The Fifth Ohio General Assembly was the fifth meeting of the

Ohio Ohio ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Lake Erie to the north, Pennsylvania to the east, West Virginia to the southeast, Kentucky to the southwest, Indiana to the ...

state legislature A state legislature is a Legislature, legislative branch or body of a State (country subdivision), political subdivision in a Federalism, federal system. Two federations literally use the term "state legislature": * The legislative branches of ...

, composed of the

Ohio State Senate The Ohio Senate is the upper house of the Ohio General Assembly. The State Senate, which meets in the Ohio Statehouse in Columbus, Ohio, Columbus, first convened in 1803. Senators are elected for four year terms, staggered every two years such t ...

and the

Ohio House of Representatives The Ohio House of Representatives is the lower house of the Ohio General Assembly, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Ohio; the other house of the bicameral legislature being the Ohio Senate. The House of Representatives first met in ...

. It convened in

Chillicothe, Ohio Chillicothe ( ) is a city in Ross County, Ohio, United States, and its county seat. The population was 22,059 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. Located along the Scioto River 45 miles (72 km) south of Columbus, Ohio, Columbus, ...

, on December 1, 1806, and adjourned February 4, 1807. This General Assembly coincided with the second year of

Edward Tiffin Edward Tiffin (June 19, 1766 – August 9, 1829) was an American politician who served as the first governor of Ohio and later as a United States Senate, United States Senator from Ohio as a member of the Democratic-Republican Party, Democratic-R ...

's final term as

Ohio Governor The governor of Ohio is the head of government of Ohio and the commander-in-chief of the U.S. state's Ohio National Guard, military forces. The officeholder has a duty to enforce state laws, the power to either approve or veto bill (proposed law ...

Background

Under Ohio's first constitution, State Senators were elected to two year terms. Members of the House were elected for each term. Article I, section 2 and 6 of Ohio's first constitution called for an enumeration of white male inhabitants of 21 years age every four years, with the number of representatives and senators for each county apportioned by the legislature based on this census. Article I, section 3 called for elections the second Tuesday in October.

Thomas Kirker Thomas Kirker (c. 1760February 19, 1837) was a Democratic-Republican politician from Ohio. He served as the second governor of Ohio. Biography Kirker was born in County Tyrone in the Kingdom of Ireland. He moved with his family to Lancaster, Pen ...

of Adams County was elected Speaker of the Senate. The Senate Clerk was Thomas Scott and the Senate Doorkeeper was Edward Sherlock.

Abraham Shepherd Abraham Shepherd (1776–1847) was a politician from Ohio, United States who was a leader of both houses of the Ohio General Assembly early in the 19th century. Early life Abraham Shepherd was born August 13, 1776, in Shepherdstown, West Virgini ...

, also of Adams County, was elected Speaker of the House. The House Clerk was William R. Dickinson and the House Doorkeeper was Adam Betz.

State Senate

Districts

For this session, the legislature apportioned two senators for

Warren Warren most commonly refers to: * Warren (burrow), a network dug by rabbits * Warren (name), a given name and a surname, including lists of persons so named Warren may also refer to: Places Australia * Warren (biogeographic region) * War ...

Butler A butler is a person who works in a house serving and is a domestic worker in a large household. In great houses, the household is sometimes divided into departments, with the butler in charge of the dining room, wine cellar, and pantries, pantr ...

, Montgomery,

Greene Greene may refer to: Places United States *Greene, Indiana, an unincorporated community * Greene, Iowa, a city * Greene, Maine, a town ** Greene (CDP), Maine, in the town of Greene * Greene (town), New York **Greene (village), New York, in the to ...

and

Champaign Champaign ( ) is a city in Champaign County, Illinois, United States. The population was 88,302 at the 2020 census. It is the tenth-most populous municipality in Illinois and the fourth most populous city in the state outside the Chicago metr ...

Counties,

Washington Washington most commonly refers to: * George Washington (1732–1799), the first president of the United States * Washington (state), a state in the Pacific Northwest of the United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A ...

Gallia Gaul () was a region of Western Europe first clearly described by the Romans, encompassing present-day France, Belgium, Luxembourg, and parts of Switzerland, the Netherlands, Germany, and Northern Italy. It covered an area of . According to Ju ...

, Muskingum and

Athens Athens ( ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Greece, largest city of Greece. A significant coastal urban area in the Mediterranean, Athens is also the capital of the Attica (region), Attica region and is the southe ...

Counties,

Jefferson Jefferson may refer to: Names * Jefferson (surname) * Jefferson (given name) People * Thomas Jefferson (1743–1826), third president of the United States * Jefferson (footballer) * Jefferson (singer) or Geoff Turton (born 1944), British s ...

and Columbiana Counties,

Ross Ross may refer to: People and fictional characters * Ross (name), including a list of people and fictional characters with the surname or given name Ross, as well as the meaning * Clan Ross, a Highland Scottish clan Places Antarctica * Ross Sea ...

Franklin Franklin may refer to: People and characters * Franklin (given name), including list of people and characters with the name * Franklin (surname), including list of people and characters with the name * Franklin (class), a member of a historic ...

, and

Highland Highlands or uplands are areas of high elevation such as a mountainous region, elevated mountainous plateau or high hills. Generally, ''upland'' refers to a range of hills, typically from up to , while ''highland'' is usually reserved for range ...

Counties, and Hamilton County, and one senator each for Trumbull and

Geauga Geauga County ( ) is a county located in the northeast portion of the U.S. state of Ohio. As of the 2020 census, the population was 95,397. The county seat and largest city is Chardon. The county is named for an Onondaga or Seneca language ...

Counties,

Adams Adams may refer to: * For persons, see Adams (surname) Places United States *Adams, California *Adams, California, former name of Corte Madera, California * Adams, Decatur County, Indiana *Adams, Kentucky *Adams, Massachusetts, a New England to ...

and Scioto Counties, Clermont, Fairfield, and Belmont Counties.

Members

Ohio House of Representatives

Districts

For this session, the legislature apportioned four representatives for

and

Counties, three representatives each for

and Scioto Counties, Jefferson County and Hamilton County, two representatives each for Belmont, Columbiana, Fairfield and

Counties, Trumbull and

Counties, and

, Muskingum and

Counties, and one representative each for

, Clermont,

and Montgomery Counties.

Members

Major events

Governor Tiffin's annual address was given before a joint session of the legislature on December 1, 1806. On December 2, a confidential correspondence from the Governor was received by both chambers and closed sessions were held by both chambers regarding said correspondence through December 5. On December 6, a

concurrent resolution A concurrent resolution is a resolution (a legislative measure) adopted by both houses of a bicameral legislature that lacks the force of law (is non-binding) and does not require the approval of the chief executive ( president). Concurrent reso ...

was adopted to call for the resignation of United States Senator John Smith for his role in the alleged plot of former

Vice President A vice president or vice-president, also director in British English, is an officer in government or business who is below the president (chief executive officer) in rank. It can also refer to executive vice presidents, signifying that the vi ...

Aaron Burr Aaron Burr Jr. (February 6, 1756 – September 14, 1836) was an American politician, businessman, lawyer, and Founding Fathers of the United States, Founding Father who served as the third vice president of the United States from 1801 to 1805 d ...

to establish an independent country in the

Southwestern United States The Southwestern United States, also known as the American Southwest or simply the Southwest, is a geographic and cultural list of regions of the United States, region of the United States that includes Arizona and New Mexico, along with adjacen ...

. Burr and Smith were both charged with

treason Treason is the crime of attacking a state (polity), state authority to which one owes allegiance. This typically includes acts such as participating in a war against one's native country, attempting to Coup d'état, overthrow its government, spy ...

in 1807. Untimately, Burr was acquitted of all charges related to the scandal, which led to Smith's charges being dropped on a technicality before he went to trial. An expulsion vote for Smith held in the

United States Senate The United States Senate is a chamber of the Bicameralism, bicameral United States Congress; it is the upper house, with the United States House of Representatives, U.S. House of Representatives being the lower house. Together, the Senate and ...

in 1808 failed by just one vote. Even so, Smith ultimately resigned on April 25, the last day of the legislative session. Rep. Morris of Clermont County contested the election of Rep. Bryan, also from Clermont, citing "election irregularities." With only one seat apportioned by the legislature for the county, on December 5, the House voted to seat Rep. Morris by a vote of 15–14. Rep. Bryan was dismissed from the legislature. On January 1, 1807, a joint session of the legislature met to elect a Senator to the

, and chief and associate justices to the

Ohio Supreme Court The Supreme Court of the State of Ohio is the highest court in the U.S. state of Ohio, with final authority over interpretations of Ohio law and the Ohio Constitution. The court has seven members, a chief justice and six associate justices, ...

. Among those elected were Governor Tiffin to the office of United States Senator for the State of Ohio, and Rep. Burr to the state Supreme Court. On January 31, a joint session of the legislature met to elect municipal and district-wide officers were, including Senator Hempstead to the Washington County Court of Common Pleas, and Rep. Williams to the office of tax collector for the second district. On January 8, articles of impeachments were brought forth against Judge Robert F. Slaughter of Fairfield County, who served as the President Judge of Ohio's Second Circuit of Courts of Common Pleas. The impeachment was sponsored by Reps. Beecher, Cass, Irvin - who was impeached by the state legislature from his judgeship a year prior - Scott and Stone. The charge was "misdemeanor" for his lack of attendance at the various courts within his circuit, a key part of his duties as President of the circuit. A trial commenced in the Senate January 9–28. Slaughter was impeached and removed from the bench by a vote of 11 (''Claypool, Cone, Hempstead, Hough, Jewett, McArthur, McFarland, Sargent, Smith, Wood, and Speaker Kirker'') -1 (''Scofield'')

Major legislation

Several laws were enacted during this session authorizing

lotteries A lottery (or lotto) is a form of gambling that involves the drawing of numbers at random for a prize. Some governments outlaw lotteries, while others endorse it to the extent of organizing a national or state lottery. It is common to find som ...

for limited purposes such as paying for the improvement of rivers. On December 6, 1806, a House Joint Resolution was adopted by the Ohio Senate to express confidence in "the patriotism and fidelity of the National Administration." This resolution was also in response to the Burr controversy and the fallout it caused for the Jefferson Administration. Also on December 6, the House passed a Senate Joint Resolution declaring its support for the United States outlowing the practice of importing slaves from the

West Indies The West Indies is an island subregion of the Americas, surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean Sea, which comprises 13 independent island country, island countries and 19 dependent territory, dependencies in thr ...

and

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent after Asia. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 20% of Earth's land area and 6% of its total surfac ...

. Congress went on to ban this practice in 1807, which went into effect on January 1, 1808. On January 16, land from Montgomery County was detached to form Miami County. The county seat was established at

Troy Troy (/; ; ) or Ilion (; ) was an ancient city located in present-day Hisarlik, Turkey. It is best known as the setting for the Greek mythology, Greek myth of the Trojan War. The archaeological site is open to the public as a tourist destina ...

. On January 30, an act altering the boundary of Athens and Gallia Counties was enacted as such: "Beginning at the northwest corner of section three, range twelve; thence south on the sectional line of number twenty-four, to the southwest corner of said section; thence east between the fifth and sixth tier of sections to the Ohio river." Additional land was attached to Jefferson County by an act of the legislature on January 31. On February 10, land from Trumbull County was detached to form Portage County. The county seat was established at

Ravenna Ravenna ( ; , also ; ) is the capital city of the Province of Ravenna, in the Emilia-Romagna region of Northern Italy. It was the capital city of the Western Roman Empire during the 5th century until its Fall of Rome, collapse in 476, after which ...

. An act introduced in the previous General Assembly to encourage the killing of wolves and panthers was enacted in early 1807. The law required county authorities to offer rewards for the scalps of wolves and panthers taken within its boundaries; between $0.50 and $3.00 for animals six months old or less, and between $1.00 and $4.00 for animals more than six months old. Historians of Ohio's early history state that during this time "perhaps no law was more zealously enforced" than this. Other acts passed this sessions regulated

weights and measures A unit of measurement, or unit of measure, is a definite magnitude (mathematics), magnitude of a quantity, defined and adopted by convention or by law, that is used as a standard for measurement of the same kind of quantity. Any other qua ...

, promoted the construction of public highways, ferries and bridges, improved the election laws, amended the militia laws, and levied state taxes and set forth for the collection thereof.

Background

State Senate

Districts

Members

Ohio House of Representatives

Districts

Members

Major events

Major legislation

See also

Notes

References

External links