Nathaniel Massie (December 28, 1763 – November 13, 1813) was a frontier surveyor in the Ohio Country (including the

Virginia Military District The Virginia Military District was an approximately 4.2 million acre (17,000 km²) area of land in what is now the state of Ohio that was reserved by Virginia to use as payment in lieu of cash for its veterans of the American Revolutionary ...

) who became a prominent land owner, politician, and soldier. He founded fourteen early towns in what became the

State of Ohio Ohio () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Of the fifty U.S. states, it is the 34th-largest by area, and with a population of nearly 11.8 million, is the seventh-most populous and tenth-most densely populated. The sta ...

, including its first capital, Chillicothe. In 1807, the

Ohio General Assembly The Ohio General Assembly is the state legislature of the U.S. state of Ohio. It consists of the 99-member Ohio House of Representatives and the 33-member Ohio Senate. Both houses of the General Assembly meet at the Ohio Statehouse in Columbus ...

declared him the winner of the election for

governor A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...

, but he refused the office.

Early life

A native of the

colony of Virginia The Colony of Virginia, chartered in 1606 and settled in 1607, was the first enduring English colonial empire, English colony in North America, following failed attempts at settlement on Newfoundland (island), Newfoundland by Sir Humphrey GilbertG ...

, Massie served briefly in the Virginia militia during the

American Revolutionary War The American Revolutionary War (April 19, 1775 – September 3, 1783), also known as the Revolutionary War or American War of Independence, was a major war of the American Revolution. Widely considered as the war that secured the independence of t ...

. After becoming a surveyor, he established the first town in the

at what is now

Manchester Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The t ...

. He platted the town of Chillicothe on his own land. Massie was one of the largest landowners in early Ohio, and served as a

major general Major general (abbreviated MG, maj. gen. and similar) is a military rank used in many countries. It is derived from the older rank of sergeant major general. The disappearance of the "sergeant" in the title explains the apparent confusion of a ...

in the Ohio militia.

Political career

Massie served as a Ross county delegate to the 1802 Ohio Constitutional Convention and was a leader of the Jeffersonian faction that supported statehood. He was a leader of the

Chillicothe Junto The Chillicothe Junto was a term applied to a group of Chillicothe, Ohio Democratic-Republican politicians who brought about the admission of Ohio as a state (1803) and largely controlled its politics for some years thereafter. The best known were ...

, a group of Chillicothe

Democratic-Republican The Democratic-Republican Party, known at the time as the Republican Party and also referred to as the Jeffersonian Republican Party among other names, was an American political party founded by Thomas Jefferson and James Madison in the early ...

politicians who brought about the admission of Ohio as a state in 1803, and largely controlled its politics for some years thereafter. Among his colleagues in the faction were

Thomas Worthington Thomas or Tom Worthington may refer to: *Thomas Worthington (Douai) (1549–1627), English Catholic priest and third President of Douai College * Thomas Worthington (Dominican) (1671–1754), English Dominican friar and writer *Thomas Worthington ( ...

and

Edward Tiffin Edward Tiffin (June 19, 1766August 9, 1829) was an American politician from Ohio. A member of the Democratic-Republican party, he served as the first governor of Ohio and later as a United States Senator. Biography Sources indicate that he was ...

. He was a

Presidential elector The United States Electoral College is the group of presidential electors required by the Constitution to form every four years for the sole purpose of appointing the president and vice president. Each state and the District of Columbia appo ...

for

Thomas Jefferson Thomas Jefferson (April 13, 1743 – July 4, 1826) was an American statesman, diplomat, lawyer, architect, philosopher, and Founding Fathers of the United States, Founding Father who served as the third president of the United States from 18 ...

in 1804 and

James Madison James Madison Jr. (March 16, 1751June 28, 1836) was an American statesman, diplomat, and Founding Father. He served as the fourth president of the United States from 1809 to 1817. Madison is hailed as the "Father of the Constitution" for hi ...

in 1808. He was a Trustee of

Ohio University Ohio University is a Public university, public research university in Athens, Ohio. The first university chartered by an Act of Congress and the first to be chartered in Ohio, the university was chartered in 1787 by the Congress of the Confeder ...

from 1804 to 1808. Massie served in the General Assembly and was the first president of the

Ohio Senate The Ohio Senate is the upper house of the Ohio General Assembly. The State Senate, which meets in the Ohio Statehouse in Columbus, first convened in 1803. Senators are elected for four year terms, staggered every two years such that half of the se ...

Death

Massie led troops in the

War of 1812 The War of 1812 (18 June 1812 – 17 February 1815) was fought by the United States of America and its indigenous allies against the United Kingdom and its allies in British North America, with limited participation by Spain in Florida. It bega ...

, but died of

pneumonia Pneumonia is an inflammatory condition of the lung primarily affecting the small air sacs known as alveoli. Symptoms typically include some combination of productive or dry cough, chest pain, fever, and difficulty breathing. The severity ...

in the late autumn of 1813 at the age of 49. He is interred in

Grandview Cemetery, Chillicothe Grandview Cemetery is a cemetery in Chillicothe, Ohio. About Grandview Cemetery (originally spelled Grand View as two words) was established around 1841.Ross County, Ohio Ross County is a county in the Appalachian region of the U.S. state of Ohio. As of the 2020 United States Census, the population was 77,093. Its county seat is Chillicothe, the first and third capital of Ohio. Established on August 20, 1798, the ...

Legacy

The Nathaniel Massie Chapter of the

Daughters of the American Revolution The Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR) is a lineage-based membership service organization for women who are directly descended from a person involved in the United States' efforts towards independence. A non-profit group, they promote ...

(DAR) in Chillicothe is named in the general's honor, as is Massie Township in Warren County, Ohio and the Clinton-Massie Local School District that serves the area. Massie is a member of the Ohio Hall of Fame. A monument to Massie stands along

U.S. Route 50 U.S. Route 50 or U.S. Highway 50 (US 50) is a major east–west route of the U.S. Highway system, stretching from Interstate 80 (I-80) in West Sacramento, California, to Maryland Route 528 (MD 528) in Ocean City, Maryland, on the Atlanti ...

, just west of Bainbridge, a town he founded. It commemorates his life, as well as marking the approximate location of his home in the Paint Valley. The memorial was dedicated in September 1938.Ohio Historical Society. The inscription on the monument reads: "Home Of General Nathaniel Massie. Built 1800, One Fourth Mile South. Nathaniel Massie, Born Goochland County, Virginia, December 28, 1763, 1800 Married Sarah Everard Mead, Died November 13, 1813. Revolutionary Soldier; Surveyor Of Wilderness Then Known As Northwest Territory And Locator Of Revolutionary War Land Grants. 1786-87 Cut Road Lexington, Kentucky To Great Kanawha River. 1791 Founded Manchester, Ohio. 1790-94 Explored Little Miami And Scioto Rivers To Their Sources. April 1796 Founded Chillicothe, Ohio. Massie Was Member Of Convention Framing First Ohio Constitution. Was First Speaker Of State Legislature. 1799 Organized First Militia Northwest Territory. Commissioned Major General. 1805 Founded Bainbridge, Ohio, One Of Fourteen Towns Founded By Him. Erected By The Ohio Society Daughters Of The American Colonists - Sept. 21, 1938." File:NathanielMassie1.JPG, Nathaniel Massie monument located on US Highway 50 west of Bainbridge, Ohio. File:NathanielMassie2.JPG, Memorial plaque on Nathaniel Massie monument.

References

External sources

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Massie, Nathaniel American militia generals Virginia militiamen in the American Revolution Presidents of the Ohio Senate Members of the Ohio House of Representatives People from Ross County, Ohio People from Goochland, Virginia 1763 births Ohio University trustees 1813 deaths Ohio Constitutional Convention (1802) Northwest Territory House of Representatives American surveyors 1804 United States presidential electors 1808 United States presidential electors People from Manchester, Ohio People from Bainbridge, Ross County, Ohio Deaths from pneumonia in Ohio