1st Ohio General Assembly

The First Ohio General Assembly was the initial meeting of the Ohio state legislature, composed of the Ohio State Senate and the Ohio House of Representatives. It convened in Chillicothe, Ohio, on March 1, 1803, and adjourned April 16, 1803.^[1] This General Assembly coincided with the first year of Edward Tiffin's first term as Ohio Governor.

1st Ohio General Assembly
2nd →
Ohio's first statehouse at Chillicothe (1800)
Overview
Term	March 1, 1803 (1803-03-01) – December 4, 1803 (1803-12-04)
Ohio Senate
Members	14
President of the Senate	Nathaniel Massie (D-R)
Party control	Democratic-Republican Party
House of Representatives
Members	30
House Speaker	Michael Baldwin (D-R)
Party control	Democratic-Republican Party
Sessions
1st March 1, 1803 – April 16, 1803

Background

Under Ohio's first constitution, State Senators were elected to two year terms. For the first class, half were elected for one year and half for two years. Members of the House were elected for each term. The Constitution was written in November, 1802, and submitted to the U S Congress. Elections for the first session were held in January, 1803. The apportionment of legislative districts was based on the 1802 Ohio Constitution, in section 7 of the Schedule.^[1] Subsequent sessions would be elected each October, and meet the first Monday of December.

State Senate

Districts

For the first session, the constitution apportioned four senators for Hamilton County, one senator for Clermont County, one senator for Adams County, two senators for Ross County, one senator for Fairfield County, two senators for Washington County, one senator for Belmont County, two senators for Jefferson County, and one senator for Trumbull County.^[1]

Members

District	Senator[2][3]	Party	notes
Adams	John Beasley		successfully contested by Joseph Darlinton
Belmont	William Vance
Clermont	William Buchanan
Fairfield	Robert F. Slaughter
Hamilton	Francis Dunlavy	Democratic-Republican
	Jeremiah Morrow	Democratic-Republican
	John Paul	Democratic-Republican
	Daniel Symmes	Democratic-Republican
Jefferson	Zenas Kimberly
	Bezaleel Wells	Federalist
Ross	Abraham Claypool
	Nathaniel Massie	Democratic-Republican	elected Speaker of the Senate[2]
Trumbull	Samuel Huntington	Democratic-Republican
Washington	Joseph Buell	Democratic-Republican

Ohio House of Representatives

Districts

For the first session, the constitution apportioned eight representatives for Hamilton County, two representatives for Clermont County, three representatives for Adams County, four representatives for Ross County, two representatives for Fairfield County, three representatives for Washington County, two representatives for Belmont County, four representatives for Jefferson County, and two representatives for Trumbull County.^[1]

Members

District	Representatives[4][5]	Party	notes
Adams	Thomas Kirker	Democratic-Republican
	Joseph Lucas
	William Russell
Belmont	Joseph Sharp
	Elijah Woods	Democratic-Republican
Clermont	Amos Ellis
	R. Walter Waring
Fairfield	David Reece
	William A. Trimble	Democratic-Republican
Hamilton	Thomas Brown
	James Dunn
	Robert McClure
	William Maxwell
	Thomas McFarland
	Ephraim Kibbey
	William James
	John Bigger
Jefferson	Thomas Elliott
	Rudolph Bair	Democratic-Republican
	Isaac Meeks
	Zacheus Beatty
Ross	Michael Baldwin	Democratic-Republican	elected Speaker of the House[6]
	Robert Culbertson
	William Patton
	Thomas Worthington	Democratic-Republican
Trumbull	Ephraim Quimby
	Aaron Wheeler
Washington	William Jackson
	Robert Safford
	Wyllys Silliman

Major events

In joint session, state officers were elected: William Creighton Jr. as Ohio Secretary of State, William McFarland as Ohio State Treasurer and Thomas Gibson as Ohio State Auditor.^[6]

John Smith and Thomas Worthington were elected United States Senators, with no record of vote made.^[6]

In joint session, local judges and three Ohio Supreme Court judges, Return Jonathan Meigs Jr., Samuel Huntington, and William Sprigg, were elected.^[7]

Major legislation

Eight new counties were erected during this session:^[7]

• Butler detached from Hamilton
• Columbiana erected from parts of Jefferson and Washington
• Franklin detached from Ross
• Gallia from Ross
• Greene from parts of Hamilton and Ross
• Montgomery from Hamilton
• Scioto from Adams
• Warren from Hamilton

Existing territorial laws were recognized as in force, if not specifically invalidated.

See also

• List of Ohio state legislatures