Buell, Joseph, 1763-1812.

Joseph Buell was a soldier in the United States Army and the Ohio Militia, a politician and jurist, and an early settler and prominent citizen in Marietta, Ohio. He served in the Regular Army of the United States (1787-1788), arriving at Fort Harmar, near Marietta, in 1786. Before leaving the Army in 1788, Buell purchased land in the Symmes Purchase of the Ohio country, returning to settle in Marietta in 1790. Buell served as a state senator (1803-1805) and an associate justice of the Court of Common Pleas of Washington County (1803-1810). He was also appointed Major General in the Ohio Militia. In this role, he participated in the seizing of boats under construction for Aaron Burr and Harmon Blennerhassett near Marietta in 1806. He proclaimed martial law in Marietta in December 1806 and instituted a blockade of the Ohio River, requiring all vessels to put into Marietta for inspection until Burr and Blennerhassett were arrested in 1807. Buell, under orders of Henry Dearborn, Secretary of War, disposed of the seized property.