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One of the most, if not the most, valuable holdings of the Library of the Ohio State Museum is the Executive Journal of the Northwest Territory. In it are recorded all of the official acts and communiques of the governor, Arthur St. Clair, and the secretary, Winthrop Sargent. Singly and individually, it is the most important historical manuscript dealing with the Northwest Territory from its inception in 1788 to its demise with the creation of the state of Ohio. This transcription is an attempt to make as true a copy as possible of the original. Marginal notes are included in the margins, together with such other signs and information as are included in the original. Also, the transcription follows the original line for line and word for word. No editing whatsoever has been done except in cases of spelling which might possibly be misconstrued by the present-day reader. This journal was kept by three secretaries: Winthrop Sargent, July 9, 1788 - May 31, 1798; William Henry Harrison, June 3l, 1799 - Dec. 31, 1799; Charles Willing Byrd, Jan. 1, 1800 - January 15, 1803. Of these, Winthrop Sargent kept, by far, the most nearly full and accurate account of the happenings in the territory. There is little doubt, also, that Sargent wielded more authority than his successors, and, one may say with some assurance, that much of the success of the government of the territory was because of Sargent's continuing interest in and promotion of that government. The 535 pages of the original manuscript are numbered in the transcription in the left-hand margin. The first entries of the years in which the journal was kept are on the following pages:
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