ABOUT ten years ago, the writer of the following chapters was requested by a friend, to commit to paper, a biographical sketch of himself, accompanied by a statement of such facts and incidents relating to the early settlement of the North-Western Territory, as were within his recollection, and might be considered worth preserving.
It was foreseen that the execution of such a request, would necessarily be attended with delicacy and difficulty. Many of the matters embraced in it, related, more or less, to himself, and he did not believe that they could be of much interest, even to friends; and certainly, of much less to the public generally. Besides, many occurrences in the early settlement of the country, which were of some importance at the time, had escaped his recollection, or were imperfectly remembered.
The request, however, was complied with, in a series of letters, written in 1837, which were laid before the Historical Society of Ohio, by the gentleman to whom they were addressed, and ordered to be published among the transactions of the institution.