FROM THE ARCHIVES

(By Stephen Kelley from the People’s Defender 1984)

Continuing from last week, Duncan McArthur had struck out on his own as a surveyor in 1797. He has been tutored in that profession for a number of years by Nathaniel Massie and had already acquired an excellent reputation. This resulted in McArthur receiving at least two road surveying jobs in Adams County in 1797 and 1798. One of these included laying off the road that led from the present-day Fristoe crossing of Ohio Brush Creek (on Ohio 41) to the falls on Paint Creek in Ross County. This was known for several years afterward as the Falls Road.

In 1799, McArthur left an indelible mark on what is now Highland County. It was in that year he platted a village on a large tract of land he owned on the west bank of Paint Creek. This acreage contained a small grassy meadow that the Shawnee had used to pasture their horses. Remembering this, he named his new town, Green Field. Many years later, after McArthur’s death, an attempt was made to create a new Ohio county to be named McArthur with Greenfield as the county seat. This attempt was thwarted at the highest levels in the state government and the idea got no farther than on paper.

In 1805, McArthur became involved in politics and was elected to the Ohio House of Representatives. It was during that term he was commissioned by the legislature as a Colonel in the 2nd Division of the Ohio Militia. In 1808 he was promoted to Major General and placed in command of the 2nd Division.

Following his first term in the Ohio House, McArthur was elected by his fellow Ross Countians to represent them in the Ohio Senate. Over a period of 26 years McArthur served 11 years in the state Senate and four years in the House. He was honored by his fellow legislators by being chosen as Speaker of the House in 1817-18 and Speaker of the Senate in 1809-10. During the War of 1812, McArthur was commissioned a Colonel and was second in command under General William Hull when that commanding officer surrendered his army and Fort Detroit in 1812. Although he was made a prisoner of war, McArthur, with his volunteers and militiamen, was paroled and permitted to return home.

That fall, he was a successful candidate for Congress and was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives. Having served just a few weeks in Washington D.C., McArthur was appointed Colonel of the 26th Regiment of the U.S. Infantry by President James Madison. After resigning his seat in the House, in March 1813, he was promoted to Brigadier General in the regular army and was placed under General William Henry Harrison, commander of the Army of the Northwest. It was in this capacity that he served the remainder for the war.Upon General Harrison’s resignation, McArthur was given command of the Army of the Northwest.

Following peace with the British and Indians in 1815, McArthur returned to his stone mansion, Fruit Hill, at Chillicothe and resumed his political and business careers. It was in 1816 that he formed a business partnership with Thomas James and built Marble Furnace in Adams County. Sandwiched between alternating terms in the Ohio House and Senate, McArthur was again elected to serve in the U.S. House of Representatives in 1823. After completing two terms in that body, he declined the nomination for a third term.

In 1830, General McArthur was a reluctant nominee of the National Republican Party for the office of Governor of Ohio. Due to his many years as a public figure in the military as well as politics, McArthur was elected over his opponent, Robert Lucas. After serving his two year terms as the Buckeye State’s 11th governor, he decided against running for a second term. Instead, he attempted re-election to the U.S. House but lost by a single vote to William Allen. Allen later served as Ohio governor from 1874-76. Ironically, in 1842, Allen was married to Effie McArthur, daughter of his one time political opponent, Duncan McArthur.

Following his defeat to Allen in 1832, McArthur retired from public life and lived out his remaining days at Fruit Hill. He died on April 19, 1839 aged 67years.