Category: People

As described in A Journey to Ohio – Part 2, the family of Israel Stone encountered dangers and difficulties as their party traveled from Rutland, Massachusetts to Marietta, Ohio in the autumn of 1790. The story of Israel Stone helps us to understand why this family and others made the strenuous journey, even knowing the difficulties they were likely to encounter both during and after. It also illustrates how the Northwest Ordinance and the Ohio Company of Associates provided a solution, at least for some, to the problems described in the story of Rufus Putnam and Daniel Shays.

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Daniel Shays never set foot in Ohio, but he is part of the Ohio story.  When Rufus Putnam and others to set out for Ohio in December of 1787, they knew they would be crossing the Appalachian Mountains in the dead of winter.  Could they not have waited for better weather? Why the urgency?

Rufus Putnam’s sense of urgency had begun well before 1787. While still fighting for independence from Great Britain, Putnam foresaw that winning that war, while better than losing, was going to put some his fellow soldiers and neighbor farmers between a rock and a hard place. The story of Daniel Shays illustrates what Putnam feared….   Read full article