BURNET'S LETTERS. CINCINNATI, OCTOBER, 1837. MY DEAR SIR:-WHEN I last saw you in Columbus, you expressed a desire that I would commit to paper, in the form of a letter, or otherwise, a biographical sketch of myself, and also such incidents, relating to the early settlement of the Northwestern Territory, within my recollection, as might be considered worth preserving. A selection, of the character you mentioned, will be attended with difficulty and delicacy; as many of the occurrences, to which your request extends, relate more or less to myself, and I have not the vanity to believe, that such matters can be of much interest, even to my friends, and certainly of none to the public generally. I frequently took notes of events, as they happened, in the early settlement of the Territory; though it was not my common practice. You may, therefore, infer, that many things which occurred, in the course of my long residence in the west, and which were of interest when they took place, have escaped my recollection, or are defectively remembered: and that the narrative you ask for, must be imperfect. The partiality of friendship generates a disposition to be gratified, by incidents concerning our friends, which, if related of strangers, would be heard with indifference. To that cause I must ascribe your request, as far as it relates to myself. Without further apology, then, I proceed to state, that Dr. Ichabod Burnet, my grandfather, was born and educated in Edinburg, and, after finishing his collegiate and professional studies, emigrated to the colonies, and established himself at Elizabethtown, New Jersey, where he continued in the practice of physic and surgery, till he attained to a very Mang Halt TRANSACTIONS OF THE HISTORICAL AND PHILOSOPHICAL SOCIETY OF OHIO. PART SECOND. VOL. I. PUBLISHED BY ORDER OF THE SOCIETY. CINCINNATI: Reclass 35 ADVERTISEMENT. The Ohio Historical Society was incorporated in the year 1822. Its purpose was that common to all similar associations, the preservation of documents, traditions, maps, pictures, medals and other matters illustrative of the History of Ohio, and the west generally. Never, it would seem, was a land more favorably situated for the collection of historical materials, than the Valley of the Mississippi; particularly for the collection of those which would illustrate the American portion of its story. Some of its very earliest American settlers are still living, and the most ample and authentic records of the characters and acts of all, may be supposed extant. Our readers may, therefore, very naturally be surprised at the scantiness of the original materials now presented them. We trust that the friends of truth and knowledge, will not suffer many more years to pass, without contributing enough of curious and original matter to the Historical Society of Ohio, to enable us to put forth another volume of deeper interest and more permanent value. The history of the Ohio Valley includes three distinct periods: first, that of the discovery and settlement by the French; second, that of the discovery and settlement by the English, including the war of 1756;-third, that of the American dominion, commencing with the Revolution. Of the first period, if we except the journals of the discoverers, there are scarcely any materials accessible in this country; but in France, probably, many remain that deserve to be drawn from obscurity; and we cannot but hope, that some of our many travelers will make the effort to procure access to them. Of the second period, more may be learned in the United States, though an examination of the British offices, is the only thing that can put us in possession of the knowledge regarding it, that we ought to have. |