ing their session,should the General Assembly think proper to change the seat of government at the next session, (which, however, we do not expect), and should fix it at this town, we can say with confidence, that the houses now built and building (that will be finished within one year), will be fully sufficient for that purpose.

We would also state, for the general information of the General Assembly, that a large and commodious building is now preparing for an academy, in which will be three spacious rooms, either two of which will be of full capacity to accommodate the two branches of the Legislature and which, when furnished, will be offered for the use of the State, in the proper season, until the State buildings can be erected. This house will be ready as soon as required. Also an eligible lot for the erection of said public buildings shall be furnished upon the public ground.

Being also informed that the citizens of several of the towns have opened subscriptions for the purpose of offering to the Legislature private contributions toward the expenses of erecting the public buildings for the accommodation of government; although we have thought there was reason to doubt the propriety of such measure, yet, from present circumstances, we have been induced to follow the example, as the following subscription will show; and we confidently trust in the candor of the Legislature,that they will not attribute the tender of this, our proposed contribution, to improper motives. We disclaim the idea of purchasing, or offering to purchase privileges which of right might belong to another part of the State, or which the public interest would require to be elsewhere established. On the contrary, conscious as we are, that the true interest of the State will be best promoted by that which our interest and sense of propriety has induced us herein to suggest to the consid-. eration of the General Assembly, we have no other motives in this offer, than to render more secure what we deem a natural privilege, and to manifest to the Legislature, and to the State, that the citizens of this town and its vicinity, will not be behind their neighbors in contributing, according to their abilities, to lessen the public expenses to the citizens of the more remote parts of the State, who cannot partake so fully the benefits of a central position (which is the only consideration, we conceive,to justify those who first introduced this mode of procedure), also to counteract, in some degree, an undue weight, which might otherwise operate against the joint interest of the State and this town. "All of which we respectfully submit to the consideration of the General Assembly, in full confidence that a concern so important to the State, will be justly weighed, and that the advantageous situation of the town of Worthington for the permanent seat of the State Government, will be duly noticed, notwithstanding the present infancy of the settlement. Therefore we, the undersigned citizens and proprietors of Worthington and its vicinity, in Frankin county, do each of us, in his individual capacity, promise and engage to pay to the treasurer of the State of Ohio, for the time being, the sum or sums annexed to our names respectively, for the purpose of erecting a state house in said town, for the accommodation of the Legislature and other officers of the government, provided this offer shall be accepted by the General Assembly, and the seat of government of this State be permanently fixed by law at Worthington, within two years from the rising of the present Assembly, and not otherwise. The sums so subscribed to be paid in four equal annual installments; the first installments thereof to become due at the end of one year from the acceptance of the subscription and the passage of the law fixing the seat of government as aforesaid, and the other three in annual succession thereafter, subject to such other restrictions only as shall be immediately annexed to our respective signatures the money or other property so subscribed to be applied to the building of a state house in said Worthington, and to no other purpose." Dated Worthington, January 29, 1808.

At a general meeting of the citizens of Worthington and its vicinity, for the purpose of collecting subscriptions towards erecting a State house in said town (in case the permanent seat of government should be there established) Major James Kilbourne was unanimously elected agent to present the address adopted by this meeting to the Honorable, the General Assembly, as also to tender to the government, on behalf of said citizens, their proposed contributions for the purpose aforesaid.

WM. ROBE, Clerk. Worthington, O., February 3, 1808.

The agent appointed as above begs leave to observe that for want of time this subscription had not a full circulation, and that there is good reason to expect considerable additions, also that the subscribers are many and the sums small, and there is none who is not able and willing to pay his subscription in case the end is obtained.

JAMES KILBOURNE."

This proposal to make the state seat in Worthington is said to have counted a majority in its favor; but in the closing hours of the session a supreme effort was made, in which Foos, Sullivant, Starling, and other alert citizens of Franklinton took part; and when the test finally came a decided majority was found in favor of Columbus.

Sales of lots and the improving of the new settlement at once began, and the work was prosecuted with the rude energy characteristic of the days of pioneer life. For a time havoc was let loose upon the forest and soon many a stately tree lay prone. The most shapely trees were used in making the walls of cabins or split into clapboards, which served the purposes of sawed lumber, of which little could be had. The dropped undergrowth and branches and superfluous logs were piled in heaps and burned. For want of funds and time to remove them, the stumps were permitted to remain and for a long time impeded the streets. The actual thoroughfare, therefore, at first disdained the surveyor's boundaries and took such devious courses as convenience and the condition of the ground might suggest. A few settlers were housed by autumn, but most of the cabin builders made arrangements to occupy their domiciles the following spring.

The influx of settlers when that season opened, and during the remainder of the year 1813, was considered large. It was sufficient to increase the population of Columbus by the end of the year to about three hundred. There were several arrivals from Franklinton, several from Worthington, and