James Mitchell Varnum was an American legislator, lawyer, general in the Continental Army, and a pioneer to the Ohio Country.
James Mitchell Varnum, painted posthumously in 1804 by Charles Willson Peale
Varnum marker in Oak Grove Cemetery in Marietta, Ohio
Varnum's house at 57 Peirce Street in East Greenwich, Rhode Island
The Northwest Territory, also known as the Old Northwest and formally known as the Territory Northwest of the River Ohio, was formed from unorganized western territory of the United States after the American Revolution. Established in 1787 by the Congress of the Confederation through the Northwest Ordinance, it was the nation's first post-colonial organized incorporated territory.
Check signed by Arthur St. Clair while governor of the Northwest Territory, 1796
Rufus Putnam. This portrait by James Sharples Jr. is in the collection of Independence National Historical Park, and hangs in the Second Bank of the United States building in Philadelphia.
Campus Martius ("Field of Mars" in Latin) was named after the part of Rome of the same name. This site, including the Rufus Putnam House, is now part of the Campus Martius Museum in Marietta, Ohio.
Seal of the Northwest Territory over a time capsule outside the Campus Martius Museum. The Latin phrase, "He has planted one better than the one fallen," signifies the replacement of wilderness by civilization.
