James Tilighman letter to Arthur St. Clair   Save
Arthur St. Clair Papers
Description: This letter from James Tilighman to Arthur St. Clair (then magistrate for the area around Fort Pitt, now Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania) written on June 20, 1774, explains the actions leading up to Lord Dunmore's War. The two-page letter measures 6" by 7" (16 by 19 cm) and is part of a larger collection of Arthur St. Clair letters that is owned by the State Library of Ohio and on permanent deposit at the Ohio History Connection. Lord Dunmore's War was caused primarily by a boundary dispute between the colonies of Virginia and Pennsylvania over the western territories in what is now Tennessee, Kentucky, West Virginia, and Ohio, and some minor skirmishes between American Indian tribes, mostly Shawnee, and settlers around the Ohio River. In response, John Murray, Lord Dunmore (the royal governor of Virginia) sent his agents Dr. John Conolly and George Croghan to Fort Pitt to garrison forces and defend the frontier in January of 1774. There were several battles leading up to the Battle of Point Pleasant (West Virginia), where the American Indians were decisively defeated. Lord Dunmore pursued them over the Ohio River and headed for present day Chillicothe, the Shawnee capital. There, Dunmore and the American Indians signed the Treaty of Camp Charlotte, which opened up the western lands to European settlement. Chief Logan of the Seneca-Cayuga, protesting the treaty, sent a moving speech to the assembly, stating that all of his family had been killed in the war, and "who is left to mourn for Logan, not one." Arthur St. Clair (1734-1818) was governor of the Northwest Territory and administrator of Indian affairs for the Western Territories from 1787 to 1802. St. Clair had many disagreements with the territorial legislature. He supported the division of the territory into different states that would be admitted separately to the Union despite the opposition of members of the legislature, including Thomas Worthington, who wished to hasten Ohio's admission for statehood. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: Om74_1146815_015
Subjects: Military Ohio; American Indians in Ohio; Lord Dunmore's War, 1774
Places: Northwest Territory