Northwest Territory The
Territory Northwest of the Ohio River, commonly known as the Northwest Territory, was organized on July 13, 1787. Many territories and states were split from Northwest Territory over the years, with the last portion being split between
Indiana Territory and the newly admitted state of
Ohio on March 1, 1803. Throughout its 15-year history, Northwest Territory had only one governor appointed by the federal government,
Arthur St. Clair. He was removed from office by President
Thomas Jefferson on November 22, 1802, and no successor was named;
Secretary of the Territory Charles Willing Byrd acted as governor until statehood.
State of Ohio Ohio was
admitted to the Union on March 1, 1803. Since then, it has had 64 governors, six of whom (
Allen Trimble,
Wilson Shannon,
Rutherford B. Hayes,
James M. Cox,
Frank Lausche, and
Jim Rhodes) served non-consecutive terms. The first constitution of 1803 allowed governors to serve for two-year terms, limited to six of any eight years, commencing on the first Monday in the December following an election. The current constitution of 1851 removed the
term limit, and shifted the start of the term to the second Monday in January following an election. In 1908, Ohio switched from holding elections in odd-numbered years to even-numbered years, with the preceding governor (from the 1905 election) serving an extra year. A 1957 amendment An
Ohio Supreme Court ruling in 1973 clarified this to mean governors could theoretically serve unlimited terms, as long as they waited four years after every second term. ==See also==