1815, announced 
 the marriage at the top of its editorial column, 
 
 MARRIED on Thursday last by the Rev. Robert G. Wilson, 
 Mr. Amaziah Davisson, merchant, to Miss Harriet Kerr, both of 
 this place. 
 
 The Scioto Gazette, in printing the notice states, "to the 
 amiable and accomplished Harriet Kerr." Rev. Wilson, a Pres- 
 byterian minister, later became president of Ohio University 
 at Athens. 
 
 Another interesting item in General Kerr's papers is an 
 itemized bill for Dr. Thomas Massie's services attending one 
 
 1 Renick, comp.,Che-le-co-the. 
 
92 General Joseph Kerr 
 
 of the General's sons. From this bill we learn what was pre- 
 scribed in those days for a severe chest cold and we also note 
 that the doctor charged 6 shillings for a visit to his patient. 
 Dr. Thomas was a brother of Nathaniel Massie, and coming 
 from Virginia used the English pound, shilling and pence, 
 which Kerr translated into $13.75 when he endorsed the bill 
 for filing. We recognize castor oil, laudanum, cinchona and a 
 blistering plaster as the medicaments of 1808. 
 
 Thomas Massie to Mr. Joseph Kerr: 
 
 Mr. Joseph Kerr 
 
 To Thomas Massie Dr. 
 1808 
 May 3d 
 
 To purgative & Visit ( 
 
 To visiting Your Son f °- 13 ' 6 
 
 4th To Visit repd & Oleum Ricini 9.0 
 
 To Laudanum oz. 3 6.0 
 
 To Sal. Tart. oz. 1 
 
 5th To Visit Repd Peruvian Bark oz. 1 12.0 
 
 To a Blister Plaister 2.0 
 
 6 To Visit repd and oz. 1 Blister ointment 9.0 
 
 7 To Attendance repd 9.0 
 
 8 To 1 Visit 6.0 
 
 9 To do repd 6 # 
 
 11th To do repd 6* 
 
 To oz. 1 Peruvian Bark 3.0 
 
 The name Kerr was given the soft pronunciation of Carr 
 hence was often interchanged. There was a Carr's lane in 
 Chillicothe running alongside General Kerr's farm to the town. 
 In 1806 Dennis McConnel came to Ross County from Cumber- 
 land County, Pa., via Virginia. "In the outskirts of Chilli- 
 cothe, lying part within and part without the present corpor- 
 ate limits, was a farm owned by Joseph Carr where Dennis se- 
 cured the position of manager for this property for Mr. Carr 
 who was a man of wealth and political prominence. Dennis 
 remained here until 1808 when he returned to Virginia, mar- 
 ried and came back to his old position as Superintendent of 
 the Carr farm and continued there for 6 years." 2 Conrad Fry 
 was in charge of Kerr's fine horses and stock. 
 
 In February, 1811, Kerr added to his advertisement for 
 1,000 bushels of corn, "One or two good Girls wanted, who 
 
 2 History of Ross and Highland Counties, O., 1880. 
 
"Interesting Sidelights" 93 
 
 understand house work, to whom 50 cents per week will be 
 given." 
 
 On December 19, 1812, he adds again to an advertise- 
 ment for produce, "I want a good girl to do housework," but 
 this time does not mention wages. 
 
 In December, 1812, the newspapers carried an adver- 
 tisement of the proposal to publish by subscription Gen. 
 Wayne's Military Guide, in which the author, Wm. Faulkner, 
 quotes a testimonial signed by 36 representative men, among 
 them Joseph Kerr. 
 
 One of the charming stories of the War of 1812 period 
 in Chillicothe and handed down in the Kerr family as well as 
 in various books 3 relates that a group of 37 ladies bought and 
 presented a sword to Major George Croghan, the youthful hero 
 of Fort Stephenson, and among those who signed the letter of 
 presentation was Nancy Kerr, wife of General Kerr. 
 
 Besides his state and national activities Joseph Kerr was 
 also a good citizen of Chillicothe and as Captain of the fire 
 department was in charge of all emergencies arising from con- 
 flagrations. With no organized fire department in those early 
 days each house owner or "occupier" was a member of the 
 volunteer fire department's bucket brigade. According to the 
 ordinance passed in May, 1814, each owner or occupier had 
 to have a fire bucket of soal or harness leather hung up near the 
 front door. It was registered with council, had to be kept in 
 good repair and if lost had to be replaced unless this occurred 
 at a fire when the loss was made good by the corporation. 
 Owners were fined 50 cents per month if the buckets were not 
 in good repair and one dollar for every month a lost bucket 
 was not replaced. On July 6, 1814, John McCoy advertised 
 that two buckets marked "J. McC. No. 19" had been lost at 
 the fire last Saturday. From setting sun to rising sun the bell 
 in the Court House was under exclusive control of council to 
 be rung only in case of fire. A penalty of from $5 to $20 for 
 any other ringing was imposed. A person was appointed who 
 was to be notified of the fire when he would open the engine 
 house and then ring the court house bell for 15 minutes at 
 least. For this he was paid one dollar. In March 1817, coun- 
 cil offered a reward of $20 for information leading to the appre- 
 hension of whoever rang the fire bell in false alarm. 
 
 3 Howe.Hist. Coll. 1890; Renick, Che-le-co-the. 
 
94 
 
 General Joseph Kerr 
 
 A bill from John McCoy to General Kerr shows prices 
 prevalent in 1814 and 1816, 
 
 John McCoy to Joseph Kerr: 
 
 "Genl Joseph Kerr 
 
 To John McCoy Dr. 
 1814 
 
 July 27th to 1 Bbl Salt Gross 300 
 Tax 25 
 
 nett 275 @ $1.75 ...„ 9.62% 
 
 Augt 9 " Cash lent you 1.00 1.00 
 
 Sept 8 " 1 Bbl Salt Gross 263 delivd McConnele 
 Tax 25 
 
 nett 238 @ 2.00 9.52 
 
 19 " Sundries your Order to John W. Odle 25.00 
 
 Octr 8 " To Military Atlas 5.00 
 
 ditto Small 2.00 
 
 7.00 
 
 Dec 8 " your verbal Order paid Mr. Harbour 2.25 
 
 1816 
 
 Feb. 27 " Cash lent you 5.00 5.00 
 
 March 9 " Cash lent you per Son 20.00 
 
 May 11 " 1 pair Calf Skin Shoes 7/6 1.25 
 
 Sept 11 " 1 quart Port wine yr Order 1 25 
 
 12 " 1 do do yr Order L25 
 
 14 " 1 do do yr Order 1.25 
 
 Entered & Settled off 
 
 $84.39 y 2 
 please turn over" 
 
 (on next page) 
 "Genl Joseph Kerr 
 Sir 
 
 I received your favour of yesterdays date this morning and in 
 compliance with your request have sent you the items of your ac- 
 count, before I looked at the Books presumed that the three last ar- 
 ticles (Port wine) was in McCoy & Culbertons Books but find your 
 Orders and the delivery before I associated Mr. Culbertson in part- 
 nership the account therefore as rendered on the foregoing page is 
 all that is against you 
 
 your mo Ob Servant 
 
 John McCoy 
 Chillicothe 2nd deer 1818" 
 
 One interesting study which might be made from this 
 collection of manuscripts would deal with the paper used and 
 some of the historic watermarks found. We have already 
 mentioned the "Miami" watermark which furnished the clue 
 
"Interesting Sidelights" 95 
 
 to establishing the date for the first paper mill north of the 
 Ohio and west of Pennsylvania. A sheet dated 1823, shows 
 half of the "M. Kugler 85 Son" watermark. Kugler was Wald- 
 smith's son-in-law and successor in operating this paper mill. 
 Other watermarks include "S & W L" and showing a bell; the 
 eagle with semi-folded wings and "J. G. Sons 85 Co."; the single 
 posthorn; the dove with olive branch; "W Young 1804"; "Ohio"; 
 "D T & W"; "D J R & W"; "B I & W" ; "AMES" with the 
 dove and olive branch; a monogram of M E with a crest and 
 posthorn; "A 1816"; "D. Grouse" (made in Chillicothe where 
 he also had a flour mill); "H 85 P" with posthorn; "G B 85 B"; 
 "L 8s Co"; "M & D" ; "REDSTONE"; "J & S"; "Patterson 8b Co". 
 The following letters from James Scott cf Morgantown, 
 Va. (now West Va.), whose land agent Kerr was, show some- 
 thing of the difficulties in selling large tracts of land and ob- 
 taining cash for them. 
 
 James Scott to General Joseph Kerr: 
 
 "Morgan Town 19th Jany 1813 
 Dr Sir 
 
 I must confess I have been negligent in not writing to you hereto- 
 fore in returning to the place where I left my horse I found him in a 
 recovering way yet not Sufficient for traveling as Mr. brown The land- 
 lord Supposd unless I would let him lay by one week more I set out 
 with the two horses thinking if the Foundered horse gave out I coud 
 get Home on the horse I got of you the Farther I traveled the better 
 my fondered horse got I did not discover any chance of Sending your 
 Saddle bridle &c back — I have been thinking on The Subject we were 
 talking of in resepct of the military land I hold in your Country — it 
 appears if it coud be Sold for one half down say 375 dolr — it woud 
 meet with a considerable part of my present demands and enable me 
 to wait the gales of payment as we were Speaking of — — 
 
 I have an offer for the lands I live on Shoud I Sell them I do not 
 wish To Sell the military land &c — be so kind as to let me now as I 
 must do Some thing in discharging demands agt me In the course of 
 two months from The date above — we are all well your Friends are 
 well &c present my Compliments to your family I with respect 
 your obedient Servt 
 
 Jas. Scott" 
 
 James Scott to Gen'l Joseph Kerr: 
 
 "Morgantown 
 Dr Sir 
 
 Be So oblidging as to let me now by way of a few Lines in what 
 way the Military Lands that I claim in your country are Situated 
 whether you have a deed in my name or have Sold it & proble direct 
 and State taxes may be in demand against it Should this be The case 
 
96 General Joseph Kerr 
 
 Should be happy to now the Situation you no doubt think Long for 
 the pay of your horse but I still calculated to have sold that tract of 
 Land or at Least you to have Sold it for me and in that way did 
 expect you to have been Satisfied &c our family are in perfect health 
 my best respects to your self and family 
 
 James Scott 
 2d Sepr 1816" 
 
 James Scott to General Joseph Kerr: 
 
 Morgan Town 9th May 1817. 
 
 Dear Sir — 
 
 I Reed Some time since a letter from you In answer to one I rote 
 you in respect of my Military lands in which you say you have dis- 
 posed of the afore mentioned Lands at one dollar and fifty cents per 
 acre in which case I had rather you Had not Sold as I did intend it 
 for some of my children Being as it is I have agreeable to the State- 
 ment you made in your Letter Sent on my Son David Scott to receive 
 the amount that may be coming to me after Deducting what I am in 
 due you you Say there are taxes on it from the year 1807 — which I 
 Suppose must be moderate for Land of that quality I wish you to 
 furnish david with a horse qualified for both Saddle and draft and 
 of a reasonable Size also Saddle & Bridle Balance I shall trust to 
 your honour to Send me in good Chartered notes that may suit my 
 purpose &c My family are in health and Join me in Sentiments of 
 respect to you and family 
 
 James Scott" 
 
 *"Recd of Joseph Kerr at Chillicothe 21st June 1817, one horse 
 Valued at 55 Dols one Saddle & Bridle Valued at 28 and a Half Dollars, 
 Philip Moores Note for 100:37 due the 3d of August next, Thomas 
 Morgans Bill on Wm. Kendall for 100 Dols and Joseph Kerrs own 
 order on Wm. Kendall for 20 Dollars the two latter made payable also 
 on the 3d of August next; And also Eighty One Dollars and four cents 
 in cash, which together with Said Kerrs former advances as per Acct 
 rendered by him, Amounts to the Sum of Five hundred and thirty two 
 Dols and fifty cents — on Account of the within mentioned tract of 
 Land Sold by Said Kerr — 
 
 (signed) David Scott". 
 •In Kerr's handwriting. 
 
 In one of his account books, across an empty space is 
 written, in Kerr's flowing hand 
 
 "This space was left by a Negligent young man" 
 and the handwriting on the next pages is that of another 
 person, perhaps not so negligent in wasting precious paper. 
 
CHAPTER X 
 
 JOSEPH KERR BUILDS ANEW 
 
 When General Kerr began to foresee that the many 
 suits over land titles with the Massie heirs, the 18-year-old 
 struggle against Watts to retain possession of his beautiful 
 Chillicothe home on which he had expended so much money, 
 labor and love, the long weeks in jail under the humiliating 
 debtor law, and the hostility of the banks, all were seriously 
 undermining his shipping and exporting business, he decided 
 to seek a new home farther west and build anew. 
 
 Around 1820 there was much agitation about Texas and 
 Kerr's own connections throughout the Mississippi valley put 
 him in touch with Stephen F. Austin who greatly admired and 
 appreciated a man of General Kerr's character and ability. 
 
 Gradually Kerr began gathering up all loose ends at 
 Chillicothe and planned for the future of himself and his 
 family. Too much of his ready cash was expended in making 
 restitution of purchase money and interest on lands he had 
 sold in good faith but from which the purchaser, during suits 
 against the heirs of Nathaniel Massie, were dispossessed for 
 lack of valid title. In July, 1823, he wrote to Col. Richard C 
 Anderson that, since he was unable to do any surveying, he 
 was engaging Cadwallader Wallace to complete his business 
 and to handle his interests in Anderson's office. Wallace, who 
 had come to Chillicothe in 1808, had entered the land busi- 
 ness, became a surveyor and in 1818 had been appointed one 
 of the Virginia Military District surveyors. 
 
 "THIS instrument of Writing Witnesseth; That Whereas Joseph Kerr 
 and Nancy his wife of the County of Ross and State of Ohio, did on 
 the 11th day of January 1811 convey by deed, unto John Davidson, 
 then of Adams county and State aforesaid, a certain tract of Land con- 
 taining One hundred Acres, which Deed was Recorded in the Recorders 
 office of the Said county of Adams on the 18th day of January 1811 
 Vol. C, folio 579. And Whereas the said John Davidson hath been 
 dispossessed of the Said tract of Land, and the Said Joseph Kerr hath 
 agreed to Refund the purchase Money with interest thereon. And 
 the Said Davidson agrees to relinquish hie claim, to the Said tract 
 of Land, which he had by Virtue of the Deed aforesaid; Now I the 
 Said John Davidson, for myself and my heirs, do hereby Relinquish, 
 and transfer unto the said Joseph Kerr, his heirs &c. all the rights, 
 
 97 
 
98 General Joseph Kerr 
 
 title, interest and claim which I had vested in me by the Deed afore- 
 said; In Witness whereof I have hereunto Set my hand and Seal this 
 24th day of August 1820. 
 
 John Davidson (seal) 
 Signed and acknowledged 
 in the presence of us — 
 William Fulton 
 Samuel F. Chapman. 
 
 Arch. McClean, J. P. (seal) 
 Joseph Darlinton, Recorder, Adams Co." 
 
 In April of 1820, his son-in-law, Amaziah Davisson, ad- 
 vertised an auction sale at General Kerr's farm of fine young 
 English cattle and 100 hogs, "the best in the country," for cur- 
 rent bank paper. Early in 1824 Davisson died leaving Kerr 
 without the support of this keen and trusted business man. 
 Gradually Kerr and John Waddle, named by the court as ad- 
 ministrators, closed out Davisson's holdings. Lands held jointly 
 with Kerr at Chillicothe and Portsmouth, the "extensive and 
 elaborate slaughter house, ware house, etc." at the mouth of 
 the Scioto owned jointly with Waddle and Thomas Worthing- 
 ton, which was appraised at $500 but which was offered for 
 one half. The "well-improved land at Chillicothe" was offered 
 at $18 per acre. Other properties were located at Columbus, 
 and in Madison and Union counties. Only the widow's dower 
 was reserved. 
 
 In March, 1824, General Kerr shipped various seeds, 
 roots and farm animals to his son, Elie William Kerr, who had 
 been appointed a cadet to West Point in 1814, but resigned in 
 1818, to establish himself at Huntsville, Alabama. Later he 
 went to Waterloo on the Tennessee river where this shipment 
 was sent. 
 
 Nathaniel Cox to Joseph Kerr: 
 
 "New Orleans 25 Feby, 1818 
 Dear Sir 
 
 I transmit this day a Bill of Exchange drawn by W. Kenner & Co. 
 on Philadelphia to your son Mr. Elie William Kerr at Huntsville for 
 the sum of five Hundred Dollars The Bill is drawn in my favour & 
 made pble to your son or his order by Endorsement, No United States 
 Post notes can be had now even large Bank notes, and I really appre- 
 hended to much Danger in remitting small Bank notes by Mail — Kenner 
 
"Builds Anew" 99 
 
 & Co. is well known at Huntsville and I doubt not the Draft can be 
 readily Cashed there 
 
 I shall transmit you by some early opportunity a Bl. of Sugar & 
 Bag Coffee — 
 
 Very Respectfully 
 
 Yours Ob St 
 *Nath: Cox." 
 Gen. Joseph Kerr 
 
 Chillicothe." 
 * of Bartlett & Cox, New Orleans, who handled Kerr's business in New 
 Orleans. 
 
 John Renshaw to Joseph Kerr: 
 
 "Reed 7th March 1824 from Joseph Kerr, at Chillicothe Ohio, One 
 Barrel Corn Meal, one half Barrel of Seeds &c. and one Small Kegg of 
 Roots, Seeds &c. all of which are branded KERR; also four Merino 
 Sheep, one a large Ram with horns, two ewes and a sucking Ram 
 lamb, Brown ears & Spots — Also [torn] Guinea Sow Shoat and one 
 Guinea Boar Shoat — the Sow Spotted, & Boar White — Which articles 
 I promise to deliver, or cause to be delivered to Messrs Berthoo [torn] 
 Briggs & Co. at Trinity, near the Mouth of Ohio, to be forwarded to 
 Elie W. Kerr, at Waterloo, on Tennessee River — the dangers of the 
 Rivers and Accidents excepted; Said Jos. Kerr having agreed to 
 Settell the freight here; and having put on Board four Barrels of Corn 
 and oats for feed — Signed duplicates — also one wrought Iron Skellet & 
 one Barrel of Oats — John Renshaw" 
 
 November of that year Kerr placed the following adver- 
 tisement in the papers, 
 
 A REQUEST 
 JOSEPH KERR respectfully requests his creditors, so far 
 as practicable, to meet at the house he now occupies in Chilli- 
 cothe, on the evening of Wednesday the 17th inst. to consult 
 on matters of importance, relating to the closing of his 
 concerns. 
 Nov, 2d. 1824." 
 
 The next summer he sold the Jackson Hotel and an- 
 nounced the opening of a 
 
 SCRIVENER'S OFFICE 
 The Subscriber keeps an office, in the three story Brick 
 House, opposite the Post Office, where he will draw all such 
 instruments of writing, as he may be called on to do, in the 
 most legal forms. He will also give advice on points of law; 
 his charges will be much less than are commonly made by the 
 attornies. 
 
 JOSEPH KERR. 
 Chillicothe, July 13, 1825. 
 
 In the same paper appeared the advertisement of Harriet 
 Davisson, his daughter, which was the first public hint as to the 
 
100 General Joseph Kerr 
 
 plans of the Kerr family. Mrs. Davisson announced "Intending 
 to migrate to the south west, I will offer for sale at Public Auc- 
 tion, Monday, 5th of September, in front of the Jackson Ho- 
 tel, . . . my Life Estate in the half lot adjoining said hotel on 
 the north, it has a very substantial and convenient brick house 
 with good cellar, etc." This he states is her dower and her 
 terms are $300 in cash and for the balance 50 bbls. whiskey in 
 good barrels at $5 for a 32 gallon bbl.; 100 bbls. of superfine 
 flour in airtight barrels, at $2.50 per bbl.; also $100 worth of 
 merchandise at cash price and any balance in shoes, candles 
 and hard soap. This was merchantable goods which could be 
 sent down the Ohio and Mississippi on flatboats. 
 
 On September 22, 1825, appeared this advertisement, 
 
 NOTICE 
 Is hereby given, that Joseph Kerr, of Chillicothe, County 
 of Ross, State of Ohio, will apply to the next Court of Common 
 Pleas, to be holden in and for said county, for the benefit of 
 the "Act for the relief of Insolvent Debtors", Sale of 1 Writing 
 Table, 1 Book Case, 1 Iron Crane, 1 Half bushel, 1 Tub, 1 Pitch- 
 fork, 1 Scythe, 1 Bag, small scales, part of a set of Plating 
 Instruments, and one Box, given up by said insolvent. Sale on 
 the 15th of October. 
 
 Peter Patterson, 
 Commissioners of Insolvents, R. C. 
 Chillicothe, Sept. 21, 1825. 
 
 and on the 5th of November was a statement from Patterson 
 regarding the settling of all claims. General Kerr's lands had 
 been offered twice for sale with no bidders. On September 13, 
 1827, they were again offered for sale at public auction by 
 Patterson, and from the list submitted to the court by the Com- 
 missioners of Insolvents, they were bid in, mostly by friends 
 and business associates of Kerr, for absurdedly small sums. 
 
 After that Chillicothe maintained a strange silence on the 
 history of General Joseph Kerr and his family. Only in a post 
 office letter list published on April 3, 1828, appeared the names 
 of Joseph Kerr and James Kerr. 
 
 In the spring of 1826, General Kerr and his family fol- 
 lowed the old route of his fleet of flatboats to Portsmouth, 
 thence down the Ohio and Mississippi, stopping at Memphis. 
 He was thoroughly familiar with the country and knew that 
 eventually the people would penetrate the wilderness and find 
 new opportunities. As his sons grew into manhood he planned 
 a future for them and with that indomitable pioneer spirit 
 which had motivated him all his years in Ohio and which re- 
 
"Builds Anew" 101 
 
 fused to recognize defeat, General Kerr moved into this new 
 country to build his fortunes anew. 
 
 When he left Chillicothe he was not certain of his desti- 
 nation. His son, James D. Kerr, mentions a passport to Texas, 
 then still a foreign country. However, the family stopped at 
 Memphis for about two years until Kerr bought one of the 
 finest plantations of 155 acres of rich bottom lands in "Bunches 
 Bend" near Lake Providence in Carroll Parish, one of the most 
 fertile regions of the Mississippi valley. Here he developed 
 another wonderful farm with the finest cattle, horses, sheep, 
 that could be obtained. Again his plantation became a show- 
 place and a center of great activity. The land was so fertile 
 that it almost made him forget the rich soil of the Scioto 
 Valley at Paint Creek and he took great pride in this new 
 estate. His own home was located on an 8 acre tract one and 
 a half miles south of the town of Lake Providence. He called 
 this "At Home" as we see from the date line of James D. 
 Kerr's letter, and here Joseph Kerr again found that beautiful 
 home life he so loved, with his family around him and his 
 sons forging ahead with that pioneer spirit of their father. 
 
 James D. Kerr, to his niece, Eleanora Carrel: 
 
 "At Home, Claiborne Parish, La. 
 April 14, 1886. 
 Dear Eleanora, 
 
 I received yesterday your second letter making inquiry of my 
 father's history. From my knowledge which I obtained from the family, 
 my father was born in 1765, at Chambersburgh, Pa., and came to Ohio 
 about 1792. He was married at Chambersburgh to my mother, Nancy 
 Daugherty, about 1788. His parents were from Scotland, and my 
 mother's from Ireland. 
 
 They had born to them 9 children, Aletha, Harriet, Chambers, 
 Elie, Clara, Susan, Nathaniel, James and Joseph. 
 
 My father settled one mile below Chillicothe on the Scioto River, 
 on a large tract of land, which he improved very highly, and not hav- 
 ing a proper title, lost it, a Virginian by the name of Watts suing 
 for it, and after a lawsuit of 18 years, had to give it up. 
 
 I don't recall if I ever knew what time he was a member of Con- 
 gress, his appointment as General in the War of 12-15, came from 
 Congress. Of course I knew nothing personally of services in the War, 
 but have heard him tell some anecdotes and incidents, during his 
 service. 
 
 My father left Ohio in 1824, came to Memphis where we all at- 
 tempted to farm, bu,t not being successful came to Louisiana, and 
 settled one mile below Lake Providence, where my mother died in 1833, 
 and my father died in 1837. 
 
102 General Joseph Kerr 
 
 When we all left Ohio the intention was to go to Texas, as Austin 
 then was offering inducements to settle, and as we were going to a 
 foreign country it was necessary to have a passport, which my father 
 obtained at Washington City, with a description of the whole family, 
 the color of hair and eyes, height, etc. I think that the passport was 
 signed by Henry Clay, at any rate it is a matter of record in Wash- 
 ington City, where Mr. Gilmore will be able to find it. I know nothing 
 of Mr. Ashmore's appointment as cadet to West Point, nor do I know 
 of any one to whom I could refer him. My brother Elie was a cadet 
 at West Point about the year 1816 or 1817. I have a very distinct 
 recollection of how handsome he looked in his cadet uniform with 
 bullet bottons. At the time I was only six or seven years old. 
 
 We had Babe to spend the day with us on last Sunday. She appears 
 to be in fine spirits and full of life. We hope to see you some day with 
 us, and will give you a hearty welcome. Glad to hear you are all well. 
 Give my respects to Captain Carrel. Tell him I'm pretty nearly up 
 with him in age. My nose is still affected. I'm rubbing it with quinine. 
 
 Your affectionate uncle, 
 J. D. Kerr 
 
 Your Aunt and Anna send love to you and yours. All well. 
 If there is anything more about my father, write." 
 
 Two of General Kerr's sons, Nathaniel Massie Kerr and 
 Joseph Kerr, were in Col. James Bowie's group of 100 men who 
 joined in the Texan fight for liberty and with him gave up 
 their lives, March 6, 1836, at the Alamo where a bronze tablet 
 marks their last resting place. 
 
 Their brother, James D. Kerr, was appointed their admin- 
 istrator because both died intestate and unmarried and Texas 
 granted them and their heirs vast tracts of lands for their 
 services. Some of this land was lost to the heirs but some was 
 held for their brothers and sisters. 
 
 Lake Providence lies fifty miles to the north of Vicksburg 
 in the Louisiana Parish of Carroll. Because of floods and the 
 crumbling of levees, the town has been moved back consider- 
 ably and in the moving church records have been lost and 
 newspapers for the period 1826-1837 are not available, but 
 the court house records are complete and tell an accurate 
 story of General Kerr's estate at the time of his death in 1837. 
 They show that his business was in perfect order, show the 
 number of acres in both the homestead and the fine plantation, 
 and note that his son, James D. Kerr, was appointed administra- 
 tor because the General died intestate. The inventory showed 
 that he lived in very comfortable circumstances and left a nice 
 personal estate besides the real estate. 
 
"Builds Anew" 103 
 
 In looking for the homestead and for the cemetery in 
 which General Kerr and his wife, who died in 1833, were buried, 
 his great-grandson, George P. Carrel of Cincinnati, O., learned 
 that the Mississippi's age-old habit of giving and taking away 
 had been active here, too, and had claimed the homestead as 
 well as the graves. 
 
 Joseph Kerr was a typical pioneer. He spent his young 
 manhood breaking a path through the wilderness that others 
 might find it easier to follow into the land of promise and 
 there to establish new homes. He realized the inestimable 
 value of virgin soil and its produce and spent his energy in 
 aiding others to find markets for the lush growth of plant and 
 animal life in this land. He believed in the people and that 
 they had the right to govern themselves and he became a po- 
 tent factor in the building of the new commonwealth of Ohio. 
 When private monopoly threatened his fellow citizens in their 
 pursuit of life, liberty and happiness, he loudly proclaimed their 
 rights and endeavored to aid them. It was but natural that 
 his adversaries sought his removal and he lost out against this 
 opposition. Weary of the fight, stripped of his lands and his 
 business, beaten in politics, humiliated by being thrown in the 
 debtor's jail, deserted by men whom he had helped to wealth 
 and position, deprived by death of his trusted business associate 
 and son-in-law, Amaziah Davisson, Joseph Kerr did not give 
 up, but held his head high and, at the age of 61, again became 
 a pioneer in a new land. 
 
 Such a man was Joseph Kerr, surveyor, land agent, army 
 contractor, farmer, shipper, exporter, legislator, Senator and 
 General, who held aloft the torch of American democratic 
 ideals, fought fqr them, staked his home and his fortune on 
 them, and handed down to his descendants a priceless 
 inheritance. 
 
THE JOSEPH KERR FAMILY 
 
 JOHN KERR (1765-1807) of Chambersburg, Pa., married Mary 
 Doherty. Their children were (1) JOSEPH; (2) Jean, married ? Mc- 
 kinley of Wheeling, W. Va.; (3) John (of Gallia Co. Ohio); (4) Sarah, 
 married ? DeCamp and lived 16 miles above Wheeling, W. Va.; (5) 
 Mary, married Andrew Patterson, lived in Cincinnati, O., where she 
 died 1842; (6) Samuel, who lived on Big Darby Creek west of Col- 
 umbus, and had a large family; (7) James, who lived on the farm at 
 Chambersburg, Pa. 
 
 JOSEPH KERR (1765-1837), married Nancy Daugherty (d. 1833). 
 Their children were (1) Aletha, d. infant; (2) Harriet, married Ama- 
 ziah Davisson, 1815; (3) Chambers, d. infant; (4) Elie Williams 
 (d. 1845), married Mary Perry, Waterloo, Alabama; (5) Clara B., un- 
 married, d. 1853; (6) Susan Blair, (b. 1805) married 1833, Dr. James B. 
 Prescott, Louisiana; (7) Nathaniel Massie (d. 1836), unmarried; (8) 
 James D. (d. 1884), married P. A. Siles (d. 1892); (9) Joseph (d. 1836), 
 unmarried. 
 
 (2) Harriet Kerr Davisson's children — Caroline (married Chamb- 
 liss); Mary D. (d. 1881), married 1836, John Hunsicker, they had 11 
 children; Harriet (d. 1876), married John A. Conn, (one son, John D. 
 Conn). 
 
 (5) Susan Blair Kerr Prescott's children — Joseph W. (lived near 
 Middletown, Ky.); Eleanora Keene (1839-1902), married, 1864, Captain 
 Hercules Carrel; Sarah A., married DeL. P. Toomey (one son, DeL. P. 
 Toomey); Clara A., married W. J. Mercer (d. 1898). 
 
 (7) James D. Kerr's children — Wallace and Anna (married Barney 
 M. McHenry). 
 
 Harriet Kerr Davisson's daughter Mary A. Hunsicker's children — 
 Harriet (d. 1870) married Alfred Baker (son George Baker); George 
 (1843-1870), married ? Price (daughter Ada); Sarah (1846-1870) spin- 
 ster; Elizabeth (1873 d.), married ? Dawson (children — Mary married ? 
 Logan; Elizabeth, married ? Webb; J. F. unmarried); Laura married 
 Frank Herrod; Buckner (1856-1882) unmarried; Anna married J. F. 
 Leather. 
 
 Eleanora Keene Prescott Carrel's children — George Prescott Carrel, 
 (1865-) married, 1896, Olive Sargent; J. Wallace Carrel (186KT940) 
 married, 1898, Elizabeth Barber Stevenson; Henry Clay Carrel (1869- 
 1915); Eleanora Prescott Carrel (1873-). 
 
 JOHN KERR (1772-1858), of Gallia County, O., married, 1804, 
 Christine Niswonger. Their children were John Niswonger, married (1) 
 Isabella Morrison; (2) Carolina Cherrington. His children — Richard 
 (married Woods); Harriet (married Dan Womeldorf), Susan (married 
 George Paine); Samuel (married Gardner); Charles (married Rod- 
 gers); Joseph Hamilton (married Elizabeth Cubbage) ; Jacob (married 
 Harriet Powell); Wm. Sprigg (married Mary Ann Vanden) ; Sarah. 
 
 104 
 
BIBLIOGRAPHY 
 
 Works consulted in preparing this book 
 
 Ambler, Charles H.; 
 Ambler, Charles H.; 
 
 Anderson, E. L.; 
 
 Anderson, W. P.; 
 Armstrong, Wm. C; 
 
 Bannon, Henry T.; 
 Black, Robert L.; 
 Bond, Beverly W. Jr.; 
 
 Bond, Beverly W. jr. Ed.; 
 Brumbaugh, Gaius M.; 
 Brumbaugh, Gaius M.; 
 
 Carpenter, Wm. Henry; 
 Carter, Wm. C; 
 Cist, Charles; 
 Cook, Roy Bird; 
 Cranch, William; 
 
 Cuthbertson, Rev. J. C; 
 
 Day, Sherman; 
 Drake, Dr. Daniel: 
 
 George Washington and the West 
 
 History of Transportation in the 
 Ohio Valley. 
 
 Biography oi Richard Clough An- 
 derson, 1879. 
 
 Anderson Family Records, 1936. 
 The Kerr Clan of New Jersey from 
 Walter Kerr of Freehold, 1931. 
 
 Scioto Sketches. 
 
 Little Miami Railroad, 1940. 
 
 Civilization of the Old Northwest, 
 
 1934. 
 
 Notes on the Settlement of the West. 
 
 Ohio Hist. & Phil. Soc., Vol. 20, 1925. 
 
 Revolutionary War Records, Vol. I, 
 
 Virginia, 1936. 
 
 Virginia Army . . . Land Warrants. 
 
 1936. 
 
 History of Pennsylvania. 
 History of York County, Pa. 
 Cincinnati In 1859. 
 Washington's Western Lands. 
 Reports of Cases Argued and Ad- 
 justed in the Supreme Court of the 
 U. S., 1810. Vol. 6. 
 Marriages . . . 1751-91 in Cumber- 
 land Co. Pa. 
 
 Historical Collections of Pennsyl- 
 vania, 1843. 
 
 Memoirs of the Miami Country, 
 1779-1794. 
 
 105 
 
106 
 
 Egle, W. H.; 
 
 Evans & Stivers; 
 Evans, Nelson W.; 
 
 General Joseph Kerr 
 
 Pennsylvania Genealogy (Scotch, 
 Irish, German). 
 
 History oi Adams County, O. 1900. 
 History oi Scioto County, O. 1903. 
 
 Finley, I. J. & Putnam, 
 Rufus; 
 
 Garrard, Lewis H.; 
 
 Gilkey, Elliott H.; 
 Gano, John Stites; 
 
 Howe, Henry; 
 ibid 
 
 Hulbert, Archer B.; 
 
 ibid 
 
 Jillson, Willard Rouse; 
 
 Jordan, J. W.; 
 
 Kaler, Samuel P.; 
 Kerr, James M.; 
 
 King, Rufus; 
 
 Knittle, Mrs. Rhea M.; 
 
 M'Cauley, I. H.; 
 Massie, David Meade; 
 
 Morton, Carlisle; 
 
 Pioneer Records & Reminiscences of 
 Early Settlers & Settlements in Ross 
 Co., O. 1871. 
 
 Chambersburg in Colony and Revo- 
 
 lution, Pa., 1856 
 
 Ohio 100 Year Book. 
 
 Sandusky Campaign, Ohio Hist 8c 
 
 Phil. Society, 1922. 
 
 History oi Ross Co., O., 1880. 
 
 Historical Collections oi Ohio, 1847. 
 
 ibid, 1890 edition. 
 
 Military Roads oi the Mississippi 
 
 Basin. Vol. 8. 
 
 Old National Road. 
 
 Land Adventures oi George Wash- 
 ington. 
 
 Genealogical and Personal History oi 
 Western Pa., 1915. 
 
 History oi the Kerr Family, 1899. 
 
 Matthew Kerr, Revolutionary Hero 
 
 and Pathiinder, 1911. 
 
 Ohio: iirst iruits oi the Ordinance oi 
 
 1878. 1888. 
 
 Early Ohio Taverns, 1937. 
 
 History oi Franklin Co. Pa., 1878. 
 
 Nathaniel Massie, a Pioneer oi Ohio. 
 
 1896. 
 
 Buckeye Station. 
 
Bibliography 
 
 107 
 
 Nevin, Alfred; 
 ibid 
 
 Centennial Biography of the Cum- 
 berland Valley, Pa. 
 
 Churches of the Valley in Cumber- 
 land and Franklin Cos. Pa. y 1852. 
 
 Ohio Adjutant's Office; Roster oi Ohio Soldiers in the War 
 
 of 1812. 
 
 Ohio; Journal of the Ohio House of Rep- 
 
 resentatives. 
 
 ibid Journal of the Ohio Senate. 
 
 Ohio Arch. & Hist. Soc; Ohio in the War of 1812, Vol. 28; 
 
 and other volumes. 
 
 Peters, Wm. E.; 
 Randall, E. O.; 
 Renick, L. W. comp.; 
 Rogers, Thomas; 
 Rupp, I. D.; 
 
 Sackett, Nathaniel; 
 
 Sakolski, A. M. 
 Scharf, J. Thomas; 
 Searight, Thos. B.; 
 Sherman, C. E.; 
 
 Stillwell, J. E.; 
 
 Pennsylvania Archives, Second Ser. 
 
 Vol. XV. 
 
 Ohio Lands, 1918. 
 
 Washington's Ohio Lands, O. Arch. 
 8s Hist. Soc. 
 
 Che-le-co-the, Glimpses of Yesterday, 
 1896. 
 
 Reminiscences of a Pioneer, O. Arch. 
 & Hist. Soc. 
 
 Early History of Western Pennsyl- 
 vania, 1754-1840. 
 
 Memorial for Land Grant near San- 
 dusky, 1785. 
 
 Land-grabbing. 
 
 History of Western Maryland, 1882. 
 The Old Pike, 1894. 
 Original Land Subdivisions. 1925. 
 Ohio Cooperative Topographic Sur- 
 vey, Vol. III. 
 
 History and Genealogy of New 
 Jersey. 
 
108 
 
 General Joseph Kerr 
 
 Taylor, Wm. A.; 
 
 ibid; 
 
 ibid; 
 
 Thomas, J. W.; 
 Toner, Dr. n. n.; 
 
 Treat, J. Payson; 
 Thurston, G. H.; 
 
 Ohio in Congress. 
 Ohio Statesmen, 1788-1900. 
 Senator Joseph Kerr, Old North Gen- 
 ealogical Soc. Quarterly, Vol. 6. 
 Hist of Alleghany Co., Md., Vol. I. 
 Notes on Proposed Settlement in the 
 West, 1755-57, ed. B. W. Bond, 1925. 
 National Land System. 
 History of 100 Years of Alleghany 
 Co., Pa. 
 
 Van Cleve, Benjamin; 
 Virkus, Frederick A., ed; 
 
 Memoirs, 1791-1807, ed. B. W. Bond, 
 1922. O. Hist. & Phil. Soc. 
 Abridged Compendium of American 
 Genealogy. 1925-33. 
 
 Warner, G. E.; 
 Wheaton, Henry 
 
 Williams, T. J. C; 
 Wing, C. P.; 
 
 Miami County Kerrs, Ohio. 
 Reports of Cases in the Supreme 
 Court of the U. S., 1821. 
 Hist, of Washington Co., Md. 
 History of Cumberland Co., Pa., 
 1879. 
 
INDEX 
 
 Account books, 50 ff., 70 ff. 
 Adams Co., O., 7, 29. 
 "Adventure to New Orleans", 43, 
 
 50 ff. 
 Advertisements, 8, 9, 45, 46, 47, 
 
 60, 61, 66, 68, 71, 74, 84, 85. 
 Alamo, V, 102. 
 Anderson, Col. Richard C, V, 5, 
 
 10, 12, 13 ff. 26, 97. 
 Army Contractors, VII, 4, 32, Ch. 
 
 VI. 
 Ashes, 47, 66. 
 Atlas, military, 94. 
 Austin, Stephen, F., 97, 102. 
 
 Bacon and shoulder, 58. 
 Baking, 54. 
 Baltimore, 8, 50 ff. 
 Bank notes, 99. 
 
 Bank of Chillicothe, 69, 84, 86. 
 Bank of Marietta, 66, 83. 
 Bank of Steubenville, 83. 
 Banks, 60, 68, 86, Ch. VII. 
 Barrels, 46, 58, 66, 71. 
 Bartlett & Cox, 50, 53, 98. 
 Baskerville, 90, 91. 
 Beall, Thos. of Samuel, Md., 3. 
 Beef, Navy, 47, 56 ff.; Mess, 58. 
 Beer, 54. 
 
 Big Darby Creek, 3, 43. 
 Bills of Exchange, 55, 71. 
 Biscuit, baking and prices, 52 ff. 
 Board, cost of, 53. 
 Boat building on Scioto, 42, 50 ff. 
 Boatmen, 74. 
 Boatyards, 42. 
 
 Boats, cargoes, 50 ff., provision- 
 ing, 56 ff. 
 Boone, Daniel, ill., p. 68. 
 Bowie, Col. James, 102. 
 Bread, 54, 58. 
 Brewery, 49. 
 Briggs & Co., 99. 
 British privateering, 61. 
 Buckwheat flour, 55, 65. 
 Buffington, Wm., 79. 
 Bunches Bend, La., 101. 
 
 Butchers, wages, boarding, 62. 
 Butter, 55 ff. 
 
 Calhoun, John C, 40. 
 Candles, prices, 56, 71. 
 "Captain Johnny," 90. 
 Cargoes and prices, 50 ff. 
 Carrel, Eleanora Prescott, (Mrs. 
 
 Hercules), V, 29, 101, 104. 
 Carrel, Eleanora (Miss), VI, 101, 
 Carrel, George P., V, 29, 103, 104. 
 Carrel, Henry Clay, V, 29, 104. 
 Carrel, Hercules, 29. 
 Carrel, J. Wallace, V, 29, 103, 
 
 104. 
 Carroll Parish, La., 101. 
 Cattle, 43, to Eastern market, 42, 
 
 English, 98. 
 Chairs, Windsor, 65. 
 Chambers, Benj., 2, 4. 
 Charleston, W. Va., 77. 
 Chillicothe, VI, 8, 42, etc. 
 Chillicothe Bridge Co., 49; Fire 
 
 department, 93; Reading 
 
 Rooms, 39. 
 Chocolate, 58. 
 Cincinnati, 6. 
 Clay, Henry, 40. 
 Clean sheets, 37. 
 Clermont Co., O., 12, 26. 
 Columbia, O., 6, 43. 
 Columbus, O., 34. 
 Commission on flour sales, 53, 
 
 55. 
 Coopering, 46, 68 ff. 
 Cope, Thomas, 26. 
 Corn, price, 59, 65, 66. 
 Corn meal, 55, 57, 65, 66. 
 Couch, Jessup N., 8. 
 Cox, Nathaniel, 98. 
 Crackers, 52, 54. 
 
 Croghan, Maj. George, sword, 93. 
 Crouse, John, mill, 62, 68, 72. 
 Cryden & Renshaw, 42. 
 Cumberland, Md., 31. 
 
 Davidson, John, 98. 
 Davisson, Amaziah, 42, 48, 50 ff., 
 61, 69, 76 ff., 83, 88, 98. 
 
 109 
 
110 
 
 Index 
 
 Davisson, Harriet Kerr, 99, 100, 
 
 104. 
 Daugherty, Nancy, 4. 
 DeCamp, Sarah Kerr, 104. 
 Debtor's Jail, 85. 
 Doctor's bill, 53, 92. 
 Dunlap, Col. James, 33, 85. 
 Dunlavay, Francis, 31. 
 
 Early school, 91. 
 
 Earthen ware, 58. 
 
 Eastern & foreign markets, Ch. 
 
 V. 
 "Economy", schooner, 55 ff. 
 Education in Chillicothe, 91. 
 Eggs, 58. 
 Elliott, Col. Robert, VI, 4, 5, 31, 
 
 44. 
 England, crops, 1816, 59, prices, 
 
 61. 
 "Enterprise", schooner, 56 ff. 
 Exporting, 50 ff. 
 Exporting companies, 67. 
 
 Farm animals, 84, 99. 
 
 Farmer's Hotel, 37, 38. 
 
 Farmers, 46 ff. 
 
 Felicity, O., 26. 
 
 Findlay, Gen'l, 67, 84. 
 
 Fire Department, 93. 
 
 Firniehirst Kerrs, 1. 
 
 Fitch, E., hotel, 39. 
 
 Flatboats, 42, 50 ff., 65. 
 
 Flour, prices, 50 ff., 61, 65, N. O., 
 
 64. 
 Foreign trade, 60, 61. 
 Ft. Meigs, 67. 
 Ft. Washington, 4, 26. 
 Franklin Co., Pa., 42. 
 Franklinton, O., 37, 66. 
 Freight rates, 51, 59. 
 Fruit, dry, 52, 57. 
 Fry, Conrad, 92. 
 
 "Gen'l Wayne's Military Guide." 
 
 93. 
 Gilman, Benj. Ives, 55. 
 Gilmore, Col. Wm. E., V, 29. 
 Gist, Christopher, 25. 
 Greenville, Treaty of, 5, 12. 
 Gregg, Capt. Matthew, 1. 
 
 Hagerstown, Md., 4. 
 
 Ham, 57. 
 
 Hamilton, O., 26. 
 
 Harrison, Gen'l Wm. H., 6, 31, 
 67, 69. 
 
 Hatchet, 58. 
 
 Hauling charges, 53, 55, 56, 72, 
 73. 
 
 Havana, 47, 48, 61. 
 
 Hearts and cheeks, 55. 
 
 Hired girl, wages, 1811, 92. 
 
 Hogs, 45 ff., 65 ff., 99. 
 
 Horses, cost of, & saddle, 53, 65, 
 66. breeding, 48. 
 
 Hotels, 37, Farmer's, 88, Jack- 
 son, 89. 
 
 Hufnagle, Matthias, 66, 85. 
 
 Indians, 70. 
 
 Inspection of cargoes, 44, of 
 flour, meat, etc. at Ports- 
 mouth, New Orleans, 50 ff., 
 War of 1812, 74, app't by St. 
 Clair, 69. 
 
 Insurance, 50, 61. 
 
 Jackson, Andrew, 39, 40, vs. 
 
 banks, 88. 
 Jackson Hotel, 39. 
 Jacksonian Democracy, 38, 39. 
 James River, 31. 
 James & McCoy, 43. 
 James & Woods, 56. 
 James, Thos., 33, 84. 
 Jefferson, Thos., 31. 
 
 Kanawha valley, 25, 76 ff. 
 
 Keel boats, 42, 70, Ch. V. 
 
 Kenner, W. & Co., Phil., Pa., 99. 
 
 Kentucky, 11. 
 
 KERR, Anna, 102; Augustus P., 
 2; Elie Williams, 31, 98, 102; 
 James (of Chambersburg), 
 104; James D., 5, 100, 101, 102, 
 104; Jean Kerr McKinley, 
 104; John (of Chambersburg), 
 104; John (of Columbus), 34; 
 John (of Gallia Co.), 104; 
 Joseph Kerr (son of Senator 
 Joseph Kerr), 102; Mary 
 (Doherty) Kerr, 1, 55, 104; 
 Mary Kerr (Patterson), 104; 
 
Index 
 
 111 
 
 Nancy (Daugherty), ; Na- 
 thaniel Massie, 102; Sarah 
 Kerr (DeCamp), 1, 104; Sam- 
 uel (of Big: Darby), 3, 43, 104: 
 Susan B. Kerr (Prescott), 
 104: Firniehirst Kerrs, 1. 
 
 KERR, General Joseph Kerr. 
 
 Kerr's farm, 83. 
 
 Kerrtown, Pa., 1. 
 
 Kilbourne, John, 90. 
 
 Knowles, Capt. Reuben, 55 ff. 
 
 Lake Providence, La., V, 29, 101. 
 Land, sale and price of, 7, 95, 
 
 Ch. II. 
 Land warrants, Ch. II, 10, Ch. 
 
 VII. 
 Lanthorns, 58. 
 Lard, price, 50 ff., 65. 
 Lewis, R. C, V. 
 Lumber for boat building, 54, 
 
 50 ff. 
 
 McArthur, Duncan, 18, 23. 
 McConnel, Dennis, 92. 
 McCoy, John, 94. 
 McKinley, Wm., 3. 
 McLean, John, 85. 
 Manchester, O., 5, 6, 30. 
 Masters, Benj. (hotel), 39. 
 Massie, Henry, 18, 28. 
 Massie, Nathaniel, 5, 19, 20, 26, 
 
 30, 49. 
 Massie, Dr. Thomas, 6, 87, 92. 
 Medicine, 1808, 92. 
 Meigs, Return Jonathan, 32, 33, 
 
 66. 
 Miami, Little, 5, 6, 7, 10, 12, 26, 
 
 50, East Fork, 6, 26, 50. 
 "Miami" watermarked paper, 28, 
 
 93. 
 Milford, O., 26, 28. 
 Military stores, 70. 
 Mills, 43, 62, 68, 72. 
 Mitchel, Colin, (Havana), 61. 
 Money, 12. 
 Moore, Thomas, 31. 
 Morrow, Jeremiah, 30, 32. 
 Mortgages, 83. 
 Mules, breeding, 48. 
 
 Nails, 58, 65. 
 
 National Road, VII. 
 Navy, Sec. of, 55. 
 Neville, Amelia Craig, 28, Pres- 
 ley, 28. 
 Neville, Col. John, 12, 28. 
 New Orleans, V, 50 ff., 98. 
 Niswonger, Christine, 104. 
 
 O'Bannon, Maj. John, surveyor, 
 
 6, 11, 12, 25. 
 Ohio River, 6, 41. 
 Ohio Senate, 8. 
 "Ohio's Lost Senator", Ch. Ill, 
 
 etc. 
 O'Neal, Capt. Ferdinand, 87. 
 Oxen, 66, cost of use of team, 
 
 62. 
 
 Paper, 23, 28, 50. 93. 
 
 Patterson, Andrew, 3, 104. 
 
 Patterson, Peter, 100. 
 
 Pendleton, Nathaniel, 24. 
 
 Pendleton, Wm. G., 78. 
 
 Pilot bread, 54. 
 
 Pilots at falls, 53. 
 
 Pindall, James, 77 ff. 
 
 Pirates, 43. 
 
 Planks, 65. 
 
 Pork, navy, 56 ff., 65. 
 
 Pork, shipping, 42, 50 ff. 
 
 Port wine, 94. 
 
 Porter, 57, 58. 
 
 Portsmouth, O., 43, 48. 
 
 Potashes, 66. 
 
 Potatoes, prices, 56, 58. 
 
 Powder, lead, 58. 
 
 Powell, Robert, 20, 24, 25, 49, 87. 
 
 Prentiss & Carter, Balto., 50, 56, 
 
 62. 
 Prices, grinding and packing 
 
 flour, 68. 
 Prices, Havana, 61. 
 Provisions for Army, 65 ff. 
 
 Quarter Sessions Court, 6. 
 
 Receipts, 72, 78. 
 Red Lion tavern, 37. 
 Rendering tallow, lard, 63. 
 Renick, George, 43, 47, 85. 
 Republican party, 30, 33. 
 Revolutionary War, 10. 
 Roads, 31. 
 
112 
 
 Index 
 
 Rootes, Capt. John, 26. 
 Ross Co., O., 8, 30, 67. 
 
 Sackett, Nathaniel, 41. 
 
 St. Clair, Gen'l Arthur, 6, 30. 
 
 Salt, 5, 31, 42, 44, 53, 57, 58, 68, 
 71, 94, Ch. VII. 
 
 Salting establishment, 48. 
 
 Sanderson, Isaac, 63. 
 
 Schooners, building costs, equip- 
 ment, provisions, cargoes, 
 wages, 50 ff. Ch. V. 
 
 Schooner "Economy", 55 ff. 
 
 Schooner ''Enterprise", 55 ff. 
 
 Scioto Ox, Sign of, 37. 
 
 Scioto valley, V. 
 
 Scott, James, 95; Joseph, 85; 
 Thos., 76 ff. 
 
 Scrivener's office, 99. 
 
 Seeds, roots, 99. 
 
 Sheep, 48, 99. 
 
 Shipping, VII, 42, 50 ff., 66; to 
 Europe, 47, 48. 
 
 Shipping hazards, 43. 
 
 Slaughter, Reuben, 77 ff. 
 
 Slaughter house, 42, 98. 
 
 Slaughtering, 62, 63, 66. 
 
 Soap. 71. 
 
 Specie shipping, War of 1812, 68. 
 
 Steel traps, 8. 
 
 Straw, price of cut, 66. 
 
 Surveys, 11. Ch. II. 
 
 Surveyor's Receipt book, 23. 
 
 Symmes Purchase, 6, 26. 
 
 Tallow, 56. 
 
 Taverns, 37. 
 
 Taylor, Col. Wm. A., V, 29, 31, 34, 
 
 37. 
 Teas & Snider, 53, 37. 
 ^ennnt farmers, 12. 
 Three Islands, O., 6. 
 Tiffin, Edw., 30. 
 
 Tongues, 58, 62. 
 Travel by boat, cost of, 53, 54. 
 "Trump of Fame," 67. 
 Tuition rates, 90. 
 
 Upper Sandusky, 
 
 U. S. Bank at Chillicothe, VII 
 
 69. 
 U. S. Supreme Court, 87. 
 
 Virginia Military District, VII 
 
 10 ff. 
 Virginia party, 30. 
 
 Waddle, John, 42, 48, 98. 
 Wages, Ch. IV, Ch. V. 
 Wagons, 45, 65, 66. 
 Waldsmith, Christian, paper ma 
 
 ker, 28, 50. 
 Wallace, Cadwallader, 18, 22, 42 
 
 71, 97. 
 War of 1812, VII, 33, 45, 47 
 
 prices in, 62, 71; provisions 
 
 65 ff. 
 Washington, Md., 3, 4. 
 Washington, George, 5, 11, 12 
 
 25, 26, 27. 
 Watermarks in paper, 23, 50, 93 
 Watts vs. Kerr, Watts vs. Mas 
 
 sie, 5, 20, 25, 87. 
 West India trade, 42. 
 Wharfage, cost of, 53. 
 Wheat. 46 ff., 60 ff. 71 ff. 
 Whiskey, 52, 56, 57, 65; War o 
 
 1812, 71. 
 Wilkinson, Gen'l, 5, Ch. VII. 
 Williams, Elie, VI, 4, 22, 31. 
 Williams, Otho Holland, 4. 
 Wilson, Col. Benj. Jr., 77. 
 Wood, price of load, 62. 
 Woodbridge, John, 4, 84. 
 Woods, John, 51. 
 Worthington, Thos., 6, 30, ff., 45 
 
 62, 68, 69, 83, 98.